hello my new favourite dinner! you're vegan, even though i'm not

I spent an hour or so trawling through Angela's back catalogue of posts the other day and for some reason, become obsessed with making this quiche. But because I've been trying to limit my consumption of pastry, bread and nutella (my three favourite food groups), I wondered if I could turn it into a quiche of the "impossible" kind; that is, a quiche without pastry. Angela reckoned it could be done - and boy, can it be done!

Angela calls this recipe Versatile Vegan Quiche - and it really is versatile. This was a spinach and mushroom version, spooned straight into the tin, with some extra cashews substituted for the nutritional yeast. It took just five minutes longer in the oven than the original version, possibly because it was a little more wet. But I could tell from the delicious smell in the kitchen in that final five minutes that it was going to be good. This quiche has a lovely nubbly texture and a sweet nutty flavour that can be pushed in almost any direction. It is slightly delicate, but cuts pretty clean after a few minutes resting while you make a little salad. You should definitely make this salad:

This is a Creamy Kale Salad, based upon a recipe I found a little while ago on wholeliving.com. It was the dressing, I think, that drew me to it initially; you simply add olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard and the flesh of an avocado to your food processor and after a few seconds, you end up with this gorgeous cream. As far as dressings go, it's quite thick, and so is best suited to more robust greens like kale. So you've got your kale, stemmed and torn into pieces. Then you add super-thin slices of peeled beetroot, slivers of crisp, sweet apple and some fresh oily walnuts. And you end up with one of the best salads I've had in ages. 

Once you mix through the dressing, it all looks gloriously messy and tastes sort of like a walfdorf salad, only more punchy and nutritious. I dropped a giant pile of it next to a slice of Angela's quiche and it was one of those evenings where I looked down at my plate and thought, goddamn this is a good dinner. And I thought that again with every bite I took. 

P.S. Kids! Don't forget to enter the Sanjou giveaway. You've got until Sunday evening. They're real pretty, trust me. x

Creamy Kale Salad

Adapted from recipe at wholeliving.com

Serves 4 as a side

For dressing:

1 ripe avocado, halved with seed removed

2 tbsp white wine vinegar (I used white "balsamic"

1.5 tsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp good olive oil

salt and pepper

For salad:

around 1/2 bunch of kale, stemmed and torn into pieces

1 beetroot, peeled and sliced thin with a mandolin

1 apple (a sweet, crisp variety), cored and cut into thin pieces

1/3 cup fresh walnuts (toasted if you like - I didn't)

1. To make dressing, add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until creamy. Taste and adjust as required.

2. Toss salad ingredients to combine. Serve with dressing on the side.