This recipe uses Vegan yeast flakes which are enriched with Vitamin B12. It gives the dish a cheesy, nutty taste which replaces the traditional cheese used in the recipe.
Nutritional vegan yeast flakes
You need to add flavour and protein to this dish as vegan style cheeses can be made from coconut oil and starch and are low in protein. The Nutrition Program has a selection of vegan cheeses and milks.
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped 50g 100g of macaroni or similar pasta
Vegan white sauce 50g vegan spread 40g plain flour 400ml plant based milk – soya, oat, almond Salt, pepper, 1 tbs vegan yeast flakes 7g 50g grated vegan type cheese Vegetables for mixing Frozen peas and sweetcorn 50g of each Leek finely chopped 100gBreadcrumbs 10g – make by baking a slice of bread and crumbling into breadcrumbs 1 tsp vegan yeast flakes 1g 1 medium tomato 100g
Method
Put the chopped onion into a saucepan with the plant based milk and warm through to add flavour.
Cook the macaroni or pasta according to the packet instructions in a large pan of salted boiling water.
Remove the onion from the milk and pour the hot milk into a measuring jug.
Use the milk saucepan to make the sauce by melting the vegan spread, stirring in the flour then heating while stirring for 1-2 minutes until it forms a paste.
Gently add in the milk and stir over the heat until it forms a smooth sauce.
Stir in the vegan cheese, yeast flakes and salt and pepper and taste. Add more seasoning if needed. And keep the sauce in the saucepan.
Strain the pasta and put in an oven proof dish.
Keep the hot pasta water and pour back into the saucepan.
Tip in the frozen peas, sweetcorn and raw leeks and boil 2-3 minutes then strain and add the vegetables to the pasta.
Stir the pasta and vegetables into the sauce in the pan and toss gently to cover. Spoon back into the serving dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the vegan yeast flakes and sprinkle over the pasta dish.
Top with the tomato slices.
Grill lightly to make the breadcrumbs golden brown.
If eating later, cool and reheat when needed in an oven at 200C for 20 minutes.
To make a risotto, the rice needs to be stirred during cooking
Vegan Risotto with yellow and red peppers
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into small pieces, 70g
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tbs vegetable oil
120g risotto or other rice
1/2 cob of sweetcorn, with seeds removed (50g seeds)
1 red and 1 yellow pepper (about 100g) deseeded and cut into chunks
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp vegan bouillon powder or 1 vegan stock cube
400ml boiling water
2 spring onions, washed and finely chopped
Method
Roasted peppers
Fry onion and sweetcorn
Preheat the oven 200C.
Fry the onion and the garlic in a large frying pan over a gentle heat to soften the onion. Stir often and after 5 minutes add the rice.
Put the chunks of pepper in a roasting tin and toss in the oil. Put in the oven and roast for 20 minutes so that the peppers soften and the sugars caramelise, giving some brown edges and added flavour.
Add the sweetcorn seeds to the rice mixture.
Mix the boiling water in a jug with the bouillon powder or stock cube. Stir slowly into the rice mixture, letting the rice absorb the liquid.
Stir and cook the rice for 10-15 minutes until the rice softens. Add the sweetcorn 2 minutes before the end of cooking.
Remove the peppers from the oven and spoon out of the oil, leaving excess oil in the roasting pan.
Gently toss the red and yellow peppers into the rice then taste and add more seasoning if needed.
Sprinkle over the finely chopped spring onions.
To do
Take photos of the dish.
Put the recipe ingredients into the Nutrition Program to look at the nutrition.
This is the food label – the arrow points to the Vegan label.
This is the Food Label – the risotto provides 464 kcal per 350g portion = 23% RI See the allergens and the label Vegan
Write up the method so it is saved on your Recipe Sheet.
The risotto is a well balanced dish but more protein could be added.Taste the risotto and create a star profile to show how it needs improving. This recipe needs extra protein and more flavour and longer cooking.
The Nutrition Program Blog 