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Random recipe roundup: Chocolate tart, mushroom quiche, raspberry pancakes and more

The joy of having a decent cameraphone on you at all times is that you never miss a chance to snap something beautiful you get at a restaurant or something tasty you've just made. The downside is that you end up with a waxy build-up of random shots food on your phone you feel obliged to purge in an equally random blog post.

Join me, dear readers, for a new series: Crap I Found on My Phone. Some of this stuff is antediluvian, so you can play Guess What's In It along with me.

First up, this bowl of what appears to be a mix of quinoa, squash, tomato, parsley, black beans, and kale. It's the sort of dish I cook up when I imagine I have to placate the health gods: look, oh great ones, beans and greens on one plate! Please forgive me for my continued worship of cake!

Worship of cake that may have taken the form of this:

It's the Inspiral raw blackout cake, picked up from Whole Foods. It comes in a cute little jar, and because it's raw, it allows you to think you're actually eating some form of health food. At least, that's what I tell myself. Next up: work out the mental tricks needed to convince myself that as beer is made of hops and yeast, it can somehow be counted towards my five a day.

Also excavated from my phone was this picture of raspberry pancakes:


These were a surprise breakfast treat made by a great friend of mine when I stayed the weekend at her house. We stayed up late playing zombie-themed computer games, and when I awoke, there was a whole pile of lovely raspberry pancakes ready for me. 

I grant you, they may not look like food-styled beauties, but I'd already eaten platefuls of them with such speed, it took super-human restraint to pause for a moment, pull out my phone and take a picture. They were lovely and pillowy and sharp from the fruit. A friend with pancakes is a friend indeed.

Next up, another Borough market vegetable buying expedition that ended with me having bought something cool I had no idea what to do with: a big bag of pied bleu mushrooms. They have a lovely faint blue colour, and a lovely bouncy texture. 

I decided to put them to use in a recipe that originally featured in the Guardian's top 10 cauliflower recipes (scroll down to the bottom - it's the roasted cauliflower tart with oat-walnut crust and lemon herb filling recipe).

I followed the recipe but subbed out the cauliflower for the pied bleus and went from there. I had been planning to make it more of a quiche using silken tofu, but after my blender started making a funny noise, I fished out from amongst it all a peg. Yep, a common or garden clothes peg, which I can only assume was in the Mori-Nu box somewhere. Has anyone else had that happen?!

I decided to abandon the tofu and peg to the bin (I'm all for trying out new flavours, but trying splinters is a little too far out) and use the Guardian recipe. It turns out like this:


(It's in two halves because my other half is a mushroom phobe, so he got the tomato half.

The crust was amazing - far more interesting than the standard pastry, enlivened by the addition of walnuts and oats. The quiche-type filling also got bonus points for a) tasting nice and creamy without the need for silken tofu and b) not having a clothes peg in it.

I served it with a salad which is my new favourite: roast butternut squash and green pepper with spring greens, and a dressing made of equal quantities hummus and lime pickle.

I am firmly of the belief that lime pickle makes everything better. Luckily, it didn't have a lot of work to do with this tart.

I'm Joey, a London vegan. I'm a mature student and journalist with a love of vegan cake and beer.

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12 comments

  1. Ingrid18 February 2014 at 18:28

    How fun! I enjoyed the trip through your phone's camera! The quiche is absolutely to die for. Yum.

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  2. Tea and Sympatico19 February 2014 at 04:43

    I'm definitely going to try the quiche. I used to make one years ago with a similar sounding crust and I remember it being lovely. I need to try that Inspiral dessert pot too. I've just discovered the Juice bar in Picadilly Train Station in Manchester sells Inspiral stuff. Tried a lemon one and passion fruit one so far and they were both lovely.

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  3. coconutandberries19 February 2014 at 10:14

    That tart sounds amazing! The Guardian's got lots of good cauli ideas it seems. Thanks for the link. That tofu incident does sound pretty scary though!
    The blackout is my favourite of the inspiral pots but the hazelnut tart is rather yummy as well.

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  4. Abby Bean19 February 2014 at 13:52

    You had me laughing the whole way through and I did not see that gorgeous tart coming. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has these crazy thoughts running through my head at all times.

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  5. Johanna GGG19 February 2014 at 18:54

    the tart crust sounds amazing - love walnuts and oats - but the peg is puzzling - in my house it would be likely that there had been some game going on that I didn't know about - but what did you use instead of tofu - it looks dreamy and creamy. I would love to wake up to a plate of pancakes and to try that raw cake (it does look cute no wonder if ended up on your phone camera) and I like your thinking about the gods of nutrition - I think they do very complex calculations about greens cancelling out chocolate :-)

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  6. Kate20 February 2014 at 22:04

    Crap I found on my phone- haha love it! I love seeing random eats. Raw blackout cake has won me!

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  7. Theresa21 February 2014 at 02:01

    OMG a peg! How gross! The tart looks lovely despite the tofu issue, though! As does that chocolate pot, yummy.

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  8. Hannah21 February 2014 at 10:04

    I too collect random pictures on my phone and almost never use/share them, but the difference is that mine are absolutely terrible! Every time I poke back through that "album," I just wonder why I didn't have my regular camera with me in the first place. Your roundup here is a lot of fun though- A good blend of healthy and decadent eats!

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  9. House Vegan21 February 2014 at 16:41

    Ha! I'm always trying to convince myself that beer is a health food. Today my trainer mentioned that beer is just a sandwich on a bottle. Sandwiches are healthy, right??

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  10. ｒｉｋａ＠ｖｍ23 February 2014 at 06:48

    Love the first paragraph, hehe! I’ve thousands of photos on my phone right now and I just don’t know when to post them except for Instagram or friends I can show via pm. Wow, that raw blackout cake looks delicious and I love cute little jars, I even brought them back from France and travels! My goodness, that is some yummy ‘quiche’ tart!!!!!

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  11. Andrea23 February 2014 at 16:33

    Lovely collection of random edibles — especially the tart (minus the peg). Do you really think it was in the tofu box?

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  12. Randi (laughfrodisiac)24 February 2014 at 18:05

    So fun! I like looking through your phone pics! Everything looks good but that tart looks amazing!

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