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.

Roast Garlic Houmous With Smoked Paprika

Recipe:

{1 can or carton} chickpeas, cooked
(1/4 cup) chick pea juice, reserved from the can/carton
{1 tsp} light tahini
The juice of half a lemon
{4 cloves} garlic (small-medium in size - not too large)
(2/3 tsp) extra virgin olive oil
(1/2 tsp) sea salt, or more to taste
(1/8-1/4 tsp) ground cumin
Freshly ground pepper

A Toast Note: serve with smoked paprika, drizzled olive oil and toasted sesame seeds - I forgot the last two, so yeah...soz.

Method:

Preheat oven to 150C. Cut the bottoms off the garlic cloves and wet the exposed garlic with a little oil. Wrap up in baking paper and roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, checking regularly.

When the cloves are nice and brown, add all of the ingredients into the food processor, BUT ONLY HALF of the chickpea juice. Whizz 'er up. If you want a smoother houmous, add the rest of the chickpea juice. Adjust seasoning to taste. Blitz in the processor and set aside.

In a dry saucepan, gently toast sesame seeds. Serve the houmous, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with smoked paprika, and sprinkle with toasted sesame. (The olive oil and sesame seeds aren't in my pictures, sorry! Still yummy without, so those toppings are optional)

Hot Cocoa

If you're looking for something fancy, look away now. This is a 'basics' post, for those awake at 11pm, in their slippers, after a long day, craving a little something sweet and simple.

Ingredients:

{1 tbsp} cocoa powder (the good stuff, mind)
{1 mug} unsweetened soya milk (or any other dairy-free milk alternative)
{2 tbsp} maple syrup (if you don't have anything of the sort, 2 tbsp of brown sugar should suffice)
{1 dash} sea salt

Extras: a little bit of vanilla or cinnamon, if you like. (optional)

Method:

Saucepan: heat up all the ingredients. Don't let it boil. Serve and enjoy.

Dill Chick Peas and Sweet Agave Mustard Salad Dressing

This is great for lunch. Serve with houmous or eat in a wrap.

Ingredients:
{1 cup} cooked chickpeas
{1 tsp} olive oil
{1/4 cup} fresh dill, torn and stems removed
{1/4 tsp} sea salt, or to taste
{1/4 tsp} balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together...and it really is that simple.

For the Sweet Agave and Mustard Salad Dressing:
This recipe is a slight variation on the sweet mustard salad dressing recipe. All you have to do, is substitute the maple syrup for agave nectar. It creates a slightly lighter dressing.

In other news...
THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING!
Or so you might think, looking at my wholefood bulk order.

I also have a maple syrup substance abuse problem.

Don't judge me.

Sweet Mustard Salad Dressing

Don't let your salad go naked. Dress it up with this hot little number.

Ingredients:
{1 and 1/2 tbsp} maple syrup (agave nectar might be good too - something to try out next time!)
{1 tbsp} apple cider vinegar
{1 tbsp} dijon mustard
{1 and 1/2 tbsp} grapeseed oil
{1/2 tsp} mustard powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Whisk all the ingredients up in a bowl. Store in an air-tight container. Keep refridgerated.

Butternut Squash Mac n' Cheese

This recipe has been pinched from the wonderful Angela at Oh She Glows

Before I begin, I'd just like to make a few Toast Chef notes:

a) I have adapted the recipe to be double in sauce quantity. Two reasons for this: one, it was not saucy enough! And two, at least with lots of cheesie sauce, you can put in as much as you like, and put some by for wraps or other dishes. Magic.

b) In future, I might have a little play around with the cheesie sauce. I think it would do much better with some houmous. Just a theory, so don't all go chucking big dollops of hoummie in your sauce. I'll post a revised cheese sauce recipe once I get round to it.

I've tweaked other elements a wee bit too.

But all in all, this was scrummy!

Ingredients:

{7 cups} butternut squash, peeled and cubed
{1 and 1/2 - 1 and 3/4 cups} raw cashews
{2 cups} non-dairy milk, plus more if you want to thin out the sauce
{6 cloves} garlic, chopped
{2 tbsp} fresh lemon juice
{4 tsp} sea salt
{12-13 tbsp} nutritional yeast
{1 tsp} dijon mustard
{1 tsp} mixed herbs
{1 tsp} tumeric powder
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
{1 tsp} paprika, and more to season (I used a bit of smoked paprika as well as the normal)
{4.5 cups} pasta of your choice (I used riccioli because it was pretty, and it was wonderful)

Mix-ins: it's really up to you. I used mushrooms, but peas or brocolli would also be good.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a tray with a sheet of baking paper. In a bowl, season the butternut squash with 2 tsp oil and a some sea salt/black pepper. Massage the seasoning into the butternut pieces.

Tip on to the baking sheet and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Halfway through, make sure to flip over the butternut chunks - it ensures even roasting.

2. In a food blender, process 1-2 pieces of wholemeal bread and 1 tbsp of vegan spread (like Pure Soya).

Crumbs should form. Set them aside.

3. Now, blend up the cashews until they have reached a floury consistency. Add in: non-dairy milk, garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, nutritional yeast, dijon mustard, mixed herbs, tumeric powder, ground pepper, and paprika. Whizz 'em all up until smooth and crrreeeaaaammmmyyy. Leave the sauce where it is - the squash needs to go in.

4. Cook the pasta according to the packet directions. When the squash is done, add it to the sauce and process until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if it makes you happy. The sauce will begin to thicken up after a little while, so keep some milk to hand to thin it out.

5. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water.

Isn't this the most angelic-looking pasta?

In a bowl, mix up the pasta and as much cheese sauce as you like.

Add any mix-ins you might have and pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle on breadcrumbs and paprika and bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes.

Some lovely greenery from our People and Planet Uni Allotment

Take care the breadcrumbs don't burn. The beauty of this recipe is that it's high yield and perfect for freezing leftovers. Yum yum yum.

Yuca Tortillas

Recipe #2 try-out from the holy vegan text, Veganomicon. Last time, I was making Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango. It was fabbie-dabbie-doozie.

However, this whole Yuca thing...

I wouldn't go so far to say it was Yuc-ky. But it wasn't the most overwhelming dish either. Maybe it was a personal flop, but anyway, soon I'll be doing my own revamped, off-the-books adaptation of this recipe, so hopefully that will taste yummylicious. Watch this space.