Potty About Herbed Pate - Recipe. Gluten Free, Soy Free

A quick and simple recipe for you.  I a currently enjoying a pate renaissance.  The third time around. The first time I was in my late teens.  Shop bought sausage shaped tubes of it were deposited into the fridge door by my mother.  Once she got wind I liked it for months there was an endless supply.  Eventually I tired of it.  Moved onto something else to slather on slices of warm white toast.  Probably peanut butter and jam, I remember thinking this was such an outlandish combination from a country that was pushing more and more into our lives through the tv screen.  Once tasted I was hooked and became quite evangelistic about this strange edible combination.  The second time pate re-entered my world was when I thought it was ever so posh and classy to serve homemade mackerel and horseradish pate at dinner parties.  And now, it has made a welcome return to my eating sphere.  I came across a recipe by a blogger I hold in reverance Lunch Box Bunch.  The ingredients where close to had so I whipped up a batch. Whoosh, I was transported back to my teens and once again stood in the kitchen moaning with pleasure as I ate hot buttered toast with pate.  Only this time the bread was gluten free, the butter was made from soya and the pate was 100% plant based.  But somehow, the cooking process transformed the ingredients into a smooth pate that had depth of flavour, the peppery 'meatiness' that I remembered and the warm toast, the cool, melting butter and chilled pate were winning combination of textures and flavours on my tongue.

I made it again and again.  Tweaking the original recipe.  I ended up with a pate that packs flavour but is very low in fat and I was slathering with glee.  Rolling it inside nori sheets. Spooning on crudités.  I wanted to share the recipe with you.

I used some heirloom Great British peas with the wonderful name of Black Badgers.  One of our old English beans that the good folk at Hodmedod's have recently revived.  They smell like broad beans whilst cooking. Cooked they taste like a cross between gardens peas, kidney and broads beans. A very hearty, robust flavour.  They'd hold up well in a stew and make a great alternative to chickpeas in hummus.

Aubergine, and thyme herbed pate

gluten free, vegan, soy free, yeast free, low fat

Ingredients

1 cup of dried black badger peas, soaked and cooked (alternatively you can use half can of cooked borlotti beans or green lentils.  I like the peas and borlotti beans best).

1 cup mixed nuts (or 50/50 cashew and walnut). Soaked in hot water for 30mins and rinsed.

1 cup chopped, roasted aubergine.  Just wrap the whole aubergine (eggplant) in foil and pop in the oven on medium heat until soft - about 30-40 mins.

4 tbs nutritional yeast (if you haven't got this then use 1/2 tsp yeast extract)

1 tsp dried thyme and more to sprinkle on the bottom of the baking pan.

6 whole black peppercorns

juice of half a large lemon

1 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

1 pinch of chill flakes

*the original recipe called for EVOO but I forgot to use it and it did nothing detrimental the outcome so..I leave it out now.

Method

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Put all the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until silky smooth.  It will take about 2 mins.

Dust the bottom of an loaf tin with dried thyme and freshly cracked dried pepper.  Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and pop into your hot oven.  Bake that this temperature for 10 mins and then turn down to 125 degrees for a further 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool before decanting it into a suitable serving dish and chill before serving.

Will last in the fridge for 3-4 days.

A WEEK OF GIVEAWAYS!! UK National Vegetarian Week. Today A HUGE Box Of Hand Cooked Crisps from Ten Acre

It is all happening this week at A Vegan Obsession's HQ!  We are celebrating UK National Vegetarian Week everyday with great vegetarian/vegan goodies to GIVEAWAY!

You can win with Rebel Kitchen Ovivo Antioxidant Drink Tibits Love Raw (click on the links to enter).  ALL competitions are ending last thing on 26th May 2014.  We still have many more prizes coming up in the next few days.  So sign up for the newsletter to make sure you don't miss a trick!



I am super excited and a wee bit nostalgic about today's giveaway.  I have always been partial to a crisp.  Especially cheese and onion, which I would layer between slices of thickly buttered white bread or a crusty roll and then use both hands to press the crisps down to create a layer of cheesy, salty and very onion-y shards.  It was my sandwich of choice.  I'd add slabs of cheese too at times, or some chunky pickle.  But when I became vegan, all those moons ago I gave up this delicacy and got used to the idea that my days with cheese and onion crisps where to be placed in the vaults of time.  Can you imagine how I felt when I opened a bag of Ten Acre Crisps  (crisps where no dairy lurks) and crunched down?  It was like welcoming an old friend back into my arms!  Yes, a tear was shed. And, then I scoffed the whole bag and took all the flavours around to my friends to share and test the others.  This task was indeed happy making.  As I am sure this competition will be to one VERY LUCKY winner of a WHOLE box featuring bags of 8 flavours (there is even a How Chicken Soup Saved The Day flavour!).  Indulgence never tasted so good!

When Bombay Got Spicy
The Story Of When The Cheese Met The Onion
How Chicken Soup Saved The Day
The Amazing Adventures Of Salt & Vinegar
When Hickory Got BBQ'D
The Day Sweet & Sour Became Friends
 Secret Of Mr Salt
When The Chili Got Sweet

All these could be YOURS!  Trust me, these WILL win friends and influence people.




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Healthy Snacks. Parsnip & Brussel Invite Kale To Step Into The Ring - Who Won?!

Kale is king.  It has reigned for a few years now as the supreme raw food chip.  Of course, other vegetables were going to want a slice of the action. So kale got competition!

I love brussel sprouts.  I love parsnips. I heard they were being 'chipped'. I had to sample them. 

Wonderfully Raw chips were developed by a chef named Sequoia, a graduate of the Living Light Institute who began making raw foods after healing herself of Type 11 Diabetes through diet. 

New Product Review

Generally, they were good. But, honestly, not all of the flavours rocked my world, but some defiantly generated a tremor! All of the line up contain raw coconut among their ingredients.  Coconut is not only delicious but a metabolism boosting super food. Guilt free healthy snacking.  Each pack is only approximately 120 calories and 8g of fat (but it is easily digested, healthy MCLA - medium chain fatty acids). According to Dr Oz coconut improves thyroid function, too. Vegan. Gluten free. Soy Free. Sugar Free.

Brussel Bites - Chili Pumpkin Seed Crunch 
The chipotle heat is so good mingling with the slightly bitter brussel and the toasty flavour of the coconut. Loved!

Brussel Bites - Tamarind Apple Crunch 
I could not detect the tang of the tamarind but the ginger and coconut were a divine mix. Loved!

Snip Chips    - Cheezy Herb Truffle 
I was excited about this flavour combination. However, I didn't love this one.  Too 'parsnippy' for my liking and not enough truffle and cheeze flavours.

Snip Chips    - Chipotle Lime Cilantro 
More chipotle flavour, please!  If you don't like heat then you may enjoy the subtlety of it. Otherwise, a good flavour.

Snip Chips    - Dill Pickle 
a lovely buttery taste with a gentle dill flavour. Loved!


So..the clear winner..does King Kale need to be nervous?? No. Competition is good.  I think the healthy snack market has room for them all!  I will definitely be buying these again.

Wonderfully Raw sell their Snips and Bites in many natural food markets, Whole Food and grocery store locations in North America.

What's Better Than a Potato Crisp, Guilt Free And A Delicious Superfood?…. Kale Chips [with short video interview]

Once you've popped a crispy, crunch, chewy kale chip in your mouth..you will be hooked.  A warning and a promise!

I was at the Mind Body & Spirit Festival 2013 in London in June. We interview Dominik Schnell from inSpiral Foods  A mainly raw food company with a great little cafe/lounge bar in Camden Town and an online shop.  Selling all their raw and vegan products.  They were the first to bring kale chips to the market in the UK. A little behind our American cousins, who've been crunching on raw kale chips for years, but better late than never!  More and more companies are getting in on it now.  Dominik is a bit of a raw rock god, in my eyes.. I'm in awe of anyone with the gumption to seize, and create the growing vegan market.

Kale chips are certainly not cheap.  But, they are the most tasty savoury, crispy, healthy snack you can buy.  Inspiral have now launched their bio degradable, fully compositble snack bag (world first eco pack..see below for the science).  30g only £2.19,  much more accessible cost wise. They come in savoury and sweet options. I confess I go for the savoury nibble every time.
Dominik is a fascinating visionary.  I hope you enjoy the interview. 





Buy the new snack bags online, and at their cafe.  They are sold in most whole food stores in the UK and selected places in Europe.  I nearly peed with excitement when I saw them in the Vegan Store on my recent trip to Berlin.

Loving the kale!

Super Snack - want a snack that disguises itself as indulgent but is actually healthy?

I found this great snack on the internet the other day.  It is sweet, good for you and, if you keep a tray in the freezer, you are only ever  minutes away from a sweet, guiltless 'chocolatey' boost.

It's 5 ingredients to fruity heaven.




Pick a fruit of your choice - pictured above - Half moons of citrusy Clementines.  If you chill it in advance the chocolate/carob will set much quicker and make it easier to make an aesthetic dip (as I learnt after I made it!).  They are real fun to make.

I chose to use carob instead of chocolate, because a)that is what I had nestled in my cupboard b)chocolate contains caffeine and I'm off that right now.  Carob is also naturally sweet so I had no need to add extra sweetener.

2 Tbs carob flour
1 Tbs coconut oil
pinch salt
(optional) 4 drops orange or lemon oil


Gently melt the coconut oil.  Thoroughly stir in the flour, salt and citrus oil, if using.  Dip each orange jewel into the carob, covering one half.  Put on parchment sheet and pop into the fridge or freezer to set.  It takes just a few minutes.

10 segments = Only 21 calories per segment!

The thin, crisp layer of smooth carob melts to the cool, sweet, juicy, zesty clementine.  It really is that simple.

I also dipped slices of succulent, fresh fig, and small nibs of dried sweet mulberries.   Both are low GI.  Add a little pinch of chili powder for a brazen little kick.

A great idea for a post work-out snack or healthy alternative to sugary sweets for your wee ones.

Be well

India Leigh xx

p.s  When I rediscover where I found this fruity recipe, I'll come back and give her due credit.

Spying on Janes Adventures in Dinner - RAW appetiser

Poking around in websites, hunting for clues to the identity and make up of a blogger is one of my pass times.  People watching, but indoors, without a glass or cup of something in hand, and actually without any 'real' people.  Well, of course they are real but a high percentage don't have a profile picture...just proud pictures of supper, donuts with pink frosting, or a close up of a blender, mid-blend. So I try and build stories about people via their recipe listings or their 'blog roll' (does only a British person get the irony in that title?).  Mostly, the 'about me' tab gives a line or two about the food they like, who they eat it with or make it for, and a bit of back story - pet dog, food persuasion, geographical location.  I've been spying on Janes Adventures In Dinner  she's Canadian, a mom.  She's about food, she's about photography, she's about creative crafting, she's about 'giving it a go' and making life a party. It was my mission to steal (borrow) from her. I had to make sure she didn't suspect a thing.

The brainchild of this assignment is Amanda Formaro.   Amanda from Amandas' Cookin set up The Secret Recipe Club so she could have some fun and connect with fellow bloggers, and it was 1 year old this month.  The number of members have shot up.  I love the randomness of of it all.  Each month you get assigned (secretly) a food blogger to be your target.  It's very random.  Last month I made a Swedish Cake.  It is ALWAYS an inspiration.  It is usually a challenge....being a vegan n'all!  But a welcome one.  I spied some great looking onion and feta pizza on Jane's blog.  She was waxing lyrical about it.  Here is what I did with it. It's vegan and, as I've just taken delivery of a humming (huge) dehydrator...RAW.

Raw Caramelised Onion on Tomato Flax Bread - totally gluten free!

Ingredients

1 large (tennis ball size or a teensy bit bigger) white onion
4 dates (soft 'Jasmine' are perfect, if not soak them for 10 mins in a little hot water)
5 tablespoons Tamari (or coconut amino's or Braggs liquid amino's if you are soy free)

Method
1. slice onion into rings (about 1/4 cm thick). Pop into a mixing bowl
2. put the dates (drain them if soaked) in a blender with the amino's and blend to a paste
3. spoon the paste into the bowl and use your hands to mix the paste into the onion rings so they are all gooey and sticky and covered well.  It smells good already at this point!
4. spoon onto a paraflex sheet or baking paper and put into the dehydrator for about 6 hours, until soft.

You will not believe how good these taste. So many uses for them. A big spoon of the sweet and sticky ribbons of onion on top of some mash would be spoonable nirvana (not the band).

Flax crackers

Ingredients
1 tomato
2 sticks celery
1/2 c flax seeds - soak in water for 10 mins
1/2 teaspoon pink salt or sea salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Method

1. blend all ingredients but keep back 2 T of the soaked flax seeds and add after the mixture is blended.  This makes the chips have another dimension  and texture with the bite of the flax seeds dotted around.
2. use a teaspoon to spoon little blobs onto a paraflex sheet, about 1/4 cm thick.  Don't overfill the spoon, it makes for very unruly shapes.  Though, admittedly, mine came out in an assortment of sizes and more oval than round.  If you have a better way please share it.
3. dehydrate on 115 for 2-3 hours.  This is very random and seems to depend on the humidity in your house , if it is raining, if there is cloud cover or if there is an eclipse (exaggerating!), and how much water was in the mix.  And I thought using a dehydrator would be an exacting science!  When you can lift them off the sheet without squidging them to a brown mess, gently lift them off the paraflex sheet and put them straight onto the mesh for approx 4 hours or until as crispy as a potato chip.

Serve in a bowl.  Pile the crackers into the bowl and nestle in a ramekin, spilling over with the gooey, onions.  You can also make a little h' orderves stack with an oily, flavoursome sun-dried tomato and a spoon of the sweet onions between two crackers.  The crackers will keep for weeks in an airtight container but let's face it that would only happen if you forgot you had them.  Great for snacking, and AMAZING used as little scoops for cheeszy vegan nacho dip.  I like to build a little scoop and then stand up, pop them in my mouth whilst twirling on the spot.  Try it.  I am sure it improves digestion or something.  Probably not best to do this in the office though, unless you get everyone to join in.  The Twirling H 'ordervishes!

How to make Cheddar(ish) Hard Cheese - Dairy-free, Gluten-free, soy-free - Easy

What is it about cheese?...The firm, definite push of the knife as it makes its bid to reach liberty on the counter top, and a thick hunk breaks free, topples forward onto the board; the cool hard bite between wholesome spongy bread; the tang amid fiery french mustard and the melting, saltiness of butter?  For eleven years this experience had passed me by.  For the most part, to be honest, not even missed.  The dairy version, to me was a romantic notion. In reality, the pre-vegan experience, left me with an unpleasant aftertaste with the aromatics of silage. It didn't fair in my body much better and left my body via spots on my face or sticky morning eyes (unpleasant I know).  I didn't miss the effect dairy had on my body for an instant.  But, since my kitchen turned more to a food laboratory than a kitchen, and spending so much time reading food blogs and recipe books, I again became curious about cheese.  What was it that I did enjoy about a cheese sandwich on white bread with lots of butter?  And why did this foodstuff get cited over and over again as the one ingredient that stopped people from embracing dairy free food? And for those who are  already vegan, the more I'm getting to know you I realised perhaps cheese was one of the things you missed the most. My blog is all about making sure you don't miss a thing. I just had to bring you cheese, not creamy or spoonable but HARD, FIRM, SLICEABLE CHEEZE.

So...to work.  What was it that I did enjoy about a cheese sandwich on white bread with lots of butter? I guess it was the opposing textures and lively, sapid, sharpness in combination.   Real Food Daily..right there in LA, has been serving up vegan cheeze for years. Vegan Angela had tried and tested it..... and now, it was my turn. Real Food Daily cheese recipe here - then follow my instructions in the post to make it A Vegan Obsession stylee,   I followed the recipe (mostly) and like Angela,  also halved the original recipe. First try came out more like a firm cheezy mousse.  Delicious but not the desired slab of dense cheeziness.  Second attempt is a rather respectable effort.  Firm but not quite up to the 'two hand' test of strength knife plunge akin to your average Cheddar.  However, I am a perfectionist but nearly perfect right now is a good interim, so I am happy with it none the less and feel it worth of sharing with you.   I shall continue to tweak and experiment and when I do discover the VEGAN HOLY GRAIL of cheeze ingredients to perfect this recipe, I'll be back to lay it at your feet.....metaphorically speaking. 

I admit I made some modifications on the original recipe.....first time I used cashews but not enough agar; 2nd time I used the, less expensive, sunflower seed (that I pre-soaked in water for a couple of hours to make easy disgestible) over the cashews,  South River Miso supply a miso that is SOY FREE - made from the ubiquitos blonde chickpea as do Great Eastern Sun both USA companies. You could also use 2 tbs coconut aminos and I tbs coconut oil as a subsitute to make the cheeze soy-free. When I go to the store next I shall get some but I am all about getting a recipe perfected with the minimum of cost so I thought I'd give it a go.  Having a dairy-free, meat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free diet need not be expensive, and, hell, you save on all the medications you need to make you well from a standard Western diet, by default!  I also substituted (to keep it soy free) the soya milk with coconut milk (not cream) and added a couple of tbs of nutritional yeast.  I used a 1/4 cup of ground agar flakes. The flavour was awesome.  The texture like a firm pate or soyrizo.  Vegan Angela was not too ramped up with the flavour characteristics of hers so perhaps the concentrated flavours of dried miso soup added a little something.

½ cup raw cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch ground white pepper
1 ½ cups coconut milk (in a carton and NOT coconut cream from a can)this is instead of soy milk
¼ cup ground agar agar flakes
¼ cup canola oil
2 tbs liquid aminos (Braggs or coconut) 1tbs coconut oil (this is to replace the miso if you require soy free..gently melt the oil and mix with the aminos)
1 tablespoons fresh lemon

Method - from The Real Food Daily Blog

1. finely grind the cashews in a food processor ((do not allow the cashews to turn into a paste). Add the nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, garlic powder, and white pepper. Pulse 3 more times to blend in the spices.
2.Combine the coconut milk, agar, and oil in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the agar is dissolved. With the food processor running, gradually pour the milk mixture through the feed tube and into the cashew mixture. Blend for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is very smooth and creamy. Blend in the miso and lemon juice.
For grated or sliced cheese: Transfer the cheese to a container; cover and refrigerate until it is very firm, about 4 hours. Once it is firm, grate or slice the cheese as desired.
For melted cheese: Use the cheese immediately as melted cheese. To make the cheese in advance, cover and refrigerate it. When ready to use, melt it in a saucepan over medium heat until it is smooth and creamy, stirring frequently and adding more soy milk to the melted cheese to thin, if necessary.
The cheese will keep for 4 days, covered and refrigerated.

I'd LOVE to know how yours turns out, and discover if you make any little tweaks to reach 'Cheddar like' perfection or inventive new fusion. 

I think next time I may try it with adding chopped walnuts to the puree and maybe, just because it's seasonal, cranberries.  A little extra garlic may be nice to make a soft garlic cheeze too.  Oh the fun to be had.

* The cheese freezes well and can been used to enliven a soup (so good with brocolli soup) or melted into some vegan milk to make a sauce.

Baked Zucchini Fries with lemon aioli - Gluten free, low fat and crispilicious

Hello!  This week I've been rushing around, on my bike, on the train, around food festivals, in food markets, around my kitchen experimenting with some delights I will share here soon.  Busy, busy! I have also been racking up some time at  The Lean Green Bean   Its my fifth month with the The Secret Recipe Club and Lindsay's foodie foray was to be my December assignment. Read about it here to find out what it's all about (if you can keep a secret).   

Lets talk fries....

Crispy garlic Zucchini Fries

These looked so good on Lindsay's blog I just had to give them a go.  There was a teeny bit of tweaking to be done to make these crispy sticks gluten-free and vegan.  Traditional recipes of this type use egg to bind the crumb to the object- de-la-legumes so I needed to find the best alternative.  I didn't want to use something out of a box that someone else had produced I wanted to find a vegan 'egg' in my cupboards.  This website was a big help - all about egg replacements in baking.  I used 1 tbs flour (sorghum), 1/2 tsp oil and 2 tbs water to mix to a paste.  It worked a treat.  Here is what you need for the rest of the recipe

  Ingredients

(serves 2)

2 zucchini (courgettes) julienned

2 tbs gluten-free flour (sorghum has a lovely flavour and works perfectly)

1 tbs vegan Parmesan powder or nutritional yeast

1/4 tbs gluten-free bread crumbs

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp paprika (you can also add a pinch of chili powder if you want them fiery)

salt & pepper to taste

 

method

1.Prepare your station

bowl one - flour & Parmesan

bowl two - egg replacer - (flour, oil and water)

bowl three - breadcrumbs, paprika, garlic powder, baking powder, salt & pepper

2. dip the bald fries into the bowls from 1-3 ensuring they are well covered. 3. gently place on an oiled baking sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees for 20 mins.  Give them a little shake halfway through. 4. serve immediately with lemon aioli (blend tofu, lemon juice and garlic powder or minced garlic clove and season to taste)

Did I enjoy them? A picture speaks a thousand words!   

I think I actually like them better than sweet potato fries (speaks my fickle heart) as the texture and flavour are very close to white potato fries...only better AND good for you.  The spud being a member of the nightshade family is a no-go area for many.  This recipe will be sweet music to their ears.

See, this is what happens when you are a member of The Secret Recipe Club, you stumble across edible gems you might otherwise have missed. Bravo Lindsay. I hope your December SRC was as happy-making as mine.

How to make Simple Raw Two-bite Treats

To mark this day 11.11.11 when the world turns and becomes an even more exciting and happy place for everyone to be.  I thought I'd share with you a quickie recipe for you to make and fuel your brilliant day (I know it is going to be a brilliant day, a tiny bird told me, AND I went ahead and had a look for myself....(peeking) yep, pretty darn good!).

These raw energy balls are so simple to make.  I adapted the base from my no-bake Banoffee pie recipe (please note the coconut flour is the 'powder' found in Asian stores...you could just make your own by putting desiccated coconut in a coffee grinder) by using reducing the salt to a 1/4 tsp.  I halved the mix and added a 1/4 tsp chilli powder and then rolled into balls and dusted with cocoa powder.  The other half of the mix I added a tsp of coffee and rolled in half cocoa powder, half coconut powder. I have also made these with peanut butter and a slice of organic dried apricot in the centre.  If I had some strawberry powder I'd roll them in that...or, oooh, some freeze dried fruit, scrunched up and put in the mix, or a roasted salty almond in the centre.. thumbs up.  Ok, over to you.

 What would you add to make them your own?  We'd love to hear your ideas.

These are lovely, two-bite treats.  You could even make a big batch and store in the freezer so you always have some on hand.   Lovely idea for gifts.

Hey, if you have a day of brilliance you just HAVE to share.  We'd love to hear all about it. We are suckers for a good story. x

Moroccan Butternut Squash Parcels and a dose of hindsight

 A monster butternut squash and a touch of nostalgia over reminiscences of a trip to the feverish labyrinth of Marrakesh , fuelled the inspiration for this recipe.   Though made in the quiet of my country home and not amidst the heaving, dusty, noisy and colourful passageways of the Moroccan city, the spices and sweet cinnamon air in my kitchen made me smile.  The trip had been the exciting destination of a third date with a flashy American artist I'd met during my brief dalliances with Internet dating.  All was going well until he failed to rally his adventurous side when grappling with the High Atlas mountains.  This rather overshadowed the heroic fighting off of a team of heckling brothers who wanted rather too much pocket change to give us directions to our riad.  God, poor boy didn't stand a chance with my rather exorbitant expectations ways...alas hindsight is a blessing and a curse!

However, thankfully the taste for exotic floral spices remained, even if the man did not.

Moroccan Butternut Squash Parcels

Makes approx 10

Preheat oven to 375/190

Ingredients

Filling

1 1/2  cup squash 1/4 inch diced

1 small onion

3-4 dried organic apricots chopped to approx size of a raisin

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tbs fresh ginger chopped fine

1 tsp cumin  seeds

1 tbs harissa paste

1 tbs pine nuts (toasted)

1 tbs orange zest

juice of 1/2 orange

1/2 tsp dried coriander

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbs olive oil

To make the pastry, follow the recipe here (scroll down the bottom) leave to rest in the fridge for 30 mins.

Method

1. saute the onions in the oil for 8-10 minutes or until golden then add the garlic and cook for a further 2-3 minutes

2. add the spices and cook for 2-3 minutes

3. add remaining ingredients and stir fry to a minute or so

5. add the juice of half an orange, pop the lid on and simmer until the squash is soft but not mushy. Add a little water if needed.

6. take the pastry out from the fridge and roll out onto a floured board (or between two baking parchment sheets) to 1/8inch thick. Use a pastry cutter (4inch) to cut out circles then spoon a little of the mixture into the middle. Careful not to overfill. fold the pastry over the filling and press together. Pop onto a baking sheet covered with baking parchment (use the sheet you used to roll the pastry) and brush with vegan milk. Continue until all the mixture is tucked up in a blanket of pastry.

7.bake for 12-15 mins until browned and then turn over and bake again for a further 10 mins or until golden.

8.leave to cool on a wire rack slightly before serving.

They freeze well and are great to drag out for drinks and nibbles or as did I, consume when sitting all alone wondering perhaps just why you are still single!

bil hana wish shifa'