Spinach and Onion Tart

Prepare a 10 inch shortcrust pastry case (6 oz flour, 3 oz sunflower spread) you can blind bake the pastry first if you like, I don't always do that.

Slice and fry 2 large or 4 medium onions with a bit of olive oil and a generous splash of balsamic vinegar.

You will also need: 1 litre of soya milk, 4-6 eggs, 1 block of vegan cheese, 100g fresh or frozen spinach, a generous pinch of chili flakes and some freshly ground black pepper

Mix the onions, spinach, cheese and eggs in a jug

Once the onions have softened place them in the pastry case

Pour the milk, egg etc mix over the onions

Bake in a hot oven (180 C with fan) for 30-40 min

Eat hot or cold, keeps well in the fridge for up to 3 days

 

Variations:

you can leave out the spinach, or add sun dried tomatoes in with the mixture and decorate with cherry tomatoes on top, if you put them in with the mixture it goes a bit soggy...

Taboulah

Recipe 1

From Claudia Roden's 'A New Book of Middle Eastern Food' (Penguin, 1986)

250g flat leaf parsley, wash, dry, remove stalks, chop finely

60g fresh mint, wash, dry, remove stalks, chop finely

60g fine ground cracked wheat - soak in cold water for 10 min, drain and remove excess water

Juice of 2 lemons - or more

250g finely chopped spring onions or 1 large mild onions

Young Cos lettuce leaves to garnish

3 medium tomatoes diced

Salt, pepper & olive oil, all to taste

Put the soaked cracked wheat in a bowl with the lemon juice, salt, pepper olive oil, cover and leave to one side for 30 min. 

In another bowl mix the rest of the ingredients, then gradually add the cracked wheat a little at a time, you should end up with a mostly green salad with some cracked wheat. 

Serve on a flat dish & decorate with the lettuce

The proportions of wheat to greens has changed over the years, less of the former and more of the latter is what you will find in Lebanon today.

 

Recipe 2  

This is my version : 

300g of washed, dried and chopped flat leaf parsley and coriander

100g of soaked ( in cold water) cracked wheat (fine or coarse)

4 finely chopped medium/large tomatoes 

1/2 a red onion chopped finely

Juice of 2 or more lemons

Salt, pepper and olive oil to taste

sliced lemon & olives to garnish

Put the soaked cracked wheat in a bowl with the lemon juice, salt, pepper olive oil, cover and leave to one side for 30 min. 

In another bowl mix the rest of the ingredients, then gradually add the cracked wheat, the more you add of the cracked wheat the more substantial and filling the salad is.

Serve in a bowl garnished with olives and slices of lemon

Note: I use a food processor for chopping everything up, and  I don't bother picking the leaves off the stalks...

Millionaire's Shortbread

For the shortbread:

250g plain flour

75g icing sugar

175g sunflower spread

Pre-heat the oven to 180'C and lightly grease a 10 inch square foil tray

Mix the flour and icing sugar; rub in  the sunflower spread until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs; pour the mixture into the foil tray and press it down; bake for 20 min or until it's light brown. 

The caramel

100g sunflower spread

100g light muscavado sugar

2 x 397g cans of condensed milk 

Place all the ingredients in a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissoved; bring to the boil stirring continuously for 5-10 min, then turn down the heat and continue to stir until the the mixture thickens and starts to form a coating on the side of the pan, don't allow to burn, pour over the shortbread and leave to cool.

For a vegan version double the amount of sugar and use soya milk instead of condensed milk (800 ml) and follow the same method described above.

The topping: 

Melt 300g of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, pour over the cold caramel and leave to set

Cut into 1.5 cm square pieces

You can freeze it, the chocolate discolours slightly but it doesn't affect the taste!

Mixed Veg Lasagna

1 Aubergine

2 Medium courgettes

3 Peppers (Red, green and yellow)

2 Parsnips

2 Carrots

1 Small head of broccoli

1 Medium onion

Chop all the above finely, use a food processor if you have one. 

Add all the above ingredients to a large pan, add 1 can of chopped tomatoes and add 2-4 tablespoons of Pesto. Simmer all the above on a low heat until the veg is cooked. 

Alternate layers of veg with lasagna sheets. 

For the topping use either pasta or seived pureed tomatoe. I sometimes also grate some vegan cheese over the top.

Note: For a Vegan/Dairy Free version use Vegan Pesto, or a heaped tablespoon of dried basil.

Shepherds Pie

1Kg potatoes
300g quorn
3 medium carrots grated
1/2 a sauteed chopped onion
100g peas
1.5 pint of gravy
Salt
Pepper
Sunflower spread (Optional)

Peel, slice and steam or boil the potatoes, then mash with a bit of salt, pepper and sunflower spread and leave to one side.

Meanwhile, stir fry the quorn, peas and carrots for a 3-5 min and add the gravy.

Put the quorn mixture into an oven dish, cover with mashed potatoes and bake in a hot oven (200 C ) for 45 min.

This dish can be made a day or two before you need it, stored in the fridge and then baked on the day.

Very Full Tart

This recipe is an adaptation of a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe  from a small booklet published by The Guardian in 2010.

The pastry - my version: 

6oz flour

3oz sunflower spread

Cold water to mix

Rub the sunflower spread into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add some cold water and mix until the mixture is bound together, roll out and place in a 10 inch tin or flan dish, trim the excess

line the pastry with grease proof paper and fill with dried beans or rice and bake for 20 min in a hot oven (180 C with fan, or 200 C without fan)

The filling:

Bake a red pepper and a yellow pepper whole for 20-30 min in a hot oven, then remove the peppers from the oven and cover with foil and leave to cool. Remove the skins and tear into strips.

Bake 1 chopped aubergine (4 cm dice)  in a separate tray for 12 min with some olive oil; then add 1 sweet potato sliced into 3 cm dice; after a further 12 min add 1 courgette cut into 3 cm dice.

At the same time slice 2 medium onions thinly and saute on medium heat, with a little olive oil,salt and 2 bay leaves until soft, discard the bay leaves and allow to cool a little

Assembling the tart: 

Spread the onions over the bottom 

Top with the roasted veg and scatter 4 chopped sprigs of fresg thyme over the top;

Crumble 120g of feta cheese on top, the original recipe includes 120 g of ricotta cheese, but we prefare it without

Mix 2 eggs with 200 ml of milk or double cream and pour over the tart, cut 7 cherry tomatoes in half and arrange on top, and finally scatter the remaining thyme on the tart.

Baking

Bake for 35-45 min until the tart sets

Serve hot or cold

 

Lemon & Poppy Seed Cupcakes

Cream together :

120g Sugar

15yo0g Sunflower spread

1/2 tsp Lemon extract

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Mix in: 

2 eggs (or equivalent of vegan egg replacement)

60 ml of soya yogurt

Weigh out 150g flour and 15g of poppy seeds

Sieve and lightly mix in the flour gradually by hand with a metal spoon. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared paper cases and bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, about 18-20 min in an oven at 180 C. This mixture works well in a cake tin. Allow to cool & decorate with lemon or chocolate icing.

Date & Walnut Cake

This recipe is from one of my favourite cookery books 'Good Housekeeping's Cookery Compendium' (1956, page 347)

Put 12 oz flour in a bowl and rub in 6 oz of sunflower spread until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add:

3 oz sugar

1 tsp of cinnamon (or mixed spices)

8 oz of chopped walnuts

8 oz of chopped dates

Mix and make a well in the middle  

Pour 1/2 a pint of apple or pear puree (I usually cheat and liquidise a tin of apples or pears) into the well you made in the mixture, add 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda. Mix everything together and put into a 8 x 5 inch loaf tin lined with grease proof paper. 

Cook at 180 for 20 min, then place a sheet of grease proof paper over the cake to stop it burning. Cook for a further 20 min, then reduce the temperature to 160 C and bake for 15-20 min, test with a wooden skewer to check if it is cooked through, if it comes out clean the cake is ready.  Allow to cool a bit, turn out of the tin and then allow to cool fully before attempting to cut. 

Chocolate Fairy Cakes

I adapted this from a recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes in Shelly Kaldunsky's book 'Cupcakes'. Actually I changed quite a bit, it's hardly the same recipe!  More cocoa,  less sugar, dark brown instead of light brown sugar, sunflower spread instead of butter, and soya yogurt instead of buttermilk . Makes 8-12 fairy cakes or cupcakes depending on the size of cases use. It also works really well in regular cake tin too. 

You will need:

60g Sunflower spread 

80g Granulated sugar

60g Dark brown sugar

1 tsp Vanilla extract (or you can use peppermint or orange or rose extract)

Mix the above by hand or with an electric mixer

then add: 

1 Egg or the equivalent vegan egg replacement

Weigh out and mix the dry ingredients : 

100g Self raising flour

70g unsweetened cocoa powder

Add a pinch of baking powder

Measure out the wet ingredients: 

125ml water

60 Soya yogurt 

Sieve a 1/3 of the flour/cocoa mix lightly with a metal spoon, then add a 1/3 of the water/yogurt and mix, repeat. 

Spoon the mixture into a paper case lined cupcake/fairy cake tray.

Cook in the middle of a moderately hot oven, 180 C (no fan) for 18-20 min. Allow to cool and decorate.

Victoria Sandwich Cupcakes

Eggs Or vegan egg replacement
Sugar

Self raising flour

Sunflower or soya spread

Vanilla extract

This is the basic recipe for a Victoria sponge, it makes quick and easy cupcakes 

Weigh the eggs, and then weigh out equal amounts of sugar, flour and spread

If using egg replacement do the same, so make up the equivalent of 2-6 eggs and weigh to determine how much you need of the rest of the ingredients.

Cream the sugar and spread by hand or with an electric mixer, then add the eggs or egg replacement and vanilla. 

Sieve the flour into the above mixture and fold in gently with a metal spoon, you may need to add a little milk 

Spoon the mixture into paper cupcake cases and bake in the oven at 180 C (without fan)   for 20 min

Allow the cakes to cool before decorating them

I also made the cake stand, cut out 3 circles of cardboard and the same of coloured wrapping paper, glue the paper to the card, for the central column part (don't know what to call them!) I covered plastic pots with paper and superglued everything together... or you can now buy cardboard cake stands in most supermarkets. 

Potato Cake

1 kg potatoes

4 oz self raising flour

1 oz sunflower spread

salt to taste

Peel and steam or boil 1 kg of potatoes, mash the potatoes and add 4 oz of self raising flour an ounce of sunflower spread and a pinch of salt, mix together, shape into an 8 inch circle on a baking tray or round pizza tray, bake in a hot oven (180 C fan oven or 200 C non fan) for 20-25 min, allow to cool, cut into wedges and enjoy on its own or topped with cheese and grilled in the oven to melt the cheese....

Dolma

Recipe under construction!

You will need:

Vine leaves
Pine nuts
Sultanas
Olive oil
Curry powder
Can of tomato or 2 large chopped tomatoes
Fresh of dried parsley
Optional: quorn mince
Lemon juice

Scones

Before you start, put the oven on: 200 C for a gas oven, 180 C for an electric fan oven, by the time you've made the scones the oven will be hot enough for them to go in

 
You will need:
8 oz (225 g) Flour (white or wholemeal or half & half)
2 oz (50 g) Margarine (or butter)
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1tsp Cream of tartar
4 oz (100 g) (raisins or sultanas or cheese or whatever you want, or leave it out for plain ones)

200 gm soya yogurt - You can use cow's milk yogurt too.

Add Bicarb and cream of tartar to flour and mix
Rub margarine into flour
Add raisins
Add yogurt and mix quickly and lightly, don't kneed it like bread- that makes the scones 'heavy'
Have a piece of greaseproof paper with a handful of flour on it ready, put the scone mixture onto it and shape into a a circle or oblong (depending on what shape scones you are making), cut into shape with a cutter.

Place on tray, put in the oven right away, cook for 15-20 min depending on you oven

To date I have made the following variations, (just add 2oz): 

Za'atar, a herb blend popular in the middle east, usually eaten with olive oil dipped bread, these are great with soup

Oats, these are equally nice with jam or cheese

Blue poppy seeds, a firm favourite

Dried cranberries, dried blueberries, sultanas, cheese

And last but not lease Treacle scones, substitute some of the yogurt with the treacle otherwise the scones end up too wet. 

This mix makes 5-7 small scones, they are best eaten within 2 days, you can freeze them as well. The only take a few min to make so I tend to make them a lot, they are my bread substitute! 

In an effort to keep the scones light and fluffy I don't worry too much about making them look perfect and sometimes they come out funny looking, but still taste great which is what matters. 

 

 

Fake Pizza

I invented this pizza after I discovered I was yeast and dairy intolerant. What makes this a 'Fake Pizza' is that the base is a shortcrust pastry instead of bread, and  it is topped with vegan mozzarella style cheese instead of the real thing. I guess it is more like a tart really, but in our house it's a pizza! The great thing about it is that it taste nice fresh out of the oven, but if you can restrain yourself and keep a bit overnight it makes a very yummy cold lunch the next day. It is labour intensive to make, but well worth it, definitely one to make at the weekend when you've got plenty of time.

Makes 2 x 8" pizzas

Preparation time: 45 min

Cooking time: 20-25 min


The topping:

1 Aubergine, sliced into circles
2 Medium, or 1 large onion, sliced into thin strips
1 Green peppers sliced into thin strips
6-10 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced, not too thin
1-2 oz (20-40 gm) Pine nuts
Mozzarella style vegan cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Oregano (Optional)
Fresh basil

Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil and place on baking tray and cook in a hot oven (180 C Fan oven, or 200 C if without a fan) for 25 min.

Fry the onions in a wok with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, cover the wok and stir occasionally.

Fry or bake the green peppers.

Fry the garlic till it is golden but don't let it burn

Toast the pine nuts by dry frying them in a hot pan (without oil)

Grate the cheese

The sauce:

200 gm tomato puree
100 gm pesto   (or just use 2 teaspoons of basil for a vegan version)
1-2  crushed garlic cloves 
a pinch of chili flakes

Mix the ingredients above and spread over the base when ready

The base

6 oz of Spelt flour - you can use white or brown wheat flour instead, but I prefer Spelt flour
2 oz of sunflower spread
50 ml of Water
Optional: a pinch of chili flakes, dried basil, or Nigella seeds.


Before you start put a handful of flour onto a sheet of grease proof paper to use to roll out the pastry later.

Rub the fat into the flour by hand until it resembles bread crumbs, mix in the chili flakes or Nigella seeds if you are using them,  then add water and mix with a wooden spoon until it is bound, divide into two equal pieces.

Roll out each piece of pastry into a circle, it doesn't have to be exact as you can trim it down once it is on the tray, I like it thin, 2-3 mm.

Assembling the pizza:

Spread the sauce over the base then cover with the veg and other ingredients in this order:
Onions
Aubergine ( I usually slice the circles into quarters AFTER they are cooked)
Peppers
Garlic
Pine nuts
Cheese
A few more chili flakes if you like!
Oregano if you want

Place in a hot oven for 20-25

Serve with fresh basil sprinkled over the top.