Mum's Potato Salad

4 small potatoes chopped
2 large spring onions chopped
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp capers
4 tbsp vegan mayo (aquafaba mayo posted under recipes)

Boil the potatoes until al dente, you do not want them mushy, which will spoil the texture of the finished dish.   Drain and rinse under cold  water and leave to cool.   Fry the spring onions in the oil until slightly browned and put into a salad bowl.   Drain the capers, rinse under the tap to remove some of the salt and pat dry with kitchen paper, finely chop and add to the spring onions.

Add the potatoes and mayo and mix well, check the seasoning, as the capers will add saltiness to the dish.

The Three Fishes Mitton Road Whalley - 5th August 2015

I booked The Three Fishes to celebrate my husband's birthday and got in touch, to ask if Head Chef Ian Moss could create a vegan menu for me, as he has done in the past.

The menu read well and just shows how interesting vegan food can be, not just a pile of salad leaves, which sadly is some places interpretation of what a vegan eats.   The pea and broad bean soup was so smooth and velvety in texture and full of flavour, complimented by the basil oil, drizzled on the top.   I devoured the lot!

Ribble Valley Inns who own The Three Fishes amongest others introduced "Innspired" presenting seasonal dishes created to show the inspiration and talents of their Head Chefs.   My main course was created by Paul Morris, Head Chef at The Bull Broughton, which is now on my to visit list.   I like that The Three Fishes "veganised" the dish it made me feel included, as a vegan its usually a case of being the odd one out.   The refrigado sauce was a great accompaniment replacing the fennel slaw on the original dish, I loved it and its presentation.

My dessert was raspberry and orange jelly with strawberry compote, sadly I did not do it justice, as I was very full by this time, but it was very tasty.

I have been to The Three Fishes a number of times and believe they are soon to introduce a vegan menu available all the time, how wonderful, no need to plan visits so I am dying to see what the dishes are.

Giovanni Root 66 Shampoo And Conditioner

I had been using Giovanni Root 66 hair products for years with excellent results and I love they contain no Sodium Sulphate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Parabens or Phtalates and nearly the entire Giovanni range is vegan friendly.   I switched to their Colorflage Brazenly Brunette range and found them equally as good.   Giovanni products were not easy to find on the internet at that time and my supplier removed both these products and replaced them with Ultra Sleek, Ultra Volume and Ultra Moist, so I bought some Ultra Moist.   After coming out the shower, my eyes would be on fire, red, sore, irritated, burning and my upper eyelids so swollen they would hang over my eyelashes.   I moved onto the Ultra Volume and then the Ultra Sleek, with the same result.   I tried washing my hair over the bath but found it impossible to not get some of the product near my eyes, I even considered buying some swimming goggles.   I really did not want to switch to another manufacturer as my hair loved all the Giovanni products, even though my eyes did not.

The solution lay in a food allergy test I had the beginning of this year, which showed I was allergic to sunflower seeds and some sunflower oils (dependent on cold pressed or refined), lentils and the kidney bean family.   After following an elimination diet for four months, it turned out I could not eat any pinto, black, navy, soya, aduki or haricot  beans which I can only assume my body thinks are evil!

What has this got to do with shampoo and conditioner you ask?   The common ingredient in all the Ultra range is Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, which prevents static and is derived from the cluster bean, which I can only presume my body saw as an allergen.   I was sceptical at my findings, but was desperate and having found another supplier I checked the ingredients of my old favourite Root 66 ....no Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride.   I bought trial samples and hey presto no reaction so will stick with it in future.

Fennel And Chickpea Soup

I saw this recipe in The Times colour supplement this weekend and as I usually lose recipes torn out of newspapers, decided to add it to my blog to share and so I can always find it.

2 large onions chopped
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 garlic clove crushed
3 bay leaves
400 g can of chickpeas
1 large bulb of fennel sliced
1 green chilli chopped
1 large sprig of bronze fennel chopped or
1 tsp fennel seeds
750 ml vegetable stock
Zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper

Saute the onions in the oil for 15 mins, add the fennel, garlic, chilli and bay leaves then cook for a further 10 mins.   Add the chickpeas, bronze fennel or fennel seeds and cook for a further 5 mins.

Add the stock and lemon zest and cook for 10 mins more, at which point I blitzed half the soup with a hand blender and added it back to the pan.   Serve with crusty bread, its delicous.

Mr Vikki's Chilli Products

I love chillies, in fact I am known as a fire-eater to all my friends, which is a problem when cooking, as I have no idea on the heat of dishes, which I find mild and blows everyone else's head off.

I have tried various chilli products and fresh chillies over the years, but Mr Vikkis have to be the best,  with their Queen Naga chilli pickle number one in my top ten chilli products.   It is not for the feint hearted, as you can see from the thirteen chilli rating on the label.   If you like it hot this is the pickle for you.

Another big favourite are the Nasty Naga Nuts, what else can I say, the label says it all, my husband says they are volcanic and has to mix them with plain peanuts and even then finds them too hot.  I have to hold back, otherwise I would eat the whole jar!

Another great product is the Hot Stuff chilli sauce, which is that good, a bottle is not going to last long in our house.  It is great as a dipping sauce, for adding to dishes such as chilli, curry etc and for drizzling over things like stuffed falafel pittas.

I also love to support companies like Mr Vikkis, a family run business based in Carlisle, Cumbria so all you chilli aficionados out there, check out their range of chilli products, you will not be disappointed.

Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos

I have recently been diagnosed allergic to a number of foods, which as a vegan, I am finding very hard and soya is one of them.   I am always cooking Asian influenced dishes, like Thai, Chinese and Japanese and so finding a replacement to the likes of tamari and soy sauce, seemed a daunting task.   However Twitter came to my rescue when I asked the question and someone suggested Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos, which is a product I have never heard of.

I purchased some online and used it in my spicy peanut stir fry sauce tonight.   It is not as strong as soy sauce or tamari, nor is it as salty which is great, as I do not use much salt and did not detract from the flavour of the sauce, a favourite of mine for a number of years. I will test again, but next time as a soy dipping sauce replacement and update this post then.

Sweet Potato Pea And Mushroom Korma

The inspiration for this recipe came from The Fresh Vegan Kitchen recipe book, buy it, you will not regret it, I have been inspired by the recipes.   However for this korma recipe I was missing some of the ingredients, so I tweaked the recipe and it turned out fantastic so this is how I always make it.

1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped
250 g chestnut mushrooms sliced
3 small onions finely chopped
400 g frozen peas
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
400 ml coconut milk
220 g cashews
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12 green cardamon pods de-seeded
2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
3 tbsp madras curry powder
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
400 ml water
Salt and pepper

Soak the cashews in the coconut milk for at least an hour and then blitz in a blender.   Put the oil in a large pan and add the onion, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cardamon seeds, turmeric, ground coriander and curry powder and cook gently for a good 10 mins to allow the spices to release their aromas.   Add the mushrooms and cook for 10-15 mins then add the peas and cook for a further 5 mins.

Add the sweet potato and cashew and coconut mixture and enough water to make a thick sauce and cook until the sweet potato is tender.

Add the chopped coriander, season to taste and serve with basmati rice, chapati or naan bread.