Recipe: Vegan Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

There are some baking recipes that are a bit tricky to vegan-ise, and others that are so easy you wonder why they even contain eggs or dairy in the first place. These Vegan Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping are most definitely in the second category.

I’ve looked at a LOT of blueberry muffin recipes in researching this recipe, and a common theme seemed to be a batter made with quite a lot of buttermilk or yoghurt, and not very much egg at all. This was promising, as buttermilk is so easy to substitute with dairy-free yoghurt, and one egg divided between 8-9 muffins means its binding properties can’t be too crucial.

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63 Vegan Canapes and Party Food Recipes you need to know about…

Party food and buffets can be a bit of a minefield for vegans, but also a fantastic opportunity to offer inventive and delicious vegan food to friends and family, an opportunity to ‘show off’ what can be done with nothing but plants. This roundup of 63 recipes for vegan canapes and party food will give you some ideas and inspiration for a showstopping party spread.

One of the most important things to remember if you’re offering a few vegan options amongst a mixed buffet is labelling – make sure you let everyone (especially the vegans) know what’s what, to avoid any confusion. Continue reading “63 Vegan Canapes and Party Food Recipes you need to know about…” →

Recipe: Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

There’s something about butternut squash…. more than any other vegetable I can think of, it becomes so incredibly velvety and creamy when cooked, making just about the best creamy vegan soups and sauces. And of course when roasted it is beautifully sweet, mashed it makes a superb shepherds’ pie topping, and thickly sliced, marinated and par-cooked beforehand, is totally more-ish on the BBQ.

But I’ll admit that sometimes I lack motivation for faffing with the thick skin, trying not to lose a finger whilst chopping it, and those seeds that just stick to everything they touch. When I started thinking about this recipe, I was really looking for a very low-effort but maximum-flavour way of cooking a vegan butternut squash mac and cheese.

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Recipe: Spicy Thai Salad with Peanut Dressing (Vegan)

I’ve mentioned before that salads really aren’t my thing, but there are of course exceptions to any rule, and salads that involve a) lots of peanut butter and b) lots of chilli are most definitely one of those exceptions. This Spicy Thai Salad would be perfect as a standalone lunch, (you could add in some rice noodles if you want a bit more bulk), or equally as a side salad to serve with a vegan BBQ or summertime buffet.

How spicy your salad becomes is of course entirely up to you – I used one red chilli in the salad and another (with seeds) in the dressing, but where you put the chilli(s), how many and whether you remove the seeds is totally your decision.

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Recipe: Colcannon-Topped Vegan Shepherds Pie

I promised you easy vegan comfort food, and you can’t get much more comforting than this cosy Colcannon-topped Vegan Shepherds Pie. This would make a perfect Sunday lunch for all the family, served with green peas and tenderstem broccoli.

Or why not make a batch and freeze in individual foil trays, so you have some standby suppers for weeknights when you don’t have time to cook?

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Recipe: Easy Vegan Carrot Cake

Carrot cake must surely be one of the nation’s favourite teatime treats, and there’s absolutely no reason why vegans should miss out, so here’s a plant-based cruelty-free version, with dairy-free cream ‘cheese’ icing to top it off. And it really is easy, I promise. The list of ingredients is longer than I had hoped, but each one is there for a reason, and even if you’ve never baked a cake before, this is a really simple one to put together.

This was actually my son’s first birthday cake, (and yes, I cut out a slice for the purposes of these photographs before he had blown his candle out… poor kid! Well, I won’t get away with it again as he’ll know what’s going on next year when he’s two, so this was my last chance….).

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Recipe: Easy Vegan Sushi Platter

I’m really not a roses and chocolates kinda girl. All the Valentines’ recipes for pretty pink soups and dainty heart-shaped desserts doing the rounds at the moment really aren’t for me. But a heart-shaped vegan sushi platter? Now you’re talking…. (I know, my poor husband…!).

The idea of an ‘easy’ sushi platter might be a bit hard to believe, and I’m not promising this is super-speedy, (you’re probably looking at about 40 minutes prep time, and then 30 minutes assembly of the sushi – you could prep the night before if you don’t have time to do it all in one go). But there’s nothing difficult about making sushi, just follow the instructions and my little videos below, and you can’t go wrong. (Probably).

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Recipe: The Ultimate Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

Mmmmm…. cake alert! I find it hard to resist the temptation to make a slightly-oversized triple layer cake from time to time, and I’m gradually working my way through vegan-ising all the Great British favourites. My Ultimate Vegan Victoria Sponge is one of the most popular recipes on the blog, and if you’re looking for a failsafe rich fruit cake, my Ultimate Vegan Christmas Cake recipe is not far behind, (I’ve just had an e-mail from a reader who is using it as her wedding cake, isn’t that lovely?!).

And today I bring you… the Ultimate Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake. This one is a keeper, I promise. The coffee buttercream is incredibly creamy and light, and the dark, nutty sponge has just the right level of coffee to be a strong flavour without turning bitter.

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Recipe: Black Bean & Avocado Tacos (from ‘Vegan in 15’)

Just over a year ago I shared the exciting news that my brand new cookbook, ‘Vegan in 15‘ had hit the shelves . Published by Short Books, it is crammed full of speedy (15 minute!) vegan recipes which are easy, delicious and with no weird or whacky ingredients in sight.

And what a year it has been. So many lovely folks tagging me in pictures of their 15-minute dinners on instagram, (search #Vegan In15), recipes from the book featured in The Times, ‘i’ newspaper, Veggie Magazine, Cook Vegan, Vegan Live, Vegan Food & Living, and reviews in HELLO! and lots of my favourite food blogs. A whirlwind of vegan excitement.

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