Recipes

Beetroot Dip
Serves 4-6
I have to thank Montse Bradford for inspiring this recipe, which makes a fantastic starter or snack, or serve as part of a meal.

3-4 medium beetroot (or you can used ready-cooked)
1 tbsp ume plum seasoning
2 tbsp peanut butter (or tahini)
grated zest of 1 lemon

Place the whole beetroot in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer until just soft (30-50 minutes). Run under cold water and flake off the skins. Roughly cut the beetroot, place in a deep bowl and blend with the other ingredients (take care not to spatter this around, beetroot makes a great dye!). Adjust the flavours.
Serve cooled with vegetable crudites and or crackers.


Apple and Blackberry Temptation
Serves 6

4 Sweet apples, medium (Cox's are great)

1 tbsp Apple concentrate

1 cup Blackberries

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/4 cup rice syrup

1 egg (optional)

Almond essence

150g Ground almonds

100g Flour (I use gluten-free)
1 tsp wheat-free baking powder
Flaked almonds (optional) to decorate
Arrowroot to thicken (sauce)

Heat oven to 180 deg C or Gas 4.

Peel and chop apples, to about half to 1 cm cubes. Place in saucepan with 1 tbsp water and the apple concentrate. Simmer until just soft. Rinse blackberries and add half to the apples. Spread the apple/blackberry mix over the bottom of a heatproof dish. Reserve the remaining liquid in the pan.

In a large bowl whisk sunflower oil and rice syrup until emulsified. Add egg and a few drops almond essence and whisk thoroughly. Gently whisk in ground almonds. Finally fold in sieved flour and baking powder.

Spread this mix over the fruit in the dish.

Sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked.

Simmer the retained liquid in a saucepan with the remaining blackberries for about 5 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Mix 1tsp arrowroot with a little cold water and stir in to thicken. Add a little apple concentrate to taste, if needed.

Serve slices of the pie with the blackberry sauce and, if you want to indulge, a little soya cream.

Tempeh in Mushroom Sauce

Serves 3-4

1 block Tempeh (200g) cut in triangle chunks

Marinade:
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1-2" Fresh ginger, finely grated
1/2 tbsp Apple concentrate
1 tsp Mustard
1 tbsp Water

1 Onion finely sliced
1 Carrot, cut into matchsticks
200g Mushrooms, sliced
Arrowroot to thicken

Marinate tempeh in marinade ingredients for up to 1 hour.
Heat some oil in a large pan and gently saute onions. Add tempeh triangles and fry until golden brown. Add mushrooms and saute further. Add carrots and the marinade sauce and water to half cover. Simer for 5-10 minutes. Mix a tsp of arrowroot with a little cold water and add to the pan, stirring in quickly; add extra if needed.
Serve garnished with finely sliced spring onions.
Go to http://www.freshtempeh.co.uk/ for fantastic fresh tempeh made in Suffolk and posted to you. Good value and yummy!

Aduki Bean Winter Stew

Aduki beans
2" piece kombu seaweed
Onions, finely diced
Winter or butternut squash, finely diced (peel butternut)
1/2 to 1 tsp dark miso per person
1/2 to 1 tsp white miso per person
Fresh ginger, about 1", finely grated

Soak aduki beans in water overnight in a pressure cooker. Discard water, add kombu and cover well with fresh water and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that forms.  Put on the lid and pressure cook for about 10 minutes. Bring down from pressure, add onions and squash. Replace lid and bring back to pressure for a further 10 minutes.  Bring down from pressure. Pour off excess liquid and save for making sauces, soups etc. Add a few tbsp of the cooking liquid to the miso and mix thoroughly. Add this and the grated ginger to the beans and vegetables. Adjust flavours. 
Serve with brown rice and green leafy veggies.