Banana French Toast and Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from 'Vegan Brunch'

"Banana Rabanada" or (Brazilian French Toast)

This definitely falls into the category of 'I can't believe I didn't think up this!' - using bananas to make a french toast 'dip' - brilliant! I do love my French Toast recipe but as I have mentioned I'm cutting soy out of my diet. Long story short - I think excess amounts have been making my lupus flare up and just want to try without for awhile. So I was very excited to see this soy free recipe in there.

It's absolutely delicious too, the first time I made it I followed the recipe and dusted cocoa powder and cinnamon over top but wasn't too sure. This time I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the liquid and omitted the cocoa. Personally I preferred it that way.... once cooked I spread with vegan marg and lots of maple syrup. Only thing I found was that they stick to the pan quite badly. I used a non-stick pan and greased it but they still stuck. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has this problem! Still, it's worth it and I'll definitely be making this again :)

"Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins"

And another hit! These were so good, really, really lemony - like a good lemon poppy seed muffin should be. They came out so light in texture too - perfect! I really thought the amount of baking powder was going to be too much but it's fine. We all loved these, Finn having his after school everyday :)

So, just a couple tests from the cookbook for now, I have loads more bookmarked to try and will add to this post when I do. So far love everything!

Sesame Bagels with Cashew Chive Spread

"Why Miss Maple Spice, I do believe you've made the world's biggest bagels!"

Toasted and spread with vegan margarine and the super yummy cashew chive cheese.

Yes, I made some comically large bagels!!! Why I always miss-judge how much these things rise is beyond me..... Anyway, these turned out lovely, even the largest ones there are light as feathers and with just enough chewiness to make them 'proper'.... I did live in Montreal for a couple of years, prior to being vegan, consuming vast amount of bagels and feel quite qualified to use the term 'proper' here ;) Despite store bought bagels here already being vegan I think I'll be making my own from now on!

I'm even more excited about that cheese spread, it is so, so good!! We currently can't get enough of it, I like it way more than any store bought vegan cheese I have ever bought and it's so easy. The recipe is also very versatile, I have made it with both cashews and almonds, rice and almond milk..... all good, hardly any difference. Next I'm going to try it without the miso to make it soy free, maybe just omitting, maybe replacing with some tahini. Love it!

Bagels - makes 6 (I made 4 out of it, but they really are too big)
250g strong white bread flour (must be this type, the higher protein count the better)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 1/8 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 Tbsp sugar, brown sugar or barley malt syrup (I used regular sugar)
1 tsp vegetable oil
125ml warm water, make up with 1 part boiling and 2 parts cold
2 Tbsp barley malt syrup (for the poaching liquid)

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and give it a whisk. Leave for 10 minutes, it should have a couple cm thick foam over the surface. Give it another whisk then add the sugar and oil and whisk again. In the bowl of your electric mixer add the flour and salt. Pour in the liquid then with the dough hook knead the dough on slow speed for a good 10 minutes. When done knead a couple times by hand to get a nice ball shape then place in a greased heated bowl, turn over to coat and cover with cling film. Place in a warm place free of drafts for 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Punch down a few times then give it a good knead. Now roll into a log and cut out your 6 pieces. Take each piece and shape into bagels - either by poking a hole through the middle and stretching out, or by make a rope and sealing the ends together, I did both and preferred the latter. Place these on a greased baking sheet, cover with cling film that's raised slightly and place in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile pre heat the oven to 250C or the hottest your oven will go and put a large pot of water on. When the water boils add the malt syrup and stir well until melted. Drop the bagels into the boiling water 2 at a time cooking for 2 minutes on one side and for 1 minute on the other. Scoop out draining the excess water and place back on the greased sheet. Keep the boiled ones covered with cling film while you cook the rest. When all done sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 10 - 15 minutes. They should be golden but really, really light :) Let cool slightly on a wire rack.

sliced open prior to toasting to show texture...

Cashew Chive Cheese Spread:
*note - this is a scaled down version, good for trying the first time. Also, the original recipe called for agar flakes, I only had powdered so used that. It set nicely for a cream cheese but didn't set hard to be able to grate. If you want a hard cheese you'll need to experiment with the levels of agar - I suggest you follow the original recipe for that :)*

35g finely ground raw cashews or almonds (2 1/2Tbsp)
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
105ml rice milk (or any dairy free milk)
1 1/4 tsp agar powder
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 Tbsp sweet white miso paste
3/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
fresh chives, chopped finely

If using already ground nuts, just mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a small saucepan heat the milk, agar and oil until it comes to a boil. Cover and simmer until thickened and the agar is dissolved. This doesn't take long using the powder, if using flakes, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and slowly add to the nut mixture, whisking all the while, when all added give it a good whisk until nice and creamy, then add the miso and lemon juice and whisk again. Stir in the chives then place in a dish, cover and chill.


Sources:
Bagel recipe is based on Nigella Lawson's from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'
Cheese recipe is based on Ann Gentry's on Heidi's blog .

Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Cooking"

So any of you who were concerned that I had to make my own birthday cake, don't worry - I was well spoiled this year! Vegan leather jacket and boots, tickets to Nick Cave AND 2 new cookbooks - Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Cooking" and finally, "Vegan Brunch".

Well, regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of Heidi's website, 101 Cookbooks, having made several dishes from there and loving every one. Truthfully, I've made way more too, but couldn't blog them all risking this site turning into a copy! I've wanted her cookbook for ages and am so glad I finally got it. Lots of recipes in here that are not on her website and the whole book is simply gorgeous! It is vegetarian, not vegan but it really does not matter. Most things are vegan or very easily vegan adaptable, ie -just don't put the parm on top! Only in the back where there are baking recipes is it more tricky but us vegan's can easily move around that :)

I immediately got started making anything that appealed to me in this book and have LOVED everything. It's all so healthy and natural too, no faux anything and I direction I will enjoy going. I will post a few pictures of things that I have made with any notes on changes etc. but no recipes here as they are from a cookbook (sorry!) but really, I cannot recommend this book enough!

"Giant Crusty and Creamy White Beans"

This is one of those dishes that might not look too pretty but OMG what it lacks in photogenics it makes up for in taste! I got this book not even a week ago and have made this 3 times already. It's hands down one of our favorite meals. I used dried cannellini beans which are, after soaking and cooked with onions, garlic and fresh thyme, pan fried till crispy on the outside and soft and creamy in the middle. I added fried portabello mushrooms and more fresh thyme, felt it was calling out for mushrooms! Her recipe called for swiss chard but I used kale as I almost always have that in the house. It is so, so good, I like to salt this one until just about 'too much' - naughty but works well :)

"Spring Minestrone with brown rice"

I have a confession to make - I've never made my own vegetable stock. Shocking I know, well, until now that is! This recipe, also featured on the cover, called for homemade veg stock, I immediately thought, well, I'll just use marigold, but when I read her version only took 1/2 hour and looked dead easy thought I would use it. Well, it's not only easy but sooo good, and so much healthier than others having about like half the sodium. This was delicious, really fresh and light (although hearty!) and I will make it again and again. The stock has proved invaluable in my fridge as well, so handy to throw into this and that, in fact I added some to the bean dish above last night to help with dryness.

"Peanut Butter Krispie Treats"

You gotta love a healthy treat - I have always loved rice krispie squares, the traditional ones with marshmallow but these were just as good. The ingredients are simply organic brown rice cereal, natural peanut butter, maple syrup and agar agar. I will make these again for sure, in the photo there you'll see some with chopped pistachios on top. She recently featured this recipe on her website and added the pistachios, I wasn't sure so made them all plain and just added some on top to taste. Well, both my husband and I loved them in there and next time I will definitly add them throughout the squares.

Recipe is here .

"Big Curry Noodle Pot"

Now really I've probably made so many changes to this one I could morally post the recipe but as all the taste is in the broth (which I haven't changed) I won't. Loved this, originally it called for tofu, which I love but am cutting soy out of my diet, plus my husband hates tofu so it works well for us. Changed that with chick peas as they always go nice in curries. Once you have cooked onion and chickpeas, or tofu, in the creamy turmeric curry coconut milk sauce you stir in the brown rice udon noodles and top it all off with peanuts, cilantro and shallots. Now I hate cilantro so added parsley the first time which didn't go, husband loved the peanuts and shallots but I wasn't too keen on the texture of having peanuts in a soup. So this time I omitted all that and stirred in some baby spinach until just wilted. Loved that in there!

Altogether have loved everything I have made in this book and can't wait to have a crack at 'Vegan Brunch'!!!!!

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

"It's my party and I'll bake my own cake if I want too...."

So, yes it was my birthday yesterday on the rather special day of 9/9/9! I know it may seem pathetic to make my own birthday cake but I've been wanting to try this for so long now and my birthday was a good a time as any :) Plus it's hard being the only baker in the house and unable to just pick up a cake at tesco!!

This is another one of those things I never tried before becoming vegan but always wanted to. Red Velvet Cake always looks so visually stunning and as I'm a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, figured I would like this. The cake is subtly flavoured with chocolate and traditionally the cake would turn a browny red from a chemical reaction of the cocoa powder and acidic vinegar, but these days red food colouring is often added for extra oomph.

Well, it turned out very well, I based mine on Joy of Baking's as I loved the look of the quadruple layers and the addition of the coconut. I was able to find natural flaked coconut at my local farm shop which is perfect in this, desiccated would be ok but I would recommend unsweetened as the cake is sweet enough. Also if you can find shredded coconut that would be good too.

Red Velvet Cake: (makes two 8" layers)

250g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
15g cocoa powder
113g vegan margarine
300g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
240ml vanilla or plain soy yogurt (natural unsweetened)
4 tsp vegetarian red food colouring
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
Egg Replacer:
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp potato starch
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
scant 1/2 cup water
2 tsp vegetable oil

Grease and line two 8" cake pans with baking paper and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180C. First make your 'eggs' - mix the dry ingredients together then add the oil and water whisking until a bit frothy - set aside. In a bowl mix together the flour, cocoa powder and salt - set aside. With an electric mixer or with a whisk beat the margarine until soft then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add half the egg replacer, mix well, then add the other half and the vanilla, mix well.

In a measuring cup whisk the soy yogurt with the red food colouring. With the mixer on slow speed, or by hand, alternately add the flour mixture and soy yogurt mixture to the margarine/sugar mix in three additions, starting and ending with the flour. In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda, allow it to fizz then quickly whisk into the batter.

Working quickly divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in their pans on a wire rack then turn over and let cool completely.

Cream 'cheese' frosting:
110g tofutti cream cheese
110g vegan margarine
650g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla

In a mixer or by hand mix the cream cheese and margarine until well combined. Slowly start adding the icing sugar a little at a time beating well after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla. Add more icing sugar if needed till of a spreading consistency. If you add too much add some dairy free milk to thin.

To assemble the cake, carefully slice the two cakes in half - use a serrated knife and slowly go around the cake then slice the middle. Place one half on a serving plate and spread some of the frosting. Repeat until you place the nicest looking cake quarter on top. Spread the top and sides with the frosting then cover all over with the coconut (if using). We got 12 good size slices out of this, it's very rich though so - it's up to you! :)

Sources: Joy of Baking
Frosting based on 'Vegan Cupcakes take over the World'.

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Summer Rolls with Spicy Nut Butter Dip

With a spicy ginger garlic soy dipping sauce.

Opened and with a peanut sauce.

So I think I may be the last food blogger on Earth to use rice paper wrappers!! Hurrah, I've finally done it!!! Seriously though I've been wanting to try using these for so long, having never even tasted them before. There are so many recipes out there....and names! Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Summer Rolls, Crystal Rolls etc.... I opted for 'summer rolls' here as my fillings are indeed very summery and really, I don't think these ones are authentically Vietnamese in any way:)

Well, they turned out delicious and I'll definitely be making them again. Loved the basil in there - yes, basil! They just had such a light fresh taste and went well with the dipping sauce. Now, about the sauce, the recipe I loosely followed called for a peanut dipping sauce, which sounded great.... I wasn't keen though - way too sweet! I much prefer my dipping sauces salty/spicy and savoury so whipped up a dip of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and birds eye chili. We both much preferred that one to the peanut one, but to each their own! 

2013 EDIT - I have now perfected the peanut sauce - you can use any natural nut butter you like and I have updated the recipe below, it's gorgeous!! I based it loosely on this recipe from the rawthentic facebook page where I also made her summer rolls using large green leaf instead of rice paper and stuffed with carrot, cucumber, red pepper, red cabbage, avocado and fresh basil and mint - they are gorgeous!!! The largest leaf I could get in the shops was romaine which are not very wide so mine are not as thick as hers but they are delicious - another great summer roll option :-)

Rough recipe for the rice paper rolls:
rice paper wrappers
thin rice noodles
carrot, cut into matchsticks
red pepper, cut into matchsticks
spring onion, thinly sliced vertically
whole fresh basil leaves

Soak the rice noodles in hot water until soft, drain well then toss in some sesame oil. Set aside. Prep all veg and set aside. Soak the rice paper wrappers in room temperature water until soft. Place on a flat surface and place some noodles, carrot, pepper and onion in the middle, slightly closer to you. Fold the end close to you over, then the sides. Place the basil in the middle then roll up.


Spicy Nut Butter Dip - serves 2

• 2 Tbsp nut butter - (all natural, I use cashew butter but peanut or almond would work too)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ½ Tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ Tbsp Sweet Freedom Syrup*
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ½ tsp finely grated ginger
• cayenne pepper to taste - I used a scant 1/8 tsp and it was nice and spicy.

*Sweet Freedom is a vegan fruit based syrup which tastes incredibly like honey. If you can't find it any syrup sweetener will work - agave or maple syrup for example.

I place all the ingredients into a mortar and pestle and grind and mix it up until smooth but I'm sure a spoon or whisk would work just fine ;-)

Spicy Soy Dipping Sauce:
soy sauce
few drops of sesame oil
slices of ginger, garlic and bird's eye chilli (deseeded)

Mix all together and let sit a little while. Sorry for no measurements but it really doesn't matter too much here. Just make sure you don't add too much sesame oil, really just need a few drops for 1 little dipping bowl.

Recipe based on BBC Good Food's

Asparagus, Almond and Chickpea Brown Rice with a Lemon Tahini Dressing

This is another gem from Heidi Swanson where she had posted it as 'Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice'. However she uses pre-cooked brown rice which I've never seen here so with brown rice taking about 25 minutes to cook I had to call it something else!

It is so, sooooo good - especially that dressing! I'll be using that in loads of things, I'm thinking drizzled over falafel in pita would be yummy.....and last night I was dipping stuffed vine leaves into some of the leftover dressing and that was very good too :) I also loved the asparagus quickly stir fried like this, I usually always steam my asparagus but the crunchiness was really nice this way. I used brown basmati rice, simply as I prefer it to regular brown rice but as she says you can use any grain you like, even pasta.

Recipe is here .

2012 Edit - I am actually going to post my version of this now as we have it so regularly now I've made quite a few little changes along the way, mostly with calories and portion size as we initially found it way too big but also with the instructions and ingredients.

Also, her recipe stated that it serves 4 - 6, if you get 4 servings out of that recipe it comes in at 826 calories per serving, that's more calories than a Big Mac and small fries!! Obviously this is bags healthier but calories are calories. With 6 servings it comes out at 551 calories and my made over version is 384 calories, is nice and filling and JUST as tasty :-)

Asparagus, Almond and Chickpeas with Wholegrain Basmati Rice and a Lemon-Tahini Dressing
Serves 2


1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
100g chickpeas, drained and rinsed (from a tin)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, halved and sliced
150g asparagus, cut into 1" segments
1/8 tsp salt
25g flaked almonds, toasted
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1 Tbsp tahini
1 scant Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp hot water
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp salt
zest of 1/4 of a lemon
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75g dry weight wholegrain basmati rice

First make the dressing by whisking everything together but the hot water until smooth then whisk in the hot water. Set aside.

Toast the almond flakes in a dry frying pan until just golden and set aside.

Get a large pot of salted water on for the rice and cook according to package instructions. For mine, once the water comes to a boil tip in the rice, give it a stir and put the lid on. When it comes back to the boil reduce to a simmer and simmer for 25 minutes. Drain and put back in the pot, put the lid back on and let it sit off the heat for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile get the olive oil heating up in a wok or frying pan with a lid, when it's nice and hot add the chickpeas, shallots and a good grinding of black pepper and fry until the shallots are soft and the chickpeas start to brown slightly. Initially keep the heat quite high then reduce to low. The chickpeas may pop a bit here so take care. Add a splash of hot water to deglaze the pan and stir well, making sure you loosen up any cooked on bits. Add the asparagus and the salt give it a good stir then cover and let steam until the asparagus is bright green and tender, and any residual water is absorbed, about 3 - 5 minutes. When there is about a minutes left add the garlic and stir well.

Uncover and stir in the rice and flaked almonds and stir well. If the dressing has thickened up a bit too much you can add a touch more hot water to it. Turn the heat off and add the dressing and stir well until all the rice is lightly coated. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information: based on 1 serving

Calories: 384
Protein: 11.8g
Fibre: 7.1g
Carbs: 44.9g
Sugar: 3.7g
Fat: 20.2g
Sat Fat: 2.2g
Sodium: 295mg

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Plum Crisp

So as well as a plethora of zucchinis we were also kindly given a ton of plums - which we love but could not eat that many! So, I decided to make something with them and was thinking pie, crumble, cake, tart.....but decided on a simple crisp. I've used the recipe from my fantastic 1960's Canadian Purity Cookbook - love this book for basic baking and desserts! Now I kept the sugar levels the same as these plums tasted quite sweet but it did cook up a little tart, now, I like it that way - reminded me of rhubarb crisp, my fave, but you may want to adjust. With the sweet ice cream it was perfect though. Mine also went a little juicy due to the plums being so fresh, again I like it that way....

The topping is a basic recipe usable for all fruits. When growing up my mom always used this recipe when we had apple crisp (with apples from our tree) or more commonly, peach crisp with peaches from our tree - delicious! So feel free to swap whatever fruit you have an abundance of in here :)

Serves up to 8:
1000g plums, stoned, peeled and sliced thickly (you'll want about 800g prepared)
150g/1 cup plain flour
120g/1 cup rolled oats
125g/1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
115g/1/2 cup vegan margarine

Grease a large oven safe dish and set aside. Preheat oven to 190C. In a large bowl stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the margarine until mixture is crumbly - you may want to use your hands near the end. Take a quarter cup of this mixture and toss it gently with the plums then toss them into the dish. Spread the rest of the topping over top and even out. Pop in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, the top should be golden and crisp and the filling bubbling up the sides a wee bit. Let cool about 10 minutes then serve warm with vegan vanilla ice cream.

*note- it's not part of the recipe but I had some flaked and ground almonds that needed using. I tossed the ground almonds in with the fruit and sprinkled some flaked over top, optional but it was nice. I think it was only about 20g ground almonds I used.*

Crusty French Loaf

Well I did promise the recipe for the crusty French loaf I used in the soup post below....and here it is! Recipe comes from Country Living Magazine but via Vegan Dad . I am so glad he posted it as well as it is a fantastic basic recipe. It comes out really nice and light with a proper crunchy crust....so good! The original recipe was for rolls but I just fancied a loaf so did that. Like Vegan Dad I'll also post the recipe here as I would like it for my own reference, plus I'll scale it down to make 2 loaves or 8 rolls and have converted to grams for us over here :)

Just a note on flour - I purchased a bag of this Waitrose Very Strong Canadian Flour awhile back, just for a laugh really.....but it really does make a great loaf of bread!

Makes 2 Loaves:
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
300ml warm water (make with 2 part cold and 1 part boiling)
455 - 525g strong bread flour
1/2 Tbsp salt (I may cut back a little on this next time)
1 Tbsp cornmeal (just for the baking sheet)

In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand 5 minutes. *note - I followed the instructions for my yeast and whisked first, let sit 10 minutes until foamy all over, then whisked again.* Add 280g of the flour and the salt and beat with the paddle of an electric mixer or by hand till a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl forms - about 10 minutes. *note - mine never did 'pull away' - didn't seem to make a difference.* Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Switch to a dough hook and add the remaining 175g of flour and knead for another 5 minutes, or by hand for 10 minutes. Add more warm water or up to 70g of flour to form a soft elastic dough. I did mine by machine but still like to hand knead a few times to get a feel of it. I didn't need any extra water, only a bit of the 70g. Form into a ball.

Grease a warm large bowl and place the ball of dough in, turning to coat all sides. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. *note - mine was ready in 1.5hrs.* Punch the dough down, reform into a ball and place back in the bowl to rise again, in a warm place until doubled again, about 1.5 hours.

Place a pan filled with hot water on the floor or bottom rack of your oven and preheat to 230C. Do not skip the water as this is what gives your loaf the crusty crust! On a lightly floured surface, punch down and knead the dough a couple times. Form either into 8 rolls or 2 loaves. Place on a baking sheet that you have sprinkled with the cornmeal. Loosely cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Rub a little flour over the tops then cut a 1/4 inch deep slash on the top of the rolls, or along the length of your loaves. Please note they mean 1/4 inch deep - I had trouble slicing my soft dough the first time and ended up with this:


I aimed for cross slices but didn't cut deep enough, so for the second time I used a serrated knife and really slashed it - don't be timid with it :)

Bake for about 25 minutes, they will be a deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes then as with all freshly baked bread, it really is best then and there! Store for up to 2 days in airtight container or freeze up to 1 month.

For the soup toasts, I sliced this, spread vegan margarine on one side, pan grilled it to golden lines appeared then did the same on the other side. Great when this bread is a day old, and fantastic with soup :)

Curried Zucchini Soup

with homemade crusty French bread, butter grilled...

More Zucchini!!!! We got 2 more or these big round zucchini's - such generous home growers! Again, I was thinking what to do with such a large quantity and of course thought of soup. I've based this one on my Carrot Curry Soup (still my fave!) and it turned out really well. I kept the quantities the same and as zucchini has more water this soup turned out a bit more liquidy. As I like my soups thick I quickly cooked up some potato and added that to the soup before blending and really liked the result.

Serving it up into the other round zucchini was just me being fancy ass but don't worry, nothing was wasted. I used the empty shell to make the same soup again the next day and froze the 4 quantities. Now we'll have summer fresh zucchini soup some time in the cool autumn - nice :)

Serves 4:
15g vegan margarine
1 large onion, diced
2 1/4 tsp mild curry powder (or use hot if you like)
1 litre veg stock, I made mine with 4 tsp marigold vegan stock granules
500g roughly chopped zucchini
1 medium potato, peeled and thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp lemon juice - optional

Melt the margarine then add the onion and fry till just soft. Add the curry powder and gently 'toast' for 1 minute. Add a splash of the veg stock to de-glaze then add the rest. Bring to the boil then add the potato and zucchini. Boil with the lid on for about 15 minutes or until veg is very soft. Let cool slightly then blitz in a blender in batches till very smooth. Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper. (I would add pepper but no salt as the stock I use is salty enough) If you feel it needs it, add the lemon juice, adds a little 'freshness'. Also if you feel it's too thick, or spicy or both you can both thin and tone it down with some reduced fat coconut milk.

Recipe for the Crusty French bread to follow......

Spicy Ginger Tofu, Soba Noodle and Avocado Salad

I absolutely love this salad, it's based on Heidi Swanson's Otsu salad and this is the 4th variation I've made! When I first made this I followed the recipe as is but didn't like the cucumber or spring onions with it too much. So the second time I just had it with avocado figuring it's cool creaminess would go so well with the spicy dressing. Then I had the idea of marinating tofu in the yummy dressing and found it to be the best tofu I have ever had - and I stand by that!

So this time I thought I would bring both of those dishes together and this is now perfection for me. Nice and spicy with the avocado providing just enough cooling and that marinated tofu - drool! Like last time the recipe for the dressing/marinade here makes a lot, more than you need for a couple salads but it keeps in the fridge nicely :)

Spicy Ginger Tofu, Soba Noodle and Avocado Salad

Dressing and Marinade:
Zest of 1 lemon
35g of peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp caster sugar
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sesame oil

Grate the ginger finely and add to a bowl with the lemon zest. Whisk in the sesame and veg oils then slowly whisk in the lemon juice and rice vinegar. Whisk in the rest.

Soba Noodle Salad: serves 2
115g dry weight soba noodles
125g firm tofu
1 hass avocado, sliced or diced
2 tsp black sesame seeds, or regular sesame seeds lightly toasted.

Cut the tofu into 8 thin triangles, or whatever size you like and press in some paper towels to remove most of the excess water. Place in a shallow bowl then pour over the marinade and let sit for 15 minutes, flip them over once. Cook the soba noodles according to package directions then drain well and rinse under cold water until cool. Set aside to drain well. Heat up a non stick frying pan then add the tofu, there is no need to add oil as it's in the marinade. Fry until deep golden brown then flip over and repeat. Once golden on both sides take a small teaspoon of the marinade and spoon over each segment and let it sizzle away, it should get glossy and slightly caramelized around the edges. Toss the cold noodles with about 2 Tbsp of the dressing (whisk before measuring) and place on plates. Top with the sliced or diced avocado and tofu. Spoon about 1 Tbsp more dressing per plate over top the avocado and noodles then sprinkle on the sesame seeds. Place leftover dressing in the fridge for future use.

Another option is to pan grill the tofu like I've done here.

Source: Based on Heidi Swanson's Otsu Salad.

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