This coconut and cranberry quinoa is very similar to this one from 101 Cookbooks. As always, the 101 Cookbooks version looks amazing, but we rarely have fresh blackberries in the house, and nearly always have dried cranberries.

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Coconut and cranberry quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup desiccated coconut, unsweetened
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• maple syrup, to taste

Method

1. Combine milk, water, quinoa and cinnamon in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat.
3. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
4. Add the cranberries, coconut and pecans.
5. Serve in bowls and drizzle with a tiny bit of maple syrup if you’re looking for a little extra sweetness.

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This Asian lunch wrap was inspired by a lunch wrap from West Park Cafe in Yoyogi-Uehara. It had never occurred to me before to add rice to a lunch wrap, but I was an instant fan. The next day, I came up with my own version and we’ve been eating this regularly ever since.

Asian lunch wrap

Ingredients

Makes 1 wrap.

• Whole wheat tortilla or wrap of some kind
• Square nori sheet
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1/6 of a block of fofu
• 1/2 an avocado
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Thai sweet chilli sauce

Method

1. Place the sheet of nori on the wrap.
2. In the middle of the wrap, layer rice, then tofu, then avocado.
3. Sprinkle with the seeds.
4. Drizzle with sweet chilli sauce.
5. Wrap it up. The sweet chilli sauce tends to drip out, so you might want to wrap it up in foil if you don’t want to get sticky.

I love pancakes. When I was a child, pancakes were not the done thing. They were very American and VERY exotic! So as an adult, I now eat them every chance I get. E would like to have more waffles and french toast, but I don’t think they can compete with pancakes—especially when it comes to pumpkin pancakes. We’ve been eating a lot of these lately—with blueberries thrown in more often than not. The first time we gave them to O, she made all kinds of “yum yum” noises and I thought for sure she was going to be on my side in the pancakes vs french toast arguments. Since then, however, she has taken to throwing her pieces of pancake on the floor and then leaning over the side of her high chair to point at them and say, “uh oh!”

 

We get a weekly delivery of organic vegetables from Radish Boya and we’ve taken to ordering multiple pumpkins, and then skinning, seeding and chopping them and putting them in the freezer. When we wake up on a weekend morning and decide we want pumpkin pancakes, we just throw the frozen cubes on the steamer tray in a saucepan and within a few minutes we have pancake-perfect pumpkin mash.

Pumpkin pancakes

Ingredients

Makes about eighteen small pancakes. The pancakes freeze better than the batter does.

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups water (add more water or soy milk if necessary)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon Japanese plum vinegar (or apple cider or white if necessary)
• 2 tablespoons aluminium-free baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1–2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin (We tend to put in more rather than less. We started with kabocha, but lately we’ve been using butternut squash since it’s so easy to peel.)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• blueberries, optional

Method

1. Combine the soy milk and vinegar in a bowl, and leave for a few minutes to curdle (to give a buttermilk-like flavor).
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
3. Add the pumpkin, water and soy milk and mix until just combined.
4. Let sit for a few minutes and then lightly stir again before cooking the pancakes.
5. We usually add blueberries into each pancake just after it is spooned into the pan. If you swirl them around a little with a spoon, they are less likely to stick to the pan.

These tofu steaks are one of those family favourites that we have been making for so long that I don’t actually remember where it came from. I’m sure I found it out on the inner tubes somewhere—I just have no idea where. If it was originally yours, I’m sorry! Please let me know and I’ll credit you accordingly. This is one that you can serve to people who normally don’t like tofu and be confident that they’ll enjoy it.

Tofu steaks

Ingredients

•     3 blocks firm tofu
•     soy sauce
•     whole wheat flour
•     1/4 cup sesame oil
•     3/4 cup sesame seeds (we used black this time, but any will do)
•     3/4 cup sunflower seeds
•     chopped green onions or chives for garnish

Method

1. Drain tofu by placing blocks on a cooling rack over an oven tray, with another tray on top, weighed down by a couple of cans.
2. Let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Slice tofu into 3/4″ (2–2.5cm) wide pieces (6–8, depending on the size of the block).
4. Dip tofu into soy sauce and then roll in the flour until covered.
5. Stack tofu on a plate.
6. Heat the oil and fry gently on top and bottom.
7. Remove tofu and place on serving plate.
8. Using the same pan, stir fry the sesame and sunflower seeds a couple of minutes, until golden.
9. Spread seeds over the tofu and season with a drizzle of soy sauce.
10. Sprinkle with green onion or chives.

This spinach rice gratin is one of E’s favourites from 101 Cookbooks. It is also one of the few recipes that we tend to follow exactly, which certainly says something.

We usually use pine nuts and parmesan, though we have made it with almonds instead of pine nuts—it’s not quite as good.  This is freezer-friendly and easy to double. O loves it, which is great, but she does have a tendency to gobble up the olives and pine nuts that we put aside to sprinkle on top.

2012 update: It is much easier to double this recipe now that we have a stand mixer with a splash guard!

Spinach rice gratin recipe:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/spinach-rice-gratin-recipe.html

Years ago, I was on holiday in the US and browsing in a book shop when I came across Vegan with a Vengeance. Something about it appealed to me, and I’m so glad I bought it. This walnut pesto recipe is very lightly adapted from it, and it’s our favourite quick-and-easy dinner option.

2012 update: For years we only ate this pesto with pasta, and then one day it occurred to me that I could freeze the pesto in mini muffin trays. We call them pucks of pesto, and now we use pesto in all kinds of things: as a spread on sandwiches, in wraps, in soup…

 

Walnut pesto 

Ingredients

Makes enough for at least four family dinners, giving you plenty for the freezer.

• 2 cups walnuts, lightly toasted
• 4 oz basil leaves (the amount we use varies—we just buy four packs, and currently the basil we are buying comes in 1 oz packs)
• 12 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups olive oil, or more to taste
• 1 cup nutritional yeast
• 2–3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (to taste)

Method

• Combine the walnuts, garlic and salt in a food processor, and process until the walnuts are finely chopped but not yet a paste.
• Lift the lid and inhale. It’s awesome!
• Add the basil, oil, nutritional yeast and lemon and process again until everything is mixed together.
• Add additional oil if necessary.

Ever been to Hawaii? We have, and we had some awesome macadamia nut pancakes at a little cafe in Kailua called Boots & Kimo’s. They were good. Very good. So good that I dreamed about them after I got back home.

The first time we attempted to recreate the macadamia nut sauce, it didn’t go so well. Perhaps because we only had hazelnuts in the house. The second time, we used a recipe that E had found on the web—someone else had obviously had the same post-Hawaiian holiday cravings as us. The results were good and my cravings were largely satisfied, but it wasn’t particularly healthy, so we reworked the recipe a little, and now whenever we get nostalgic about Hawaiian holidays, we serve up a big stack of pancakes with macadamia nut sauce.

Our take on Boots & Kimo’s macadamia nut sauce

Ingredients

Makes enough for two family meals. We usually freeze half for another day.

• 1 cup macadamia nuts
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 can coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

1. Put the macadamia nuts in a food processor and process until they’re very fine.
2.  Then put them in a saucepan over medium-high heat until fragrant (about 5 minutes). (Make sure you don’t burn the nuts!)
3. Lower the heat to medium and add the coconut oil, stirring until melted.
4. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
5. Slowly pour in the coconut milk, stirring the whole time.
6. Add the maple syrup, salt, and vanilla essence.
7. Cook until thickened (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly.
8. Stir in the lemon juice, serve warm, and don’t forget to breathe between bites!