All posts tagged: Seasonal produce

Apple Bakewell Tart

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Whoop whoop it’s apple season and I’m celebrating with this hearty vegan and gluten-free Apple Bakewell Tart.  I’ve just returned from my holiday from a sunnier, warmer land (now I’m back wearing socks – boo!) and I definitely feel like Autumn has gotten into full swing. The difference within the week is quite dramatic, the leaves have turned more, they’re dropping daily AND it’s meant more apples have dropped from our apple tree. We never used to do anything with the windfall apples, they’d lie on the grass and go rotten – what a waste! Well things have changed around here, and I’m picking up these apples, picking out the bad bits and slicing up these bad boys, because these are too good to waste. Apple Bakewell Tart  For the pastry: 4 oz ground almonds 4 oz buckwheat flour 1 oz xylitol 4 oz margarine A couple of spoonfuls of non dairy milk of your choice For the filling: 4 oz buckwheat flour 4 oz ground almond 4 oz margarine 1 oz xylitol 3 tbsp oat milk 1 tspn agave …

Squash Gnocchi

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Autumn is all about those golden tones. Browning leaves, warm golden afternoon sunlight and a host of yellows and oranges that equals squash season. Yes, October is here and it’s time to think of a million and one uses for all the squash that is coming our way. Hang on a minute, October?? Is it just me that is freaking out at how quickly this year is going? It seems like everytime I sit down to write a post I’m like ‘Oh my god, where the hell is the year going!’ Well I’m doing it again…. argh!! Keeping focused on the exciting things that October brings rather than the fact that it will be Christmas the next time you blink, this recipe is awesome! It has simple, subtle flavours and brings those golden colours of the season right onto your table. Over the years of squash inundation that comes with getting a seasonal veg box, we’ve made stews, burgers and tagines. This recipe however, is one of my favourites. It’s not the first thing that …

Spiced Plum Muffins

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Well we’re currently basking in the glory of being crowned the winners of Peta’s Great Vegan Bake-Off, which is all very exciting, and slightly overwhelming. Thank you to everyone that voted for us – we’re proper chuffed. We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with another seasonal cakey, tasty treat! Soft fruits can be a bit of a pain, because no sooner have you bought them, they’re going off. So why not put your slightly squishy plums to good use with these spiced plum muffins, which are ideal for an 11 o’clock snack or make a tasty pud (especially while still warm from the oven). They’re also super easy. Spiced Plum Muffins 150g Spelt flour 150g Ground almonds 2 tsps Ground ginger 1 tsp Baking powder 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda 50g Xylitol 50g Agave syrup 115g Vegetable oil 250ml Soya yoghurt (preferably organic) 150g Plums (stoned and chopped into small pieces) A sprinkle of toasted chopped almonds Pre-heat the oven to 180C. In a mixing bowl, add the flour, ground almonds, ginger, baking powder, bicarbonate …

Roasted Beetroot & Raw Green Salad

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This week is all about beetroot – you may have seen this tasty looking Chocolate Beetroot Cake Amy made last year… Well the recipe has made it into the final of PETA’s Great Vegan Bake-Off with this delicious cake and we are alongside some tasty looking creations, so we need your vote, because winning would be amazing! Voting is open until the 18th September, so please click through and place your vote (for us incase that wasn’t clear!) Thanks!! :) So back down to business, the thing with beetroot is it’s underrated. I’m ashamed to admit that it wasn’t that long ago until I didn’t realise the only way to eat it wasn’t out of a jar full of vinegar ready sliced or out of those plastic trays. We didn’t buy fresh beetroot, why bother when it’s already been cooked for you?! How wrong I was! I have grown my own and now we get bundles delivered in our veg box. It can be delicious just simply grated in a salad like this, or indeed made into a cake. But, in my humble …

Apple & Blackberry Cobbler

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I was a little eager with my blackberries this year. I spotted a few on the way to the car park at work and declared to my work buddies that we, “MUST go blackberry picking during our lunch break the next day!” (I work in the countryside). We walked to the field where we had picked them last year, and were bitterly disappointed with the lack of blackberries ripe for picking. We managed to gather a few and I declared a cobbler was in order. It is around now that you should start to find plenty to forage and use to make this delicious apple and blackberry cobbler. There is something much more satisfying about eating your pud when you have picked your own berries, got scratched by the brambles, stung by a couple of nettles and have washed any potential creepy crawlies away! I promise I’m not lying! I’ve not made a cobbler before and didn’t really know the difference compared to a crumble. My version probably isn’t a traditional cobbler, from what I gather they usually are a …

Mallorcan Tumbet

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We seem to be racing through August, yes it is August… You may have indeed forgotten it is actually Summer with all these cloudy grey days and rain. But luckily for us the crops are still managing to realise what season we’re in! So yes, hello August, hello Mediterranean vegetables! There’s tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, aubergine galore. If you get a seasonal veg bag no doubt you’ve already had plenty of British grown med veg : ) If you don’t, get yourself down to your local farmers market and taste the delights, it’s a world away from the stuff you buy in a supermarket in the middle of winter imported from who knows where! Now the Mediterranean isn’t normally associated with vegan cuisine but I discovered a traditional vegan dish in Mallorca when on holiday there earlier in the year. With all these wonderful Medeterrean vegetables in season in the UK, I can now finally recreate it at home. Wohoo! This dish is wonderfully simple but oh so delicious!! Mallorcan Tumbet 1 aubergine 2 courgettes 1 onion 2 …

Vegan Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake

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  Tis the season for rhubarb. Yes, rhubarb is starting to sprout it’s beautiful pink stalks from the ground and we can now enjoy, what I believe, is one of our most underestimated fruits. Let’s celebrate all things rhubarb! It’s only in recent years that I have come to appreciate this delicious fruit, it was one of those things that I turned my nose up at all my childhood and avoided at all costs. That is until I actually tried it. We had to move our rhubarb plant when we got our chickens, it now resides in our front garden and has taken a couple of years to reestablish itself, but this year it looks like we may have a bumper crop. I love the sharpness of rhubarb, and the contrast it brings to a sweet dessert. I don’t know if you’ve seen Amy’s delicious Elderflower cheesecake? I didn’t get a chance to taste her creation, but I have adapted it and it is easily versatile to whatever works seasonally. So here is my rhubarb version and what goes perfectly with rhubarb? Ginger …

Squash Stew & Dumplings

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I’ve got a treat for you this week in the shape of Squash stew and dumplings! This time of year we are surrounded by choice. So many of my favourite fruits and vegetables are in season; apples, pears, kale, cabbages, broccoli and pumpkins. Yes, we are now spoilt for choice with comforting, hearty foods that will warm us up on these cold rainy days. Soups, curries, and stews are my staples of the moment. There are so many  varieties of squashes and pumpkin available, I used to just stick to butternut squash and not get too adventurous, but despite the troublesome cutting of them, they all are quite different but all tasty. This squash stew and dumplings is the perfect way to eat more of this delicious vegetable! I had a Butternut Squash in my store cupboard, but you can definitely mix it up in your variety.     Squash stew and dumplings Serves 4 Cooking time: 1hr 15mins 1 butternut squash or other variety 2 carrots 1 cartoon of chopped tomatoes 1 cartoon of black beans 1 bulb …

Sloe Spelt Cake

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When you eat the seasons you can’t help but rejoice when you reach that time of year when there is food a plenty. Late summer is such an amazing time for food, there are an abundance of vegetables around and at last there’s plenty of fruit to be found. And I don’t mean in the supermarket! Wander outside and keep your eyes peeled in hedgerows and parks. There’s berries galore to be found and this year there is a bountiful crop of sloes to be found!  The hot start to summer followed by a whole load of rain has left the blackthorn bushes dripping with sloes. You’ve endured the rain so you may as well enjoy its fruits. I know that sloes are synonymous with gin but I have a love for spelt cake right now and I think a little sloe compote makes the perfect accompaniment. The cake is made with spelt flour, ground almonds, coconut oil and a little xylitol sugar. I won’t pretend its like a Victoria sponge, because its not. But …

Update from the allotment

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  I may be a bit behind in terms of where things are in their growth development, but i’m slowly getting somewhere this summer. I have found it pretty tricky this year, what with the weather and mega slug problem and things haven’t gone as simply as they did last year, I’m told that I’m not the only one having problems though. But I have got to a point where the potatoes, broad beans, runner beans and tomatoes are flowering and I’ve even spotted some tiny tiny tomatoes – hooray! I may get to eat some vegetables after all this hard work! These were my second batch of broad beans after the first lot were obliterated by the plague of slugs that I had gone into battle with. I have lost count of how many runner bean plants I have lost to the little blighters, and I’m still growing some more in the hope that I will get a decent harvest. My Rhubarb plant is flourishing and growing brand new leaves! (Ignore the weeds)   …