Broccoli with Hazelnuts

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Quick, easy, and incredibly delicious, this serves 4 as a side.

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, cut into florets (save the stem for salads or stir-fry)
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:
1. Lay the hazelnuts on a baking tray. Place in an oven heated to 170C for about 10 minutes, or until golden.
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a simmer. Add the broccoli and cook 4-5 minutes until done to your liking. Drain, and run under cold water to stop further cooking.
3. Remove hazelnuts from oven, place into a tea towel, and rub to remove the skins. Allow to cool until suitable to handle, and then roughly chop.
4. Toss the broccoli with nuts, ginger, chilli flakes, and soy sauce in the pot to heat through.

Ginger-Miso Cabbage Salad

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Perfect for packed lunches or picnics, this is even easier to put together if you can use the shredding attachment on a food processor.

Salad:
200g red cabbage, shredded
150g white cabbage, shredded
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 large carrot, shredded
2 tbsp golden raisins or cranberries
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a frying pan until golden

Dressing:
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
pinch dried ginger
1 heaped tsp yellow miso

Directions:
1. Mix all of the salad ingredients.
2. Mix all of the dressing ingredients.
3. Mix the dressing into the salad.

Easy Breakfast Tortilla Bowl

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Short on time? This breakfast can be made in a flash and should keep you full until lunchtime.

This Breakfast Tortilla Bowl from Frances McCormack is incredibly quick and simple to make.

Ingredients (per bowl):
1 flour or corn tortilla bowl
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 banana
2 tbsp suitable-for-vegans granola
2 tbsp dried fruit

Directions:
Heat the tortilla bowl according to packet directions. Layer in the peanut butter and banana, and top with dried fruit and granola.

Macaroni and Bell Pepper Sauce

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This is a deliciously umami yet sweet dish that’s got all of the flavour of comfort food with minimally processed ingredients and no oil! It’s incredibly quick to make the sauce–just blend and heat. Serves 2.

Ingredients
250g broccoli, steamed
200g macaroni, cooked according to package directions
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
3 large cloves garlic
1 tbsp miso paste
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp cornflour or corn starch
1/4 cup water

Directions
1. Blend all of the ingredients apart from the broccoli and macaroni.
2. Add the blended sauce to the cooked pasta and broccoli. Heat gently until the sauce has thickened.
3. Serve.

Red Pepper Sesame Kale

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This umami side is so creamy and flavourful that you’d almost wish you could eat it on its own. Perfect for serving with mashed potatoes for a comforting meal.

Ingredients:
1 large pack of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp sweet white miso paste
1 heaped tsp suitable-for-vegans Dijon mustard
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup sesame seeds, plus extra for serving

Directions:
1. Steam the kale. Drain, and press to remove the excess liquid.
2. Meanwhile, add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.
3. Toss the kale in the sauce, reheat gently, and serve with extra sesame seeds.

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

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It’s sure to be a good morning with this Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, served here with a generous dollop of coconut whip to give you that dessert-for-breakfast flavour and to start your day on a sweet note. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
2 tbsp suitable-for-vegans brown sugar
2 tbsp ground flaxseeds
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Pinch salt
2 tbsp chopped pecans, optional; extra for serving
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups soy milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 160C.
2. Mix all ingredients together. Add to a shallow baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the centre is set.

Tofu Crumble with Curried Rice: Budget Recipe

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This recipe costs €1.16 per portion and takes only as long to prepare as it takes the rice to cook. Every brand and type of rice is different, so cook according to package directions. There are three parts to this recipe: boiling the greens, cooking the rice, and making the scramble. Serves 2.

Ingredients:

For the greens:
100g frozen kale
125g (1/4 head) cabbage, chopped small

For the curried rice:
100g brown rice
Water as according to package directions
1 tsp curry powder

For the tofu:
250g tofu
½ onion, chopped
½ yellow pepper, diced
100g mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

For the greens:
1. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
2. Add the cabbage and kale and cook for 5 minutes.

For the rice:
1. Cook the rice according to package directions, adding the curry powder to the water.
2. When the rice is cooked, stir all but a handful of the greens through and keep warm.

For the tofu:
1. Drain the tofu, wrap in a kitchen towel, and place under a plate with some cans or other weights on top to press for about 20 minutes. Alternatively, squeeze as much water from the tofu as possible.
2. Crumble the tofu into small pieces between your finger and thumb, and add to a bowl with the turmeric, paprika, soy sauce, and garlic.
3. Heat a nonstick pan over a medium low heat. Add the onions, peppers, and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms start to release their juices. Add the tofu mixture and the reserved handful of greens, and cook until warmed through. Season to taste.

Serve the tofu with the green rice.

Carrot and Red Lentil Soup: Budget Recipe

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This soup costs €0.18 per portion and takes about 20 minutes to prepare. The recipe is very easy, but we’ve written it out in lots of detail in case you’re new to cooking. We’ve used a blender to make it smooth, but it’s equally delicious chunky.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 l vegetable broth*
2 carrots, washed, topped and tailed, and sliced (no need to peel!)
80g red lentils, picked over to make sure there’s no grit
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:
1. Heat a stainless steel saucepan over a medium low heat until hot. Reduce the heat slightly, add the onions and keep stirring until the onions start to take on a little colour and release their aroma (about 2 minutes). Turn the heat right down to low before adding the garlic for about 30 seconds.
2. Add the broth, carrots, and red lentils. Crumble the herbs between your finger and thumb, if desired, so that they release more of their fragrance.
3. Raise the heat to high until bubbles start appearing around the sides of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every 3-4 minutes to make sure the lentils aren’t sticking.
4. Add the smoked paprika, and stir.
5. At this point, you can blend the soup with an immersion (stick) blender or in a jug blender, following the instructions that came with your blender.
6. Serve, and enjoy.

Overnight Oats Bowl: Budget Recipe

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This Overnight Oats Bowl cost €0.54 per serving at the time of posting, is very easy to put together, and is almost guaranteed to fill you up until lunchtime.

Serves 2.

Ingredients:
90g rolled oats
Large pinch cinnamon
100ml soy milk (or other all-plant milk)
100ml water
1/4 cup dried fruit
1 apple, chopped
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp flaxseeds, ground

Directions:
1. Mix the oats with the cinnamon. Stir through the soy milk and water, and leave to soak overnight or for at least 15 minutes.
2. Divide between two bowls and serve topped with the rest of the ingredients.

Coconut-Molasses Chickpeas and Cauliflower

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The flavour profile of this dish is inspired by Indonesian cuisine, where molasses or brown sugar are frequently used in ketjap manis. Molasses is quite high in iron and other minerals, which makes it a much healthier choice than many other sweeteners.

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp red chilli paste
1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp lime pickle
2 cups cauliflower, in small florets (mine were pre-roasted, but the recipe below is a quicker version)
1 head pak choy, chopped
1 can chickpeas
4 spring onions, chopped

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan over a low heat, whisk together the coconut milk, red chilli paste, garlic-ginger paste, molasses, turmeric, soy sauce, and lime pickle.
  2. Add the cauliflower, chickpeas, and the hard ends of the pak choy. Allow to simmer over a low heat for 7 minutes.
  3. Add the green leafy parts of the pak choy and the spring onions. Cover and simmer again for another 3 minutes, or until the cauliflower is the desired tenderness.
  4. Serve.