a tinbox. sort of.

Serbian cooking isn't very vegan traditionally but this baby is. It's really simple and satisfying.

The one I made would have easily fed 8-10 people - feel free to 1/2 the recipe!

Ingredients

2 c long grain rice (I used integral black rice, choose your favourite)

1 c TVP soaked in about 2 c broth

2 medium bunches of flat-leaf parsley

2 large onions, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 kg or so of vegetables - I had zucchini, bell pepper, pumpkin and parsnip - all diced

2 T tomato paste

2 cans of diced tomatoes

4 c veggie broth

1 c TVP soaked in about 2 c broth or cooked beans or chickpeas

500g tempeh or cooked beans or chickpeas

6 cloves garlic

2 T smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven on 180 C/ 350 F

Ideally pick a big dish that can go both in the oven and on the flame

Heat some olive oil on medium

Sauté the onions, carrots and bell pepper if using with some salt and pepper, until tender

Add the garlic and continue sautéing until fragrant

Add the tomato paste and paprika, stir

Add all the other ingredients and stir well. Taste and season as necessary.

Ingredients

Marinara

3 T olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

3 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 T tomato paste

2 tins of whole peeled tomatoes 

3 chipotles in adobo sauce (optional, adds a kick; sub for some chilioh flakes or smoked paprika for a milder version)

2c veggie broth

2 T dried Italian herbs

3 T coconut sugar or other sweetener

salt and pepper

Pumpkin and feta layer

2 kg pumpkin, diced in 1/2 inch dice

1 large onion, minced

3 T olive oil

4 cloves garlic, finely diced

2 t salt

2 t freshly cracked black pepper

1 batch of the best vegan feta ever (you’ll need super firm tofu, deodorised coconut oil, onion powder, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice)

Leek and mushrooms

2 leeks, halved, cleaned, thinly sliced

2 c dried mushrooms (a mix of shiitake and porcini, from Asian stores), put to rehydrate in a bowl with 2c boiling water.

3 T olive oil

1 T freshly cracked black pepper

2 t salt

4 cloves garlic, thinly diced

And

18-20 sheets lasagna

2 T olive oil

1/2 c vegan mozzarella or cream cheese for the topping (optional)

fresh flat parsley or oregano for topping (optional)

Methods

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C

While it heats, start the marinara: sauté the onion, carrot and celery in olive oil with 1t salt, stirring occasionally.

When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and fry for about 1 minute, until it begins to caramelise.

Add the tins of tomato (rinse them and add the water to the pot too) and the rest of the ingredients. Scrape well the bottom of the pan to release all that had started to stick. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 1/2h.

In a big salad bowl, stir well the pumpkin, salt, pepper and olive oil, to coat

Spread the pumpkin on a prepared baking sheet, add the garlic and onion on top. Bake for about 25 minutes, until fork tender.

Sauté leek, salt and oil in a medium pan.

Remove the mushrooms from their soaking water, keeping the water. Squeeze them as much as you can and dice them.

Add to the leek along with the cracked pepper, stir, and sauté everything for 10-15 minutes, until everything is tender. By the end, deglaze with the mushrooms soaking water.

Process the marinara with a stick mixer, until relatively smooth.

Prepare a large baking dish (mine was about 50x50cm, 10cm deep): spread the olive oil and about 1.5 c marinara at the bottom.

Lay a first layer of lasagna sheets.

Spread evenly the roasted pumpkin, spread about 2c marinara on top and the feta.

Add a sheet of lasagna and spread the leek mixture and a little bit of marinara.

Put a last layer of lasagna sheets and spread evenly the remaining marinara on top. Add 1/2 c water in your empty marinara pan, swirl and add this water to the lasagna pan as well, aiming at the sides (so the water goes down to the bottom).

Bake for about 45 minutes. 15 minutes before the end, add the cream cheese or mozzarella on top.

It’s bastardised because I substituted part of the white flour for coarse oat flour and used bananas instead of eggs. Anyways, I think it’s much better than the original, there you go!

Dry ingredients

1c rolled oats, processed into flour

1c white flour (or a mix, white/wholemeal)

1c raw sugar

1T baking powder

1T cinnamon powder

1t ginger powder

Wet ingredients

2 very ripe bananas

3/4c non-dairy milk 

1t salt

1/2c melted coconut oil

zest and juice of 1 organic lemon

Add-in

600-700g of ripe plums

a little bit of coconut oil and sugar

Directions

preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 F

prepare a cake dish (for me: a square one, approx. 25x25cm) by slightly greasing it with coconut oil and sprinkling some sugar on the bottom (approx. 2-3 T)

halve the plums removing the pits, and arrange them more or less snuggly with the cut side down into the baking dish. you will need approx. 2/3 of the plums for this, and the rest will go on the top.

put the dish with the plums only in the oven for about 10 minutes, while you prepare the batter

for the batter, first mix well all the dry ingredients in a medium/large bowl

process all the wet ingredients into a smooth mix (either mash the bananas with a fork or best process everything in a nutribullet kind of thing)

add the wet to the dry and mix quickly with a spatula

distribute the batter over the half-baked plums, and arrange the rest of the plums on top, cut side up. sprinkle with a little more sugar and bake for 35-40 minutes (a knife inserted should come out clean)

enjoy as is or with some plant-based vanilla ice-cream and an extra sprinkle of cinnamon!

Note!

Got bananas getting old and organic lemons? Life’s good.

You’ll need:

dry

1.5 c rolled oats, processed into coarse flour

1 c raw sugar

1/4 c wholemeal flour

1/4 c rolled oats

zest of 2 organic lemons

1 T baking powder

1 T psyllium husk

1 t ground ginger

1/2 t ground cardamom (optional)

1/2 t fine sea salt

wet

2 very ripe bananas

1/2 c non-dairy milk

1/2 c melted coconut oil (could be a bit less as well)

juice of 2 lemons

All right!

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 F & prepare a bread pan or similar (I used a squared one, about 25x25cm, for a flatter version).

Mix well all the dry ingredients together, in a big-ish bowl; mash the bananas or process them with the non-dairy milk. When the oven is hot, add all the wet to the dry and mix quickly. Add more oats / more non-dairy milk, if the mixture is too runny / too dry.

Bake for approx. 30 minutes - a knife inserted should come out clean.

Let the cake cool. Optionally, add a glaze (in my case: 2 T powdered coconut sugar + a little bit of lemon juice, sprinkled with coconut shreds).

Enjoy!

This is a 2-in-1 and it takes quite some time to marinate but other than that it’s a breeze.

Ingredients 

6-8 portions if used as nacho filling or 4-6 portions as main-ish event

Marinade

1.5 c beer (IPA style)

3 T olive oil

3 T already made mango salsa (or sub with pureed mango or some more sugar)

2 T raw sugar

2 T lime juice

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 chili, deseeded and finely diced

1 t salt

1 t freshly cracked black pepper

2 t organic lemon or lime zest (optional)

Tofu and eggplant

approx. 900 g firm tofu

2 medium-large eggplants

approx. 1/4 c salt (some cheap variety will do)

Method

the day before:

slice the tofu in approx. 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick slabs, tap it dry with a clean cloth and press it for about 1h to get much of the liquid out 

prepare the marinade directly in a dish that will fit all the tofu as well (I used a glass pound cake pan): first whisk the sugar into the beer to dissolve, and then add all the other ingredients and mix well

slice the tofu in bitesize pieces and arrange into the plate with the marinade so it’s all covered 

place in the fridge overnight

D-day

2+h before dinner

wash the eggplants and gut them in thin sticks (approx. 5 cm long and 5mm sides)

as you go, pile the eggplant sticks in a colander and sprinkle each layer with A LOT of salt (don’t worry it will be rinsed off)

set the colander with eggplants over a plate and leave it for about 1h. the eggplants will release a lot of brownish liquid

1h before dinner

preheat the oven on 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C

prepare a large baking tray or two smaller ones

rinse the eggplants and drop them in a large bowl with water. stir them around to wash the remaining salt

rinse quickly the colander you used

take a handful of eggplant strips from the water, squeeze out as much water as you can and put in a colander. repeat with the rest of the strips

remove tofu pieces from the marinade and arrange them on the baking tray with some space between them

reserve 1/4 c of the marinade for brushing the tofu

put the eggplant strips in a bowl and stir in the rest of the marinade

place the eggplants on a tray but packed together (you want them moist and tender, not dried out)

bake for approx. 45 minutes, checking after 20 minutes (flip the tofu pieces at this point and stir a bit the eggplant)

I prepared a dish that is about 30x40 cm and it happily fed four hungry adults.

Ingredients

Crust:

2 c rolled oats (certified GF if you need a GF recipe)

1/2 c wholemeal flour or use a GF flour or an additional 2/3 c rolled oats

3/4 c olive oil

1/4 c sesame seeds (optional; can replace with other seeds or extra oats)

3T cumin seeds (optional)

2T psyllium husk (not absolutely necessary but works to keep the dough together)

2t salt

1t black pepper

Filling:

700g squash (weighted with pips and all)

600g silken tofu (feel free to use less tofu and more squash, or the opposite)

2 bunches of spring onions OR 1 large yellow onion

6 knobs of garlic, or more or less

2T lemon juice

2T miso paste (optional; can replace with 1T soy sauce or 1t salt)

2 t salt

2 t freshly cracked black pepper

2 pinches of black salt (optional, gives an egg-y taste)

olive oil

Topping:

spring: asparagus, cherry tomatoes

summer: zucchini, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper

autumn-winter: red onions, broccoli

chopped parsley or basil (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C, 350 degrees F

Peel the pumpkin and cut it in approx. 1 inch cubes or smaller. It doesn’t have to be very regular, but the smaller, the faster it bakes

Peel and cut the garlic in not too small chunks

Put the pumpkin, the garlic and 3T olive oil in the dish you will be using for the quiche, mix well and sprinkle with 1t salt and 1t pepper

Bake in the oven until the pumpkin is tender, about 20 min

In the meanwhile, prepare the dough: 

blitz the oats in a food processor to get a coarse flour. It’s also ok to leave them as they are!

mix all the dry ingredients of the dough

add the oil and rub the mix between your hands go get a “wet sand” mixture

add just enough water for the dough to hold together, little by little

if your dough is too wet, you can add some more rolled oats

form a ball and then roll out thinly, between two sheets of parchment paper*, roughly at the size of your dish

Sauté the topping veggies with some olive oil, until slightly browned; keep aside on a plate

Chop the (spring) onions and sauté for a few minutes with some olive oil and a pinch of salt; keep aside

When the pumpkin is baked, put all the filling ingredients in a bowl, scraping all the pumpkin and garlic from the dish (no need to wash it); process into a puree; taste and add salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice if needed; fold in the sautéed (spring) onions

Place the dough into the dish and press it if it needs so it comes about 1 inch up the sides

Add the filling and any toppings you want except the fresh herbs

Bake for about 40 minutes; for a glazy result, pull it out of the oven halfway through and very lightly brush with olive oil

Ingredients

For one 30 cm / 13 inch - ish dish

Crust

1 1/4 c rolled oats (certified GF for a GF recipe)

1/4 c rice protein powder - or 6 more tablespoons of oats

1/4 c coconut oil, solid

1/4 c date syrup

2 T cacao powder

1 t cinnamon

3/4 t salt

3/4 t ground cardamom seeds (optional)

Filling

220 g silken tofu

100 g good quality vegan dark chocolate

1.5 T coconut oil

1/4 c date syrup

1 pinch ground cardamom (optional)

Topping

5 medium/large oranges

Method

preheat the oven at 180 degrees C/ 350 F

prepare a spring form pan

pulse together all the crust ingredients until the oats are roughly processed and everything starts to clump together; you might need to scrape the sides of the processor a couple of times with a spatula

press the crust dough into the pan so that it’s roughly even and rises about 1.5 cm / 1/5 inch on the sides of the pan

bake for about 15-20 minutes until it starts smelling toasty (it will still be a bit soft, that’s ok, it will become crunchy when cooling down)

while the shell is baking, prepare the filling:

melt together the chocolate and the coconut oil in a double boiler

in the meanwhile, process the tofu and date syrup (adding a splash of water or plant-based milk if too rigid)

add the melted chocolate and cardamom to the processor, and process until well combined

spread the filling evenly in the crust (first let the crust cool down for 5 minutes)

peel the oranges using a sharp knife: slice the peel on both ends, place one of the sliced sides on the board, and then remove segments of peel slicing from top to bottom, removing the minimum of peel but making sure you do remove the white surface

cut the oranges in half and remove the inner white core

slice them in 5mm slices

I got the idea from the Afro-Vegan - a very cool book, highly recommended (special mention for the soundtrack recommendations!). My problem is, I can’t be fucked to follow recipes (and I may or may not have been slightly irritated by the author insisting that each recipe should really be followed exactly at least the first times, before starting to diverge. My inner teenager was screaming that she’d do whatever the fuck she wants). I love cookbooks for inspiration though.

Anyways, here’s roughly what I’ve done, and if it can inspire you too, yay!

Ingredients (6 solid portions)

Base

2T coconut or olive oil

1 large onion, thinly diced

6 cloves of garlic, thinly diced

4 T grated ginger

1.5t cayenne

2t salt

Veg*

2* 400g (14 oz) cans of chickpeas

4-5c of root vegetables in bite-size dice (I had squash and parsnips; swedes, carrots or potatoes would work great too)

3 red peppers from a jar (conserved in brine), diced (optional)

1/2c flat parsley leaves, chopped

diced parsley stalks 

Broth

3/4c tomato paste

1c crunchy peanut butter** 

enough broth to cover the veg (about 5c)

Howto

Prepare your base ingredients and veg, have your broth ingredients nearby. 

Pro trick: put the onion, garlic and veggie peels in a small pot with enough water to cover + salt and have it simmering while you prepare the rest - you can use this home-made broth in the recipe or for making quinoa.

sauté all the base ingredients except the garlic for a few minutes, until the onion is softened and everything is fragrant

add the garlic and continue sautéing for 30 seconds

add the tomato paste and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, until the tomato paste starts to caramelise

add the broth and scrape well the bottom of the pan

add the veggies except parsley leaves and the peanut butter, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes, until the veggies are tender (you don’t want them overcooked though), stirring now and then

fold in 3/4 of the parsley leaves, leaving some for sprinkling on top

serve with some fluffy quinoa or rice

* You could also use only chickpeas, only winter veg or any proportion of both

Approximate ingredients:

2c jumbo oats (certified GF if needed), processed into flour

2c dates

2 organic oranges, zest and juice

1c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix or something) or the equivalent of cooked pumpkin in any shape or form

1/3c melted coconut oil

2t psyllium  husk (can be omitted! you might just need to bake a bit longer, to compensate for the extra liquid that won’t have been soaked up by the psyllium)

1t cinnamon

1t ground ginger

1t ground cardamom seeds (optional but real nice)

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

For the glaze (optional): 1/2c grapefruit or orange jam, juice and zest of 1/2 orange.

This requires a food processor OR blender but if you don’t have one, I have an alternative, below.

Ultra quick and easy:

preheat the oven, 180 degrees/ 350F

zest and squeeze the oranges in a medium bowl, and heat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes

add the dates to the hot orange juice, stir a bit and leave covered for 5 minutes

prepare an oven dish (for me, approx. 20 x 20 cm)

in another medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients

process the dates and orange juice into a smooth puree (with a stick blender or in a food processor)

add the pumpkin and coconut oil to the blended dates and incorporate

add all the dry ingredients and stir to combine

put into the oven dish, smooth, and bake for not too long - approx. 15 minutes for a very sticky cake. You can bake longer if you want a dryer cake.

when it’s ready, tip it onto a plate and cover if you want with heated/melted jam and orange juice

Enjoy it as it is, or with some coconut yoghurt.

Edit

I re-made the cake with an alternative glaze and a hard dark chocolate top and IT’S THE BOMB! 

The extra ingredients are:

Glaze (instead of the glaze above):

1/2c grapefruit jam, 1/3c pumpkin puree, juice and zest of 1/2 orange

Chocolate top:

100g of high quality dark chocolate

I processed that alternative glaze into a smooth paste, and spread it evenly over the cake (top and sides). I then gently melted the chocolate and carefully poured it over the cake. I smoothed it then with a spatula. Before putting in the fridge to set, I cut in very thin slices the 1/2 orange I had left over and used it to decorate.

Notes

If you don’t have a blender, you can substitute the dates with 2/3c date syrup, or with 2/3c sugar. In the last case, you might have to add a little bit of extra liquid to the batter (water or soy milk). Instead of jumbo oats, get oat flour (about 1.5c) or just porridge oats.

Quite happy with this experiment, so here you go!

Dry ingredients

2c rolled oats (certified GF if needed)

2/3 c coconut sugar

1/3 c shredded dry coconut

1/3 c sorghum flour or other flour (GF if needed)

30g pea or rice protein powder

2 t psylium husk (you can omit, the cookies will be crumblier but it’s survivable!)

2 t ginger poweder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

Wet ingredients

1/2 c coconut oil, melted

zest of a lemon

juice of a lemon

up to 1/2c soy milk or water

Fold in: 1/2c cranberries, and more for topping if you want

Instructions

preheat the oven to 350F/180C

prepare a baking sheet

process the oats into a coarse flour, using a food processor or blender stick. if you don’t have any, you could leave them as they are.

mix well all the dry ingredients

add the coconut oil and rub between your hands until the oil is spread through the mass and it resembles wet sand

add the lemon juice and 1/4c soy milk or water. work the dough with your hands until it holds together without being too sticky. add more soy milk or water if needed, a little at a time

add the cranberries and fold in

form 8-10 cookies - take about 2T of dough, roll into a ball and flatten slightly

add more cranberries on top if you want

But as per usual I eyeballed it, so here are the approximate measures, mainly for me to do it again (and weigh stuff, ffs):

Dry

2 c rolled or wholegrain oats

1/3 c wholemeal flour

1/3 c sugar

1.5 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 T cinnamon

2 t ginger powder

1 t ground cardamom powder

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 t salt

Wet

2c dates (the cheap dry kind) soaked in 1c boiling water for 15-30 minutes

1 1/2 c pumpkin puree 

1/2 c melted coconut oil

1/2 c soy milk 

2T ground flaxseed

2 T maple syrup or date syrup (optional)

2 t apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

Optional

fold in: 3/4 c pecans or other nuts

glaze: 1/4 c date syrup whisked with 1T water

Howto

soak the dates in boiling water if you haven’t already

preheat the oven on 350F/180C

prepare a dish approx. 20x20 cm

process 1.5 c of the oats into coarse flour, and mix well with all the other dry ingredients

process the dates into puree and mix well with all the other wet ingredients

add some soy milk or water if the batter is too dry - you want a heavy, sticky consistency

add the dry to the wet and mix just until you don’t see any flour. add 1/2c of the pecans, fold, and pour into the dish

bake for about 30-40 minutes - a knife inserted won’t come out completely clean but shouldn’t be completely covered in dough either...

Ingredients (for 12-15 medium-sized cookies):

1.5 c rolled oats, processed into flour*

3/4 c unprocessed coconut sugar (or other unprocessed sugar or white sugar - you might want to reduce a bit the amount, in this case)

1/2 c shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 c unsweetened pea protein**

1/4 c coconut oil, melted

2 organic oranges (zest of both, juice of one. eat the other one, it’s good for you)

3-4 T soy milk or other plant-based milk or water

2 t ground ginger

0.5 t baking soda

0.5 t salt

1/4 c dried papaya cubes (omit if you can’t find them or replace with other dried fruit, e.g. banana, mango, apricots, or with fresh blueberries)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 F

Prepare a baking sheet

If you have the time, mix first the orange zest and 2T of the sugar, and let it sit up to 2 days. This will diffuse the orange-y taste.

In a bowl, mix well all the dry ingredients except papaya cubes, if using

Add the melted coconut oil, mix again

Add the orange juice and 2T of the soy milk and mix the dough with the hands - check the consistency: you want a slightly sticky dough, that holds together. If it feels dry, add a little bit of soy milk or water - just enough till you reach the right consistency

Take 2T of the dough, roll in a ball and flatten slightly; place on the sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough

Press a few cubes of dried fruit into each cookie, if using

Bake for about 10 minutes (softer cookies) to 12 minutes (crunchier) in the lower part of the oven - check after 8 or so minutes, you want the edges to start to brown.

*  sub with 1 1/4 c of oat flour or just use non-processed oats, if you don’t have the kind of appliance for that; use GF certified for a GF recipe

I made them for the builders (who I presume are not vegan, although I might be wrong), and they asked me for the recipe!

I had eyeballed it as usually, but here’s a rough version.

Ingredients (for about 12 cookies):

2.5 C rolled oats (certified GF if needed)

1/2 C peanut butter

1 T coconut oil

3/4 C sugar

1/2t salt

Just enough soy milk for the right consistency (probably 2/3 c)

6 T of favourite jam (I used raspberry)

How to

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 F

Prepare a baking sheet

Warm the PB and coconut oil in the microwave, till coconut oil is liquid (about 1 minute) 

Add 1/2c soy milk and stir to incorporate

Add the oats, sugar and salt, and mix in everything (with the hands!)

Add soy milk a little bit at a time, if needed to have a mass that holds together but isn’t too sticky

Take a small amount (about 2T) of the mass, roll in a ball, flatten slightly and make a little pit (I used a 1/2T measuring spoon)

Put on the baking sheet and repeat till you’ve used the whole mass

Bake for 15ish minutes

While the cookies are baking, heat the jam so it’s liquid (microwave or - safer- by placing the glass jar or any heat-resistant dish with jam in a little pot with boiling water)