Mushroom Calamari & Thousand Island Dressing (V, DF, GF, NF)

Ingredients:

• 1 tin Vegan Calamari
• 1 cup white flour
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 1.5 cups icy water
• Salt & pepper
• Vegan garlic aioli
• Tomato relish
• Fresh chopped parsley

Method:

1. Make tempura-style batter. In a bowl mix flour, cornflour, salt & pepper and icy water.  Use a stick blender to mix to a smooth batter.  If mixture is too thick, add more water.
2. Open tin of Calamari and drain in a sieve.  
3. Carefully place Calamari rings in batter and coat evenly.
4. In a frypan, heat vegetable oil until it spatters with the addition of a drop of batter.  
5. Carefully place battered Calamari piece by piece into hot oil, and cook until golden.  Carefully flip Calamari so both sides are crispy and golden.  Be careful of oil spatters.
6. Make Thousand Island dressing by combining Vegan Garlic Aioli and relish. 
7. Drain oil from Calamari, then serve hot with Thousand Island dressing.
8. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
   
   

 

Roast Vege & Spicy 'Chicken' (not-chicken) with Lemon Aioli dressing (DF, EF, V)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup couscous
• 1 tbsp Olivani
• Crushed garlic glove
• Vegetable stock
• Water
• Diced carrot, beetroot, potato (or pumpkin)
• Sliced red onion, spring onion
• Lemon
• Baby spinach leaves
• Vegan garlic aioli

Method:

1. In a saucepan, melt butter.  Add garlic and sautē until golden.  Add vegetable stock and 1.5 cups water.  Put lid on and bring to boil.
2. Turn element off, add couscous and stir.  Put lid back on and leave until remainder of dish is ready.  The couscous will absorb the water.
3. Dice potato (or pumpkin), beetroot, carrot.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt & pepper and cook in air fryer for approx 20 minutes.  Alternatively, back in 180c oven for approx 30 minutes, until golden brown.  
4. Whilst vegetables are cooking ... In a frypan, add a dash of olive oil and cook red onion.  
5. While onion is cooking, chop spring onion, zest lemon and rip baby spinach leaves and combine in a bowl. Add red onion.
6. In a bowl, combine protein (e.g. diced firm tofu, meat alternative), a dash of olive oil, a sprinkle of mixed spice, paprika, salt & pepper.  Stir to coat. 
7. Wipe pan clean and cook protein.  I used Fry's Chicken Strips.  
8. In a glass, mixed a large spoon of vegan garlic aioli and a generous squirt of lemon juice.  Stir to combine.
9. Combine couscous, greens, onion and roast veges in a bowl.
10. Serve couscous salad, top with protein and dress with lemon aioli dressing.  Serve warm.

Crumbed Banana Blossom Poke Bowl (V, EF, DF)

Ingredients:

• Jasmine rice
• Garlic
• 1 tbsp Olivani
• Ginger & lemongrass paste
• 1 red onion
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 telegraph cucumber
• Rice wine vinegar
• 1 tspn white sugar
• Long green beans
• Asian greens (bok choy)
• Vegan teriyaki sauce
• Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tin Banana Blossom
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Chopped peanuts

Method:

1. In a saucepan, melt butter.  Add garlic and sautē until golden. Add rice and water and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 mins and then turn element off, leaving lid on.  Rice will absorb water whilst you prepare the remainder of the dish.
2. In a small bowl, add a generous dash of Rice Wine Vinegar, white sugar and stir.  Slice red onion thinly and add to vinegar mix.  Top up with enough water to cover the onion.  Stir and leave to 'pickle' whilst you are preparing remainder of dish.
3. Slice the carrot thinly, cut the ends of the beans off, wash and slice the Asian greens.
4. In a fry pan heat a dash of olive oil and lightly cook vegetables.  Add the lemongrass and ginger paste and stir through thoroughly.  Set aside.
5. Open the tin of Banana Blossom and drain using a sieve.
6. Dust the Banana Blossom in flour, then spray lightly with cooking oil and dip into panko breadcrumbs. 
7. Wipe frypan and heat a generous amount of Olive Oil.  Fry crumbed Banana Blossom, until golden on each side.  Drain on a paper towel/oven rack to absorb excess oil.
8. Drain vinegar mixture from onion.
9. Pack a small dish with the rice and turn over into a mound on the plate.
10. Top with lemongrass and ginger vegetables and Banana Blossom.  
11. Garnish with chopped peanuts and season with salt and pepper.

 

Ginger and Passionfruit Crunch (DF, EG, V)

Base Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 250gm Olivete or similar dairy-free spread
• 3 cups plain flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger

Method:

1. Cream dairy-free spread and sugar in a mixer.  
2. Add sifted flour, baking powder and ginger.
3. Combine until mixture resembles crumbs.
4. If shortcake appears too crumbly, add a tablespoon of cold water.
5. Turn out and press into lined and greased sponge roll tin.
6. Bake at 180 degrees for approximately 20 mins until just starting to go a golden colour.
7. Ice while hot.

Topping Ingredients:

• 300gm dairy-free spread, melted
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 6 tsp ground ginger
• large dollop of passionfruit pulp
• 4 cups icing sugar

Method:

1. stir all ingredients into melted butter and mix till smooth.
2. Pour on top of shortcake mixture.
3. Refrigerate until set.
4. Cut into squares and serve. 

Hot Cross Buns (V, DF, EG)

Easter just wouldn't be Easter without hot cross buns, so a mandatory 'lockdown' in the midst of a global pandemic, wasn't going to stop me!

Ingredients:

• 2 tspn of Surebake yeast (Active Yeast)
• 1 tspn sugar
• 1 1/4 c of warm almond milk (or other milk)
• 1 tbsp white flour

• 1 tspn of No-Egg (egg replacer) mixed with 1 tbsp of water (equivalent to one egg)

• 3 cups white flour
• 1 tbsp mixed spice
• 1 tbsp cinammon
• 1/4 c caster sugar
• Rind of a lemon and mandarin (in lieu of dried/mixed peel if you don't have it)
• 1 c of sultanas or raisins
• 60gm of Olivete or similar dairy-free butter alternative

• Flour and water mixed to a paste (that you can 'ice' with)
• Sugar and water heated and mixed to a syrup/glaze

Method

1. Mix first four ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk.  Cover and leave in a warm place (in the sunshine is ideal) for about 10-15 mins.  The mixture should go fluffy and gloopy.
2. While the yeast mixture is doing it's thing, add dry ingredients (flour, spice, cinnamon, sugar) and Olivete together and mix until it resembles crumbs.  Add sultanas/raisins and rind and mix to combine.  
3. Add No-Egg to yeast mixture and add to flour mix. 
4. If you have a bread hook, change attachment on mixer, and combine until dough is stretchy and not sticky.
5. Remove and put on floured surface and knead a little more if needed (need to knead).
   
   
   
   
   
6. Spray a little non-stick cooking oil to inside of large glass bowl and turn dough into the bowl.  Cover and leave somewhere warm for approx 45 minutes to rise.
7. After 45 minutes, cut or pull mixture into balls/bun shape and roll with wet hands to smooth out.  Space evenly on a baking tray, and cover and leave in a warm place for another 10 minutes to finish rising.
8. Use the smooth edge of a knife and indent crosses in the top of each bun.  
9. Mix flour/water to a paste and gloop into a snaplock bag, cutting the corner off and 'piping' or drizzling a cross into the indentations you have made.
10. Bake at 220 degrees for 10 minutes.
11. While buns are in the oven, mix sugar and a little water and heat in microwave.  Brush this syrup over the top of each bun to glaze, and return to oven for another 10 minutes, turning the heat down to 180 degrees.
12. Serve hot!

These have a similar texture to a scone.  Makes approx 12.

Sushi (V, GF, DF, EF)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked short grain rice (or Sushi rice)
• 2 tbsp sushi/rice vinegar
• Cucumber, capsicum, carrot, spring onion, avocado
• Thinly sliced tofu strips (1/2 packet)
• Vegan aioli
• 5 sheets of nori

Method

1. Spread rice evenly over the base of a tray or container and cool in refrigerator.
2. While rice is cooling down, cut vegetables into thin julienne strips.
3. Sprinkle rice vinegar over the rice and fork through, fluffing up the rice.
4. Get your sushi 'bazooka' (such a cool invention) and rinse thoroughly under cold water (this seems to prevent the rice from sticking internally to the device and makes it easier to extrude.
5. Line each side of the sushi maker with rice, spread a thin line of mayo/aioli along one side.  Line up capsicum, cucumber, capsicum, spring onion, avocado and tofu.  Push down firmly and close latches on the sushi maker.
6. Screw the end of the maker, and then push evenly to extrude sushi onto nori sheets.  Using wet fingers, seal along edges.
7. Lay log of sushi onto a plate and let it sit while you make remainder of sushi.
8. When ready to serve, use a wet and sharp knife.  
9. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger (if you have it).

Lemon and Passionfruit No-Bake Cheesecake (V, DF, EF)

So here we are in the middle of 'lockdown', and looking at ingredients we have in the cupboard and having the opportunity of a little more try to give things a go.  I had a 3/4 tub of Angel Food Cream Cheese and a stack of fresh lemons from a friend's abundant tree, and my daughter loves cheesecake, so I thought - why not!?

Base Ingredients:

• 3/4 packet of RSA Anzac cookies (tehy're vegan friendly!)
• 1/2 cup of cereal
• 2 tablespoons melted Olivete

Method

1. Put all base ingredients into a mixer and combine until mixture resembles course breadcrumbs
2. Lightly spray a springform baking tin with cooking oil (for ease of removal later).
3. Press mixture into container, and use the back of a wet spoon to compress firmly.  
4. Put base into freezer while you make cheesecake topping.

Cheesecake Ingredients:

• 3/4 tub of Angel Food Cream Cheese
• The thick part of a tin of Coconut Cream
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• The rind of 2 lemons
• The juice of 2 lemons (about 5 teaspoons in total)
• Passionfruit pulp

Method

1. In mixer, use whipping blade and whip coconut cream until peaks form.
2. Add caster sugar, cream cheese (spoonfuls rather than a big lump), lemon juice and rind.
3. Mix until smooth (but take care not to over mix as it'll get very runny)
4. Pour over the top of the base and smooth surface.  
5. Put into refrigerator to set.
6. You can freeze, but take care not to leave too long in the freezer as the coconut milk will freeze into shards and change the texture.
7. Service with a dollop of passionfruit pulp drizzled on top.