Brown Bread

Ingredients

1 cup porridge oats

1 cup oat bran

¾ cup oat flour 

½ cup ground hazelnuts

½ cup linwoods

1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 ½ cups hazelnut milk 

1 cup soya yoghurt

Squeeze lime juice

2 tsp groundnut oil

Mix the dry ingredients

Add in the wet ingredients and mix well, pour into greased and floured tin

Bake for 50 mins at 190 until hollow sounding underneath.

Wrap in towel until cool

granola

Ingredients

3 ½ cup porridge oats

1 cup chopped walnuts

¾ cup chopped hazelnuts

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup linwoods

3/4 cup pumpkin seeds

3/4 cup flaked almonds

3 rice cakes, crushed

1 cup peanut butter/hazelnut butter

3/4 cup groundnut oil

3/4 cup maple syrup

Method

Melt peanut butter and groundnut oil together. Mix in maple syrup after that. 

Stir all the dry ingredients together.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. 

Spread out evenly onto baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. press down a bit.

Bake in oven at 180 for 10 minutes. Press down again and cook at 160 for 15 minutes. Leave to cool on baking tray for half an hour. 

Hearty Root Soup

 INGREDIENTS

1 red onion, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped
1 tsp cinnamon

4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp turmeric
1 inch fresh ginger root or 1 tbsp ground

1 red pepper, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled & chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled & chopped
4 carrots, peeled & chopped

1 tin of tomatoes

1 cup red lentils
600ml veg stock

1 tin coconut milk

Handful of chopped parsley

METHOD

Gently heat a little oil in a pan and add the onions.

Once the onion starts to soften, add in the turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, mustard seeds, cumin, celery and garlic and stir well.

Add in the sweet potato, butternut squash, carrots, pepper and tomatoes and stir.

Add in the stock and lentils, before turning down the heat to a simmer and letting everything cook for about an hour. Check on it regularly and add more water/stock as needed.

Once everything has softened, add the coconut milk and chopped parsley and blend. 

spiced black bean nachos

Ingredients

 1 onion, chopped

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 green chilli, chopped (seeds removed if you don't want it really hot)

1 tin black beans, drained but not rinsed

1 tsp each of cayenne pepper/cumin/garlic powder/smoked paprika/coriander/oregano

1 bag of tortilla chips

grated cheese

1 tomato, chopped or some salsa

sour cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Fry the onion in some oil. Add the drained beans, tomatoes, herbs and spices and half of the chilli. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and stirring occasionally allow it to cook for about 10 minutes until thickened and the liquid has reduced down and doesn't pool in the bottom of the pan. 

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Line with one layer of tortilla chips. Spoon on half the black bean mixture and sprinkle on half the cheese. Do another layer of the same again. Bake for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and the edges of the chips are browning. Remove from the oven and top with sliced chilli, sour cream and tomatoes/salsa. 

Lentil bolognaise

 Ingredients

1 white onion, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped 

1 stick celery, finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

6 oz tin tomato purée

Two 400g tins chopped tomato

400g tomato passata

2 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 cups red lentils, rinsed

2 cups water

Method

Fry onions, celery and carrot in olive oil for  about 10 minutes until softened.

Add garlic and tomato purée, stir in and cook for 1 minute.

Add passata, tinned tomatoes and herbs, and season to taste. Stir well.

Stir in the lentils and water.

Simmer for 20-30 mins until lentils have softened. 

Serve with spaghetti. 

Caribbean Sweet Potato Curry

Ingredients

2 onions, sliced

Seasoning Paste
2" ginger, peeled
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp jerk seasoning - see tips below
100 ml pineapple juice
1 tbsp dried coriander
1 tbsp dried thyme

2 cans chopped tomato
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
500 ml vegetable stock
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tins black beans, drained and rinsed
large jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced

Method
Fry the two onions in oil until softened, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, blend all the seasoning paste ingredients together with a hand blender.

Add the paste to the onion in the pan and fry for a few minutes until flavours come out.

Add the chopped tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, cook for another 12 - 15 minutes more.

Add in the beans and peppers and simmer for another 5 minutes until the sweet potatoes are done. Serve with rice and scatter with coriander leaves.

Tips
Swill the hand blender around in the stock to clean it of the debris from the paste so you don't waste any.

I buy the 200 ml lunchbox size pineapple juices, and I use the other 100 ml to make up part of the stock.

Jerk seasoning that you buy in the shops is really heavy on salt. I like to make up my own. Might not be completely authentic but I like the taste of it. I keep it in a kilner jar.

2 tbsp ground allspice
2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp onion granules
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander

Enchiladas

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 white onions, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red pepper, chopped
250g red lentils
2 tins tomatoes
tube of tomato puree
600 ml stock
2 tsp ea. oregano, coriander, thyme, cumin, smoked paprika, chipotle powder
Tortilla wraps
Sour cream
Grated cheese

Method
Preheat the oven and roast the red pepper. Fry the sweet potato, carrots, onion, garlic and celery for 15 minutes until soft.

Add in the red pepper, lentils, tomatoes, tomato puree, stock, herbs and spices. Simmer for 20 mins until the lentils are cooked.

Grease an ovenproof dish. Line the bottom of the dish with a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture. Lay a wrap out flat and put a few spoonfuls of mixture in the middle. Fold in the ends and fold over the wrap, please seam side down in the dish. Repeat until the dish is full. Cover with tinfoil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Mix the sour cream and grated cheese together. Remove tinfoil, put the sour cream mix on top of the enchiladas and place back in the oven for 15 mins until the mixture is melted and the enchiladas are crispy at the edges