3 delicious vegan recipes from Olivado

Veganism was a small, alternative lifestyle 10 years ago that no one really noticed or knew much about. Today, Vegan numbers are growing fast, with people committing to a vegan lifestyle for many reasons, including health, saving the environment, and the protection of animals.

If you’re a vegan, or you’re thinking of trying a vegan lifestyle, there are thousands of recipes out there for you to try, but not all of them are made with our delicious Olivado oils, so we’ve picked these three for you to try out. Enjoy!

Tomato Onion Relish Bread

Nothing beats a nice piece of bread, perfectly cooked, with a doughy softness packed with flavour. Fortunately this recipe ticks all those boxes!

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast
• 225ml warm water
• 275g high-grade flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons wholemeal flour
• 1 tablespoon Olivado avocado rosemary oil

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons Olivado extra virgin avocado oil, plus extra for brushing
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved horizontally
• 2 tablespoons Maison Therese Balsamic Onion Relish
• 1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed
• Flaky salt for sprinkling

Method

Start by placing the sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle over the dried yeast. Pour in ½ of the measured warm water. Leave in a warm place until frothy, which should take about 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes, sift the flour and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Then add the wholemeal flour and Olivado’s avocado oil infused with rosemary.

Add the remaining warm water and the activated yeast mixture. Mix until everything is combined well and the dough is smooth and shiny. Now it’s time to kneed out the dough by hand. Knead the dough on a lightly-floured bench for 10-15 minutes until smooth and shape into a ball. Lightly oil a bowl with the same rosemary infused oil and add the dough, covering it with a plastic wrap and a tea towel before leaving in a warm place to rise until the dough has doubled in size, somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of Olivado’s Extra Virgin Avocado Oil brushing or smearing the oil into a circle about 25cm in diameter. Place the dough on the circle and using the palm of your hand stretch it out to make a 25cm circle. Use your fingertips to press the dough to make indentations all over the surface of the dough.

Stud the dough evenly with the cherry tomatoes, Maison Therese balsamic onion relish and fresh rosemary. Drizzle over the extra virgin avocado oil and 1 ½ tablespoons water.

Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour. After 50 minutes or so, preheat the oven to 230°C. Place prepared bread dough in the oven and bake for 15 minutes until well browned. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack and brush or drizzle with a little extra avocado oil (you can never have enough!). Sprinkle over a little flaky salt.

Apple banana and berry crumble

Becoming vegan doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all things yummy. Baking ingredients such as egg can be substituted, resulting in some mouth-watering treats like this incredible apple, banana and berry crumble!

Ingredients

• 2 apples, sliced
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/3 cup cold Olivado EV Coconut oil or butter
• Serve with coconut yoghurt

Method

Start by preheating oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Then grease an oven dish, laying the apple slices, bananas and blueberries into the base. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and 1 Tbsp of coconut sugar, then toss to coat.

In a food processor, combine the oats, coconut flour, almond meal, desiccated coconut and Olivado EV Coconut oil. Blitz until the mixture reaches a crumble consistency. Stir through the sliced almonds, then sprinkle over the fruit mixture.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and the fruit is tender when tested with a knife.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes then serve. Yum!

Potato skins with skordalia

The good news for vegans is… you can still eat spuds! This recipe takes potato skins and turns them into something special, along with a creamy skordalia dip. And yes, skordalia is a real word, we looked it up.

Ingredients

• 6 large floury potatoes – baking/roasting
• 2 tbsp Olivado EV Olive oil

Skordalia Dip:

• 4 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup Olivado Extra Virgin Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Zest and juice of small lemon
• Salt and pepper
• ¼ cup toasted sliced almonds
• 1 extra tablespoon Olivado EV Olive oil

Vege sticks:

• 4 carrots
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 cucumber
• 1 red capsicum

Method

First thing’s first – preheat oven to 220°C. While that’s heating up, prick potatoes with a fork and spread them on baking tray. Once the oven is ready, bake for about 45 minutes until soft.

While the potatoes are baking, toast sliced almonds in a small dry skillet over a medium heat,
watching carefully until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Prepare the veggie sticks by chopping carrots, celery, cucumber and red capsicum into thin strips. Remove the potatoes from oven, slice into quarters, scoop out potato flesh and set aside. Place potato skins back on baking tray, drizzle with Olivado’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sprinkle with salt and return to the oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until crisp.

While the skins are baking, prepare the skordalia dip by placing the potato flesh into a food processor (if available) or mixing bowl. Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt to form a paste, and add this to potato flesh along with our Extra Virgin Olive Oil, vinegar, lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper. Blitz in food processor, or mash carefully till smooth. If too thick, add 1 tablespoon of warm water (it should be the consistency of hummus).

Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with toasted almonds and a drizzle of EV Olive oil. Remove potato skins from the oven and serve with skordalia dip and veggie sticks.

So there you have it, three delicious recipes with our acclaimed cooking oils, all suitable for vegans.

If you’re interested in veganism and would like to know more about it, check out the Vegan Society of New Zealand for more information.

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or full-blown meat eater, Olivado’s range of delicious, healthy cooking oils are the perfect way to prepare a meal, adding that little bit of extra flavour to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Take a look at our products here, or if you have any questions for us, please don’t hesitate in contacting us here.