I love the way the Japanese cook aubergines and I wanted to create a recipe which reminds me of eating it in their restaurants. This recipe is a delicious way to cook them and has lovely textures and is a bit crunchy with the ginger matchsticks. They are packed with flavour so they would be great with baked fish, salads and rice. Perfect as a little starter or a side dish.
This recipe is inspired by my father’s range of beers called Paolozzi made by The Edinburgh Beer Factory.
It is really Italian in all its flavours and I’m sure he would have loved it. Beer and mussels go really well together and so does crusty bread so I combined them all together. Mussels are cheap and sustainable, plus they cook in minutes. This recipe is perfect as a starter or light supper. And of course it’s perfect with beer.
If you fancy it with chips there are a couple of recipes on my blog for for easy fries too: healthy matchstick fries and the perfect roasted fries.
I know… all the best bits of a burrito with the best bits of a tortilla. So you have crispy fried tortillas with charred corn and avocado with my pink pickled onions and Mexican refried beans. These are perfect as a canapé, a TV snack or a starter. I tried these out at a dinner party and no one noticed that they were vegan. You can buy a can of refried beans but my recipe for them is so much nicer and is on the blog in the vegan bit of the blog menu, just remember to start making them the day before as the beans need to be soaked overnight. The same goes for the pink pickled onions recipe as it also needs to made the day before. These are colourful, tasty crunchy and good for you.
I love trying new ways of cooking tasty vegan food, and I particularly love aubergines. Because the aubergines are babies they cook differently to large aubergines, they are tender but at the same time they stay firm. I adapted this recipe from an Indian cookbook called 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi.
I have cooked this for dinner parties with basmati rice, salad and papadums and it is always a huge hit. It looks impressive and it’s tasty, sweet and savoury and has all the lovely flavours of delicious Indian spices. I sometimes serve it with a dollop of dairy free yogurt or kefir too.
This tajine has all the flavours of a tasty Moroccan dish. It’s perfect for a warming supper or dinner party now it’s colder. It has that lovely combo of savoury and sweet because it’s got delicious spices and dried apricots in it. It’s super easy as it’s all baked in the oven and needs little attention. Perfect if you are busy. I serve it with saffron couscous, garlicky yogurt (Alpro have just started doing a sugar free plain yogurt) and my Moroccan orange salad, recipe in the index, and it’s a big hit with vegetarians and non vegetarians.
This spaghetti is a proper Tuscan summery delight and my Italian family favourite. It not only is fresh and simple but it has very few ingredients too. It reminds me of summer evenings sitting in our garden as children with a glass of fizzy apple juice pretending it was champagne. This spaghetti can be served with Parmesan, but it traditionally is served without. I love this with a plain salad with my vinaigrette.
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A friend of mine challenged me to make a quinoa recipe that would be really tasty. This is really tasty and the texture of the quinoa works well with the cauliflower. Health on a plate. Continue reading
This really smooth and easy sorbet is a really refreshing end to a meal. You don’t need an ice cream maker to make it, as the technique I use makes it silky smooth. It tastes very french and delicately peary which reminds me of my holidays in France. You can eat it straight away or it freezes really well and stays soft enough to scoop. Like all ice creams and sorbets, it is better if you take it out of the freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Brilliant for using up a glut of ripe pears too.
There’s nothing like a cocktail and dessert in one. Inspired by the Bellini cocktail, which was invented in around 1934 by Giuseppe Cipriani of Harry’s Bar in Venice, and still served there to this day. This sorbet is really refreshing and delicious. It’s also really easy to make and if you like Bellinis and you like sorbet, then you have hit the jackpot with this recipe. It is perfect on Valentine’s Day at the end of the meal. It’s light and a bit boozy, so your not too stuffed for your romantic shenanigans ahead. I would also serve this on a special occasion like Christmas Eve or New Years Eve or just because you fancy it.
Serves 2.
This recipe is really easy, dairy free, gluten free and vegan. Vegan food lends itself really well to the flavours of middle eastern and Indian ingredients because it peps up foods like tofu which has little flavour and adds va va voom. Originally this recipe was created by an Indian Chinese chef and has the components of both food cultures combined. I converted this recipe from a Madhur Jaffrey recipe and I replaced the paneer cheese with a very firm tofu by The Tofoo Co, which is available in supermarkets. It’s the perfect paneer replacement. I serve this with hot chapatis, salad and pickles but you can serve it as a side with any of my other Indian recipes.
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