Lemony Cauliflower Soup

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Creamy and chunky, creating wonderful textural contrasts, and with subtle undertones of lemon balanced out by the herbs and pepper, this soup is a real winner and would be perfect for entertaining. This recipe serves 4-6 depending on whether it’s being eaten as a starter or a main.

Ingredients:
2 white onions, finely chopped
650g white mushrooms, quartered
1.5 litres vegetable broth
1 large potato, peeled and in bite-size dice
1 tsp dried thyme*
1 tsp dried basil*
1 head cauliflower, in small florets
1 lemon, rind and zest
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Red chilli flakes and parsley (optional)

*Crumbling dried herbs between your fingers before adding them to a dish will help to release more of their aromatic oils.

Directions:
1. Preheat a large soup pot over a medium low heat. Add the onion and mushroom, and sauté until the mushrooms release their liquid.
2. Add the vegetable broth, potato, and herbs. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the cauliflower, cover the soup once again, and simmer for 7 minutes more.
4. Stir through the lemon zest and juice.
5. Transfer half of the soup to a blender and blend until smooth (optional). Return to the pot to reheat, and season to taste.
6. Serve garnished with red chilli flakes and parsley, and a little extra lemon zest, if desired.

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.

Creamy Red Curry Soup

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This soup couldn’t possibly be any silkier. The beautiful texture is down to the quantity of coconut milk in the recipe, and the flavours are lively and bright. This serves six.

Ingredients

1 onion, roughly diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cauliflower, in florets
2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 tbsp soy sauce

Directions

1. In a large soup pot over a medium-low heat, sauté the onion until aromatic and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic cloves, and stir for 30 seconds.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Blend.
3. Season, taste, and serve.

Moroccan-Spiced Hummus

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This beautifully vibrant hummus is a breeze to make, incredibly tasty, and inexpensive if you have a well-stocked spice cabinet.

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas
1 red pepper
1/2 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried mint
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tbsp tahini

Directions

Blend all of the ingredients, adding a little extra water if necessary to reach desired consistency. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Because this hummus is oil-free, it may separate in the fridge. Just stir it all back together.

Creamy Butternut, Cauliflower, and Lentil Soup

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This is an easy budget soup, making four main-meal-sized portions. Don’t let the inclusion of the notoriously difficult to peel squash put you off; there are two options below to make your job much, much easier. As always, use this recipe as a roadmap: try it with the addition of coconut milk and either Thai or Indian spices; add a can of tomato sauce and some Italian herbs. A good base soup can be varied in so many different ways.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, medium dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 butternut squash
200g split red lentils
1 small cauliflower, in florets (approx. 500g)
1.5 litres vegetable stock
Pinch chilli flakes
1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, minced (or 1 tsp, dried, rubbed between fingers)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped tbsp yellow miso

Directions:
1. Carefully make several slits in skin of the squash with a small sharp knife, and microwave for about 3-5 minutes to loosen the peel from the flesh slightly. Alternatively, slit and then boil the squash whole in a large stock pot for about 5 minutes, until softened. Wait until it’s cool enough to handle, and then peel, deseed, and chop into bite-sized dice.
2. In a stock pot over a very low heat, sweat the onion and garlic, stirring frequently until softened, about 5 minutes. Don’t allow them to take on any colour; if they start to stick, the heat is too high. Lower it, and add a little broth to loosen.
3. Add the cauliflower, stock, butternut squash, chilli flakes, and sage leaves. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
4. While the soup is cooking, rinse and drain the lentils, picking them over to ensure there are no small stones or pieces of grit among them. Add them to a saucepan with about 400g water, bring to the boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until softened. Drain and rinse.
5. Add the lentils back to the pot with the butternut squash (cooking them separately ensures that the lentils don’t add any foam to your soup), and mix well to combine. Spoon between a third and half of the soup into a blender jug with the miso paste and blend until creamy. Alternatively, remove the same quantity of soup and use an immersion blender to blend it to smooth.
6. Stir the blended soup back to the pot, warm, and serve in warmed bowls with some parsley, additional chilli flakes, and nutritional yeast if desired.

Fennel and Mushroom Penne in a Lemon and Garlic Sauce

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Delicately fragrant, vivid, and lively, this comforting gluten-free dish is full of nutrients. Eat your fill!

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 leek, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 fennel bulb, quartered and finely sliced
150g tenderstem broccoli (substitute with broccoli florets if tenderstem is hard to find)
5 sage leaves, finely minced
Small bunch each basil and parsley, minced
200g brown rice pasta
2 large handfuls baby spinach

For the sauce

50g white beans of choice
150g silken tofu, drained
Zest 1 lemon
Juice 1/2 lemon
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 cup unsweetened, unflavoured all-plant milk of choice (soy milk used here)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Steam the fennel and broccoli until just tender (about 5 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid, and rinse to remove the excess starch.
3. Sauté the leeks and mushrooms over a medium heat in a non-stick pan until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the sage.
4. Blend all the sauce ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.
5. Add the sauce to the leeks and mushrooms vegetables, thinning out to desired consistency with a little of the reserved cooking water. Toss in the pasta, fennel, and broccoli to warm through.
6. Serve the pasta on a bed of spinach, garnished with a little extra lemon zest, more black pepper, and the minced basil and parsley.

Jewelled Greens and Beans Salad

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A simple, filling, and nutritious salad that’s full of flavour and texture. This would work well with miso-ginger salad dressing or even balsamic vinaigrette.

Ingredients (per serving)

1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup beans of choice
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 carrot, peeled and cut into strips with the peeler
2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

Directions

Use the spinach as a base, top with the rest of the ingredients, and enjoy.

Speedy Chana Saag

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Perfect for novice cooks, this meal is warming, nutritious, and ready in just a matter of minutes. If you wish, you can cook the tomato sauce for longer to reduce it, but it’s delicious as it is.

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable broth
3 cups baby spinach
400g can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 cup suitable-for-vegans tomato sauce
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp onion granules
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp curry powder (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch ground ginger

Directions
1. Place all ingredients into a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Heat over a low heat, stirring frequently, until spinach is wilted and curry is heated through.
3. Season to taste with salt, lime juice, and extra spices if desired.

Simple Silky Greens Soup

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Ideal for novice cooks, this serves 6, and takes under 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients
1 leek, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 head broccoli, in florets
2 courgettes (zucchini), roughly chopped
200g frozen green beans (French beans)
200g frozen garden peas
150g spinach, roughly chopped
1.5 litres vegetable stock
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
Black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Heat a large stock pot over a medium low heat, and sauté the leeks for about 3 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds more.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the pepper.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Blend in batches, return to the pot, and season with black pepper (and, if you like, some crispy fried onions and all-plant (e.g. soya, coconut, almond) plain yogurt).

Sweet Potato and Tempeh Stew

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A very easy recipe with lots of interesting flavours and textures that’s ready in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients

1 red onion, in medium dice
250g mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
220g tempeh, cubed
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
150g sugarsnap peas, roughly chopped
1 l vegetable broth
1 tsp mixed herbs
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 heaped tsp cornflour mixed to a paste in a little cold water

Directions

1. Sauté the onion and mushrooms in a large soup pot over a medium-low heat until softened (2 minutes), adding a splash of broth if the vegetables start to stick.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the tempeh, sweet potato, sugarsnap peas, vegetable broth, mixed herbs, smoked paprika, and soy sauce.
4. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
5. Stir in the cornflour mixture and allow to simmer for about 2 minutes to allow the liquid to thicken.