Jacket potato stuffed with hummus, kale and pepper

This really doesn't qualify as a recipe, but sometimes the posts I like best on others' sites are those that give me inspiration without complication. In other words, posts like these, which may offer new ideas for ingredient combinations without lots of preparation time or effort. I'm not sure if this particular mix will be new to you - but it went down well for me this week as a simple but tasty lunch.

With little to say about this dish other than it being simple, quick and tasty, I will share some random other points with this post...

• Christmas products are officially in the shops. I am not a fan of Christmas marketing this early, but was pleased to see vegan white chocolate santas on sale for just 10p each (in Sainsburys).I bought 12! I think it may have been a labeling error (usually they are £1).

• For various reasons I won't bore you with, I found myself with time at home this week while Mini Bite was at nursery. It was my first time in the house without her in the 13 months since she was born. It was (and I hope I don't sound like a bad mother for saying this) amazing. I got so much done! It was so quiet! Things stayed where I left them! I will have to find a way to repeat the experience before another 13 months passes.
• Also coming up as a 'first since Mini Bite's arrival' is my first half marathon in almost 2 years. I'm running the Tonbridge half marathon on the 1st October and am excited to get out there and attempt 13.1 miles again. I've got up to 11 miles in training, so I'm hoping my body remembers the final stretch.
• It's been a while since I've shared book, TV or movie recommendations. I may organise myself to do a proper summary soon, but for now, I will say that we recently (finally) watched A Theory of Everything and loved it. I was also excited to hear about the new release, Mother, by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky. However, on reading about it I am not sure I'll actually like the film. If you see it, let me know what you think. Given we never make it out to the cinema, I probably won't watch it for several years anyway.

Jacket potato stuffed with hummus, kale and pepper

Quick, easy and tasty!

Serves 1

Vegan

Author: Bite-sized thoughts

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Ingredients

1 potato of a size to suit your appetite

1 cup baby kale leaves or chopped regular kale

1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup hummus

Salt and pepper, optional and to taste

Method

If using a microwave, microwave your potato until cooked through - in my case, roughly 7 minutes on medium-high power, turning once at the half way mark. If cooking in the oven, bake until cooked through.

Once cooked, cut the potato in half and scoop the soft potato filling into a small bowl. Stir through the kale, pepper, hummus and seasonings. Scoop back into the potato skin and serve.

What are you eating, or doing, this week?

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Mexican spiced roast potato and aubergine

I rarely post side dish recipes, for the simple reason that I rarely make them. I tend to include vegetables within dishes or prepare them very simply if served on the side (unless we are entertaining, but we rarely do that either!). Sometimes, though, I do make a specific vegetable side dish and today's is an example.

This is not the most attractive dish, but it is a tasty one. It's also not strongly Mexican but the use of paprika and dried coriander conjured up, to me, Mexican flavours. Nutritional yeast and tahini round out the flavour mix. If you were to make this truly Mexican, some chillies would be a pleasing addition.

I cheated a little with my cooking of the potato, microwaving it first before chopping and roasting. This cuts down on cooking time enormously and gives the potato a pleasing fluffy texture. If you prefer to cook fully in the oven just add extra time to the roasting stage - at least 30 minutes, or longer if using large pieces of potato.

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Lentil potato cakes (version 2)

I have shared a recipe for lentil potato cakes before. This one makes a few tweaks to the original and offers much better photos! I am pleased to update my Recipe index with this new version.

My previous recipe involved cooking the cakes on the stove top in a frying pan. This version bakes them in the oven instead, which frees you up to do other things while the patties are cooking. I also used dried green lentils for these, although if you prefer the tinned variety it would be easy to swap back to using a tin. Dried red lentils would be nice too.

The potato cakes are seasoned with nutritional yeast, paprika, coriander, parsley, lemon and tahini. Most of these are regular seasonings in my kitchen and they come together beautifully here. The patties work well on top of salad but could be included in a burger for an even heartier meal. They are complemented nicely by chutney or tomato sauce, but will stand up on their own if you are condiment averse.

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Lentil and apricot tagine

I may be taking liberties with the term 'tagine' here, as I do not have a tagine dish and this is not a traditional North African recipe. Tagine-stew is probably a more accurate term. Whatever you call it, the dish is enjoyable and combines vegetables, lentils and dried apricots to pleasing effect.

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Winter vegetable and kidney bean stew

This is not a recipe that will win points for beauty, innovation or excitement. It is, however, a recipe that may win you over with its hearty but nutritious simplicity. You probably have all the necessary ingredients to hand and it is budget-friendly to boot.

Sometimes, dinner is about what the cupboard can provide with minimal fuss. It is always a bonus when those meals are fuss-free but taste-filled and this was definitely such an example. It isn't radically different to other stews I have shared, and I have no doubt you make similar things yourself, but I'm a big believer in sharing the simple dishes as well as the complex ones. The flavourings in this come from oregano, paprika and maple syrup - as well as the vegetables themselves, of course. I know I'll be pleased to have the recipe to refer to again in the future.

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Vegan potato and aubergine bake

I don't know my own taste buds at the moment. After loving lasagna with hummous and aubergine last week, I have discovered potato bake made with tahini and aubergine. This version is veganised and cheese free, but there is a definite nod to that cheesey creaminess I profess to dislike. It seems I can profess that no longer, at least when tahini (or hummous) is involved...

In contrast to the lasagna, this is a side dish rather than a main. It pairs well with bean / legume dishes and I imagine some veggie sausages would be a good match too.

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Banana-maple muffins with potato and spelt flour

After making potato-based fudge for Vegan MoFo, I knew I wanted to progress to try mashed potato in baked goods too. I decided on muffins, and to add to the fun, muffins without oil or processed sugar. These make use of almond butter and maple syrup, with extra sweetness coming from the banana and some raisins.

As the pictures below show, my muffins have a collapsed look about them. This is entirely my fault. Having made the recipe up, I estimated 15 minutes cooking time but didn't take into account the different consistency that potato gives over flour. The muffins weren't anywhere near cooked at 15 minutes, and opening the oven door interrupted their rising process.

If we overlook the collapsed tops, these muffins came out nicely. I was impressed at the texture, which was similar to a regular muffin but a little moister and a little chewier. There is no discernible taste of potato, and instead the muffins hum of banana, maple syrup, almond butter and vanilla. They are sweet enough, but not too sweet. They are obviously and messily homemade, but I look forward to trying a repeat batch where I keep the oven door shut for the necessary amount of time. I expect that would give a far neater result!

Banana-maple muffins with potato and spelt flour

A twist on standard muffins that is vegan, oil free and refined sugar free

Makes 12 muffins

Author: Bite-Sized Thoughts

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Ingredients:

1 large potato, weighing about 330g

1/4 cup almond butter

2 medium ripe bananas, roughly mashed

1 cup (250ml) non-dairy milk of choice

1 tbsp (15ml) vanilla

1/4 cup (62ml) maple syrup

1 cup (140g) spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup (70g) sultanas or raisins

Method:

Ahead of time, peel and chop the potato and add to a saucepan of boiling water. Simmer until soft, approximately 30 minutes. Allow the potato to cool slightly before preparing the muffins.

When the potato has cooked and cooled, preheat your oven to 160'C (320'F) and prepare a 12 pan muffin tray.

In a large bowl, beat together the cooked potato and almond butter using electric mixers (a blender or food processor would work too). The resulting mixture will be very thick. Add the mashed banana and non-dairy milk and beat to incorporate. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and beat to incorporate.

Stir the spelt flour and baking powder into the muffin mix, and then stir through the sultanas / raisins.

Transfer the mixture to your prepared muffin tray, and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden and the tops bounce back when touched.

Potato in baking - is it something you have tried?

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Lemon-tahini potato fudge

I had originally planned to make traditional, but vegan, fudge for this post. We have been watching the BBC show Sweets Made Simple, and every episode features a delightful mix of hot sugar, a candy thermometer, and magical bubbling that somehow results in a decadent treat. I wanted to have a go.

Lemon-tahini potato fudge

Sadly, my candy thermometer is with our shipment, and as we have established, that is not yet with us. I switched my thoughts to something that would not require a candy thermometer. For a while, I was focused on sweet potato and tahini fudge. From there, it was an easy jump to this lemon-tahini potato fudge. It's not very traditional. It is, however, strangely moreish.

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