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Coconut & raspberry pudding – dairy free & vegan friendly

coconut & raspberry pudding

Great as a dessert, even better as breakfast, my simple coconut & raspberry pudding, which is dairy free and vegan friendly.

You will need;

  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon agar agar
  • 2 cups raspberries
  • 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut

Check out my YouTube video, on how to make this simple pudding. You can make it in advance and it will keep well covered in the fridge for a few days.

I am inspired by all the fresh produce at my local market in Tavira. Today I picked up a large punnet of fresh raspberries and couldn’t wait to get home to make this delicious dessert. I divided the mix into three, 2 desserts for today, and 1 breakfast is ready for me tomorrow. I will add a little bit of home made granola to create a delicious and filling plant based breakfast.

Let me know if you try this recipe. I don’t add extra sugar to the milk mixture, but you may like to add a teaspoon of sugar if you have a sweet tooth.

It’s very hot here today, too hot for cooking, but this simple dish is perfect chilled to enjoy under the shade of a carob tree. The dogs are shuffling around the kitchen to keep cool, so it’s Ginger and Bird my Hungarian Vizsla you may be able to hear in the background.

I don’t use exact measurements, use a tea cup if you don’t have a proper cup measurement – its the same thing!

Thanks for stopping by, have a beautiful day!

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Nutella made the vegan way

nutella

My home made dairy free, gluten free, vegan friendly version of Nutella couldn’t be easier! You will be shocked how much sugar is contained in the store bought original Nutella and similar products. I will show you how much sugar the store bought contains, versus my simple home made version using a high grade dark chocolate.

Join me in my tiny kitchen, in a little rented cottage in the middle of an orange grove, close to Tavira, Algarve, Portugal. I really enjoy making all my food from scratch, based on what I find at the market each day. Sometimes I fancy something sweet, rich and chocolatey. This spread is great to use in baking to make vegan delicious French Pain au chocolate. Or straight out of the jar, by the spoonful!

Here’s my simple vegan nutella recipe:

  • 410g hazelnuts (3 cups)
  • 100g dark chocolate (half to 3 quarters of a cup)
  • 1 pinch of sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Bake the hazelnuts in the air fryer (highest setting) for 3-4 minutes. They burn very quickly so be careful. You could toast them in a fry frying pan instead. Melt the chocolate and add the salt and vanilla extract. Add all the ingredients to the blender and run at full power until smooth. Pour into a container and allow to set.

Enjoy! Let me know if you like this vegan Nutella recipe, I’m happy to answer any questions.

Thanks for stopping by, have a beautiful day. #veganeats #vegannutella #dairyfree #wholefood #plantbased

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Fakeaway time! KFT – Kentucky Fried Tofu in the airfryer.

You love KFC but you’ve decided to eat more plants? Let’s talk about KFT – Kentucky (style) air fried tofu. My husband was a big fan of KFC until I switched us to a 100% plant based diet 10 years ago. He was reluctant to try my KFT at first, but now he asks me to make it every week, the man is completely obsessed, especially when it’s drizzled in my hasty sweet and sour pineapple sauce.

You will see that KFT does involve using a lot of ingredients, but that’s how KFC get their delicious crispy flavour packed coating. The only ingredient missing from the original recipe, which would give it extra pizazz is MSG. I don’t cook with it, but it doe’s take it to the next level.

KFT – Airfried tofu ingredients

  • 1 cup extra firm tofu
  • 1 cup all purpose white flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened plant milk
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
  • 1 large pinch ground sea salt
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1 tbsp mixed herbs
  • 0.5 tsp celery salt
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 0.5 tsp black pepper
  • 0.5 tsp dry mustard powder
  • 0.5 tsp white pepper
  • 0.5 Tsp ground ginger
  • 0.5 tsp Chinese 5 spice
  • Handful of cornflakes
  • 1 cup of pineapple juice
  • 1 tsp cornflour + dash of ACV
  • 0.5 tsp nigella seeds – optional
  • Spray oil.

Method for crispy Tofu

Get your hands on some extra firm tofu. Drain away the water from the tofu and crumble it into bite size pieces. Put the plant milk and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar into a bowl and mix. You have just made vegan buttermilk. Mix all the four and all the spices in a separate bowl. Pick up a piece of tofu, let it have a swim in the buttermilk, scoop out and douse in the flour/spice mixture. Do all of them, and get ready to repeat.

Now you’re going to need to smash up the cornflakes and add them to the flour mix. Repeat the dip and roll process, making sure lots of cornflake mix is stuck to your tofu. Place the pieces in the airfryer (I use baking paper to avoid too much mess and washing the air fryer pan) and spray with a little bit of oil.

Cook for 8 minutes on high before turning and cooking for a further 5-7 minutes. The cooking time will depend on your airfryer. The important thing to note is that you don’t need to worry about the tofu being undercooked, like you would chicken.

Sweet and sour sauce.

Your KFT is ready! Now for the sauce. Mix cornflour with the pineapple juice and heat until thickened. Add a dash of apple cider vinegar. Sprinkle in some nigella seeds too if you’re feeling fancy.

Video coming soon, stay tuned!

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Butternut squash & yellow split pea dahl

A rainy day in Algarve, so lets make a dahl. You can hear the rain in the background, my feet were soaked as I filmed next to the open door for optimum natural light.

For my dahl, I like to cook the veggies separately in the airfryer because they require less oil and they can be roasting on a high heat (check regularly) whilst I get on with the rest of the dish.

I also cook the split yellow peas separately, as I cook extra to use in other recipes. Once cooked, I keep surplus peas in the freezer in a bag.

Slice onion and butternut squash, drizzle over mustard oil, and roast on baking paper in airfryer for 20minutes on 200°C

Dahl ingredients

  • 1 large red onion – sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves – crushed
  • 1 thumb ginger – grated
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon black onion seeds
  • 2 tablespoons garam masala
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 small butternut squash – cubed
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon veg stock powder or stock cube
  • 1 tablespoon mustard or coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon tomato puree.
  • 2 cups cooked yellow split peas
  • 4 plum tomatoes chopped
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • Pinch sea salt
  • To decorate
  • 1 diced mango
  • Coriander or chives

In a pan, put black onion seeds, grated ginger, crushed garlic, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, garam masala with a teaspoon of oil. Warm gently to release the flavours, it’s important not to burn the spices or the garlic. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, tomato paste, garlic powder, veg stock and salt. Cook for a few minutes before adding a cup of water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the cooked yellow peas, roasted veg and the can of coconut milk. Gently heat again to simmer then its ready!

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Leek and pear soup

Leek and pear soup is simple, quick and exceptionally tasty. I’ve used asian flavours, which go perfectly for this sweet and sour soup.

The only way you can ruin this leek and pear soup is by adding too much salt or soy, or by burning the veg so avoid adding too much extra salt, and ensure veg is gently fried on a medium heat. It needs to be soft so that the pear is very soft and coating the veg. The sweetness from the pear balances the salt from the soy, stock cube and salt. . Note that you should add the sesame oil at the end when serving, as this oil is best for flavour, not for cooking. Add the vinegar at the end too, because we don’t want it to evaporate.  

Leek and pear soup ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon Hatcho miso (any miso will do)
  • 1 veg stock cube
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 or 2 star anise
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 grated or crushed garlic clove
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • Black & white pepper – at least a pinch
  • 1 small leek
  • 1 pear
  • 1 stick celery
  • 4 scallions/spring onions
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil
  • Pinch of Piri Piri salt – or standard sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • Chives or coriander/cilantro

Soup base – stock

Grate the ginger (I keep the root in my freezer) and the garlic. Put the garlic, ginger, veg stock cube, bay leaf, miso, soy sauce, black & white pepper, star anise in a saucepan with roughly 3 cups of boiling water. Leave to simmer whilst prepping the veg.

Leek and pear prep

Chop the leek, pear, celery & spring onions/scallions. Gently fry with 1 teaspoon coconut oil and a pinch of chilli or normal sea salt flakes. Cook until soft. Pour the stock onto the softened (not browned) veg & pear mixture. Add rice vinegar and sesame oil. Serve with fresh herbs or your choice.

Saucepans – 1 or 2 it’s up to you.

You could cook this is one pan, however, I like the stock to have a head start for the flavours to develop whilst I am prepping the veg.

Fussy eaters

If you have fussy eaters in the house, remove the star anise and bay leaf then liquidise the soup. Works for my husband every time – he thinks he doesn’t like leeks!