Recipe: Garlicy Mushroom, Courgette and Babycorn Wraps

Hello Lovelies!

So errr... I FOUND GLUTEN FREE TORTILLA WRAPS!!! You have no idea how excited I got about this. Tortillas are one of the things I've really, really missed since going gluten free, as they're a vegan's source to a quick and easy lunch. I've never really been a sandwich girl, but tortillas... yum. Anyway, to celebrate, I made myself some pretty delicious wraps last night.

I'll be honest, this is barely worth calling a recipe, but it was so delicious that I thought I'd share it with you anyway.

You're going to need:
3 Tortilla (I use these gluten free corn tortillas)
2 Big Cloves of Garlic
3 medium mushrooms, sliced
1/4 courgette, cut into half moons or quarters
4 Babycorn, chopped up small
Spinach
Hummus! (I use Sabra aka crack hummus)
A couple of spoonfuls of pine nuts
Mild Goats Cheese (optional)
Herbs/Spices

In a hot, dry pan, toast your pine nuts - they don't need long and you'll need to keep shaking the pan to stop them from burning, but I promise you, they taste a thousand times better toasted.

Remove the pine nutes and in the same pan, saute your mushrooms, garlic, courgette and babycorn in a little olive oil over a medium heat for around 5-10 minutes until they soft and have started to get a bit juicy. I added oregano, basil, black pepper, salt, a pinch of cayenne, herbs d'prov and a dash of vegan worcester sauce to mine.

Heat up your tortilla wraps.

Spread with a thin(ish) layer of hummus, then a handful of spinach, followed by a couple of spoonfuls of your yummy mushroom, courgette and babycorn concoction, a couple of blobs of goats cheese and a sprinkle of pine nuts. Yum!!

I had a bit left over and didn't fancy another wrap, so I made myself a wee salad instead - perfect :D

Question:
Are you a tortilla fan? What's your favourite filling

(Also, please excuse the truly awful pictures... I haven't managed to find my battery charger for my camera since moving hence you got the slightly horrific macbook proud of my food photos I put on twitter last night!)

Recipe: American Style Peanut, Apple and Blueberry Pancakes

Hello lovelies!

I'm carrying on the pancake obsession, so I thought I'd share these beauties that I made this morning with you.

We're using the same basic recipe as my American Style Blueberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes - 1/2 cup (GF) flour, 1/2 cup (soya) milk (plus a bit extra if using GF flour), 1 tsp baking powder, 1 Tbsp + 1 heaped tsp caster sugar. Mix together until smooth using a fork then add 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 a grated apple (I used a sharp cooking apple), 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a sprinkling of blueberries. Mix again until thick and smooth.

Spoon 1/2 a ladle of batter into a hot oiled frying pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until golden underneath and then flip with a spatula or fish slice.

Is it wrong that I find this picture a bit cute?

Delicious! I really enjoy this flavour combination - perfect for autumn :)

Makes 8-10 delicious pancakes.

Questions:
Do you ever get obsessed with making the same thing over and over again?
What's your favourite flavour combination at the moment?

Recipe: American Style Blueberry Peanut Chocolate Chip Pancakes

We all love pancakes right? I'm yet to meet a person who can honestly say they don't love them. Anyway, the other day I had a pancake craving, so I decided to whip up these bad boys. They're super easy, hence why I'm not going to give you step by step photos (I've also lost one of the batteries to my camera... *sigh*)

In a mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup flour (I use Doves Farm Gluten Free but regular flour will work fine), 1/2 cup (soya) milk (plus a few spoonfuls extra if using Gluten Free flour), 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Caster Sugar and 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter with Chocolate chips (or regular peanut butter and a sprinkle of chocolate chips). Use a fork or a whisk to mix until smooth then add a handful of blueberries (frozen or fresh work fine).

I use around half a ladle of batter for each pancake:

Cook over a medium flame in a hot oiled non-stick frying pan (I use a teeny dribble of oil for each pancake and swipe it around with a silicon pastry brush). Turn after a minute or two using a fish slice/spatula.

I serve mine with Provamel Apple and Green Tea yoghurt on the side. Yum Yum!

Notes:
If you can't have/don't want peanut butter, sub it out. They should still work, although you may wish to add a little oil to the batter.
Play around with flavours - other berries, raisin and cinnamon, almonds.... have fun!

Makes 8-10 yummy pancakes.

PS Sorry for the shockingly bad quality photos from my phone.
PPS Special mention to my twitter friend RicheyRevol who suggested I should make blueberry pancakes in the first place.

Mediterranean Vegetable and Lentil Crumble.

Hello Lovelies!

I thought it was high time I brought you another recipe, and this is a rather delicious one as we move into autumn (my favourite of all the seasons - I hate summer because I never quite know what to eat or cook)

First, chop your veg into fairly small pieces - I used a small onion, 2 cloves garlic, 4 mushrooms, a medium leek (I'd added them to the pan before I took this picture), 1/2 yellow pepper, 1/2 medium courgette, 1/2 medium aubergine.

Next, heat a good glug of olive oil in a big pan and gradually add your veg, stirring. I tend to add them in the order I listed them above :) Once your veg are nice and soft (feel free to add a little more oil if they're sticking but not too much), you can add your seasoning.

As always, I encourage you to play around with the seasoning, and I didn't measure but I roughly used 1tsp each of  herbs d'prov, paprika, basil and oregano, 1/2 tsp cayenne (it was quite spicy, so you may wish to use less), pinch Za'tar, 1.5tsp Marigold bouillon, lots of pepper, a few grinds of salt, splash of vegan Worcester sauce and about a tablespoon of organic ketchup.

Next, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, around 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of lentils. Turn the heat down so that it's gently simmering and leave to cook for around 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly.

I used 1.5 tbsp dairy free marg, 3/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup Doves Farm Gluten Free flour, 2 garlic and herb gluten free crackers (totally optional), 2 tbsp Parmazano (see picture below), 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast Flakes, 1/4 tsp rosemary and lots of salt and pepper. For a simple version, just use marg, oats, flour and herbs/S&P. For non-vegans, add in 1/3 cup of strong grated chedder. To make this truly gluten free, sub GF flour for the oats. You might need to play around with the amount of marg that you use as well.

Magical Parmazano - you can find this in the free from asile of most supermarkets. Vegetarians, take note - parmesan is not veggie.. it always, always, always contains rennet aka baby cows stomach lining. Ewww.

Blend for around 2 or 3 minutes until you have a lovely crumbly, breadcrumb type consistency.

Transfer your vegetable mixture to a large baking dish

Top with an even layer of crumble and an extra grind of black pepper.

Bake on 180C for around 35-40 minutes. Remove when your crumble is slightly browned (I know you can't see much difference, but I promise it was).

Yum yum yum!

Recipe: Simple Flapjack Topped Pear Crumble

Hello Lovelies!

Somehow this week, I've managed to neglect our bag of pears.... shocking I know. However, it does mean that said bag of pears are now gloriously juicy and perfect for pear crumble making!

First, choose your pear. Admire it, squeeze it (to check for ripeness... obviously), love it and spend some time taking pictures of it in mildly seductive lighting. Next...

Kiss that sweet pear goodbye! Peel it and slice it straight into 2 glass ramekins and cover with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Next, make your flapjack topping. 1/2 cup of oats, 1 slightly heaped tsp soft dairy free spread (I used Pure Sunflower spread... you can, of course, use a non-dairy free spread if you're that way inclined!) and around a tablespoon of agave (if you don't have agave, and you're not vegan, I'm sure honey would work fine too). Mix it all up with a spoon.

Spoon it into your ramekins making sure your pear is nice and covered. Pop your crumbles in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180C.

You know your crumble's cooked when your pears have gone soft and juicy in the bottom and the top is a lovely golden brown.

I've been enjoying mine topped with Alpro Soya Vanilla Yoghurt (in fact, I've been enjoying them so much that I even had them for breakfast today!)

So there you go - super quick, ridiculously easy flapjack topped crumble with a fraction of the sugar, fat and faff of your regular crumble experience! Enjoy :)

Recipe: Vegetarian Paella (Part of Teach Ben How to Cook)

Aloha!

Welcome to the first post in the Teach Ben How to Cook Series - if you're not sure what this is, read this post. Essentially over the next few weeks and months, I'll be bringing you a range of easy recipes primarily with the aim of teaching my friend Ben how to cook, but also to inspire all of you lovely people to get creative in the kitchen too! I've still got pleanty of places for recipe submission, so if you'd like to Teach Ben How to Cook too, drop me an email (emilybirkinshaw@gmail.com)

Lets get cracking!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
150-200g Paella Rice (or Risotto Rice)
1 Medium Onion
Vegetables of your choice - I've used a medium carrot, some broad beans, a courgette. Other appropriate vegetables include peppers, mushrooms, leeks.
1 Beef Tomatoe (or a couple of smaller ones)
A lemon
Stock Powder (we use Marigold Vegan Reduced Salt Boullion which you can find at most supermarkets)
750ml Boiling Water
Herbs and Spices

First, chop your vegetables. I generally tend to remove the top and bottom of each piece of veg, then cut it in half and slice it into smaller pieces. Try to keep everything a similar size to help it cook through evenly.

Next, take a large non-stick pan or a wok and heat a tablespoon (or a largish glug if you're me) of oil. We use rapeseed but olive oil will work well too! You want to be using a low-medium heat. Let it heat up for a good minute or two and swish it around a little.

Add your onion to the pan and stir, stir, stir. You need to cook the onion until they're soft but not brown. You should hear a gentle hissing type noise but not a loud sizzling. If they start really sizzling, turn the heat down!

Once your onions have softened a little, you can add the rest of the veg with the exception of the tomatoes - save those for later!. Keep stirring regularly to ensure they get evenly coated with oil and exposed to the hot parts of the pan.

Once your vegetables have had a couple of minutes to soften, you need to add your herbs and spices. I added za'tar, cayenne, paprika, herbs d'prov, basil, turmeric and (of course) salt and pepper. If you were going to omit anything I'd say the za'tar, basil and turmeric are the least needed. You probably want around 1 tsp of paprika, herbs d'prov and basil, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne and a pinch of za'tar. Salt and Pepper - a good grind of each! Again, stir, stir, stir!

Now you need to add your rice to the pan - make sure your heat is fairly low, that there's still a little oilyness (if it's looking dry, add a smidge more oil) and that you keep stirring. Once your rice is coated in herby, spicey oily goodness you can add your water and 3 tsp stock powder (or a stock cube if that's what you're using). At this point, I also add a little squirt of tomato sauce and a dash of vegan worcester sauce.

Yum! Give everything a good stir, make sure you're on a medium heat and leave it to simmer (tiny bubbles not a ranging torrent of bubbles) for around 10 minutes. You might want to give it the occasional stir but you're basically free to sit down and have a little rest for a bit if you like :)

After 10 minutes, your stock should have reduced a little. Give it another good stir and then place your tomatoes on top - don't stir them in though! Now all that's left to do is pop a lid on it and leave it to cook for another 15-20 minutes. Again, make sure your paella is simmering but not boiling - you don't want your heat so high that you burn the bottom but also don't want it so low that your rice doesn't cook! Don't worry about stirring it or anything for the next 15-20 minutes... it'll sort itself out!

This is roughly how it should look when it's cooked - you'll note mine still had a little water left as I added a bit too much to start with but I solved that by giving it a good stir at the very end and then turning up the heat quite high for the last 30 seconds to a minute.

Dish up and serve with a wedge of lemon to be squeezed over the top before eating!

How can you get involved in Teach Ben How to Cook?
1. Send me recipes (with photos of you cooking them preferably) to be featured and for Ben to give a try
2. Try cooking each of the recipes yourself and send me a photo (and maybe a little sentence or two) to include in the follow up posts that Ben and I will be writing for each recipe. He's going to be sharing his thoughts and experiences as he learns how to cook and it'd be wonderful if any of you wanted to include yours too!

Enjoy!

New Series: Teach Ben How to Cook.

Aloha!

If you've learnt anything over the past few months of reading my blog, I'd hope it'd be that I absolutely adore food. Cooking is one of my passions, especially creating interesting (but accessible) wheat-free vegetarian tasty treats. Hence when I hear a friend can't cook, I weep a little inside.

Cooking for me isn't just a life skill - it's an art form, a social catalyst, a dearly loved friend. So many of my favourite memories come from cooking for others or (at the very least) sharing food with others. But sadly, there's lots of people out there who are terrified by the concept of cooking or, at the very least, who think they can't cook. Tosh and piffle is what I say! I firmly believe that everyone can cook.... even my friend Ben.

Ben is a twitter friend of mine and an all round awesome person but, sob sob, he can't cook. Actually, that's a lie - he can cook two things. Halloumi sandwiches and Marscapone and Oreo Cheesecake. I've promised Ben that I'll not just teach him how to cook but also teach him how to love cooking but I don't want to do it on my own - I want you guys to help out too. (Also, if you're really good, Ben has promised to contribute a recipe of his own... exciting times, no?)

I would love for you to send me your favourite recipe - preferably vegetarian or at the very least easily adaptable to be featured as part of this series. We're not talking your most spectacular fancy schmansy meal here, we're talking the utterly delicious win them everytime meal.

So how can you get involved? Just drop me an email to  emilybirkinshaw@gmail.com with your recipe - try to make them as simple to follow as possible and include pictures too if you can. I'll be running the series over the next few weeks/months and featuring your recipes alongside my own! This doesn't need to be a culinary masterpiece - no recipe is too simple or too plain!

Ben will also be giving us regular updates on his cooking escapades and sharing the highs and lows of learning how to fall in love with cooking :)

I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can pull together - a community driven cookery course for everyone to enjoy! Sounds awesome dontcha think?!

Recipe: Wheat Free Cookie Pie

Hello lovelies!

Don't you love it when you come across a recipe that you just have to make?! That's how I felt when I saw Katie's Deep-Dish Cookie Pie on Wednesday. Chickpeas in a cookie pie? Katie is a genius! Then I felt super sad when I discovered I had no chocolate chips, no instant oats, no applesauce and the teeniest amount of sugar! What's a girl to do? Make some tweaks of course!

I used:
1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup porridge oats
1 small banana
1.5 tablespoons rapeseed oil
1/4 tsp bicarbinate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 bar of Lindt Sea Salt Dark Chocolate

Blend together all ingredients expect chocolate for around 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, chop your chocolate into rough chunks. Mix with other ingredients using a spatula and transfer to cake pan. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving! Yum yum!

If I made this again, I'd probably reduce the amount of sugar - it's super super sweet but yummy all the same!

Thanks Katie for the original recipe - you're such an inspiration :D

What's your favourite recipe with an unusual or surprising ingredient?

(PS Sorry for the lack of pictures... it may or not have been devoured by me and Peter in under 12 hours)

Recipe: Bana-nut Mousse filled Chocolate Cups

Hello lovelies!

A ridiculous name for possibly one of the most delectable treats I've ever concocted in my kitchen. You need to make these. I promise you won't regret it.

Beautiful, no?

First things first, blend a frozen (peeled!) banana with a heaped dessert spoon of peanut butter. I blended mine for around 4-5 minutes until it was thick, whipped and moussey.

Whilst your filling is blending, melt a square or two of your favourite dark chocolate (I went with 1 square of Lindt Seal Salt). Pour into a silicon cupcake mould and swirl around until the edges are coated with chocolatey goodness.

Fill your cupcake mould with your mousse (but don't fill above the line of chocolate!) Pop in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

When the chocolate has set and the mousse feels a little firm (but not completely frozen) peel back your silicon mould and eat immediately!

Yum yum!

Recipe: Chocolate Pear Recovery Shake

Hey lovelies :)

I'm still feeling kinda ill today hence the bulk of my food has been in liquid form or cereal (I've had 2 helpings of my Choc-o-nut Cereal today - haven't had it for a while and I'd forgotten how addictive it is!).

The main thing I've been craving though has been my Chocolate Pear recovery shake - this is what I normally drink when I get back in from a run or a workout but today I wanted it purely for being easy, simple and nutritious.

Peel, core and chop a ripe pear and pop into your blender. I like to use Sainsbury's Basics or Tesco Kids pears - they seem to change with the season but are always really reasonable (around 79p for a bag of 5 or 6) and really delicious :)

Measure out 3/4 glass of your favourite milk. I always use soya milk because I can't stand the taste of dairy and I find other milks (oats, rice, almond) etc too expensive. Feel free to use what works for you though :)

To this add 1 tsp hemp powder (I use Naturya Organic Hemp Protein Powder which has a whopping 50g protein per 100g), 1 tsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp peanut butter and 1-2tsp Agave depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have. I just go for a generous squeeze! Pop the lid on and blend on high for 1 or 2 minutes. Serve and enjoy!