Rustic Garlic & Herb Focaccia

Ingredients – Focaccia

• 2 ¼ cups (560 ml) Gluten free flour
• 60 ml butter flavoured avocado oil
• 30 ml baking powder
• 3 ml sea salt
• 180 ml boiling water

Ingredients – Oil basting

• 30 – 60 ml butter flavoured avocado oil
• 15 ml crushed garlic
• 5 ml dried oregano
• 5 ml dried chives
• 5 ml dried basil

Steps

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

• Add all the Focaccia ingredients to a bowl, adding the boiling water last.
• Mix well with a spoon until a dough is formed.
• Divide the dough into pieces (depending on your needs); I usually divide it into 4 to 6 pieces.
• Roll the pieces into balls, and flatten onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, if you have a pizza tray (with holes in it) – even better. For that rustic look; use your hands and fingers to flatten the focaccias.
• Mix the ingredients for the oil basting, divide it between your focaccias, spreading it all over the tops of the focaccias using the back of a spoon (or a basting brush if you like cleaning up a mess) J
• Pop your focaccias into the oven for 25 minutes.

Enjoy with a fresh salad of your choice.

Chunky mushrooms in coco-cream

Ingredients

400g Mixed mushrooms (brown and white) – quartered or halved if using button mushrooms 1 can (400ml) Coconut cream

5 ml Rosemary and olive seasoning (I use Ina Paarman’s)

Steps

Add all the ingredients to a sauce pan.

Cover and cook over medium-high heat until boiling.

Take the lid off and stir every 3 minutes or so, for 15 minutes.

Serve over rice or pasta with veggies or a salad on the side.

Spinach & Cheez Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:

160 ml Nutritional Yeast

60 ml Corn flour

30 ml Ina Paarman Chicken Flavour Stock Powder

750 - 800 ml Rice milk/soy/almond milk

250 g Gluten free pasta "elbows"/penne

Enough water to cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

3 cups frozen spinach/washed and chopped fresh baby spinach

2 Small onions (chopped)

1/2 Red/yellow/green pepper (chopped)

5 ml Crushed garlic

Oil for sautéing

+/- 3 ml Cayenne/Paprika

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Cheez Sauce Steps:

Add the corn flour, nutritional yeast and stock powder to a microwavable jug with measurements indicated on the side (that can hold at least 1 litre).

Add a little milk (+/- 60 ml) and stir until there are no dry clumps left (add a little more milk if necessary).

Now top up with “milk” until you reach the 800ml mark of the jug.

Microwave in intervals of 2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Don't microwave further.

Taste test to see if you would like to add salt and pepper.

Pasta:

Prepare the pasta according to the packet's instructions until al dente - don't overcook as the pasta will continue to soften in the oven.

Veggies:

Sauté the veggies and garlic with a little water or oil in a pan over medium-high heat until almost cooked. Don’t overcook as the veggies will cook further in the oven.

Layering:

You are now ready to layer your casserole ingredients into a prepared casserole dish. I use a square glass dish.

Layer the sautéed veggies and pasta alternating with sauce in-between. Ending with sauce that covers the top layer (you don't want your gluten free pasta to dry out in the oven).

Sprinkle cayenne/paprika over the casserole.

Pop your casserole into the preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Enjoy as is, or serve with a fresh salad.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair:

Arrange a few slices of onion on top of the casserole before putting it into the oven.

Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes and basil leaves just before serving.

Raspberry Butta Spread

Ingredients

• 125 g Vegan Venus Butta / store bought vegan “butter” (soft)
• 125 g Fresh Raspberries
• 15 ml Xylitol / sweetener of your choice

Steps

• Blend all ingredients together (using a stick blender or liquidiser) and transfer to a serving dish.
• Refrigerate until needed.
• Serve on waffles, muffins, scones, toast, pancakes, or bread pops.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Spoon the freshly made Raspberry Butta Spread into a beautiful ramekin or sauce pot before serving.

Add fresh raspberries on top of the spread as an edible garnish.

Sweetcorn Bread

{soft cake-like bread}

Ingredients

• 3 ½ (875 ml) cups Gluten free all-purpose flour
• 2 cans Sweetcorn
• 1 cup Vegetable oil (try butter flavoured avocado oil)
• 60 ml Sugar
• 60 ml White wine vinegar
• 4 tsp Baking powder
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

You will also need an angel food cake pan and cooking spray/vegetable oil for greasing.

Steps

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Combine all the ingredients well, using a spoon.
3. Pour into the Angel Food Cake Pan and press down with the back of a spoon to get rid of big air pockets.
4. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes (this will depend on the flour you are using, and also your oven). Check for readiness after 50 minutes.
5. Let the Sweetcorn Bread cool down for 15 - 20 minutes before turning out onto a plate/serving platter.
6. Serve at a braai (barbecue) or a lunch, with Vegan Butta.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Serve with hummus alongside mushroom kebabs, and a fresh salad. 

All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

Ingredients

• 4 cups Brown rice flour
• 2 cups White rice flour
• 2 cups Chickpea flour
• 2 cups Potato starch (not flour)
• 1 cup Corn starch/tapioca starch/a combination of these two
• 6 teaspoons Xanthum gum

Steps

1. Sift all of the flours and starches together in a large air tight container.
2. Combine them well using a whisk.
3. Store in the same airtight container for all your gluten free baking needs.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Fritters

Ingredients

• 1.5 – 2 litres water
• 10 ml sea salt
• 1 kg pumpkin/butternut/a combination of these two (cut into chunks)
• 500 ml gluten free flour (see my Vegan Venus All Purpose Gluten Free Flour recipe)
• 250 ml sugar/xylitol
• 10 drops vanilla extract / 5 ml vanilla essence
• 2.5 – 5 ml ground cinnamon
• 250 ml vegetable oil for frying (I normally use non-gmo canola or sunflower oil)

Steps

1. Boil the pumpkin/butternut in the water and salt until soft.
2. Drain well, and mash.
3. Start heating the oil.
4. Mix the remaining ingredients (except the oil) together with the pumpkin/butternut until well combined.
5. Please be careful when cooking with hot oil. Drop a tiny bit of the pumpkin mixture into the oil to check if it is ready. Once ready, continue with the next step.
6. Drop a spoonful (tablespoon) of pumpkin mixture at a time into the hot oil and fry until brown edges can be seen, flip the fritter over to fry on the other side. Smaller fritters will cook faster.
7. Lift the fritters out of the oil and let them drain in a bowl lined with paper kitchen towel to absorb some of the oil.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Serve hot or at room temperature with sweet chilli sauce.

Vegan Venus' favourite egg replacer in baked goods

Ingredients

• ¼ cup apple purée (or a combination of apple and banana)
• 1 tsp Baking powder

Steps

Add these 2 ingredients to a recipe that calls for an egg.

Curried Mash & Potato Cups

Ingredients

• 4 cups Cooked and mashed potatoes (6 – 7 large potatoes)
• 1 tsp Garam masala or mild curry powder
• 1 tsp Ground cumin
• ½ - 1 tsp Garlic powder/crushed fresh garlic
• ½ - 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• ½ tsp Fresh/dried chives
• ½ tsp Dried coriander
• ½ tsp Spanish smoked paprika (got mine at Woolworths)
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup chopped veggies of choice (I used frozen peas and corn for the photograph).

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C if you are planning to follow the recipe to the end…see step 4.
2. Prepare your mash preferably by peeling, boiling and mashing without adding extra liquid; you want a stiff mash, not a runny one.
3. Mix all the spices with your mash.
4. Add the veggies and mix again. You could choose to serve the mash now, as is, or carry on with the next steps to create the potato cups.
5. Prepare your muffin tray by adding muffin cups to it, or grease the muffin tray with vegetable oil or vegan butta.
6. Fill each muffin cup with the mash mixture until full. Smooth the top if you like.
7. As soon as the oven is ready, place your muffin tray on the centre shelf and bake for +/- 30 minutes (until golden).
8. Let the Vegan Venus Curried Potato Cups rest for about 10 minutes before serving. This is to ensure they don’t fall apart.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Add a sprinkling of paprika/cayenne pepper while waiting for the 10 minutes of standing time to pass. Serve as is, or with vegan mayonnaise (I love B-well Canola Mayonnaise Creamy Gourmet – sold at Pick ‘n Pay).

Sour Cream

Feel free to freeze half of the recipe - it thaws well.

Ingredients

• 1 can Coconut Cream (+/- 400 ml)
• 1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
• ½ Tbs Dried Italian/Mixed Herbs (optional)
• ½ tsp Mustard Powder

Steps

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Refrigerate until needed. Refrigeration will thicken the sour cream.

I serve Vegan Venus Sour Cream over steamed/baked potatoes.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Pour/spoon into pretty sauce pots or ramekins just before serving.

Gem Squash Cups

Ingredients

• 6 – 8 Gem Squash Halves
• 4 Tbs Vegan Butta
• 125g Chopped Mushrooms
• 100g Chopped Baby Marrows
• 1 Tbs Sunflower Seeds
• 1 Tbs Sesame Seeds
• 2 Tbs Nutritional Yeast
• 1 – 2 Tbs Chopped Peppadews

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Place the gem squash halves on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 10 minutes on high. If you don’t have a microwave oven, don’t despair; move on to the next step.
3. Sauté the mushrooms and baby marrows in a frying pan with the vegan butta over medium‑high heat until tender.
4. Turn off the stove, and add the remaining seeds, nutritional yeast, and Peppadews to the frying pan; mix well.
5. Divide the mushroom-seed mixture among the 6 to 8 gem squash halves.
6. Place in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes, checking the gem squash halves are soft before removing them from the oven.
7. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note

Kid friendly option: Adding a mixture of vegan butta and nutritional yeast to a few of the gem squash halves, without the rest of the vegetables, might be the best kid friendly option if your kids are not fond of vegetables (like mine). 

The nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavour without any animal products, and as the name states, it’s nutritious too. 

Too Easy Curry Mayo

Ingredients

• Half a bottle of B-well Gourmet Mayonnaise
• 1 Sachet Ina Paarman Tikka Curry Coat & Cook Sauce

Steps

1. Mix these 2 ingredients well.
2. Store in the fridge for up to a month.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

• Serve your Too Easy Curry Mayo in a beautiful ramekin or glass jar (a mason jar would be perfect for a rustic setting).
• Serve with baked/steamed potatoes, vegetable crudités, or any other dish that needs a little Vegan Venus Flair. Mix with cooled cooked potatoes as a twist to your normal potato salad.

Vegan Butta

Adapted from Miyoko Schinner's Glorious Butterless Butter

Ingredients

• 375ml deflavoured coconut oil (melted)
• 125ml butter flavoured avocado oil (if your fridge is really cold, you could add another 60ml avo oil, which is what I do in Winter)
• 125ml rice milk/soya milk/almond milk or a combination of these
• 20ml (4 tsp) soya lecithin granules
• 2.5ml sea salt

Steps

1. Blend all the ingredients together on high speed until well blended (a stick blender and its measuring cup work well). Don’t worry if the lecithin granules can still be seen after blending for about 3 minutes.
2. Pour into 2 glass/plastic containers with lids; use containers that will make spreading easy, like a rectangular container similar to the ones butter/margarine is sold in. If you go through butta quickly, feel free to use only one (larger) container.
3. Put one in the fridge, and one in the freezer. Refrigerated Vegan Venus Butta will keep for up to 3 weeks; frozen Vegan Venus Butta will last for 3 months.
4. Your Vegan Venus Butta can be used in all sorts of recipes as a substitute for dairy based butter and margarine.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Instead of pouring the Vegan Venus Butta into containers, try pouring it into silicone moulds (like the ones that are used for making chocolate shapes/ice cubes). These make really cute individual portions of butta – hotel style. Try it out when you have guests over.