Lentil and Vegetable Pasties

In my year seven food tech class, I was labelled the pasty queen. I burnt my cupcakes, I somehow managed to scramble my quiches and boil my brownies (I know, right? How does that even happen?) But trust me when I say, pasties were my jam.

These pasties were an experiment because I had some random veggies in the fridge and an ever-looming best before date on the puff pastry. I decided to have a little bit of fun and created these magical little things which are, by far, the most delicious things I've ever made.

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of Jus-Rol Puff Pastry
• 1 tbsp of plant based milk
• 2 tbsp of vegan gravy graduals
• 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
• 1 tsp of nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 potato
• 1/2 carrot
• 100g lentils
• 1 leek
• 1 tsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsbp of flour

1. Chop the potato, leek and carrots into small cubes. Sweat in a pan with the coconut oil, then pour in some boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
2. Meanwhile in another pan, cook the lentils for roughly 10-15 minutes. Before you do this, make sure you rinse the lentils as they contain an indigestible starch.
3. Cut your pastry into 6 squares and set aside to soften.
4. Once the lentils and vegetables are cooked, drain the water and mix together in a bowl.
5. Cook your gravy, stock, nutritional yeast and flour together in a new pan, until it is thick and there is no lumps.
6. Pour the gravy over the vegetable and lentil mixture. Mix together and cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
7. When the mixture is cool, add a spoonful to the middle of the pastry squares and fold down the top corner to reach the bottom corner to make a triangle shape.
8. With a fork, indent a pattern on the edge of the pasty where the pastry meets.
9. With a knife pierce two holes in the top of the pastry. I like to make a 'v' for vegan shape.
10. Brush the pastry with the plant based milk.
11. Cook in the oven on gas mark 7 for roughly 20 minutes or until they are browned. Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Spaghetti with Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

This recipe is simply to die for. You'll never believe you're eating something vegan, let alone something raw and cold. It's so delicate and creamy in taste, you'll instantly forget the temperature and become absorbed in the thick, delicious sauce. It's simple, inexpensive and luxurious. Keep in mind you will need a blender and a spiralizer.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large cauliflower
• 100ml raw almond milk
• the juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 4 large courgettes

1. Combine the cauliflower, almond milk and lemon juice in a blender or a food processor until you get the texture you desire.
2. Using a spiralizer, spiralize your courgettes and add to a mixing bowl.
3. Pour the cauliflower sauce over the courgettes and mix together until all the courgette 'spaghetti' is combined with the sauce.
4. Sprinkle over the cayenne pepper for an extra kick.

'Cheezy' Tagliatelle with Spinach

This recipe is creamy and full of flavour. It's perfect if you're missing cheese or fancy making something inexpensive and delicious.

Ingredients:

• 50g tagliatelle
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp vegan margarine
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sun dried tomato paste
• 25g fresh spinach
• 100g soy/almond milk
• the juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

1. In a frying pan, stir together the margarine and flour until it creates a yellow paste. Stir in a quarter of the soy/almond milk, slowly. Add in the lemon juice and season with pepper.
2. Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle according to packet instructions
3. Stir in the sun dried tomato paste to the 'cheese' mixture and continue to add the rest of the milk slowly. Stir constantly.
4. When the tagliatelle is cooked, drain and set aside.
5. Add the spinach to the cheese mixture and cook for 1 minute.
6. Mix together the tagliatelle to the cheese mixture and remove from the heat/ Mix until well combined then serve.

How I did the maths:

• 500g tagliatelle costs 85p in Sainsburys. We're using 10% of this, so this is 8.5p. Rounded up to 9p.
• flour + margarine + pepper = roughly 5p
• sun dried tomato paste costs £1.50 for 90g. We're using roughly 5g. This is 1/20 so this costs roughly 8p.
• 100g fresh spinach costs £1 in sainsburys. We're using 1 quarter. = 25p
• Almond milk costs £1.70 for 1l. We are using 1/10 so this is 17p.
• 1 lemon costs 35p.

All together this recipe costs 99p

Fried Plantains

I recently discovered plantains and I fell in love. They look like bananas but they taste like potatoes! It's the weirdest experience for someone who eats a lot of bananas and isn't too cultured when it comes to exotic fruits and vegetables. They're starchy and in my opinion, these fried plantains taste just like chips in the shape of chopped bananas.

I served mine with homemade salsa and guac. Recipes for those might come some time in the future. They don't go too well with the plantains so perhaps they're not the perfect recipes to go side by side.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp of olive oil (for a healthier option, try coconut oil)
• 1 plantain

1. Chop the ends of the plantain, then cut a line down the middle, breaking the skin but not digging into the fruit. Then peel it off in one go.
2. Chop the plantain into smaller pieces.
3. In a frying pan, fry the oil then place the plantains in the oil and fry for 2 minutes or until brown on one side.
4. Flip the plantains then fry on the other side for a further 2 minutes.
5. When they're done, place on kitchen roll to drain away the access oil.
6. You're done!

Vegan Sushi Recipe

One of my favourite things to make is sushi. It's perfect for when you've got a hodge-podge of ingredients and you don't know what to do with them. I'm going to teach you how to make plain sushi with just rice and nori, and then give you ideas on what to add to them.

(Makes 2 sushi rolls)

Ingredients

• 2 sheets of nori
• 100g of sushi rice
• soy sauce, as much or as little as you desire.

1. Cook the sushi rice according to packet instructions. I found the best way is to wash the rice by adding it to a sieve and rinsing it 3 - 4 times, then adding it to a pan with 200g of boiling water, cook on a low heat for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat (make sure there is no remaining water in the pan) and leave to cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
2. place the rice on the lower half of the nori. It must go all the way to edge.
3. If you want to add any extra ingredients, now is the time. Add them to the lower half of the rice.
4. Wet the tip of the plain nori side with a tsp of water.
5. Roll up the sushi, from the rice side first.
6. With a sharp knife, cut the sushi into pieces. If your knife is not sharp enough, the nori will tear so make sure it is a very good knife.
7. Drizzle with soy sauce.

Fillings Ideas

• Papaya is fleshy, slimy and pink so it's the perfect substitute for fish. Add some papaya, mint and carrot slices to your sushi if you're a fan of the fishy sushi.
• Avocado is perfect for lovers of creamy sushi. Add some chives and tomatoes for a delicious treat.
• Many sushi places use egg in vegetarian sushi. Vegans can replace the egg with cooked, scrambled tofu.

Rice Noodles with Spicy Garlicky Kale

Not only is this recipe super healthy, it's cheap, easy to make and delicious! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 40g kale
• 100g rice noodles
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, chopped
• 1 tsbp of olive oil
• 1 tsbp of soy sauce

1. In a frying pan, pour in the olive oil and sauté the garlic and chilli for 1 minute.
2. Add in the kale and sauté for 5 minutes
3. Add the noodles and the soy sauce
4. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly
5. Serve

How I did the Maths:

• 200g of kale from Sainsburys cost £1. we are using 40g and that is £0.20
• Sainsbury's rice noodles cost £1.40 for 300g. We are using a third. This is £0.47
• 1 clove of garlic costs £0.03
• Sainsbury's Scotch bonnet chillis cost £0.80 for roughly 8. We are using 1. This will cost £0.10
• 100ml of olive oil cost £0.32. Tbsp converted into ml is 17ml per tbsp = £0.06
• The average soy sauce is £1.20 for 150ml. 1 tbsp is 17ml. This is 13p.

Altogether this recipe costs: £0.99

Fusilli with Vittoria Tomatoes, Kale and Balsamic Vinegar

The recipe is simple, easy and delicious! It's not incredibly time consuming and it only has a few ingredients. Let's get started.

Ingredients

• 100g of vittoria tomatoes, halved
• 100g of wholewheat dried fusilli
• 2-3 handfuls of kale. You can add more or less depending on your preference.
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp of aged balsamic vinegar (try to find a good quality balsamic. You'll really be able to taste the difference)
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180c or gas mark 5
2. On a baking tray, lay out the tomatoes face up, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Add some salt to draw out the moisture and cook in the oven for 30 minutes
3. Meanwhile, cook the fusilli in pre-boiled water for roughly 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Drain and set aside
4. In a frying pan, add the remaining oil and sauté the garlic for 1 minute
5. Add the kale to the frying pan and the balsamic vinegar. Sauté for 5 minutes
6. Drain the oil from the tomatoes and add the tomatoes and fusilli to the frying pan with the kale and garlic. Mix together then serve.

'Cheesy' Spinach and Garlic Risotto

Risotto is one of those things you imagine to be really luxurious, but it isn't at all. It's easy and cheap to make, it's even made it on to my recipes for under £1 series!

Ingredients:

• 100g of Sainsbury's Frozen Baby spinach
• 175g of risotto rice
• 200ml of vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp of vegan butter
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 30g cheezly mozzarella

1. In a large frying pan, melt the butter and add in the garlic and risotto rice. Stir until everything is coated with butter.
2. Pour in a portion of the stock until it is absorbed. Continue doing this until all of the stock is gone and the rice is cooked.
3. Add in the blocks of spinach and stir them in till they are cooked.
4. Grate the 'cheese' into the risotto. The consistency should change at this point to a creamy mixture.
5. Serve! I hope you enjoy!

How I did the maths:

• Sainsbury's Baby Whole Leaf Spinach 1 kg = £1.40. We're using 100g, so that's £0.14
• Sainsbury's Arborio Risotto Rice 500g = £1.10. We're using 175g, so that's £0.38
• Marigold Swiss vegetable Bouillon is £2.00 for 150g. We're using 1 tsp, so that is 5g. This is £0.06
• Vitalite Dairy Free Spread is £1.20 for 500g. 2 tbsp is 30g. This is £0.07
• 1 garlic is £0.30, 1 clove is £0.03
• Cheezly mozzarella is usually around £2 in Morrisons or Holland and Barrett. It is 190g, and we will use 30g. This is £0.31p

All together this recipe costs £0.99

Thank you mum for helping me with the maths c:

Vermicelli with Tomatoes, Garlic and Parsley

This is a part of my new series of recipes which will be 'Eating Vegan for Under £1' as I know some people struggle with the idea that vegan food can be inexpensive and delicious.

As well as teaching you the recipe, I'll teach you where to find the ingredients (they'll usually be from your local supermarket) and how I calculated the full price of the meal. The pots, pans and kitchen equipment I use will not be included in the price of the recipe, but every ingredient will.

Another thing about this series is every meal will be easy to cook and no complicated, expensive equipment will be required. I hope you enjoy this series!

(Serves 1. Takes 35 minutes)

Ingredients

• 100g Sainsbury's Italian Vermicelli
• 200g Sainsbury's Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• Dried Parsley, salt and pepper to season
• 2 tbsp of olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 200c or gas mark 6.
2. In an oven-proof dish place the tomatoes face up, drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 30 minutes.
3. Add the garlic to the dish after 20 minutes.
4. In a large pan, add the vermicelli to boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Drain the vermicelli.
6. Take the tomatoes and garlic out of the oven.
7. Add the vermicelli to the garlic and tomatoes and combine.
8. Season with parsley.

How I Did The Maths:

• Sainsburys Italian Vermicelli cost £0.65 for 500g, and we will use 1/5 of the pack. So this costs £0.13
• Sainsburys Cherry Tomatoes cost £1.90 for 650g. We will use 200g. So that is £0.58
• 1 Garlic costs £0.30, and the average garlic has 10-11 cloves. So this is £0.03 for a clove.
• We would use less than 1% of the dried parsley, salt and pepper. But to round them up it would be £0.01 each.
• 100ml of olive oil cost £0.32. Tbsp converted into ml is 17ml per tbsp. 2 tbsp is 34ml. = £0.11

All together this recipe costs £0.88

(Thank you to my housemates, Emma and Emily, and my mum for helping me with the maths c:)

Thai Red Curry with Vegetables

I'm obsessed with Thai food. This recipe is perfect for winter nights and those who like their food flavoursome and healthy. It is spicy, fragrant, delicious and vegan! (Obviously)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients 

• 700ml of coconut milk
• 3 tbsp of red curry paste*
• 2 small cauliflower bunches, chopped
• 1 broccoli bunch, chopped
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 8-10 baby sweet corn
• 3 - 4 medium sized carrots, skins removed and chopped
• 2 - 3 sprigs of thyme
• Himalayan salt to season. (Sea salt will work fine as well)

*Make sure to check that the brand you are using is vegan as they can often contain fish.

1. In a pan, boil the sweet potatoes for about 20 minutes or until soft.
2. Meanwhile, boil the broccoli and cauliflower florets, carrots and baby sweetcorn for roughly 5 minutes or until soft.
3. Drain the water from the sweet potatoes and the other vegetables and set aside.
4. In a large pan, add in the red curry paste and cook on a medium heat. Add all of the vegetables and sweat for 2 minutes.
5. Pour in the coconut milk and stir.
6. Add in the sprigs of thyme and season with Himalayan salt.
7. Leave for 5 minutes or until the curry starts to boil.
8. Serve with Thai Jasmine Rice. Enjoy!

Lentil Shepard's Pie

Please excuse the Christmas cracker and Christmas tree serviette in the picture. Somebody loves this recipe so much she had it for Christmas dinner. But you don't have to be feeling festive to have this dish. It's a winter warmer that's cheap and easy to make.

(Serves 1 in a single person casserole dish)

Ingredients:

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp of vegan butter
• 2 tbsp of soy/almond/rice milk. I find soy works best but it doesn't really matter
• handful of peas
• 1 small carrot
• 100g of red split lentils
• 2 tbsp of your favourite vegan gravy granules
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 2 tsp of nutritional yeast

1. Preheat the oven to 180c or gas mark 4.
2. Boil the lentils in a pan for roughly 20 minutes. Simmer when they start to boil. Add extra water if you run out.
3. Meanwhile, in a different pan, boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until soft.
4. In another pan, boil the carrots and peas for 5 minutes on a medium heat, drain the water and set aside.
5. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water but keep the potatoes in the pan. Add in the butter and milk and 1 tsp of nutritional yeast. Mash together using a potato masher. For a creamier mash, add more milk.
6. Make your gravy according to the packet instructions. Add in the stock cube and 1 tsp of nutritional yeast for extra flavour.
7. Drain the lentils. Add the vegetables and the lentils to the gravy and stir until well combined.
8. Pour the gravy mixture into a casserole dish. Then top with the mash. You can ruffle the mash with a fork, or press down until the top of the dish is coated.
9. Put in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.

Beetroot Risotto

This might be my favourite dish in the world. Risotto and beetroot AND vegan?!!! It's just perfect and delicious and I'm so excited to share the recipe with everyone!

(Serves 1)

Ingredients

• 2 large beetroots (or 3 medium sized ones)
• 400ml vegetable stock
• 70g risotto rice
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp of vegan butter
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp of red wine vinegar
• pinch of nutritional yeast
• 4 tbsp of vegan cream
• handful of chopped oregano

1. Peel the beetroots and chop into wedges, place into a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the beetroot is soft.
2. Heat the butter in a large frying pan on a medium to high heat. Add in the onion and the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the rice until coated with the butter and turn down the heat till it is simmering.
4. Pour in the stock in portions. Wait till the rice has absorbed the water until adding the next batch of stock.
5. Meanwhile make your sour cream. Chop the lemon and squeeze the juice into a bowl, taking out the seeds as you do so. Add in the vegan cream and stir together. You can add more lemon juice or more cream depending on how sour you like it.
6. Once the beetroot is cooked, add them to a food processor and process till they are much smaller chunks. If you do not have a food processor, you can grate the pieces over the risotto pan, but be careful as the beetroot chunks are messy and hot.
7. Stir in the beetroot mixture into the risotto. The juice of the beetroot will dye the rest of your risotto a gorgeous purple/pink colour.
8. Add in the red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
9. Serve on a plate or in a risotto bowl. Add the sour cream, nutritional yeast and some oregano for garnish.

Butternut Squash and Pesto Risotto

I love risottos, especially anything with pumpkin or butternut squash. This recipe includes homemade vegan pesto and together with the risotto, they make a masterpiece.

(Serves 2)

Ingredients

For the risotto:

• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 500ml of vegetable stock
• 100g butternut squashed, skinned and cut into 2cm cubes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp vegan butter (I use vitalite)
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 100g arborio rice
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast

For the pesto:

• large bunch of basil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• handful of cashews
• large bunch of spinach leaves
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp almond milk
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast

1. Using a food processor, pulse together the cashews to make the pesto. Add the garlic and make a breadcrumb-like mixture.Add the basil, spinach, nutritional yeast, almond milk and extra virgin olive oil. The mixture should be slightly coarse. You can add more almond milk to create your ideal texture, but I recommend keeping the pesto coarse for this recipe. Set the pesto aside.
2. Heat the oven to gas mark 6/200C. On a baking tray, lay out the cubes of butternut squash and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes or until tender.
3. In a pan, melt the butter and add in the garlic and spring onion for 3 minutes on a medium heat.
4. When the butter is melted add in the arborio rice and coat with the butter for 1 minute.
5. Pour in a small portion of the stock. Lower the heat and pour in the rest of the stock in portions. Make sure the rice as absorbed the stock before you add the next portion.
6. Once the rice is cooked, add in the butternut squash cubes and nutritional yeast. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve with pesto.

Cooked Beetroot Noodles with Tomatoes and Balsamic Vinegar

Before I get started with this recipe, you'll need a spiralizer. You can buy them online here. They cost anything between £20-£50. Personally, I think they're amazing and I use mine almost every day. 100% worth the cost. Anyway, let's get started with the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 large raw beetroot, skin removed
• 100g of heirloom tomatoes. The more colourful the better.
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp garlic oil

1. Spiralize the beetroot using the spiralizer. If you're unsure how, here's a video.
2. Dice the tomatoes and put in a mixing bowl with the garlic oil and the skinned, chopped garlic clove. Mix together. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the tomato mixture into a large frying pan. Cook on medium heat for 1 minute.
4. Add the beetroot noodles to the frying pan. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, stir constantly.
5. Add the balsamic vinegar and season.

You can add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if you want to give these beautiful noodles an extra 'cheesy' taste.

Vegan Thai Curry

Before this gorgeous delicious masterpiece I had never tried any Thai food before. Now, I'm officially addicted. It's an amazing way to make your greens taste more exciting and less leafy, but it's still super healthy and vegan (obvs). I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 leaves of pak choy
• 5-6 sticks of asparagus
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• handful of spinach
• handful of kale
• red chilli, chopped and deseeded
• 1 lime
• 1tbsp red curry paste*
• 100ml coconut milk
• 1 stem of lemongrass, chopped
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tbsp coconut oil

*Make sure to check the ingredients for anything non-vegan. Thai curry paste can often contain fish.

1. Heat the coconut oil in a wok or large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the lemongrass, spring onion, celery and chilli. Leave to cook for 3-5 minutes, making sure they do not burn.
2. Add the red curry paste and stir till the ingredients are covered with the paste.
3. Add in the coconut milk and kaffir lime leafs. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Add in the asparagus, pak choy, spinach and kale. Stir into the curry.
5. Chop the lime in half, squeeze out the juice into the mixture. Mix and leave for 1 minute.
6. Season with salt and pepper.

And that's it! You can serve this with any kind of rice. I recommend jasmine. I hope you enjoyed this recipe!