DAY TWENTY FIVE: Oat bake with tomato and caramelised onions

On a whim I made this little oat bake for my lunch last weekend in the midst of going crazy with 'sweet treat' experiments. I craved something savoury and this is what happened...

For something so experimental I hadn't expected this to be quite so good! I'm not sure what made it quite so yummy, maybe the oat bake, maybe the topping, maybe both...combined with a savoury craving that this really needed satisfying. This sure did the job.

The oat bake was lovely light and moist, that in itself surprised me since I was expecting it to be more of a dense flat bake. Considering it has very little fat and hardly any flour, I was surprised at the delicacy. It also rose nicely with a rustic crust.  I baked it in a small cake ring as a circular guide so for the measurements below I got one serving approx. 2cm deep and 12cm wide. You could always use metal egg poaching rings or even small pie trays?

(picture of the plain oat bake taken with my phone)

For the topping, I wanted to go 'bruschetta' style as this never fails to please, so here we have caramelised onions, vine tomatoes a few shredded basil leaves..... and some beetroot chutney that happened to be sitting in the cupboard (a gift to my dad but he doesn't like beetroot) I thought it could make a great combo. You could use any chutney here to give a flavoursome kick, or leave it out altogether.  The flavours in the oat bake itself could also be adapted to your own taste, I kept it fairly low key as I knew the topping would be the star in the flavour stakes, and the oat bake was to become the texture king. 

I will definitely be making this again...next time I will quadruple the recipe and get my whole family in on the act!

Makes 1 oat bake (approx. 12cm diameter 1 inch thick)

Recipe: Oat bake with tomato and caramelised onions

Ingredients- oat bake

½ cup oats

¼ cup buckwheat flower

½ tsp heaped baking powder

1 tbs ground flax/chia

1 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)

½ tsp stock paste or stock cube to taste

¼ tsp salt (or to taste)

1 tsp soy sauce/liquid aminos

1 tsp olive oil

¼ cup soy yoghurt

Approx. 3 tbs soy milk as needed

Ingredients- topping

1 small red onion- sliced

Handful baby vine tomatoes- halved

Few leaves fresh basil- shredded

2 tbs chutney of choice

Method

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and mix well well to form a thick but easily spoonable batter.

Spoon/pour into a baking rind/mini pie tin/muffin tins. Smooth the top and bake at 180C for approx. 10 mins until risen and just turning golden on top.

Whilst the oat bake is cooking, prepare the onion and fry  for approx. 5 mins until soft and golden, adding the tomato after a couple of minutes. Just before removing from the heat add the chutney  to heat through.

Serve the topping mix over the oat bake and top with shredded basil leaves.

What Vegan MOFO means to me.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Bruschetta…deconstructed!

This recipe is pretty special. It’s simple, summery, colourful and …gluten free. Yup, gluten free crispy baked bruschetta chunks. Simply moreish!

This recipe was inspired by a meal I had with a friend one lunch time a couple of weekends ago. I’m actually rather disappointed that I didn’t take a photo of my ‘bruschetta salad’ starter because my own version of the recipe is spot on, actually it may be even better than the starter I had at the restaurant and its gluten free to boot!

I took the principle of my super simple GF flatbread recipe, once cooked I ripped the flatbreads into rough chunks, lightly coated with a little olive oil and then double baked them. Soooo crispy…so much so that I actually had full on jaw ache by the ache of this bowlful (note: bake for slightly shorter time if you want a slightly less crispy crouton!!)

I used large rings of red onion, ribbons of courgette, peppers and tomatoes as these are my favourite summer salad vegetables and made the perfect colour combo for this dish, but you can vary the veg however you like. Basil and tomato are the traditional bruschetta toppings so don’t skimp in them! I only used a small handful of tomatoes and would have used more for the lovely roasted oozy sweetness they give, but I was running low on supplies at the time.

This salad would make a perfect change from traditional bruschetta and would make a great starter or lunch. Also fab baked as a big batch for a bbq party and tossed onto a large bowl…the vibrant colours and chunks of  crispy crouton will be a hit with everyone…no-one would guess its gluten free!

For more simple gluten free breads see this focaccia bread or this 10-minute pizza.

Recipe: Bruschetta salad

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

½ red onion- sliced into rings

½ courgette- sliced into ribbons

½ medium pepper- sliced thinly

Large handful of cherry tomatoes

1 tbs tomato puree

1 tbs olive oil

½ tsp dried mixed herbs

¼ tsp garlic salt

Fresh basil to garnish

Flatbread (makes two ):

100g gluten free self-raising flour mix*

½ tsp mixed dried herbs

1 tbs ground chia or flax

75g soy yoghurt (or other yoghurt)

25ml water

Pinch salt

1 tbs nutritional yeast (optional)

Method

To make the flatbread, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl to form a soft dough, form two small or one larger flat pattie with hands and then place on a lined baking sheet and bake at 180C for approx. 15 minutes until just cooked.

Meanwhile prepare vegetables and combine with remaining ingredients in a medium bowl to coat well .

Allow baked flatbread to cool slightly and then rip into small rough edged pieces, lightly brush  all over with olive oil (I used approx. 2 tsp worth) and then place back on the baking sheet. Arrange vegetables in an even layer on a separate baking sheet and placed both trays  in the oven for a further 10 minutes or until ‘croutons’ are crisp and vegetables are lightly roasted but still juicy.

Toss together and serve immediately.

golden crispy croutons freshly baked!

* for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Pesto polenta bruschetta

I gave you a little teaser yesterday and now here it is….pesto polenta bruschetta.

The perfect light lunch option, it’s also a lovely twist on tradition since the polenta offers a tasty gluten free alternative to traditional crusty bread.

The recipe is pretty simple, but it’s more the concept that I was going for really. The idea of using polenta as a bruschetta base delicately flavoured with pesto and then topped with a pesto coated bruschetta medley. Perfectly delicate (dare I say it ‘summery’) flavours, you could mix and match with other ingredients to suit your tastes.

The polenta is simply made mixed with water according to the packet instructions. Just add a dollop of pesto to the mixture too. I used quick cook polenta and whipped it up in 3 minutes in my Thermomix, but it would also work in exactly the same way on the hob- just keep stirring until it thickens.

You don’t need to be too precise with the topping ingredients, below is just a guide so just throw in what feels right!

This really does seems like a summery dish, why is that?  What makes some foods comforting winter dishes, like my sweet potato coconut curry or chickpea and lentil soup, and some foods much more ‘spring’ like? Well I am going for the spring option today, we’ve had some glorious warm weather recently although I haven’t spent much time outside in it, and the daffodils are well and truly emerging now.

Spring is most definitely in the air…happy times!

Recipe: Pesto polenta bruschetta

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

Quick cook polenta

Water (amount varies depending on how much polenta used- see polenta packet instructions)

2-3 tbs pesto divided between polenta and the topping

1 onion- chopped finely

2 handfuls tomatoes- chopped

Half a red pepper- chopped

2 handfuls spinach

A few sprigs of fresh basil

Vegan parmesan- optional

Method:

Cook the polenta according to the packet instructions and then pour/spoon immediately into a lined loaf tin (size based on the amount of polenta you’ve cooked up). Allow to cool and set in the fridge.

Once set, cut into 1cm thick slices before frying on a griddle for approx. 5 minutes. each side to achieve a slightly golden crisp coat (mine should have had a little longer ideally). You couod oven bale the polenta. Note any extra polenta can be stored in the fridge for a few days prior to its second cooking.

Meanwhile, prepare the bruschetta topping by combining all the remaining ingredients and toss together with the remaining tablespoon of pesto. 

If serving the polenta hot, heat the topping through before spooning over.  Alternatively, both polenta and topping can be served cold.

Dust with a little vegan parmesan if desired.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.