Chocolate and Beyond

Recipes: Black-Eyed Bean, Celeriac & Wild Garlic Burgers (Gluten Free)

Are you are forager? If so, get out and start harvesting the wild garlic that is in season right now! It won't be around for much longer, and gone by June, but you can still find plants that are ripe for picking. I am lucky enough to have abundant access to wild garlic via my parents garden, which is overgrowing with the stuff. And I can't believe it has taken me this long to actually bother using it.

The leaves are edible as long as they are healthy-looking - though they turn more bitter once lots of flowers start appearing, you can still eat them if you don't mind the taste. In some recipes, bitterness of the later season leaves is not likely to come through - it would be more noticable eating in a salad. But if you find a crop of them, you may as well just pick and see what you think.

Recipes: French Green Olive Vegan Tapenade

In France, among the gastronomics, there is debate as to whether tapenade was traditionally always a vegetarian (though I say, vegan) delicacy, rather than the fishy version. And Monsieur Rémy Pierre, olive grower and tapenade-maker in Octon, in the Languedoc, insists that this is the case.

Of course, many people will know tapenade as having anchovies in it, but these little fishes escape their deaths in the tapenade promoted by Rémy Pierre, and the recipe given by little old moi in this post. I whizzed up this simple tapenade for a vegan potluck evening, and along with some organic breadsticks (made with olive oil, of course), it was a tasty dip and accompaniment to the rest of the meal.

Recipes: No-Bake Raw Brownie-In-A-Jar for Truffles, Spread & Sundaes (Gluten-Free, Vegan, Versatile!)

I dreamed up this recipe and idea! Yes, I actually conjured it in my sleep! I was dreaming about whizzing nuts and cocoa in a blender with some oil to make a nut-choccy sort of spread, reminiscent of Nutella, and it turned out super-tasty. So the minute I got up, I tried it out while I was making my first cup of tea of the day!

Okay. So the end results are not really like a creamy, chocolate spread, as my dream intended. It has turned out more like a thick, spreadable brownie, hence the name, but very versatile. Yes, you can use this as a spread for toast, crumpets and sandwiches - it's dense, but delicious. Just gooey, sticky, sweet, chocolately, nutty heaven, really!

Recipes: Spinach & Tofu Ricotta Tart

This Spinach & Tofu Ricotta Tart is such an easy peasy and delicious way to knock up dinner for guests or for your family. It was one of my offerings to take to the latest Manchester Vegan Potluck that I went to last weekend. The potluck has become one of my favourite monthly events, and why wouldn't it be? There is a table laden with sensational and inventive vegan food, rustled up by the many talented cooks that attend, and you get to try it all, for free! And usually, there is so much food that I sadly don't get to try everything.

This month's event was a Mediterranean theme. Because of the Easter weekend, there weren't as many of us as usual. BUT it was still wonderful - with many dishes to try and I managed to get a bit of everything this time, with seconds on a few. Anyhow, as I say, this tart was one of my contributions.

Recipes: Versatile Vegan Cheezy Dijon Sauce (Low-Fat, No Dairy, No Palm Oil, No Cholesterol!)

Perfect for pasta, gnocchi, vegetables, jacket potatoes or anything else where you're looking for a yummy-tasting, cheese-style sauce, this one fits the bill. It's got the tanginess of Hollandaise (and is quite similar, I think), and my guest last Friday night said she thought it tasted just like it had cheese in it. Result!

It hasn't even got vegan cheese in it, actually - I've used other ingredients to create the flavours (inspired by Ann Gentry's cashew cheese, which I make for my vegan cheese boards). So I was chuffed my guest enjoyed it so much. And in experimenting with this sauce, my goal was to make a roux (which traditionally is made with flour and butter) that didn't involve vegan margarine as a substitute for butter.

Recipes: Very Berry No Bake Vegan Cheesecake (Gluten Free)

Gorgeous, tempting, sinful and, um, even gluten free. How can that be? Well, with a nut blend for the base, no biscuits or flour were used in the making of this cheesecake, and cashews and vegan cream cheese are the main ingredients for the filling. Yes, here we have my first ever attempt at a no-bake vegan cheesecake, and it was so heavenly (even for an athiest like myself), I decided I could post my recipe up right away.

I would say the flavour is a little lighter than the traditional cheesecakes I remember. You could adjust the tofu to cashew ratio for more 'cheese' element, but I did really like it like this. Very soft and smoothly textured, creamy, and just enough zestiness from the lemon.Next time I make it, I'm going to make it an extremely lemony cheesecake I think, and add much more lemon juice and maybe some essence.

Recipes: Cherry Apple Teatime Cake

Tasty, moist, fruity and traditional, with a touch a warmth from the cinnamon, is the way I'd like to describe this delicious vegan cherry apple cake, which doesn't have to be eaten at teatime, of course (have it for breakfast if you like!), but is certainly perfect to accompany a cup of tea.

It's really simple to make - no frostings, fillings or sandwiching - and really, as long as you've got your oven at the right temperature, and don't peek for the first half hour or so of baking, then you can't go wrong.I think you'll find you'll really fall in love with it (I have). Biting into the juicy glacé cherries are a particular joy for me.

Recipes: No-Cook Creamy Pimento Olive Dip (or Sauce!)

Want a ridculously easy-to-make and delicious dip, fast? Then here's a gift for you, in the form of this incredibly tasty recipe using Aldi's finest pimento-stuffed olives.

I came up with this stupidly simple dip last night, after my dinner date got cancelled due to my friend being sadly ill. I was hunting through the cupboards and fridge looking for something to assemble, and spotted the olives and a pack of silken tofu. And so my recipe was born (although last night I had the dip instead as a sauce, heated up over pasta with steamed kale, mushrooms and some sprouts!).

Recipes: Christmas Spiced Cranberry Sauce

I whipped up a batch of the most delicious cranberry sauce yesterday morning and had to exclaim to myself "For crying out loud, is cranberry sauce really this easy to make? So why haven't I done it before?" Yes, it is the easiest thing ever, like warming up a tin of soup. And the festive spices and orange juice and zest in this particular recipe of mine add a very delicious and warming touch to the sauce.

Never again will I buy inferior ready-made versions from the shop when mine tastes so spoon-licking good, and is so simple to produce. As well, if I make it myself I have the knowledge that the ingredients are fresh, and the sauce contains only what I want to be in there.

Recipes: Spicy & Sweet Sesame-Fried Tofu & Baby Spinach Salad

Do not be fooled by the fact that this recipe is a 'salad' - it is utterly delicious! The combination of sweet grapes with spicy chilli and the sesame-fried tofu is a delight to the taste buds, and the dish is surprisingly satisfying, as well as a great light option in the lead up to Christmas.

This salad takes less than 10 minutes to knock up, and the dressing delivers a fabulous chilli kick with the tang of lime and the sweetness of maple syrup. Of course, it's up to you if you change ingredients but I would say ensure to include the grapes, or another fruit, as the fruity flavour with the fiery is part of what makes it wonderful to eat.