Scotland

What better day to cook Scottish food? Of course, we celebrated with vegan Burns Night!

Now, those two phrases may not seem a match made in heaven. But we cooked up a delicious storm. What’s more, it was really easy – thanks to the addition of a pressure cooker. This is totally possible without one, but we cook a lot of dried pulses and grains in one of these, and it saves money and time.

I wanted to make haggis, but I wanted to do it with a twist. So I settled on: vegan haggis burger, caramelised red onion, Cajun neeps and tatties. And for dessert, we made vegan barley pudding.

Here’s how we made them…

Recipe – main course

I adapted this recipe I found online. Makes ~8 burgers (we ate 2 and kept the leftovers for lunches during the week). The rest serves 2, and can easily be scaled up.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup kidney beans, dried
• 1/2 cup chickpeas, dried
• 1 cup lentils, dried (I used a mix of brown and green)
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
• 1 cup chestnut mushrooms, finelt diced
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional)
• 6 tbsp gram flour
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcester sauce (I used vegan)
• 1 small sweet potato, cut into wedges
• 1 small parsnip, cut into wedges
• 3 small turnips, cut into wedges
• Cajun spice blend
• Paprika
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• Burger buns

Method: start by cooking the beans and chickpeas. Bring up to pressure with plenty of water and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (this helps soften them). Cook for 26 minutes.

Release the pressure and add the lentils. Bring back up to pressure and cook for a further 14 minutes.

Release the pressure, drain and lightly mash with a fork. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, follow cooking instructions on the pack.

While these are cooking, lightly toast the oats in a dry frying pan until they smell fragrant. Careful not to let them burn. Preheat the oven to 180 Celcius.

Fry the brown onion in a little oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for a further 5.

Meanwhile, coat the wedges with a generous sprinkle of Cajun spice and paprika, drizzle with oil, season well and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, turning half way through.

Next, add the cumin, sage, cayenne, Worcester sauce and soy sauce to the mushroom mix. Stir until well coated. Season well with salt and pepper.

Add the mashed lentils, chickpeas and beans and mix well. Finally, add the gram flour.

Shape into patties and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. When 25 minutes are up, you can add a slice of (vegan) cheese and return for the final 5, if you fancy!

Now start the caramelised red onion. Fry the onion slices in a generous tbsp of oil until very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and continue cooking for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent them from sticking.

Once everything is cooked, assemble your vegan haggis burgers by adding a dollop of the caramelised onions on top, and serve with the roasted veggies!

Recipe – dessert

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Pearl barley
• 2 cups plant milk
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tbsp vegan butter

Melt the butter in your pressure cooker and add the barley and apple. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add milk and raisins and cook for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Release the pressure and add the cinnamon. Leave to stand for 30 mins – 1 hour to thicken up.

Serve your vegan barley pudding with a dollop of (plant based) yoghurt and a swirl of maple syrup, if you like!

Justine x