This is yet another fantastic recipe from one of my favourite recipe books, Go Lean Vegan by Christine Bailey MSc PGSE mBANT CNHC.

Ingredients:

600g (prepared weight) pumpkin or butternut squash (or use fresh or frozen ready prepared chunks)
2tsp olive oil
1tbsp coconut or olive oil
1 carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Half a teaspoon ground cinnamon
Half a teaspoon ground cumin
600ml vegetable stock
1 apple, cored and chopped
2 x 400g tins butterbeans, drained and rinsed
Sea salt and black pepper

For the topping:
30g pumpkin seeds
Olive oil, for drizzling
Large pinch ground cumin
Sea salt

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 190/170 fan/gas mark 5.

2. If using a fresh pumpkin, cut the pumpkin into wedges, reserving the seeds for the topping. Cut the wedges into 3cm cubes. Place the pumpkin on a baking tray, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until soft, golden and caramelised. Leave to cool slightly then peel off the skins with your hands and discard. Set the roasted pumpkin aside and reduce the oven temperature to 180/160 fan/gas mark 4.

3. Meanwhile, prepare the topping. If using a fresh pumpkin, rinse the reserved seeds and then rub dry with a tea towel. Spread the seeds out on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and cumin and mix well to coat. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool.

4. Heat the coconut oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion, carrot, garlic and spices. Saute gently for 5 minutes then pour over the stock. Add the pumpkin, apple and butterbeans and simmer for 10 minutes until the apple is soft.

5. Using a food processor, blender or hand-held stick blender, puree the soup until thick and creamy. Ladle the soup into bowls then top with the spicy toasted pumpkin seeds.

It’s been three months since my last blog post as I’ve been busy moving house. During the move, my all-time favourite veggie/vegan cookery book re-surfaced, and I tried a recipe from it hadn’t tried before. I can highly recommend this low-carb, simple pasta alternative recipe from Rose Elliott’s Vegetarian Supercook.

Serves 4

1kg hearty pale green cabbage, such as “Sweetheart” or “January King”, hard core removed and leaves shredded into long strands like tagliatelle

250g vegan alternative to soft cream cheese (such as Tesco Free From)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4tbsp chopped parsley and chives

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper

Shaved or grated vegan alternative to Parmesan, to serve (optional – try Violife)

1. Half-fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the cabbage and cook, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes, or until tender. Drain and return the cabbage to the saucepan.
2. Add the vegan cream cheese to the pan, along with the garlic, herbs, lemon rind and some salt and pepper to taste. Mix well gently, then serve on warmed plates topped with a little vegan Parmesan, if you like.

I had a few items left over in the fridge last night, so I created my own recipe from them and as it was very successful, I thought I’d post the recipe here.

Recipe by Suzanne Smith

Ingredients

x1 medium courgette, spiralized (made into long ribbons/noodles with a spiralizer gadget, which you can buy in kitchen shops or online).

Half a tin of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

Vegan pesto (buy from health food shops or The Co-op)

x4 sundried tomatoes

Large handful of baby spinach leaves

1tsp cold-pressed olive oil

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the spiralized courgette and stir-fry for a minute. Add the cannelini beans, vegan pesto according to taste, and sun-dried tomatoes. Sir-fry for a further couple of minutes. When everything is almost hot, add the baby spinach and continue to stir-fry until the spinach just starts to wilt. Serve immediately and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

This is my new go-to favourite for a quick breakfast or lunch! I even take it to work to make, because I can easily take the ingredients in a plastic tub and just add the water and chop the onion when I get there. The author’s recipe included a spiced tomato and bean chutney, but I haven’t tried making this yet; I’m afraid I cheated and served mine with shop bought Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce! Follow my blog for updates when I try out the spiced tomato chutney.

Recipe by Chrsitine Bailey MSc PGCE mBANT CNHC

Ingredients

70g chickpea (gram) flour (buy in the ethnic aisle of supermarkets or from health food shops)

100ml water

Half a red onion, grated or finely chopped

0.5tsp ground cumin

0.25tsp ground turmeric

0.25tsp onion powder (not everywhere sells this but Tesco does)

0.25tsp sea salt

0.5tsp baking powder

Pinch of chilli flakes

Handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (I’m afraid I omitted these for budgeting purposes!)

1tsp olive oil, plus extra for frying

0.25 of a ripe avocado, to serve

Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Method

In a bowl, combine the chickpea flour and water (you may not need all of it), whisking to create a smooth batter, about the consistency of double cream. Stir in all the remaining ingredients and allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes.

Place a frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, drizzle a few drops of oil in the pan, swirling it over the base of the pan. Pour a spoonful of the batter into the frying pan and again, swirl the batter around the pan to make a small Scotch style pancake. Cook until the edges of the pancake begin to turn lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes. Flip the pancake over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining batter to make four small pancakes.

Serve the pancakes with salad and slices of avocado.

This is a great way to ensure that your diet includes foods which have good bacteria in them, which is good for your gut health. Think of it as the vegan alternative to drinking one of those little bottles of probiotic yoghurt drink.

Coconut Yoghurt

Recipe by Christine Bailey MSc PGCE mBANT CNHC

Veggie Fritters

Recipe by Christine Bailey  MSc PGCE mBANT CNHC

I tried making these fritters for the first time this morning for breakfast and they were delicious! The author’s recipe includes an accompanying vegan yoghurt herb sauce, but I love all things spicy so served them with shop bought Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Ingredients

110g tinned chickpeas or butterbeans, drained and rinsed

1 courgette (150g) grated

30g chickpea (gram) flour (buy in the ethnic aisle of supermarkets or from health food shops)

1tsp olive oil

0.5tsp ground cumin

1tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (buy from health food shops, try the Engevita brand)

0.25 red onion, finely chopped

1tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Sea salt and black pepper

Coconut oil, for frying (coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so you will find it sold in jars in most major supermarkets and also in health food shops)

Method

Put the chickpeas or butterbeans in a bowl and mash them thoroughly (I used a potato masher). Add the remaining ingredients and combine well together, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan. Drop 2-3 spoonfuls of the mixture  into the pan and press down lightly to form little round fritters. Cook until the edges start to turn golden , then flip over and cook for a further 2 minutes or until cooked through.

Then you’ve come to the right place! My name is Suzanne and I first went vegan in 2000. I then dipped in and out of veganism, alternating it with being vegetarian. However, when I am vegan, I feel I am living true to my beliefs and I am also much more adventurous with my food. I tend to enjoy my food more and to be more health conscious when I am vegan, too. So for me, being vegan is definitely the way forward!

In the spring of 2018, with a few pounds to shed, I bought a copy of “Go Lean Vegan” by Christine Bailey. This diet plan and recipe book has given me so much inspiration for living as healthily as possible on a vegan diet. It has also taught me loads of new recipes which I have loved trying. I have shared many photographs of the finished results on Facebook, calling these posts, “Suzanne’s Veggie Dinner Inspiration!” I would much rather encourage people to try vegetarian and vegan food by showing them how delicious it can be, than by trying to guilt them, shame them or shock them into changing their habits. These posts have proved so popular that it’s now time to move them from my Facebook newsfeed to a brand new blog – and here it is! Please bear with me whilst I create it and add to it. Thank you for visiting and I hope you may find inspiration here.