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

The Ordinary Vegan - Earth Balance Buttery Popcorn

Now for those of my readers in the USA, you may be wondering why I have never mentioned Earth Balance products before and my UK readers are probably wondering why this would be on TOV and not on Vegan Vox Reviews. Well my vegan friends, here are the answers.

US readers, here in the UK we do not have access to these wonderful vegan products by Earth Balance which is why I have never featured them before. UK readers, this is not a special product I have been sent for review...I found these at Tesco!! In large Tesco stores at the moment they are trialling American vegan, gluten-free and free-from products. I am hoping if they sell well they may become a regular feature so grab them whilst they are hot!

This huge 170g bag of Earth Balance Buttery Popcorn is labelled as vegan, gluten-free, is non-GMO and contains no trans fats.

They taste buttery and rich and how I remember non-vegan butter popcorn tasting. I was so excited to see these in Tesco. They sell for around £2 and they also had by Earth Balance: Sea Salt Kettle Chips, Peanut Butter Popcorn and Peanut Butter spreads.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac & Cheeze

I love Mac'n'Cheese. I missed it so much when I became vegan. Sure, I have made cheesy style sauces with nutritional yeast, but they never tasted quite like the real thing. Then I found Amy's Kitchen Rice Mac & Cheeze and I'm back in love!

The texture and taste are spot on, the sauce is the right thickness and creamy. It's made using Daiya cheese from the USA and is gluten-free and soy-free too! It is also Vegan Society Certified. The only downside is that is it expensive - around £3 for a small portion, which would only serve as a side dish or a snack. Obviously you could make your own for much cheaper, but this wins on the taste front.

Amy's Kitchen products are available from selected supermarkets, health food shops and online.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Recipe of the Week - Sour Cream and Chive Dip

This makes a lovely thick creamy dip, perfect for nachos or potato wedges.

You will need:

70g Cashew Nuts

2 tsp Cyder Vinegar

1 tsp Lemon Juice

1 tbsp chopped fresh or dried chives

pinch of salt

Method:

Boil some water in the kettle and pour over the cashews in a bowl to cover them completely. Leave to soak for 40 minutes. Then drain and rinse.

Place the cashews into a blender with the vinegar, lemon juice, salt and 60ml water. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add more water if needed to get the right consistency.

Transfer to a ramekin and add the chives, stir in to combine.

Dollop on top of nachos, salsa, red onions and jalapeños. Eat and Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, there are plenty more here.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Ten Acre Crisps

I was lucky enough to be sent some samples of the new Ten Acre Vegan Crisps range to try so I could review them for you, and let me tell you, I was impressed.

The flavours are interesting and quirky, they come with their own unique names and a fab website too. All of the flavours are vegan and gluten-free and they are registered with The Vegan Society.

The flavours include Sweet & Sour, BBQ, Bombay Spice, Chicken Soup, Ready Salted, Sweet Chilli and perhaps the most exciting for vegans...Cheese & Onion.

It is hard to find vegan cheese and onion crisps, so this is a real treat. The crisps all have a hand cooked finish, are not overpowering with flavour and come in a decent sized portion of 35g bags. My favourite is the Sweet & Sour flavour.

I'm really excited about this new crisp range. Click here to read all about their flavours and ask your local health food shop to start stocking them for you. We will have some for sale on our "The Vegan Grindhouse" Streetfood Truck.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Vox Reviews...Frank Bars

Have you tried Frank Bars yet? 

If not, then go grab some today, because they are delicious, chocolatey and yet surprisingly healthy. They are gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free, vegan-friendly and packed with fruit and protein and bags of energy. All this disguised as a yummy chocolate bar! 

The lovely people at Frank Food Company sent me a selection pack to sample for you (it's a tough job!!) and I really liked them. The orange and strawberry were my favourites. They are really filling and would be great to take on a walk, run or cycle for extra energy.

They have a range of flavours including Orange, Blueberry, Strawberry, Double Chocolate and Oat.

They are a British company based in North Yorkshire and have stockists all over the UK.

You can follow them on Twitter here or Facebook here.

What are you go-to snack bars of choice? Share in the comments below.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Vegan Sushi

I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend and are feeling the joys of Spring. Today's recipe is a yummy vegan sushi, which is great for a dinner party or vegan buffet with friends.

This is what you will need:

Makes 2 sushi rolls (around 16-18 pieces)

2 sheets of Sushi Nori

Organic Sushi Rice

Soy Sauce

Brown Rice Vinegar

Vegetables - I used Mushrooms, Carrot, Cucumber and Red Pepper

Wasabi Paste

Dried Daikon Radish (optional)

Sushi Mats

Method:

First make up the sushi rice according to the instructions on the box. This can be a long process involving washing, soaking, cooking and cooling so allow a couple of hours for this step.

Whilst the rice is cooling, prepare the daikon radish by soaking in hot water, draining, drying and lightly frying until crispy.

Wash and chop your vegetables into thin strips.

Lay out your sushi mat and place a sheet of nori on the mat.

Spread a thick even layer of rice over the sheet leaving an inch gap at the top of the sheet. Sprinkle some brown rice vinegar over the rice.

Next layer your vegetables and daikon in the centre.

Using the mat, tightly roll the sushi from the bottom to the top and then wet the strip at the top with water to seal.

Wrap the sushi roll in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Once out of the fridge cut your sushi roll into bite size pieces and serve with wasabi and soy sauce dips. 

Delicious served with a miso soup and mushrooms.

Eat and Enjoy!

If you liked this recipe, please share on social media and visit my recipe page for many more vegan meal ideas.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx