Does exactly what is says on the tin - fresh & simple! Use up your favourite vegetables, and a great way to use up leftovers. This recipe uses broccoli, onions, chickpeas & water chestnuts.
Next the veggies. Heat up a wok or large pan and add a splash of cooking oil (we use avocado oil). Add the onions and let them cook a minute before mixing in the rest of your veggies.
In a cast iron pan heat cooking oil on medium and add the cubed tofu. Flip the tofu on all sides if you desire browning.
Make the dressing while everything is cooking: Finely chop up ginger, garlic and shallot and place it in a small bowl. Mix in a generous portion of soy sauce and ~2tsp of sesame oil (add optional chili spice).
Once the tofu is browned and cooked to your liking and veggies are nearly done, add the tofu and dressing to the veggies.
Serve veggies and tofu on top of rice. Top with sesame seeds.
Notes
Fancy additions- (ok, they’re not too fancy.. but some variations)– add pineapple for additional sweetness or try water chestnuts for some extra crunch. We will also top the stir fry with roasted chickpeas for more protein.
An Italian classic of spaghetti and meatballs! Great tasting dish, if you don't have an oven or the time to make your own meatballs, grab some shop bought ones and add them to the sauce in the pan!
Pre heat the oven to 180C or gas mark 7. In a large bowl mix the meat, egg, breadcrumbs, herbs, salt, pepper, carrot and courgette. With wet hands take a small handful and smush into a ball slightly larger than a golf ball size. You should be able to make 12.
Place onto an oiled baking dish/casserole pot and pop in the oven.
For the Sauce
Dice the onion and chuck into a pan with a splash of olive oil. Once the onions have started to go translucent add the garlic and a sprinkle of oregano and basil. After a couple of minutes add a splash of Balsamic (you can use red wine instead). Add the tin of tomatoes and then fill the tin 3/4 with water and add to the pan. Crumble in the stock cube and bring to the boil.
Once boiling reduce to a simmer and sprinkle in the sugar.
Leave to simmer for about 20minutes and the sauce should have thickened up.
Take the meatballs out the oven and turn them over to help them cook evenly. Add the thickened sauce to the meatball dish and grate some parmesan on top. Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Whilst the meatballs are finishing up in the oven bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook your spaghetti as per the instructions.
Serve up the pasta and spoon on the meatballs and sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
If you would like to make a vegetarian version of this recipe then blitz harricot beans and add instead of the meat, you may need to add more breadcrumbs if its too sloppy.
Measure out all ingredients and add everything except for the dates into a large mixing bowl.
Chop the dates into the small pieces. This is where things can get a bit sticky…try to make the pieces as small as possible.
Pull the date pieces apart and spread evenly across the top of the other ingredients in the bowl (this will make mixing all ingredients together easier).
Mix all ingredients together using your hands until you’ve achieved an even consistency and ingredients have been thoroughly blended together. Prepare to get a little messy.
Roll the mixture into small balls and place in a container to cool in the fridge or cooler (or just eat them now like raw cookie dough).
This incredible triple chocolate orange drizzle cake was a winner in the 2020 Van Bake off. With good reason, what an amazing cake. All made in a motorhome, and ideal to enjoy with a cup of tea! The baker Carrie and her husband Glyn went on to be featured on our website, which you can read right here!
Van Bake off Triple Chocolate Orange Drizzle Cake
freespirit_c_g
Vegetarian
This recipe was selected as star baker for chocolate week in van bake off 2020. It certainly has the wow factor!!
This recipe is vegan, and uses all raw natural ingredients. A fabulous recipe from our featured @vinny_the_van_diesel, read their feature right here!
Raw chocolate and peppermint tarts
vinnythevandiesel
Vegan, Vegetarian
These indulgent yet super healthy sweet treats are so easy to make. Even better they are vegan, which means no-one has to miss out on these tasty treats.
Soak sunflower seeds and dates separately overnight at room temp.
Blend cashews and Pepitas till ground and add desicated coconut and 1 tblspn raw cacao powder. 3.5 tblspn coconut oil and 2 tblspn rice malt syrup.
Smoosh together with your hands with a pinch of salt and press into tart moulds or line a tray (to make into a slice)
Set in fridge
Blend together drained sunflower seeds, 1 Tablespn raw cacao powder and drained soaked dates (adding one tablespoon of date soaking liquid)
Over a double boiler slowly melt coconut oil, cacao butter, rice malt syrup and 2 Tblspn coconut oil.
Blend into date mixture and add 2 drops of peppermint oil.
Layer onto the set base mixture and set in fridge over night.
These awesome burger buns were the winners of bake off 2020, week 3, bread week. Although they take a little time, they are worth it! Here’s what the chefs in question had to say…
‘I organized myself in order to have freshly baked buns for lunch. I started at 2.30 pm the day before in order to use less yeast and make these buns easier to digest. You can double the amount of yeast and start early in the morning. It is up to you. It all depends on whether or not you have access to a fridge for an overnight rest’.
Van Bake off Burger buns
Vegetarian
This recipe is a winning star baker recipe for Van Bake Off 2020. These burger buns take a while to prove, but the end result is definitely worth it! This burger bun recipe makes 9-10 buns
Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the bowl, stirring energetically with your hands to avoid lumps. Start with the milk, then the oil, the whisked eggs, and the soft butter for last. The mixture will be wet, but don’t worry! On the contrary… the hydration of the dough will give the bun its softness. If you have trouble handling it, wet your hands with a little bit of oil and keep working.
Transfer the dough to your work surface, knead for a couple of minutes and let it rest for 5 in order to reach a less tenacious and more elastic dough. You will find it easier to handle. Make the reinforcement folds and let it rest again, this time for 30 minutes, covered with plastic wrap to prevent the surface from drying out and creating an annoying crust. Make another round of folds (the last one, I promise) and place in the refrigerator in a lightly oiled container, with an airtight lid, to rest overnight (16 hours in total). I use Sistema, but the only important thing is that the dough will rise even at 4C therefore the container must be large enough to allow the increase in volume
At 7.30 am (the next morning), make your 9 | 10 balls and let them rise at room temperature on top of your baking tray lined with baking paper. The buns will keep rising, even during cooking, and for such reason, you should leave enough space between them so they don’t join together. I organised 2 trays, one with 4 buns and the other with 5.
After 3 hours (should be around 11 am), whisk another egg, gently brush your buns and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in a static oven at 200 degrees C for 14/16 minutes (depending on the size of the bun you have chosen).
I have the compact Breville Smart Oven Pro and I usually start cooking in the middle rack and then move the tray to the lowest level for the last 3/4 minutes. Leave the bread rolls to rest on a wire rack and enjoy.
Prep your noodle salad before you hit the road! Boil the angel hair pasta until it is cooked al dente (not mushy!). TIP: Rinse the pasta in cold water to keep it from sticking together (thanks Nana D’Alessio)
You can make your dressing while the pasta is cooking. Mince or finely chop fresh garlic and ginger and put it in the bottom of a small glass container. Add a teaspoon or two of olive oil (add sesame and chili oil to taste) and top it off with a generous portion of soy sauce.
Put your cooked noodles into a large glass storage container. Add some olive oil and chopped peppers and green onion. You can also add half of the dressing here if you would like.
Slice up cucumber and chop fresh purple cabbage and store them for later.
On the road: We love this salad because it is a simple, healthy meal that we can grab quickly on a long driving day. We pop the salad out of the fridge, dish out our portions and then top them off with fresh veggies (cucumbers and cabbage), some sesame seeds and a little extra dressing.We hope you enjoy!
We always seem to buy bananas, they don’t get eaten and end up looking sad and brown on the side. We wouldn’t want to waste them so using them up in cakes is ideal!
In a separate bowl mash the banana and mix in the sugar. Then add the oil until combined.
Add the egg and vanilla. Do not over-mix, just let the mixture combine.
Stir in the dry ingredients, again taking care not to over mix.
Fold in 60g of the chocolate chips and the chopped banana.
You will need to cook in 2 batches if using the Omnia oven. We did 5 at a time. Use the silicone mould, we used muffin cases also.
Fill the cases about 3/4 full. Sprinkle some of the chocolate chunks on the top of each muffin (reserving some to put in your mouth while baking 😉 )
Put the Omnia over a high flame for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and cook for a further 15-20 minutes. Once the first batch is cooked switch the flame off, take the lid off the Omnia and leave for 10 minutes. The muffins will continue to cook during this time.
For the second batch the oven will still be hot, so you may need to reduce the baking time, still bake for 5 minutes over a high flame initially as this helps your muffin get it’s dome.
This delicious recipe of pumpkin prosciutto crostini is a great way to use up leftover bread. Also a great way to use up pumpkin if pumpkin carving. This dish was cooked over an open fire, but can be made inside the van too.
Pumpkin Prosciutto Crostini
Forest Food Stories
Meat Based
Pumpkin Prosciutto Crostini, a great recipe for cooking outdoors or vanlifers who like to cook indoors too!
These little biscuit bites give the best of both worlds, a biscuit with a delicious florentine. We made these in our Omnia oven during Van Bake Off 2020.
Begin with the biscuit base as this will need to chill a while. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat until creamy. Add the flour and cinnamon and mix together. Make into a ball, cover and chill for around an hour.
While chilling, start on the florentine topping. Melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup and salt in a pan. Once melted take from the heat and mix in the flour, stir in the raisins and nuts and leave to cool.
Get the dough out and roll to a thickness of around 5mm, cut out circles, remembering they should be bitesize. Place a tsp of the florentine mixture on each biscuit.
Place in the Omnia oven (see our tip below!) and bake over a medium flame for 20mins or until the biscuit base is firm. You will need to do this in batches if not using an oven.
Leave to cool.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water, then dip the cooled biscuits into it, covering 1/3 – 1/2 the biscuit. Leave to set
Enjoy!
Notes
We baked the biscuits in our Omnia muffin mould, we just didn't pop out the moulds and kept the ring flat. This meant the biscuits kept their shape and were easy to pop out after baking!
Begin by making the topping. Peel and slice the apples. In a pan put the water and sugar, begin with a low heat until it begins to bubble and then turn the heat up until it turns amber. Make sure not to stir it, as tempting as it is!
Put the silicone mold in the Omnia and carefully pour the sauce into it. Very carefully place the sliced apples in the sauce.
Start with the cake. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda.
Add 2 tbsp of the flour to the butter mixture along with 1 of the eggs.
Repeat this process until the flour and eggs are gone.
Stir in the milk and vanilla.
Pour the mixture into the Omnia and smooth with a metal spoon.
Bake over a medium flame for 50-55 mins.
Turn out when baked being careful of any hot caramel. Leave to cool.
One of my all time favourite comfort foods is a cheese and onion crisp sandwich using white bread. This loaf brings back those memories of this after school snack with the gentle flavours of the cheese and onion.
Mix the flour, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast.
Make a well in the centre. Seperately mix the warm water and oil together and then pour into the well.
Bring together with a knife or spoon and then get your hands stuck in to mix into a dough.
On a floured surface knead the bread for around 10 minutes before adding the chopped spring onions and kneading for another minute or so.
Place back in the mixing bowl, cover with a wet warm tea towel and leave to prove for 1-2 hours.
When the dough has doubled in size, take out and split into 3 equal pieces. Roll and stretch them into long ‘sausages’ and check they are the correct length to fill the Omnia.
Join the 3 pieces together at one end and pinch together. Sprinkle all 3 pieces with half of the grated cheese, sprinkle over the side also so it gets into the plait.
Plait the bread by pulling the right strand over the middle one, then the left one over the middle one. Repeat until the loaf is plaited and then pinch the other ends tight together. (There are tutorials on YouTube if you get stuck)
Put the omnia silicone insert into the Omnia oven or make sure it’s well greased, we grease the silicone mold slightly too.
Leave in the Omnia to prove for another 30-60 minutes
When risen, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and finely chopped chives.
Place over a medium flame for 40 mins.
This recipe was selected as star baker recipe during bread week of Van Bake off 2020. Bagels in a van are awesome, even better when used as burger buns!
Add sugar and yeast to warm water in a bowl. Leave for around 10 mins until foamy.
Mix salt and flour in a bowl, make a well in the middle and add the yeast mixture. Stir together until a dough forms.
Turn out onto a work surface and bring together and knead for around 10 mins.
Put a little oil in a clean bowl and leave dough mixture in a bowl covered with a damp tea towel until it has doubled in size. Approx. 2 hours.
Once proved, punch down and leave again for 10 mins.
Divide dough into 8 equal balls, roll around on work surface until you have a neat tight ball. Then, dip a finger in some flour and make a hole in the middle of each ball and stretch and shape to get a bagel shape. The hole should be about a third of the size of the diameter.
Heat up a large pot of boiling water, once boiling, reduce to simmer. Carefully boil each bagel, you can boil as many at the same time as you feel comfortable doing. Boil for 2 mins on each side. The longer you boil the chewier the bagel will be. 2 mins is that nice sweet spot.
Heat the oven to 220 degrees celsius. Once all the bagels have been boiled, place on a baking tray together. Brush beaten egg wash and bake until golden brown all over. Around 25 mins.
This Chickpea, sweet potato and nettle stew is cooked in the Wonderbag. This handy piece of cooking equipment acts like a slow cooker and means you can use less gas when cooking in your van. You can read all about it right here. Here is the link to some recipes you can cook with one, let us know if you have any to add.
Chickpea, sweet potato & nettle stew
traveltrio_plusone
Vegan, Vegetarian
This turned out amazing when I missed the shops and just had to make something good from what I had in. A true vanlife recipe, making the most of what's in the cupboards. Perfect served with some fresh bread
Start by frying garlic, ginger and onion in olive oil in a deep pan. Cook until brown, then add the paprika and chilli.
Next add chick peas and sweet potato. Add tomatoes and vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Let it boil for a few mins then place in the wonderbag for 20 minutes.
Take the pan out and add the nettles after washing them first (I like adding foraged items to my food). Put back on the hob for about 3-5 mins as this takes the sting out of the nettles and makes food piping hot.
This recipe from van bake off 2020 won star baker for biscuit week. It requires a little effort but is definitely worth it. These are baked in an Omnia oven but can be baked in a conventional oven.
Van bake off Chocolate, almond & pistachio biscotti
jessrose_litherland
Vegan, Vegetarian
This delicious recipe requires a little bit of effort but it definitely worth it! It won the title of star baker in biscuit week 2020.
Mix the flour, coco powder, baking powder in a bowl.
In a well in the middle add the sugar then add the oil and water on top
Mix together with a spoon from the centre, when it starts to turn into a dough get your hands in there.
As it starts getting solid add the nuts and chocolate and mix it through the dough (this bit is hard as the dough is thick so I ended up adding some of the extras to the dough in the next stage)
Split the dough into 2 logs. You need to think about the finished look of the biscotti so the log needs to be about 2 inches wide and a uniform shape all along. I found 2 logs this size fit comfortably opposite each other in the omnia.
Cook for 25 mins (I cooked on highest gas heat for 10 mins then turned down to medium) or until the log is firm to the touch. Then take it out and let it cool.
When cool carefully slice each log into slices. This bit is super hard, the mixture is crumbly so you need a good knife!
Pop the pieces cut side down back in the omnia lining and cook for 10 mins on each side (I cooked them at the highest heat this time). The recipe made about 12 biscuits and I could fit 6 at a time in the omnia so it takes a bit of time to do them all! But it is worth it.
Notes
This recipe can also be baked in a conventional oven
This lentil, chickpea and nettle stew is cooked in the Wonderbag. This handy piece of cooking equipment acts like a slow cooker and means you can use less gas when cooking in your van. You can read all about it right here. Here is the link to some recipes you can cook with one, let us know if you have any to add.
Lentil, Chickpea, nettle & coconut curry
traveltrio_plusone
Vegan, Vegetarian
Cooking with foraged ingredients can make a dish extra special. This recipe is made using the wonderbag
Start by frying the onion, chilli and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the lentils and curry powder and add a little more olive oil, cook for a few minutes.
Add the water, coconut milk and chickpeas and bring to the boil for about 5 minutes.
Put in the wonderbag for 15-20 mins. Take out and put back on the stove, add noodles and nettles then bring to the boil for 3-5 minutes.
Grease a 20cm square cake tin. Using some baking parchment to separate the 2 mixtures means you can save time and gas in the oven and bake both mixtures at the same time. Use the baking parchment to line the base of the tin and create a 3-4 inch fold in the middle to separate the 2 mixtures.
Mix the butter, sugar, eggs, flour and vanilla together.
Split the mixture in half. Add the passionfruit curd to one half and the raspberry curd to the other half.
Place one half of the mixture in one side of the tin and the other half on the other side ensuring the baking parchment separates them.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Turn out and leave to cool completely.
Lay one sponge on top of the other and cut off any crusty edges.
Cut them to ensure they are the same size.
Cut lengthways so you end up with 4 rectangles.
Warm up the jam and put through a sieve.
Brush the jam along one of the long sides of sponge. Stick to a sponge of the opposite colour. Repeat with second layer and add jam between the 2 layers and stick together.
Cover an area with icing sugar to roll out the marzipan to around 40 x 20cm.
Cover the top edge of the cake with jam and place onto the marzipan. Cover the rest of the cake with the jam and fold the marzipan around so that the join sits at the bottom. Press the edges of the join together firmly before placing up the right way.
This jackfruit and spicy tomato couscous recipe is cooked in the Wonderbag. This handy piece of cooking equipment acts like a slow cooker and means you can use less gas when cooking in your van. You can read all about it right here. Here is the link to some recipes you can cook with one, let us know if you have any to add.
Jackfruit with spicy tomato couscous
traveltrio_plusone
Vegan, Vegetarian
This vegan recipe is warming and filling, perfect for autumn.
Although this recipe has a lot of ingredients, it is definitely worth the effort. Best of all you can use up any leftover veg and mix it up whenever you want. Us vanlifers are entitled to a gourmet lifestyle too!
Start by heating oil in a large pot and add onions, carrots, celery and garlic.
Leave to sweat for around 10 mins.
Add the red wine and cook until reduced, about 10 mins.
Then add the stock and tin tomatoes.
Add in the fresh herbs and chilli flakes. Leave to cool for around 20 – 25 mins.
Once this has cooked add in the Tin of drained cannellini beans, kale, rip up the bread into small pieces and add this in along with the parmesan.
Cook until heated all the way through and bread has softened.
For the gremolata
Put all gremolata ingredients in a blender and blitz until smooth. Season the Italian Ribollita stew and serve with a small amount of grated parmesan and a swirl of gremolata.
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