Sweet potato, orange and peanut rostis

Hot salads huh!  yep, here's another one...well maybe not so much a hot salad as hot rosti topping. Delicious!!

I was inspired by Abel and Cole with this recipe, the original recipe can be found here, I tweaked it to make it gluten free and also oven baked the rostis instead of shallow frying them. They were the perfect texture with a lovely golden coat, so I really can't see how frying could have given a better burger!

This is the second time I have made these burgers and the first time round I also added an extra handful of crushed roasted peanuts as I happened to have some to hand that I'd just roasted, however I didn't have any ready roasted this time around...feel free to through a few in if you fancy!

My salad consisted of a bed of mixed leaves, rocket and cucumber, along with some clementine segments to emphasise the citrussy flavours. I drizzled a little sweet chilli sauce over the top (I admit that part is a little naughty...oops!)

This makes a great light lunch and even a pretty substantial main meal.

For more 'burger' recipes...check these out.

Recipe: Sweet potato orange and peanut rostis

Makes approx 8 rostis

Ingredients:

2 cups sweet potatoes

2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 garlic cloves- crushed

½ tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp fresh grated)

½ tsp chili flakes (more or less to taste)

2 tsp freshly grated orange

A handful of fresh coriander or basil, finely chopped

½ cup chickpea (gram) flour (or other GF flour)

1 tbs chia seeds or flax meal (optional for good measure for binding!)

Method:

Peel and halve the potatoes. Plunge into lightly salted boiling water for 5 mins. Drain and cool.

Meanwhile mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, chili, ginger and zest in a large bowl.

Coarsely grate the cooled sweet potato or squash into the mix. Add the fresh herbs, chia seeds or flax (if using) and chickpea flour and fold through until well mixed. Season to taste. The mixture should be sticky but firm enough to handle. Note: add more flour if too sticky or a little water or orange juice is too dry.

Spoon small handfuls of the mix to form patties on a flour dusted parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly glaze with a little oil if desired.

Bake at 180C for approx 25 minutes until golden. Flip over after 15 minutes.

These keep well in the fridge for a few days, I imagine they would also freeze well although I haven’t tried this.

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.

PB&J granola clusters

It was only a few weeks ago that I made these PB&J no bake bars, the sweetness of the berries and the rich roasted peanuts are such a  great combo I couldn't wait to try out another variation…what better than a new baked granola flavour!

You can make the granola as clusters (my favourite) or as a smaller flake. I like to serve the clusters with a good dollop of vegan yoghurt, this would also be great serve with fresh strawberries, cherries or raspberries too.

What is your favourite way to eat granola? (other than grabbing handfuls out of the bag)  Unfortunately my other favourite way is eating the ‘raw’ granola mix before it even makes it into the oven…it think it almost tastes better than cooked granola, it’s a close call!

Recipe: PB&J granola clusters

Makes one large bowlful

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup oats

2 tbs chia seeds

½ cup roasted peanuts- chopped

2tbs ground flax

2 tbs peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs coconut oil- melted

1 tbs maple syrup or agave

2 tbs sugar free raspberry or strawberry jam

¼ cup mix dried cherries or cranberries- optional

Method

Melt the coconut oil and peanut butter (unless it is already very runny) and add to the other liquid ingredients.

Add all dry ingredients to the wet mixture(except cherries/cranberries) and mix through.

Spoon onto 2 lightly greased baking sheets making sure to achieve a thin even layer with lots of clumpy bits.

Bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden. Add the dried cherries/cranberries to the mixture once cooled. Stores in cupboard for a few weeks.

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.

DAY SEVENTEEN: PB&J chunky granola no-bake bars

At last...Success! 

I first had a go at making these bars over a year ago, at around the time I'd first discovered homemade smoosh bars. However my first attempt didn't go down so well and I attribute this to one critical factor- you must use roasted peanuts!! (ideally roast them yourself for 10 mins in the oven at 200C).  My first attempt just tasted off and didn't have any oomph- roasted peanuts taste so different to raw peanuts with such a depth of flavour. 

This time around I also left the mix a little more chunky and pressed some extra roasted chunks in to the top for good measure. I also changed some other ingredients up a bit and added a good dose of oats to the mix!!

I used a little sugar free strawberry jam and they were very sweet- indulgently decadently sweet, i'd even go so far as saying almost a little too sweet for me (almost... but not quite!)  you could probably use fresh berry 

puree instead for a slightly more subtle flavour or just use a little less jam...they will be perfectly sweet enough from the raisins.

You can use any dried red berries you wish, cherry or even goji if you are going for superfood factor- the sweetness of the jam should compensate for any tartness. This mix would also make a great raw crumble topping instead of packing it down into bars.

Recipe: PB&J granola no bake bars

Makes approx. 10 cubes

Ingredients

100g raisins

50g dried cranberries/cherries

80g roasted peanuts

50g oats (ground) 30g oats (unground)

20g chia seeds (optional)

½ tsp mixed spice

3 tbs sugar free strawberry or raspberry jam

Method

Add raisins, 50g ground oats, chia seeds and spice to a food processor and process for a few seconds to a paste. Add the roasted peanuts, dried berries, jam and remaining oats and pulse until the mixture is sticky and chunky.

Pack the mixture into a suitably sized tin and press some extra peanut chunks into the top. Chill for an hour before slicing into squares.  Alternatively you could form balls and roll in extra nuts.

You can find more no-bake recipes here.

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.

Double PB caramel cookies….’Snookies’

Ok, so we're all familar with these right?

You’ve got your caramel, roasted peanuts, nougat  and chocolate…..well now take a look at these bad boys!

You’ve got your caramel, roast peanuts (actually you’ve got double peanut satisfaction!), cookie and chocolate. The difference here is that the cookie replaces the nougat (a much better swap in my opinion!). Oh and there is the fact that these are much better for you…much better.

So today I give you ‘Snookies’. So named by the Boy (who is still my most appreciative tester). It was he who declared that ‘these cookies are amazing and would taste just like a Snickers bar if only they had a little caramel’ so one batch later and voila…we now have a vegan caramel drizzle! Alas I have yet to test them out on him (not they’ll last that long). All the more reason for a third batch.

These cookies are loosely based on my coconut oatmeal cookies, they don’t taste exactly like an oatmeal cookie but they do have that lovely dense and substantial texture when you bite into them.  I’ve used cacao nibs as my chocolate element for an intense cocoa kick, but you could sub dark chocolate chips of you preferred, you could of course also serve these without the caramel for a ‘double peanut oatmeal cookie’…that still sounds good to me!

The double dose of peanut really hits the spot…a generous dollop of PB and crushed roasted peanuts. Make sure you do use roasted peanuts ( I roasted my own) as they really make these cookies.

For more cookie recipes...find them here.

Recipe: ’Snookies’

Ingredients- cookies

1 cup oats (GF if required*)

½ cup buckwheat flour

3tbs tapioca flour (or other starch)

4 tbs agave and a pinch of stevia to taste

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 heaped tbs peanut butter (smooth or crunchy) make sure its quite drippy

3tbs apple puree

1 tbs ground chia/flax mixed with 3 tbs water

¼ cup soy milk (or other milk)

½ cup roasted peanuts- crushed

¼ cacoa nibs or dark choc chunks

Makes approx. 8 cookies

Method

Mix together wet ingredients in a small bowl- warm slightly if necessary  to get a very drippy mixture. Mix all dry ingredients (except choc and nuts) together in a separate medium bowl and then add wet ingredients. Mix together well.

Add roasted nuts and cacoa nibs last and mix through lightly. 

You should have a stiff dough that it soft enough to spoon and press into cookies using wet fingers (or the back of a spoon) on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 180C for approx. 10 mins until lightly golden.

Ingredients- caramel

½ cup rapadura (or raw granulated sugar)

½ cup soy yoghurt (other vegan yoghurts ay also work)

½ tsp carob powder (optional for a richer colour and flavour)

2 tbs coconut oil

Makes approx. 1/3 cup caramel

Method:

Add the sugar, yoghurt and carob if using, to small pan and mix well on the stove top on a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Once well mixed increase heat slightly and simmer the mixture for approx. 3 minutes until a rich dark colour is reached. Add the coconut oil towrads the end and mix through well.

Allow the caramel to cool slightly before using. Once cool the ‘sauce’ should be fairly thick and solid due to the coconut oil content. Keeping the decorated cookies in the fridge will help the caramel to harden further.

 

* 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.

Satay sauce

It’s still sunny and it has been all week! Today I sat outside at my dad’s house writing up some posts to schedule whilst I am away on holiday next week. However I didn’t sit out too long as it wasn’t the most comfortable bench in the world! I’m just hoping the weather holds next week for my family break in Cornwall…well as long as we have some sun I will be happy!

Anyway, time for food……….

Remember my little teaser from this post at the weekend? Well, the wait is over and if you hadn’t guessed it already this is my current favourite, simple, speedy, no-fuss, super yummy (all my favourite words)… peanut satay sauce.

Even before I became a fan of peanut butter I always loved peanut satay sauce. Particularly on chicken skewers in a Thai restaurant! But now I have my own. I can’t believe I haven’t made it before. To me it tasted pretty much like the real thing but with only 4 ingredients and 2 minutes of time. Yes this is another one of my 5 minutes recipes.

As it was such a lovely spring day last Saturday I fancied a simple light lunch but wasn’t in the mood for salad. So instead here we have simple grilled veggie skewers with a satay marinade and drizzle sauce. It was so good. The drizzle sauce is quite light in colour as it is simply a thinner version of the marinade, you could add extra soy sauce or maybe even a touch of molasses if you want extra colour and depth. I felt it was perfectly tasty enough without.

I think this may even become my new quick snack recipe alternative to veggie sticks and dips, the whole meal took no more than 10 minutes, and you could easily add some carbs or lentils for a more substantial meal.

Want more peanut recipes? Well, I would suggest giving this unusual but yummy soup a try…plus I might just have a PB&J granola recipe currently undergoing a few tests….nom nom nom.
 

Recipe: Satay sauce

Makes one ramekins worth (for roughly one serving of veggie skewers)

Ingredients

2 tbs peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs soy milk
Approx. ½ tsp hot sauce or chipotle pepper sauce (to taste depending on what type you use)

Additional 1-2 tbs soy (or other) milk to thin out once the veggies have been basted in half the sauce.

Method

Mix together all the ingredients to get a fairly thick paste. Coat the veggies and feed onto skewers for grilling. Grill for up to 10 mins turning once.

Meanwhile, you should have about half the sauce remaining. Add additional soy milk until you reach a drizzle consistency. Taste and add extra soy sauce etc if required. Heat the sauce in the microwave for approx. 1 minute on 50% power (not full power as I found it burnt the sauce).
Serve along with the skewers.