Book Report: Vegan 100 + Three Bonus Recipes!

Crêpes

1. To make the crêpes, blitz the milk in a blender with the spinach and basil until it’s smooth and super-green.

2. Add the flour to a mixing bowl and whisk in enough of the green milk mix to turn it into a smooth light batter. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the lemon juice.

3. Pop the batter in the fridge to settle for 10 minutes while you prepare your fillings.

4. Preheat a large, non-stick frying pan (or, even better, a crêpe pan) over a low heat. Rub with some coconut oil before it gets hot.

5. When the pan is hot, ladle in enough batter to cover the pan, swirling the batter around to help spread it thinly and evenly. Cook for 1–2 minutes on each side, or until golden.

6. Continue until you have cooked all the crêpes, then serve with your chosen fillings and the Pepper & Tomato Relish.

Pepper & Tomato Relish

1. To make the pepper & tomato relish, preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Place the peppers on a baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until they are slightly charred. Alternatively, hold each pepper directly over the flame of a gas hob to char the skin, turning it around using tongs until it’s completely charred. Either way, put the peppers in a bowl and cover with cling film (plastic wrap).

2. Fill a small bowl with boiling water and another with ice-cold water. Lightly score a cross on the bottom of each tomato, plunge them into the hot water for 1 minute, then straight into cold water. Peel the skins off and discard.

3. Once the peppers are cool, deseed them and, using the back of your knife, peel/scrape off the charred skin and discard.

4. Chop the tomato and pepper flesh into evenly sized pieces. Tip into a heavy-based saucepan with the remaining ingredients. Cook over a very low heat with the lid on, stirring occasionally, for around 40 minutes, or until it’s thickened. Remove from the heat and pour into a sterilized 227-g (8-oz) jar or container.

Meltable Mozzarella

1. To make the meltable mozzarella, first, “quick soak” the nuts: simply pop them in a heatproof container and pour over boiling water. Leave for around 20 minutes to soften while you measure out the other ingredients.

2. Once the nuts have softened, drain and add them to a high-speed blender with all the other ingredients. Blend on full speed until you have a smooth mixture. I know it doesn’t look anything like mozzarella now, but bear with it!

3. Scrape the cheese mixture into a non-stick saucepan, arm yourself with a spatula and start stirring over a medium heat. Be patient – you will be stirring for around 8–10 minutes. Stir until it is super-thick and starts to come away from the sides of the saucepan.

4. Once it’s thick and cheese-like, remove from the heat. Serve straight away or place in a sealed container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

1. Preheat the oven to 190˚C (375˚F).

2. Slice the potatoes very finely using a mandoline or food processor, on the finest setting. Finely slice the shallots with a sharp knife.

3. Pour the coconut and soy milk into a large saucepan and add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf, mustard, yeast and seasoning.

4. Heat until boiling, then add the sliced potatoes and onions and stir gently. Remove from the heat and pour carefully into a shallow 1.5-litre (2 ½ pint) ovenproof dish (I sometimes use a 20-cm [8-inch] square oven dish). Spread the potato out so it’s compact and level, then cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper.

5. Bake for 20 minutes before removing the paper and baking for a further 20 minutes. 

1. First up, you will need a large mixing bowl. Add all the omelette ingredients to the bowl apart from the water. Give it a thorough mix, then whisk in enough water until you have a pancake batter consistency.

2. Cover the batter and pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes while you prepare your filling ingredients.

3. Finely slice the red pepper and red onion. Thin, even slices work best for this dish. Simply halve the tomatoes and chop the olives into 3. Make sure the spinach has been washed.

4. Preheat a large, non-stick, oven-proof frying pan and add a small drop of olive oil. (I use a 28-cm [11-inch] pan.) Preheat your grill (broiler).

5. Add the peppers and red onion and sauté over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Once the peppers and onion are soft, remove them from the pan and add them to a bowl with the tomatoes, olives and spinach.

6. Turn the heat down low and add a touch more oil if you think it needs it. Ladle in the batter, then quickly follow with a good covering of the pepper and spinach mix.

7. Cook on a low heat for 3 minutes before placing the pan under your grill just to cook the top. Cook for around 3–4 minutes or until golden.

8. Slide the omelette onto a warm plate and top with lightly dressed spinach, hummus and avocado.