Slow roasted root vegetable tian

Slow roasted root vegetable tian

Gavin Wren Recipes, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Back in 1984 when Whitesnake released a song called ‘Slow An’ Easy’, big, permed hair was everywhere on grown men, along with awful double entendre permeating almost every sing title. Everything they created was about either love, or, errrr, loving. I’m dragging this questionable music, which seems to have aged in a way I never expected (i.e. well), back to the fore because I’m listening to it and the song ‘Slow N Easy’ has just …

coconut date vegan frosting

Coconut & date vegan frosting

Gavin Wren Baking, Basic Ingredients, Dairy free baking, Desserts, No Added Sugar, Recipes, Vegan

I often make cakes that are either dairy free, with no refined sugar, or both, then finish them and think, oh, that would really benefit from something on top. What can I use? Whipped cream? No. Buttercream frosting? No. It becomes a whole new juggling act trying to create dairy free and refined sugar free frosting ideas which will sit on top and stay there, without it being utterly contrived. I could, of course, just …

baked sweet potato with humous and za'atar

Simple sweet potatoes with houmous and za’atar

Gavin Wren Main Dishes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

If ever there was a meal that had “I can’t be bothered to cook tonight” written all over it, this is the one. It’s been widely employed in this household for a few years as a simple, low ingredient weeknight dinner that requires almost no preparation and extremely small amounts of your precious, valuable time. It came about almost by chance. I’m not going to pretend there was any deep sensory analysis of ingredients or …

Charred roasted roots & spinach hot winter salad

Charred roasted roots & spinach hot winter salad

Gavin Wren Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian

You know when your marriage is going down the pan, because you get home from work and your partner shouts “Dinner’s in the oven!” You say “Great, what is it?” “Salad” (I think this is © The Mary Whitehouse Experience c.1990) It’s that time of year when making cold, summery salads really doesn’t cut the mustard, not to mention comprising highly unseasonal produce. Consuming light, frilly layers of crunchy, cold, raw vegetables just sounds like …

Dairy free sage and swede mash

Dairy free sage & swede mash

Gavin Wren Recipes, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Mash can be one of the most indulgent dishes in the world. Joël Robuchon, a man with over twenty michelin stars in his trophy cabinet, serves a world famous and breathtakingly rich mashed potato in his restaurants, showing that the humble mash can be at the top of the game when treated with respect. Mash of any kind is ridiculously simple to make and a brilliant mode of transport for playing around with ingredients. It’s …

sun dried tomato pesto rosso serving ideas

Sun dried tomato pesto – pesto rosso

Gavin Wren Basic Ingredients, Recipes, Spreads & Dips, Vegan, Vegetarian

A few weeks ago I posted a traditional pesto recipe and spent some time ruminating on the bastardisation of recipes. This week, I’m going to continue the pesto theme with a recipe for a delicious sun dried tomato pesto, or pesto rosso. I would love to say this is a traditional Italian recipe adhering to the specific ingredients handed down through generations by all Italian chefs, however I’m not sure that’s not entirely possible. Whilst …