Wild garlic, after it’s picked, can wilt really fast. To keep it fresh after picking I wrapped it in a damp tea towel and popped it in a sealable box in the fridge. Or you could make it into pesto straight away.
Wild Garlic Pesto
About 20 leaves of wild garlic
8 walnuts
190ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
This is a simple two-step process: put it in the blender and blend it up.
It’s served here with spinach pasta and broccoli but it can be used just like any other pesto.
Edit, February 2020: Terra Marique is now closed.
A couple of weeks ago rumours spread amongst the local vegans, not of an individual but of a whole restaurant. Terra Marique was a typical brassiere but when the family running it started reducing animal products at home they decided to turn the restaurant completely vegan! We popped in for breakfast as soon as we could.
I had Smashed Avocado (£5.75) which was gratifyingly chunky and topped with some beautiful tomatoes and mixed seeds. The toast is gluten free which doesn’t effect the taste at all but is quite small and dense in the way of gluten free breads. But it was a good portion, I’m just greedy.
Kate ordered the French Toast (£4.50) also made with gluten free bread. This one was served with maple syrup, fruit and soy cream. Kate wasn’t a fan of the soy cream, she thinks it’s too sour tasting. The rest was delicious though.
Terra Marique is currently serving a small selection of well-priced and well-made breakfasts and lunches and we can’t wait to see what they do next.
When Leon brought out a vegan cookbook I ordered it straight away. I’ve been living with it for the past few months and it’s been in rotation ever since. The title implies that it’s all fast food but really it has a recipe for just about anything you could ask for. There are breakfast, desserts, 15-minute meals and ones that take hours. It’s an encyclopaedia of vegan food. And it’s pretty cool.
We’ll start with one of the quicker recipes. This Artichoke, Basil and Spinach Pasta. It’s a quick pesto recipe that has all the umami you could ever need coming from that artichoke. The recipes are more than just a token vegan option, they’re well-thought-out to give a full range of flavours.
Jackfruit Tikka Masala is one of the the recipes that puts the name fast vegan to shame, clocking in at just under 2 hours. However you will not regret a second of those two hours. This is the best vegan tikka masala you’ll ever have. And it’s a genuine tikka masala, you marinate and cook your jackfruit before tossing it in the curry sauce which just makes everything perfect.
One of the few misses we’ve had is this Spiced Moroccan Tofu. Overall it was just a little dry and the Moroccan flavours didn’t really work with tofu.
But let’s end on a happy, positive, chocolate-filled note. These chocolate brownie cakes are amazing! Really dense and they have chocolate and rich and they have chocolate.
There are some amazing recipes in this huge tome. And although I’ve become adept at translating recipes from American English into UK English it’s always great to have recipes written in my own culinary language. I would suggest you go out and buy this straight away and make the tikka masala because it’s amazing.
Wild garlic, allium ursinum, is currently in season here in sunny south Devon. The beautiful garlic-scented plant is everywhere right now and it’s delicious.
The leaves are my favourite part. I pick two or three from each plant so it can keep on growing. Patches here can get pretty large so you can get a decent harvest that way. This garlic bread ‘recipe’ is nice and easy. Great for after a hard day’s forage.
Wild Garlic Bread
1 demi baguette
About 6 leaves of wild garlic
About 4 tablespoons of vegan butter
Pre heat the oven to 200°c
Make cuts in the baguette. You want about nine cuts, on the diagonal, about three quarters of the way through.
Make the garlic butter: finely chop the garlic leaves and beat into the butter.
Spoon the garlic into the cuts, about a teaspoon in each one.
Wrap the baguette in foil and bake in the oven for twenty minutes.
Coastal Vegans 