Category: Vegetarian

‘Cheezy’ Rissoles

DSC_2140.jpgI pretty much grew up eating Franco’s fish ‘n’ chips down on Aberavon seafront and I know anyone who reads this, who has also experienced the creamy, deep fried chip that Franco’s offer will agree they are the best chips ever. I’ve often found myself eating chips in other places, both in the U.K and abroad and comparing them to the humble chip at Franco’s and none of them are as good. Even now while I write this I can taste the distinctive flavour of their fatty product and all I want to do is rush out and get me some.

dsc_2127-2However, this post isn’t about Franco’s chips, this post isn’t even about Aberavon, it is about rissoles and one which was inspired by the cheesy rissole that Franco’s offer.

As the cheesy rissole is the only vegetarian option Franco’s make, I’ve found myself enjoying one many a time with a side of chips; staring aimlessly out over the oil slicked waves to Swansea, savouring every mouthful of that deliciousness.DSC_2135-2.jpgNow that dairy no longer agrees with my me and I’m vegan, I decided to try and make my own vegan Cheezy rissoles in the hope I could recreate that delightful treat I’ve enjoyed many times over the years as a vegetarian.Obviously my vegan rissoles aren’t as good as Franco’s rissoles and rightly so: creamy, cheesy and deep fried, I was never going to achieve that. However, they still didn’t disappoint my hungry tastebuds.

Ingredients

  • 1000g White Potato
  • 200g White Onion or Leek (finely chopped)
  • 1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast
  • 125ml  Non- GMO Soy Milk
  • 30g Margarine
  • 100g Vegan Cheese (optional)
  • 1-2 Tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1.5 Tsp Onion Powder
  • 2 Tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 2 Handuls Fresh Parsley
  • 1 Tsp Thyme
  • 1 Tsp Sea Salt
  • 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper

Breadcrumbs

  • 2 Slices of Wholemeal Bread

Directions

Pre heat an oven to 175c (fan assisted)

Peel and chop the potatoes and place them in a saucepan to boil. Remove when they are soft enough to mash.

Heat a frying pan with the vegan butter and when hot enough,  sautée the finely sliced leek or onion until it starts to soften.

Mash the potatoes and stir in the ingredients, including the leek.

Now leave the rissole mixture to cool, before forming it into large balls and coating it in the breadcrumbs. When the rissole mixture cools, it will be easier to form into balls.

Place the rissoles on a lined baking tray – I also sprayed them with low fat spray – before popping them into the oven for 15 minutes or until they are golden all over.

NB: You can also deep fry these babies for a truly authentic british rissole.

Now serve with some chips and peas, sit back and imagine you’re at the beach.

For more vegan recipes follow me on Instagram and please tag me in any of the recipes you try here, as I would love to hear your feedback, whether it’s good or bad.

© The Hungry Welsh Girl 2016
All photos, recipes and texts are copyrighted unless otherwise stated.
All Rights Reserved.

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Creamy Bounty Bars

IMG_9692.JPGI’ve been craving a bounty bar all week, but as we all know, they aren’t that healthy for us. I always feel bounty bars are a waste of calories too because they are always so bland and dont even   remotely taste like coconut in my opinion – plus they’re not vegan!

So, I made some myself and boy were they good.

The bounty bars were a bit fiddly to mould, but after freezing the coconut filling for a few minutes it became more manageable to sculpt the bars into a shape that was reminiscent of a bounty bar.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Dessicated Coconut
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
  • 4 Tbsp Maple Syrup
  • 3 Tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 1.5 tsp Coconut Extract
  • 50ml Coconut Milk ( I used Koko Dairy)
  • 100g Vegan Dark Chocolate

Directions 

This next part is as easy as throwing all of the ingredients into a bowl or food processor and combining them thoroughly.

Place the filling into the freezer for 5 minutes and then remove and form into small bars.

Now, place the bounty bars back in to the freezer for a further 5 minutes to harden up.

Next, chop up the dark chocolate and add half of it to a microwaveable bowl; cook for 30 seconds in the microwave, remove, stir and add it back to the microwave for a further 30 minutes. Continue this method until all of the chocolate has melted, before adding in the other half of dark chocolate (do not reheat) and stir until all of the room temp chocolate has melted into the hot chocolate – this is called seeding.

Remove your bounty bars from the freezer and coat evenly in the dark chocolate before popping them back into the freezer for 10 minutes to set.

NB: This recipe makes around 10 small bounty bars. Although, you may need more chocolate to coat them all.  They will also store in the fridge or freezer well and won’t turn hard. Also, if you find the filling too difficult to manage, then you can add more coconut oil, but I personally, was trying not to add unnecessary fat to them.

For more vegan ideas, follow me on Instagram

© The Hungry Welsh Girl 2016
All photos, recipes and texts are copyrighted unless otherwise stated.
All Rights Reserved.

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Jam Splits with Vanilla Whipped ‘Cream’

jam split.jpgI grew up with my mother always baking cakes, for both my sister and I to take to school  fetes and parties, and among those bakes were jam splits: welsh cakes with jam in the middle.

The first batch of Welsh cakes that I made on Friday were quite thin, so I didn’t fancy messing around and cutting my welsh cakes open, to have them potentially crumble and break under my heavy hands. Instead, I decided to sandwich them with some vanilla whipped cream and fresh raspberries. I think its safe to say that it’s the best idea  I’ve had in a while. Although, it doesn’t take much persuading on my part to add whipped coconut cream to food and drinks. I just love the stuff.

If you have made my welsh cakes already then this recipe will be even easier for you to create.

Ingredients

  • 2 Welsh Cakes
  • Raspberries
  • Coconut Whipped Cream
  • 1 tsp Coconut Oil
  • 1 tbsp Sweetener
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

Take some coconut cream or coconut milk and using an electric whisk, beat the coconut milk/cream until it starts to become light and airy; while doing this whisk in the coconut oil, vanilla and sweetener, and freeze for 10 minutes.

NB: After your coconut cream has been in the freezer it should now act more like dairy whipped cream, as the coconut oil should have solidified.

Take a welsh cake and dollop  some of the coconut whipped cream on top, layer with raspberries and simply top with another welsh cake.

And that’s it.

For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram and tag me #TheHungryWelshGirl if you make any of my recipes.

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Buddha Bowl

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This Buddha bowl was a life changing experience. It was delicious. Delicious doesn’t even cover how incredible this Buddha bowl actually was. Every mouthful was just an experience in itself. It was like a buffet in a bowl – a buffet budda bowl?

I know what you are all thinking, I thought it too. How can you get so excited over a bowl full of veggies? But, seriously, there’s just so much going on in this one bowl, that it’s hard to not get excited about it. It has flavour, carbs, nutrition, carbs, it’s low in fat, it has carbs.

Carbs. Carbs. Carbs.

Did I mention it has carbs?

 

You have to try it for yourself to believe me. Although, anything that has carbs is going to be a winner.                                                I’ve seen these Buddha bowls countless times over Instagram and they are huge among the yogis and vegans; I didn’t understand why people were fussing over them so much. But now that I do, I just feel they are genius and a different way to get in some veggies. I’m already planning my next one.

 

This Buddha bowl had some kick to it, not a lot because lately my sensitive tastebuds can’t handle the heat. But, there was enough to give the veggies some flavour without overpowering them and I’m sure you can tell from the photos that turmeric was one of the main spices; you’ve just gotta get that turmeric in around this time of year.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 Can Chickpeas
  • 1 Medium Sweet Potato
  • 80g Vegan Chicken Pieces
  • 1/3 Cup Basmati Rice
  • 1/2 Bell Pepper
  • Red Cabbage
  • Baby Beets
  • Sultanas
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • 1 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Tandoori Gym Chef Seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

There is a lot of elements to this meal and you do have to time the food so that it’s already at the same time, but it’s worth the extra fuss.

Directions

Heat an oven to 200c

Slice the red cabbage and combine it with the ACV and some sea salt.  Place the cabbage in a separate ovenproof dish or skillet and pop it into the oven.

Stab your sweet potato and place it in the microwave for 5 minutes; slice it into chunky strips and pop them into the oven: cook both the sweet potato and cabbage for 20 minutes.

Boil your rice following the instructions on the packet or cook it until it looks like a mushy mess like I do 😉 Sticky rice is better rice.

Add your chickpeas to an ovenproof dish or skillet and combine with the gym chef seasoning, garlic powder and turmeric. I fried mine in a skillet with a little water, then added the vegan chicken pieces to give those some flavour too. Place the chickpeas in the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

Slice up some bell pepper and toss these into the oven for 10 minutes.

When your rice has cooked you can season with salt and stir in the sultanas. The sultanas are optional, but it gives the rice more flavour.

Now that the food has cooked, you can start layering your Buddha bowl.  You can add whatever you like to your Buddha bowl – I also added mango chutney and I made a tzaztiki with cucumber, coriander and alpro plain soy yoghurt.

And people say vegan food is boring right? Pah!

For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram and tag me in any of my recipes that you try.

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Chunky Minestrone Soup

imageA quick chunky minestrone soup for an on-the-go snack or as part of a lunch break. It can even double up as a toast topper when thickened – think childhood favourite; alphabet spaghetti. I used Rizopia brown rice pasta shapes in my chunky minestrone soup, but obviously any pasta will work.

Ingredients

  • 2 Carrots
  • 1 Medium Onion
  • 1 Courgette
  • 1 Clove Garlic
  • 1 Carton Chopped Tomatoes
  • 1 Cup Rizopia Brown Rice Pasta Shapes
  • Basil Leaves
  • 1 Vegetable Stock Cube
  • 1 Pint Water
  • Salt to season

Directions

Peel and chunk the vegetables, before adding them to a saucepan, along with the vegetable cube, garlic and water – leave the courgette until last as it will take the shortest time to cook.
Bring the vegetables to a boil until they start to soften -15 minutes –  and add in the carton of chopped tomatoes, pasta, basil and courgette; proceed to cook until the pasta is soft or to your liking. You may need to keep adding more water. Stir the soup occasionally so that nothing burns or sticks to the pan.
Serve immediately with fresh basil leaves and a slice of bread.
For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram and tag me in any of my recipes that you try.
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Mince Pies for Santa

dsc_0607We all know Santa loves a mince pie or two, but we also know that sometimes mince pies contain alcohol and drinking and driving is strictly prohibited – even for the elves – which is why these mince pies are alcohol free. I haven’t had a mince pie all year, so I was anxiously anticipating for the day to arrive when I could make my own and that day just so happened to be Friday – a week away from Christmas day – and they were worth the wait. I used the marmalade which I had left over from my St Clemente tartlets in my own variation of mince meat and I was impressed; I also added some Irish cream flavouring from the Skinny Syrups range too.

DSC_0619.jpg

For the pie cases I used the same recipe that I made for the St Clemente tartlets, but doubled it so I would have enough pastry for the lids too. I would recommend making the mince meat a few days to a week prior to when you plan to make these mince pies as the longer it has to soak the better the end result, especially if you decide to use alcohol. I made my mince meat two weeks ahead and the flavour was delicious.

I also have a more up to date mince pie recipe here.

Ingredients: Mince Meat

  • 100g Dried Figs
  • 100g Soft Dates
  • 100g Sultanas
  • 50g Walnuts
  • 60g Chunky Apple Puree
  • 60g St Clemente Marmalade
  • 45ml Orange Juice
  • 2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Mixed Spice/Pumpkin Spice
  • 45ml Irish Cream Flavouring or Irish Whiskey
  • 1/3 cup Sweetener

Ingredients: Pastry

  • 100g Rolled Oats
  • 50g Sukrin Coconut Flour
  • 60g Grass-Fed Butter or Coconut Oil
  • 1 Free Range Eggs
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/5 Cup Sweetener
  • 2 Tbsp Honey
  • 2 tbsp Ice-Cold Water

Directions

  • Pre-heat an oven to 170c
  • Add the rolled oats to a food processor and blend into a flour, before adding the eggs, baking powder, sweetener and coconut flour and proceed to blend the ingredients together.
  • Cube the butter and add it to the mixture and pulse the food processor so that the butter isn’t blended up completely, but chunked through the flour. Continue to add the ice cold water to bring the ingredients into a ball of dough. Cover and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • Sterilise a countertop and dust with some flour, before rolling the pastry flat and cutting 8 round shapes from it. Press the pastry into a greased muffin tin and fill with the mince meat. Follow the same process to make the lids, place over the top of the cases, press gently around the sides and pop into the oven for 20 minutes.

NB: You should have about half the mince meat left after you have made these mince pies, you can double the pastry recipe and make more mince pies, or save it and make the mini Christmas cakes I have coming up over the next week.

For more recipes and ideas follow me on Instagram – @TheHungryWelshGirl and tag me in any of the recipes -I would love to see what you create and hear what you all think.

 

© The Hungry Welsh Girl 2016
All photos, recipes and texts are copyrighted unless otherwise stated.
All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

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Vegetarian Herb Pate

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Do you have a vegetarian or vegan visiting you over the Christmas period? Are you are at a loss as to what to serve them? I know it can be stressful to cook at Christmas time – there’s just so much to get done – then throw a vegetarian or vegan into the mix and you have yourself a very stressful little Christmas; as you not only have to be extra vigilant with the ingredients, but you also have to be aware of cross contamination too.  Continue reading “Vegetarian Herb Pate” →

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Five – A – Day Scotch Eggs

Processed with VSCO with wwf presetScotch eggs were always a favourite of mine when I was a kid, until I learned what they were actually made of and while Quorn do vegetarian scotch eggs, I have to eat the whole pack just to feel satisfied. So, last night I wrote this recipe with monster scotch eggs in mind and they certainly were huge – the size of my palm. Now I know what you’re all thinking, these are going to be complicated with weird ingredients that you don’t have in your cupboards and I would have to disagree with you all because you should have these ingredients in your cupboards and if you know how to use a food processor, you’re half way there.

The reason I called these Five – a- day scotch eggs is because they are made with beans and pea protein which are both considered one of your five a day, plus there are mushrooms and onions in there too. So not only will you be reliving your childhood when you bite into one of these delicious scotch eggs,  you will also be getting vital vitamins and minerals too. I will add that these scotch eggs are much nicer warm, but I like my food to be hot, so it could be down to personal preference.

Ingredients

  • 1 Can Beans (I used butter beans)
  • 4 Free Range Eggs
  • 1 Free Range Egg White
  • 100g Mushrooms
  • 60g Red Onion
  • 35g Pulsin Pea Protein
  • 1 Garlic Clove
  • 2 tsp Mixed Herbs
  • 1 tsp Chilli Powder
  • Salt to taste.

Directions

Start buy boiling your eggs in a saucepan of cold water for 10 mins. When they are cooked run them under cold water for 5 minutes, peel and dry them and set aside.

Pre-Heat an oven to 175c (fan assisted)

Drain the can of beans and empty the contents into a food processor, blend until the beans are puréed and put the beans into a separate mixing bowl

Add the garlic, mushrooms and onion to the food processor and finely chop the vegetables, before adding them to the beans with the mixed herbs, chilli, salt and protein powder and combine the ingredients well.

I will agree that at this point the mixture doesn’t look very appetising, but take a heaped dessert spoon and place the mixture into the palm of your hand, add the egg to the centre and add another heaped desert spoon of the mixture over the top of the egg and secure it tightly around the whole egg. If the mixture doesn’t stick to the egg, roll it in some pea protein or flour. Continue this method until you have used up all the mixture.

Blend the bread in a food processor until it is breadcrumbs. The scotch eggs should be sticky enough for the breadcrumbs to stick to, if not you will need to dip the scotch egg in egg white before rolling in the breadcrumbs.

Pop the scotch eggs into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. I tried frying these and they stuck to my pan, so I would advise baking.

And that’s it. I told you it was simple.

For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram: Happy.Hungry.Healthy and please tag me in any of my recipes that you try, I would love to see what you create and whether they could do with any improvements.

1

‘Corned Beef’ Hash with Fried Egg & Toast

EB09DE79-2A1F-40DE-B467-FB9B74FFD2F2Were you a person who enjoyed a hearty corned beef hash before you crossed over to the vegetarian side? Yeah. Me either, but I was watching Diners. Dives & Drive-Ins on the food network the other night and someone had made this exact dish, as a carnivore meal. I couldn’t remember the ingredients as it was 3am, so I threw this together this morning using leftover potato mash, cauliflower and peas; which my family had left  from a dinner last night. Even though this was made with Quorn mince, I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. Thankfully Quorn mince is a lot more visually appealing than corned beef and a lot tastier, as well as being vegetarian – I couldn’t live without it.  I don’t like to toot my own horn often, but my vegetarian ‘corned beef’ hash was full of flavour and didn’t require any additional sauce either, as the yolk acted like a natural sauce and when each element was spread on some warm, buttered wholemeal, crusty bread, this was definitely one meal I didn’t want to end in a hurry and the best part of all was that I didn’t feel bloated after it either.

This ‘corned beef’ hash is extremely simple to make too and providing you are using leftover vegetables, it’s fairly quick to make  –  I made this in 20 minutes. You can also replace the potato mash with cauliflower mash if you prefer and use whatever vegetables you have really. This doesn’t even have to be served as a big hash: you could make burger sized cakes with them too. I don’t have children myself and the future looks bleak for me, but I think this is definitely a good way to get those little tykes to eat their veggies, while getting a decent amount of protein too and you could even add a little more grated cheese over the top of the hash; if they are anything like me, they will devour the whole thing, or just pick the cheese off 😉

Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 200g Mashed Potato
  • 100g Cauliflower Mash (cooked)
  • 100g Garden Peas (cooked)
  • 1 Large Spring Onion
  • 150g Quorn Mince (defrosted)
  • 35g  Low-fat Cheese
  • 1 Free Range Egg White
  • 1 Heaped Tsp Chopped Garlic
  • Handful Fresh Rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp Chilli
  • 5-10g Butter
  • 1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
  • 1 Free Range Egg
  • 2 Slices Wholemeal Bloomer Bread (optional)
Directions
  • Heat a non-stick pan or skillet with the butter, on a medium heat.
  • Add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl (minus the last 2 ingredients) and combine the ingredients evenly. You will need to grate the cheese and garlic, and chop the rosemary too before adding to the bowl.
  • When your pan is hot enough, spoon half of the mixture into an 8′ frying pan, pat it and form it into a circle and cook on both sides until golden brown.
  • Place your bread into a toaster or under a grill, then with the leftover butter, butter the toast.
  • Pop the hash onto a plate and keep it warm with foil or in an oven with the heat down low.
  • Crack the egg into the pan, place a lid over the top and cook until all the albumen has turned white.
  • Plate up and enjoy.

For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram: @Happy.Hungry.Healthy or for Twitter: HungryWelshGirl for my ramblings.

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