Lemon icing

200g icing sugar
200g sunflower spread
2 egg whites or the equivalent vegan egg replacer
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon extract

Mix all the ingredient, use immediately or freeze until you need it, it is slightly runny but sets a bit once it's on the cake and been left a while.

Bean Burgers

1 x 400g can of kidney beans drained and washed

1 x 300g can of canallini beans drained and washed

4 spring onions

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 -1 tsp chili flakes or 1 chopped fresh scotch bonnet chili

1/2-1 tsp hot smoked paprika

salt to taste

1-2 oz plain flour or chickpea flour

Chop the spring onion finely using a food processor or by hand
Place all the rest of the ingredients in the food processor and blend until the mixture resembles a dough. If you haven't got a blender user a potato masher.

You can also add a tbs of tomato puree to the mixture -add a bit more flour if you do- for a bit of colour and flavour. I forgot this time!

Form the mixture into burgers, place on a greased tray and bake in a hot oven for 15-20 min.

Serve with sweet potato or butternut squash oven chips

Blueberry Scoffins

A cross between a Scone and a Muffin!

By increasing the fluid in a scone mix it becomes 'cake-like' and can be baked in muffin cases, I did this accidentally once and was surprised by how good they were. So that is how a Scone becomes a Muffin... a Scoffin!

8 oz plain flour + 1 tsp Cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 oz Sunflower spread

200 ml soya milk (or cow's milk)

4 oz dried cranberris or frozen blueberries

2 oz sugar

Put the oven on 180C for fan ovens or 200 for non-fan ovens
Mix the flour, sugar, cream of tartar & bircarbonate of soda
Rub the sunflower spread into the flour mix until it resembles bread crumbs
Mix in the cranberries or blueberries
Add all the milk and mix, it should resemble a thick cake mix
Fill muffin cases
Makes 9
Bake for 16 min (fan oven)

Raspberry

Plain Scoffins

A cross between a Scone and a Muffin!

By increasing the fluid in a scone mix it becomes 'cake-like' and can be baked in muffin cases, I did this accidentally once and was surprised by how good they were. So that is how a Scone becomes a Muffin... a Scoffin!

8 oz  plain flour + 1 tsp Cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 oz Sunflower spread

200 ml soya milk

Put the oven on 180C for fan ovens or 200 for non-fan ovens
Add the cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda to the flour
Rub the sunflower spread into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs
Add all the milk and mix, it should resemble a thick cake mix
Spoon the mixture muffin cases
Makes 9 small muffins
Bake for 16 min (fan oven at 180 C)

Chocolate & Cinnamon Cupcakes

300g plain flour
250g sugar
40g cocoa powder
2 tsp cinnamon (optional can be substituted with 2 tsp of rose, orange or mint extract)
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
360ml lukewarm water
160ml vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
150g melted dark chocolate (melt in bowl over hot water, don't allow bowl to touch hot water)
 a pinch of salt

Makes 12 large cupcakes

Heat the oven to 180C

Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a bowl: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt

In measuring jug mix all the wet ingredients: water, oil, vinegar and melted chocolate

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently with a metal spoon until well combined, don't over mix.

Divide the mixture evenly into paper cases so that they are just over 3/4 full.

Bake for about 25 min (varies with different ovens)

 

Lentils & Bulgar Wheat Soup

Another brilliant recipe from the weekend paper, quick and easy and very tasty:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/05/couscous-bulgur-quinoa-recipes

Baked Omelette

Stir fry the following in a little olive oil:

1 diced onion + 3 crushed cloves of garlic

then add:

1 diced courgette

2 diced red peppers

1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika

1 tsp of fresh or dried Thyme

1-2 finely chopped chillies

Combine 6 eggs with the sir fried ingredients in a measuring jug then add some milk to make up the volume to one liter. 

Pour the mixture into an oiled 8 inch  flan dish

Bake in a hot oven for 30 min 

What to do with Seville oranges?

Other than marmalade what else can you do with them?

I froze the juice in an ice cube tray so that I can use it in cooking and salads. I've also frozen the left over peel, not sure what I am going to do with it yet. I might make candied orange peel, or grate the skins next time I need some orange zest.

There are some recipes here: seville-orange-recipes-fearnley-whittingstall



Kale & Quinoa

 

This is a recipe from this weekend's Guardian it is a  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe the only thing I did differently was steaming the Kale instead of cooking in stock as we didn't have any. We had it with steamed carrots which worked quite well. The recipe says it serves 2, but there was definetly enough for 4. 

Beetroot Cupcakes

60g sunflower spread

1 egg (or equivalent vegan egg replacer which is what I used) 

100g sugar

Whisk the above together

In another bowl mix the following to a thick paste:

10g cocoa powder

20 ml beetroot based red food colouring

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Mix the paste into the egg, sugar & spread mixture

Weigh out

150g plain flour

150g of yogurt (soya for a vegan version)

50 ml of milk 

Add half of the flour and yogurt and mix, then repeat

Add and mix in:

1/2 tsp of Bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Divide the mixture evenly into 9 muffin cases or 12 fairy cake cases

Bake in a preheated oven (180 C with fan or 200C without fan) for 25 min (more or less depending on your oven

 They taste nice, but didn't turn out as "red" as I expected...perhaps add more food colouring or less cocoa poweder next time, I  guess it is what happens when you use "natural" food colouring.

Beetroot & Tahini Dip

300 g cooked beetroot (not in vinegar)
2 tbs yogurt (soya yogurt for vegan version)

2 tbs tahini (sesame paste)
Juice of 1-2 Seville oranges (Marmalade oranges, don't use any other type of orange, if you can't get them use lime juice instead)

Blend all the ingredients together using a liquidiser or handheld blender