Carrot Miso Dressing

I've always loved the carrot/ginger dressing you get in sushi places on the salads - it's quite thick, with a slight onion flavour and the ginger and miso give it a real kick. With its bright orange colour, it's great on a simple green salad, and veggie daughter and I both loved it on a quinoa veggie bowl (despite the ribbing we got from the rest of the family for eating such trendy middle class grub).

1 large carrot
1  shallot
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsp white miso
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame (I actually had to use a blend of sesame and soya oil as that's all I had)
1/4 cup sunflower or rapeseed oil
2 tbsp water (or a bit more if it seems a bit too thick)

1. Whizz the carrot, shallot and ginger in a food processor, scraping down the sides.
2. Add the miso, vinegar and sesame oil and whizz a bit more
3. With the motor running, pour in the  oil and water to form a smooth emulsion.
4. Serve in liberal quantities.

Falafels

400g can chickpeas, drained 

Clove garlic 

1 spring onion 

1 red chilli, reseeded

Handful of fresh coriander 

1 tsp ground coriander 

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp finely chopped lemon zest

1 - 2 tbsp olive oil 

1 tbsp plain flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

Salt

To serve: warmed pitta breads, lettuce, Tzatziki, cucumber, tomato, fresh coriander 

Blitz everything in a food processor to a textured paste. If you don't have one, you could mash the chick peas and chop and stir in the other ingredients.

Shape into 16 small balls.

Fry in olive oil for about 5 minutes, turning often.

Mushroom and Chestnut Pies

These were delicious and surprisingly rich and creamy for a vegan dish. Strictly speaking mine were not vegan, because I used beaten egg to glaze the pastry and turn it golden, but you could leave it off and have slightly less of a golden hue to your pies.

300g pack puff pastry (if making vegan, check the packet)

300g peeled roasted chestnuts, roughly chopped

500g mixed mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

15g dried porcini mushrooms soaked  in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and chopped 

40 ml sloe whiskey (or sherry)

150g shallots finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 tsp dried tarragon 

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried 

2 bay leaves 

Olive oil 

1 340g carton silken tofu 

Salt and pepper 

Beaten egg to brush the top of the pies (omit if making this vegan)

1. Gently saute the shallots and garlic in some olive oil until softened. Ad the mushrooms and saute them until softening. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook gently until the silken tofu melts down into a creamy sauce, about 10 minutes.

2. Roll out the pastry and cut out 4 circles, about 14cm diameter.

3. Spoon the filling onto two of the circles, the cover each with the remaining two circles. Crimp the edges to seal.

4. Brush the top with beaten egg if you want, then bake the pies for about 20 minutes until golden brown.