Category Archives: Main dishes

Cheap & Easy, Main dishes, Recipes, Side dishes, Starters and soups, Vegan on a Budget

Red Lentil Pancakes

Makes 5/6 pancakes.

Costs about 15p each without fillings.

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

Uncooked veggies of choice (peppers, onions, mushrooms, carrots etc)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

½ tablespoon of baking powder

Salt and pepper according to taste

Method

Soak 1 cup red lentils overnight then rinse and wash.

Blend with 1cup water & pour into a bowl.

Chop veggies of choice & add to the blended lentils.

Add olive oil, baking powder, salt & pepper and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the frying pan… enough to cover bottom.

Cook (dry-fry if the pan will allow) covered for 2 minutes, flip and repeat.

Cook uncovered for 1 minute each side.

Cheap & Easy, Main dishes, Recipes, Vegan on a Budget

5 Bean Chilli

Serves 4 (Cost £2.50)

Ingredients 

1x 400g tin of tomatoes

2 x 400g tins of mixed beans

1 large onion chopped

1 red pepper (optional)

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped or minced

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

200ml of water

1 teaspoon of oil

½ to 1 teaspoon of chilli powder (optional 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 1/2 teaspoon of

smoked paprika for extra flavour)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Chop onion ( and pepper) into roughly 1cm pieces.

2. Finely chop garlic.

3. Soften onions (and pepper) in oil on a medium heat for around 5 mins in a pan stirring occasionally.

4. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes stirring occasionally.

5. Add the spices and stir thoroughly for a further minute or two.

6. Add remaining ingredients. Swill out the empty tin of tomatoes with some of the water into the pan.

7. Bring to the boil then simmer on low for 15-20 minutes.

8. Add salt and pepper to your own taste.

Main dishes

Seed and carrot roast loaf by Hilary (Christmas 2019)

20191129_192918This recipe original featured in the book ‘Trinity’s Conscious Kitchen’. We found it on Kind Earth. It is gluten-free.

Ingredients

  • Carrots 3 large sized (or 400g approx)
  • 150g ground sunflower seeds (1 cup)
  • 150g ground pumpkin seeds (1 cup)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 heaped tablespoon fresh rosemary
  • 1 heaped tablespoon fresh parsley (or 1 heaped teaspoon dried)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

Method

  1. Chop the (unpeeled, but scrubbed) carrots into small pieces. Boil or steam until soft. Drain and then mash. Grind seeds in a nut mill to make seed meal.
  2. Crush garlic and finely chop rosemary and parsley. Mix seed meal, carrots and all other ingredients together.
  3. Firmly press mixture into a loaf tin (lined with parchment paper). A 1kg loaf tin works well (approx 20x10x6cm). Make sure that you press really firmly to encourage the binding process – if you are too timid, it tends to fall apart. If you get it just right, then it magically forms into a perfectly sliceable loaf.
  4. Bake in a preheated oven at gas mark 6 (200˚C/400˚F) for approximately 45 minutes.
  5. Gently lift from the loaf tin by pulling out the loaf along with the parchment paper. Turn over onto a bread board and slice with a bread knife.
  6. Big bonus – it freezes really well (just slice up before you freeze and either grill or bake when you take back out again after defrosting). Yay!

20191129_192918Notes

Grinding the seeds works best with a seed/nut/coffee grinder, although you can use a blender to roughly chop the seeds instead. If you roughly chop the seeds, then add a heaped tablespoon of spelt flour to the mixture to encourage the binding process. The other alternative is to use a pestle and mortar.
If you have neither a grinder nor a blender, you can substitute the ground seeds for pre-ground nuts or seeds.

By Hilary

Main dishes

Christmas roast by Rebecca (Christmas 2019)

Christmas Roast

This one serves three to four people, so double the quantities for a feast. The stuffing recipe will be more than enough for this. You can make the roast the day before and slice and fry on the day for speed and a more relaxed Christmas Day!

Ingredients

  • 150g vital wheat gluten
  • 30g ground almonds
  • 2tbsps nooch
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp celery salt or seeds
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 160ml hot water
  • 2 tbsps soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp white miso
  • Stock cube or paste

Cooking broth:

  • 700ml stock
  • 1 tbsp barley miso
  • 2 bay leaves
  • A few sage leaves
  • Thyme

Method

  1. Blend first 10 ingredients in a food processor or large bowl until smooth.
  2. Mix in the remaining ingredients.
  3. Mix well and then knead for a few minutes till it’s firm and getting stringy. You can test for seasoning at this stage. Add soy sauce or stock powder rather than straight salt.
  4. Press and pat out into a rectangle and lay the stuffing down the centre. Bring the edges together to create a roll, sealing it by squishing the dough together. You might need to wet the edges a bit.
  5. Tie with twine.
  6. Fry on all sides till brown.
  7. Wrap tightly in cheesecloth and fasten each end. Put into a casserole dish with a lid and place the cooking stock ingredients around it. Pour over the stock.
  8. Cover and bake at 180oC for two hours, turning every 30 minutes

By Rebecca

Main dishes, Recipes

Thai Famous Street Noodle – Pad Thai

 

(A video is coming!)

Ingredients

  • 1 pack rice noodles
  • 60g beansprouts
  • 60g tofu
  • 30g carrots
  • 30g spring onions
  • peanuts (optional)
  • a wedge of lime
  • sugar and dry chilli

Sauce

  • 1 pineapple
  • 3 red onions
  • 1-1½ tbsp tamarind paste (to taste)
  • ¼ cup vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • ½ – 1 tsp chilli sauce (or ⅓-¾ tsp cayenne pepper, to taste)
  • ⅛ tsp ground white pepper
  • 3-4 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)

oil

Method

  1. Make the sauce first by grinding everything together and putting in a hot pan. Stir until it comes to a boil.
  2. Prepare a non-stick pan with add 2 spoons of cooking oil. Add sliced carrots, noodles then add half a cup of the vegetable stocks, and 4 spoons of sauce.
  3. Heat until the noodles are cooked then add beansprouts and spring onions.
  4. Served with peanut and lime wedge, chilli and sugar.

Recipe by Gig, Golden Lion