How do you eat yours? This might be the tastiest sprout dish I’ve ever had! The combination of flavours is just perfect, in fact I could eat a whole bowl..and I never liked sprouts as a child! This is delicious as a solo dish or serve with your Christmas main or as a starter with crumbled feta cheese and sourdough.
We have the nicest Irish brussel sprouts for you this Christmas, make sure to try them this way you wont be disappointed.
Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºC and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Step 2: Prepare the sprouts, cut off the end and take away the outer leaves. Then cut in half.
Step 3: Put the brussel sprout halves on the tray, drizzle with oil and salt and give them a rub with your hands to coat.
Step 4: Roast for 10-15 minutes. Then add chopped walnuts, the balsamic, maple syrup, stir to coat and put the tray back in the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Every Christmas dinner needs a centrepiece and this is a delicious one. Organic butternut squash with mushrooms, herbs and nuts tastes delicious wrapped in crispy puff pastry with all the usual side vegetables.
You can make this ahead of time and keep it wrapped on a tray in the fridge for 3 days. If you fancy making your own gravy check out our recipe Groovy Gravy.
Save the recipe to try this Christmas.
Lou 🙂
Ingredients
2 pack of ready rolled puff pastry – most are vegan (375g per pack)
1 cup chopped nuts – walnuts/hazelnuts/almonds/cashews/pecans
salt and pepper to taste
80g breadcrumbs
Method:
Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºC, line 2 trays with parchment paper. Take the puff pastry out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Put the diced squash on one tray, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and roast until soft, 30-40 minutes.
Step 2: Warm a frying pan on a medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil and the chopped onion, cook to soften for 5-10 minutes. Next add the garlic, leeks, some salt and pepper cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook them fully for 15 minutes. Once cooked add in the sage, parsley, chopped nuts, soy sauce, maple syrup, stir to coat.
Step 3: When the squash is cooked add it to the pot with the cooked mushroom and mash with a fork or potato masher. Pour in the breadcrumbs and stir well. Set aside to cool.
Step 4: Unroll both packets of pastry lay one on the second baking tray. Spoon the squash and mushroom filling into the middle of the pastry and make a long sausage shape mound. Mould it with your hands so its compact. Lay the second piece of pastry on top. Cut away the extra pastry (use it for something else) seal the edges with a fork, score a diamond shape on the top. Brush with milk or egg-wash.
Step 5: Bake in the oven 180ºC for 1 hour 20, until golden brown and cooked through.
This recipe was handed down through my family, from my great-grandmother to my mother and when I moved to Ireland from Germany, I brought it with me – every year in the weeks before Christmas, this is one of my favourite things to bake. It just so happens to be vegan, too! A gently spiced, moist, sumptuous treat that’s amazing with a bit of (vegan) butter and a cup of tea.
Ingredients
500g peeled and grated apple
200g sugar
125g raisins
6 dried apricots, chopped
70g almonds, chopped
1 heaped tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
a pinch of salt
40ml rum (or fruit juice)
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Method
Mix the apple and sugar in a large mixing bowl and allow it to sit in the fridge overnight or for an hour or so at room temperature.
Pre-heat the oven to 175C. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the apple and sugar mixture (which should now be very wet) and mix to evenly combine the ingredients into a thick, spoonable batter.
Spread the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or so until it is risen and set. It should still be moist but when you insert a skewer it should come out mostly dry with a few damp crumbs.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin then remove and slice it thickly. This cake stays fresh for a week in the fridge if tightly wrapped.
The old reliable carrot is an annual hero on the vegetable charts! You’ll find it in soups and stews in the colder months but is given a jazz up in this tasty recipe.
Hasselback originated in a restaurant in Sweden where a potato was sliced multiple times but kept intact then seasoned, oiled and roasted. We’ve added some spice to our Irish organic carrot version and slowly roasted them and they are sweet and soft and flavoursome.
Serve as a starter with crumbled cheese and nuts or on the side with your veggie main course.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°C. Peel the carrots and cut into 10cm lengths. Carefully cut small widthways slits into each carrot length, stopping three-quarters of the way down. Continue along the length of the carrot to achieve a hasselback effect. Tip: if you have chop sticks put them on either side of the carrot to help prevent cutting through.
Step 2: Put the fennel in a pestle and mortar if you have one and gently crush. Add the ground cumin, honey, oil, salt and stir. Pour the spiced mix over the carrots and coat each piece. Place on a baking tray and cook in the oven for30-40 minutes, until cooked through and golden.
Step 3: Serve warm with crumbled feta and chopped walnuts.
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry when I discovered earlier this year, that one major supermarket is now, at least, at times, highlighting the chemicals on or in some of its citrus fruit.
I guess it is not a laughing matter, the issue of chemicals in our food chain is serious, it is important as it has a knock-on effect for our health and biodiversity.
It is my belief that agriculture can be a force for good in our world, an endeavour that can produce safe wholesome food whilst enhancing our locality and planet. But that will require a change of mindset and policy when it comes to the fair pricing of food.
All the things that are good about agriculture are slowly being sucked dry by the loss leading of fresh produce by supermarkets and the race for intensification and the lowest possible price. Like any business if there is not enough money in the pot you cannot invest for the future, you cannot survive, it is no different for farmers, getting a fair price for our crops is not too much to ask, and if we don’t then how can we invest back into the land.
Anyway, I digress, back to the case at hand, chemicals on our food. The last few weeks we have been talking here about the test for the 870 chemicals on our kale that came back clean (This test was part of our organic certification spot check) and how maybe conventional foods should be labelled with what they include, rather than the organic farmer having to prove that his/her food is clean and good.
I wonder though as this large supermarket chain has marked the inclusion of chemical products in two of its citrus fruit did it forget about all the other fruit and veg it sells? I can only assume that they too have offending chemicals present.
One of the products on sale, a conventional lime, is labelled “not suitable for vegans!” (Without, the exclamation mark obviously, I just added that in for effect) the offending lime in question contained a mixture or some of the following…… wait for it…
Another product and one that is in season right now: ‘Naturally Sweet Leafy Clementines’ Contained: E904, E914 and Imazalil.
(Incidentally E904 is shellac. Shellac is a resin secreted by female lac bugs, and this is what makes the limes non vegan. You may also be interested to know that imazalil and thiabendazole are two hormone-disrupting fungicides, one of which is also a likely carcinogen.)
Do your own research, check it out. Having mulled this over for some time I think it is a good thing that this information is displayed. Do you think it should also be printed on the pack in the supermarket aisle? Then you and I could make an informed decision or at the very least we would know what we are getting for our money.
Of course, these chemicals are labelled as safe once used below the MRL (the maximum residue limit). These limits are set to protect you and I from ingesting too much of these chemicals. However, as I have spoken about in the past the setting of these limits can be questionable and, in some cases, seems to have been set in relation to the level of application required rather than in relation to whether the product is safe. I refer to the research on the increased MRLs for glyphosate that have been increased 300-fold between 1993 and 2015 in the US. Is it safer now to eat 300 times the dose? I think probably not.
I will finish on this note: farmers are doing the best they can, we all are, we are working to survive in a system that is fundamentally flawed, but for all its issues, it is the system we have, and it provides our food, we cannot do without it, not when there are so many of us on this planet. But there is no question that step by step we must and can introduce more positive ways of producing food and we can support this transition by deciding with who and on what we spend our money.
A cupboard staple that’s just so handy to cook with, for a quick satisfying meal or even, yes, cake… we’ve got them all, great recipes for beans of different sorts coming up below!
Beautiful red onions high in antioxidants, great for your heart and liver. This recipe couldn’t be easier, just 4 ingredients and its so versatile. Serve it with cheese, put on a pizza, have it with savoury pastries it gives lovely sweet and sour notes to your food.
We’re coming up to Christmas and it would also make a lovely gift. Jar it up and put a nice ribbon on it, it makes a really thoughtful edible gift.
We enjoyed it this week with our Amazing Leek and Bean Rolls! Yum.
Step 1: Chop off the top and root and peel the red onions. They need to be finely sliced so use a food processor with a fine blade or do it by hand with a sharp knife.
Step 2: Put the sliced onions into a wide pot along with the sugar. Stir together and put the lid on the pot and cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes until the onions are completely soft and the sugar has dissolved. Check it half way through.
Step 3: Pour in the wine and the vinegar and cook with the lid off on low for a further 20-30 minutes. When the onions are ready the liquid will have evaporated and the onions will be sweet and soft.
Cool completely then transfer to a clean jar. This will keep in the fridge for 1 month.
Breakfast, lunch or dinner!! These leek and bean rolls are delicious any time of the day and would make amazing party food too! Leeks are one of my favourite vegetables cooked slowly they become so soft and sweet. The kidney beans bring the protein and bind really well with the spiced leeks. We’ve added flaked almonds for crunch and subtle flavour.
If you want to go full vegan brush with milk of your choice.
Let us know if you try them.
Lou 🙂
Ingredients: makes 8 rolls
I pack of ready rolled puff pastry(375g) – most are suitable for vegans
1 tbsp oil 2 small leeks, cleaned and diced finely
1 tin kidney beans rinsed and drained 100g flaked almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg whisked or milk of choice to glaze
1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds to decorate
Method:
Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºC. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Leave the puff pastry out of fridge to come to room temperature. Clean the leeks by splitting in two and rinsing out any dirt, dry with clean cloth then finely dice them.
Step 2: Start by warming a frying pan on a medium heat, add the oil and chopped leeks. Cook for five or so minutes to soften. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes. Spoon in the tomato puree, maple syrup, soy sauce, cumin, paprika and chopped herbs or dried herbs. Stir to coat the leeks and cook for a further few minutes. Set aside to cool for a minute or two.
Step 3: To a food processor add the spiced leeks, drained kidney beans and flaked almonds. Blend to combine but keep the mix a bit chunky for texture. Taste the mix add salt or pepper if needed.
Step 4: Unroll the pastry, divide in 2 lengthways giving 2 even strips. Spoon the bean mix down the middle of the pastry in a sausage shape. Brush one side of the pastry strip with egg or milk. Gently fold the pastry over, use a fork to seal it. Cut the strip into 4 and put them on the baking tray. Brush with egg or milk, sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Repeat with the other strip of pastry.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until nice and golden brown.
This knobbly ugly root vegetable is seriously underrated, and I think people sometimes struggle finding ways to use it – well look no further, here are some recipes using celeriac!
Click on the bold text to go directly to the recipes.
Deep, rich, nutty and full of flavour this vegan ragu ticks all the boxes! Half the vegetables are roasted and toasted and the other half is sautéed, until soft and sweet in a sauce. When it comes together it makes the perfect combination. My top tip is to add a few spoons of the pasta water to the ragu to make it silky enough to cling to the pasta.
Step 1: Preheat the oven 200ºC, line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Chop the cauliflower into small florets, half the mushrooms. Blitz the cauliflower in a food processor first tip onto a baking tray, next add the mushrooms and then the walnuts. Pour all three onto a large baking tray, season with salt and drizzle with oil. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until toasted, checking every 10 minutes.
Step 2: Warm a wide frying pan on a medium heat, add the oil, finely diced onion, celery and leek if using. Sauté for 5-10 minutes until soft. Add the tomato puree, miso paste, paprika, chopped herbs, stir to coat and cook for a minute or two season with salt and pepper. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and deglaze the pan. Add the ragu veg mix and stir, then pour in the veg stock or water. If the mix seems dry add a bit more water. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 3: Cook the pasta as per packet- keep the pasta water. If the sauce is a bit dry still add a couple of spoons of pasta water to loosen then toss through the pasta and serve with you favourite finely grated hard cheese.
