Veggie Loaded Lasagne

by Lou Robbie

Totally worth all the effort, this veggie packed lasagne is a meal in itself! I ordered a rescue box of veggies this week and was spoiled for choice. With a big head of cauliflower, peppers, aubergine, spring onions and Irish courgettes (and lots more) there was only one thing for it!

Add this to your meal plan. Feed a gang or portion and freeze for future dinners. **This can definitely be dairy free and vegan, just make a couple of swaps.

Lou 🙂

Ingredients: serves 6

  • For the roast veg: 
  • 2 courgette, sliced
  • 2 aubergine, sliced
  • 2-3 peppers, red & yellow, sliced
  • 20g baby spinach, washed
  • For the cauliflower bechamel sauce: 
  • 1 head cauliflower, small florets
  • 300ml milk (of choice)
  • A pinch nutmeg 
  • 80g ground almonds 
  • For the tomato sauce: 
  • 2 tins plum tomatoes (400g each)
  • 8 spring onions, 
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • a handful fresh basil leaves and stalks chopped
  • Oil to cook
  • Salt and pepper 
  • To construct:
  • 12 lasagne sheets (230g)
  • 70g grated cheese to sprinkle

Method:

Step 1: Preheat the oven 180ºC.

For the veg: Slice the courgette, aubergine and peppers into flat strips. Put them on a baking tray and season with salt and pepper, drizzle oil all over and roast in the oven for 40 minutes until soft.

Step 2: For the cauliflower bechamel sauce: Put the cauliflower florets in a pot of boiling salty water and cook until soft. Transfer to a blender with the milk, nutmeg, ground almonds and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper..

Step 3: For the tomato sauce: In a wide pot add a tablespoon of oil, add the sliced spring onions and chopped garlic and cook for a few minutes to soften. Add the 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Add the chopped basil stalks, give the sauce a quick blend with a hand blender. 

Step 4: Construct the lasagne: in a large baking tray spread a tin layer of tomato sauce at the bottom, top with pasta sheets, layer roast veggies, spinach, and then the white sauce. Repeat finishing with the white sauce and topping with the grated cheese. 

Step 5: Bake in the oven at 180ºC for 50 minutes. Allow to cook and set then slice and serve.

Glazed Chickpea Loaf

by Liz Child

🌷A spring roast, perfect for Easter Sunday. This moist chickpea loaf is inspired by an old budget family favourite, meatloaf. It is full of flavour and nutrients and is pretty simple to put together. A Sunday roast doesn’t need to be complicated. 

🐰Just pop this loaf in the oven alongside a tray of carrots seasoned with thyme, a sprinkle of sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

🐰While that’s cooking, boil some potatoes and chop some fresh herbs like parsley and dill. When the potatoes are nearly done, chuck in something green like broccoli or spring cabbage. 

🐰Drain the potatoes and greens and toss with plenty of butter, salt, pepper and the chopped fresh herbs.

🐰 Serve slices of the chickpea loaf with the sweet roasted carrots and the herby potatoes and greens. Drizzle with gravy and enjoy!

Liz x

Loaf Ingredients

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 200g mushrooms, diced
  • 1/4 celeriac, diced (or 3 sticks of celery)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • a pinch of salt and pepper for sautéing
  • 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
  • 2 tbsp bouillon powder
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp each salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 5 heaped tbsp chickpea flour

Glaze

You can use any odds and ends of sauces you have in the house eg bbq, ketchup, chutney, jam, sriracha, mint sauce… just mix a sweet, tangy, salty, spicy or herby combo together that you like. This time I found:

  • 1 tbsp sriracha
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • a drizzle of maple syrup
  • a splash of soy sauce

Method

  1. Turn the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Sauté the veggies in a deep frying pan with the oil and a pinch of salt and pepper until softened.
  2. Pulse the sautéed vegetables in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Don’t blend too smooth, a little texture is best.
  3. Stir in the chickpea flour. If you think the mix seems a little wet, add a bit more flour.
  4. Press the mixture into a lined loaf tin, top with a glaze and bake at 180C for 40-50 minutes. 

Glazed Tofu

by Liz Child

Looking for a quick and simple, yet utterly delicious, centerpiece for your veggie/vegan guests this Christmas? This glazed tofu is the answer. It is gorgeously caramelised on the outside and beautifully tender inside. Firm tofu is a wholesome, healthy and satisfying protein, but definitely a blank canvas that needs a good marinade to shine. This sweet glaze is spiked with mustard and garlic and is honestly, so moreish. Enjoy!

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2-4 depending on sides and appetite)

  • 400g extra firm tofu (2 of our blocks)
  • 4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 heaped tsp garlic granules
  • 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
  • a splash of just-boiled water
  • salt to taste

Method

  1. Place your blocks of tofu into a small, lined roasting dish. Sprinkle the first sides with 2 tsp of smoked paprika and 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Turn the blocks over.
  2. Score the tops of the blocks of tofu in shallow, diagonal cuts. Then sprinkle these top sides with the remaining smoked paprika and soy sauce. Pop the dish in a hot oven to roast for 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile prepare the glaze by whisking together the sugar, mustard, garlic granules, salt and hot water into a smooth sauce.
  4. Remove the tofu from the oven and brush liberally with the glaze. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes or so until dark brown, sticky and delicious! You can check on the tofu every 5 minutes and baste with any glaze that has pooled around the bottom of the dish. Enjoy alongside all your usual Christmas roast trimmings.

Lentil Shepherds Pie

by Liz Child

The ultimate comfort food on repeat in our house all through the winter. Filling, warm, nourishing and oh so delicious on a cold night. We use meaty mushrooms and red wine for deep, dark flavours. Instead of plain potato mash, we mix it with swede (with loads of butter and black pepper) and drizzle with rapeseed oil before it goes in the oven for a gorgeous golden, crispy mash topping. Give it a try and see why it’s a firm, family favourite.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 4 or 6 with sides)

  • 2 white onions, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 3 sticks of celery, trimmed and diced
  • 5 carrots, trimmed and diced
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms, roughly diced
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 vegetable stock cube (or a tbsp of bouillion)
  • 2 tins of cooked green lentils, drained
  • 1 small glass of red wine
  • Cornstarch slurry (1 heaped tbsp cornstarch stirred into 1 glass of cold water)
  • 1/2 a swede & around 600g of potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled in salted water until very soft
  • 50g of vegan butter (or more to taste) with more salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper for the mash
  • a drizzle of cold pressed rapeseed oil

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and get your potatoes and swede on to boil in salted water.
  2. Meanwhile, in a wide, oven and hob safe pan, sauté the chopped onion, garlic, carrot, celery and mushrooms with a tbsp of rapeseed oil, salt pepper and the dried thyme.
  3. Once the vegetables have softened, add the bay leaves, red wine, drained lentils and crumble in the stock cube. Stir and cook out the alcohol for a couple of minutes. Then add the cornstarch slurry and stir over a medium heat until thickened.
  4. Taste the lentil base and adjust the seasoning if needed with more salt or pepper. Drain and mash the potatoes and swede with butter, salt and plenty of pepper. Then top the lentil base with the mash, rough it up with a fork and drizzle over some oil.
  5. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling hot and golden and crispy on top. Enjoy with some steamed greens or a lovely crisp kale and apple salad.

Pumpkin & Chickpea Rolls

by Liz Child

November already! Get those carved pumpkins washed and in the oven to roast before they go mouldy. You can scoop out the flesh and freeze it in portions to add to soups, curries, stews, pies etc. Here’s a delicious snack you can make with some, all you need is a sheet of ready rolled puff pastry, a tin of chickpeas (or any bean/lentil you like) and some seasoning. We went for Moroccan flavours this time which are very similar to our sweet, warming pumpkin spice mix (which also needs using up – find the recipe for that here). Will you put your own twist on this recipe? Let us know what worked well in the comments.

Liz x

Ingredients (makes 12 small rolls)

  • 1 tin chickpeas, drained
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 1 salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/2 a medium kuri squash, roasted and completely chilled (or any pumpkin or winter squash like butternut)
  • 1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
  • oat milk for brushing and sealing
  • sesame seeds to sprinkle

Method

  1. Mash the chickpeas with the spices, salt and pepper. If you don’t have pumpkin spice mix, just sprinkle in some cinnamon, ginger, chilli, cloves etc. Leave some chickpeas whole, they bring nice body and texture to the filling.
  2. Add cold roasted pumpkin flesh and mix it in. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed with more salt.
  3. Cut your sheet of pastry into 3 even pieces. Share out the filling between the 3 pieces and use a spoon to shape the filling into a sausage along the middle of each piece. Roll up the filling in the pastry, seal the edges with oat milk. Flip the sealed side over to the bottom and brush the tops with more milk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cut each long sausage into 4.
  4. Space them out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake at 200C for 10-15 minutes or until golden and hot through. Enjoy!

Beetloaf

by Liz Child

This is a really delicious and hearty veggie main for your festive feast, made with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. A great option if you need an alternative to a nut roast, this beetloaf is nut free, can easily be gluten free if you use gluten free oats, and is full of healthy fibre and protein from beans, chickpeas and oats. Make is Christmassy as I’ve done here with a cranberry sauce glaze, or use it for another occasion and switch the cranberry sauce for barbecue sauce, apple chutney or a mustard and maple glaze. Make it your own with your favourite herbs and spices. Happy Christmas!

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 400g cooked beetroot
  • 1 tin of chickpeas plus the liquid in the tin
  • 2 tins black beans, drained
  • 1 tbsp each: smoked paprika, sage, rosemary and thyme
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée or ketchup
  • 2 diced onions and 4 diced garlic cloves cooked in olive oil
  • 150-200g porridge oats
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • cranberry sauce to glaze (around 6 tbsp)

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
  2. In a food processor, blend the beetroot, chickpeas and their liquid, herbs and spices, seasoning and half the black beans into a thick purée.
  3. Add the onion/garlic mix, 150g of oats and remaining black beans and pulse together to retain some texture.
  4. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed and add more oats if a little wet.
  5. Scrape into the lined loaf tin, cover with cranberry sauce (or any glaze you prefer eg barbecue sauce, mustard and maple…) and bake for around an hour or until cooked through.
  6. Serve in slices with all the trimmings. Gravy, roast potatoes, greens…

Mustard & Maple Swede Roast

by Liz Child

Whole roasted vegetables are one of my favourite things. The long roast means there’s always a sweet, juicy centre and interesting textures and flavours on the edges. This recipe for whole roast swede (pretending to be ham) is inspired by eco-chef Tom Hunt. It makes a fun festive centrepiece and it’s delicious too! Not ham flavoured of course, but a celebration of the humble-but-hearty swede. These bulbous roots are a real Irish staple and they are well overdue their time in the limelight. Swede is slightly peppery and sweet and the mustard-maple glaze works wonderfully. Delicious served in slices alongside pickled red cabbage, roasted potatoes and winter greens. The vegetable and red wine bed makes a brilliant base for a veggie gravy too.

What are you serving for Christmas dinner?

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 2 onions
  • 1 bulb of garlic
  • 2 carrots
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 2 stock cubes
  • a large glass of red wine
  • a large glass of hot water
  • 1 swede
  • whole cloves (approximately 50?)
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 6 tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 6 tbsp maple syrup

Method

  1. Turn the oven on to 200C. Find a casserole dish with a lid that your swede will fit comfortably in (alternatively use a deep roasting dish and a sheet of foil or a baking sheet as a lid).
  2. Start preparing your swede. Peel it with a potato peeler and trim off any unwanted bits with a large, sharp knife. Score it with shallow cuts, criss-crossing to make lots of diamond shapes. Using a toothpick or a skewer, push a hole into the centre of each diamond. Then push a whole clove into each hole to stud the surface of the swede.
  3. Cut the bulb of garlic in half along its equator. Quarter the onions (leave the skin on) and the carrots. Put the vegetables in the casserole dish, these will impart lots of flavour to the juices in the bottom of the dish. Pour in the wine and hot water and crumble in the stock cubes. Add the bay leaves. Now place the prepared swede on top.
  4. Drizzle the swede with the olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Put the lid on and place the pot in the oven to steam-bake the swede for at least 1.5 hours (depending on the size of the swede) or until the swede is cooked through. You can test this with a skewer.
  5. Remove the swede onto a clean baking dish. Mix the mustard and maple syrup together and brush half of it over the top and sides of the swede. Return it to the oven for 10 minutes. Then brush the remaining mustard and maple glaze over the swede and put it back in the oven for a final ten minutes. Then it’s ready to carve and enjoy!

Roasted Garlic & Red Wine, Onion Gravy

  1. You can make a gorgeous gravy from the juices left in the casserole dish. Remove the carrots, bay leaves and onions skins. Squeeze out the garlic and remove the skins from the pot. Then use a whisk to blend the roasted garlic into the sauce.
  2. Add 2 tbsp of cornstarch that has been mixed with 3 tbsp of cold water. Whisk it into the gravy and simmer and stir until the gravy is a good consistency. You may wish to add more water.
  3. Add a generous knob of butter and taste the gravy for seasoning. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. I usually add a splash of soy sauce to enrich and darken the gravy too.

Crumbly, Melt-In-The-Mouth Fudge

by Liz Child

I have a childhood memory of the best homemade fudge. Every shop-bought fudge I’ve ever purchased has never lived up to that memory. It’s usually too close to caramel or toffee, too chewy or sticky. To me, fudge should hold together in blocks, but when you bite into it, it should have a buttery, sweet flavour and a slightly grainy, melt-in-the-mouth texture. It should crumble and be short and snappy rather than chewy and stretchy. I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen and I’m really happy with this recipe.

Our new Natruli butter blocks make it easy to recreate a dairy free version. This recipe works just as well with dairy/dairy-free ingredients so you do you. A jar of fudge is definitely going in all my homemade Christmas hampers to friends this year. Do you make homemade Christmas gifts? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 150g butter
  • 300g sugar (our whole cane sugar is perfect for this recipe, otherwise use an even mix of soft brown and white sugar)
  • 250ml milk (I use oat milk but any milk will work)
  • a large pinch of Achill Island sea salt flakes
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients except the vanilla into a heavy bottomed pot.
  2. Melt them together over a medium-high heat, stirring regularly with a wooden spoon.
  3. Bring the mixture up to a bubbling boil. Stir frequently and let it bubble and thicken for 20 minutes or until it reaches 115C.
  4. Take the pot off the heat, add the vanilla then beat with a whisk for around 8 minutes or until the sugars start to crystallise. You should notice the mixture change from glossy and smooth to thick and grainy.
  5. Scrape the mixture into a small baking tray lined with baking parchment (did you know we sell compostable baking paper?), level it out and score/cut it into 32 squares using a blunt knife or the edge of a spatula.
  6. Cover the tray with a clean tea towel and let it set at room temperature for a few hours.
  7. Once it’s completely cool you can pull it out and snap it into squares. Pack the fudge into an airtight container and enjoy within 2 weeks! It will store well at room temperature in an airtight container. It is prone to dry out in the fridge so it’s best to keep it at room temperature.

Sprout Spaghetti

by Liz Child

Brussels sprouts are in season and are certainly not just for Christmas Day. Have you been adding them to your boxes? What’s your favourite sprout recipe? I love sautéing them like this with garlic, herbs, nuts and citrus, then folding them through pasta. They’re also brilliant stirred through rice or another cooked grain like barley, quinoa, buckwheat etc for a gorgeous warm salad. Here’s my sprout spaghetti recipe, it makes a stunning mid-week meal and will only take as long as the time to boil your pasta. Quick, festive and delicious!

Liz x

Ingredients (per person)

  • 70-100g dry spaghetti (depending on appetite) or other grain/pulse of your choice eg quinoa, rice…
  • 1 heaped tbsp butter (I use our new dairy free Natruli blocks)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 7 Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
  • a small handful of hazelnuts, roughly chopped
  • 3 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • salt and pepper to taste (it’s extra good with lots of black pepper!)

Method

  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, meanwhile chop your sprouts, garlic and hazelnuts.
  2. Generously salt the boiling water and drop in the pasta. Give it an occasional stir to prevent it from clumping or sticking to the bottom. While the pasta cooks, prepare the rest of the dish.
  3. In a wide pan, melt the butter, add the oil and sprouts, hazelnuts, garlic and rosemary. Stir fry for a few minutes then season well with salt and pepper.
  4. Add the zest and juice of the lemon when the sprouts turn bright green and are mostly cooked through. Stir well, taste and adjust the seasoning if need with more salt, pepper or lemon. Turn off the heat for now.
  5. Drain the pasta but reserve a mug or so of the starchy cooking water. Add the pasta to the sprouts and turn the heat back on. Add a few splashes of the cooking water and mix the pasta and buttery sprouts together. The pasta water and butter should create a delicious, light, lemony sauce. Taste again and you’ll probably want to add more black pepper.
  6. Serve in bowls and top with grated cheese or nutritional yeast flakes if you like. Enjoy!

Celeriac Steaks

by Liz Child

We haven’t grown them for quite a few years so we are delighted to let you know that our celeriac are back! Have you tried one? They’re a gorgeous winter root vegetable. Big and bulbous and full of flavour. Think a hybrid between a potato and a parsnip with a delicate celery flavour. These beasts are stunning in soups and stews, but they also lend themselves nicely to coleslaw, in fact raw, grated celeriac is really gorgeous tossed with a mustardy mayonnaise. I’ll tell you about that another day. But today I am eating celeriac in thick slices, fried like a steak in lots of butter. I LOVE a vegetable steak (cauliflower, portobello, butternut…), it’s a great way to really highlight a vegetable and focus on the flavour. Serve with mashed beans and roasted garlic for lip-smackingly delicious, filling, protein, some wintery greens like kale or cabbage and a creamy wholegrain mustard sauce. Quite a special dish, fit for a date night, but really not very complex to make as you’ll see below. Enjoy!

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 celeriac – peel with a small, sharp knife, then cut 4 thick slices out of the middle and save the ends for a soup
  • 1 tin of butterbeans or cannellini beans, any white beans will work
  • 1 whole bulb of garlic
  • kale or cabbage, as much as you like
  • 1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard
  • 1 tbsp corn starch or plain flour
  • oat milk – enough to loosen the pan juices into a thick sauce
  • butter, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200C. Pop a whole bulb of garlic (that’s right, the whole bulb, not just a clove) into a small, oven-proof dish with a drizzle of olive oil. Put it in the oven to bake until soft – around 15-20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile prepare the celeriac as above, chop and rinse some greens (kale or cabbage go well here) and put them in a pot with a lid, some seasoning and some butter/oil on the hob. Drain some of the liquid from your tin of butterbeans and pop them into another small pan.
  3. Get your widest frying pan (or use two) on to a medium heat and melt a generous knob of butter with a couple of tbsp of olive oil. Add the celeriac steaks and season well with salt and pepper. Cook, turning occasionally until they are softening and turning a gorgeous caramel colour. They should smell amazing!
  4. When the celeriac are nearly cooked through, take the garlic out of the oven to cool slightly, turn the heat on under the pot of beans and the pot of greens. Cook both, stirring often, until piping hot. Then turn off the heat.
  5. Put the celeriac steaks in a small dish in the oven to keep warm (turn the oven down to 150C so they don’t burn) whilst you make the mash and the sauce.
  6. Pull apart the roasted garlic and squeeze the soft, fragrant flesh into the pan with the beans. Season well with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of olive oil or a knob of butter and mash the beans and garlic into a puree. Or use a stick blender if you’d like your mash extra smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
  7. To the frying pan in which the celeriac steaks were cooked, add a tbsp of flour and a tbsp of wholegrain mustard. Whisk into the buttery, caramelised, celeriac juices that are left in the pan and add a splash of oat milk. Turn the heat up and keep whisking and adding milk until you have a silky, creamy sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper and now you are ready to serve.
  8. Divide the greens and garlicky mash between two plates, add on the steaks then drizzle with the sauce. Have extra wholegrain mustard on the table and enjoy with a glass of wine or a cold beer.