Vegan fry ups take two: refried chipotle beans and herby spinach mushrooms

Vegan and fry-ups go together like- well, where to start? Hashbrowns and beans? Linda McCartney sausage sandwiches? Mushrooms with thyme and oregano? So here's my 2013 take on that bastion of weekend-ness- when two whole days stretch out wayyy into the distance and no-one needs to talk about things like commuting times and tube delays. And if you'd like to see the 2012 edition, just click here.

Although I guess refried beans might sound a little strange pre-midday, they're a key part of traditional Mexican breakfasts, just as baked beans are to English ones. Refried beans aren't actually fried twice, as the English use of the prefix suggests, but just 'well' or 'very' fried, as the Mexican Spanish use of 're' means when translating frijoles refritos, or 'well-fried beans'.

Makes enough for two or three

Ingredients
For the refried chipotle beans:
2 tins black eyed beans
1 onion chopped small
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp Sainsbury's chipotle paste (or use a chopped chipotle chili if you have one!)
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 clove garlic, chopped
Vegetable or sunflower oil
Seasoning
-plus lemon/lime juice if you are so inclined!

For the herby mushrooms:
Few sprigs of thyme
Dried oregano
Spinach
Mushrooms, chopped into chunks
Seasoning
Olive oil if you have it, or vegetable or sunflower oil

...plus hashbrowns (Sainsbury's are vegan), Linda McCartney sausages, tomatoes  to grill, bread for toast and of course a Bloody Mary or five.

In a pan with a few glugs of oil, gently fry the onion, garlic and chili flakes, adding some seasoning and the chipotle paste. Once the onion has softened, add the two tins of beans with a little more oil and the bay leaf and allow to simmer.

(While this is happening get everything that needs cooking in the oven on the go, as the beans can take as long as you like.)

Once the beans are cooked through, turn off the heat of the pan and transfer 3/4 of the mix to a mixer, or if you're like me and don't have one, use a hand blender or potato masher in a bowl or jug to blend up the beans. Make sure you leave the bay leaf and a few beans in the pan, as I think these add to the final texture.

As soon as the beans are just blended, add back to the frying pan and cook on a low heat to allow all the flavours to intensify. Add a little more seasoning or even some lemon juice if you fancy it. This will happily fry away for about 10 more minutes.

In a large pan begin to fry the mushrooms with the thyme and oregano. I do them in batches with just a little olive oil to make them really dry, but cook to your preference. When the mushrooms are almost done, gently wilt the spinach over a pan of boiling water, and add to the mushrooms once they are off the heat.

Plate up with the refried beans (which are great on toast), grilled tomatoes, hashbrowns, sausages and whatever else you fancy. Bingo, le weekend.

Supper fit for a tree

One of my ultimate favourite new-traditions-in-the-making is our yearly journey to get the Christmas tree. Last year we got a 5ft tree, this year they only had 6 ft trees left so it's now taking up half the flat. I really hope we can afford a 7ft tree next year. 

As you can probably tell by how cold I look in the photo above, it was freezing work. It became pretty clear on the trek home that a big dinner was in order, not a Christmas dinner per se, but something with the same zest for FEST.

I chopped up a few of the leftover roasted chestnuts from the other day, and added these to Sainsbury's sage and onion stuffing- which is clearly labelled as vegan making things much easier in the supermarket aisle! 

If you're looking for something a little different from roast potatoes, hasselback potatoes are fun to make and give a nice crunchy texture when you've got lots of vegetables in the mix. Get these in the oven before anything else as they take a deceptively long time- around 50 minutes to an hour. 

While trying out various ways of making the tree stand up (no dental floss this year, thankfully) I also chopped and roasted some apples, parsnip, carrots and onions, along with a few Linda McCartney sausages. Once these, along with the stuffing, where all set in the oven, I started on the gravy: chopped mushroom and onion, along with chopped cabbage. Finally I cooked through haricot beans with rosemary, crushed garlic, seasoning and olive oil, mashing lightly once bubbling and allowing the beans to thicken a little as they cooked. Cobbled together and all the tastier for it!

Braised red cabbage, apples and onion

Maybe it's my Polish roots coming through, but to me, there are few flavours more perfect than salty cabbage and tangy vinegar, especially against comfort foods like mashed potato or sausages. For my first go at braised red cabbage, I adapted a Delia Smith recipe, making it vegan, shorter in preparation time, and without the need to bake it in an oven.

It might take a bit of time to do all the layers, but I found if you're roasting vegetables, once they are all in the oven and cooking away, this recipe can be done in the meantime while the rest cooks, and will keep in the fridge for about 3 days, and freeze even better. The sugar creates the most amazing caramalised burnt bit happening at the bottom of the pan, while the cabbage at the top is really pink and flavoured with onions and the spices.

Makes easily enough for four
Ingredients
Half a large red cabbage, or as much as you fancy, shredded to give long, thin strands
2 red onions, chopped small
2 red apples, no need to peel, but chop small
1 clove garlic chopped tiny
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
3 pinches brown sugar
Glugs of vegetable or sunflower oil
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Chose a pan with as high sides as possible, like a wok or I used a pressure cooker, as it needs a lid also. Pour a glug of oil in the bottom of the pan, to cover it and stop the sugar burning. Then cover the bottom with the shredded cabbage, a third of the apple, onion, garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar and then season. Repeat this two more times or until you've used everything up. It doesn't need to be totally even, it will get stirred around no doubt- but it means all the flavours will combine in the most tasty way in the pan.

Finally, pour another glug of oil and the white wine vinegar over it all, and place a lid on top. Every ten minutes or so, come back and stir, making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom, but otherwise this can simmer away for half an hour, until everything else is done.

I had this with vegan mash, spinach, roasted carrots, parsnips, onions, and Linda McCartney sausages and I would do it ALLLLLLL AGAIN.