Five-Minute Cauli Fried Rice

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Either use pre-riced cauliflower (you may find it in the frozen food aisle) or rice your own cauliflower in a food processor. Sauté some onions, garlic, and ginger, and then add the cauliflower rice to the pan with your favourite selection of frozen veggies; we used sweetcorn, peas, mushrooms, and peppers. Mix a sauce of 2 tbsp hoisin, 2 tbsp soy, and 2 tbsp water. Stir through, and enjoy!

Tomato and Basil Beans

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A really easy addition to your salads and sandwiches throughout the week. Simply mix, refrigerate, and use as desired.

3 cans butterbeans, drained and rinsed
3 tbsp suitable for vegans pesto
1 small bunch basil, torn or chopped
6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
Salt and black pepper

Roasted Butternut Squash

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A fairly easy but impressive holiday dinner, packed with flavour.

Ingredients: 
1 butternut squash, halved and deseeded
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
250g mushrooms, chopped
50g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
Fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. 
2. Spray the butternut squash with a little oil, or rub with oil-coated kitchen towel. Place cut-side down on a baking tray and bake 15 minutes. Turn cut-side up and bake for 30 mins more or until done. 
3. Meanwhile, sauté the onion until slightly translucent. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and toasted hazelnuts and continue to cook. When just about cooked, stir in some fresh basil and season. 
4. When the squash is cooked, removed some of the flesh from the skin to hollow the squash out slightly. Mash, and mix with the mushrooms. Place back into the squash and bake 5 minutes more.

Ras-el-Hanout Stew

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A warming and very flavoursome stew that’s made in the Instant Pot in about 10 minutes, but you can cook it on the stovetop too; it will just take longer to make the squash tender. This serves 4.

Ingredients: 

2 red onions, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced 
1 inch ginger, grated
1 butternut squash
1 can chickpeas
1 can white beans of choice (alternatively, you can use another can chickpeas)
12 dried apricots, quartered
12 plum tomatoes, halved
500ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Directions: 

1. Prick the butternut squash, put it on a plate, and microwave for 5 minutes to soften. Allow to cool.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the onions until softened. Add the garlic and ginger for about a minute more, and then stir in the squash, beans, apricots, tomatoes, stock, purée, and spices. 
3. Cover, set the Instant Pot to Manual on high pressure for 3 minutes. When cooked, carefully release the steam. Alternatively, if cooking on the stovetop, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the squash is cooked. 
4. Stir through the lemon juice, and season to taste before serving.

Coconut Macaroons

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Can’t bake? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with these Mini Coconut Macaroons!

Ingredients: 
1 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 cup soy (or other all-plant) milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Generous pinch salt
Pinch chilli powder
8 squares of suitable-for-vegan dark chocolate, melted (optional)

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 180C, and line a baking tray with a silicone mat or baking parchment. 
2. In a saucepan, simmer the coconut, flour, soy milk, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and chilli powder very gently until the coconut has absorbed the liquid, stirring often. 
3. Take heaped teaspoons of the mix and with wet hands roll them into balls. Place the balls on the baking tray and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden on top. 
4. Drizzle with the melted chocolate, if using, and allow to cool fully on a wire rack before enjoying.

Air-Fried Watermelon

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Watermelon can be air-fried for a delicious sandwich topper. If you want your fruit crispier, cook it on 80C for several hours, checking every hour or so. We sprinkled thinly sliced watermelon strips in a little sea salt and cracked black pepper and cooked them at 180C for 15 minutes until lightly dried and still soft. You could also use the oven and a parchment-lined tray to cook the melon.

Toffles

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If you haven’t tried a Toffle, you’re missing out. This is tofu cooked in a waffle iron; it’s easy to prepare, and its texture is both crispy and chewy. This recipe is incredibly simple, but you can vary the flavours as you wish.

Ingredients: 
1 block tofu, pressed and cut into 3/4 – 1cm slices
2 tbsp suitable-for-vegans tomato ketchup
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water
2 tsp Jerk spice mix

Directions: 
1. Mix the ketchup, soy sauce, water, spice mix. Coat the tofu in it, and leave to sit for about 10 minutes while you preheat the waffle iron. 
2. When the waffle iron is hot, spray with cooking spray and add the tofu. Save the remaining sauce. Cook until really crispy–depending on the temperature of your iron, this could take between 5 and 15 minutes. 
3. Brush with the remaining sauce and serve.