6 simple vegan recipes

With New Year’s resolutions in full swing, whether that be healthy eating, taking part in Veganuary or aiming to switch to a regular plant-based diet, we’ve put together some delicious vegan recipes, that are quick, simple and sure to keep you on track!

Spicy chickpea burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 red onions 1 ½ finely chopped, ½ thinly sliced
• Red pepper 1 finely chopped
• Salt to season
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp hot curry powder
• 2 x 400g tins chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 4 seeded burger buns halve and toasted
• 4 tsp mango chutney
• 4 Lettuce leaves
• 4 Tomato slices

Method:

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and gently cook the chopped onion and peppers, with a pinch of salt and curry powder, until soft. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and cook for a further two minutes, remove from the heat and place ingredients into a bowl. Pop the chickpeas into a food processor and pulse until roughly blended, add this to the onion and peppers along with the flour, stirring well. Form the mixture into 4 patties, then place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. Add some more oil to your pan and fry each patty for 4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Prepare your burger bun with mango chutney, lettuce, tomato and thinly sliced red onion – then you’re ready to enjoy!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca with chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ large white onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 350g whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 jar seedless black olives sliced
• 1 tin artichoke hearts rinsed, drained and chopped
• ½ tin cooked chickpeas rinsed and drained
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes optional
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• Salt to season
• 3 cups vegetable stock

Method:

Warm the vegetable oil in a large frying pan, adding the onion and garlic then cooking until soft. Add the pasta to a pan, breaking in half if needed followed by the rest of the ingredients and finishing with the vegetable stock. Cover the pan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a steady simmer, stirring occasionally until the spaghetti is cooked to your personal taste – buon appetito!

Vegan tortilla pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 low-fat tortilla wrap gluten-free, if needed
• 2 heaped tbsp tomato puree
• 2 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• ¼ red onion sliced
• ¼ courgette diced
• 3 tomatoes sliced
• ¼ jar black olives sliced
• 1 clove of garlic minced
• Paprika and salt to season
• Chilli flakes optional
• Fresh basil chopped finely

Method:

Begin by preheating the oven to 190C. Top the tortilla wrap with 2 tbsp of tomato puree followed by the nutritional yeast. Heat a frying pan to a medium heat and cook the onion, courgette and garlic until softened, seasoning with a sprinkle of salt, paprika and chilli flakes. Arrange the cooked vegetables, tomatoes and olives on top of the tortilla base then cook for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden brown and crispy. Once cooked, garnish with some fresh basil!

Garlic sesame noodles

Ingredients:

For the noodles

• Shirataki noodles one portion per person
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 carrot thinly sliced
• 1 head broccoli cut into bite-sized florets
• ¼ pack green beans chopped
• 2 spring onions thinly sliced for serving
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

For the sauce

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar or use brown sugar
• 1 tbsp chilli-garlic sauce
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Method:

Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set to one side. Boil a large pan of water, cooking the Shirataki noodles according to the package instructions. At the same time heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, adding the carrot, bell pepper and green beans until softened, then throw in the broccoli until it turns bright green. Bring the dish together by folding the cooked noodles and sauce mixture together, once combined cook for a further 3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and is heated thoroughly. Finish off by sprinkling the spring onions and sesame seeds over the dish, then serve.

Portobello and pepper tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 medium bell peppers (mixed colours) seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 1 whole jalapeño pepper seeds removed and thinly sliced
• 1 medium white onion thinly sliced
• 2 large portobello mushrooms stems removed and thinly sliced
• 2 medium ripe avocados
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Sea salt, cumin, & garlic powder to season
• 6 small taco tortillas
• Fresh red onion, hot sauce, salsa optional to garnish

Method:

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and gently cook the onion and peppers with a pinch of salt, cumin and garlic powder, until slightly caramelised, then set to one side. In a separate pan, at the same time, begin to cook the mushrooms until softened and brown, again removing from heat and setting to one side. Prepare guacamole for your dish by adding softened avocados to a bowl with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt, then hand blend using a fork. Warm your taco tortillas in the microwave or oven, then you’re ready to assemble your ingredients – get creative with the order of fillings and don’t forget you can add some red onion, hot sauce or salsa to give them extra pizazz!

Moroccan salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa rinsed
• Salt to season
• 2 spring onions sliced diagonally
• ¼ jar kalamata olives thinly sliced
• 3 blood oranges
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp sugar
• Cracked pepper and salt to taste
• ¼ cup toasted almonds
• 12 fresh mint leaves torn

Method:

Heat water in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and add the quinoa and a pinch of salt. Once boiling, cover and lower the heat, simmering for 15 minutes. Whilst this is cooking, use a medium bowl to mix the spring onions, sliced olives and 2 blood oranges (peeled and cut into quarters). Once the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and combine with the other ingredients, dressing the salad with olive oil, the zest of the remaining orange and its juice. Garnish with toasted almonds and mint leaves and you’re ready to serve.