Recipe: Spaghetti with vegan mince and vegetables within 25 minutes

I fancied some spaghetti and I wanted t make my own sauce so here's what I did. This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for spaghetti with vegan mince and vegetables

• 2 handfuls of spaghetti
• 1/2 a small bunch of broccoli
• 3/4 of a small courgette
• Olive oil
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• Tomato Purée
• Salt
• Pepper
• A handful of vegan mince

How to make spaghetti with vegan mince and vegetables

1. Put some spaghetti on the boil 
   1. Put some boiling water in a pan and hold the spaghetti
   2. Within about 20 seconds, it will begin to soften, so you can bend the spaghetti around the pan, which means you don't have to break it into pieces
   3. Give it a stir now and again
   4. Chop the broccoli and the courgette 
   5. Put some olive oil in a pan
   6. Add the broccoli and courgette when the oil is hot
   7. After 5 minutes add some whole cherry tomatoes
   8. Add a little tomato purée
   9. Add salt and pepper to taste
   10. Add the mince and stir
   11. Put the lid on the pan and let it cook
   12. When the spaghetti is ready, drain it, add some vegan margarine and mix it up

Serving suggestion

When I served it,  I made a circular shape with the spaghetti leaving a hole in the middle for the vegetables.

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Recipe: Chick peas and petis pois in pitta bread in less than 15 minutes

My hubby made this for our dinner recently. It was simple, delicious, light and didn't take him very long to make.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for chick pea and petis pois filling

•    2/3 of a tablespoon of olive oil
•    1 (240g) can of chickpeas or use dried chick peas which would need to be soaked for 12 hours, the water drained and then boiled in fresh water
•    1 small bowl of petit pois – 100g – I  use frozen petit pois
•    tabasco sauce to taste
•    soy sauce to taste
•    salt to taste
•    pepper to taste
•    2 pieces of brown pita bread

How to make chick pea and petit pois filling

1.    Put the olive oil in a pan
2.    Add the chick peas and petis pois
3.    Add the tabasco sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper
4.    Taste it to see if it needs any extra flavour
5.    Cut the brown pitta bread into 2 pieces and place them in the toaster for a short time - this will make it nice and warm but also makes it easier to split it before adding the filling
6.    Add the filling to the pocket and serve on a small plate

The filling

How do I tell others what I will and won't eat when I'm travelling?

I heard about this amazing book via a Yahoo group called Jain Vegans. It's amazing!

It's called the Vegan Passport.

It's a great pocket sized book that's great to travel with.

It explains what vegans will/won't eat in 73 languages.

It's simple, to the point and extremely clear.

Definitely worth buying! :)

The Vegan Passport

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“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
- Lao Tzu

Recipe: Hot chocolate with something extra, which will make all the difference!

I am not sure what made me do this but I got a bit creative the other day and the result was a delicious hot chocolate which was bursting with flavour and texture. This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients for vegan hot chocolate

• 1 cup of Oatly
• 4 teaspoons of Swiss Twinings Hot Chocolate
• 1 piece of vegan chocolate

How to make vegan hot chocolate

1. Put the Oatly in a pan and heat it up
2. Add 4 teaspoons of hot
3. Give it a stir
4. When it's almost ready to drink add the piece of chocolate to the pan and mix a little - the one I used is shown below
5. Pour after about 30 seconds

The result will be yummy.

Don't forget to scoop up any remaining chocolate at the bottom of the cup.

Recipe: Tofu and sprouts within 15 minutes

This is a quick, simple, light, healthy meal.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients

• 14 Brussels Sprouts
• about 150g of Tofu
• 1 fresh chilli
• Salt
• Pepper
• Soy Sauce
• A handful of freshly chopped coriander
• Vegan margarine - I use Pure Sunflower Spread

Method

1. Boil some sprouts
2. While it's boiling, get some Tofu and dice it up
3. Chop some fresh chillies and scatter it over the tofu
4. Season the Tofu with sea salt and freshly ground pepper
5. Drizzle some Soy Sauce around it for colour, moisture and flavour
6. Garnish with chopped coriander
7. When the sprouts are boiled, drain the water into a glass and drink it or use it in a soup
8. Mix the sprouts with margarine
9. Season the sprouts with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and serve it alongside the Tofu

Recipe: Pilau Rice within 30 minutes

This dish takes less than 30 minutes to make. It's healthy, filling and can be eaten hot or cold.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for vegan pilau rice

•    1/2 teaspoon of oil – I use sunflower oil or olive oil
•    1/4 teaspoon of mustard seeds
•    1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
•    2 cloves
•    1 stick of cinnamon
•    a handful of raw red skin peanut kernels  – about 30g
•    1 fresh chilli – finely chopped
•    2 carrots - chopped into small cubes
•    a handful of chopped fresh coriander
•    1 bowl of peas – about 150g
•    3/4 of a cup of rice  - brown or white
•    salt to taste
•    1/8 of a teaspoon of turmeric
•    2 and 1/4 teacups of water

How to make vegan pilau rice

1.    Soak the rice in hot water
2.    Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and when it’s hot, add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon
3.    Put the lid on the pan and leave it on a low heat
4.    When the seeds begins to pop add the peanuts and chilli
5.    After 30 seconds, add the carrots and put the lid on the pan
6.    Wash and drain the rice
7.    After 2 minutes add the washed rice, 2 and 1/4 teacups of water, salt and turmeric
8.    Turn the heat up to medium high, put the lid on the pan and leave it to cook for 5 minutes
9.    Add the peas, stir, turn the heat down to a low setting and leave the contents to cook with the lid on the pan
10.    Cook on a low heat for 15 minutes
11.    Keeping the lid on the pan, tilt the pan towards you to see if there’s any excess water in it
12.    If the rice is fluffy and there’s no water left in the pan, turn the heat it off
13.    If not, continue cooking for another 5 minutes
14.    Add some coriander and serve in a bowl or a small plate 

Serving suggestion

Enjoy with some plain vegan yoghurt.

Recipe: Savoury Tomatoes with Cous Cous within 15 minutes

This is a quick, healthy and light meal which is full of flavour.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for the savoury tomatoes

•    8 tomatoes – chopped into small pieces
•    1 finger chilli – finely chopped – reduce or increase the amount of chilli you use depending on how hot this particular chilli is, whilst considering your love of spice
•    1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds
•    1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
•    1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil
•    salt to taste
•    1 pinch of turmeric
•    2/3 teaspoon of ground coriander powder
•    1 handful of freshly chopped coriander

How to make the savoury tomatoes

1.    Put the coconut oil in a pan
2.    When it warms up, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and put the lid on the pan
3.    When the seeds begin to pop, add the chillies and cover the pan again
4.    After 15 seconds, add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric and ground coriander powder
5.    Let it cook for 7 minutes
6.    When the tomatoes are as soft as you'd like, add the fresh coriander – I usually do this after 5 minutes

Ingredients for the cous cous

•    1/2 a cup (125ml) of cous cous
•    1 cube of vegan stock
•    1 tablespoon of olive oil
•    water
•    freshly ground salt
•    freshly ground pepper

How to make for the cous cous

1.    Boil the kettle
2.    Put the cous cous in a bowl
3.    Crumble the stock on the cous cous ensuring there are no lumps and mix
4.    Drizzle the olive oil on it
5.    Add water so that the level of water reaches about 1cm above the cous cous
6.    Add freshly ground salt and pepper
7.    Stir a little
8.    Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it for 3 minutes
9.    The cous cous will be ready when the water has been absorbed completely
10.    Put the cous cous in a little bowl and turn it upside down to create a mound of cous cous and serve the tomatoes alongside it 

Serving suggestion

Suraj put the cous cous in a little bowl and then turned it upside down to present the cous cous as shown in the photo