I always think veggie burgers are a good way to get some healthy stuff into the kids. I often just throw together whatever leftover cooked vegetables and grains are in the fridge, mix with some spices, binders (like oats, breadcrumbs or cereal), seeds and beans, and fry. It can be hard to make the same things twice. This version I created this week, with lots of protein-rich lentils and quinoa, was exceptionally popular among the little people — I think Zach may have eaten eight small burgers at dinner. I’m definitely planning to make this one again.

You can skip some of the steps to make the process quicker, but toasting and sautéing first improves the overall finished flavor.

But once you get the feel for the necessary texture, you can mix and match ingredients and create your own favorite burger. It’s hard to go wrong.

This recipe is especially for Angela!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa (or about 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa)

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans

1 shallot or small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

few sprigs of fresh thyme

2 cups cooked green or brown lentils

1 T tomato paste

1 T olive oil

2 T soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 small courgette, finely grated, with liquid squeezed out

1 cup oats

1 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes or breadcrumbs

Method:

First, toast the quinoa in a dry cast iron pan until it begins to pop. Then pour into a pot and cook in 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock, or salted water. It’s done when the liquid has been absorbed — about 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, toast the sunflower seeds and nuts in the dry cast iron pan until they are just slightly browned. Then remove and grind in a food processor until they are crumbs.

Now add some olive oil to the cast iron pan and sauté the shallot (or onion) and garlic. When soft, add them to the food processor. Add the fresh thyme and blend.

Add the cooked lentils to the food processor and pulse for just a few seconds more so the lentils are just partly blended.

Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a large bowl. Add the tomato paste, olive oil, soy sauce, cumin, grated courgette, oats and cornflakes (or breadcrumbs) to the bowl. Mix well.

(If you would like to add a beaten egg at this point to aid in binding, you can, but I found that they held together well even without the egg, helped by the oats.)

Form into patties (I like to use a small ice cream scoop with a lever) and drop onto the hot cast iron pan, in a little oil. Press down with a spatula turner and flip over when browned.

Serve warm. You can eat them like burgers, in bread, or I like them just plain, next to a baked potato. The kids like to pick them up and eat them with their fingers.

Freeze any leftovers.

I have tried so many cornbread recipes and variations, and I think this ticks the most important boxes: easy, relatively healthy and delicious. The kids ate them all for dinner tonight, and clamoured for more. So yummy right out of the oven, spread with a little butter, next to a hot bowl of potato soup.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (I use almond milk)

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 egg

1 cup fine or medium cornmeal

1 cup plain flour

1 T sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 F/200 C.

In a small bowl or measuring jug, mix the apple cider vinegar into the milk. Wait a few minutes until the milk looks soured. Add the egg and mix well.

In a large bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir only until incorporated (not too much).

Pour the batter into 12 large muffin cups. Alternatively, pour into an oiled cast iron frying pan.

Put into the oven and bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Best served warm.

My mom and dad both always made granola, and later Ansley kept me supplied with delicious granola based on her grandmother’s recipe. When she left, I was forced to finally make my own. And I discovered how easy it is.

I love granola on my oatmeal in the morning, by the handful when I am just passing the kitchen, and on top of Greek yogurt with honey and blueberries in the evening.

I must admit that the boys prefer their granola without whole seeds, without nuts that are too chunky and without dried fruit. But I really love the dried fruit, especially. So I have included it in the recipe here, even though to strictly fit within the parameters I have given myself for this blog, I should have left it out!

Anyway, here is my current recipe, inspired by Ansley and based loosely on Oh She Glows‘ granola clusters recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup almonds, divided

1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds, divided

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 T flax seeds

1 cup other nuts (pecans, walnuts, cashews)

3 1/2 cups oats

2/3 cup dried fruit (this is optional. My preference is cranberries and papaya chunks – some others, like raisins, tend to burn)

1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup water

Method

Turn the oven on very low heat, 75 degrees C, 160 degrees F.

Put 1/2 cup of the almonds, 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds and 1 T flax seeds into a food processor and blend until they become a fine meal. Transfer into a large bowl.

(Alternatively, blend all of the pumpkin seeds, so no whole ones are left for little people to find and complain about.)

In the food processor, blend the remaining 1/2 cup almonds with the other 1 cup of nuts, but only for about 5 seconds, so that there are some larger pieces left. Transfer into the bowl.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, oats, dried fruit, coconut, cinnamon and salt and mix well.

Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and water and mix very well. The longer you mix, the more the oats break down and become sticky, which will help your granola bake into clusters.

Spread the mixture in a thin layer onto two rimmed baking sheets, and press it down with the back of a wooden spoon.

Place in the warm oven and let it dry and bake for about 6 hours. (I usually put it in the oven before I go to bed, and then wake up to a lovely nutty smell in the morning.)

Turn the oven up to 150 C/300 F and let the granola bake and brown for another 15 minutes. Make sure you take it out before it gets too brown. (It’s easy to leave it in too long at the higher temperature, but it can burn easily, so be careful.)

Leave on the pan until it cools, then store in a sealed container or in the freezer. (I can’t help eating lots while I am putting it away!)

So I can (usually) get my kids to eat soup if it’s all blended together and they can’t actually see the vegetables and good stuff. This is a simple and popular version, with all the nutrients you need in one bowl. It’s smooth and full of flavour. Sometimes, they will even eat two or three bowlfuls.

I am much more of a “throw in a handful of this and a handful of that into a pot” cook, than I am a methodical recipe-follower. I have tried to provide a good template here, but for me, soup recipes are really just rough guides. I never make exactly the same soup twice. So there is plenty of room for improvisation.

For the grownups, try topping this creamy orange deliciousness with some toasted pumpkin seeds for some crunch. (This recipe is also a nod to Ansley, who probably makes the best red lentil and coconut soup.)

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

2 large carrots

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

About 1 tsp worth of grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 cups red lentils

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

4 cups of water

1 can coconut milk

Method

First, roast the vegetables. Peel and roughly chop the carrots and sweet potato, toss in some olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt, and spread onto a baking tray. Roast in a 400 F oven until they begin to brown (around 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic, and sauté in a pot (a Dutch oven works beautifully) in some olive oil over a low heat. I usually put the lid on to let the onions sweat and sweeten. After 10 minutes, or when the onions are soft, add the lentils and stir. Add the stock cube, salt, cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Add the water and coconut milk. Finally, add the roasted vegetables.

Bring to a boil, then turn the heat as low as it will go. Simmer for 40 minutes or so, stirring occasionally (the lentils tend to stick to the bottom of the pot).

Blend. (I use a stick blender.)

Serve. And it might even taste better the next day.

Okay, this cake is amazing. I’ve made it at least five times just in the last few weeks. I brought it to our father’s day dinner this evening, and my father-in-law kept saying: “But I don’t even like sweet potatoes!”

This cake not only contains a large helping of good-for-you sweet potatoes, but it also doesn’t have much bad-for-you stuff either. No oil or butter, and not much sugar either! It’s wholegrain and vegan. Not quite guilt-free, but I don’t mind letting the kids have seconds. And did I mention: it tastes decadent and delicious? Oh, and the frosting is made with sweet potatoes, too.

The recipe is just very slightly adapted here from Plant-Powered Kitchen.

Ingredients

1 cup of sweet potatoes, peeled, chopped, cooked and cooled (I used a steamer)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 T balsamic vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup sugar (original recipe calls for coconut sugar, but I couldn’t find any)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C or 350 F. To make a cake, grease the sides of a 9-inch cake pan (coconut oil works well) and line the bottom with baking paper. For cupcakes, put cupcake liners in your pan.

Place your cooked sweet potatoes into a blender or food processor, along with the water, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and vanilla until it is really smooth.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Add the chocolate chips.

Mix the sweet potato mixture into the dry ingredients and just until combined.

Put into the cake pan or cupcake pan and bake. About 22 minutes for the cake and 18 minutes for the cupcakes.

Makes about nine cupcakes and a fairly thin layer cake. If you want a more traditional-sized cake, double the recipe and make two cakes, then layer them.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Frosting

This frosting is so yummy, yet not so heavy and sweet as traditional frosting. The main thing is to make sure it is really smooth. It would make a pretty tasty chocolate pudding that you could just eat with a spoon! This recipe makes more than two cups, so you’re likely to have enough leftover that you can do just that.

Ingredients

1 cup peeled, cooked and cooled sweet potatoes

1/2 cup sugar (use an unrefined sugar if you can)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup cashew butter (or blend raw cashews until very smooth)

1/4 tsp salt

1 T honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 to 5 T non-dairy milk

Method

Puree all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until very smooth.