Veganuary - Nourising Salad recipe

One week into January and for those who are taking part in Veganuary (and those who aren't!) here's a recipe for a delicious, nourishing and really filling salad. The Violife Mediterranean block is optional but really is very tasty (better then I remember the real thing tasting... less squeaky) and adds an extra dimension to the salad but you could have without or be imaginative and serve with rye bread, falafel or vegan style meats.

Ingredients

For the dressing:

Juice of 1 Lemon

Tbsp Olive Oil

Tsp of Mustard Seed

Salt and Pepper

Salad:

1 bag of mixed baby leaves

1 medium carrot

Pomegranate seeds

100g Baby plum tomatoes

1 can chickpeas Mediterranean 

Start by preparing the chick peas, drain them from the can, then roast in the oven, whilst roasting the chickpeas do the same with the  tomatoes adding balsamic vinegar and olive oil in the oven. To make the dressing simply mix the ingredients in a small bowl.

Pour the dressing over the leaves and carrot, sprinkle pomegranate seeds, chickpeas and add the tomatoes to the top. If using the Violife Mediterranean style cheese (as pictured above) cook until browned in a griddle pan

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pasta alfredo

I am tired today, tired with a capital T which has got me wanting to eat everything! I'm already thinking of dinner... aside from Matt's Macaroni Cheese recipe this is my other favorite pasta dish that he cooks up, so creamy (without the dairy!) rich, full of kale and peas. It's simply just comfort food at it's very best, it's what my heart calls for on a day when I need my food to give me a hug from the inside and this plant-based dish, unlike dairy filled pasta dishes this wont leave you feeling all heavy and lethargic.

Ingredients

500g Pasta

1 cup cashews

1 cup almond milk

 ¼ cup nutritional yeast

Juice of ½ lemon

1 vegan stock cube

clove of garlic

salt and pepper to taste

300g kale

150g petits pois

1 tsp bouillon powder (optional)

Method

Firstly combine the cashews, almond milk, yeast, lemon juice, garlic clove, pinch of salt and pepper and bouillon cube in a high speed blender and blend until extremely smooth.

Cook your choice of pasta (Farfalle, tube and tagliatelle all work brilliantly) as per instructions on packet, however remove from boiling water a couple of minutes before being done as the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce.

Add the bouillon powder to ½ cup of water and place the vegetables in to cook and steam in a closed pan.

Heat the cashew cream sauce over a medium heat until it begins to thicken. Add the pasta and drained vegetables and plate up. It's perfect served with a touch of thyme to really bring out those delicious flavours.

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Raw Pad Thai

Since turning vegan at the end of last year, I've found that I am far more into baking and cooking. I've been blogging more of my bakes, but I also want to start sharing more dinner ideas and favorite recipes of mine. They are mainly all devised and cooked up by Matt (he's the chef in this relationship) you may have seen his recipe post for Macaroni and Faux Cheese but this Vegan Pad Thai originally started off from a recipe in Deliciously Ella's 2nd book. I found that the recipe was not really to my taste and the quantity of some of the ingredients a little off so I have adapted it to make it suit my taste buds.

Serves 4

For the noodles
2 large Courgettes
2 large Carrots
100g Buckwheat Noodles
2 Red Peppers (cut into very thin strips)
30g Cashews
10g Mint leaves finely chopped
Sesame Seeds

For the sauce
8 tablespoons Olive Oil
15g bunch fresh Coriander
3 tablespoons of Almond Butter (or a handful of Almonds will do)
2 tablespoons Tahini
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
1 tablespoon Tamari
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Garlic Clove
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Using a spiralizer (I use one like this) make the courgette into 'noodles' or if you don't have one peel the courgette into thin strips using a vegetable peeler- discarding the seedy centre, peel the carrots into strips also.

Cook the noodles according to packet instructions. Whilst the noodles cook (or you can leave the noodles out completely if you want it to be even more healthy) you can make the sauce. Simply place all the ingredients for the sauce into a blender or food processor with 9 tablespoons of water and whizz it up until it is smooth.

Once the noodles have cooked, drain and let them cool for a few minutes. Place the noodles, courgette, carrot, peppers, mint and cashews into a large bowl. Serve and pour as much dressing over your meal as desired and top with sesame seeds.

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