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This vegan coconut rice is a little time consuming to make, in that involves some prep in the days before you make it with the preparation of the tofu and pickled veg. And it’s definitely not the lightest of meals as it’s full of rich flavours and textures. But it’s so worth it! Once you’ve prepped the tofu and veg, it’s very easy to throw together.

Makes 4 medium bowls.

For the rice, tofu and veg

Ingredients

1 block firm tofu

500 g brown rice

3 teaspoons brown miso paste

2 cans coconut milk

1 teaspoon ginger

Juice of half a lemon

Salt

Half a cucumber

1 carrot

3 radishes

4 oz rice vinegar

2 oz water

2 tbsp sesame oil

Method

First press and marinade the tofu. For best results, do this 48-24 hours before you make this meal – the longer you press and marinade the tofu, the better the flavour. Either use a tofu press or wrap the tofu in a tea towel, put it in a sieve over a bowl and lay some heavy books on top of it.

Make the tofu marinade. Dissolve a teaspoon and a half of brown miso paste in 14 oz boiling water. Add it to a can of coconut milk, a teaspoon of grated ginger, the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt.

Once the tofu has been pressed for at least two hours, chop it into cubes and add it to the marinade, in a bowl or airtight container. Refrigerate until you’re ready to make the rice – the longer the better for the tofu to absorb flavour.

Now make the pickled veg. Cut the carrot and cucumber into matchsticks and thinly slice the radish. Heat the rice vinegar, water and a teaspoon of salt in the microwave for 30 seconds and pour over the veg. Store in a jar or airtight tupperware and refrigerate.

To make the rice, weigh out 500g brown rice and rinse. Add to a pan with 1 litre water and a pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a medium heat.

At the same time, dissolve one and half teaspoons miso paste in 14 oz boiling water.

While the rice is cooking, heat 2 tbsp sesame oil over a medium heat. Add the tofu cubes and slowly adding the marinade, fry until the cubes are golden.

When the rice is cooked, add the can of coconut milk and miso water and stir it through the rice.

Serve the rice in a bowl and top with the tofu and the pickled veg.

For the peanut broccoli

Ingredients

125g peanuts

125 g breadcrumbs

Pinch chilli flakes

200g tenderstem broccoli

2 tbsp sesame oil

Method

Steam the broccoli for five minutes till cooked. Toss in a tablespoon of sesame oil and a little salt.

Crush the peanuts, either in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or a mortar and pestle.

Heat the sesame oil over a medium heat. Add the chilli, breadcrumbs and peanuts and cook for 2 minutes till the breadcrumbs are golden.

Toss the broccoli in the peanut mixture and serve!

If you liked this recipe, try –

Vegan Potato and Spinach Pakora Sandwich

Vegan Japanese Mushrooms and Greens

In my pre-vegan days, I used to make cheese muffins all the time for parties, weekends and just-because-I’m-hungry days. They were so dairy heavy that I thought I’d never be able to match them with a vegan version until I made these! This vegan cheese and spinach muffins recipe makes about 16 so plenty for everyone to get tucked into as they didn’t last the day in our house!

For the vegan cheese and spinach muffins;

Ingredients

300g shredded spinach, immersed in boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften

400g self raising flour

4 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

325ml plant milk

50ml sunflower oil

Flax egg for binding – this is 1 tbsp flaxseed plus 3 tbsp water, chilled in the fridge for 10/20 minutes

100g grated cheese, I used Applewood smoked

1 tsp salt

Method

In one bowl, mix together the flour, nutritional yeast and salt.

In another bowl, mix together the oil, plant milk, and mustard.

Combine the two bowls of wet and dry ingredients and add in the cheese and spinach. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins and bake for 30-40 minutes at 175 degrees. The bottoms can take a bit longer to cook, so check that they’re firm-ish before removing from the muffin tin – they do firm up once left for half an hour or so, but you don’t want them too soggy!

Sour cream

Ingredients

200g raw cashews, soaked overnight

160 ml water

Juice of 1 lemon

Teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Teaspoon salt

Method

Very simple – just put all the ingredients together and blend!

Serve the vegan cheese and spinach muffins cut in half with the sour cream.

If you like these, try our cheesy vegan puff pastry bites.

This vegan potato and spinach pakora sandwich definitely isn’t the healthiest vegan meal out there, though it does contain spinach which is a great source of a number of vitamins, magnesium and iron. I made this after a bike ride in the freezing January Edinburgh winter, and it was exactly what I needed to warm me up. It’s a bit of a messy fiddly sandwich to make as it’s battered, but worth the effort.

Ingredients

Batter

250g chickpea (gram) flour

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

175 ml plant milk

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp fresh coriander

Tsp salt

Pinch bicarbonate of soda

Filling

300g new potatoes, peeled, boiled and riced or grated

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin

3 tbsp chopped spinach

2 tbsp chopped mint

1 tsp salt

1 lime

Plus 6 slices of white bread.

And handful of spring onions to serve.

Method

First make the filling by combining the potatoes, chilli, cumin, spinach, mint ,salt and lime.

Next ,make the batter by putting all of the batter ingredients into a food processor. You can mix by hand in a bowl too, but a food processor ensures a better distribution of the ingredients. The batter should be the consistency of runny cream – add more water if it isn’t.

Heat some oil on a medium heat in frying pan. Dip one slice of white bread in the batter, covering both sides, and drop in the pan.

Fry on both sides till golden, then press filling onto one side of the bread.

Repeat with another slice of bread – cover in batter, fry on both sides, then add filling.

Press the two slices of bread, topped with filling, into a sandwich, and fry for a further two minutes.

Cut in half and eat with spring onions on the side!

If you like this, try our vegan cheese and spinach muffins with sour cream recipe.

After trying Nora and Nama’s vegan baklava in Camden Market a while back, I’ve been obsessed with this sticky delicious Turkish pudding! Here’s my vegan version.

Ingredients

200g agave nectar

200 g caster or granulated sugar

150g walnuts

150g pistachios

150g almonds

Juice of 1 lemon

24 sheets filo pastry – about one pack.

6 tbsp coconut oil or dairy free butter.

100g brown sugar.

180g plant milk

Tsp salt

Method

Put the milk, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, salt and brown sugar in the blender to make a gritty paste with 3 tbsp warm water.

Melt 6 tbsp butter or coconut oil in the microwave or on the hob.

Spread out eight sheets of filo pastry in a baking tray, lining the base with the melted butter or oil, and lining every two sheets lightly with the oil or butter. Spread the eighth sheet with the pistachio, almond and walnut paste.

Repeat with eight more sheets, topping with the paste and then eight more sheets. Spread the oil or butter on the top sheet and score it in a diamond shape with a knife – see picture above.

Bake for 40 minutes at 180 C.

While the baklava is baking, 10 minutes before taking it out of the oven melt the granulated sugar, lemon juice, plant milk and agave nectar over a low heat and simmer.

Pour this mixture over the baklava once it’s out of the oven, and serve in squares with tea or hot chocolate!

If you like this recipe, try our Vegan Coconut and Apple Breakfast Bake.

Sea buckthorn berries grow in abundance at Gullane beach, where we often go swimming. I’d noticed the berries before, but hadn’t really paid them much mind. That was until our last visit, when I got chatting to a lovely lady who was snipping them into a basket. She told me that they contain many times the amount of vitamin C as your average orange and that she was going to make them into a tonic that could be taken daily.

I was intrigued and used Colin’s pen knife to cut a few sprigs for myself. When I got home, on the lady’s advice, I put them in the freezer for 24 hours to take away the astringency and then made them into a juice. You can also use the berries to make jams, powders, tonics and in baking.

Reading more about sea buckthorn, I learned that it has a number of health benefits. As well as being packed with vitamin C, it’s full of potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron. It’s also thought to be good for heart health, and for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol in some cases.

Here’s how I made the juice –

1. Add equal quantities of blueberries and sea buckthorn, which has been frozen and de-thorned, to your juicer.
2. Add the same amount of water as fruit to the juicer – so I used 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup sea buckthorn berries, and 1 cup water.
3. Add a teaspoon of maple syrup and blend!