When Life Gives you Lemons - Make a Lush Lemon Cake!

Hello and happy weekend!

I sure gotta take every opportunity and hold on with both hands these days, as Kev, Alphonse and I need to find a new flat to rent as well as looking for a flat to buy - stressful? Aye! We went to our first viewing today, one of many - I assume. It's fun, but also stressful... I just hope that the end result is us finding the perfect home.

So in the meantime, I want to make cakes! I had been craving lemon cake for weeks, as I remember fondly the lemon loaf cake my mormor used to make when I was little - back then I thought "It's more of a grown up cake", but now...well I wont say I have grown up, but lemon cake sure is a wonderful thing, especially with a cup of coffee to go with it, mmmm.

So let's get to it shall we?

Lush Lemon Loaf Cake
(Makes 1 loaf cake)

Ingredients
250g flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g sugar (I used light brown)
75ml sunflower oil
250ml soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of two lemons

For the icing:
Juice of 2/3 lemon (Or desired thickness of the icing)
75g icing sugar

- Pre-heat oven to 180C.

- Pour vinegar into the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it looks curdled. Grate lemons and set one aside for the icing.

- In a large bowl, mix the milk, oil, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Stir to combine. Then with a sieve, sift the flour and the baking powder into the mix and stir until combined without over-working the batter.

- Line a pound-cake tin/loaf tin, and pour in the mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Cool down almost completely before mixing icing sugar and lemon juice to an icing and pouring over the cake evenly (You could do the full drizzle-technique, but I decided to go for the easier option).

Serve with a cuppa and enjoy!

Original recipe here.


What is your favourite lemon cake recipe? I would love to hear it, as I am looking forward to trying out all kinds of recipes in the future!

Have a lovely Friday! Currently Alphonse and I are sitting on the sofa listening to some Einaudi, and Kev has gone for a nap. We're wild - I know!

xox J

Rockwell's Gorgie Tofu Scramble

Hello hello!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend thus far! It's not quite over yet and I am clambering on to it like something precious...

Kev and I have just been to Ikea today, got a few chores done, and now it's on to just chilling to the max, ah.

But.... the other week, I got this lovely recipe from a friend of mine.... for tofu scramble! But, it's not like any
scramble I have had before! It tastes the way it smelled when you walked in and granny was making dinner... Before when I have
made scrambled tofu, it's been ok - but this is just... out of this world! My younger sister Camilla tried some, and she
wanted to polish it off!

Anyway, I was given permission to share this special recipe with you, so here it is! It can be served plainly on toast like I
did here, or made as part of a full vegan breakfast! If you use smoked tofu, like Tofoo - it pretty much tastes like you've
added sausages, it's divine *makes Italian gesture for delicious*

Rockwell's Gorgie Tofu Scramble
(Serves 2)

It looks mighty humble here - but trust me: it packs a punch!

Ingredients
1 pack silken or firm tofu (I used firm)
35ml almond or soy milk (I used soy)
3 generous heaped tsp nutritional yeast
1/4-1/2 tsp veggie stock powder
Pinch of turmeric
Dash of soy sauce
Black pepper
Black Salt (Kala Namak) to taste (I only had normal salt, but will try the original once I find it!)
Vegan spread (like Naturli)

- Start by mixing the milk, nutritional yeast, stock powder, turmeric, soy sauce and a little dash of pepper. Mix well and add a splash more milk so that you have a nice runny mixture.

- In a separate bowl (or straight into a cold frying pan), crumble the tofu into the kind of pieces you would normally like your scramble to be. You can do this with a fork or use your hands, I find the latter quicker actually! Pour over the mixture and make sure it is all coated.

- Fry the scramble with a little dash of plant based milk, and stir occasionally - tasting along the way and adding seasoning if needed. If using silken tofu, it requires a bit more reducing than if using firm tofu - but the wait is definitely worth it!

- Near the end, add 1-3 tbsp vegan spread into the mix to achieve that soft, lush scramble texture, sprinkle liberally with black salt and stir to combine.

- Serve on toast, or as part of a full vegan breakfast and enjoy! You can even add this to a breakfast burrito with a few chopped greens, yummy!

Please let me know how you found it if you make it, aaaaaaand I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! I'm pretty addicted to this stuff already....

Have a fantastic rest of your Sunday!

xox J

Easy Peasy Enchiladas

Guys, guys!

Right, so I have made this for the second time in a couple of weeks now - because I actually craved it so bad! As I have mentioned before, I am not a fan of eating the same all the time, and I try new recipes constantly! So it's a good sign when I want to make it again, and again...and again!

The only enchiladas I have ever made before was one of those kits you buy in a shop, and buy a few ingredients and throw together, but this is so easy to make - not to mention cheap! You wont miss the cheese, even I was surprised by that!

Easy Peasy Enchiladas
(Serves 2-3, or 5 as lunch served with a side salad)

This doesn't photograph well, but it tastes amazing! Like most comfort food, heh!

Ingredients

For the sauce:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp plain flour
2-3 cups boiling water
1 small can passata (about 80ml)
1 tsp hot sauce (I mixed normal hot sauce and sriracha, yum!)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt

For the filling:
400g can black beans, drain and rinsed
400g corn, drained and rinsed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 avocado, mashed
Handful coriander, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Small tortillas (both times for my oven proof dish, it's fit five filled tortillas)

- Start by making the sauce: Boil the water and set aside. In a medium pan, heat up the oil and stir in the flour, make sure it doesn't go lumpy. Now, stir continously as you pour in two cups of water. Make sure you have an smooth mixture, and tip in the passata, spices and hot sauce. Once thickened, take it off the heat and set aside.

- Pre-heat oven to 160-180C.

- Prepare all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and stir well to combine.

- Take an ovenproof dish, and oil a little. Now fill the tortillas with 1 1/2-2 tbsp of the filling and roll up. Place with the edge underneath in the dish so it doesn't come undone. Repeat with remaining tortillas and pour over the sauce evenly.

- Place in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes until cooked through, and it's time to tuck in!

Original recipe here.

I hope you have had a nice weekend! Mine has been super busy and sociable! I went to a hen-night last night, and today I kept my sister company as she was looking after two dogs. We went to the park and plop! Into the mud jumped two rebellious dogs! It was quite the site and I got covered in mud! But they were too cute to get angry with...
Last Friday I got my cover-up tattoo worked on a bit, and it is looking sa-weeeeet! Can't wait to get it finished, but I am a sissy and gotta book two hours at a time...

Anyway, I hope you have a crackin' start to a new week tomorrow! And if you try this recipe out, please let me know how you got on!

xox J

Zingy Pasta Salad

Hi and good Sunday!

I hope you have had a lovely weekend! I have taken it a little easier after going to the TRNSMT festival last weekend (I got to see Miles Kane, Sigrid, Nothing but Thieves and ARCTIC MONKEYS! So that was pretty cool :D ). This weekend I have chilled to the max, read. Yesterday my sister Camilla and I went for a long walk, fed the swanlings - the swan couple had FIVE little ones this year, they are the cutest! - and then ordered a large pizza each, becaaaaause it was cheaper than a small pizza, which justifies everything.... Then we watched a couple of chick flicks and generally just had a lovely night!

Today I'm seeing a friend later, but for lunch today, I rattled up this little number! It is suuuper zingy, but has a lovely Asian fusion flavours, and you can serve it with warm or cold pasta depending.

Zingy Pasta Salad
(Serves 2 people)

Ingredients
150g farfalle pasta, uncooked
100g spinach, torn
1 large handful coriander, finely chopped
2 handfuls dried cranberries
1 small can tangerines, drained
1 handful pine nuts

For the dressing
3 tbsp oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of brown sugar

- Start by cooking the pasta, the butterfly pasta should take approximately 12 minutes, ten for al dente.

- In the mean time, place all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid and give it a shake. Put aside.

- Prepare the spinach and have it in a medium salad bowl, followed by the coriander, cranberries and tangerines. Toast the pine nuts until nice and golden and fragrant. Stir in the pine nuts, and pasta and stir well to combine and drizzle over the dressing! Serve immediately or leave in fridge to cool until serving!

To make this gluten free, you can easily replace the pasta with cooked, fluffy rice.

xox J

Burrito Salad

Degrees are still way up in the 20Cs, and what better than rattling up a salad - especially burrito style!

Burrito Salad
(Serves 3-4)

140g cooked rice
400g can black beans, rinsed
200g can sweetcorn, rinsed
2 large tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 baby gem lettuce, finely chopped
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped

For the dressing:
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 green chilli (or a splash or sriracha sauce)
1 tbsp olive oil
150ml unsweetened plant based milk (I used oat milk)
1 tsp maple syrup or agave
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste

- Start by cooking the rice, and leave it to cool whilst cutting the vegetables. Once cooled, fold it all into the rice and stir well.

- For the dressing, simply have it all in a small blender, and blend until smooth. Pour over generously and stir to combine.

There is so much dressing in this salad and it tastes divine! So you could easily serve some garlic bread with it for mopping, scrumptious!

This is what I call a proper dinner for a hot sunny day, or as a healthy lunch, I had it as both to be honest, and it wont be the last time - already craving it!

Original recipe by the Bosh! plant based cook book, I swear I am going through every single recipe in that book! I hope you don't mind, hehe!

xox J

Middle Eastern Pizza

It's Summer, you're feeling a little lazy, but you wany pizza so bad - and you want to be healthy at the same time: contradiction central, however I miiiiight have a recipe that will tick a few of those boxes.

We're talking pizza, but with a home made wholemeal dough, you gotta put some elbow grease into it, but then you can relax with a refreshing drink whilst the dough is rising. And the combo of these veggie toppings work SO well together - I promise you!

As far as additional toppings, you can use homemade vegan pesto, hummus, vegan-style mozzarella.... But personally, I loved this just on it's own!

Middle Eastern Pizza
(Serves 2 hungry people, or 4 with a side salad if you want to be good!)

Ingredients
For the dough:
500g strong wholemeal bread flour
1 sachet dry fast-action yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
340ml water at 37C (if you drip a drop of it on your wrist, you shouldn't be able to feel it - that's what they taught us in primary and secondary school in home ec! :D)

For the sauce (This is SO tasty by the way!):
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
Small handful fresh basil, roughly torn
1 tbsp olive oil or rapeseed oil
200g tinned tomatoes (or about 2-3 fresh ones, chopped)
1 tsp red wine vinegar (you can also use white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar)

Toppings:
50g artichokes in oil, finely chopped
1 roasted red pepper from a jar, or a handful of those tiny peppers for a bit of a kick, finely chopped
6 mini plum tomatoes, finely chopped
6 sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely sliced

-Start by making the dough: have the flour in a large baking bowl, add the yeast and the salt and stir well to combine. Make a well in the middle and pour in the lukewarm water. Stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together - then flour your work surface and tip the dough onto it. Knead it for about 10-15 minutes until beautifully elastic. Oil the baking bowl, put the dough in, cover with cling film and leave it to rise for an hour.

- In the meantime, make the sauce; put all the ingredients in a little mixer and blitz until smooth, set aside for assembly.

- Once the dough has doubled in size, knead for a further minute, divide into two, and wrap in clingfilm, leave to rise for a second time for 15-30 minutes (it's worth it!). Now chop your vegetables whilst you wait. I placed all of mine in a bowl and stirred so it was ready to be evenly drizzled over the dough as soon as it was ready!

- Pre-heat the oven to 250C, rolle each piece of dough out into a thin pizza base, pour over the sauce evenly out all the way out to the edges, drizzle with vegetables (and vegan mozzarella - if using) and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

- Once it's done, top with your favourite topping or enjoy on its own!

I hope you love it as much as Kev and I did! I had a couple of slices with me for lunch the next day, and it was delicious, mmmm....

I hope you are having a good week so far! Here in Glasgow the weather's heating up again and I am just getting better after having a ridonculous Summer cold, but I was back at badminton last night - which was awesome!

xoxo
J

Original recipe from Bosh! Plant based cook book

Scrummy Aubergine Burgers

Hi all!

I hope you're having a lovely weekend so far! It seems forever since my last post, but life has been a little busy as of late! Today my dad is coming to visit, so that'll be awesome! I'm gonna bake some bread later on, as I am sure he will be famished after the journey....

But now - Let's talk burgers!

Normally I am not a fan of aubergine, but when cooked until soft, smokey and lush: I'm all for it!

Scrummy Aubergine Burgers
(Makes six smaller or four big burgers)

Ingredients
100g bulghur wheat, dry
250ml water
1 vegan stock cube
400g aubergine, cut into dice
2 tbsp oil (such as sunflower, where there is no prominent flavour)
60g walnuts
40g fresh spinach, chopped
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 more vegan stock cube
1 small tsp cinnamon
100g quick-oats

To serve: buns, or pitta, lettuce or spinach leaves, salsa, or ketchup and vegan mayonnaise, etc! So much to choose from :D

- Start by cooking the bulghur wheat in the 250 ml water along with 1 stock cube.

- In the meantime, pre-heat the oven at 225C, and tip the chopped aubergine on a baking tray, drizzle with the oil and bake for about 30 minutes, at the halfway point, turn the pieces over.

- Dry-toast the walnuts lightly until aromatic, this shouldn't take more than a minute or two, then chop them roughly and set aside.

- Now, mix the cooked bulghur, aubergine, walnuts and spinach in a large bowl. Use a stick blender and blend until you have a rough mixture, then stir in the remaining stock, lemon, cinnamon, and oats - plus a little salt and pepper.

- Fry them in a little oil, until crisp and serve up with your favourite accompaniments!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Have a fantasmical Sunday!

xox J


Original recipe from Kjøttfrie burgere <3