CallMeIshbel | Cooking, travelling and the art of being

Sticky Date Pudding Cake with Chocolate Whisky Sauce

3 months ago by ishbel

The first birthday cake I ever baked for my (now) husband, the recipe was from a cookbook by the resturant Pitt Cue in London. I discovered this book, at almost exactly the sametime as we decided to transition to a plant-based lifestyle. At the time, it fe...

Zucchini Cannelloni with Tomato & Red Pepper Puree

4 months ago by ishbel

This Italian classic has been given a wholefood plant-based makeover. The dish is perfect for a dinner party, a herby tofu ricotta filled zucchini cannelloni; paired with an earthy tart tomato and red pepper puree, garnished with salty black olives and crisp...

Potato & Red Onion Vegan Tortilla

5 months ago by ishbel

I sometimes find that I still miss eggs. It's not actually about the eating an egg , it's about what the egg brings to the dish. It's that savoury "something" that an egg brings a dish together and binds all the ingredients into a form that you slice, dice...

Cucumber, Spinach & Herb Salad with Lemon Ginger Dressing

7 months ago by ishbel

I often get my inspiration for dinner side dishes from what needs to be harvested or has to be used from the fridge. In this case I also took inspiration from the Great British Chefs Cookbook Club book of the month: "Ottolenghi Simp...

Buckwheat-Banana Pancakes

9 months ago by ishbel

A stack of fluffy pancakes crowned with colourful fruity toppings always impresses. This easy vegan gluten free pancake recipe is very adaptable, it can be flavoured with different ingredients and smothered with numerous topping combinations; definitely a ...

Lentil + Mushroom + Potato

9 months ago by ishbel

I've come to realise that regardless of where I live, whether it's New Zealand or Scotland, there are three ingredients that I'm seldom without. Lentils, potatoes and mushrooms are ingredients that I know I can reliably find in my kitchen (or easily purchase)....

Vegan Tomato Tart

1 year ago by ishbel

Whenever I can, I love to walk past our town's independent grocery store - to see what new produce they have on display out in front of the store. At the start of spring they began setting out boxes of tomatoes each week. The tomatoes are beautif...

How to make Cashew Cheese – Part 1

1 year ago by ishbel

When I first decided to go Whole Food Plant-based, I quickly learned that cheese was my Achilles heel. I used to make my own dairy-cheese, and found that I missed both the taste and texture. For a while, the cheese aisle continued to beckon (from time to t...

Fennel & Ruby Grapefruit Salad

1 year ago by ishbel

Some dishes aren't really recipes, just a selection of ingredients that go really well together without too much fuss. This selection is based on the classic orange and fennel combo, but I chose to use ruby grapefruit instead. The addition of toasted walnu...

Spiced Apple Muffins

1 year ago by ishbel

While we were running our own Bed & Breakfast service in Edinburgh I liked to offer freshly baked food to guests each morning. Offering muffins was an easy decision, because nearly everyone loves them and they're so quick to make; if guests said they'd lik...