Sweet Potato Casserole

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honour of this annual event, I will be providing you with a traditional, Irish...

Who am I kidding? Here is a sweet potato casserole.

Any excuse to eat more maple syrup. Serves 1. Inspired by Oh She Glows.

Ingredients:
Base
{1 large} sweet potato
{1/2 tbsp} vegan butter (I used Pure Spread)
{1/4 tsp} vanilla extract
{1 and 1/2 tbsp} pure maple syrup
{1/8 tsp} sea salt
{1/4 tsp} ground nutmeg
{1/4 tsp} cinnamon

Topping
{1/8 cup} vegan butter
{1/4 cup} brown sugar
{1/8 cup} white flour
{1/4 cup} pecan nuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 170C. Lightly grease very small baking dish. Then, peel and chop up the sweet potato into small chunks. Boil in a saucepan,with a pinch of salt, until tender. Drain and mash the soft sweet potato with the base vegan butter. Add the vanilla extract, maple syrup, sea salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pour base mixture into baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, stir the topping ingredients together until well combined. Slightly break up the pecan nuts with the spoon. Smooth topping over base and decorate with whole pecan nuts. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until topping is crisp and brown. Shut off the heat, but leave the casserole in the oven for a further 10-15 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn.

Slow Cooking

My new baby...

And ain't she pretty?

After I bulk bought dried grain/lentils/pulses, I decided that a crock pot was the only way I would be able to cope.

So I soaked my chickpeas overnight, and put them on HIGH heat at 12:45pm. It's now 08:00pm, and they are taking their sweet, sweet time.

But optimism is the way forward! Soon I hope to be eating my very own crock pot houmous.

No-Bake Maple Baked Beans

Ingredients:

{1 can} mixed beans, drained and rinsed
{1/2} red onion, diced
{1 and a half tbsp} blackstrap mollases
{1 tbsp} maple syrup
{1 tbsp} dijon mustard
{1 tbsp} apple cider vinegar
{1/3 cup} canned chopped tomatoes
{1/2 tsp} sea salt
{1/4 cup} dried cranberries
Maple syrup to drizzle on top, or maple butter, if you have any.

Adapted from Oh She Glows

Method:

Saucepan: add a little mild oil and brown off the red onions. Next, add all the ingredients, mix them up and cover. Cook on a low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with buttered toast, a warm roll, or in my case, toasted Rye bread. Drizzle with a maple syrup.

Nutty Maple Granola

It's pancake day...

...so let's make some Granola!

WET
{4 tbsp} maple syrup
{1 tbsp} agave nectar
{1 tsp} golden syrup (Tate & Lyle, or any other vegan brand, please - alternatively, any other sweetener you like)
{1 tbsp} coconut oil
{2 tbsp} apple sauce
{2 tbsp} peanut butter
{1/3 cup} brown sugar

DRY
{2 and 1/2 cups} oats
{2 cups} raw hazlenuts
{1 cup} raw pecans
{1 cup} raw walnuts
{1 cup} coconut flakes
{1 tsp} ground cinnamon (a generous one)
{A dash} ground nutmeg
{3/4 tsp} sea salt

ADD-INS
dried cranberries
raisins

Preheat the oven to 140C. In a bowl, mix together the DRY ingredients.

Meanwhile, heat up the WET ingredients in a saucepan for a few minutes.

Pour the WET mixture over the DRY and stir for a while, until the DRY stuff is all gloopy and moist. Then, cover a tray with baking paper and spoon on the mixture. Obviously eating bits as you go.

Whack it in the oven for 40-45 minutes, but WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK. This baby burns easily. You need to take it out AT LEAST once every 15 minutes and give it a stir. Ideally, stay close to the oven - you can smell it overcooking. This granola-veteran has seen one too many oaty tragedies.

Leave it to cool for 20-25 minutes. Add in cranberries and raisins to taste.

Store in a glass jar.

And enjoy your sexy granola with any vegan milk. I use unsweetened soya...and obviously an extra spoon of nutty butter!