Gingerbread Men (& Women)

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I am so thrilled to now be able to make gingerbread people with my little man now. And this is really really REALLY easy to make. It will be a tradition in our home from this day on and will be a gift I give to friends, family and neighbours.

I have a long way to go perfecting my decorating but it doesn’t seem to matter how you decorate them, they still have so much charm.

 

YOU NEED

65 grams of coconut oil

1 ½ cups of brown sugar

5 cups of plain flour

90 grams of apple sauce

½ cup of molasses (I use blackstrap molasses. You can pick up molasses from any well stocked health food store)

½ cup of Bonsoy or almond milk

1 teaspoon of bi carb (baking soda)

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon of ground cloves

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3 teaspoons of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

# I have also made it with 2 ground star anise and/or 1 vanilla pod scraped

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 180%

Sift all the dry ingredients (except the sugar) together into a large bowl

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine. Mix them together until you get a dough type texture. If the mixture is too wet just add more flour until you get the right texture.

Cut the “dough” into 4 and make squares, wrap each square in glad wrap and place in the fridge for an hour.

Remove and roll out one square at a time onto a well floured bench. Using cutters cut out whatever shapes you have chosen to make. Gently pull the scrap gingerbread away from your shape and using a spatula lift your shapes off the bench and place on trays lined with baking paper.

Cook your gingerbread for 8-10 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled decorate them as you wish. You can dust your gingerbread with icing sugar or pipe on it using dairy free white and/or dark chocolate, add sprinkles, decorate with veg lollies etc. This is the fun part so let rip with your creativity.

For rock hard icing…

 

YOU NEED

½ cup of icing sugar (also known as confectioners’ sugar)

1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of agave (or maple syrup)

1/8 of a teaspoon of xanthium gum (any well stocked health food store will have this)

3 teaspoons of water

 

YOU DO

Mix all the ingredients together. It needs to a consistency that you can pipe with….so firm but not rock hard. If it’s a little too wet add some more icing sugar. If it’s a little too dry add a little more water.

Separate into small bowls and colour as you wish and the pipe onto gingerbread people using a small nozzle and piping bag.

 

Serves: Makes 40 medium sized gingerbread men.

Time: I haven’t timed it yet. The gingerbread is not time consuming but I was quite slow with the decorating.

Freeze: Hmm maybe it would be suitable to freeze the dough but I wouldn’t freeze the cooked gingerbread.

Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

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Another super simple but always popular recipe. It’s great for an afternoon tea, for something easy, but a little bit fancy pants.

 

YOU NEED

1 large cucumber

1 tablespoon of fresh dill

½ tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

dairy free cream cheese

salt/pepper to taste

8  slices of fresh bread

 

YOU DO

Wash & dry the cucumber. Cut it into sections that are the same length as the bread. Then cut those sections into very thin slices. You need enough slices to have one layer of cucumber for each sandwich. Probably 2 slices per sandwich will be enough, depending on the width of the slices. Lay the cucumber slices onto draining paper and set aside while you prepare everything else. Put any leftover cucumber aside for another recipe.

Wash and dry the dill. Finely chop it and mix the dill and lemon juice through the cream cheese and then season with salt and pepper

Trim the crusts from the bread and set them aside for another recipe.

Lay 2 slices of bread onto your bench and liberally spread them with the cream cheese mixture.

Place 1 layer of cucumber onto 1 of the slices, until all the cream cheese is covered and put the 2nd slice of bread on top, with the cream cheese facing down onto the cucumber.

Cut the sandwich into 3 even rectangle finger sandwiches and put them on a plate. Repeat until all your finger sandwiches are made and serve.

If you are not serving straight away, cover the sandwiches with cling film and refrigerate. Use in the same day though.

 

Yields: 12 finger sandwiches

Time: 15 minutes

Notes: Giving the cucumber time to sit on some draining paper is a really important step because otherwise you will end up with very soggy sandwiches.

You can get dairy free cream cheese in the supermarket, where the dairy cream cheese is.

Lentil Shepherds Pie

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YOU NEED

oil or water for cooking
1 large brown onion, peeled and finely diced
2-3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large unpeeled carrots, grated (2 cups)
2 cups of celery, washed and finely sliced
1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
½ tablespoon of ground coriander
3 tablespoons of curry powder
1 ½ cups of green/brown lentils, rinsed well
5 cups of gluten free vegetable stock
1 can of crushed tomatoes
6 cups of brown potatoes, peeled and diced (any type that are good for mashing)
¼ cup of gluten free plant based milk, such as almond or rice milk
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
1 bunch of fresh coriander, washed and roughly chopped

YOU DO
Gently heat a little oil (or water) in a large pot and sauté the onion till softened. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or two. Add the carrot and celery and cook for another 5 minutes.

Dry roast the spices in a small pan on low heat, stirring frequently for a minute or two to bring out their fragrance.

Add the spices, lentils, tomato puree and stock to the pot and stir to combine. Bring it all to the boil, then turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer. Cook the lentils, uncovered till they are tender (approximately 45 minutes). Add a little extra stock if you need to, but you don’t want the lentils to be too watery or the mash potato will just fall into them.

While the lentils are cooking, get a large pot of water on to boil. Cook the potatoes until tender. Once they are tender, add the milk. Mash it all together till you get a nice smooth piping consistency. Add a little extra milk of you need to. Season well with the salt and add pepper to taste.

Once the lentils are ready, stir the fresh coriander through them. Place them into a baking dish and allow them to cool a little.

Place a large piping nozzle into a piping bag and spoon some mashed potato into it. The mash needs to be quite hot to pipe well, so wrap a tea towel around the piping bag so you can hold it without burning yourself. Pipe rosettes onto the lentils until they are all covered.

Pop the baking dish into a preheated oven at about 180c and bake for about 15 minutes, or until the potato starts to brown.

Yields: Serves 4 very hungry people or 6 not so hungry people.

Time: 30 minutes preparation. 1 hour of cooking time.

Notes: If you use different lentils, they will take either more or less time to cook depending on which ones you choose This will alter how much stock you need and the overall flavor of the dish.

The smaller you cut your potatoes the quicker they will cook.

Convenient Beetroot Falafel

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The best recipes are often the most simple. This is a favourite in our household and always a hit anytime we have served it to others.

These are SO quick and SO easy.

You ready?

 

YOU NEED

a packet of falafel mix from the supermarket

1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and minced

1 small fresh beetroot

a handful of fresh parsley, washed well and drained

a handful of fresh coriander, washed ell and drained

½ teaspoon of salt

pepper to taste

 

YOU DO

Prepare the falafel mixture as per the instructions on the box and set aside as it needs time to absorb the water. This is usually about 10 minutes.

In the meantime peel and grate the beetroot. You need ½ cup. Set aside any leftover beetroot for another day.

Finely chop the coriander and parsley. Add the beetroot, coriander, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper to the falafel mixture and stir all the ingredients until they are well combined.

Make teaspoon size balls out of the mixture and place them on a plate.

Carefully shallow fry the falafel balls for a minute or 2, in rice bran oil until golden brown then place them on paper towelling to drain.

DONE

I serve my beetroot falafels with hummus, grated (unpeeled carrot), sliced capsicum, diced fresh tomato, steamed corn on the cob, soft tortillas, fresh spinach and spicy guacamole. It’s a delicious meal!

 

Yields: 30 small falafel balls

Time: 15 minutes. 25- 30 minutes if you are serving them as I have suggested above.

Notes: Make sure there is a lot more falafel mix than there is beetroot or its impossible to ball and will fall apart when you try to fry it.

To test if your oil is hot enough, just throw a little bit of bread into it and if it sizzles the oil is hot enough.

Toffee Sweet Potato

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I love turning pumpkin or sweet potato into a toffee style dish by caramelising it with maple syrup. Sometimes I toss herbs through it too.

We had this recently with yellow curry Thai noodles. It’a beautiful side dish that goes well with robust herb scented nut roasts and gravy. It will be a definite addition to our Christmas dinner this year.

 

YOU NEED

1 very large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

Up to ¼ cup or pure maple syrup

good handful of raw cashews

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 180c

Place the sweet potato on a lightly oiled oven tray and pour the maple syrup over the top and place in the oven.

Give it about 30 minutes and then gently turn the potato.

Cook until the sweet potato is tender and the maple syrup and outside of the sweet potato starts to caramelise. This can take a while but it’s so worth it. Just keep an eye on it.

When you are about 15 minutes away from them being ready remove the sweet potato from the oven, crank the oven up to about 200c, turn the potatoes again, pop the cashews on top of the potato and place them back in the oven.

Serve immediately. It won’t matter if they have cooled a little though either.

 

Serves: Serves 2 as a side dish.

Time: I haven’t timed this one.

Freezing: Not suitable.

Note: Cooking times and outcomes are going to depend on your own ovens. But you want to get a fairly good heat through the potatoes and then have the syrup browning well and just crank it up near the end to roast your nuts and colour the syrup a little more. Just don’t burn anything!!

Express Dessert

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The simplest ideas can be the tastiest!

Coconut ice-cream with a liquor espresso shot and hazelnuts.

This took only the time needed to make a short black.

 

YOU NEED

Coconut ice cream (I use COYO). Or soy if you can’t get coconut.

1 espresso shot of coffee

Frangelico liquor to taste

1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts

 

YOU DO

Pop a couple generous scoops of your dairy free ice – cream into a bowl and top with the hazenuts.

Pour the espresso shot with some Franglico Liquor to taste, over the top (a bit more carefully than pictured) and serve.

 

Serves: Serves 1

Time: Took me 5 minutes

Freezing: Not suitable.

Not Butter Chicken

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Not Butter Chicken wm

I have said it before and I will say it again DON’T be put off by a long list of ingredients. Recipes like this are the easiest to make and are up in no time.

Vegetables, herbs, spices & “cream cheese” ………………………and you have a really creamy, fragrant and TASTY meal!

 

YOU NEED

1 cup potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 cup pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes

2 handfuls green beans, trimmed

½ tablespoon coconut oil

1 large brown onion, peeled and finely sliced

3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon of minced ginger

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon hot chilli flakes

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cardamon

2 1/2 teaspoons of garam masala

2 ½ teaspoons of cumin

¼ teaspoon of hot chilli powder

pinch of ground cinnamon

1x 400 gram can of chopped tomatoes

1/3 cup water

1 x 250 gram container dairy free cream cream cheese

1 cup organic firm tofu, cut into cubes

½ teaspoon salt

1 bunch of coriander. Roots removed. Wash the stems and leaves well. Finely slice the stems and roughly chop the leaves.

 

YOU DO

Get a steamer on the go and steam your vegetables. I put my potatoes on first for about 5 minutes and then add my pumpkin. Right before they are tender, I throw in my beans for just a few seconds. Be sure not to overcook your vegetables as you want them to remain in cube shapes in the sauce.

Heat the coconut oil in a large non stick pan and sauté the onions on a low heat until they caramelise. This will take a few minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or so.

Add the tomatoes, water and cream cheese. Stir well to combine and simmer gently for a few minutes. Be sure not to cook on too high a heat or for too long or your sauce will evaporate.

While your sauce is simmering, place all the spices in a small dry pan and gently dry roast them on a low heat for a minute or so. Stir continuously and be careful not to burn them.

Add the spices, steamed vegetables, tofu, salt and coriander to the sauce.  Mix everything together, heat and serve.

Goes beautifully with steamed basmati, salad and pappadums.

 

Serves: Serves 4

Time: 30 – 40 minutes

Freeze: I wouldn’t.

Notes: I use Nicola potatoes because they are lower GI than other brown potatoes and they cook fast.

Use really good quality tinned tomatoes. It makes a difference.

I am a bit of a chilli wuss and this is as hot as I can take it, so if you don’t like chilli either don’t add it, don’t use hot chilli or add it to taste.

Chilli, Mint & Bean Shoot Salad

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This is a perfect salad for really hot days with your favourite iced cold beer or home made lemonade!

Serve it as a side with homemade pizza or take as an offering to a BBQ. Just assemble it right before serving so that it is still super crunchy.

 

YOU NEED

For the salad

1 small red onion, peeled and very finely sliced

2 cups of fresh bean shoots

2 red capsicum, core removed and thinly sliced

1 cup of fresh mint leaves, washed

2 long red chillies, seeded and very finely sliced

 

For the dressing

2 tablespoons of vegetarian fish sauce

½ tablespoon of minced ginger

1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup

 

YOU DO

Place all the salad ingredients into a large bowl.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together and add to the bowl with the salad. Mix everything well to combine and serve immediately.

 

Yields: A side dish for 4.

Time: 15 minutes.

Notes:  You can purchase vegetarian fish sauce from vegan grocery stores, online and from some Asian grocers. Otherwise simply replace it with 2 tablespoons of organic tamari or soy.

This is also delicious with the addition of handful of Thai basil and/or thin strips of fresh coconut meat.

Lebanese Pizza with Macadamia Cheese

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Lebanese Pizza with Macadamia Cheese

 

This is my take on a popular Lebanese breakfast pizza. It’s the easiest and most rewarding dish, packed with flavour and includes a lot of my favourite ingredients.

 

YOU NEED (for the macadamia cheese)

½ cup of raw macadamias, (pre soaked in water for a couple of hours)

¼ cup of nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon of salt

½ teaspoon of onion powder

½ teaspoon of garlic powder

2 tablespoons of water

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

 

YOU NEED (for the pizza)

2 tablespoons of dried thyme

1 ½ teaspoons of ground cumin

½ teaspoon of allspice

¼ teaspoon of chilli powder

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of rice bran oil

1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 wholemeal Lebanese breads

1 cup of fresh mint leaves, washed

olive oil to serve

fresh lemon to serve

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 185c.

Drain and discard the soaking water from the macadamia nuts. Blend all the remaining macadamia cheese ingredients together until the mixture is smooth.

Put the thyme, cumin, all spice, chilli, salt and oil in a bowl and stir well to combine. Evenly distribute the mixture over the bread.

Evenly distribute the cherry tomato and spoonfuls of the macadamia cheese onto each pizza.

Place in the oven for 5 – 10 minutes, until the base starts to get a little crispy and colour slightly.

Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Add the mint leaves and serve immediately.

 

Yields: Serves 2 hungry people and 4 slightly less hungry people.

Time: 10 minutes prep. 5- 10 minutes cooking time. Plus the soaking time.

Notes: Nutritional yeast gives you the cheesy flavour. You can get it from most health food stores, online and at vegan grocers.

This can easily be made gluten free if you use a gluten free base. But as always, double check every ingredient listed as well.

Hazelnut & Coconut Iced Coffee

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I had an iced coffee a while ago and it just didn’t hit the mark. So I had a go at my own version of iced coffee, with one of my favourite plant based milks ~ hazelnut!

 

YOU NEED

1 cup hazelnut milk

1/2 cup of strong espresso coffee

2 teaspoons of pure maple syrup

a couple of generous scoops of your favourite plant based ice cream. (I used coconut ice cream)

a handful of ice blocks

 

YOU DO

Blend the hazelnut milk, coffee and the maple syrup until well combined.

Put the ice in a tall glass. Pour the milk and coffee mix over the top of the ice and top with your ice-cream.

ENJOY!!

 

Time:  5 minutes

Yields:  1 large or 2 small serves