Chocolate & Orange Popsicles

Okay, so I know putting 'popsicles' and 'hot' in the same sentence is kind of creating an oxymoron but these are in fact hot chocolate popsicles. Because you see I used this dangerously delicious vegan hot chocolate powder from Esamée Store that they were so kind to send me a while back. The only ingredients in this mix are organic coconut sugar, vegan coconut milk powder, organic raw cacao, organic cinnamon and maltodextrin. All you have to do is mix a couple of teaspoons with a cup of boiling hot water and voilà, there's a steaming cup of vegan hot chocolate for you. Yes, I am sold.

Also, chocolate and orange is a match made in heaven and I'm all about those divine flavour combinations. And there are only 5 ingredients so NO EXCUSES. You could even enjoy it in it's semi-liquid state as a beautiful chocolate milkshake!

Hot Chocolate & Orange Popsicles

Ingredients:

150 ml or 2/3 cup full fat coconut milk

150 g frozen bananas (about 1 1/2 medium sized)

1 tbsp Honest Hot Chocolate Powder from Esamée or 1 tbsp coconut sugar

1 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder

Zest from 1 organic orange

How to:

1. Slice the bananas and put them in an airtight plastic container in the freezer and leave it there for at least 8 hours to freeze.

2. Place the frozen bananas, hot chocolate powder/coconut sugar, cocoa powder and orange zest in a food processor and blend for about one minute.

3. Pour in the coconut milk through the hole on top of the food processor, little by little. Stop to scrape down the sides if necessary.

4. Divide the 'ice cream' in six popsicle moulds and freeze overnight.

5. Enjoy!

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

Behold my attempt to veganize this good old classic loved and cherished by people all over the world. Here in Sweden it goes by 'Makaronipudding', which literally means 'Macaroni Pudding'.  I know for you English people that's something else but this is the kind of mac 'n' cheese that most people are familiar with; the savoury one. 

But how does one make macaroni and cheese without the cheese? Well, there's this wonderful little thing called nutritional yeast that can replace the cheese. I know, cheese addicts out there, this may seem hard to grasp. Because yeast? Doesn't sound so appealing. But it is! Since going vegan, I don't think a single day has gone by without me using it in at least something. It adds a cheesy, savoury flavour that is just too good for words. Another of the reasons why I love it so much is because one single tablespoon provides you with almost all of the B-vitamins that you need. One tablespoon!

So I hope I've convinced you to start incorporating this miracle ingredient into more of your meals. And vegans, this is especially directed at you. Buy it. Just do it.

Vegan Macaroni and Cheese

Serves: 1

3 oz./80 g uncooked brown rice pasta, preferably macaroni or fusilli (or pasta of your choice)

4 oz./110g silken tofu, firm

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp vegan cream substitute (such as Oatly iMat 15%)

1 tsp lemon juice

1 pinch nutmeg

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

How to:

1. Boil pasta according to instructions on package.

2. Pre-heat oven to 200C

3. Put the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and blend with a hand blender until smooth. Season as you go, don't skimp on the salt but don't use too little either!

4. When the pasta is done, drain and pour it into the bowl with the 'cheese' sauce. Stir well and make sure that all the pasta is covered with sauce.

5. Pour the 'macaroni and cheese' into 1-2 ramekins or a small casserole like the one on the picture. Halve cherry tomatoes and put a few on top. 

6. Sprinkle with some additional nutritional yeast and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Check it now and then to make sure it doesn't burn on top!

7. Serve immediately.

Gingerbread pancakes with a Vegan Frosting

We're continuing with the Christmas theme here on the blog and next up is this basic recipe for gingerbread pancakes with a vegan lucuma-vanilla frosting... yum! I usually make my pancakes with a mix of coconut flour and buckwheat flour but I've been suspecting for a while now that it's the coconut flour that make the pancakes go all soft and gooey inside, big no-no if you're not into eating raw batter! So I completely omitted it and these turned out perfectly moist and fluffy, just like they're supposed to be. A perfect start to any winter day.

Gingerbread pancakes with a Vegan Frosting

Pancakes:

1/2 cup (70g) buckwheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp gingerbread spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, cloves)

1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

1 small banana, mashed (approximately 80 g)

3-4 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

How to:
1. First, prepare your vegan 'buttermilk' by mixing the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle.
2. Now prepare your chia egg: Grind one tbsp of whole chia seeds either by hand or in a coffee grinder, then mix the ground seeds with 3 tbsp of water. Stir well and let sit on the side for a few minutes to swell.
3. In a small bowl, mix the buckwheat flour, baking powder and baking soda well until they're evenly divided. 
4. Mash the banana with a fork or blitz it a couple of times with a hand blender if you don't want any clumps whatsoever left.
3. Pour in the chia egg, mashed banana and 'buttermilk' and stir until the batter is completely smooth. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes (the batter should be THICK)
4. Fry in a spoonful of coconut oil (unless you have a non-stick frying pan) on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Vanilla-Lucuma Frosting

4 oz/108 g silken tofu

1 tbsp lucuma powder

1 pinch vanilla powder

2 dates, pitted and (if you want) peeled

1 tsp melted coconut oil (optional)

How to:
1. Blend all ingredients with a hand blender until smooth. Place a spoonful of frosting between each pancake, save a dollop for the top and serve with fresh fruit!

Lemon-Lime Snowball Truffles

Christmas recipe alert! It's been a while since the last time, as per usual. But hey, no sad faces. Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven't made my Rocky Road Fudge yet then it's definitely time to warm up (chill down?) with these über cute snowballs. Aww. I was actually tempted to build a tiny little truffle snowman out of these but we had a plumber working in the kitchen so... Yeah. One has to know when such weirdness needs to be constrained. But once you've had your first taste I promise you'll be just as obsessed as I am!

The citrus notes in these marry perfectly with the mellow coconutty taste and make one hell of a flavour combination if I may say so myself. It's just one of those meant-to-be combos, like banana and peanut butter, strawberries and cream, chocolate and anything...

Lemon-Lime Snowball Truffles

Yields: 12 bite-sized truffles

Filling:

3/4 cup oats/oat flour (75g)

6 pitted dates (85g)

2 tbsp desiccated coconut (15g)

1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil (21g)

2 tbsp plant based yoghurt (40g)

Zest of 1/2 lemon

White Chocolate Shell:

2 tbsp cacao butter (could sub for coconut oil but not recommended)

2 tbsp coconut cream (the thick layer on top of a can of coconut milk that has been chilled overnight in the fridge)

1 tbsp lucuma powder (Or coconut sugar if you want it sweeter)

Desiccated coconut (as much as you like) and the zest of one lime

How to:

1. Put oats, lemon zest and desiccated coconut in a food processor and blend until a fine flour forms.
2. Place the remaining ingredients for the filling into the food processor and blend again until smooth. (Skip the first step if you already have your oat flour ready)
3. Roll the dough into approximately 12 small balls and place in an airtight container in the freezer for a least an hour to firm up.
4. When the truffles are (freezing) cold, prepare the 'white chocolate' by melting the cacao butter over a hot-water bath and stirring in the lucuma powder and coconut cream. You could adjust the ratios to your own preferences here, feel free to play around!
6. In another bowl, mix the desiccated coconut with the lime zest. This will go onto the truffles once they have been coated with chocolate.
7. Keep the white chocolate in a warm bowl to stop it from setting, then take one truffle and pierce it halfway through with a wooden skewer. Dip the truffle into the chocolate and make sure it gets an even layer all the way around.
8. Sprinkle with as much of the desiccated coconut-lime zest topping as you want.
9. Secure the skewer in an upright position. This can be a bit tricky but a styrofoam board will work amazingly! I usually balance mine in the toaster (truffle-side up!) but be creative... Repeat this process with all the balls.
10. Once the coating has set enough to allow for the truffles to be removed from the skewers, place them in an airtight container and store in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

I have had a hard time coming up with savoury recipes that don't include hummus or chickpeas in some form (some people smoke, others abuse chickpea dips, what can I say) but then these utterly delicious and chickpea-free quesadillas came to me in a flash of inspiration. A Pinterest flash that is- always my runner-up source of vegspiration. (Instagram comes first!) They're filled with sweet, spicy, savoury amazingness and topped with a goddamn gorgeous green guacamole. Add the simplicity and I know that this will nick a place as one of my top ten lunch recipes.

Make these for yourself, double the recipe and share with a friend or multiply the ingredients by ten and serve it on the buffet table! You could even prepare these the day before (without grilling them of course) and have them for lunch the next day at work or school! They're best eaten warm so a microwave oven would be a plus but they could absolutely be served cold as well, no problemo.

Hope you enjoy this recipe just as much as I did!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Yields: 1 serving

- 1 gluten free brown rice tortilla (or tortilla of your choice, I use BFree wraps)

- 1 small sweet potato (approx. 100 g when peeled)

- 4 tbsp canned black beans, drained and rinsed

- 2 tbsp tomato salsa/sauce

- 1 tbsp vegan sour cream (optional)

- A handful baby spinach leaves

A pinch each of: 

- dried coriander

- cumin

- paprika powder 

- salt

Guacamole:

- 1/2 avocado

- 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

- 1 tsp lemon juice

- Salt and pepper to taste

- Dried chili flakes (optional)

How to:

1. Start by making your guacamole: Place all ingredients into a small bowl and blitz with a hand blender a few times. Intuitively, the longer you blend the smoother your guac will be so stop when you've reached the desired consistency. Set aside while you prepare the quesadillas.

2. Peel and slice the sweet potato thinly, then steam or boil the slices until they're soft enough to pierce with a fork. This will take approximately 5-10 minutes.

3. Mash the steamed sweet potato with a fork and spread it out evenly on half of the tortilla.

4. On the layer of sweet potato, divide the black beans evenly and sprinkle with cumin, coriander, salt and paprika powder.

5. Cover the other half of the tortilla with a layer of vegan sour cream mixed with tomato salsa and stick a handful of baby spinach leaves to it. 

6. Fold the tortilla in half and cut in 4 "pizza slices".

7. Grill in a grill pan (or a regular but then it won't be as beautifully charred) for a couple of minutes on each side, top with guacamole and serve!

Carob & Zesty Lime Pancakes with a Chocolate Sauce

Carob & Zesty Lime Pancakes

5 tbsp buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 tbsp almond milk

2 tbsp plant-based yoghurt (could sub for more almond milk)

1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp of water, left to swell for a couple of minutes)

For the lime pancakes:

1/2 tsp wheatgrass (could sub for chlorella/spirulina/matcha)

Zest of one lime

1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (preferably brown rice syrup as it won't spoil the green colour)

For the carob pancakes:

1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (preferably date syrup, as it adds a lovely brown colour to the mix)

1-2 tsp carob powder

How to:
1. Place into a bowl the buckwheat flour, coconut flour and baking powder. Stir well to divide the baking powder evenly throughout the mix.
2. Add in the almond milk, chia egg and yoghurt and mix it all together with a fork.
3. Now, divide the batter into two and place half of it into another bowl.
4. To this bowl, add all of the ingredients for the lime pancakes and stir until smooth. You might have to adjust the amount of wheatgrass to get the green colour you want.
5. To the other bowl, add all of the ingredients for the carob pancakes and once again, stir until smooth.
6. Let the batters rest for a few minutes while preheating a non-stick pan or a regular frying pan with a spoonful of coconut oil to medium heat.
7. Fry spoonfuls of the batter for a few minutes on each side, stack and serve!

Chocolate sauce

2 tbsp peanut flour

1 1/2 tbsp almond milk

1/2 tbsp date  syrup

1 tsp cacao or cocoa powder

How to:
1. Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Add more almond milk if needed.
2. Pour on top of your pancake stack and devour immediately!

Rocky Road Fudge

It's nearing December and I hope that you are as excited as I am about the upcoming holiday festivities! Sinatra blasting on the radio, the first snow wrapping everything in a soft blanket of white, the comforting crackling from the fireplace and Christmas decorations as far as the eye can see. But no jolly Christmas without something to munch on, right? Be it hot cocoa, mandarins, gingerbread cookies, christmas candy... Tell me if you're drooling yet because I sure am.

If you're one of those people that claim to not like this time of the year (do they even exist?) then I suggest you stop reading right here. Because from now on, my plan is for this blog to be stuffed with all things Christmas, from saffron treats to rice pudding desserts.  This I can assure you, Yuletide addicts- you won't be disappointed.

So first on the list was Rocky Road Fudge. Way out of my comfort zone to be honest, the only rocky road us Swedish people know of, is the one that leads us home after a few too many shots of our favourite holiday liquor: "snaps". Okay so now I'm rambling but what I wanted to say was that I felt this sudden strong urge to make a batch of this Rocky Road deliciousness after seeing it on Pinterest the other day. Only I wanted a vegan and refined sugar-free yet still delicious fudge. This one ticks all the boxes, I have to say. It's wonderfully rich, soft, chewy and 100% cruelty-free!

Rocky Road Fudge

1 cup tightly packed soft dates

1/4 cup melted cacao butter (could sub for coconut oil but cacao will be MUCH better)

2 tbsp cocoa or cacao powder

1 heaped tbsp carob powder

1/2 cup raw almonds (or nuts of your choice)

1/2 cup dried mulberries

How to:

1. Place your dates, cacao butter, carob powder and cacao powder into a food processor and blend on high until smooth. Stop to scrape down the sides a few times to incorporate all the ingredients properly.

2. Take the mulberries and almonds and put them into the food processor with the chocolate paste that has formed and blitz a few times. You want the nuts to be broken up into big, crunchy chunks, not tiny pieces, so make sure not to blend too much. (As you can see, I did a pretty poor job here ;)

3. Press the fudge out into a small, lined, rectangular baking tray. It might not fill the whole tray but it's firm enough to only fill half of it and still get thick pieces of fudge.

4. Put in the fridge or freezer to set, at least for a couple of hours. Remove from the fridge and cut into squares. Store in the freezer if you want the mulberries to be crunchy! (Hint: you do.)

Have a wonderful day!

Tilda

My Basic Hummus Recipe + Oven-roasted Squash

Happy birthday to me! Or happy belated to be correct, my 18th was this Monday. Yay! I can now... uh, buy beer, vote and (in the best of worlds) get my driver's license. Fun! But what's got me really excited is my birthday presents. Can you tell from the picture below what I got?

You guessed it: CHICKPEAS! My wonderful parents gave me a whole truckload of these gu... Wait a second. I'm just kidding. No offence chickpeas but you don't really make the best birthday presents. Okay so if you still haven't figured it out, I got a camera. A Canon EOS 700D that I know absolutely nothing about and have no idea how to use but still - a camera! C-A-M-E-R-A. Meaning this blog won't be nearly as boring from now on. So onto today's recipe:

There are many things that I've learnt to love since going vegan. Bananas, avocados, bell peppers, tofu bur first and foremost I've come to appreciate the beauty that is a perfectly creamy hummus. Everyone who's been following me on Instagram for a while probably knows that I've got a real sweet tooth and rarely choose savoury food if there is any kind of fruit around. With one exception. Hummus. A thick layer spread on a rice cake and my day is made. Hopefully you all like this recipe as well!

My Basic Hummus Recipe

Yields: 1-2 servings

2/3 cup cooked chickpeas

1 tbsp almond milk (Or olive oil if you want an even creamier texture)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1-2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Salt to taste

Optional: 1/2 tsp Paprika powder 

Blend well!

How to:
1. Place chickpeas in a colander in the sink and rinse to get rid of any excess sliminess from the can.
2. Blend all ingredients in a small bowl using a hand blender. Food processors are not recommended for this recipe.
3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or drizzle with olive oil. Serve as a condiment to falafels, pita bread dishes, salads or maybe the roasted squash below!

Oven-roasted Herb-rubbed Winter Squash

Yields: 2 servings

1/2 small muscat pumpkin or winter squash of your choice

1 zucchini

1 tbsp olive oil

Herbs such as rosemary, thyme and oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

How to:
1. Pre-heat oven to 225C.
2. Cut your squash into halves and scoop out the seeds and the slimy, stringy things surrounding them. Save the other half of your squash in the fridge, unless you want bigger servings, then go ahead and use both halves.
3. Slice the squash about 1/2-inch thick for each slice and put aside.
4. Cut the zucchini lengthwise and slice in 1/2-inch thick slices.
5. Place the vegetables on a lined baking tray and rub with first olive oil then herbs. Spread out evenly on the tray and rosy in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the squash is soft enough to pierce with a fork.

Chocolate 'Cheese'cake

Once again, I've neglected this poor little blog in favour of numerous school assignments threatening to squish me under their weight. Teachers don't care about Instagram, recipes or blogs. Teachers care about incomprehensible theorems, calculators and serving horrible non-vegan food. That's what they do. Plus the lighting this time of the year S-U-C-K-S so I obviously don't have a lot to post at the moment. This being said, I did find the time to do a little baking this weekend and I proudly present to you this Vegan Chocolate "Cheesecake"! The ones I made were miniature versions which means you can enjoy a slice whenever you want to. There's always room for a tiny slice of cake. As far as I'm concerned, there's always room for muh-assive wedges of decadent chocolate cakes of any kind, but mind you, I know everyone doesn't agree. So here we have it, small in size but big in flavour!

(Oh and I know I've been inconsistent with the measurements in this recipe, grams here and cups there. If you don't have access to a kitchen scale, just play it by ear, taste as you go, and I'm sure you'll do just fine!)

Chocolate Cheesecake (No-Bake!)

Filling:

About 15-18 medium sized dates (175g)

1 heaped cup raw cashews, soaked overnight (150 g unsoaked)

1 can full fat coconut milk, chilled overnight in the fridge

1 tbsp coconut oil

3 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder

A pinch of salt (to enhance the chocolate flavour)

Crust:

150 g dried figs

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup dried mulberries

Chocolate topping:

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder

1 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice

How to:

1. Place the figs and oats in a food processor and blend on high until you have a sticky ball of fig-oat deliciousness.
2. Divide the dough in two parts and press each part out into a non-stick springform pan, about 10 cm/4 inches across. You could also use a bigger cake tin, about 15 cm/6 inches in diameter.
3. Open the can of coconut milk and spoon out the hard, creamy layer that has formed on top, into your food processor/high speed blender along with the rest of the filling ingredients. Save the leftover "water" for smoothies and such, it's packed full of wonderful coconut flavour.
4. Blend on high until silky smooth. Be patient- it takes time. But the more you blend the better your filling will be. Stop now and then to scrape down from the sides if necessary.
5. Once the filling is done, pour it into the springform pan(s) and leave for at least 7 hours to set in the freezer.
6. When the cheesecakes have set, mix the ingredients for the chocolate topping in a small bowl until they're well incorporated. Let the "sauce" cool down a bit before you pour it on top of the cheesecakes, that way you'll prevent a runny, chocolate-y mess from happening.

Let each slice thaw for a few minutes before serving!

Enjoy and have a wonderful day!
Tilda

Vanilla Protein Bliss Balls

Bliss balls... Little bites of gooey, chewy, sweet deliciousness. Nut butters, superfood powders, dried fruit, seeds, grains. The possibilities are - quite literally - endless! So quick and easy to make, bliss balls is one of my favourite vegan treats. This batch was made yesterday, as a result of an intense craving for something sweet that struck, well, by noon. What can I say, my sweet tooth is unstoppable.

Not only are these delicious, they also pack a punch of raw protein from the Purple Balance protein powder that I like to use in my recipes. Hope you like them as much as I do! (Ehrm, make that 'did'. I'm afraid they're all gone now.)

Vanilla Protein Bliss Balls

Ingredients:

200 g soft/medjool/soaked dates (about 18 small)

3 tbsp oat or coconut flour

3 scoops (tbsp) Purple Balance Vanilla Protein (or vegan protein powder of your choice)

A pinch of pure vanilla powder

1 tbsp coconut oil

Coatings:

Raw Lucuma powder, carob/cacao powder and desiccated coconut

How to:

1. Put all ingredients in your food processor and blend until smooth.

2. Scoop the dough out with a spoon and roll into small balls.

3. Place in an airtight container in the fridge to let the coconut oil set, about 30 min-1 hour should suffice. (That is, if they're too soft to roll immediately after blending)

4. Coat the balls by placing a small amount of your powder of choice in a cupped hand, then use both hands to coat the balls, without putting too much pressure on them to keep the round shape.

5. Store in the fridge! 

Double Trouble Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

Another banana ice cream recipe that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do! Prepare for DOUBLE trouble with peanuts both in the ice cream and on top...

Banana Ice Cream:

3 medium sized sliced and frozen bananas

1/4 cup of almond milk

1 1/2 tbsp all natural peanut butter

Pinch of salt

Peanut Butter Sauce:

1 tbsp peanut flour

3/4 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp liquid sweetener of choice (I use date syrup)

Optional: 1 tsp of cacao/cocoa and 1 tbsp almond milk (instead of 3/4) for a chocolate peanut butter sauce

How to:
1. Start by making your peanut butter sauce. In a small bowl (Well. I use a shot glass but that's just me.), mix all of the ingredients with a fork until no clumps remain. Easy peasy.
2. If you want your peanut butter to be evenly divided throughout the ice cream, thin it out with a  the almond milk first. Stir in little by little until you have a runny sauce. If you'd rather have peanut butter chunks, feel free to skip this step.
3. Place your bananas and a sprinkle of salt in your high speed blender/food processor and blend on high for about a minute or until there are no bigger pieces of banana left.
4. Carefully remove the top cap/lid on your nana ice cream maker and slowly, as you blend, pour in the almond milk and peanut butter mixture. (Or each of them separately if you skipped the second step.)
5. Blend until you have a wonderfully creamy and smooth consistency. Stop to scrape down the sides if necessary.
6. Spoon up in a bowl/jar, top with the peanut butter sauce and a handful of crushed peanuts and cacao nibs if you so wish, eat and enjoy!

Strawberry Vanilla Nana Ice Cream

So. Only today did I realise that there is not a single banana ice cream recipe to be found on this blog.   This shan't be the case on a blog owned by nana ice cream's no. 1 fan! (Me!) Please accept my sincerest apologies. Let's just pretend this recipe has been here since the dawn of time lalala. Just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave. 

÷

I may not be the most dedicated blogger but I do care a lot about my followers and I appreciate you all so incredibly much, you literally have no idea. In the future there will be a thorough step-by-step guide uploaded on here but for now, this will have to do. Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Strawberry Vanilla Nana Ice Cream (Finally!)

Serves: 1

Cook time: 5 minutes, tops.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized ripe bananas, sliced and frozen

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or a pinch of pure vanilla powder

1/2 cup frozen strawberries

How to:

1. Place all of the ingredients except for the almond milk in your food processor/high speed blender.

2. Blend on high until there are only very small pieces of frozen fruit left. This should take about a minute or so.

3. Now, carefully remove the small top lid/cap on your food processor/blender and slowly pour in the almond milk, while blending on high.

4. Watch magic happen. (Ok, you may have to stop and scrape down from the sides a few times but seriously, let the blender do the job. No need to poke around in there too much.)

5. Once the ice cream has turned into a creamy, luscious swirl of amazingness, turn the blender off, spoon up in a jar, bowl or whatever floats your boat, top with coconut chips and devour immediately!

Pasta con Funghi

Pasta con Funghi

Yields one big serving or two small ones.

Cooking time: Approximately 25 min.

2/3 cup uncooked brown rice fusilli or pasta of your choice

Sauce:

1 1/2 cups sliced brown mushrooms

1/2 cup almond milk

2 tbsp vegan cream substitute (I used Oatly's oat cream)

1/2 tbsp brown rice flour or thickening of your choice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Salt, pepper and lemon juice (optional) to taste

Start by bringing a pot of water to the boil, to cook your pasta in later.

How to:
1. Place all of the above ingredients except for the brown rice flour, mushrooms and nutritional yeast in a small saucepan.
2. Bring the mixture to the boil.
3. Stir, then lower the heat and let simmer for a few minutes.
4. Next, add the brown rice flour (preferably through a sieve) and whisk as you go.
5. Put the nutritional yeast in, whisk again and leave the sauce to thicken over low heat while you prepare your mushrooms. (At this stage you could put your pasta in the boiling water so the all the components can be ready at the same time!)
6. In a separate pan, lightly sauté the mushrooms to cook some of the liquid off. You might want to use a bit of cooking oil in the bottom unless you have access to a non-stick pan.
7. Fold the sautéed mushrooms into the sauce, have a taste and add more seasoning if it needs it. Let simmer for a few more minutes for a thicker consistency.
8. Toss the pasta in the sauce and top with a few sun-dried tomatoes if you'd like!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet ingredients:

1 chia or flax egg (1 tbsp ground chia/flax seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup pumpkin purée 

3 tbsp almond milk

How to:
1. Start by preparing your chia egg. Grind the seeds either using a coffee blender or by hand with a mortar and pestle. Put the ground seeds in a small glass/bowl with 3 tbsp of water and whisk vigorously for 30 seconds or so to prevent clumping if you're using ground chia seeds. let sit and swell while you prepare the rest.
2. In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork until the baking powder is evenly divided.
3. Add the mashed banana, pumpkin puree and almond milk to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
4. Lastly, add in the chia/flax egg.
5. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes (the batter should be THICK) and pre-heat a pan over low to medium heat.
6. Fry in a little coconut oil (unless you have a non-stick frying pan) on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Chocolate sauce:

2 tbsp plant-based yoghurt
1/2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (I used date syrup)

How to:
1. Simply mix all of the above with a fork/spoon until smooth. Pour on top of your pancake stack and decorate with a spoonful of plain yoghurt to create the cobweb pattern.

Enjoy!