Chocolate Banana Milkshake

Posted on by Trish

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Fancy something sweet but don’t want a sugar spike and subsequent crash?  Take one ripe banana, one teaspoon to one tablespoon of cocoa, a swirl of agave nectar and your plant milk of choice (soya, oat, rice etc), blend together and drink immediately.  This recipe has been given the thumbs up by my nutritional advisor.  Substituting some of the plant milk for vanilla vegan ice cream will result in a more US-style shake but, depending on the brand, you are likely to get more sugar and fat although likely still healthier than those Mickey D shakes you can practically sculpt with your straw.

Smokey Stew

Posted on by Trish

I know, Smokey Stew sounds like an expendable extra from a western (“dangnammit! you done shot Smokey Stu”) but this dish is well nice, much thanks to smoked paprika, which I haven’t researched yet to see if it’s bad for you because I’m not done liking it :)I made it to use up leftover veg so please feel free to follow suit and substitute whatever’s in danger of expiring instead of the veg I used.

I served it with roast sweet potato and kasha.

  • One onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • Few handfuls mushrooms
  • 1 carton organic tomatoes (yeah, I try to use all fresh veg but the tomatoes I currently have are all tiny, cherry ones and they’re too cute to pulverise plus they’ll look awesome in salad)
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • 1 carton red kidney beans
  • Stock
  • Agave nectar
  • Coconut milk
  • Smoked paprika
  • Braggs Aminos
  • Balsamic vinegar
  1. Steam or boil any veg apart from the onion, garlic and mushrooms (use your noodle: if you think the veg will do better fried then fry it)
  2. Meanwhile fry chopped onion, garlic and mushrooms in a little oil till soft
  3. Add smoked paprika and tomatoes and let it bubble gently till other veg is ready
  4. Add rest of cooked veg and stock and simmer
  5. All the other ingredients are for flavouring so add them in whatever quantities you like, keeping tasting until you’re happy with it – or add your own favourite things

Cauliflower, mushroom and chickpea curry

Posted on by Trish

I was aiming for something like a korma here but without too much sugar and fat.  Serve with rice for bonus amino acid points 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 small cauliflower
  • some mushrooms (I used 2 of those giant mushrooms chopped into bits)
  • 1 can or packet of ready-to-eat chickpeas
  • Oil for frying
  • Curry powder mix (I used mild curry powder and added extra cumin)
  • Vegetable stock
  • Coconut milk
  • Agave nectar
  • Salt to taste
  1. Fry onion and garlic until the onion is kinda see-through
  2. Add cauliflower and mushrooms and fry some more
  3. Add spices (curry powder mix)
  4. Add chickpeas and give it a good stir
  5. Add vegetable stock, enough to almost cover, and boil for about 8 minutes (primarily to get the cauliflower softer)
  6. Add agave nectar then turn the heat down to a simmer
  7. Add coconut milk, not loads, just enough to get it tasting creamy
  8. Taste, then add salt and whatever else you like to get it tasting how you want

Lentil and tomato curry (because we can’t spell Dhaal …see?)

Posted on by Trish

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Back in my early 20’s I was a thrifty cook, mainly out of necessity and brokeness.  Thus there were some things I made often because they were economical and nourishing.  Some of them even tasted ok, although they wouldn’t have won any beauty competitions.  One such thing is the following lentil curry, which may look like someone has chucked into the pan but which caused my human guinea pig to wonder this evening just why we give so much money to the Indian takeaway place.  I even fried poppadoms to go with it (you need a LOAD of oil in the frying pan and it gets scary but it’s cheap so your fear is saving you money!).

You’ll need:

  • Some red lentils
  • Some tomatoes (either a tin of or some large, fresh tomatoes, which is what I prefer to use now that I earn money)
  • An onion
  • Some garlic
  • Curry powder (although am still using spice mix given to me by the lovely Danielle in 2008)
  • Soya margarine (yes, I know it’s actually called ‘spread’ but nobody calls it that, do they?)
  • Oil for frying
  • Stock powder and/or salt
  1. Wash the lentils and boil for 10 minutes, simmer for another 20-30 just till they’re soft and squidgy
  2. Meanwhile fry onion, garlic and tomatoes and simmer till mushy
  3. Add curry powder/spices to onion, garlic and tomato thing, also add stock powder or salt if wanted
  4. When lentils are done, drain and add to the onion, garlic and tomato thing
  5. Stir together with a knob of soya margarine

People who are allowed to eat dairy may want to use butter instead.  Go on then, just to spite me.  Serve with poppadoms or bread or rice or any combination of those and you too, my friend, may question your allegiance to your local curry house.

Green soup

Posted on by Trish

I had not deemed the following soup worthy of publication, until someone else tried some and said ‘put it on the blog’.  It’s a doddle to make and I think it will make several repeat appearances on the Tea House menu.

Take things that are green and white and boil them.  Not just any things, food things preferably.  Today I used a celeriac (white), some broccoli (green) and a courgette (a bonus both!).  Add some stock powder to the water or, if you live in the 18th century or are self-sufficient, boil in stock that you’ve made yourself by boiling vegetables to mush.

When your green and white things are cooked, blend them with some of the water or stock.  Then add cheese.  I’d love to say there’s a nice vegan option for this soup but if so then I have yet to discover it.  I used manchego (sheep cheese) and feta (sheep and goat) – enough so the soup tastes cheesy, not so much that you get cheese sauce instead of soup.  Just chop or grate and chuck it in then keep stirring over a low heat till it melts.

Add some more things to get the taste right – e.g. anything you like and think will taste nice.  I added agave nectar and a bit of salt (my stock powder is low salt) also a pinch of mustard.  A cooking secret – I never know why I add a pinch of mustard to anything, it just seems like a good idea when I’m cooking some things; I say “and a pinch of mustard” and in it goes like I know what I’m doing.

Soup was served with chopped spring onions floating on top.  Verdict on the soup?  “Scouped up the last of it after it was cold, that’s saying something!”

Olive Cake

Posted on by Trish

I knew some Turkish twins called Mine (pronounced Mina) and Nese (pronounced Nesha) when I was at college. They had long, wavy hair, were very pretty and gave bear hugs. And they often offered their friends some of their mum’s olive cake, which was like an extra bonus to being friends with them, except I got addicted and needed more than was supplied. I asked for the recipe. “We’ll ask our mum” they said. But despite reminders, they never remembered.

I had their family home phone number so I gave their mum a call and introduced myself as a friend of her daughters and a fan of her cooking. She seemed chuffed and was happy to dictate the recipe down the phone. Years on, and I still can’t make it as good as she did. Perhaps she gave me the amended and slightly inferior recipe, intended for people who aren’t family.

Olive cake, as dictated, my additions in italics
Put some flour in a bowl, one of those small bags of flour you can get is the right amount i.e. 500g, and chop one medium onion into it.
Sprinkle on one sachet of easy-bake yeast powder – ‘Allinsons’ is one brand name and supermarkets often have their own brand.
Add one teaspoon each of salt, sugar and dried mint – I use a bit more than that and one cup of chopped black olives.
Mix to a dough with half a cup of olive oil and a cup of warm water – I use half a cup of boiling water and keep adding cold water till it feels a slightly warmer than lukewarm temperature.
Leave in a warm place to rise till it almost doubles. Oven on lowest temperature with door open or in airing cupboard
Bake in a warm oven (she didn’t specify how warm so I put it on 200 degrees C, which is Gas Mark 6) till light brown all over.
To check if done, put a knife in and it should come out clean.
When you take out of oven, cover with a clean dishcloth and let the steam rise through it. Why?!! I occasionally do this if I have a clean dishcloth handy, but the lack of one has never seemed to make a difference.
Put kettle on. Make tea. Put feet up. Drink tea and eat cake.
Which is where I disagree; it’s better eaten the next day or even the day after because it tastes nicer then.

Pesto

Posted on by Trish

It’s been a long time since I ate any shop-bought pesto; there’s a jar of Florentino basil pesto in the cupboard but, I dunno, I just don’t trust it.  For pesto you need fresh basil leaves, good olive oil, flaked almonds* or whole almonds with their skins if you’re feeling worthy, plenty of garlic and a hand-held blender.  To make your pesto a bit cheesy you can add cheese of your choice; while hard cheeses like pecorino are traditional, soft goat cheese makes for a creamy pesto.  If, like me, you prefer no cheese at all, you can add some nutritional yeast to achieve a cheesier taste.

*you can use pine nuts if you prefer, but once I switched to almonds there was no turning back

How to make?

Rinse the basil leaves, chop the garlic, then everything in a blender (or use a hand-held blender)

Goes well with pasta or just about any other grain – alternatively use as topping for bruschetta

Maple Cookies

Posted on by Trish

These make an awesome gift for friends, family, colleagues, loved ones and solicitors alike.  Apart from the fact that they’ll most likely be different sizes and shapes, they will look like they came from a shop, which is what we all want from our cookies. 

The recipe below uses pecans in the icing – pictured below instead is swirly, glitter icing.  Always ask yourself – would the people eating these cookies prefer glitter or nuts?  Sometimes it will end up being both.

cookies


1 cup margarine (yeah, I know it’s called spread when you buy it in the shop but nobody calls it that)
1 cup close-packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup maple syrup (maple-flavoured golden syrup is cheaper and will do instead if you’re a bit broke)
vanilla
2 tsp bicarb of soda
½ tsp salt
4 cups flour
⅓ cup sugar

  • Heat oven to 175°C / Gas Mark 4
  • Cream margarine and brown sugar (beat margarine and sugar senseless with a spoon until they turn into a creamy mixture)
  • Add egg, syrup and vanilla
  • Sift flour, salt and soda
  • Stir into mix to blend
  • Shape into balls
  • Roll in sugar (larger crystal sugar is better for this)
  • Bake 8-10 mins (check after 8 mins)
  • Let cool
  • Ice with buttercream icing with maple syrup added
  • Decorate e.g. with pecans