Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Nothing beats gravy and mash potato. This vegan twist on the traditional shepherd’s pie combines veggie sausages with brown lentils to create the filling, and sweet potato mustard mash for the topping. Served with spinach in tomato on the side, this rainbow coloured dish covers a lot of nutritional bases. Calcium in the sesame seeds and soya sausages, iron in the spinach and its complementary vitamin C in the tomatoes.

prep 1 hour

serves 4

For the topping:

600g sweet potatoes

10grams vegan butter

Splash of oat milk

Spoonful of mustard

For the filling:

250g brown lentils

6 veggie sausages

250g mushrooms

3 clove garlic

Pinch of salt

4 handfuls sesame seeds

200ml stock

Can of tomatoes

On the side:

200g spinach

Leek, sliced

Boil lentils for 25 minutes. Chop potatoes into 2” pieces and put on to boil for 20 minutes. Grill veggie sausages as per instructions. Chop mushrooms and fry in garlic and salt. Add sesame seeds. Once sausages are cooked, chop into pieces and add to mushrooms. Once potatoes are cooked, add butter, milk and mustard and mash. Once lentils are cooked, mix in with mushrooms and sausages to create the filling. Take one pyrex dish, pour in the filling. Mix the stock with half a can of tomatoes and pour over filling. Top with the mash. Place in oven at gas mark 4 / 180 / 160 fan, for 20 minutes. Prepare your side of greens in a large saucepan. Fry the leeks in a little oil, add spinach, then tomaotoes. Place lid on pan and allow spinach to wilt. Serve pie with spinach on the side.

Vegan Tortilla Espanola

Craving omlette? Chickpeas contain all but one of your essential amino acids, and chickpea flour can be used as a n egg substitute. The unique flavour of fried vegetables in an omelette got me experimenting with chickpea flour after seeing a recipe in Stephen Walsh’s book Plant Based Nutrition and Health. I could not find any gram flour in my local shops, so I made my own by grinding dry chickpeas in my nutribullet with their special grinder blade. The taste was an authentic, filling meal that could be eaten as is, or wrapped in bread to make a sandwich: un bocadillo de tortilla espanola, reminding me vividly of my time in Spain.

Prep time 30 minutes

Serves 1

Batter: 100g chickpea flour, 150 ml water

Drizzle of oil

60g Onion chopped

100g sweet potato finely diced

One third of a green pepper chopped

80g spinach

Dollop of tahini

Drizzle oil in a non stick frying pan with a lid. Add onions, sweet potato and peppers and put the lid on. While potatoes are cooking make the batter in a jug. To mix batter, first make a paste with a little water then add water gradually. Once potatoes are cooked, add spinach to frying pan. Drizzle some more oil and allow to heat up. On a medium heat, pour batter over the cooked vegetables in the pan. Shake the pan regularly to avoid sticking. Use a plastic spatula to lift the edges and help avoid sticking. After 5 minutes your tortilla is porbably ready to be flipped. Unless you have a tortilla frying pan, yes they do exist, you will have to flip the tortilla in halves using your large “turner” spatula. The surface underneath should be golden brown. Keep shaking the pan. After another five minutes your tortilla is ready.

Beans and Greens 15 Minute Wrap


Pushed for time, or can’t be bothered to cook, wraps make the perfect slap up meal. Combining beans with greens, mushrooms, garlic and nut butter, the flavours and textures combine to make a satisfying meal.

Prep: 15 minutes

per person:

50g kale

stock (to cook kale)

1 clove of garlic, sliced

60g mushrooms chopped

80g black beans

30g couscous

2 x tortillas

15g nut butter, spread on wrap

lemon juice on kale

3 tsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Chop the kale and put on to boil in stock. Lightly fry garlic. Chop mushrooms and fry with garlic. Add beans to mushrooms. Prepare couscous with boiling water in a bowl. Spread generous helping of nut butter on wrap. After ten minutes, drain kale and place in a bowl, drizzle with lemon juice. Pour mushrooms and beans into the bowl. Bring couscous to the table and prepare your wraps. Either layer couscous, mushrooms and kale, or pre mix the three ingredients in frying pan to make a tasty salad. Build wrap, and add nutritional yeast for nutrient boost and cheese like flavour.

Seitan, Leek and Mushroom Pie

The vegan version of chicken pie, this is the perfect winter warmer. The seitan, half tofu, half wheat, is rich in nutrients, softens in the oven as it absorbs the flavours of the spices. Mushrooms and leek wrapped in white sauce add to the succulence with a touch of clove for an added dimension.

Serves 4

Prep 1 hour

Generous drizzle oil

200g leek or onion chopped

Curry leaves, cumin, cloves, salt and pepper

250g mushrooms

Another generous drizzle oil

225g seitan, shredded by hand into 1-2” chunks

3 tsp corn flour

200ml of oat or soya milk

2 – 3 tbsp nut butter

320g pastry (or enough to cover your pyrex dish)

260g spinach, on the side

can of beans, on the side

Take a large frying pan and add the ingredients in the order listed above, from oil to seitan, over a medium heat, stirring frequently. The time is takes to cut the next veg should be enough time for the previous item to fry. Sprinkle the corn flour over the ingredients and stir. Add milk and gently stir, a thick sauce should appear after a few minutes. Stir in nut butter. Preheat oven to 180 / 160 degrees fan assisted, gas mark 4. Roll out pastry and line pyrex dish. Pour in contents of frying pan. Cover dish with pastry lid and prick holes to allow steam out when cooking. Bake on middle shelf for 45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. With 5 or 10 minutes to go, boil your green and beans on the hob, and serve.

I had some green beans left over, see picture, but add black beans for a nutritional medley to accompany your pie!

Vegan Garlic “Mussels”

Inspired by a recipe in ‘Vegan Food and Living’ these garlic mushroom “mushels” are made with shitake mushrooms and plenty of garlic. Rich in B vitamins, serve with beans and kale for an extra health kick. Tarragon adds an umami dimension while white wine and lemon sets off the juice. After over a decade of being vegan, without anything like mussels, this was a real treat.

Prep time 30min

Serves 3

Drizzle of oil

One medium onion, diced

5 – 6 cloves of garlice, sliced

150g shitake mushrooms, sliced

generous sprinkle of tarragon

5 tbsp lemon juice

generous sprinkling of kelp (optional)

can of coconut milk

150ml stock

150ml wine

100g kale

can of white beans

black pepper

handful of parsley (add 5 minutes towards the end)

In a large frying pan, add the oil, onion, garlic, mushrooms, tarragon, lemon juice and kelp. Once the mushrooms and onion are lightly fried add the remaining ingredients in the order listed above, except parsley. Bring to the boil, put on lid and simmer for 10-15minutes. Stir in parsley 5 minutes towards the end. Serve with french bread.

Classic Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese

This classic bolognese made with soya contains all nine amino acids, protein and zinc. I find myself craving the tomato-y richness of the sauce, combined with the chewy texture of the soya meat, and the nuttiness of the wholewheat spaghetti. This version is made with oregano, only, but you can add spices like cumin and cloves for a Meditarranean twist. You should have most of the ingredients in stock, so it doesn’t require much shopping.

prep time 1 hour

serves 4

generous drizzle of oil

150g onion or leek, chopped

250g mushrooms, chopped

sprinkling of oregano

250g soya mince

tinned tomatoes

3 tsp tomato puree

2 tsp garlic puree / 3 garlic cloves chopped

150ml vegetable stock

splash of vegan worcestershire sauce

250g leafy greens chopped

200g wholewheat spaghetti

Drizzle oil in a deep frying pan, on a medium heat. Add leeks/onion and fry until transluscent. Stir in the mushrooms and fry for a few minutes, adding the oregano. Pour in the soya mince and stir. Add tinned tomatoes, purees, vegan worcestershire sauce and vegetable stock. Gently bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Add chopped greens and place lid on pan. Allow to boil for 10 minutes then turn down to alow heat. Simmer for 30-45minutes. 15 minutes before serving, boil kettle and put pasta on to cook. Serve in your favourite pasta bowl, bread and houmous optional!

N.B. The picture shows this exact same recipe made with green beans, rather than leafy greens.

Lentil and Bean Soup

Bursting with flavour and nutrition, this simple soup is one of my favourites. Lentils and beans are powerhouses of nutrition, with iron, zinc and other minerals. Coconut milk is high in calcium,as are the tinned tomatoes. I could not resist adding some seasonal squash on top, full of carotenoids, and bringing that roasted sweetness.

Prep time 45min

Serves 6

500g red lentils

boiling water

3 tsp spice (tumeric, cardamom)

one tin of tomatoes

one tin of coconut milk

200g chopped kale

two tins of black or white beans

sliced squash, roasted in a drizzle of oil, salt and pepper (45minutes on top shelf of oven at 180-200 degrees)

Preheat oven 200 degrees, slice squash into wedges, place on baking tray, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Put lentils and cover with boiling water 2:1 in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Boil for 15 minutes until most lentils are cooked through. Stir in spice. Pour in tomatoes and coconut milk, stir well. Add kale, add beans, put lid on. Leave to simmer/steam greens for 20 minutes. Stir every ten minutes to ensure lentils are not sticking. Once greens are softened, soup is ready to serve. Take squash out of oven, slice each wedge and serve on top of soup.

Earth Bowl

Inspired by a recipe in the magazine ‘Vegan Food and Living’ I decided to create a tapas style buddha bowl using roasted sweet potatoes and homemade houmous. Excited by a new addition to the pantry, I laced the potatoes with hoisin sauce. I piled on the rocket drizzled with oil, heaped on the homemade houmous and served with nutmeg couscous to create an explosion of flavours on the fork. I added superfoods broccoli and almonds to round off the bowl.

Serves 5

Houmous

160g dry chickpeas (cover with twice as much water, and leave to soak for 24 hours, then cook for 45min)

two large dollops of tahini

3 cloves garlic minced

100ml lemon juice

very generous drizzle of oil

sprinkling of oregano

Roast potatoes

3 potatoes cubed

Fresh herbs

Hoisin sauce

Drizzle of oil

5 handfuls almonds (chopped)

Medium broccoli floret, chopped

Bag of rocket

250 g couscous

Soak chickpeas overnight. Boil chickpeas while chopping potatoes, nuts and broccoli. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees. Put diced potatoes in a roasting dish, liberally dress with fresh herbs and drizzle with hoisin sauce whisked with oil, salt and pepper. Place roasting dish in oven on top shelf for 40-50 minutes. Blend all the houmous ingredients together (nutri bullet will need to be done in two batches). If dry, add more oil. Add the nuts to the potatoes with 25 minutes remaining. Put the broccoli on to boil 10-15 minutes. Prepare couscous (put grains in bowl, pour boiling water over, cover with saucer and leave for 5 minutes, drizzle with oil and stir in nutmeg). Serve all ingredients and drizzle with oil.

Hoisin Vegan Wraps

Made with mushrooms, black beans and watercress, these wraps are full of flavour and healthy too. The hoisin sauce complements the nut butter in a classic Asian combo brought to life by the peppery watercress and earthy tarragon.

Ingredients are per person so make as much or as little as you need!

shredded cabbage 90g each

drizzle of toasted seasame oil

small leek sliced

3 – 4 medium mushrooms finely chopped

black beans (third of a can each)

handful of sesame seeds

sprinkling of tarragon

watercress (approx 40g each)

pot of nut butter 

bottle of hoisin sauce

four rice paper wraps each (see instructions on pack to serve)

Prep time 10 minutes. Cook time 15 minutes. 

Fry the leek in the oil on a medium heat, add mushrooms, sprinkle with tarragon, add sesame seeds and black beans, stirring frequently. Once cooked through pour into bowl. At the same time, boil the cabbage for 5 minutes, drain, put into bowl. Put wraps, watercress, nut butter and hoisin sauce on the table with teaspoons to serve. Build your wraps in layers, wrap and serve!

Roasted Squash and Crispy Kale Pasta

The taste of summer, with squash, courgette, kale and cannellini beans all fresh from the garden. This seasonal dish has highs of roasted squash and crispy kale with undertones of earthy beans and green salad. The creaminess of the vegan cream cheese make its even more moreish. Serves 4.

750g squash

500g courgette

drizzle syrup

2 – 3 teaspoon spice

1 can cannelini beans

250g kale, boiled

sprig of tarragon

pasta x 4 portions

vegan cream cheese

green salad

dice squash and courgette, put in roasting dish and dust with spice, drizzle with syrup. Preheat oven to 180C. Set oven timer for 45minutes. Boil kale for 8 minutes. After 30 minutes add can of beans to roasting dish, add kale on top with sprig of tarrgon buried. Roast for further 15minutes. Cook pasta in a large pan. Drain pasta and put back in hot pan. Add vegan cream cheese to pasta. Add roasted vegetables to pasta, and stir until cream cheese coats veggies and pasta. Serve with salad.