Dee’s Vegan Burger with a Mushroom, Leek and Cashew Cream Sauce

I enjoy getting inspiration for cooking when I am out shopping and the other day there were some leek on special offer. I then found a tin of sweet chestnuts, followed by some nice mushrooms and pretty soon an idea for a meal had come together before I even got home. Enjoy – Eoin.

You will need:
1 pack of Dee’s Omega Burgers
2 leeks, chopped
200g mushrooms, chopped
1-2 Tbsp of oil
15g sage
200g cashew nuts
3 garlic cloves
100g asparagus
1 handful of spinach
50-75g sweet chestnuts
500mls water
Salt /pepper to season
2 bread buns toasted (optional)

Method:
Place the cashews in 500mls of water and bring to the boil. Allow it to simmer for 5-7 minutes, then take off the heat and cool.

Then add it to a blender with the garlic and sage and blend until smooth and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the leeks and mushrooms in a frying pan with some oil, salt and pepper until browned.

Add the cashew cream sauce and the spinach and cook for 3-5 minutes.

Cook the burgers according to instructions on the packet – I pan fried mine in a little oil. When the burgers are cooked, use the same pan to then cook the asparagus with a little salt for 2-3 minutes.

Pour some of the sauce over the burger and top with some asparagus and chestnuts. You could serve it with or without a bun (see pic.)

Vegan Chickpea Brownies

These brownies are deceptively delicious! I’ve heard of black bean brownies before, but I hadn’t tried making chickpea versions, until I had a glut of chickpeas left over the other day and needed a way to use them up! Sugar, dairy and gluten free, these are well worth a try! – Eoin.

You will need:
250g cooked chickpeas
30g raw cocoa powder
120g coconut sugar
125mls of oat milk
2 tsp “no egg”
½ tsp pink salt
1 tsp of instant espresso coffee

Suggested toppings –
Almond butter
Raspberries
Coco nibs
Chocolate peppermint creams
The list is endless!

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c

Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until you are left with a smooth batter.

Line a brownie pan with foil and grease with a little oil. Pour in the brownie batter and make sure it’s even.

Place the toppings of your choice on top (see pic).

Cook for 20-25 minutes, then allow to rest and cool for at least 20 minutes.

Cut and store the brownies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days

Enjoy with some vegan ice cream or just with a cup of coffee … or both! – Eoin.

Crispy Vegan ‘Duck’ with home-made hoisin sauce and wilted greens

This is a really good recipe if you’re craving Chinese food. I like to serve this dish with wilted greens, you can use lettuce, pak choi or cabbage. The secret of this dish is freshly made Chinese five spice seasoning and also home-made hoisin sauce. It sounds complicated but it’s not really and you will never buy shop bought sauce again. Mock Duck can look a little strange as it looks really realistic! It was traditionally eaten by Zen Buddhist monks from China and is a mixture of gluten and soy.

Chinese 5 Spice

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of black peppercorns
2 tablespoons of whole cloves
2 tablespoons of broken cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons of fennel seeds
6 whole star anise

Method:
Grind each ingredient separately in a spice mill or mortar. Combine and mix well. Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place. If you own a high-speed blender simply place all the ingredients in the jug and mix.

Hoi-Sin Sauce

Ingredients.

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons of seasoned rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 teaspoons sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon hot sauce
Half a teaspoon of ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients for the hoisin sauce in a blender and blend, place in a jar and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Ingredients

1 tin of mock duck, drain and marinate in soy sauce
100g plain flour
4 tablespoons Chinese 5 Spice seasoning
Oil for shallow/deep frying
Mix of vegetables.

Mix the Chinese five spice seasoning with the plain flour, cut pieces of mock duck and dip into the seasoned flour. Shallow fry the mock duck a few pieces at a time and drain on kitchen towel. Place under a medium hot grill until serving. Stir-fry vegetables and place on a platter add the crispy cooked duck on top. Pour hoisin sauce on top and enjoy!

Veggie Chilli Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Dee’s Vegan Sausages and Avocado Mash

It was so cold the other night, I had to make something really comforting for dinner. Stuffed baked potatoes are not only filling and delicious, but super simple and cheap to make.

You will need:
1 pack of Dee’s Vegan Sausages (cut into pieces)
1 x 30g pack of chilli or smokey seasoning
1kg of large potatoes

For the veggie chilli –
2 onions, diced
1 pepper, any colour diced
Half a courgette, diced
½ pack mushrooms, diced
4 large tomatoes, diced
200g sieved tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
Salt / pepper
Oil
5mls chipotle hot sauce
50mls BBQ sauce

For the avocado mash –
1-2 avocados
1 lemon, juiced
Salt /pepper

Method:
Heat the oven to 180c and cook the potatoes for 30 minutes until the centre is cooked (you may wrap them in tinfoil if you wish.)

Heat some oil in a large frying pan and cook your veggies on high to brown them.

Next, add the tomatoes and garlic, and two thirds of the chili seasoning and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add in the sieved tomatoes next, followed by the BBQ sauce and hot sauce to taste.

Add salt and pepper if needed and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small frying pan cook the Dee’s Sausages with a little oil for about 4-5 minutes on a low to medium heat. Add the rest of the chilli seasoning and then place in the oven for 5 minutes.

While it’s in the oven, make the avocado mash, by placing the avocado, lemon and some salt in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher until it’s just braking up the flesh, but do leave it a bit lumpy.

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Gluten Free Cauliflower Pizza With Dee’s Vegan Sausages

This fab recipe is inspired by my two friends Danielle and Sammy and their epic love of pizza! They both happen to be gluten intolerant and would pester me to make this for them. It’s an ideal recipe for anyone who adores pizza but cannot take gluten in their diet.

You will need:
For the base –
1 large cauliflower, grated
1 tbsp dry herbs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion seed (optional)
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp of “no egg” replacer

For the topping
BBQ Half –
BBQ sauce
Sliced red onion
Sliced mushrooms
Sliced peppers (any colour)
2-3 Dees’ Sausages, cut into quarters

Margarita Half –
Sieved tomato
Sliced tomatoes
Basil leaves
Dry herbs
2-3 Dee’s Sausage cut into quarters

Method:
Grate the cauliflower and place it in a steamer in some cheese cloth and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Allow to cool and using the cloth squeeze out as much liquid out as possible until it becomes a mash-like consistency.

Place this in a bowl with the rest of the base ingredients and mix together to form a ball of ‘dough.’

Using a piece of parchment paper, flatten out the dough to form the pizza base; you can make it square or round.

Bake in the oven at 180c for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and flip over. If it is cooked right it should stay in one piece, if not place back in to the oven to dry out a little more.

Next make the pizza as follows –

Half BBQ sauce on one side and half tomato sauce on the other. Then place the rest of the toppings on and finish with the cut sausages (see pic)

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the toppings are nice and golden.

Cut and enjoy!

Top Tips:
Dip the sausages pieces in BBQ or tomato sauce before putting them on the pizza. This will help them to crisp up and caramelise.

You can use whatever toppings you like. Think about different sauces or pesto, let your imagination run wild!

Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burrito with Dee’s Vegan Sausages

Happy New Year! This first recipe of the year is all about simple, healthy ingredients. This delicious burrito is a fantastic way to kick off your morning or you could even have it as a guilt free evening snack – Eoin!

Makes 6 wraps

You will need:
1 packet of Dee’s Vegan Sausage’s
1 packet of GF Corn wraps
1 bag baby greens

For the Scramble –
400-500g soft tofu
1 tsp turmeric
1 garlic clove, chopped
Salt/pepper to taste
½ tsp smoked paprika
2 spring onions, chopped

For the Topping
Sliced avocado
Tomato sauce /brown sauce

Method:
Cook the Dee’s Vegan Sausage’s according to the instructions. I cooked mine in a frying pan. Once they are cooked, allow to cool and cut lengthwise in half.

Next get started on the scramble.

Place all the scramble ingredients in a blender or food processor, except for the spring onions. Blend until smooth.

Put the scramble mix in a non-stick pan and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low-medium heat just to remove the water and to give it the texture of cooked egg. Once it’s reached that stage turn up the heat and brown for 2-3 minutes on a med-high heat (see pic.)

Next, heat your wraps up in the oven for 1-2 minutes until soft and start layering as follows –
Wrap
Salad leaves
Scramble
Dee’s sausages
Avocado
Ketchup/brown sauce

Then simply roll ‘em up and enjoy! Eoin.

Top Tips:
If you don’t have a blender you can use a potato masher or fork. It may be a littler chunkier but it will still taste great.

Roll up the excess and wrap in tinfoil and place in the fridge. Be sure to eat it within 2-3 days.

To reheat, simply place in a frying pan in the tin foil wrapper and over a medium heat turn every 1-2 minutes until hot. Great for breakfast or lunch.

Gluten Free Quinoa Cashew Milk Vegan Porridge

This is my new favourite breakfast. It’s creamy and light, yet perfectly satisfying. And the best part is you can top it with anything from fruit to seeds, to jam to peanut butter or spices! It came about after I was left with too much quinoa the other day after making dinner, so I thought I might have it for breakfast and this is how it turned out! – Eoin

You will need:
100g cooked quinoa
100ml cashew milk (or any dairy free milk)
1 tsp cinnamon
Sweeten to taste with: sugar, maple syrup etc.

Topping Suggestions (see pic )
Sliced banana
Chia seeds
Frozen raspberries
Almond butter
Strawberry jam
Cinnamon

Method:
In a small pot, place your cooked quinoa and cashew milk or dairy free milk and bring to the boil. Then turn down to a low heat and cook until it starts to get thick, appx 5-6 minutes.

Watch that the end of the pot does not burn as it can do so very easily.

When it’s done to the thickness you like, add a sweeter of your choice to taste.

Then have fun adding an array of toppings.

Top Tip:
Get creative with your toppings, the list is endless.

If the end of the pot does burn a little, don’t be tempted to scrape the end. Instead just pour it off into a bowl and then soak the pot. The porridge should still be fine to eat.