Recipe for wholesome and healthy soup in 25 minutes

This soup was a creation of my own. I'm not quite sure what happened but I found myself wanting something hot, something wholesome and something that would use up some of our vegetables. So I began putting things together and it turned out really yummy!

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for vegan soup

•    2 mugs of water – 700 ml of water
•    1 cube of vegan stock
•    1/2 a bunch of broccoli – chopped into small pieces
•    1/2 a head of a small cauliflower – cut into small pieces
•    2 handfuls of kale – remove thick stems
•    175 of baby corn – cut into thirds
•    1 handful of capers
•    8 cherry tomatoes – left whole
•    1 small (200g) can of sweetcorn
•    1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
•    2 handfuls of cashew nuts – about 250g
•    100g of tofu - diced
•    1/2 a teaspoon of vegan margarine

How to make vegan soup 

1.    Put the water in a pan and let it boil
2.    When it’s boiled, add the stock, letting it simmer on the heat when it’s dissolved
3.    Add the broccoli and cauliflower
4.    After 2 minutes, add the kale and stir
5.    After 1 minute, add the capers and baby corn and stir
6.    After 10 minutes add the cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn
7.    Let it cook for another 5 minutes and then add a handful of sesame seeds
8.    Cook the tofu in a 'dry' frying pan
9.    After 1 minute, add the margarine and mix with the tofu
10.    After 1 minute, add the tofu to the soup and let it cook
11.    Put the cashew nuts in the pan that was used for the tofu and mix
12.    Turn the heat off when they become brown and remove the pan from that hob
13.    Serve the soup in a bowl and garnish it with the cashew nuts

The feedback was from my hubby who said he could eat this at least three times a week, because it was so healthy and tasty.

Recipe: Pasta with a twist within 25 minutes

I didn't make this but I definitely enjoyed eating it! :)

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for the pasta

•    2/3 of a tablespoon of olive oil
•    3/4 of a bunch of broccoli – torn into edible sized pieces
•    1 fresh chilli – finely chopped
•    2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves – left whole
•    salt to taste
•    pepper to taste
•    8 cherry tomatoes – left whole
•    130g of pasta – I  use rigatoni
•    1/2 tablespoon of vegan margarine – I  use Pure sunflower margarine
•    2 carrots – grated
•    1 small (200g) can of sweetcorn
•    vegan sausage – thin circular slices – I  use Taifun Tofu-Wiener
•    1 tablespoon of salt – for the pasta

How to make the pasta

1.    Add the olive oil to a pan and heat it
2.    When it’s hot, add the broccoli let it cook for 2 minutes before adding the chill
3.    When the broccoli has become a little bit 'burnt', add the spinach, salt and pepper
4.    After 2 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes
5.    While this is cooking, boil some water and use it to boil the pasta in a separate pan
6.    Add the salt to the pasta and stir
7.    Check the pasta after 7 minutes and if it’s the way you like it, drain the water and add the pasta to the vegetables
8.    Add the margarine to the pan (with the vegetables and pasta in it) and stir
9.    To serve, create different sections on a plate, separating the carrots, sweetcorn and Wiener, and the pasta. 

Pasta served with grated carrots, sweetcorn and Wiener

Recipe: Sweetcorn Shaak (curry) and rice within 30 minutes

This is one of my favourite dishes.
It doesn't take long to make and it's full of flavour and texture.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for sweetcorn Shaak

•    1/2 a tablespoon of coconut oil
•    2 tomatoes – diced
•    1 fresh chilli – finely chopped
•    1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
•    1/2 a teaspoon of mustard seeds
•    2 sweet neem leaves
•    a pinch of asafetida
•    sweetcorn - frozen or a 340g tin
•    1 teaspoon of dried coriander powder
•    less than 1/4 of a teaspoon of turmeric
•    salt to taste
•    a tablespoon of lemon juice
•    1 handful of freshly chopped coriander
•    a handful of raw red skin peanut kernels  – about 30g

Ingredients for the rice 

•    a small teacup of brown rice
•    2 & 3/4 teacups of fresh water

How to make the Shaak

1.    Heat the oil in a pan, and add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, sweet neem leaves and asafetida when it’s hot
2.    Put the lid on and wait until the seeds begin to pop
3.    When the silence in between pops is longer, add raw peanuts, chilli and tomatoes and put the lid back on the pan – don’t be alarmed if it sizzles
4.    After a 2 minutes add the sweetcorn, salt, dried coriander powder and turmeric
5.    Taste it after it’s cooked for another 5 minutes and add the lemon juice if desired
6.    Finally, garnish with freshly chopped coriander 

How to make the rice

1.    Wash the rice, drain the water and put the rice in a pan
2.    Add 2 & 3/4 teacups of fresh water and leave it to cook on a high heat, keeping the lid off the pan
3.    When it begins to froth, place the lid on the pan, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and leave it for 20 minutes
4.    Keeping the lid on the pan, tilt the pan with the rice in it, to see if there's any water left in it - if there's a little left, cook it for another 5 minutes, otherwise turn it off

To serve, spread the rice across the plate to create a circle with a hole in the middle, where you can put the sweetcorn and enjoy

Serving suggestion

Put the rice in a bowl/cup and then tip it upside down on the plate, to create a mound of rice.
Place the mound on one side of the plate or in the centre and place the sweetcorn around it.
A variation
To mix it up a bit, add 1 teaspoon of desiccated coconut to the sweetcorn, 5 minutes before serving it. 

Recipe: Mixed vegetables in a wrap within 30 minutes

This meal is becoming an all time favourite! It's quick, healthy, versatile, full of different vegetables and most  of all, delicious!

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for the mixed vegetable filling

•    1/2 a teaspoon of oil – I usually use olive oil
•    1 fresh chilli – finely chopped - decide whether to use all, more or less, of the chilli, based on how spicy it is, also considering how spicy you like your food to be
•    1 small carrot – chopped into small bite-size pieces
•    a handful of olives – I prefer black olives because they’re not sharp
•    1 small (200g) can of sweetcorn
•    1/2 a courgette – chopped into small cubes
•    1/3 of a yellow pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    1/3 of an orange pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    1/3 of a green/red pepper – chopped into thin 2 cm strips
•    vegan mince – use as much, or as little, as you would like - many supermarket own brands tend to be vegan
•    salt to taste
•    1/4 of a teaspoon of pepper
•    a pinch of cinnamon powder
•    a pinch of nutmeg powder
•    2 large wholemeal wraps

Method for the mixed vegetable filling

1.    Put the oil in a pan and heat it using a medium setting
2.    Once it's become hot, add the chilli
3.    After 20 seconds, add the carrots and cook for 7 minutes, after which they should be semi cooked
4.    Now add the olives, sweetcorn, courgette, peppers, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon
5.    Stir and let it cook with the lid on the pan
6.    After 1 minute, add the vegan mince and mix
7.    Cook until it's as soft as you like it to be – I usually turn the heat off after 5 minutes
8.    Warm the wraps
9.    Place the filling along the middle of the wrap, take the bottom of the wrap and fold it towards the centre, do the same with the sides, leaving the top open
10.    Put this on a plate and enjoy

Serving suggestions

Spread some Guacamole on to the wrap before adding the filling