Peanut Butter Krispie Twixie Bars

Shortbread base, Peanut Butter and Rice Krispie Filling, covered in Dark Chocolate!

So, I hope these make up for not blogging for so long ;-) I just have not been in either a baking or cooking mood lately, living off Fry's burgers, nuggets etc.. and just buying sweets if I fancied any. However I envisioned these bars a while ago and had a go making them. I was thinking something like a twix, in that it has a shortbread base and is covered in chocolate but with a rice krispie peanut butter filling instead of caramel. Now I realize there is a peanut butter twix in America and it's nothing like this but I still couldn't refuse the name here!

Well, they turned out absolutely delicious, as you would expect, I mean it's cookie, peanut butter and chocolate with added rice krispies - BUT - took a couple of go's. In my first attempt, I made both the base and the filling too high so didn't even bother covering them in chocolate as it would have taken TONS to cover them (fyi - they are really good even without the chocolate!). This batch I got the ratio right so went ahead and covered them in chocolate. This time I decided to try and temper my chocolate. It seemed to go alright in that nothing seized or bloomed but I really noticed no difference in the finished chocolate here than when I straight up melt chocolate and coat. Considering how long it took to temper I don't think it is worth it so next time will just melt and coat.

Also, as you can see, they didn't turn out as pretty as I had envisioned. I was picturing perfect bars completely covered in chocolate, not just the top and sides. However my base was a little too crumbly to coat the whole bars so just spooned over the chocolate instead. I did think about remaking them but while the base may be crumbly, it tastes just too good to change, and lets face it, it's taste over appearance any day :-) So, they are a little rustic looking but taste all the better for it!

Peanut Butter Krispie Twixie Bars - makes 16 large bars (as photo) or 32 small

BASE:
85g vegan margarine (1/3 cup plus 2 tsp)
25g caster sugar (2 Tbsp)
1/4tsp vanilla
100g plain flour (3/4 cup)
1/16th tsp salt

Line a square cake tin with foil so that it overhangs the edges. My cake pan is a rather odd 7" size, most square pans are 8" - that will be fine, your bars will just be a little smaller. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Whisk the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and whisk again. In another bowl whisk the flour and salt together. Add this to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together as a dough. Scrape into the foil lined pan and press the mixture in, this can be a little tricky, I wrapped some cling film over my hand to stop it sticking. It may seem like there is not enough dough but it will all press out, just keep at it! When all in and even pop in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. Mine took 20, the edges should start to brown and be slightly golden all over. Remove and let cool.

FILLING:
50g vegan margarine (1/4 cup)
140g icing sugar (1 cup)
25g rice krispies (3/4 cup)
200g smooth peanut butter (3/4 cup) I used the type with sugar added, hey, these aren't health bars!!
1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat the margarine and peanut butter together till well mixed. Microwave for 20 - 30 seconds until softened. Stir in the vanilla. Add the icing sugar by sifting it over the mixture, then add the rice krispies. Stir until it all comes together, it will be dough like. Scrape over the base then gently but firmly press it down until it covers the base. Cover and chill in the fridge for a couple hours.

TOPPING:
300g dark chocolate, whatever your favorite vegan chocolate is!

Like I mentioned above I tempered mine but do not feel this is necessary. Add the chopped chocolate to a large bowl and place over a pan of simmering water. Stir until all melted. If it's a little too runny to coat then let it sit a little bit to thicken up.

ASSEMBLY:
Take the pan from the fridge and lift it all out by the foil, remove the foil completely and place the slab onto a chopping board. Using a sharp knife slice in half then each half into 8 bars, you can then slice these 8 bars in half again if you want smaller bars. Repeat with the other half so you have either 16 or 32 bars.

Place the bars on a sheet of baking paper and spoon over some chocolate. I then used a small butter knife to spread around the sides and ends, it should be thick enough to do this. If it's running off the bars let the chocolate sit a little more. Continue covering all the bars then place in the fridge to set. They'll be ready in about an hour - patience, patience.... :-)

Nutritional Information: based on 16 large bars
Calories: 279
Fat: 16.8g
Sat Fat: 6.1g
Fibre: 2.8g
Protein: 4.1g
Carbs: 27.8g
Sugar: 20.4g
Sodium: 114mg

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Multi-Seeded Wholegrain Scones

As much as I love my regular sweet scones, which we have for breakfast probably every other weekend, I just felt like trying a savoury scone. Opted for multigrain and seeded here and these turned out so well, gorgeous fresh from the oven or lightly toasted with lashings of vegan margarine, or with some peanut butter  :-) Also perfect with a bowl of soup. They are super hearty too, really quite filling and have great flavour. A great success, will definitely make these again!

Multi -Seeded Wholegrain Scones: makes 8

200g wholemeal flour

80g rye flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

80g cold vegetable fat (shortening)

100ml rice milk

100ml water

100g mixed seeds, I used a combo of pumpkin, flax, sesame and sunflower

Preheat the oven to 190C and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Mix all the dry ingredients except the seeds into a large bowl. Add the fat and cut it in with a pastry cutter until it is like fine crumb. Stir in the seeds. Mix the rice milk and water and pour over. Stir with a fork until a dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a couple times then shape into a 1 1/2" high disc. Cut into 8 triangles, place on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.

Nutritional Information: per scone

Calories: 286

Fat: 16.4g

Sat Fat: 4.9g

Fibre: 6g

Protein: 7.2g

Carbs: 30.2g

Sugar: 0.7g

Calcium: 158.3mg (depending on brand of milk used, mine's fortified)

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Roasted Baby New Potato Salad with Shallots and Fresh Rosemary

Love this salad!! Yay for salad season!! Boo for not ironing my linen!! Anyway.... posting this I've realised I've not blogged my basic creamy potato salad yet. I'll post the recipe for that too here, no photo but essentially looks the same as the above but with spring onion :-) I love both versions, this one just a nice change from the norm, although I realise that roasting anything in the oven when it's salad weather might not be the best idea, this is worth it :-)

Roasted Baby New Potato Salad with Shallots and Fresh Rosemary:
Serves 4 as a side

Salad:
500g baby new potatoes, srcubbed and dried
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
black pepper

Dressing:
100g vegan mayo, I use Plamil Organic
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small shallots, about 20g finely chopped
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper
1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C dice the potatoes and tip into a roasting tin. Toss in the oil and salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 - 40 minutes or until fork tender. Remove and stir often to prevent sticking and add more oil if they are sticking too much. Remove from the oven and set aside while you make the dressing.

For the dressing simply whisk everything together. Tip the warm potatoes into a large bowl and scrape over the dressing, toss well then refrigerate until cold.

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My Basic Creamy Potato Salad:

500g new potatoes

100g vegan mayo

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2 spring onions, finely chopped - green parts too!

1/4 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

Scrub the potatoes then boil whole in salted water for about 20 minutes or until just fork tender. Drain and rinse under cold water then plunge into a bowl of ice water. Leave until they feel hand cool. Remove and pat dry. Dice the potatoes and place in a large bowl. If the skins are already falling off then I go ahead and peel them, if not, I leave them on.

For the dressing, simply whisk everything but the spring onion together. Scrape over the potatoes and fold in with a rubber spatula. Fold in the spring onions, then cover and chill in the fridge for at least a few hours. Once it is cool, check the seasoning and add more salt or pepper if needed.

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I also realize that I said in my last post that I "wasn't some salad nut" - I'm starting to think that's not true....When my Mom and Aunt were here were through a little party together for my Mom's birthday, it wasn't until she got back to Canada but I wanted to celebrate it with her. The weather was nice so I thought I would make up almost every salad on the blog, plus I figured they would all be very omni-friendly ;-)

A guest digging in! (Click for more salad detail )

Well, it was a huge success, everyone loved it all - they all went back for seconds. In the picture there are:

Baby Spinach, Maple Candied Pecan and Strawberry Salad
Mediterranean Couscous with Almond Feta
Green Bean, Gnocchi and Mint
Soba Noodle, Black Sesame and Avocado 
German Potato Salad and
Italian Pasta  Salad (which is on my old blog)

As well as those we had vegan soda bread, vitalite, sourdough and a selection of wines. It was all beautiful, can't wait to make this spread again with the new salads - Cinnamon kissed Carrot and the Roasted Potato Salad :-)  Many thanks to my Auntie for taking a picture!!

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Cinnamon Kissed Carrot, Apple, Raisin and Pecan Salad with a Maple Lime Dressing

I promise this works! I've been rather oddly craving a carrot salad lately. Why I don't know, I'm not some salad nut and I'm not sure I've had many carrot salads before but there you go. I decided I wanted to go the sweet route here,  I usually don't go for sweet savoury things but it's damn good! Combining carrots with apple, raisins and pecans are pretty standard in a carrot salad but I wanted a different dressing, not something creamy as is traditional in carrot salads. I felt it needed something citrusy - the sharpness would help with all that sweetness and help stop the apple browning. I've always loved maple and lime together so that was that. Whipped up this dressing and OMG it is soooo good!! If the whole salad is sweetness overload for you I still recommend making that dressing for a regular leaf salad or something as it's seriously drinkable :-)

The addition of cinnamon was a whim of mine as it simply went with everything in this salad, only a tiny pinch is needed here, you don't want to overpower it all. The end result is like eating a fresh bowl of carrot cake batter - now that's a salad I can get into :-)

Cinnamon Kissed Carrot, Apple, Raisin and Pecan Salad with a Maple Lime Dressing:
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side:

175g carrot -about 2 medium-large
50-100g apple, peeled - about 1 large, any type, I used Fuji here
50g raisins
50g chopped pecans
Dressing:
1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, sieve out the bits
1 Tbsp maple syrup
pinch salt
tiniest pinch of cinnamon

First make your dressing, add the oil to a small bowl then slowly pour in the lime juice, whisking well all the while until all emulsified and thick. Now whisk in the maple syrup, pinch of salt and the cinnamon. I measured the cinnamon by just using the very tip of a sharp knife - no more than that. Whisk together well.

For the salad, it's really easy and best to use a food processor here. I just fed the carrot and apple into it with my grater attatchment. Tip into a large bowl and add the raisins and pecans, toss well. Give the dressing another whisk then pour over the salad and toss well. Serve. Despite the apple in here this keeps well, my leftovers are still looking good - no browning! If you don't have a food processor just use a hand grater.

Nutritional Information: per 100g
Calories: 200
Fat: 12.7g
Sat Fat: 1.4g
Fibre: 3.5g
Protein: 2.0g
Carbs: 20.7g
Sugar: 15.8g

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Pizza with Almond Feta, Spinach, Black Olives, Pine Nuts and Spring Onion

Better than any greasy cheese pizza I've ever had ;-)

Lovely with a warmed dill olive oil drizzle

So, I think this is the 3rd dish I've made with that almond feta. I wasn't kidding when I said it was going to change my life!! One of my favourite pizza's back in the vegetarian days was always spinach and feta, so I knew it was just a matter of time before I had a go making one with the almond feta. This turned out delicious, and I will definitely be making it again! 

I have a few pizzas on here but most are with melty cheezly, which I love but it can be hard to find, however anyone can make this almond feta! Also, whenever I blog pizza I  always feel like I am just blogging the base as I always end up saying "but, just put on whatever you like". Of course you can here but these ingredients do work well together. Only thing was my base/crust could have cooked a little longer but the feta was browning a bit much. It's still cooked there, just not as golden brown as I would have liked. So next time I would either par bake the base after poking with a fork or par cook without the feta and add it a little later :-)

Just a reminder too that you need a day to make the almond feta first! 

Makes 1 large pizza for 2 very hungry people, or 4 not so hungry (or with a side):

Base:

225g extra strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast (not instant yeast)

150ml hand hot water

1 tsp olive oil (plus more for greasing)

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl dissolve the sugar into the warm water then sprinkle on the yeast. Leave it for 10 minutes to get all foamy. Add the olive oil and whisk it up. Stir this into the flour with a wooden spoon until it comes together in a ball. Whilst adding some more flour to prevent sticking, knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes, it should be smooth and elastic. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Punch down knead a couple times, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Now hand pat down or roll out into a circle, however thick you want the base. Keep in mind it will rise some more.

Toppings:

Pizza Sauce - I used Marks and Spencers Margherita Pizza Sauce here

25g toasted pine nuts

about 75 - 100g of the almond feta

baby spinach - enough to cover the pizza

25g sliced black olives

2 spring onions, chopped - green part too! :-)

Now simply spread on the sauce, I like to be quite generous with the sauce as you are not having melty cheese all over the place it helps with any dryness. Place the spinach leaves all over to cover the base then sprinkle on the olives, spring onion and pine nuts. Now crumble over the feta, again it won't melt so try and be fairly uniform here.

Place on a baking sheet  and bake in a 200C preheated oven until the crust puffs up and is golden brown and the feta is slightly golden. About 20 minutes but keep an eye on it :-)

Herb Drizzle Oil: (optional)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp chopped fresh herb - I used dill, goes lovely with this but oregano would be my other choice

Gently heat the olive oil in a small fry pan and add the herb, do not let it boil, just gently heat it up till warmed and fragrant. When the pizza is out of the oven drizzle some of the herb oil over and brush some of it around the crust.

I found 1/4 of the pizza perfect with a side salad for a meal.

Nutritional Information: based on 1/4 serving

Calories: 405

Fat: 19.3g

Sat Fat: 2.1g

Fibre: 3.5g

Protein: 9.8g

Carbs: 48.7g

Sugar: 2.0g

♥

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Orange Polenta Cake with Orange Drizzle Syrup

This cake is so good!! Not a birthday or celebration cake but rather just a really nice afternoon coffee or tea cake, lovely to serve guests, all my current omni guests loved this! I based this one on my coconut lime bundt cake but changed the flavours to orange and replaced the coconut cream with ready made Alpro Soya Custard. It turned out beautifully, if you can't find a ready made soya custard, a ready made soya vanilla pudding would work as well. Like the coconut lime bundt cake this cake turns out a little crumbly (in a good way!) so lent itself well to a soaking syrup being poured all over. It really makes this cake. You can't see it there too much but the flavour that syrup adds is sublime. I definitely have a new favourite cake! ;-)

Orange Polenta Cake with Orange Drizzle Syrup
100g vegan margarine, I use Vitalite
100g caster sugar
100g Alpro Soya Custard, or Soya Vanilla Pudding, ready made
140g plain flour
50g Polenta, Cornmeal or Maize - fairly fine, not coarse but not powdery
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp orange extract
zest of 1 naval orange
Orange Drizzle Syrup:
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice from a naval orange, strained
100g caster sugar

Line a 7" cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides, preheat the oven to 180C. In a large bowl beat the margarine with the sugar until light and fluffy, I just use a whisk. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, polenta, baking powder and salt. Add the zest and orange extract to the margarine mixture and whisk well. Now add some of the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon, then add some of the soya custard and beat well. Alternate until all the flour and custard is added. Scrape into the prepared tin and level the surface. The batter will be very thick, you'll need to spoon it in, it's not a pouring batter :-) Bake for 30 minutes or until firm and golden on top. Let cool 5 minutes in the tin then turn out upside down onto a wire rack and remove the baking paper.

For the syrup add the orange juice and sugar to a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring all the while. Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often until it thickens up and the sugar is dissolved. Set aside. Now you can either pour the warm syrup over the warm cake or wait until it all cools. Either is fine. I poked a few holes around the cake and poured the warm syrup over the warm cake until it couldn't take anymore, then poured the rest over when it was cooled to finish off the syrup. Serve once cool, great with tea or coffee.

Nutritional Information: based on 1 slice out of 12
Calories: 175
Fat: 5g
Sat Fat: 1.1g
Protein: 1.9g
Fibre: 0.7g
Carbs: 31g
Sugar: 18.3 g
Calcium: 69.6mg (depending on brand of soya custard/pudding used)
Sodium: 139mg

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Black Sesame, Avocado and Soba Noodle Salad

Love this salad!! It's so simple and yummy, I fancied a soba noodle salad but not a spicy one like this (even if it is one of my all time favourites!) so just whipped this up. I always love the flavour combination of lime, carrot, avocado and black sesame seeds, like I use in my standard sushi recipe. Thankfully it works just as good here. Feel free to add some chopped red chilli and or ginger to the dressing, I just felt like keeping this one simple with the garlic :-)

Serves 1:
60g dry weight soba noodles
1/2 avocado, diced (about 60g)
1 small carrot cut into matchsticks (about 45g)
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 spring onion, chopped
Dressing:
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil
juice of 1 good size wedge lime
1 small clove garlic, or half a regular clove, minced

For the dressing simply whisk everything together. Cook the soba noodles according to package directions in salted water, usually about 5 - 7 minutes. I cook mine for 7 minutes and like to add the carrots for the remaining minute just to soften them a little bit, it gives a nicer texture in this salad I think. Drain and rinse well under cold water. Soba noodles tend to hold on to a lot of water here so I like to toss them in a clean dishcloth so that the dressing doesn't get watered down. Tip into a large bowl with the avocado and pour over the dressing. Toss gently with a rubber spatula until everything is well coated. Transfer to a bowl then sprinkle over the black sesame seeds and spring onion and give a quick mix. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 346
Fat: 13.2g
Sat Fat: 1.7g
Fibre: 5.8g
Protein: 9.7g
Sodium: 934.2mg
Carbs: 50g
Sugars: 2.5g

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Beer Battered Aubergine with a Lemon Tahini Dip

First of all I have to say that we had the most amazing Easter dinner! No, no, not a big plate of deep fried veg - although I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up to that! No - I made one of my favourite dishes from Veganomicon, the Eggplant Rollatini over spaghetti with the olive marinara sauce. BUT instead of filling it with their tofu basil ricotta like last time I made my baked almond feta with some fresh basil stirred in. Now, I love this dish with the tofu basil ricotta but it really was amazing with that basil almond feta inside!! I served them over spaghetti with the olive marinara recipe in Veganomicon and my garlic bread on the side and of course, champagne. It was a simply stunning meal. A massive production of course so something to do for special occasions but if you have Veganomicon do give it a try - especially with the almond feta. :-)

Now, that brings me to this post. I think the only time I buy Aubergine is when I make that Eggplant Rollatini so I don't have it in the house much. Why I don't know as I love it, but there you go. So I had some left over and just couldn't resist using my beer batter from the zucchini sticks post and making these. They turned out absolutely delicious, just as good as the zucchini sticks and a great way to have aubergine. As for the dip, I loved the ranch dip I made to go with the zucchini and it would have gone great with this but I didn't have the ingredients so thought the Lemon Tahini dressing from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks would go nice. A lovely side but I also loved just dipping them into tofutti sour cream, and truthfully, they were great without a dip too.

These were so good it also got me thinking that the beer batter would be good with anything and as I had some batter left decided to fry up some whole mushrooms:

These also turned out beautiful and I liked these again with tofutti sour cream but also with my vegan 'honey' mustard mayo dip (the one I cannot eat vegan fish fingers without!). So basically, this batter would be good with probably any veg and there are a vast selection of dips you can use as well. Win win!

Beer Battered Aubergine:

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup vegan lager

Vegetable oil for frying

Whisk 1 cup of the flour with the beer in a large bowl until smooth. Pour through a sieve into another bowl and let sit for 1 hour. 

Meanwhile cut the aubergine into slices then in half. You need to have skin on each one.  Place in a strainer and generously sprinkle with salt. Leave for about half an hour. Rinse well then pat dry. Heat the oil in a large pot - you want about 3 - 4 inches of oil until quite hot (360F if you have a thermometer) I didn't have one but found the oil needed to be hot - it was on maximum the whole time.

Combine the remaining 1/2 cup of flour with some salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Coat the aubergine slices shaking off any excess flour. Give the batter a good whisk then dip the sticks in the batter letting excess drip off. Carefully drop into the hot oil in batches and fry until crisp and golden brown. Remove and let drain on paper towels. 

For the mushrooms simply brush off any dirt and coat them in flour then into the batter. Fry till crisp and golden.

As I couldn't decide which dip I liked best with these, here are a selection for you!

Lemon Tahini Dip:

1/2 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp tahini

zest of 1/2 lemon

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp hot water

Source: 101 Cookbooks

Vegan Honey Mustard Mayo:

1 Tbsp vegan mayo - I use Plamil

1/2 tsp French's mustard

1/2 tsp light agave syrup

Vegan Ranch Style Dip:

1/2 cup vegan mayo (I used plamil)

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp plain soy yogurt

2 Tbsp vegan sour cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper (I used 1/8 tsp)

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/16th tsp dried thyme

fresh dill, about a Tbsp, just eye ball it

Instructions are the same for each dip, simply whisk all together! The ranch one you'll want well chilled however. The other two are good to go :-)

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Other Blogger's Recipes!

You know something I hardly ever do? Make other blogger's recipes. I read a lot of other blogs, gush at their creations, make mental notes to 'make that someday' - then never do. I have a feeling other food bloggers out there will relate to this as well. It's simply because as a food blogger I'm far too wrapped up in creating new recipes myself that I simply never find the time. In fact I love creating recipes so much that when I think of something new I purposely do not search on-line to see if it's been done or veganized before as that would take all the fun out of it for me!! :-D

However, for some reason that has changed recently, I've been jotting down other's recipes and discovering some outstanding gems in the process. I'm just going to blog a couple here that I've found, made and loved. I'm sure there will be more in the future but so far, these have become absolute standards in our house.


Easy Vegan Pad Thai by 'Radiant Health - Inner Wealth':

Recipe

I've been following Tess Challis who runs this blog for as long as I've been on twitter. She tweeted it awhile back and man am I glad I checked out that link. What drew me to make it was the simplicity - every ingredient in the sauce is pretty much standard cupboard fare. She brilliantly swapped the tamarind with much more common ketchup! I can never find tamarind here but as someone with a 9 year old boy, I always have ketchup :-)

I cannot convey to you how amazingly delicious that sauce is, I'm not kidding here when I say I could drink the stuff! I made no changes to her recipe at all, made it as is. I did stir fry my beansprouts with the noodles and added some shredded Chinese cabbage, simply because I had some. Then topped with a few raw beansprouts, as I prefer most my sprouts cooked. Quick, easy and delicious, definitely on the regular dinner rotation!

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15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta by 'Oh She Glows!':

Recipe

I never even saw Angela's fantastic blog until I came across this post via PopSugar. How she managed to escape me for so long I'll never know but I am so glad I found her blog. We have made this dish so often now I've lost count, it us unbelievable good and easy. In fact I tend to make it for lunch it's so quick! I have made a few wee changes here though. 

First, I omit the olive oil. I have no doubt it makes this dish even creamier and more lush (if that's possible!) but as you all know I'm watching my calories and really, this is super creamy without it. Second, I used regular wheat linguini here as that's what I use, never have spelt in the house. Third, as you can see I added some halved cherry tomatoes which go so well with that sauce. 

Otherwise I follow her recipe for the sauce as is. Oh and one more thing, initially I wasn't bothering with hauling out the food processor, just giving the avocado a good 'ol mash. Then, I tried it with the food processor - wow - if you have one definitely haul it out for this recipe. It made the sauce mega creamy, almost 'whipped' like in texture - I'll never hand mash it again!

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Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Maple Candied Pecans and Balsamic Dressing

Well, between this and my last post you may have gauged that I like spinach, you'll all have to start calling me Popeye! This has always been one of my favourite salads, whenever I see it in a restaurant I'll be sure to order it. It's a pretty classic combination although it's often just with toasted pecans. I love and I mean LOVE the Maple Candied Pecans from the 'Smlove Pie' in Veganomicon that I couldn't resist adding them here.

It's an altogether beautiful combination, everything just balances perfectly here - the sweet strawberries and pecans with the spinach and that slightly spicy balsamic dressing just works. I was debating what kind of dressing to use and opted for my all time favourite balsamic dressing from my Warm Puy Lentil Spinach and Watercress Salad. Wasn't sure about adding the dijon and garlic but so glad I did, the slight spice is perfect with this. Also, once you toss this with the strawberries, a bit of their juice mixes with the dressing making a slight strawberry balsamic dressing. I could almost drink that stuff. Seriously.

I also opted to make this as there were some fresh Irish grown strawberries in the shops, it may be a bit early for home grown strawberries but do make sure you get locally grown strawberries here. They are a main ingredient here and you want them fresh and sweet, not those pale, watery flavourless strawberries you tend to get out of season.

Like I mentioned above, the Maple Candied Pecans are from Veganomicon's Smlove Pie, I usually would not  repost a recipe from a cookbook but as this recipe is posted by Isa here, I will for ease of use. I also highly recommend making more of these pecans as they are simply gorgeous to snack on and makes it easier to just throw this salad together anytime!

Baby Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Maple Candied Pecans and Balsamic Dressing - serves 2

100g Baby Spinach, larger stems removed

200g Strawberries, halved or quartered if large

40g Maple Candied Pecans 

1 Recipe Balsamic Dressing

Add the baby spinach to a large bowl and add the strawberries, pour over the dressing and gently toss. Divide among 2 salad bowls and top with the pecans.

Maple Candied Pecans:

1/2 cup whole pecans - about 66g

1 tsp vegetable oil

pinch salt

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Toast the pecans in a saucepan for a couple minutes until just light brown and fragrant. These will burn easily and I have several times before and they are not nice burnt so watch carefully. Add the oil and salt and stir to coat. Add the maple syrup - it will bubble away, stir all the time until it looks fairly dry. Using a rubber spatula scrape onto a sheet of baking paper and separate the pecans and let cool. As they are cooling seperate them a bit more if need be. They should end up with a nice crispy coating.

Balsamic Dressing:

3 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

about 5-6 grinds black pepper

Measure the olive oil into a small bowl, with your whisk ready slowly start whisking in the vinegar until emulsified. Do not do this the other way around or add it all at once or it won't come together. Add the dijon and whisk well until it is fully incorporated and there are no little dots of dijon - it will happen :-) Now whisk in the salt, garlic and pepper. Set aside until ready to use then give it another good whisk before using.

Nutritional Information: per serving

Calories: 403

Fat: 38.1

Sat Fat: 4.5g

Protein: 4.1g

Carbs: 16.8g

Sugar: 9.7g

Fibre: 5.2g

Sodium: 394mg

Calcium: 84.1mg

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