Vegan Breakfast Roll

I'm not sure how widespread this is, but in Ireland breakfast rolls are quite popular. There was even a song about it that was somewhat popular. Normally they're filled with bacon, sausages and pudding. Maybe eggs. So it's a hash brown and ketchup roll for anyone following a vegan diet. That's nothing to turn your nose at, it's actually pretty good. But I thought I'd try a fancier one.

 

This is beautiful! It consists of; Fried Cabbage (with Frank's Hot Sauce & Nutritional Yeast), Linda McCartney Veggie Sausages, Sliced Cooked Beetroot, Tomato Relish, and Lovage, served in a baguette. A great way to start a day. If you're not in a rush.

- Dara

Spinach and Tomato Tart (Vegan Pizza)

I miss pizza sometimes. Friends in places like San Francisco do not understand this, as they have things as amazing as vegan pizzerias there. I was a bit shocked. However, I am in Ireland. So, I'll have to make my own. I'm reluctant to call things like this a pizza. Vegan-phobic people then pounce on it as a fake, a poor replacement for the real thing. 'Vegan pizza,' they'd say, 'No. You can't have a pizza without cheese because you just can't and if we start challenging everything where would we be? You'd drive yourself mad.' That kind of thing. So, that's why I'm calling it a tart, mainly, with vegan pizza in brackets.

 

Spinach and Tomato Tart (Vegan Pizza)

It's very easy to make. The prep time is about 5 - 10 minutes, and cooking time is about 10 - 15 minutes. I mixed some strong white flour with organic olive oil and water and made a nice dough. I was hungry, and so dispensed with the traditional addition of yeast and the subsequent hour or so for it to rise. I rolled the dough out thinly on a floured board, then placed it on a baking tray (a good trick is to put it on the tray before adding the toppings - it's harder to keep it all together when it's overloaded), and pre-heated the oven.

I made a quick tomato sauce from tomato puree, olive oil and oregano and spread it on the base. Then I made the thing that goes where the cheese would normally go (not a replacement, mind you). I blended up lots of baby spinach, some olive oil, nutritional yeast, capers and a bit of crunchy peanut butter. And I threw in some other things I had to hand till it tasted nice. I think there was carrot. There was definitely Frank's Hot Sauce. Always.

Being silly, I put all the toppings on before I added this spinach-sauce layer. Underneath it and unseen there sits; onion, pepper, sweetcorn, tomato, and thickly-sliced (cooked) beetroot, which gives it a nice bite. I threw on a few cashew nuts and a bit of rocket to top it all off, and threw it in a hot (not cold - fool me once) oven till I was satisfied and could wait no more (about 10 - 15 minutes). It was surprisingly good and I ate the whole tart (pizza) at once. I say surprisingly, as I often do in these entries, as cooking for me and Gwen is always an adventure. Generally it turns out pretty well. Rarely do you get lost in the woods without a map and get eaten by a bear. And certainly not this time.

- Dara

Nutroast with Roast Potatoes, Beetroot and Garlic

This was made as a birthday dinner for an ill Ian with very little appetite. I wasn’t feeling great either, and didn’t really feel like eating. This explains the lack of green veg or gravy with the meal – I plain forgot that it would make it a better meal, and neither of us really felt like eating, let alone going back to the shop for more food. Strange really, as we munched our way through more than a plateful each when it was put in front of us. Something to do with the SUPER MEGA DELICIOUSNESS of it! Needless to say, we were revived after our meal and proceeded to take over the world.

The nutroast was made from a packet of mixed nuts, ground finely with a coffee grinder. This was added to fried onion, garlic, courgette (grated) and American jerk flavouring. One of the reasons I bought it was because I wondered what an American jerk might taste like… Ha. Ha-ha. Jokes.

The mixture was baked until it was hard and starting to brown.

The vegetables were cut up into reasonable sized pieces, placed on a baking tray and balsamic vinegar, honey , sea salt and olive oil sprinkled over. They needed about an hour to roast nicely, and I added garlic towards the end. I saved the beetroot stalks for another meal, and boy! was it worth it. They are tasty and make things pink. Excellent.

Curried Potato, Aduki Bean Mix, and Beetroot Salad

Hej! I'm currently working on an organic vegetable farm near Björklinge in Sweden with some other friendly folk. We work hard, and it's pretty hot here, so the best bit is coming in to a big, well-deserved lunch. We take turns cooking and I volunteered for my turn the other day. It was my first time cooking for eight people, but luckily there was enough for everyone to have seconds! Oh, and all of the ingredients, apart from the spices and beans, came from right here on the farm.

Curried Potato, Aduki Bean Mix, and Beetroot Salad

First, I chopped and boiled up the potatoes. While they were cooking I diced and fried up up some onions in a big pot. I added some sugar, curry spices, and plenty of oil to the onion mix. Once the potatoes were done I added them in and stirred it all up.

For the bean mix, I chopped up some old tomatoes and fried them up with some of the chopped onions and oil. I added lots of lovely chopped courgettes and some water, cider vinegar, and a tiny bit of water with a stock cube. After this had simmered for a while I added in some aduki beans, that had been cooked and conveniently frozen, and left the whole thing to simmer a bit more.

I roasted some beetroot that was lying around and diced it up with some cucumber and tomato for the salad. As a dressing, I mixed some nice Swedish mustard, homemade cider vinegar, sugar, and oil.

And there you have it! Food for eight hungry farmers, plus second helpings!