Spring is finally here, and to commemorate the season I’m sharing a fresh, Italian inspired recipe. (Inspired by my boyfriend, as it’s actually his recipe – but what’s mine is yours right?)

Pesto is so easy to make, when I come home from work and can’t be bothered to cook, my go to is pasta pesto; and this recipe is healthy, raw, vegan, delicious and takes 5 minutes to make – walt else can you ask for?

You don’t have to just pair it with pasta. Sometimes we’ll eat it as a dip with breadsticks, or we do scarpetta (literally ‘little shoe’ in Italian, but it also means to clean your plate with bread). You can eat it any which way you like, and it keeps for two days, so you can even have it multiple ways!

 

Feeds 2 

Ingredients 

100g pine nuts

1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes (285g)

30g fresh basil

2 cloves garlic

A pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method 

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and mix until well combined. It’s that easy! Serve with pasta, or fresh bread, breadsticks…anything you like.

Health Benefits

This is a great recipe to have when you’re feeling under the weather. Garlic and basil are good go-to ingredients if you’re suffering from a cold. Both are full of antioxidants, as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.

Sun-dried tomatoes also contain anti-oxidants as well as vitamin C, which can help your body repair itself.

Pine nuts are packed with protein, iron and calcium, which support muscle and bone development and helps oxygenate our blood.

This is a great recipe to have fun with on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I’ve kept to a pretty standard (albeit vegan) Italian recipe, as overseen by my Sicilian boyfriend. I’ve been lectured many times about messing with Italian recipes – and scolded for adding mushrooms to Ragu. But I think you can add what you want! Mushrooms, lentils, peppers, whatever. Food is meant to be experimented with, it’s always good to trust your instincts and tastebuds! The Sicilian is outraged as I’m writing this.

Recipe

Feeds 6 

Ingredients

For the Ragu

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 white onion
• 2 large carrots
• 2 large celery sticks
• 200g peas
• 500g vegan soy mince (we use Tesco’s own)
• 600g passata
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 150 ml vegan red wine (we use Chianti)
• A dash of vegan port
• A dash of sugar – to taste
• Salt & Pepper – to taste

For the Béchamel 

• 100g vegan butter (we use Pure sunflower spread)
• 1 litre Oatly milk
• 100g plain flour
• 2 tsp nutmeg

For the Pasta 

• 10 lasagne sheets

For the parmesan topping

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup nutritional yeast (Holland and Barrett)
• 1 tsp salt

We usually use Violife cheese for the topping, but this cheese is a healthier alternative

Method 

For the Ragu

1. Finely dice the onions and fry in the olive oil. Next, dice the carrots and celery and add to the onions until softened.

2. Next, add the mince and cook for a few minutes. Then add the wine and port and cook until evaporated.

3. Add the tomato sauce, salt, pepper and sugar and cook on a low heat for at least an hour.

For the Béchamel

4. Warm the milk on a low heat. Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat, then add the flour and whisk until it has a paste like texture. 

5. Then using a ladle, slowly add the warmed milk, still whisking, until smooth and creamy. Allow to cook gently until thickened. 

Layering the Lasagne 

6. Using a ladle, spread an even layer of the Ragu on the bottom of a 30x20cm oven proof dish.

7. Using another ladle, spread a layer of the Béchamel onto the Ragu.

8. Next, add the pasta sheets to cover the Ragu and Béchamel – break up bits of the pasta sheets so the dish is covered. Using a pastry brush, cover each sheet in water.

9. Repeat until there are a couple of centimetres left at the top of the oven dish, finishing with one more layer of pasta and a layer of Ragu. Finish by covering in a layer of the walnut parmesan.

10. Cover in tin foil and bake for 45mins – 1 hour until golden brown on top.

 

Health Benefits

There are plenty of health benefits in Ragu. Almost all the ingredients are packed full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. A great dish to have when you’re immune system needs a pick-me-up.

If you choose to use the nut parmesan, there are also plenty of benefits. Walnuts are a great source of omega-3 and antioxidants, they also help promote brain function and a healthy gut. Nutritional yeast is a fantastic source of all the B-vitamins, which are the building blocks of a healthy body. They play a vital role in maintaining energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism.

Sometimes I get up on a Sunday and just start baking. Usually I’ll use whatever ingredients we have in the kitchen (mainly ones that need using pretty soon) and see what comes out. Sometimes it’s an inedible disaster that ends up in the bin, sometimes it’s an edible success.

My go to is usually experimenting with different variations of banana bread. Not just because I always have old bananas to use up; it’s also quick and easy to make, which is great when you wake up with a cake craving (don’t judge me, by the time I get up on a Sunday, its afternoon). I love banana bread and coincidentally, today is National Banana Bread Day (in America) – I love coincidences so what better time to share this recipe?

 

 

Ingredients 

• 225g plain flour
• 3 heaped tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 100g coconut sugar
• 75g coconut oil
• 100g raisins
• 3 large ripe bananas

 

Method

1. First heat the oven to 160°C.
2. Mash the bananas into a paste, then add the coconut oil and mi
3. Then add the sugar, flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix.
4. Next add the raisins and combine.
5. Transfer to a small loaf tin (20cm x 12.5cm) lined with baking parchment and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked in the middle.

Health benefits

Bananas are packed full of potassium, manganese and magnesium, which are good for blood pressure, heart, kidneys, bone, blood sugar and are also help reduce stress. Cinnamon is high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties and lowers blood sugar. Raisins are full of iron, which we need to help regulate red blood cells, fibre, calcium and antioxidants.

Touch down in Skavsta airport, outside Stockholm and the first place we head is The Plant – Food That Works, for a couple of our favourite vegan burgers. When you’re vegan, your trips really are governed by what you eat, and when there are so many delicious choices, your trips begin to revolve around food (maybe with a couple of museums thrown in if you have time).

The Plant offers five burgers, we opted for the Hammer and Bernaise burgers and two portions of chips. At around £20, that’s really not bad (for Stockholm). The 100% organic, plant-based, sustainable food is a perfect combination of flavours and textures. The burgers are made up of kidney beans, rice and spices (I wish I knew which), and are served in a white bun topped with salad, vegan mayo and in the case of the Hammer Burger, BBQ mushroom sauce. Heaven. As usual, I was too greedy to remember to take pictures. But you can see them on their website: http://www.theplant.se.

After my first techno gig (and most likely not my last thanks to Paul Kalkbrenner), we spent a chilled hungover day walking around Stockholm, enjoying the snow and stopping for fika (coffee time). We eventually stopped for lunch at MAX, Sweden’s first hamburger chain and, since recently, it’s first sustainable fast food chain. They offer a range of burgers, including the Oumph! BBQ Vegan Burger which definitely gives The Plant a run for it’s money.

Winter in Sweden is something out of a fairy tale. Snow covers the city (and I mean actual snow, not the icing sugar dusting we get here that closes schools, roads and airports). The lakes are frozen over, with families skating over them. A strong contrast to my poor boyfriend who stood at the side, apprehensively tapping his foot on the ice to make sure it didn’t crack. Sicilians aren’t used to snow.

And the Swedes love Christmas – all the lights and decorations were still up, which would usually bother me in the UK (it doesn’t match the depression that is January), but when it’s snowing and you’re walking around with no plans, a coffee in hand and there’s a happy atmosphere in the air, it’s the best way to spend a weekend in January.

Yes, it’s still January. And I’m still easing myself into a healthier lifestyle – I’m worried if I’m too strict my body will go into shock and I’ll be found wandering around town in some kind of fugue state. I’m in awe of my friends who can cut everything out completely and enjoy the extreme health kick in this, the most depressing of months. Oh what it must be like to have that kind of motivation!

At the weekend, I love to sit in my reading nook with a good book, coffee and a sweet treat. So, as I’ve made my boyfriend hide all the sugar-filled sweet treats leftover from Christmas, I’ve decided to get back into sugar-free baking.

A few years ago I was really into my sugar-free creations. At first, researching a sugar-free vegan diet was like turning vegan all over again. EVERYTHING seemed to have sugar in it. But as soon as I got into the swing of it, my world changed. I started to recreate my favourite sweet treats using refined sugar-free ingredients. I made cacao peanut butter cups, raw chocolate bars, coconut macaroons and an assortment of flapjacks. I used agave, maple syrup or fruit as a replacement for refined sugar.

Sometimes I miss those days, but life is short and Vego bars are delicious. But if I couldn’t find my Christmas presents, I won’t be finding my precious sugar-filled sweet-treats any time soon. So I prevail with the sugar-free creations once again. And to be honest, a lot of these recipes are surprisingly quick and easy to make. This one takes 15 minutes to prepare, 25 minutes to bake and only has four ingredients. It will satisfy your sugar cravings and make you forget how masochist your January diet is. Enjoy!

 

Resolution Flapjacks

 

Ingredients 

• 250g gluten free oats
• 300g dates
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 75ml extra virgin olive oil

 

Method

1. Firstly, wash the dates and dry with some kitchen roll. Then place them in 150ml water and heat gently for 10 minutes. Leave to cool before placing them in a food processor and blend for 10-15 seconds.
2. Add the oats, coconut and olive oil and mix with a spoon until combined.
3. Transfer the mixture into a baking parchment lined tin, roughly 25cm x 18cm. Smooth the top of the mixture until it’s even and bake for 20-25 mins.
4. Cut into squares while the mixture is still warm from the oven. Let them sit in the tin for 10 minutes before letting them cool on a cooling rack for a further 30 minutes.

Health Benefits 

Oats are a fantastic food. They’re a great way to start the day, gently stimulating your digestion but also keeping you full for longer than other carbohydrates. They also make a great snack to keep you going. Their nutritional value is very high; containing manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus and various B vitamins. We need these nutrients and vitamins to maintain healthy brain, bone, blood cell, muscle and nerve function.

Dates are rich in fibre and antioxidants. They contain potassium, which we need to keep our blood pressure and the acidity levels in our bodies balanced. They also contain manganese, magnesium, iron, copper and B vitamins.

Coconut is full of healthy fats, keeping our brains bones, skin and hearts healthy. If you’re looking to lose weight, coconut also reduces hunger and increases fat burning. However it is still high in calories, so don’t go eating jars of coconut oil.

Olive Oil, especially extra virgin olive oil, is packed full of antioxidants, reduces inflammation and contains properties which can help protect against heart disease, alzheimer’s, cancer, strokes and type 2 diabetes.

Another short and sweet one, as I’m currently attempting to make my first gravy (I’ll post the recipe if it’s any good) whilst also stuffing as many mince pies as possible into my mouth. I can only manage to multi task so much. But, as it’s that time of year again I thought I’d share my favourite recipe, and one which has got me out of buying an actual present on many occasions (as long as I can manage to hide them before my boyfriend gets to them). Cleverly coined by one of their biggest fans, Ambersnickers are a vegan version of Snickers. You can never really go wrong with peanut butter, but these really are the best vegan chocolate bars. They’ve started fights between my friends and family. It’s a great ego boost! Sometimes I use them as bribes. It’s a great way of getting out of doing the hoovering.

Enjoy the pictures – I’ve been told they look like two hippos humping. Aesthetic finesse was never really my strong suit.

Ingredients

Serves 8 

For the sake of easement I’ve separated the ingredients in the stages that you’ll need them.

12 pitted dates

1/4 cup almond or coconut milk

1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

3/4 cup of salted, roasted peanuts

1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

4 tbsp golden syrup

3 tbsp coconut flour

200g Bourneville chocolate

Method 

Place the dates, almond milk and 1 tbsp of peanut butter in a food processor and mix until combined – don’t worry if the dates haven’t blended completely.

Take out the blade of the food processor and add the peanuts – mix with a spoon until combined well, then spread the mixture into a baking parchment covered tupperware box, or a freezer proof dish (roughly 20x30cm).

in a bowl, mix together 1/3 cup of the peanut butter, golden syrup and coconut flour until creamy. Spread on top of the date mixture until even.

Freeze for at least two hours (or overnight).

Place the chocolate in a bowl and melt it over a simmering pan of water on low heat.

Take the date and peanut mixture out of the freezer, place on a chopping board, remove the baking parchment and with a sharp knife cut into bars of roughly 5x10cm. Or if you’d prefer to make them bitesize cut them 4x4cm.

Once the chocolate has melted, take the pan off the heat and with two forks, take each bar and coat in the chocolate.

Place the bars on a baking parchment covered tray and place in the fridge until set.

Health Benefits

Peanuts are an excellent and delicious source of protein, which our bodies use to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein helps support bone and muscle structure as well as cartilage, skin, and blood.

Coconut flour is rich in protein and fibre. It’s a good source of lauric acid, a saturated fat which supports the immune system and the thyroid and skin health.

Merry Christmas and enjoy!

Sounds like Satan, tastes like meat. Well, it tastes like meat to someone who hasn’t eaten it in almost 9 years, but regardless, this recipe is a great substitute for those who used to enjoy meat. With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I’d share this recipe as another Turkey alternative, though I am very happy to see that there are so many alternatives to choose from this year.

My first taste of seitan was whilst backpacking in Vietnam, in a restaurant called Nhà Hàng Chay Ngọc Thọ (try and pronounce that), in Ho Chi Minh City. The food was incredible; the texture and taste of their ‘seitan wings’ was so close to meat, I could hardly believe they were vegan (I triple checked and they were, don’t worry).

So, as well as an appreciation for my experiences in Vietnam and the different sights, sounds and cultures, I came home with a new appreciation of food, and was eager to try new recipes from my trip.

The rice paddies of Sa Pa, Northwestern Vietnam

 

I made this wheat-meat recipe for my boyfriend for the first time earlier this year, as he’d been craving chicken schnitzel for a couple of weeks. I made it partly in fear that he’d revert back to his carnivorous ways, but I didn’t hold out much hope (I’ve tried to convert many people with fake meat, and usually had the opposite effect). To my surprise and relief, it completely satisfied his cravings. Me on the other hand, I ate so much of it in one sitting I may have developed a slight gluten intolerance. If you’re coeliac, look away now, this is not the recipe for you! But if you love gluten, then you’ll love the versatility of this meat substitute. You can enjoy it as a schnitzel, with roast dinners, in sandwiches, as party food, or just straight out the fridge on your way to bed as I usually do.

 

Ingredients

For the dough

• 2 1/2 cups of Vital Wheat Gluten Flour (I buy mine from Amazon)
• 3 tsp of yeast flakes (You can find these in Holland & Barrett)
• 1 cup vegetable stock (I use 1 tsp vegan Bouillon powder, available from Holland and Barrett, mixed with water)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 cloves of crushed garlic
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger

For the broth

• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

 

Method

1. Put all the ingredients for the dough in a large bowl and mix well with your hands until combined and a dough is formed.
2. Knead the dough for 3 minutes.
3. Break the dough into two pieces and knead each one for a further 3 minutes. Then form each piece into a ball.
4. Put all the ingredients for the broth into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer on a low heat.
5. Place the 2 balls of dough carefully int the liquid and simmer for 45 minutes. Turn over halfway through. Take off the heat and leave for 15 minutes.
6. Take the balls out of the broth and slice into whatever size or shape you’d like. Fry on all sides until the outside is crisp.

 

Health Benefits

Seitan is low in calories and high in protein. It’s also a good source of selenium and iron. We need protein for our bodies to build and repair tissues, healthy hormone and enzyme function, and to keep our bones and muscles healthy.  We need selenium for healthy thyroid and gland function, DNA production and to help protect our bodies from damage caused by free radicals and infection. And we need iron to help oxygenate our blood.

This post is short and sweet. I’ve been spending November eating, and all other priorities have gone out the window while I prepare my body for winter. And winter is here.

With the temperature outside getting colder, and the nights drawing out, we all need some warming comfort food; and these potato skins are the epitome of comfort food. This is a recipe taken from my childhood memory of going to Pizza Hut before the cinema with my parents. I never used to like pizza (how I wish that was still the case), I would order the potato skins. I’ve played around with this recipe by adding different spices and herbs, like smoked paprika and rosemary, but I found that I personally preferred to keep it a bit simpler. They’re pretty filling, so I usually do them as a snack or with a simple salad.

 

Feeds Two

 

Ingredients 

4 small-medium sized potatoes

100g Violife cheese – grated

1 tbsp vegan butter (I use Pure sunflower spread)

2 rashes of vegan bacon (I use Holland and Barrett’s Cheatin’ Bacon)

Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Cut the potatoes in half, rub in salt and olive oil and wrap them individually in tin foil. Place on a baking tray and bake for 40-45 mins at 180°C.
2. Open the tin foil and let the potatoes cool slightly, then cut them in half and scoop out the insides. If they’re not soft enough to do so, put them back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Place the potato insides in a bowl and mix in the grated cheese, butter, salt, pepper and parsley. Spoon (or use your hands, I do) the mixture back into the skins of the potatoes. Take the potatoes out of the foils and place on the baking tray and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crispy on the outside.

 

Health Benefits

Potatoes are packed with potassium, vitamin C, B6, fiber, magnesium and antioxidants.

These vitamins and minerals are good for blood pressure, cardiovascular health, prenatal health problems, PMS eye disease, and even skin wrinkling. They also promote brain health, bone and muscle strength. If that’s not a good enough excuse to eat potatoes, I don’t know what is.

Everyone needs a trusty friend who is both spontaneous and organised. Luckily I have one, and she managed to sort out a weekend of exploration, food and plenty of drinks for less than a night out in London. So, on Friday evening, we went straight from work to the airport and boarded our flight for Gdańsk, Poland.

We stayed in the centre of Main Town, lined with colourful buildings, and typical Eastern European architecture. On Saturday morning we joined a free walking tour and soaked up some of the sights, history and culture of the city. I always love walking tours – even more when they’re free. I’ve yet to have a bad experience with them; the guides are always informative and funny, and they always seem to have a passion and patriotic pride when they talk of their cities. We spent a few enjoyable hours in the cold and misty outdoors, but with the fog settling over the roofs, creating an ethereal atmosphere and extinguishing the little daylight there was, we decided to embody typical Brits on holiday and found a bar. While day drinking is never a great idea, we were excited to find a bar on the river bank which offered a range of coffee based cocktails and mulled wine. After being suitably warmed by our beverages, we ventured out to find some vegan food.

Now, there are a few vegan restaurants that we did try to visit, but as this weekend was 100 years of Polish Independence, we struggled to find anywhere that would seat us without a reservation. Luckily however, a few minutes walk from Main Town, sits Pierogarina Mandu, which works on a first come first serve basis. Decorated with soft lighting, wooden furnishing and being dog friendly, this restaurant really is a hipster haven. After waiting for 20 minutes (worth it), we were in the warm perusing the menu.

I ordered the deep fried dumplings. They were crispy on the outside and stuffed with a flavoursome mixture of tofu and spicy paprika, and complimented nicely with a serving of vegan mayo. For less than £5, I was happily sated, and we made our way back to Main Town and bar crawled our way through. After margaritas, cinnamon whisky, rum tea (yes it’s a thing and it’s lethal) and more coffee based cocktails, we almost literally crawled back to our hotel and stayed in bed until our blissfully late checkout at midday.

Hungover, and in desperate need of carbs (although I woke up next to a half eaten loaf of bread I didn’t remember buying), we wandered back through Main Town and ended up at a diner – unfortunately in my haze I forgot to make a note of the name. This was one of the few places that served potatoes that weren’t covered in meat and cheese and in typical hangover vegan style I had a huge plate of chips to myself.

In an attempt to make the most of the rest of our trip, we made our way to the Amber museum (cool name), recommended by our walking tour guide. The museum featured wonderfully intricate and varied uses of amber, including an electric guitar and chess set. We learnt about the different types of the fossilised tree resin and the different healing properties it holds. I would definitely recommend visiting. However there is another section to the museum, the torture part, I wont go into any detail but I’ll just say it’s not the best place to be when hungover.