Taste of the tropics vegan smoothie

This my first variation on the 'Pretty in purple' smoothie. All I did was substitute the berries for equal amounts of mango and pineapple. I also used only one banana because the first time I tried it I felt that the banana was too overpowering. Now the flavour is just right!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup rolled oats

3 cups soya milk

2 cups mango pieces (fresh or frozen)

2 cups pineapple pieces (fresh or frozen)

1 banana

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp honey (or agave nectar/ maple syrup)

Method

1. Add the soya milk to the oats and allow to soak in the fridge overnight (though I only soaked them for a couple of hours out of the fridge so it was slightly warmer and therefore faster).
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until mostly smooth, and it's ready to serve!

Original recipe: Pretty in purple smoothie

Pretty in purple vegan smoothie

This smoothie is the most gorgeous colour and has a taste to match. It's a completely vegan breakfast smoothie as it's got oats in it, and trust me it's very filling. Like the jelly recipes I've put up, it's a flexible one - you can replace the fruit with equal amounts of any others. I've used blackberries because of the continuing abundance of them in my garden (and raspberries because I found some in my freezer). If you do try other combinations, let me know how they turn out!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/3 cup rolled oats

3 cups soya milk

3 cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)

1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

2 bananas

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp honey (or agave nectar/ maple syrup if you're a strict vegan)

Method

1. Add the soya milk to the rolled oats and allow to soak in the fridge overnight (though I only soaked them for a couple of hours out of the fridge so it was slightly warmer and therefore faster).
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until mostly smooth, and it's ready to serve!

Original recipe: Pretty in purple smoothie

Week 2 Dish 2: Vegan courgette date muffins

I recently discovered Church Street market near Edgware Road thanks to a fellow medical student. It sells really cheap fruit and veg (amongst other things) - perfect for my vegan baking experiments. I went to the market today and managed to buy so much, including mangoes, courgettes, melons, mushrooms, capsicums, pineapples, kiwis, doughnut peaches, the list goes on. I think that my arms almost fell off on the way home, but worth it for £1 for a big bowlful of each!! So I thought this would be the perfect recipe for the courgettes that I got (6 for £1), and just in time for The Great British Bake Off muffin challenge (though mine are not english muffins)!

Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup coconut or olive oil (you can buy coconut oil from VB, it's really expensive in health food shops)
1/4 cup soya milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup grated courgette
2/3 cup chopped dates, tossed in a little flour so that they don't clump together
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and get the muffin tray ready.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients (except sugar) in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together the applesauce, oil, milk, and sugar, and pour them into the dry ingredients.
4. Fold ingredients together until just mixed, and then fold in the courgette and dates.
5. Spoon batter into the muffin tray and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Original recipe: Vegan zucchini date muffins

Just a note - these are not overly sweet, making them perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Let me know what you think!

Week 2 Dish 1: Vegan blackberry crumble bars

I've made it to WEEK 2!!! WOOP!!! And what better way to celebrate than with a deliciously sweet, fruity and crumbly treat?! The inspiration for this recipe was the wild blackberry bush in my back garden, which (thanks to the gorgeous summer we've had this year) has been heaving with sweet blackberries for the past couple of weeks. I couldn't let all that go to waste now could I? So I braved the thorns (I have the battle wounds to prove it) and managed to pick enough to make double the recipe and some to eat- a treat for my family as well as the people I'm on firms with at the moment (lucky you!).

For any of you who want to make this recipe, now is the time: just go to your local park with a container and keep your eyes out for berries that are ripe for the picking - who needs to buy them? A tip if you have never picked blackberries before, the ones that are ripe and sweet will be slightly mushy and will come away easily from the bush. If you have to tug too hard, chances are they will be sour.

Makes 8-10 bars
Ingredients
3 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
juice of half an orange
1.5 tbsp cornflour (aka constarch if you're american)
2 cups oats
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed (I bought this from VB, too expensive in health food shops)
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with grease proof paper.
2. In a saucepan heat the berries, granulated sugar, orange juice, and cornflour. Bring to the boil, stirring often until mixture is thick and the berries break down (about 15-20 minutes).
3. Mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, orange zest, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pour in the coconut oil and mix to blend well. Reserve 3/4 cup of oat mixture for the topping.
4. Transfer the remaining oat mixture to the prepared baking dish, pressing firmly to the bottom to form an even layer.
5. Spoon the berry filling in an even layer on top and then sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the dish on a wire rack for 30 to 40 minutes before cutting into bars.

Original recipe: Blackberry crumble bars

(NOT VEGAN) Skull and crossbones baileys and hotchocolate jelly

As promised, here is my 5th dish! Like dish 4, this one is also NOT VEGAN. But as you will see, its a very flexible and adaptable recipe. In fact, it's not really much of a recipe at all, its more of an idea. When I first thought up this blog (only a week ago!) I got very excited and bought a few silicone tray moulds to experiment with. Being a medical student, I actually tried to find ones shaped like organs (LOL) but unfortunately could find any - so I got the next best thing, and it arrived a couple of days ago!!

Skull and crossbones!!
Ingredients
Baileys Irish cream
Hot chocolate
Agar-agar powder (1 g per 100 ml, from VB, really expensive in health food shops)
A funky silicone mould tray
A set of standard silicone muffin cups (or shapes of your choosing, as long as the funky ones fit into these)
(I haven't put any amounts because it depends on your moulds - you can measure how much water goes into them first so that you know how much you will need)
Method

1. Heat the Baileys in a pan. Add in 1 g of agar-agar powder per 100 ml (though I used 2 g per 100 ml of Baileys to make it set firmer and therefore easier to take out of such a tricky mould) and whisk until all the powder has dissolved. Pour into the mould and set in the freezer for 30-40 minutes or until well set.
2. Heat the hot chocolate in a saucepan with 1 g of agar-agar powder per 100 ml and whisk until all the powder has dissolved. Allow to cool until it begins to thicken.
3. Carefully remove the baileys from the mould (tip: pull the tray away from the edges of the jelly before you try to pop it out to reduce mishaps), put face down into the muffin cups and pour the hot chocolate into the gaps. Allow to set in the fridge and enjoy!!

You can easily substitute the Baileys and hot chocolate for two other drinks that go well together, and if you don't have a funky silicone tray, why not just do two layers in the silicone muffin cups instead? And if even that is too much faff for you, just mix the hot chocolate and baileys together!

(NOT VEGAN) Brown velvet cupcakes

Yep, 4th dish in one week! And just because I love you all so much, I've got a fifth one on the way. I made these earlier in the week but didn't have time to post up the recipe. But just to warn you, this one is NOT VEGAN. It's a classic - Brown velvet cupcakes. Yes it should be red velvet, but you have to use (good quality) non-natural food colouring in order to make them come out red (otherwise they comes out brown anyway) and I would rather not use that. Of course they taste just as scrumptious especially when fresh. I can't take all the credit for these, I had a girly baking session with two of my best friends and so we baked them together - thanks guys :D .

Makes 18-20 cupcakes
Ingredients
225 g unsalted butter
4 tbsp water
55 g cocoa powder
3 eggs
250 ml buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp non-natural red food colouring (if you want - though why not go for another colour :p)
280 g plain flour
55 g cornflour
1.5 tsp baking powder
280g caster sugar
Frosting
250 g light soft cheese (the original recipe calls for full-fat, but we went for the lighter option - just as yummy but not as rich so it's your choice!)
40 g unsalted butter
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C and get the cupcake cups ready
2. Heat the butter, water and cocoa powder gently in a small saucepan, stirring until melted and smooth without boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
3. Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract and food colouring (optional) until frothy. Beat in the butter mixture. Sift together the flour, cornflour and baking powder and stir into the mixture with the sugar
4. Ladle the mixture into the cupcake cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch. 
5. For the frosting, beat together all the ingredients until smooth and spread on the cupcakes when they have cooled - we also decorated them, this is definitely the fun part!

Vegan red velvet recipe coming soon - watch this space!

Week 1 Dish 2: Ultimate vegan mango and coconut muffins

This recipe is actually one of the MOST DELICIOUS things I have EVER baked. I cannot even describe the heavenly smell in my kitchen right now, let alone the taste of these gorgeous muffins. Please make these before mango season finishes, or you are missing out! Inspiration for this recipe was that I needed something amazing to eat while watching The Great British Bake Off.

 

Makes 10 muffins
Ingredients
250 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp linseed meal (ground linseeds - I bought whole linseeds from asda and ground them myself. Also know as flaxseed and available from Hollan and Barret too [but more expensive there])
55 g desiccated coconut, plus extra for topping
125 g caster sugar
1/3 tsp ground cardamom
175 ml soya milk
5 tbsp rapeseed oil (you can also use canola oil - I think they are more or less the same thing)
250 g fresh, ripe mango, chopped
Method

1. Preheat oven to 190° and place 10 muffin cases in a muffin tray.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.Mix in the linseed meal, coconut, cardamom and sugar.
3. Whisk together the soya milk and oil and stir into the mixture, adding the mango at the same time. Do not over-mix, only mix until just combined.
4. Share the mix equally between the 10 muffin cases and sprinkle each with coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.

Original recipe from Vegan 100 everyday recipes by Parragon books.

Vegan watermelon jelly

Now this is the quickest and easiest recipe ever! All you need is agar agar powder (the vegan alternative to gelatine) aka faluda power and hey presto, jiggly jelly!! A bit of a cheat really (so I'm not counting it as one of my two dishes) but the next recipe I've got planned will make up for it, trust me ;) . Inspiration for this was the half eaten watermelon found in the second fridge that had been forgotten about!

Ingredients
Half a medium watermelon
100 g sugar (though I only used about 75g in an attempt to be healthier)
13 g agar agar powder (from VB, also available in health food shops for about 10 times the price and I'm not even exaggerating)
Method

1. Cut the watermelon into large pieces, place in a food processor and puree. 
2. Strain the juice through a fine strainer to remove the pulp and seeds (I ate this, pretty yummy so don't waste it). This made about 1 litre of juice for me. As a rough guide use 10g sugar and 1.3g agar agar powder per 100ml. 
3. In a large pan heat the watermelon juice and add the sugar and agar agar powder while regularly mixing with a whisk for 4-5 minutes. 
4. Remove from heat and pour into containers of your choice - I used silicone muffin cups. It should start to thicken fairly fast and only really takes about 1-2 hours to get to the right wobbliness, but will take longer in a big container!

Original recipe: Watermelon jelly

Like I said, easy peasy! And you can use agar agar to make a jelly out of pretty much anything (see the tips below) - I aim to try some alcoholic ones when my family finishes these ones off. Also have some fun silicone moulds on the way - actually feel excited like a little kid!

Read all about it
Agar is derived from a plant source, sets more firmly than gelatin and is really easy to use. You should use ~1g per 100ml of water or milk, and ~1.3g per 100ml of more acidic liquids such as fruit juices. If it doesn't set properly or sets too hard, you can melt it down again, add more powder or liquid and the problem is solved!

Week 1 Dish 1: Baked banana and nectarine with soya yoghurt (vegan)

A very simple and pretty healthy recipe for my first dish. The inspiration for this was really ripe bananas that would otherwise go to waste and a box of 26 nectarines for £3.99.

Looks yummy right?? Well here's the recipe:

Serves 4: 1/2 banana and 1/2 nectarine each
Ingredients
2 nectarines, pitted and cut into 8ths
2 ripe bananas, cut into chunks
4 tsps honey (agave nectar [available from health food shops like Hollan and Barret] if you're a strict vegan)
Cinnamon to taste
As much soya yogurt as you want
Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Put the nectarines in the middle of a large square of foil, drizzle with 2 tsps honey and fold the foil over to create a packet.
3. Repeat with the bananas, adding cinnamon as well as honey. 
4. Place on a baking dish (preferably not a flat one in case of juice leakage) and bake for 15 minutes until soft (the nectarines may require longer). 
5. Remove from the packets, plate up with soya yogurt, and enjoy the gooey goodness!

Original recipes: baked bananas and baked nectarines

Read all about it
The high potassium content of bananas provide protection to the cardiovascular system - helps guard against high blood pressure, atherosclerosis and stroke[1]
Nectarines contain vitamin C, anti-oxidants and other good stuff[2]

The Challenge

I typed medicine and baking into google and this is what I found: medicine + baking = bicarbonate of soda (aka baking soda). Yep, it’s the white powder that not only works its magic in baked goodies but also has medicinal values. The way I choose to interpret this information is that baking is good for my health!! And it really is – relaxing but challenging and with a yummy reward! Perfect to take me away from the stresses of studying medicine (in my final year now :D). Though I can’t say the consumption of all the end products will be as good for me :p (meh, guess I’ll have to do some extra running to balance it out – worth it).

My name is Chandni and I am in my final year of studying medicine. It's tough and I love it, but I need something to get away from the demands and pressures of the course and career. My two main outlets: exercise/sport and creating things (cooking, drawing, crafts etc). So here is my challenge: To make at least 2 new dishes every week (not necessarily baked but probably vegan since my dad has recently become vegan), for the next 6 months (18^th August 2013 – 17^th February 2014) during my final year studying medicine (which will be no mean feat). That’s 26 weeks and 52 yummy dishes. The only rule I will set for myself is that if I make more than one dish in a week, e.g. 4, it will not cover me for 2 weeks – 2 dishes have to be made within each week. Hmmmm I wonder how long I can keep going before I regret this (at least I knew better than to challenge myself to one per day)...

As I share my creations, please let me know what you think of them if you try them yourself, any improvements I can make and any suggestions of what to make next (vegan recipes please). I will do my best to keep them healthy but no promises. I hope that you can give me your support and help me stay on target! 

LET THE CHALLENGE BEGIN!!!