How to make a Potato, Carrot and Petit Pois Curry (Vegan friendly) Use vegan margarine here!

 I first saw a version of this recipe in a cookbook. I changed the peas to petit pois which have a much nicer flavour, added curry powder and a few more spices and ended up with this. This curry tastes even better the day after! The carrots, potato, peas and onion  marry together wonderfully with the spices making a really good tasting curry. Not too hot, but spicy enough. I like this with garlic and coriander naan bread and a side salad. It is also good with chapattis. It is so healthy too with all fresh ingredients and spices - no additives! You could also have it with the onion bhajis featured further on this channel for a true curry night... 

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How to make Mushroom Risotto

 This is just a simple risotto, a classic Italian dish. Risotto rice is the arborio rice, which can absorb a large amount of water and give out a creamy texture. Don't try it with anything else! Here we have simply used the Arborio rice, mushrooms, onion, Oxo vegetable stock, fresh parsley and grated vegetarian hard cheese (which works well as a vegetarian parmesan substitute). Arborio rice helps keep you feeling fuller longer and also help to detoxify the body. Also it's nice!

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How to make a Quick Spinach, Cherry Tomato and Mozzarella Salad - just drizzle on the olive oil!

 This is a really quick plate summer salad with just three ingredients - Spinach, cherry tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese.  Always use the freshest Spinach for added crunchiness. You can use baby plum tomatoes here, and you could add a few pitted olives - but don't overdo it, keep it simple. Always serve this with a slice of wholemeal bread. Spinach is from the beetroot family so it is full of nitrates for healthy blood flow. It was also Popeye's favourite food!

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How to make Spicy Lentil Broth (Vegan friendly)

 I got this idea from a recipe in a book and just changed some of the quantities of the ingredients for a better taste. Although there looks to be a lot in this there isn't really and it will last for a few meals. You don't need to serve it with rice, you can do it in a side dish with a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and red onion, a little grated fresh ginger and pitted olives. This way it tastes delicious too. It also smells amazing as it cooks. Lentils are low in calories and high in fibre for digestion. They are high in protein and a good source of iron too. Iron helps with tiredness by improving the oxygen in the blood. So if you are planning on running any marathons in the near future this is for you!

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How to make Mushroom and Pak Choi Stir Fry

 Who doesn't need a simple stir fry in their food arsenal? In this recipe I used egg noodles, since then I have also used rice noodles. Fresh packeted ones, and still a great result. The Asda stir fry oil with its mix of sesame, sunflower and ginger oil with extracts of garlic is a real find and worked well. Pak choi is usually found in Asda and Sainsburys too, so all supermarket ingredients. The omelette topping makes for a substantial meal too. Really you can put anything in a stir fry - bell peppers, spring onions, finely cut carrot as long as the pieces are small. Five minutes preparation perhaps and around four minutes cook, this is probably the fastest meal available.  

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How to make Stuffed Aubergine with or without cheese topping!

 This recipe is very easy to make as a vegan option without the cheese, or as a vegetarian option by grating the cheddar cheese over it before cooking as featured! I do prefer the vegetarian option but they are both good. You can't beat vegetables roasted with an olive oil coating - it seems to bring out such rich flavours when they are cooked. Another benefit of the olive oil is that it stops food sticking to the roasting tray or Pyrex dish for an easy clean afterwards. Aubergine is high in fibre but low in calorie, and technically a fruit as they grow from a flowering plant and contain seeds. They are reputed to have many health benefits too. Aubergines also go by the name Eggplant because the earlier varieties where white and resembled hen's eggs. Aubergines are part of the Nightshade family of plants - fortunately not the deadly variety though! Cooked with olive oil this is my personal favourite vegetable/fruit. 

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How to make a Ploughman's lunch

 Who doesn't like a Ploughman's lunch on a hot Summer's day? With the added benefit of not having to plough the field first! This is, as a viewer said, "a very simple affair with just the right ingredients!" Thanks for that comment! I used silver skin pickled onions here but you can use the large chunky ones, instead it's up to you. Crunchy iceberg lettuce is the best lettuce to use here too. And where would you be without the sandwich pickle and the crunchy celery sticks! I used salad tomatoes here but you could just as well use cherry or plum tomatoes instead. Cheese and pickle is a classic combination just like beans on toast is. Enjoy!

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How to make Spicy Aubergine Pasta With Feta Cheese Topping.

 Who doesn't like pasta? When I first made this, my daughter who was around six years old at the time asked for this everyday as she loved it! The aubergines lightly fried in the olive oil give it a great taste, and the chilli flakes give it that extra kick. Go steady with these chilli flakes and only use as much as I said on the video as these are hot! Break as much feta cheese on top as you wish, and you can also use the budget salad cheese variety as these taste just as good. This tastes really good with the penne, but you can use any pasta you prefer instead like tagliatelle, or rigatoni. The chunks of feta in this picture are rather large, make them smaller! And don't forget to use any left over feta cheese in the Greek style feta salad sandwich featured!!

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How to make a Vegetarian mince and onion Meat free Pie (Vegan friendly)

 I was asked to do this by a viewer, and four or five samples later I let my daughter who was six at the time choose the final version ad this was the result, and I must say I agreed with her. Everything is made in small samples so as to keep costs down but also to get the best taste. I think that Morrisons discontinued their mince but we found Asda plant based mince to be a good replacement. (Quorn does not work here by the way!) Instead of using the Bisto onion gravy granules that can be a bit pricey now, we have also used the red onion gravy granules in jars from Sainsburys etc, and this gives a slightly different, not as beefy like taste? - but every bit as good!! so you can use these products too in this recipe if you want. 

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Mixed Pepper and Mushroom Pizza. N.B. Add 1/2 teaspoon garlic puree in the passata mix - better taste

 Once you have made your own base for this pizza you will never buy a ready made base again! We updated the topping of the base on this one by adding half a teaspoon of garlic puree (the tubed one). Just squeeze out the tube in a line up to the middle of the teaspoon and mix it in. Gorgeous taste then. Italian passata has far the better taste, the other ones don't measure up - so get the Italian one where you can. You are not limited to the topping here - you could add drained tinned sweetcorn and/or jalapeno peppers from a jar for a hotter taste too. A favourite of mine is to add these jalapeno peppers - not too many though!  Just make sure everything is sliced very thinly so it cooks through with the pizza. Always wipe the pizza tray with olive oil first to make sure it doesn't stick, for an easy clean after. 

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How to make Quick and Easy Mushroom Stroganoff

 If you want a meal in minutes then this is the one for you. Now we usually serve it in a small side dish with perhaps new potatoes and vegetables like cabbage, brussels, carrots etc, but you can still have it with the rice as featured too if you want to. Always use the freshest white mushrooms for this and the freshest parsley. The wholegrain mustard tastes amazing and I now make this recipe using crème fraiche which is thicker and better tasting than the soured cream. Make sure that the mixture is well reduced before serving - the thicker the better! The featured picture does not do this recipe justice because it tastes far better than it looks on here.

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How to make Extra Special Fruit Starter With Ginger Relish (Vegan friendly)

 Everybody needs a show stopper fruit starter and this is it! For ours we used the three melons, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, with strawberries, orange segments and pineapple, but don't be restricted with this. You could throw in different coloured grapes, kiwi, cherries - any combo. Always finish it off with a mint sprig for effect though. Mint is easy to grow at home too, plant one and off it goes... The tulip glasses that we serve this starter in make it look extra special too. The ginger relish is supermarkets own usually in the home baking department. 

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How to make Butter bean, fennel, courgette, leek and carrot Vegetarian/Vegan Casserole

 This particular dish started out as a basic recipe from a book. It had far too much courgette in it and other vegetables when I tried it out. But it had potential, and after altering the veg quantities and the spices it came out like this. It is like a Winter warming broth and the cinnamon stick cooked with it makes it taste amazing. It also contains a fennel bulb, and fennel not only improves brain function but seems to warm you up right down to your toes as well. Try it and see! It also contains ginger and that is another warming spice, and cinnamon which is antibacterial, and carrot - vitamin A so good for your eyes too. So a good health tonic all round. I just serve it in a dish with a simple side salad.

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How to make Pumpkin Soup (Vegan friendly)

 Pumpkin soup has always been a Bonfire night/Halloween staple. Reason being these guys come into season from late September through to Thanksgiving in late November. This is why Pumpkin pie is so popular in America around this time! This particular soup is made with red lentils and coriander powder too, so it is a really warming, thick and hearty soup, perfect for standing around the bonfire with. Pumpkin is an orange vegetable, so because of that it is full of Beta carotene or Vitamin A. Perfect for eye health and one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat! Crusty rolls at the ready!

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How to make Aubergine Parmigiana

 This is one of the specials recipes. You have to make it with the fresh pasta sauce, and aubergines done this way taste divine. Made up of three cheeses, cheddar, mozzarella and vegetarian hard cheese (the veg version of Parmesan), aubergines gently fried in olive oil and drained and the fresh pasta sauce, when it is baked it smells amazing. Served with a little garlic bread and a side salad this is a winner with the guests, and my daughter loves it!! As does mum and me.....

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How to make Pasta Shells In Fresh Tomato Sauce With Red Leicester - Lia's Favourite!

 When we went to a hotel in Scarborough with Lia who was five years old then, she asked for pasta for her tea. They served her a version of this that she liked. She said can you make me this at home mum? So I tasted it and said it's just a pasta sauce with pasta shells and red Leicester cheese on top, I will make it when we get home and you can try it. Oh the pressure! So I used a basic fresh pasta sauce that I make, the conchiglie and finely grated Red Leicester on top. She loved it, and so did mum, and so did I. Result.

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How to make an indoor Vegetarian Barbecue.

 These recipes are using the George Foreman grill. We found this surprisingly easy to use. On our kebabs featured we used brown onion, halloumi cheese, red pepper, mushrooms, but you can also use beef tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, and any chicken style pieces too. Red onion is also delicious when cooked this way. So if it's raining bring the party indoors!! And if you do want to get a hold of a grill like this click here 

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How to make a Watercress Soup (Vegan friendly)

 Mum likes Watercress for it's peppery taste, so she asked me would I make a soup of it. I was apprehensive, but this worked surprisingly well with my base soup recipe of potato, onion, stock and cornflour. Watercress retains it's peppery taste even when it's cooked, and this soup has a really good punchy taste. In addition Watercress is calorie low, but nutrient rich!

In fact, it’s ranked number one on the US Centre's for Disease Control’s Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables list. It is high in Vitamin C and A, so not only will it be good for your eyes, but great for your overall health too.So it is well worth a try for that reason alone... 

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How to make a Quorn Vegetarian BLT (Quorn Bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo sandwich)

 This is a basic BLT recipe. You  don't need to use the Quorn one, you can use any of the vegetarian bacon varieties. The mayonnaise gives it a little extra. We also recently found a vegan mayonnaise called OMV Burger mayo which has a really nice taste, surprisingly enough too. This recipe is a really quick breakfast or lunch snack. You need to use iceberg lettuce though because it provides the crunchiness to it. The tomatoes can be sliced salad tomatoes or any other variety. Sometimes we have even had this for a quick tea with fruit and soup to start. So really you can eat this at any time of day!! For this reason it is always worth having a pack of veggie bacon in the freezer on standby for unexpected guests....

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How to make a Mushroom and Fennel Stew Cooked in Cider Vegan? cider?

 This recipe started out in a cookbook. I thought it had potential. Half of the ingredients though I couldn't source the first time I made it. So I improvised and made it with mixed dried mushrooms etc, and when it was finished it tasted gorgeous. So I thought next time I will make it and obtain the real ingredients. When I did do this , the taste was SO bland! I wouldn't have entertained it. So it was by fate alone that this recipe saw the light of day at all here. The dried mixed mushrooms with their different textures give it a very beef like casserole appearance, and they also provide a similar chewiness. This is one of the special dishes and it just goes so great with some mashed potatoes, for a traditional Sunday dinner style meal.  You could serve it up with new potatoes instead, and you can also have it with chips as featured here!! When it is cooked the alcohol content disappears, so you could finish up the meal with the leftover Cider as the side drink!

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