This here is another one from my mum: date loaf is a classic teatime treat that’s incredibly quick and easy to make.
Sunflower Chèvre
I guarantee you that anyone who’s ever said “I could never give up cheese” will love this sunflower chèvre (a vegan variation of goat’s cheese). It’s decadently creamy, full of cheesy, umami flavour, with a perfect tang that hits the spot.
Homemade Kale Chips
This is a ubiquitous vegan snack, almost synonymous with the hipster-vegan stereotype. Kale chips are so easy to make, just as moreish as potato chips, but way healthier. If you didn’t know what the heck to do with those beautiful dark curly leaves, now you do. Actually, kale is a nutritional powerhouse, offering incredible immune system and anti-cancer benefits, cooked …
Spiced Molasses Muffins with Flax and Oats
I wanted to experiment with using a generous amount of flaxseed in a muffin, and I also wanted to use up some blackstrap molasses that I found in the cupboard. I added some spices to complement the strong molasses flavour, some oats for fibre and dates as an extra treat, and ta-da! We have a breakfast muffin that packs a punch.
Crispy Potato Skins
I don’t peel potatoes unless a) someone else is in charge of the cooking, or b) I feel like making crispy potato skins. These are one heck of a greasy indulgence, a very occasional treat.
Chocolate Sourdough Pancakes
Over the last few months I’ve been trying my hand at making my own sourdough – first in Cape Town with great success, and more recently in Berlin with mixed success (I used rye, which totally changes the bread obviously, something I need to get used to). Anyway: the one thing about homemade sourdough is the darn sourdough discard that just goes to waste unless you get creative!
Classic Hummus
I’m not one to make hummus exactly the same way twice, ever, but I figured I should write down a good hummus recipe to share! It’s such a ubiquitous vegan classic, easy and cheap enough to make at home that you’ll be kicking yourself for ever spending money (and wasteful packaging) on store-bought stuff.
Quinoa Banana Muffins
I tried out a variation on vegan banana bread that is gluten-free and sugar-free, using quinoa flour as a one-to-one substitute for wheat flour. And it’s wonderful! I used the quinoa flour from Woolworths, but you can also just buy quinoa and process it into a flour using a food processor or Nutribullet. This flour is a fantastic option for gluten-free baking, since it’s much more nutrient-dense than other gluten-free flour blends that use potato starch and other low-protein flours.
Simple Banana Bread
There are many ways to make banana bread, but here’s a super simple one. Feel free to use this as a base, and add some fancy stuff like chopped walnuts, choc chips, or a long slice of banana on top to please the eye.
Mixed Seed Crackers
When it comes to crackers and other carriers for avo or hummus, there are options in the supermarkets, but they’re often either not vegan-friendly, or very processed, or very expensive. So in that context, these seed crackers are a blessing: they’re really (really!) easy to make, very nutritious (high protein, good fats—but go easy on them), and easily adaptable to use different seeds and spices.
Piña Colada Smoothie
Smoothies have become a regular feature in my daily meals when the weather’s warmer, I like making one in the late morning (I’m a coffee-no-breakfast kind of person). I always keep frozen banana chunks in my freezer, and often other fruit, too. When pineapples are in season, I’ll buy a couple, chop one up and freeze it for smoothies. The rest are all easily available pantry items that keep for months.