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12 Days of Christmas: Italian Christmas Cookies

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These vegan Italian Christmas cookies are soft and pretty cake-like, but they’re cookies! When deciding to make these, as we had never made anything like them before, we compared multiple traditional swirled Italian Christmas cookie recipes and then averaged out everything and made them vegan by replacing non-vegan ingredients with the most appropriate vegan substitutions. Honestly, we feel so weird referring to them as ‘cookies,’ but that’s what they are!

Unfortunately, we did not have colourful sprinkles and we couldn’t find any that were vegan (and didn’t cost a fortune for a small bottle) so we just sprinkled chia seeds on them. In addition to that, as these cookies are very sweet already, instead of dipping them in a thick icing sugar mixture (as is traditionally done before sprinkling), we brushed on a light icing sugar mixture on its surfaces to make them more edible for those who can’t handle extremely sweet foods.

We hope you enjoy these…..cookies.

Bon Appétit!

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12 Days of Christmas: Pigs in a Blanket

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Pigs in blankets are beloved sides or appetisers at British Christmas dinners. They are great finger foods which people can easily snack on and they are delicious!

Although we’ve only ever encountered Pigs in blankets at British events, we are fully aware that this dish is also common in other cultures although with some variances. For example, in Germany, Würstchen im Schlafrock (which translates to “sausage in a dressing gown”) is eaten. However, the pastry is usually made from puff pastry. Other examples include the Moshe Ba’Teiva (which translates to “Moses in the basket”) in Israel which is covered in ketchup and, at times, is made using phyllo dough, the Argentinian version for which the sausage is topped with ketchup then wrapped with empanada dough and the American one which is wrapped in croissant dough, biscuit dough or pancakes.

For this, we have opted for a pizza dough which is one of the easiest doughs to make or purchase ready-made. The cocktail sausages are also made as a form of seitan. They are flavour packed and moreish.

Regardless of the way you choose to make your pig in a blanket, this recipe will be a delicious and easy guide for you.

Bon Appétit!

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12 Days of Christmas: British Christmas Dinner

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Christmas Dinners tend to be the highlight of a lot of people’s years in the United Kingdom. Every Christmas dinner features a roast meat centrepiece which is usually poultry, but nowadays, other meats are included such as beef and pork. Served alongside the roast are roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, brussels sprouts, stuffing, pigs in a blanket, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.

As we have already shared out roast seitan and gravy with you, for day 4, we are going to share our fluffy roast potato, carrot and onion-herb stuffing recipes with you. They are delicious and pair well together through a linking of infused oil flavours.

As a warning to our American readers, British stuffing is very different from American stuffing. With that said, if you try our stuffing recipe, do so without the stuffing you are more familiar with in mind.

Bon Appétit!

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12 Days of Christmas: Roast Seitan

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The centrepiece of most Christmas dinners is roast meat. For Day 3 of our 12 Days of Christmas, we will be sharing our roast seitan recipe with you. It is packed with flavour and glazed with a simple brown sugar glaze.

This roast seitan takes about 2hrs to make. However, 92% of that time is cooking-time which means that you won’t have to actively be in the kitchen. Therefore, this seitan is rather easy to make and not time-consuming while still being so delicious.

This seitan can be served with our Mashed Potatoes and Creamy Mushroom Gravy and is also linked to tomorrow’s recipe which will be of a British Christmas Dinner.

Bon Appétit!

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12 Days of Christmas: Mashed Potatoes with a Creamy Mushroom Gravy

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American Christmas dinners usually consist of roasted root vegetables, some roast meat, mashed potatoes and gravy. Today, we’re sharing our delicious mashed potato and gravy recipe with you. These are not your ordinary mash and gravy as we have infused the mash with the flavours of onions and garlic and thickened the gravy using a mixture of mushrooms and rice which have been added to a vegetable stock seasoned to perfection.

Although we are just sharing the mash and gravy recipes with you today, we will be sharing our flavoursome roast seitan recipe with you tomorrow followed by a British Christmas dinner which will feature other elements found in American Christmas dinners alongside those solely found in British Christmas dinners.

Let us know your thoughts if you try any of these recipes.

Bon Appétit!

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12 Days of Christmas: Cozonac (nut-free)

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Welcome to 12 Days of Christmas. Starting from today, every day, at 11am GMT, we will be sharing a new recipe with you to help you prepare for this festive period. In this series, we will be featuring breakfast ideas, snacks, appetisers, main meals and desserts from various cultures in order to introduce you to new dishes as well as to give you a variety of options or plant-based meals you can make for yourself or your vegan/vegetarian loved ones. Some of the recipes will also be alcohol-free, nut-free and gluten-free for those with particular dietary requirements or preferences.

To kick this off, here’s our first recipe – a nut-free cozonac.

Cozonac is a Romanian sweet bread which is usually eaten during Christmas and Easter. Traditionally, it is made with eggs, milk and butter which enrich the dough. However, for this recipe, we have substituted those ingredients with suitable and affordable plant-based alternatives. We suggest that you do not substitute those alternatives with other alternatives such as flax eggs instead of aquafaba as that will change the texture and density of the bread.

The shape and shininess of this bread are so attractive and foretell the delicious taste experience offered by the bread. However, they hide the surprise inside the loaf which is the curving effect of bands of raisins and chocolate toasted oats, which is what we have used to replace the chocolate walnuts found in traditional cozonac in order to keep this bread nut-free whilst not compromising on a nutty flavour and texture.

Without further ado, here’s our nut-free cozonac recipe.

Poftă Bună!

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Pad Thai Ramen Soup by Plantifully Based

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This Pad Thai Ramen Soup recipe is a featured recipe developed by Francesca of Plantifully Based and PlantifullyBasedBlog.com.

This soup is a fusion dish that plays off the flavours of Pad Thai. Traditionally, Pad Thai contains fish sauce. As this dish is vegan, in its place, soy sauce is used in order to provide a nice umami flavour. However, you can always substitute that with a vegan fish sauce.

In relation to heat levels, authentically, Thai chillies would be used. However, for this recipe, sriracha was used to make the process of cooking and controlling the heat level this easier.

As for common allergens, in order to make this dish soy-free, replace the soy sauce with coconut aminos and exclude the tofu. To make the dish gluten-free, substitute the soy sauce for tamari or coconut aminos and use gluten-free ramen. With regards to making the dish nut-free, just leave out the peanuts.

Without further ado, here’s Francesca’s Pad Thai Soup recipe!

Bon Appétit!

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Colombian Black Bean Stew

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Colombian black bean stew is an easy-to-make delicious protein-rich stew. It is also very affordable and all its ingredients are relatively easy to source. This dish is traditionally non-vegan and is served as part of a bandeja paisa, which is a platter dish featuring a variety of foods – beans cooked with meats, white rice, plantains, avocado slices, chilli sauce or flakes,  fried eggs and a variety of other meats.

Although this stew is traditionally non-vegan. We are sharing our vegan version of it with you. Trust us, it is very flavoursome and it will become a go-to meal for you on both the days you have the time and energy to cook and when you don’t.

Without further ado, here’s our recipe.

¡Buen Provecho!

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Lasagna Rolls by Rameca Lee (GreenHouzeEatz)

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We would like to introduce you to the first featured recipe on LickYourPlates. This recipe was developed by Rameca Lee of GreenHouzeEatz, an up-and-coming vegan food blog. To be notified of new recipes on GreenHouzeEatz, click here to subscribe to the mailing list. You can also keep up to date with Rameca’s culinary creations by liking and following the GreenHouzeEatz Facebook Page.

These lasagna rolls are delicious, nutritious and rather straightforward to make. We’re sure it’s a dish you would love to add to your repertoire.

Without further ado, here’s the recipe.

Bon Appétit!

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Julienned Aubergines (Eggplants)

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This is an absolutely delicious and versatile dish. It also is extremely easy to make! Therefore, it can be your go-to for a healthy delicious meal any day and at any time.

We are aware that the term “julienne” is unfamiliar to a lot of home cooks. Some people think it is related to the name, Julian, and that confused them even more! Julienning is a method of cutting by which you slice fruits or vegetables into short thin strips. It takes a lot of practice to do this quickly. However, once you master it, it’s a skill you will love to show off!

To julienne aubergines, first, you will cut the top and bottom of an aubergine then slice it in half, lay the cut side on your chopping board and slice down the length of the aubergine to create thin strips. Next, you will lay the slices on their side with each slice overlapping the one next to it and you will make slices again to ake matchstick-like pieces. If the aubergine’s really tall, just cut the pieces in half while they’re stacked together.

Aubergines are very nutrient-dense. They contain good amounts of protein, fibre, vitamin A, pyridoxamine (vitamin B6), folate (vitamin B9), vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium as well as other nutrients such as thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin E, choline, copper, phosphorus and zinc. Therefore, although so simple, this dish is really healthy. You can find more about the roles of the nutrients mentioned in our Nutrient Index.

Without further ado, here’s our Julienned Aubergine Recipe.

Bon Appétit!

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