Cook Veggielicious

Simple Israeli salad

April 12, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 4 Comments

An easy and delicious recipe for Israeli salad made with tomato, cucumber, herbs, lemon juice and olive oil. Onion can also be added. Suitable for vegans and a delicious accompaniment to any meal.

This type of salad appears across middle Eastern cuisine and no doubt goes by many different names. I’ve always known it as Israeli salad however and it’s a fresh, light and delicious salad that’s perfect alongside many dishes. Try it as part of a veggie mezze spread, with some roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas, with flatbreads, in a falafel wrap or alongside shakshuka.

The key is to use the ripest, freshest tomatoes you can find. This isn’t always easy at this time of year in the UK so look for the best ones you can find – and don’t put them in the fridge! This salad is a great one to make if you grow your own tomatoes and cucumbers and have a glut of them in the summer.

If possible use a small Persian cucumber for this dish – any middle Eastern supermarket or grocers will stock them. If you can’t find them you can use a standard English cucumber instead.

I hope you enjoy this simple Israeli salad recipe. Do let me know in the comments if you try it.

5 from 1 vote

Simple Israeli salad

An easy and delicious recipe for Israeli salad made with tomato, cucumber, herbs, lemon juice and olive oil. Onion can also be added. Suitable for vegans and a delicious accompaniment to any meal.

Course Salad

Servings 2

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

1 small Persian cucumber or 1/2 English cucumber diced
4 small ripe tomatoes diced
1 small red onion diced (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Small handful fresh flat leaf parsley finely chopped
Salt to taste

Instructions

Mix the diced cucumber, tomatoes and onion (if using) into a serving bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice, add the chopped parsley and mix well. Add salt to taste.
Serve immediately at room temperature.

Pin simple Israeli salad for later

I have linked this post up to Cook Blog Share hosted this week by the lovely Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie.

Sri Lankan okra curry

April 3, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 1 Comment

A fresh and light recipe for okra curry adapted from an authentic Sri Lankan recipe. Flavoured with roasted Sri Lankan curry powder and coconut this recipe has to be tried.

If you’ve had okra before and thought it was slimy, soggy, chewy or just generally disgusting then please, I beg you, try this recipe. That person was me – I think I once made the mistake of buying and cooking with frozen okra – but since making this recipe for Sri Lankan okra curry I am a total okra convert.

Okra, sometimes known as bhindi, or even ladies fingers, is a green vegetable with a pointy end commonly found in the Indian subcontinent. It’s readily available to buy in London where I live – I would recommend trying your nearest large supermarket or Asian supermarket if you can’t find it.

This recipe was given to me by Shem, the same person who gave me the Sri Lankan roasted curry powder recipe. This okra curry is the perfect use for that curry powder. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

There are a few things you can do differently with this recipe. The original recipe, which Shem got from her Dad, calls for 1 tsp coconut powder or grated creamed coconut. I find coconut milk is much easier to get hold of in the UK so I decided to use this.

The recipe also calls for curry leaves. As with the okra you should be able to get hold of these in a large supermarket or Asian store but if not you can leave them out.

Here is the recipe for roasted Sri Lankan curry powder if you’d like to make your own.

Sri Lankan okra curry

A fresh and light recipe for okra curry adapted from an authentic Sri Lankan recipe. Flavoured with roasted Sri Lankan curry powder and coconut this recipe has to be tried.

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil
350 g crisp okra
1 small tomato or 100g tinnedchopped tomatoes
1 red onion finely diced reserve 1 tbsp
10 fresh curry leaves
1 heaped tsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
1/2 heaped tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp coconut milk
salt to taste
1 tsp lime juice

Instructions

Prepare the okra. Trim the stem end and cut in half across the circumference.
Mix all the ingredients apart from the coconut oil, the curry leaves, 1 tbsp diced onion and lime juice together in a mixing bowl.
Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a medium saucepan until hot, add 10 curry leaves and the reserved tbsp of diced onion until sizzling and slightly brown.
Add all the other ingredients to the saucepan. Swill a dash of water around the now empty bowl to get out any last traces of spice.
Heat on a medium heat for 3 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 15-20 minutess. The okra should still have a bit of bite. Turn off the heat and squeeze in 1 tsp lime juice.

Pin Sri Lankan okra curry recipe for later

Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

April 3, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 1 Comment

An authentic recipe for Sri Lankan curry powder that can be used in a variety of curries and dishes. Roasting the spices first creates a lovely deep flavour that you can’t help but love.

This recipe is my version of the roasted Sri Lankan curry powder made by my friend’s girlfriend, Shem. As far as I know she’s lived in the UK all or most of her life but her parents are from Sri Lanka and this is her dad’s recipe. These spices are roasted first – or dry toasted in a pan – and then ground together. Most recipes have extra cumin powder and turmeric added as well as the curry powder.

I have found this to be an extremely adaptable curry powder. Shem has sent me recipes for okra curry, dahl and Sri Lankan rice, all of which use this powder. I’ve also used it in various curry concoctions of my own, none of which can claim to be authentic but all of which have been delicious. This is definitely the best homemade curry powder recipe I have ever made.

While writing this post I had a look at some of the other Sri Lankan curry powder recipes online and it was interesting to see how they varied. Some added fennel seeds, others toasted rice. Others still added mustard seeds or fresh curry leaves. Chilli often, but not always, features and by all means add more dried chillies to your powder if you like your food to be hot. The core ingredients of coriander, cumin and cinnamon generally remain the same.

Incidentally much Sri Lankan food contains fish or fish paste. Despite this when we travelled to Sri Lanka in 2008 for our honeymoon I didn’t have any trouble finding veggie dishes although it’s always worth checking that fish paste hasn’t been added. You’ll also find a lot of south Indian restaurants serving veggie staples like dosa, idli, uttapam etc.

Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder

An authentic recipe for Sri Lankan curry powder that can be used in a variety of curries and dishes. Roasting the spices first creates a lovely deep flavour that you can't help but love.

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 small cinnamon stick
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dried chilli flakes adjust to taste

Instructions

Heat a small frying pan over a low heat.
Add all the spices and heat until fragrant and turning golden brown.
Place in a spice grinder or blender with a small jug and grind until you have a powder. You could also do this step in a pestle and mortar but you'll need some serious arm muscles.
Store in an airtight container.

Pin roasted Sri Lankan curry powder for later

Demuths Indulgent Vegan cookery course review and beetroot burger recipe

March 29, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious Leave a Comment

I recently attended the Indulgent Vegan cookery course at Demuths Cookery School in Bath. It was such a brilliant day and I learnt so many useful skills and delicious vegan recipes including beetroot and aduki bean burgers.

Demuths Indulgent vegan cookery class and beetroot burger recipe

(Picture: Eat Pictures)

The Indulgent Vegan cookery course at Demuths is a one-day course. I got the train up from London in the morning, which meant a pretty early start but it was worth it. Upon arrival at 10am the 12 participants were offered tea, coffee and biscuits and given a copy of the menu for the day.

A few of us looked at each other in surprise – surely we wouldn’t actually manage to cook all of these different things in one day? On the menu were: vegan brioche buns, beetroot aduki bean burgers, spicy pulled jackfruit tacos, cauliflower mac ‘n’ cheese, doughnuts and sticky toffee pudding with hazelnut praline ice cream. We had just under six hours. Could we really make all of these things in that time? The teachers didn’t seem worried so I decided not to treat it like a Bake Off challenge and just trust that they knew what they were doing!

We started by making the brioche dough. Brioche is an enriched bread dough usually made with eggs and butter. Our teacher showed us how to make a vegan version using apple purée and olive oil instead. This dough was to be used for our burger buns and for the doughnuts and let me tell you that it was incredible. Even the non-vegans on the course thought that this was amazing bread.

After this it was time to make the ice cream – this was a demonstration rather than a hands on part of the course so we all got a chance to sit down, which was welcome after all that kneading!

Demuths Indulgent vegan cookery class and jackfruit tacos

Vegan spicy pulled jackfruit tacos at Demuths

We then made the spicy pulled jackfruit tacos. Jackfruit is a very weird looking absolutely enormous fruit that grows in India, south east Asia and parts of Africa. It’s becoming increasingly easy to get hold of it here in the UK but usually in a tin rather than fresh. The recipe that we made used liquid hickory smoke, shoyu soya sauce and smoked paprika and it was amazing. Served with avocado and salsa in homemade corn tacos it makes a perfect vegan meal. I’ve already made it at home and I know I’ll be doing so again!

After we’d polished off our jackfruit tacos we went back into the kitchen to watch a demo of the sticky toffee pudding being made (this was undoubtedly the most indulgent part of the indulgent vegan cookery course!), before making the beetroot burgers and the cauliflower and carrot mac ‘n’ cheese.

Mac n cheese vegan Demuths Indulgent vegan cookery class

Vegan cauliflower mac ‘n’ cheese about to go in the oven at Demuths

We sat down to eat the burgers and the mac ‘n’ cheese at about 3.30, just before the course finished. No-one could quite believe how much we’d got through – or quite how good the vegan mac ‘n’ cheese was! I’ve also made this recipe at home – one of my kids was a bit suspicious but he ate it anyway. Result.

Everyone completely forgot to save room for dessert so when we were presented with sticky toffee pudding, ice cream AND doughnuts there were a few groans. I did manage my portion of sticky toffee pudding but luckily there were takeaway boxes for the doughnuts.

Take a look at the courses that are coming up at Demuths .

Demuths have kindly agreed to let me share the recipe for the beetroot aduki bean burgers with you here:

Beetroot aduki bean burgers

A delicious recipe for beetroot aduki bean burgers from Demuths Cookery School. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Servings 6

Ingredients

2 medium raw beetroot
1 x 400g tin of aduki beans rinsed and drained
1 medium red onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground chipotle powder or smoked hot paprika
4 sundried tomatoes in oil finely chopped
4 tbsp oats whizzed to a coarse flour in a food processor
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fresh mint chopped
salt and pepper
sunflower or rapeseed oil for frying

Instructions

Wrap the beetroot individually in foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours until tender.
Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, gently fry the onion over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until soft and beginning to colour.
Add the garlic and spices and cook for a further minutes until fragrant, remove from the heat.
Add the aduki beans and roughly crush with a fork, add the sundried tomatoes, lemon and mint.
Remove the skin from the roasted beetroot and grate on the coarse side of a grater. Add to the crushed beans and mix through with the fork.
Mix well, then taste and check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper.
Stir in the ground oats.
Divide the burger mix into six portions. Rub a little oil on the palms of your hands and form each one into a patty, not more than 2cm thick.
Place onto a lightly oiled plate or tray, chill for an hour to firm up.
To cook the burgers, place on an oiled baking tray and brush the tops with a little oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a hot oven (200°C fan) until crispy on the outside turning them over halfway. You could also shallow fry in a frying pan.

Pin Demuths Indulgent Vegan cookery course and beetroot aduki bean burgers for later

(Picture: Eat Pictures)

Disclaimer: I was invited to attend the Indulgent Vegan course at Demuths in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I received no other payment for this post.

Comptoir V Kensal Rise review – vegan restaurant in London

March 23, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 2 Comments

Comptoir V in Kensal Rise is a new vegan restaurant in London. Head to the west London restaurant for vegan Moroccan food – think big mezze platters with bright colours and bold flavours, nutritious salad bowls and decadent desserts.

Desserts at Comptoir V

If you’re looking for a vegan restaurant in London you’re spoilt for choice these days. Veganism is on the rise and one of the newer additions to the vegan London restaurant scene is Comptoir V. Set up by Anwar Cherquaoui and Sa’eed Kazmi in December 2017 the restaurant offers mainly middle-eastern, specifically Moroccan, inspired cuisine. The pair, both 30, have long worked in the hospitality industry but a personal interest in veganism led them to open Comptoir V.

I’d never been to Kensal Rise before and in fact wasn’t really sure where it was. After much consulting of City Mapper I successfully navigated the Overground and arrived at Kensal Rise station, conveniently opposite the restaurant.

Dynamite vegan shrimp

To start with I ordered a portion of vegan shrimp – mainly because the concept intrigued me so much. Having been a vegetarian since I was a kid I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a real shrimp. This one is made from potato starch and kelp. It tasted good – not too fishy if you know what I mean – but my vegetarian brain was a bit confused by the texture. Apparently meat eaters who visit Comptoir V love this shrimp dish.

After much indecision – I was seriously tempted by the Caribbean chickpea curry, the Moroccan Buddha bowl and the BBQ mushroom ribs with vegan mac ‘n’ cheese (and that’s not even mentioning the burgers) – I decided to order the Moroccan sharer for the main course. Incidentally I did visit with a friend, I wasn’t just being greedy.

The Moroccan sharer

The sharer included sautéed spinach, beetroot dip, carrot smash, aubergine zaalouk and shakshuka.

Carrot smash

Hands down my favourite dish was the zaalouk. I hadn’t had zaalouk before. While it reminded me a lot of baba ghanoush I believe it’s a dish in its own right and it tasted amazing. I could have eaten the lot singlehandedly but unfortunately I had a friend with me so I had to share.

Moroccan mezze

We also ordered a side dish of Moroccan ghife bread which was a lot like an Indian paratha and was perfect for mopping up all those dips.

Moroccan ghife bread

The dessert menu contains three items – banana and date crumble, Moroccan pancakes and cheesecake. The cheesecake changes daily and when we visited the option was Sicilian lemon.

Moroccan pancakes

Sicilian lemon cheesecake

The verdict?

Comptoir V is a great choice if you’re looking for a vegan restaurant in London to visit. Small plates cost around £4-5, mains £8-10 and desserts £6-7 at the time of my visit.

Find Comptoir V at 1 Keslake Mansions, 12 Station Terrace, Kensal Rise NW10 5RU. Nearest stations are Kensal Rise on the Overground or Kensal Green on the Bakerloo line.

Current opening hours are midday – 10pm Sunday to Thursday and midday – 11pm Friday and Saturday.

See the menu at Comptoir V.

Disclaimer: I was invited for a meal at Comptoir V in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I received no other payment for this post.

Homemade vegan chocolate for Easter

March 23, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious Leave a Comment

Homemade vegan chocolate is so easy to make. These chocolate orange flavoured Easter treats require just four ingredients to make.

What’s your favourite Easter treat? While I’m a huge fan of hot cross buns and simnel cake there’s just something about Easter that screams chocolate!

These little homemade Easter chocolates are very simple and all you need is cacao butter, cocoa powder, maple syrup and if you like chocolate orange flavour a little orange extract.

Get the recipe for these vegan Easter chocolates on metro.co.uk

Pin homemade vegan chocolates for Easter for later

Vegan hot cross buns

March 23, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious Leave a Comment

These delicious vegan hot cross buns are made with oat milk, apple purée and sunflower oil. All the flavours of Easter, none of the dairy and eggs.

For me it wouldn’t be Easter without hot cross buns. While they’re in the oven the house fills with the glorious smell of warm, spiced bread. Try eating them just warm from the oven, served with lashings of (non-dairy) butter – you won’t regret it!

Get the full recipe for these vegan hot cross buns on metro.co.uk.

Pin vegan hot cross buns for later

Vegan leftover mashed potato chocolate muffins

March 19, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 2 Comments

Delicious, healthy chocolate muffins made with leftover mashed potato. These are made with Canderel and therefore lower in calories.

Canderel has teamed up with Fare Share London Community Food Network to help supply meals to those in need. They’ve also created a cookbook full of lower calorie recipes made using leftovers.

5 from 1 vote

Leftover mashed potato chocolate muffins (vegan)

Delicious, healthy chocolate muffins made with leftover mashed potato. These are made with Canderel and therefore lower in calories.

Servings 12

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

150 g plain flour
50 g ground almonds
50 g vegan cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
40 g jar of Canderel Granules
120 ml non-dairy milk
100 ml sunflower oil
1 large ripe banana mashed
175 g mashed potato

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6. Place 12 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
Mix together the flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder, baking powder and Canderel in a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl beat together the oat milk and sunflower oil then stir in the mashed banana and mashed potato.
Add the dry ingredients and fold in gently until combined. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases.
Bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin for several minutes and then leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Here are some other recipes made by my blogging friends using Canderel:

Thai green curry by Intolerant Gourmand

Curried potato and vegetable cakes with a spiced mango jam by Mummy Mishaps

Pin vegan leftover mashed potato chocolate muffins

Disclaimer: this is a collaborative post with Canderel

Warm celeriac salad with chestnuts and blueberries

March 9, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 3 Comments

A delicious and warming roast celeriac salad made with sweet fresh blueberries and earthy chestnuts. A great vegan recipe that makes use of a common veg box vegetable.

For years I had no idea what to do with celeriac – beyond mashing it either on its own or with potato. These days I have come to love this gnarly old root vegetable – although I still hate how difficult it is to peel. I love it roasted as a side or as part of a roast dinner and it’s also lovely in this Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup with coconut and chilli.

Celeriac works surprisingly well in a salad. It has a distinctly fresh and light flavour that isn’t quite like anything else. In terms of what celeriac tastes like – well it tastes like a subtler version of celery. It’s a little bit nutty and the texture is completely different to crunchy celery – perhaps this is why I like celeriac despite never being a fan of celery.

5 from 1 vote

Warm celeriac salad with chestnuts and blueberries

A delicious and warming roast celeriac salad made with sweet fresh blueberries and earthy chestnuts. A great vegan recipe that makes use of a common veg box vegetable.

Course Salad

Servings 2

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

900 g celeriac
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme leaves picked
1 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tbsp maple syrup
100 g cooked chestnuts crumbled
100 g fresh blueberries

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.
Peel the celeriac and cut into large chunks.
Place in a roasting tin with the olive oil, thyme, onion, garlic and maple syrup.
Roast for 40 minutes, stirring halfway or until cooked through.
Mix in a large salad bowl with the chestnuts and blueberries and serve immediately.

Pin warm celeriac salad with chestnuts and blueberries for later

I am adding this post to Cook Blog Share hosted by Kirsty at Hijacked by Twins.

Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup with coconut and chilli

February 28, 2018 by Cook Veggielicious 19 Comments

This Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup is gorgeously creamy with a subtle hint of coconut and a kick from the chilli. This recipe is a great way to use up the veggies from your vegetable box or bag scheme and it’s also vegan.

Celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes are not the sexiest, coolest or most fashionable recipes around. They are however reasonably priced, delicious and in season over winter. I am not a fan of celery yet I quite like the more subtle taste of celeriac. When blended into soup it has a lovely creamy texture – which is complemented beautifully by the creamy coconut milk.

Jerusalem artichokes, sometimes known as sunchokes, can be rather ubiquitous in winter vegetable box schemes. We seem to get them at least every other week. I do like them roasted but when they’re covered in mud they can be a right pain to clean and peel. If you’re wondering how to prepare Jerusalem artichokes here’s what I do. I usually place them all in the sink, cover them with water and peel them directly in the sink. As each one is done I rinse any remaining mud off under the tap, chop and add to a pan of water to stop them browning. You can do the same with the celeriac if you happen to get a muddy one.

Just to warn you – Jerusalem artichokes also have a bad reputation for causing flatulence, which seems to affect some people more than others! (Not naming any names here).

Anyway, it’s worth putting in the effort with the Jerusalem artichokes because this is such a lovely soup. It’s both deep and earthy yet light and creamy, and the hint of chilli makes it absolutely perfect for winter days.

You can of course reduce the amount of chilli used in the recipe if you prefer, or omit it altogether. This recipe can also be made with just celeriac if you don’t have Jerusalem artichokes.

Vegan Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup

5 from 4 votes

Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup with chilli and coconut

Course Main Course

Author Cook Veggielicious

Ingredients

1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 thumb-sized piece ginger finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes or to taste
1 tsp ground coriander
600 g celeriac peeled and diced medium (prepared weight)
600 g Jerusalem artichoke peeled and diced small (prepared weight)
400 g tin coconut milk
700 ml hot vegetable stock
freshly chopped coriander to serve
chilli sauce to serve

Instructions

Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
Add the onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
Add the ginger, garlic, chilli and coriander, stir well and cook for a further minute or two.
Add the diced vegetables. The Jerusalem artichokes take a bit longer to cook than the celeriac so I suggest chopping them a bit smaller. Stir to coat in the spice mix then pour in the coconut milk and the vegetable stock.
Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Blend until smooth. I find that a handheld blender is the most convenient way to do this.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with freshly chopped coriander and some extra chilli sauce if liked.

Pin Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac soup with chilli and coconut for later

I have linked this post up with Cook Blog Share hosted by Eb at Easy Peasy Foodie.

« Previous Page