What is your favourite recipe?

[Northern Vegan]

At the moment I'm enjoying these two for a tasty lunch or snack:

Fried Tofu Scramble

Just about the easiest tofu recipe (that’s also great for novice vegans) is to simply take a pack of plain firm tofu and either cube it or crumble it and fry it with onions and sweet bell peppers in the oil of your choice (a dash of sesame oil too if you have it), then add any mixture of chopped vegetables that are your favourites. Season it to taste adding any herbs or flavourings you like.

You can serve this with pasta or rice, but the finished dish will be yummy on its own, and the tofu should be a little chewy. It's quick to make in a hurry. This is also a good recipe for people who aren’t keen on tofu - you can also lightly deep fry cubes of tofu and add it to any dish you’re making. Even non-vegans will eat tofu cooked this way!

Houmous and Avocado Dip

Take a small pot of your favourite shop-bought vegan houmous and mash it together with half an avocado. Use rough chunks of crunchy homemade wholemeal bread to dip into it. If you use houmous flavoured with coriander and lemon it tastes even better! This is too moreish so watch out - refresh the palette with apple wedges (they go so well with this dip that they’re essential).

[Anna Barker]

My favourite "book" recipe is Vegan Chocolate Cake - I use Rose Elliott's recipe but substitute soya milk for water. It is really rich and chocolatey and incredibly easy to make.

My favourite made-up recipe is Spicy Rice Salad - as it's made up, the quantities are a bit iffy, just keep chucking bits in until you're happy with the look of it. The quantities below make enough for about 4-6 people.

Ingredients

salad
1 pckt wild rice, cooked as per instructions on packet
3/4 rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes
3/4 ready to eat dried apricots
cucumber (about 3cm piece)
2 garlic cloves
2 red chillies
fresh coriander leaves (leave a couple to garnish top)

dressing
juice 1 lemon
juice 1 orange
olive oil
salt & pepper

to serve
ice-berg lettuce (serve the salad in a curled up leaf if you want to go for presentation points!)

Chop all the salad ingredients up really small. Mix the dressing until you're happy with the flavour (if you feel that the lemon and orange don't give enough bite, you can add a small amount of white wine or cider vinegar but be careful that it doesn't get too acidic. This will build over time so under-flavour at first). Pour the dressing over the salad and stick in the fridge for a few hours. It's really important to cover the dish properly because your fridge will be full of garlic and chilli smell after a while. This salad works best when it's really cold. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.