Swim Sky Breathe

This vegan jackfruit chilli is an easy weeknight meal that can be thrown together quickly and tastes delicious! The jackfruit has a meaty chicken like texture and is a tasty hero ingredient in this flavourful dish. This recipe feeds four.

Ingredients

300g basmati rice

2 x 400g cans jackfruit in water – we used this – drained and chopped

1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 x 400g can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 x 400g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 x 400g chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 medium white onion, chopped

500ml vegetable stock

300ml plant milk

1 x cob of corn, cooked with corn shucked off

2 tsp chilli flakes

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

For the sour cream –

200g raw cashews, soaked overnight

160 ml water

Juice of 1 lemon

Teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Teaspoon salt

Coriander, to garnish.

Method

Make the sour cream by blending all of the ingredients – cashews, water, lemon, mustard, cider vinegar and salt – in a blender until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate.

Heat the olive oil in a wok and gently sauté the onions until they are slightly golden. Add the jackfruit, spices, and garlic and sauté for another couple of minutes. Slowly add the milk and broth, followed by the beans, chickpeas, corn and tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes, covering the wok.

Cook the rice while the chilli is simmering, using 600 ml of water.

Divide the rice and chilli into four bowls with a spoonful of sour cream and top and garnished with coriander.

If you like this, try our vegan smoked salmon blinis with sour cream.

Delicious slathered with butter, stuffed with whatever filling you choose, or dipped in houmus, this vegan cheese and onion bread probably won’t last very long if your house is anything like ours!

Ingredients

400g strong white bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 sachet yeast

100g grated vegan cheese (we used Applewood smoky

Six spring onions, finely chopped

250ml warm water

Method

If you want to make the bread the easy way, and you have a bread maker, you can make the dough in that.

Otherwise, combine the flour, yeast, and salt then gradually add the warm water to form a dough.

Add the cheese and onion and mix until they are well combined.

Put the dough, whether made by hand or in a bread maker, in a clean bowl and cover with a tea towel, leaving it somewhere warm until it has doubled in size.

Knead the dough a little more on a floured surface then add to your baking tin. Leave it another hour or so to rise further.

Bake in the oven at 180/220 C until it’s golden – this will usually take around 40 minutes.

Serve with butter and try not to eat it all at once!

If you like this, try our vegan fennel and olive rolls.

Who says donuts have to be sweet? These vegan asparagus chickpea donuts are a great party canape, or brilliant as a light lunch or afternoon snack.

The gomasio salt is a perfect garnish if you can get your hands on some to season the chickpeas, otherwise just use a sprinkle of rock salt.

Makes eight donuts.

Ingredients

180g asparagus

1 tbsp olive oil

1 white onion, diced

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp vegan mayo

1 can chickpeas

2/and a half cups flour

1 and a half cup plant milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 small carrot, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium silicone donut mould – we used this one

Gomasio salt, to season.

Handful parsley, to garnish.

Method

First, steam the asparagus for three minutes.

At the same time, fry the diced onion until slightly golden.

Blend the asparagus and onion with the olive oil and lemon in a blender to make a smooth asparagus cream.

Add half the asparagus cream to the flour, salt, baking powder and plant milk to make the donut batter. Spoon the mixture into the donut mould and bake at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Set the other half of the asparagus cream aside.

While the donuts are baking, put 100ml of water in a pan and heat the drained rinsed chickpeas in it over a low heat for five minutes, stirring regularly. Drain and mix with the mayo.

Ten minutes before taking the donuts from the oven, drizzle the carrot slices in oil and roast them so they are crispy. The thinner the slices the better, so use a mandolin if you can.

Let the donuts cool. To serve, slice them in half and spread wit the asparagus cream in the middle, then put them back together. Top with the chickpea mixture, pushing it inside the donut with a spoon, and a carrot slice. Season with a little gomasio or rock salt and garnish with a little parsley.

If you liked this, try our vegan salmon en croute.

This vegan brown butter gnocchi really is one of the simplest and tastiest vegan meals you can throw together. It’s a particularly good camping dinner because it’s so quick and easy, with only four ingredients – gnocchi, butter, lemon and sage – and takes minutes to prepare. Fresh sage is best as its earthy, sharp taste complements the sweet, salty butter flavour perfectly. We are lucky enough to have a sage bush in our garden, but you should be able to find it easily in the fresh produce aisle.

Serves two.

Ingredients

1 packet vegan gnocchi (we used these)

2 tbsp salted butter (we used Naturli)

2 handfuls of fresh sage leaves

1 unwaxed lemon

Method

Heat the butter in a pan until melted, stirring until it turns foamy then add the sage leaves and fry for a minute or so till they go dark green.

Set the sage leaves aside and add the gnocchi, frying on each side until they are golden.

Add 100ml boiling water to the pan, and cook the gnocchi for another couple of minutes.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.

If you like this, try our vegan beetroot egg mayo toasts.

Salmon en croute seemed like one of the trickier recipes that I could try to veganise, but it turned out pretty good! Before going vegan, I would usually eat salmon en croute with potatoes on the side, but this recipe has them inside the pastry – combined with the dill, vegan salmon and cream cheese, it tastes amazing!

Ingredients

1 can banana blossom, drained and chopped into chunks

4 tbsp vegan cream cheese

2 tbsp dill

Juice of one lemon

2 tbsp dried seaweed

1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry

8 new potatoes, boiled and mashed

Tbsp plant milk, to glaze

Method

Combine the banana blossom in a bowl with the cream cheese, mashed potato, dill, seaweed, and lemon juice. Cover the bowl in clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour or more to let the flavours combine.

Line a pastry dish with half of the pastry, and spoon the mixture inside. Cover with the other half of the pastry, sealing the edges and creating a glaze with a little plant milk.

Bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes until the pastry is golden. Serve with a green salad and peas.

If you like this, try our vegan crab omelette!

This is a twist on my vegan Auntie Eileen’s egg mayo sandwiches. The beetroot gives a zesty twist to the egg tofu and is packed with potassium, vitamin A, iron and antioxidants, making this a healthy option for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

1 beetroot, peeled, roasted and finely chopped

1 block firm tofu

1 tsp kala namak salt

1 tsp turmeric

3 tbsp vegan mayo

Two slices sourdough toast

Salad and chopped spring onion, to garnish

Method

First, press the tofu for an hour, using a tofu press, or by wrapping the tofu in a tea towel, placing it in a sieve, suspending it over a bowl and placing heavy books on top.

Mash the tofu up using a potato masher or with your hands. You don’t need to marinade the tofu with this recipe, as you are adding such strong flavours.

Mix the mayo, kala namak salt, turmeric and chopped beetroot into the mashed tofu.

Serve on toasted sourdough garnished with salad and enjoy!

If you like this, try our lemon parsley beans with tomato cashew spread.