Broccoli and Cauliflower Tart

Ingredients for the filling:

Into the oven it goes

150g of cherry tomatoes halved
200g cauliflower florets
200g broccoli florets
200ml of rice milk
2 tablespoons of soya cream
1/2 tsp of mustard powder
dash of mild chilli powder
dash of Za'atar or oregano
herbes de provence and/or pepper for seasoning
optional:
for a little extra kick add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of Harissa sauce


Ingredients for the tart base:
200g plain flour and some for rolling out
100g of vegan margarine
20g of Allergycare Vegan Whole Egg OR enough egg replacement for 1 egg*
55ml of water (for the egg replacement)


For the filling:
1. Chop up the cauliflower and broccoli so they are a similar size to the tomatoes.
2. Put them in a pan and boil till them till they're soft but still slightly hard then strain and set aside.
3. Place the milk and cream in a bowl. Then add and mix in all the spices and herbs.
4. Arrange the cauliflower, broccoli and tomatoes on the pastry base and pour the milk and spice mix over them.
5. Season with pepper and herbs d' province
6. Put into the oven for approx. 25-30 mins at 180c checking on it a regular intervals.

For the tart base:

1. In a bowl mix the egg replacement and flour together.

2. Add the margarine and with your fingers mix them together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

3. Add 55ml of water to activate the egg replacement to the mixture until it forms in a ball.

4. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it becomes nice and smooth

5. Wrap in clingflim and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 mins.

6.Grease a pastry tin.

7. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes and then roll it out till its a little larger than your pastry tin.

 8. Place your pastry in the tin and remove the extra pastry round the sides.

Out it comes nice and golden

* Each egg replacement is different so follow the directions it gives you. I used Allergycare Vegan Whole Egg for this recipe. If the pastry is too dry you can add water to help form the dough into a ball.

The Beauty of Asian Womens Traditional Dress

am obsessed with Asian fashion at the moment so regal and chic. Planning on making my own Vietnamese "Áo Dài" 


On my to do list - along with finishing my academic word, getting back to modern dance classes and making my angel and fairy bags.

My Homemade Muesli

Ingredients

4 cups of (porridge) oats
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of agave syrup
handful of roasted almonds
handful of roasted chopped hazelnuts
handful of wholewheat flakes or crumbled wheetabix
2 tablespoon of puffed rice
(add anything else you like: millet, rye, sesame and/or sunflower seeds)
For after baking: raisins, currants, sultanas and any other dried fruit

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together 
2. Mix the agave and sunflower oil together
3. Then add the mixed oils to the dry ingredients and stir in
4. Oil a pan and add the mixture
5. put it into the oven at 150c - check and stir the mixture around approx. every 5 minutes until the mixture is a golden brown and crunchy (could take anything up to 20 mins depending on ingredients and oven)
6. Leave to cool and then add all the raisins and other fruit mixing it in - store and/or eat :-)

Just a note

Am also available on tumblr: my blog

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
2 large peppers
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 medium tomatoes - seeded, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon of chopped pitted olives
bunch of chopped basil
1 cup of cooked rice, or couscous 
1/2 cup of a vegetable stock 
olive oil




Filling:
Add a small amount of the oil in a pan and cook the onions for five minutes.
Then add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes. 
Add the tomatoes, and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a medium heat and let it simmer, stirring until the mixture thickens and most of the liquids have evaporated - should take approx. 10 - 15 mins.
Remove from heat and mix in the rice/couscous, olives, and basil. Season to your personal taste.
Peppers:
cut the tops off and remove all the seeds and white bits
brush the outside of the pepper with a tiny amount of olive oil
fill each one with the mixture
Cooking:
Place the tops back on the peppers and wrap them in cooking foil and place them in a cooking dish 
Fill the dish with a 1/2 - 1 inch of water
Place in oven and bake for 45-50 mins at 180C or until they are nice and tender 
Leave to cool a bit then remove foil and take them out of the pan. 
Remove the water from the pan and bake the peppers for a further 5 mins.

  

My Favourite Treat and Pizza Alternative

My favourite food - given a chance I'd eat this everyday. It's a great alternative to pizza, one of many available to vegans. This variation on a french Pissaladiere however is divine. The original recipe uses anchovies which I replace with capers to keep that sharp saltiness, but its not a vital ingredient.

Ingredients :

25g vegan margarine

250g very thinly cut onion/ shallots

15g dry yeast or 1 tsp of quick yeast

120 ml of water

1 tsp sugar

250g strong flour

thinly sliced red and green bell peppers

pitted olives

tsp capers

3tsp of thyme

1tsp basil

pepper and herbs d' provence for seasoning

Olive Oil

For the dough:
 you can either mix the yeast with the tepid water and sugar. then leave for 10 mins in a warm place until it becomes frothy.
Then put into a mixing bowl with the flour and add four tablespoons of oil.
Alternatively mix a teaspoon of quick yeast with the water, sugar, flour and 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl.
Mix until the dough forms a ball.
Then over a lightly floured surface kneading the dough until it is smooth and soft.
Coat a large bowl with oil, place the dough inside and wrap it with cloth, leaving it in a warm place to double in size (approx. an hour).  

For the topping:
 add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and melt the margarine into a large warm saucepan.
When the butters melted add the basil, thyme and capers to the pan, in addition you can add some of the caper brine depending on personal taste.
Then add the the finely cut onions into the saucepans and cook for an hour at a low heat stirring occasionally.
Three quarters through the hour add the sliced red bell peppers to the onions. The onions should be nice - soft and carmelized (golden/yellow) but not brown. Season and put aside.

Cooking:
A few minutes before the dough is ready oil a baking tray and heat it in a oven for a couple of minutes then remove.
Meanwhile knead the dough and roll it out to fit the baking tray.
After adding the dough to the tray brush it lightly with oil and add the onion and pepper topping.  Then arrange the slices of green peppers into a lattice like pattern over the onion topping, adding an olive to the spaces created by the lattice pattern (see pictures).

Lightly season and cover with a cloth then put it aside for 30 mins. Then bake it in the oven at 220 c or gas mark 7 for approx. 15 - 25 mins. 

Family Favourite - Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yesterday I made chocolate chip muffins to cheer the family up. My Brother only recently found out they were vegan - so they must be good. They 're really easy to make as well!

scrummy especially freshly baked

 This recipe is for six.

All you need is: 

110g of Self Raising Flour 

half a tsp of baking powder 

2 tbsp of Sugar 

2 tbsp of Vegan Margarine 

2 - 3 tbsp Soya Yoghurt (I use Alpro soya yoghurt)

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder 

3 tsp Carbonated water 

1 tsp Vanilla Essence 

Chopped up Dairy Free Chocolate 

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Melt the margarine and mix it into the dry ingredients. Then add the carbonated water and vanilla essence. Then gradually stir in the yoghurt until the mixture is nice and smooth. Put into muffin cases and cook for approx. 15-20 mins at 180 C in a fan oven - Gas Mark 4 - 350 F.