Einkorn risotto with peas and lentils

Do you like Risotto but are not a big fan of plain white rice? Well here is the perfect combo for you! A creamy version of risotto with einkorn instead of rice with lentils, peas, peppers and cashews. Yumm!!
Although I hardly ever make risotto or any other rice dishes - I guess as a result of my already high curry-plus-rice consumption - this one is a great alternative that turned out to taste absolutely delicious!

As you may already know from my last blog post, I decided to stop giving measurements for any of my recipes. I want them more to be seen as first a collection of easy vegan meal ideas anybody can make and second as an incentive for those of you that might not be so much into cooking because of all the measuring involved or shopping beforehand.

All the dishes I am posting should be seen as a recommendation or a suggestion of what I found nice to combine. But this does not mean that you have to stick to the things I used!!! Feel free to experiment and add your favorite veggies, grains etc.!

What I used...

• 
  
• einkorn wheat
• lentils
• red peppers
• peas
• carrots
• cashews
• curry spice mix
• cashew butter or other nut butter
• salt
• white pepper

Dal with brussel sprouts and sweet potato

Dear all, today I have decided that from now I am going to post my meals the way I make them...without recipe. This means that I am no longer going to try come up with measurements when I am posting something although I never used any..or better: there are none!
For me cooking is about being creative, see what I can add to improve the taste or end up with new flavors. I have never liked sticking to recipes when in the end I never really buy stuff specifically for a dish. I ususally just look what there is and ..boom..new dish invented!

I am also a fan of having a mix of protein, carbohydrates and fats with plenty of veggies on my plate...So I will include or try to include all of them in most of my lists of ingredients.

So I am going to start with this flavourful wintery indian inspired dal dish that I made the other day when I wanted something hot to eat really quickly. It's full of flavor and the creamy sauce out of lentils and peanut butter goes beautifully with the sweetness from the potatoes and the sprout flavor.

What I used ...

• red lentils 
• sweet potato
• onion
• garlic
• brussel sprouts
• soy milk
• peanut butter
• curry spice mix
• curcuma
• salt 
• pepper
• chilis

I hope I inspired some people to give this a try. You won't be disappointed, I promise!
Just let your emotions and creativity rather than a book guide you while you are cooking! :)

Banana bread

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup coconut oil 
• 1/4 cup honey or 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups whole wheat flour 
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and grease a pan.
In a large bowl, beat the oil and honey together. Whisk in the mashed bananas and soy milk.
Add vanilla, salt and cinnamon, and whisk to blend. Add the baking soda and powder to the flour. Lastly, stir in the flour and oats, just until combined.  Add walnuts and chocolate. Don't overmix!
Pour the batter into your greased loaf pan.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the bread cool before cutting.

Notes:
Recipe adapted from: cookieandkate's blog

Cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 packet instant yeast 
• 1 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
• 1/2 cup vegan butter*
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp  ground cinnamon (or more for cinnamon lovers like me ;) )
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp cane sugar

Instructions:

• In a large sauce pan, heat the soy milk and 3 Tbsp vegan butter until warm and melted. Remove from heat and let cool down. It should be warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast.
• Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle on yeast. Let activate for 10 minutes, then add 1 Tbsp sugar and the salt and stir.
• Slowly add in flour,  stirring as you go. Knead on a lightly floured surface until it forms a loose ball. Place your dough back in your mixing ball and cover. Set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough (if you prefer more crisp and more layers then roll out thin, if you rather like fluffy dough and thicker then don't roll out quite as much). Brush with 3 Tbsp melted vegan butter and top with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tsp or more cinnamon.
• Roll up the dough and situate seam side down. Then cut the dough into desired section size and position in a well-buttered pan (you should have about 10-15 rolls). Brush with remaining vegan butter (melted) and let rise again while you preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).

Once the oven is hot, bake rolls for 25-30 minutes or until  golden brown (not too much or they will get dry!).
Optional: Frost with a mixture of 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 Tbsp soy milk and 1 Tbsp melted vegan butter.

*I also tried to make these with melted coconut butter, which gave them a nice taste but did not make them rise as much.

I adapted this recipe from a gorgeous recipe found on this blog: http://minimalistbaker.com/the-worlds-easiest-cinnamon-rolls/

Mango Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (also tried spelt flour with some buckwheat flour mixed into it! healthy and gluten tolerated)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 1/2 ripe mangos
• ½ cup honey or other sweetener (also tried it with half honey, half cane sugar before)
• ¼ cup neutral tasting baking oil (I used canola oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp greek style vegan jogurt
• 3 tbsp coconut milk

optional: handful of chocolate chips or shredded coconut

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
Grease 12 big or 14 smaller muffin cups. 
Peel the mangoes and place them in a blender to make the puree (leave 1/2 a mango to dice for later). Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. 
Blend the mango puree, jogurt, coconut milk, honey, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl or you just add it to the blender and mix it in as well.
Fold the wet ingredients to the dry, add the diced mango and optional chocolate chips, and stir with a spoon just until combined. Try not to overmix or the muffins won't rise as well.
Bake the muffins for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool or take them out of the cups when they are still warm and serve them with some honey or agave syrup on top.

Raspberry-chocolate sponge cake

Ingredients:

• 150 g sugar
• 4-6 tbsp baking powder
• lemon zest of 1 lemon
• 350 g flour
• 300 ml  water
• 100ml soymilk
• 9 tbsp canola oil
• chocolate chips
• frozen raspberries

Instructions:

Mix all the cake ingredients and beat until combined. Pour the batter into a flat baking tray and bake for 20 min at 180 degrees until golden.
This recipe also works great for muffins!

Vegan Apple Caramel Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic whole wheat flour
• 1 cup organic all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil or any neutral tasting vegetable oil
• 1 cup cane sugar or powdered sugar - adjust as per your sweet requirements
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3-4  sweet apples, chopped

Instructions:

grease or line a round cake pan or tin.
pre heat your oven now,
in a bowl, first take all the dry ingredients and mix them well.
add the water and oil and stir well so that no lumps are formed.
stir really well. 

add the chopped apples.
pour the batter in the cake pan layered with the apple slices.
bake at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 50-55 mins in a preheated oven.
when warm or cooled, serve the eggless apple upside down cake with tea or coffee or as an after meal dessert.