Strawberry Oat Bakes with Chocolate - Recipe

Hey there,

It's been a long time. Most of my days now are spent running our vegan streetfood business - The Vegan Grindhouse. If you don't know who we are, click on the link and go and find out! We travel the UK selling handmade vegan burgers at markets, festivals, concerts, weddings, parties, events and more. We are available to hire as well.

Well today, I had a very rare day off, due to an event being cancelled and so I thought I'd do a new recipe for the blog as it has been too long.

A few days ago, I was sent a hamper of Free From items from the lovely people at Sainsbury's to try out and let them know what I thought, so I decided the best way to use them would be bake something, as baking is one of my favourite things to do!

Here are the items Sainsbury's sent me to try:

All of the items were clearly labelled vegan which was great and the almond milk is fortified with calcium and vitamin D. I decided to make a strawberry oat bake with chocolate and have a slice with a glass of the milk. Perfect afternoon treat. This item is gluten free also.

Here is my recipe (Makes 6-8 slices):

50g light brown soft sugar

125g gluten free plain flour (I used Dove's Farm plain flour)

1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda

100g gluten free oats (I used Deliciously Free From Pure Oats by Sainsbury's)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon golden syrup

125g vegan butter alternative (I used Pure)

1/2 jar jam (I used Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Strawberry Conserve)

100g vegan chocolate (I used Deliciously Free From Choc Bar by Sainsbury's)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C (Fan)/Gas Mark 4

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin

In a mixing bowl stir together the sugar, flour, bicarb, and oats until combined.

Then add the vanilla extract and golden syrup and stir through the dry mixture.

Rub the butter alternative into the dry mixture with your finger tips until the mixture resembles crumble.

Pour three quarters of the crumble mix into your prepared tin and press down into the tin with the back of a metal spoon.

Spoon the jam onto the base and spread all over with a pallet knife.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble on top of the jam and press in lightly.

Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin on a wire rack for an hour to completely cool.

Next, break the chocolate into pieces and place into a glass bowl over a saucepan of just boiled water. Stir until the chocolate has melted. 

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the strawberry bake and pop in the fridge for 20 minutes until set.

Slice the bake into 6-8 slices and enjoy with an ice cold glass of almond milk.

Put your feet up and relax, you've earned it!

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Sainsbury's Free From - Gluten Free Roasted Pepper Arrabbiata

Sorry for the long blogging break. The Vegan Grindhouse has taken over most of my waking hours of late and we have just returned from a lovely holiday in sunny Devon. However, I am back and blogging. This week TOV is a new frozen product from Sainsbury's. It is a Roasted Pepper Arrabbiata pasta dish which is vegan and wheat/gluten free. The pasta comes in a separate sachet from the arrabbiata sauce and you can oven cook or microwave. The meal was nice, not too spicy with a good texture and flavour, but would have been easy to make from scratch or just as quick to use a jar of sauce and some gluten free pasta. This ready-meal is pricey at £2.50, however for a quick frozen meal which is gluten and wheat free as well as vegan, it provides another option.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Tibits Restaurant, London

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to London to try out the new all-vegan days at Tibits Restaurant. Tibits is an all-vegetarian restaurant on Heddon Street, just off Regent Street in Central London. A few times a month, they have an all-vegan day at the restaurant, which means all of their buffet showboat is full of yummy vegan starters, salads, mains and desserts as well as an extensive drinks menu including fresh juices and vegan beers.

We arrived at the restaurant and were shown to our seat by the manager who was a lovely lady, full of useful information on the food and drinks and we were seated under a beautiful chandelier.

We had some soft drinks and cashew nuts whilst we were getting settled and then went up to look at the impressive buffet range.

The buffet consisted of a range of healthy salads, hot dishes, snacks and sides.

This is what I chose for my main meal:

Tabouleh, couscous, breaded tofu escalopes, ratatouille and lots of tasty vegetables.

Mr Vox had the following:

Pizza, crusty bread roll, salad, tofu slices, onion rings, guacamole and falafal. We both really enjoyed our meals, they were fresh and tasty and full of flavour. There was a good range of dishes to mix and match to suit all diets, including gluten-free and raw vegan.

You choose your items and then take your plate to be weighed at the till, the food is charged by weight to reduce food waste often associated with buffet restaurants.

Next we had some more drinks, Mr Vox went for a vegan beer by Brew Dog and I had a fresh Carrot, Apple and Ginger juice which was super refreshing.

Next, it was time for dessert. There was a nice selection of desserts on offer:

I went for fresh strawberries with cherry coconut cream, it was so nice and light.

Mr Vox had the sticky toffee pudding with chocolate cream - pure decadence.

We finished off with a coffee and a loyalty card, as we will definitely be returning!

Tibits is our new favourite London restaurant and we will be returning later this month.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Disclaimer: We were invited for a free meal and drinks to review this restaurant, however the review is entirely my own opinion and has not been edited or amended by Tibits or their associates. All photos are my own and I received no payment for this review.

The Ordinary Vegan - Hot Cross Buns

This week's TOV is a yummy British classic sweet bread - Hot Cross Buns. Sainsbury's Hot Cross Buns are vegan and taste yummy toasted and spread with a little vegan butter. Perfect!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week- Shortbread

I love shortbread, it is so easy to make and you can use it as a base for lots of variations.

Here is my recipe:

125g Hard Stork in the foil packet
60g Caster Sugar
180g Plain Flour
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 170C fan/190C conventional.

Cream together the sugar, vanilla and margarine until smooth, then sieve the flour into the creamed mixture, add the salt and work together until in forms a soft dough.

Roll the dough out until it is around 1/2 inch thick and cut into fingers, circles, stars, hearts or whatever you like. Sprinkle with caster sugar and prick with a fork.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Bake in the oven for around 16-18 minutes until golden brown and then transfer onto a cooling rack.

Variations on the recipe include adding dark chocolate chips into the dough before rolling, adding chopped cherries or raisins to the dough before rolling or after baking drizzle with lemon or vanilla glace icing.

Eat and Enjoy!

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Summer Sandwiches - The Italian SLT & Homemade Chutney

Vegusto Hot Salami with Tomato and Red Onion Chutney and Rocket on a wholemeal Ciabatta Roll. 

Chutney Recipe

Ingredients:

250g red onions, sliced

500g tomatoes, chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced

150g soft brown sugar

70ml red wine vinegar

Method:

Place all of the ingredients into a large pan and stir well. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 40 minutes until a jam-like consistency. Pour into a large sterilised jar and leave to cool completely. Keeps in the fridge for around 6 weeks.

The Sandwich

Ingredients:

A Ciabatta Roll

4 slices of Vegusto Hotsami

2 slices of beef tomato

A handful of rocket

A heaped tablespoon of chutney

Method:

Slice the Ciabatta roll lengthways in half.

Put the vegan salami slices on the bottom layer.

Add the tomato, then the rocket.

Finish with a generous layer of tomato and red onion chutney and put the top of the roll on.

Serve with mixed olives.

Eat and Enjoy!

VVx

Vegan Vox Travels...to Berlin

Berlin is a wonderful city for many reasons, the history, the architecture and the people, but as a vegan, it is a paradise – full of vegan choices at every turn.

Here are some of the highlights:

All over the city there are kebab shops, but unlike the UK versions, all of these serve delicious falafel in pitta with salad. A great vegan-friendly option if you need something fast!

There are a few chains of organic shops and health food stores, such as Viv Stores and LPG, which have a wide variety of vegan products and an entirely vegan chain of food shops called Veganz – these are filled with mock meats, cheeses, store cupboard essentials, sweets and drinks including the American brands such as Tofurky, Gardein and Daiya. There is also a coffee shop attached to Veganz – Goodies which sells amazing cakes, paninis, brownies and more. Nearby there are other vegan boutiques selling shoes and clothes such as Avesu and DearGoods. Nearly every shop sells vegan-friendly Fritz Cola if you fancy a soft drink and we found almond and soy options as well as at least one vegan cake at most coffee shops.

Dr. Pogo is an independent vegan shop selling a wide range of chocolates, sweets, mock meats, cheeses, ready meals, drinks, whole foods, skincare and cleaning products.

You have to try the following restaurants/eateries too:

Sfizy Pizza – An all-vegan pizzeria with over a hundred different pizza options on the menu!

Voner – An all-vegan doner kebab shop!

Asia Gourmet – Choose your noodles, veg, tofu and sauce. Eat in or take away.

Vego Cafe – An all-vegan fast food cafe – think hot dogs, burgers, chips, bratwurst etc.

Delores – A Mexican burrito place with two vegan options.

Cupcake Cafe – Lots of vegan cupcakes, cakes and cookies.

Mio Matto – A gourmet veggie/vegan restaurant.

Goura Pakora – An all-vegetarian eatery with many vegan options.

There are so many more all over Berlin, you would need a month to try them all!

Go and visit because Berlin is a perfect weekend break destination for vegans. Have you been to Berlin? Is there somewhere else we should try or have missed out of this brief guide? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

A version of this article has already been published in the TeenVGN MiniMag Summer Edition.