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 …

Dark and fiery spelt and rye ginger cake

Dark & fiery ginger cake

Gavin Wren Baking, No Added Sugar, Recipes, Spelt & ancient grains, Writing, YouTube Food Videos

This cake is an absolute winner. A real, bona fide winner. It’s because of this cake that I won the Blognix Retreat Scholarship competition, being the recipient of a free ticket to the weekend blogger conference/retreat which is held at a spa hotel in Northamptonshire during February next year. The competition simply asked entrants to make a video only 90 seconds or less, explaining why they should win the scholarship. In an underhand tactic, I …

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 …

How to write bad blog posts and lose visitors

How to write bad blog posts and lose visitors

Gavin Wren Food Blogging, Food Opinion Pieces, Writing

If there’s one thing that turns me off when I read a blog post, it’s starting with phrases like “YOU NEED THIS IN YOUR LIFE!” or “This recipe is AMAZING and will CHANGE your WORLD”. You don’t NEED any recipe in your life, you just need basic food and water and the absolute last thing you need in your life is someone telling you what choices you should make. You should work them out for …

Avocado prawn khobez wraps with mint yoghurt

Avocado prawn wraps on khobez with mint yoghurt

Gavin Wren Fish & Shellfish, Recipes, Sandwiches & Wraps, Small Bites, Vegetarian

I’m in a lucky position. I live in a part of North London where there’s a strong Turkish community and just down the road there’s a lot of Greeks as well. That means I’m tripping over mediterranean delis and restaurants and there’s an abundance of new ingredients to discover that seem to magically fall into my shopping basket on a regular basis. It also puts me in the unique situation of never having any trouble …

Halloumi with mint yoghurt

Hot halloumi slices with mint yoghurt

Gavin Wren Recipes, Salads, Side dishes, Small Bites, Vegetarian

Yesterday I told you how to make mint yoghurt, with a straightforward recipe. Today is day two of the Birthday trilogy and I’m indulging that dip with a little bit of halloumi, the Mediterranean cheese found in Greek and Lebanese restaurants or otherwise known as the hard, squeaky cheese which people buy for vegetarians during BBQ season. It’s also a word that isn’t featured in my iMac’s spellchecker dictionary, so it keeps on getting corrected …