Category: The Simple Vegan

Preparation Time: 10 minutes       Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This is a perfect option for lunch – it’s nutritious, delicious and doesn’t take long to make. The lentil, rice and avo combo is perfect and it’s guaranteed to leave you feeling full.

Ingredients

¾ cup uncooked rice
1/2 tin peas
Lentil base sauce: (1 cup dried whole lentils
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup water or vegetable stock)

1 ripe avocado
Juice from ¼ of a lemon
Salt & pepper

Method

• Make a batch of lentil base sauce – you can do this the day before or use leftovers if you are in need of a quick bite to eat or feel free to make it fresh for this recipe.
  If you are making the lentil sauce specifically for this recipe, start with this first as the lentils will need to cook for slightly longer than the rice. Once the lentils have been simmering for about 10 minutes, start prepping for the rice.
• Boil salted water, once boiling add the rice and stir occasionally
• After 10 minutes, drain the water, rinse the rice and then cover with fresh water and put back on the heat to boil.
• Once the rice is cooked (another 10 or so minutes), drain the remaining water and mix in the 1/2 tin of peas. Cover and leave to one side.
• Once the lentil mix is warmed up and ready, portion the rice and pea mix into bowls.
• Spoon the warmed up lentil mix on top.
• Top the dish with slices of fresh avo, a large pinch of salt, pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
• Dig in and enjoy!

This bowl is seriously moreish. The avocado perfectly rounds up the dish and brings everything together. Every mouthful is packed with flavour thanks to the zingy squeeze of lemon. Enjoy and feel great inside and out.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

We LOVE Avo’s. Usually we’d have a hearty helping of guacamole on toast or with some nacho chips but this pasta dish is our new favourite lunch. We decided to top the dish with garlic breadcrumbs to give some extra flavour and added crunch.

 

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado
Juice from ¼ of a lemon
1 medium sized garlic clove, finely chopped
Small pinch of chilli flakes
Large pinch of salt and pepper

Spaghetti

3 slices of bread, made into breadcrumbs
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp mixed herbs, crushed in palm
2 tbsp olive oil

Method

• Boil salted water for the spaghetti, once boiling add the spaghetti and stir occasionally.
• While the spaghetti is cooking- mash the avocado in a bowl, squeeze in the lemon juice, add the chopped garlic, chilli flakes and seasoning and stir well.
• Drain the spaghetti, add 1 tsp of olive oil, stir, cover and leave to one side.
• Toast the breadcrumbs in a small frying pan with chopped garlic, mixed herbs and olive oil.
• stir the avocado mix into the spaghetti so it is evenly covered.
• Serve & top with the toasted breadcrumbs! ENJOY!

Avocado is wonderful, this is a great way to enjoy avo for lunch or a relaxed dinner. It’s a perfect dish if there’s not much left in the house as it uses very few ingredients but is delicious and nutritious. Avocados are a great source of vitamins and minerals as well as the ‘good fat’, dietary fibre and potassium!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes       Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Cous Cous is a great go-to when it comes to making food FAST. It’s so easy and quick to do, you literally add hot water, stir, cover and let it sit for 10 minutes then… it’s done. Stock up on cous cous for your busy days so you don’t have to settle for dry toast again!

Ingredients

1 cup cous cous (we used Mediterranean flavour with oregano, sundried tomato & other herbs already mixed in)
1 cup boiling water

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced
½ head of broccoli, keep the broccoli relatively chunky
1 tomato, finely diced
1 eggplant/ aubergine, diced
Large handful of sprouts, halved
4 tbsp soy sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Method

• Pour the cup of hot water into the bowl of cous cous, cover and leave to stand. Note: if your cous cous is plain you can add some herbs/ seasoning to jazz it up a little.
• While the cous cous cooks, heat some oil in a large pan.
• Caramelize the garlic and onion with 1 tbsp. sugar over a medium heat.
• Turn the heat up to high, add the carrot, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the aubergine, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the broccoli and sprouts, stir and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the tomato & soy sauce, stir so all the veggies are covered and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes.
• Stir the cous cous with a fork so the grains separate, add it to the vegetables, serve hot & enjoy!

The vegetables are delicately flavoured to allow each of their individual tastes to come through. This makes a great packed lunch, on the go meal, salad or side dish. Dig in to this and eat as much as you want because it’s healthy!

Cous cous is high in Selenium, providing 61% of the daily recommended value
Selenium acts as an antioxidant & in potassium, providing 39% of the daily recommended value. Potassium regulates blood pressure and assists with muscle contraction. 6 grams of protein per 1 cup cooked cous cous isn’t bad going either- think about how packed full of goodness this dish is with all those delicious vegetables too. 

Preparation Time: 10 minutes       Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This meal is delicious and authentic with very little effort and time. Stuff a roti or wrap full of this spicy potato mix and enjoy – your tastebuds will thank you!

Ingredients

2 large potatoes, diced
½ onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tomato, diced
½ tbsp. – 1 tbsp. turmeric powder

½ tbsp. – 1tbsp. masala powder
salt & pepper to taste

Serve with wraps or rice as a main meal or as a delicious side dish.

Method

• Fry the onion in a large pan over a medium heat until translucent.
• Add the garlic and fry until fragrant.
• Stir in the tomato and spices followed by the diced potato.
• Stir well, turn the heat to low and cover.
• Stir the mixture every 5 – 10 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and allow the potatoes to sit for 5 minutes with the lid on.
• Now give the potatoes a final stir and be sure to scrape all the deliciousness from the bottom of the pan.
• Serve hot and enjoy.

These spicy potatoes are great, we’ve made them time and time again. The simplicity of the dish makes it the perfect meal on even the busiest days.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes       Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This lentil base sauce is ridiculously easy, packed with protein and can be used to create an array of delicious, filling dishes from Shepherd’s Pie to Lasagne!

Ingredients

1 cup dried whole lentils
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup water or vegetable stock

Salt & pepper to taste
Method

• Lightly fry the onions in a small pan over a medium heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons of sugar until they have started to become caramelized.
• Add the carrot and garlic and fry until fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes and the lentils, stir well and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the water or stock, turn the heat up and allow the mixture to boil.
• Once the mixture is boiling, cover and turn the heat down.
• Allow to simmer for 30 – 40 minutes until the lentils are soft, add more water as necessary.
• Serve hot and enjoy.

We served this with pasta topped with garlic breadcrumbs and we enjoyed the leftovers on toast the following morning. Great as a taco filling, nacho topping or as a pasta bake. We used the whole lentils as oppose to split lentils as they are packed with 25.8g of protein per 100g!

Preparation Time: 15 – 20 minutes      Servings:  2
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Beanballs… underrated, delicious, versatile.  We chose to make our beanballs with kidney beans but feel free to use blackbeans as that will be delicious too. I couldn’t eat half a tin of kidney beans mixed into a salad or in a sauce but I could eat all 10 of these beanballs without a second thought. To get more goodness in your diet without having to eat meals you do not absolutely love, try these beanballs today!

Ingredients

1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. lemon zest & a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. Italian herbs
½ onion, finely chopped
A generous pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper
¼ cup – ¾ cup flour (until desired consistency is reached)
Tomato Pasta sauce
4 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, diced
2 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. mixed herbs
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. sun dried tomato pesto (optional, ensure it is vegan)

Method

• Mash the kidney beans in a bowl with a fork until a paste is formed.
• Stir in the finely chopped onion.
• Crush the spices in your palm and add them to the paste.
• Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, stir well.
• Add the remaining seasoning (salt and pepper).
• Now slowly add flour until a workable dough is formed.
• Split the mix and roll into balls, we made 10 balls from one tin of kidney beans.
• For the tomato sauce: caramalize the onions over a medium – high heat for about 5 minutes, add the finely chopped garlic and allow to sweat over a medium heat for a few minutes.
• Now add the mixed herbs, tomato paste and tomato pesto and cover the mixture, allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. There should be enough moisture from the fresh tomatoes to form the sauce but you can always add a few tablespoons of water while cooking if necessary.
• The sauce needs to cook for a further 15 minutes so let’s cook the beanballs while it simmers: heat up vegetable oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
• Add the beanballs when the oil is hot and simmer until golden brown. Try to only turn the beanballs once, allowing them to cook for around 10 minutes on either side. The beanballs should be golden brown with a slight outer crisp.

Serve with spaghetti, a hearty sprinkling of nutritional yeast and some fresh-from-the-oven garlic bread.

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes    Servings:  4
Cooking Time: 60 minutes

When it’s getting close to shopping day and there’s only a few items laying around this is one of my go-to recipes. Butternuts last a long time and we always seem to have one waiting to be used. This soup uses 4 ingredients, serves 4 and is DELICIOUS.

Ingredients

1 butternut, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups vegetable stock / 1 stock cube
Seasoning to taste

Method

• Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil over a medium heat until translucent and fragrant.
• Add the diced butternut, stir well and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the vegetable stock, turn the heat down to low.
• Stir well, cover, and leave to simmer. The longer the soup simmers the better but let it simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Serve hot and enjoy!

Serve with fresh, crusty rolls and enjoy this hearty, home-made soup.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes       Servings:  2 Large Burgers
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

This bean burger is filling, nutritious and absolutely delicious. Inexpensive, easy to make and guaranteed to sort your burger cravings out no problem at all! Grab that tin of kidney beans you never thought you’d use and get cooking.

Ingredients

For the burger:
1 tin kidney beans, drained and washed
½ cup flour
½ onion, finely chopped
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax with 6 tbsp. water)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp. dried Italian herbs, crushed in palm
1 tbsp. Cajun spice
1 tsp. dried chilli flakes
Juice of ½ lemon & zest of ¼ lemon
1/2 tbsp. salt
pinch of pepper

2 sweet potatoes, cut as preferred for chips/ fries.

Mushroom topping:
Handful of fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic
Large pinch of Italian herbs.

To serve:
Handful of babygem lettuce
Tomato, thinly sliced
½ onion, thinly sliced
Fresh burger rolls

We served our bean burgers on fresh rolls, topped with salad and some delicious garlic mushrooms. For an extra treat serve with vegan cheese or carrot bacon.

Method

• Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, herbs, spice, seasoning and chilli flakes) in a bowl and put to one side.
• Roughly mash the kidney beans in a bowl with a fork.
• Add the finely chopped onion and garlic into the bean mixture.
• Add the dry ingredients to the bean mixture, stir very well to form a sticky paste.
• Once a paste has formed (add more flour if the mixture is not sticky enough), dust a chopping board with flour.
• Divide the bean mixture into 2 equal portions (or 4 portions if you want to make smaller burgers)
• Scoop the first portion onto the chopping board, dust with flour to make the burger easier to work with then press and shape into a patty.
• You can oven cook or deep fry the sweet potato fries depending on your preference; they should take around 20 minutes to cook.
• Gently heat a lightly oiled a medium saucepan for the burgers.
• Once hot, add the burgers allowing them to gently fry for 10- 15 minutes on either side or until golden brown and firm.
• Only turn the burgers once so don’t flip them until they are ready.
• When the burgers are golden brown, take them off the heat and place them onto a plate to rest (you can put the burgers onto paper towel to absorb any excess oil here).
• Serve when hot & don’t forget to load up on delicious toppings!

This will satisfy your burger cravings and is so simple to make. It’s a great after work meal, is full of goodness and is packed with protein so dig in and FEEL GREAT.

 

Servings:  4 – 6
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Dough Proofing Time: 1 hour

I’ve spent way too much time scrolling through online recipes trying to find a homemade curry that is full of flavour but without the eye watering heat. This chickpea curry is divinely rich and delicious – we honestly cannot get enough of it. Combine each spoonful with some homemade naan bread and you’ll feel like you’re eating at an authentic Indian restaurant.

Ingredients

For Curry:
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 tbsp. masala spice
2 tbsp. ground turmeric
1 tin chickpeas
1 tin butterbeans
1 tomato
1 cup vegetable stock
½ cup water
1 tbsp. coconut flour
1 tbsp. mixed, dried spices (ideally a blend of: fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cinnamon and curry lead)
1 tbsp. cumin
Salt + Pepper to taste
Fresh coriander to garnish

For Naan Bread:
500g white bread flour
10g dried instant yeast
½ tbsp. sugar
1 cup lukewarm water

Ensure you prepare the naan bread dough first so it has time to proof. If you are not making the naan, serve the dish with rice.

Method (Curry)

• Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in the vegetable oil over a medium – high heat for 5 minutes.
• Add the masala and tumeric powders and stir to form a paste with the onion mix.
• Once a paste has formed, add the chickpeas and butterbeans, stir well and leave to simmer with the lid on for 5 minutes (the spices will begin to stick to the pan but do not worry!).
• Add the chopped tomato and vegetable stock. Separately, mix the coconut flour with the ½ cup of water and once smooth add this to the curry.
• Stir well, ensuring you scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan to get all the flavours integrated well into the dish.
• Add the remaining spices (mixed, dried spices, cumin, salt and pepper), stir well and simmer over a low heat with the lid on for at least 45 – 60 minutes.
  
  The butterbeans will break down, adding amazing flavour and acting as a thickener.

• In the last 20 minutes, you can begin to roll and cook the naan bread dough you prepared earlier.

Method (Naan Bread)

• Mix the yeast with sugar into the warm water until everything has dissolved.
• Leave the yeast mixture to sit for a couple of minutes.
• Add the yeast mixture to the flour and mix to form a dough.
• Sprinkle flour onto a chopping board or counter top, place the dough onto the flour and knead the dough very well until the dough has a glossy texture.
• Put the now glossy dough into a bowl, cover it with a cloth and leave it in a warm place for 60 – 90 minutes.
• Once the dough has risen, knead it once more to get the air out and then break into 8 – 10 equal sized balls.
• Roll each ball into a flat disc as if it were a pizza base. Our dough discs were 25 – 30 cm in diameter, rolled to a couple of millimetres thick.
• Heat a dry, non-stick pan over a medium-high heat.
• Place one dough disc flat into the hot pan, you will see bubbles rising as the bread cooks.
• Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until it is golden brown (don’t flip the bread until the golden-brown colour is achieved).
• Once cooked, stack on a plate ready to serve!
  Serve the naan bread hot.

Once the curry has thickened and the naan bread is ready, serve and enjoy. This meal is guaranteed to impress your friends and family. This chickpea curry is thick, full of deep flavours and packed with protein.

Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes                      Servings: 4

The cold weather has got us snuggling in with this classic stew recipe. The mushrooms and red wine perfectly complement each other giving us this divine, rich and meaty stew. Serve with rice and if you are feeling adventurous feel free to add some chopped vegan sausages and/or dumplings to the recipe.

Ingredients
1 Medium onion, roughly chopped
3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
300g mushrooms, quartered
3 Large Carrots, peeled & chopped into 2cm chunks
2 tsp. dried mixed/ Italian herbs, crushed in palm of hand
1 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 glass smooth, red wine
3 large potatoes, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Method

• Gently heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan
• Add onions and garlic – simmer over a medium heat, stir occasionally until browned (10 minutes)
• Add the mushrooms, stir and fry for 5 minutes.
• Add the carrots, mixed herbs and salt – fry the mix for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Once the vegetables are beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the glass of wine and stir well.
• Cook the mixture for 10 – 15 minutes until the alcohol has evaporated and the stew has reduced.
• Once the alcohol has cooked off (if there is still alcohol the stew will have a slightly sharp smell which means it needs to be cooked longer) you can add the vegetable stock, 1 cup of water and potatoes.
• Stir well, cover and leave the stew to simmer on a low heat for an hour. Stir the stew occasionally and top up with water if necessary.
• Remember, the longer the stew can simmer on a low heat the richer the flavours will become.

Serve with rice & enjoy! Thick, rich and full of flavour – this stew will fill you up and is perfect for those cold evenings with a glass of wine and a book by the fire!