So. I live in the UK. That means that if I happen to be blessed with a "summer" day, there is about a 50% chance that it will turn gray and rainy. Being from California, I can think of very few things that would help me recover from such a horrific turn of events.

Enter my summer rain risotto.

It has all the goodness of summer... fresh peas and asparagus, mint, and lemon... with all the creamy, warm, cozy comforts that you need on a rainy day.

It's perfection.

I can't tell you how happy this recipea made me when I created it.

Not only did my flat smell like heaven, but it was so FRESH and COMFORTING at the same time. No idea how I did that, but I'm now on a mission to find all the fresh comforting foods.

I've really outdone myself on this one, you guys.

I love it. And so will you. Pinky promise.





Recipea:

Makes 4 main meal servings or 6 side servings

4 tablespoons vegan butter
1/2 cup of shallots
1 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons of ground salt and pepper (use lemon pepper if you can!)
2 cups of risotto rice
1/2 cup Pinot Grigio
5 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup chopped asparagus
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat parsley
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
1/2 cup vegan cheese

Saute the shallots, garlic, salt and pepper in 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan or pot over medium heat for 5 minutes until tender.

Stir in the rice for 2-3 minutes until the edges becomes translucent on the outside. Then add in the wine and another tablespoon of the butter. Stir until it is absorbed.

Then stir in 1 cup of vegetable broth to just cover the risotto, stirring consistently until the liquid is absorbed. Then continue adding the broth, adding 1 cup at a time until absorbed (2 mins each).

After about 16-18 minutes, the rice should be creamy, but firm (you may need a little more or less broth, depending on the rice, heat, etc).

On the last addition of liquid, add in the asparagus and peas, and the last tablespoon of butter.

Continue to simmer and stir until the peas and asparagus until they are just cooked and the rice is tender.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vegan cheese until well combined.

Stir in the mint, parsley, and lemon zest (and some more salt and pepper if needed) until combined.

Dish up and sprinkle with some extra mint, parsley, and lemon zest. Cuz you fancy.

Now it's time to turn that frown upside down. You've just made something that ALMOST makes rain on a sunny day ok.... almost. :)

Spaghetti squash is one of my all time favourite veggies. It's so crunchy and unusual and just makes everything better. It's perfect as a substitute for pasta... the OG  pasta substitute actually, long before zoodles/courgetti was a thing.

Anyway. You can't really find it here in the UK for some ridiculous reason, so you can imagine how excited I was when, after nearly 4 long years of searching, I stumbled across one in Waitrose! I may have been accidentally unnecessarily loud... #american

This called for my homemade pesto.

Add some crumbled vegan sausage on top and you've found yourself smack dab in the middle of happytown.

Get to it, people! RUN TO WAITROSE! DEMAND SPAGHETTI SQUASH! And if you live in the States, well then... just run to the regular grocery store... and appreciate your privilege.






Recipea:
Serves 2-3

1 medium spaghetti squash
1-2ish cups of water

1/4 medium avocado
1/3 cup pine nuts + 1/4 cup pine nuts for garnish
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh basil
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ground salt and pepper
1/2 clove of garlic

Veggie sausage & 1 tablespoon olive oil


Cut the squash in half long ways (be careful ok? I didn't list your fingers in the ingredients for a reason) and scoop out the inside.

Stick them on a shallow baking dish cut side down and add about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom. Cover with either foil (if going in the oven) or paper towel (if going in the microwave).

Either cook in the oven at 210 degrees celsius for 40 minutes or until fork tender (give it a check at the 30 min mark, and then every 10 mins thereafter), OR stick it in the microwave on high for 10-15 mins or until fork tender (chuck it in for 8 mins, then check it every 3 mins or so thereafter).

In a food processor or blender, blend together the avo, 1/3 cup of pine nuts, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

Saute your favourite ground or chopped vegan sausage with olive oil until crispy and set aside.

Toast pine nuts on medium low heat, stirring constantly until lightly toasted.

ASSEMBLE.

Either toss the squash in the pesto to coat, or give a good hearty dollop onto a big helping of the squash noodles. Top with the sausage and pine nuts and loads more fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Olive bread. Manna from heaven.

If I had a nickel for every time I've accidentally polished off an entire olive loaf in one sitting, I'd be a rich woman.

What's not to like?! Olives? Good. Carbs? Good.

I thought bread was going to be super hard to make and/or it would be an all day affair, waiting for it to rise and whatnot.

But this bread is suuuuper easy, and you can be stuffing your face with warm fresh bread in less than an hour and a half. Just enough time for you to stage some sort of fake emergency that gets everyone out of your house so you can be alone to eat the entire loaf in peace.

Plus you get the added bonus of your house smelling like a bakery for the rest of the evening. Yes, please.
Recipea:

2 cups (250g) of bread flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
2/3 cups (150 ml) of warm water
1 tablespoon of olive oil (plus a bit more for greasing)
Olives (I used plain black and green and I also threw in some kalamata which had been packaged in oil and italian herbs. I used 6 whole of each, and then chopped up 4 of each to have some smaller pieces in the bread as well. I like a high olive to bread ratio, so use less if you'd rather!)

Mix flour, salt, sugar, and yeast together in a medium bowl.

Chop and/or add whole olives (whichever you prefer) to the dry mixture and mix well.

Make a well and pour in the water and oil.

Mix with a fork until it is sticky, then knead the dough for 5 mins on a floured surface. If you added barrels of olives like I did, it will be weird at first when you're trying to knead because the olives will sneak out. Stick with it, soldier. They will stick into the bread more as you knead.

When the dough is elastic and smooth, place into a lightly greased bowl and cover with a tea towel.

Let sit for 45 mins - 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 210 degrees celsius.

Once it's risen, form onto a greased, floured baking sheet and lightly grease the top of the loaf.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bread is evenly golden brown all around, and is hardened on the top. Better to overbake a bit than underbake on this one.

Let cool, slice, and eat entire loaf in one sitting without shame.

Peanut butter, dark chocolate, and sea salt. Need I say more?

Didn't think so.

These take no time to make and always impress.

Bring these to parties. Everyone will love you.



Recipea:

Makes about 1 dozen mini-cups.

180 g dark chocolate bar (I am officially addicted to Cadbury Bournville and I'm not sorry about it)
2 heaping tablespoons of natural peanut butter
1 heaping tablespoon of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon himalayan sea salt

Mix the PB and sugar until combined (the sugar will fluff up the peanut butter a bit).

Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl at 30 second increments until fully smooth and melted.

Coat the bottom of the mini cupcake liners in a thin (or thick!) coat of chocolate, approx 1/2-1 teaspoon.

Form a small disk of the peanut butter mixture so that it will fit in the liner without touching the sides.

Pour another 1/2-1 teaspoon of dark chocolate over the top so that the mixture drips down the sides and fully coats the top.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

Freeze to set.

(Keep in the freezer until you're ready to serve.)

ps. If you don't have cupcake liners, you can just make balls out of the PB mixture and coat in the dark chocolate, but let the chocolate cool a bit so you don't just melt the PB. You could even add a whole peanut or crushed peanuts on top to make 'em look all fancy. :]

No these cookies are not coffee flavoured.

This soda bread though, you guys. I can't even.

Boom.

These take all of 10 mins to make and are just the best snacks/ breakfast / pre-workout energy blast/ late night cookies in town.

Confession: I just ate these as my dinner. I have no regrets.

These banana cookies (or "bookies" as they were so famously called in my flat) can be made simple with just these three ingredients, or you can spice it up by adding dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla extract, etc. The possibilities are endless. The world is your vegan oyster.

These saved me during my Masters dissertation.

And may they bring you some easy, sugar free, tastes-like-a-cookie-but-really-its-healthy joy too.

I love you, banana cookies.

Recipea:

Makes 1-2 dozen cookies.

2 medium ripe bananas
1 cup of rolled oats
2.5 tablespoons of peanut butter

Mash the bananas. Add the oats and PB until combined. Spoon onto a greased baking tray and cook in a 180 degree (C) oven for 5-8 mins or until golden brown.

Let cool and bask in the glory that you spent 10 mins making glorious cookies that are delicious and actually pretty dern good for you.