Speedy tahini pea and mushroom soup

It seems that every recipe i post at the moment has the '1-minute' or '5-minute' status!

it seems an indication of the direction my life is going...high speed...non stop. I still haven't mastered the art of slooowing down.

I'm still very much enjoying the creativity of recipe development, it's simply that I haven't got the luxury of time to spend longer than about 10 minutes in the actual cooking process. Most ideas swim around my head for a while, collected and pinned amongst various notes on Evernote and only then do they make it into the kitchen- it's the kitchen part where I struggle for time.

My days are pretty hectic at the moment, studying two courses, producing packs of Wholeplus products amongst the work I do with other companies too. 

So, this soup has been a lifesaver, it's flexible- so throw in any small fridge/freezer veg and it tastes so simple and good I've got quite addicted! If you follow my Instagram you'll note I posted varitions on the theme quite a few times... I just didn't get round to photographing it in the daylight!

Well finally I have captured it on camera! Like I say the ingredients are fairly flexible- as long as they are chopped small however I would encourage you to use either frozen endamame beans or peas and mushrooms as the base (ideally chestnut mushrooms for a slightly nuttier flavour). Being someone you has never liked cooked mushrooms this is a big milestone for me and I think the key is the fact that they are only minimally cooked so don't have the slimy texture that I've never liked! Also, if you use noodles- make sure they are the type that cook within approx 5 mins to match the timings I have listed. 

Go and get to it!

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup veg broth

• 2 tsp tahini

• splash of soy sauce to taste 

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• 1 cup frozen peas or endgame

• approx. 2cm circumference brown rice noodles or soba noodles (5 min cook time max.)

• 1 small leek- finely sliced in circles

• 1 cup sliced mushrooms

• 1 cup packed spinach

• Note: other finely cut ingredients optional- i.e. sliced cabbage, sliced peppers...

Method

Whisk wet ingredients together add peas and noodles and bring to the boil. Slice the leek add that, slice the mushrooms and add those for the final 2 minutes cook time. Add spinach (if using) in the final minute.

If using other ingredients (my photos shw red cabbage add those as along with the frozen peas beans).

Serve immediately. 

5-Minute Veggie Noodle comfort

Sometimes the simplest meals are the nicest purely for that reason. A quick, healthy, hot and comforting snack…made all the better with a quick 5 minute turnaround so no slaving over a hot stove. You can sink down into the sofa and relax after a long day when you most need it.

This was actually an accidental dinner that came about as I was prepping a batch of dried chickpeas (I’d soaked them overnight and was just finishing cooking them ready for freezing in small batches) when I realised the time was getting on and I needed to eat…and fast…before I had to head out of the door. I threw some ingredients together and this is what came out!

One of my favourite meals (yet to be featured on the blog) is a peanutty stir fry affair, and this is an even easier speedier version of that principle. Veggies, beans, PB and rice noodles all come together in a nice bowl of winter comfort…well not just winter, any time of the year will do!

To speed everything up I used rice noodles that take just 3-4 minutes to cook, along with some grated carrot, courgette and spinach- which literally took a couple of minutes to heat through, and I also threw in a handful of the chickpeas I’d just finished cooking but you could use any canned beans. Some nice drippy PB and a touch of soy milk if necessary to mix through and you are away. You could also sprinkle some chilli flakes or thai spice seasoning if you fancy…jazz it up any way you like.

Recipe: 5-minute veggie noodles

Serves 1 (easily multiplied)

Ingredients

• 1 portion of dried rice noodles
• 1 smallish carrot
• ½ medium courgette
• Large handful of any beans
• Large handful of spinach
• 1 tbs peanut butter
• 1-2 tbs soy milk (or any non-dairy milk or water) as necessary
• Spicy seasoning to serve if desired

Method

Bring a smallish pan of water to the boil and cook rice noodles for 3-4 minutes (or according to packet instructions). Meanwhile grate carrot and courgette get the beans and spinach ready. Drain the noodles and place back in the pan on low heat, mix through the peanut butter and ‘milk’ if necessary. Once the 'sauce' is warm and drippy add all the veg and mix through for two minutes until just cooked through/wilted.

Serve in a bowl with some extra seasoning sprinkled over as necessary. If your PB has no added salt you may wish to add some soy sauce or a slightly salty seasoning to give a flavour boost.

The mighty mug cake

My new favourite dessert is without a doubt… (drum roll please)…. the Mighty Mug Cake!

It ticks all my criteria:

• Quick and simple to make
• Healthy (as healthy as possible for a dessert) 
• Contains chocolate

Oh, and there are endless variations, which again is important to me as I love experimenting and have an aversion to making exactly the same thing twice!

This is the perfect single serving snack… perfect for when you need a quick fix or a little something to cap off a virtuous dinner. I also think in many ways it makes you even healthier as you don’t have to make a whole batch of cookies or a full size cake which means there are no leftovers to be tempted by on subsequent days (there is a logic there somewhere!)

I will no doubt be sharing more mug cake recipes in the coming weeks and months so please check back!

There are countless vegan mug cake recipes out there on the internet, many with varying ratings and seemingly unpredictable results. In making my first mug cake I combined 'the best' of a number of recipes and had a go. The result was super yummy BUT not healthy in any way, so in order to rectify this and produce a yummy but 'healthy' cake for my blog (and for my life!) I subbed the oil, sugar and flour for healthier versions reducing the oil and using part soy yoghurt in the process. I bet you wouldn't be able to taste the difference!

Recipe: ‘the original’ chocolate mug cake

Serves 1 mug or 2 ramekins (if you can bear to share!)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs wholewheat flour
• 1 tbs rapadura and a few grains of stevia! (approx. 1/8th tsp)
• Tiny pinch salt
• 1 tbs cocoa and 1/3 tsp chocolate extract (or 2 tbs cocoa)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 tbs soy milk
• 1 tbs coconut butter
• 1tbs soy yoghurt or apple puree (I used yoghurt)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs dark chocolate chunks
• 1 tsp choppped nuts (optional)

(Note: in these pictures I'd added fresh orange juice to sub some of the soy milk and some grated orange rind and flesh to the batter to make a chocolate orange cake- super yummy!)

Method:

Place coconut butter, vanilla and soy milk in a mug and melt together until coconut melted. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix together.  

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in the mug and keep mixing until there are no lumps or dry patches of unmixed flour.

Mix half the choc chunks through the mixture and sprinkle the remaining on the top along with nuts if using. 

Cook on full power (900W) in microwave for 1 minute. Check with a cocktail stick until stick comes out almost clean. Cook for 20 seconds more if necessary (up to two times) until cooked.

Note: timing is quite critical so you don't end up with a dry cake!!

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