I am a huge fan of sourdough bread and rolls but sometimes you just want a super soft and pillowy bun and I have to admit, these vegan buns are absolutely delicious, soft and buttery with a lovely glazed top.
I made these yesterday, after seeing them on the rather awesome @chez.jorge on Instagram.

They didn't disappoint!!

I will be adding this recipe to my family favourites and making these to accompany our summer barbeques!

They were so delicious we ate them all with butter/vegan butter but they will be perfect with any veggie burger or filled with salad / avocado/ houmous/ sprouted seeds for a lovely lunch.

They are almost like a brioche but not so sweet,  and I imagine they would be great with jam and some whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar! Although I guess I would make them smaller for a sweet version.

This recipe makes 6 decent sized rolls, so without further rambling here is the brilliant recipe from George Lee, a 19 year old Taiwanese vegan chef @chez.jorge . He has 634K followers on Instagram, and his recipes are fantastic. He shares lots of wee videos too which are most entertaining, so he is well worth a follow!

He is also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chezjorge/

Vegan Milk Rolls

Ingredients

• 380g strong bread flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar (30g)
• 1/3 cup boiling water (80g)
• 200g warm organic soya milk
• 7g sachet instant yeast
• 60g vegan butter, at room temp

Glaze

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons organic soya milk

Method 

1. Heat the soya milk in the microwave for 20 to 30 s, until warm, around 40C. Add the dried yeast to the warm soya milk and allow to activate for 5 mins.
2. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt.
3. Slowly add the boiling water while stirring continuously.
4. Add the yeast/soya milk and start mixing by hand. The dough will feel relatively sticky but mix until it just comes together. You may need to add a touch more soya milk.
5. Add the vegan butter in small spoonfuls and start kneading until all the vegan spread is incorporated and you have a smooth ball of dough.
6. This will take around 10 minutes, its quite oily and difficult to work with at first but soon becomes easier as the butter is incorporated into the warm dough.
7. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to prove at room temperature until doubled in size. This can take between 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature.
8. Knock the dough back by punching it down to knock the air out.
9. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
10. To shape each roll, turn the dough over and fold each corner toward the middle to create a ball, then turn the dough over, cup your hand over it and move it in a circular motion to create a tight ball.
11. Place the shaped rolls on a lightly greased and floured baking tray, spacing them out evenly.
12. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave at room temperature for 35 to 45 minutes, until they are 1.5 times the original size.
13. Preheat the oven to 180C /350F 
14. Make the glaze by mixing together the maple syrup and soya milk in a wee dish.
15. Brush each roll with the glaze and bake for around 25 minutes, until nicely browned.
16. Cool for 10 minutes before scoffing!!

 

Another fabulous wild plant to bring to your attention!
Here is the well known Sticky Willy, Goose Grass or Cleavers!
I remember this plant from my childhood, it certainly suits its name, it sticks to everything!!
We used to have lots of fun sticking it to unsuspecting people!
So a few years ago I discovered that this is a medicinal plant with some rather awesome qualities!
I had lots of it in the garden and with my new attitude of using any wild plants, rather than seeing them as weeds, I googled it!
Who knew that this is a fabulous cleanser of the lymphatic system, it soothes irritated membranes of the urinary tract, it's a spring tonic, it can bring down fevers, good for swollen glands & tonsillitis and it treats burns!
I was most interested in the immune boosting effects! Consider it like a pipe cleaner clearing out the lymph vessels of any blockages/debris.
It also stimulates the flow & productivity of the lymph, which is an important part of the immune system.
Quite an impressive list of benefits for what most of us consider a weed!!
And all you need to do is fill a jug with freshly picked cleavers, fill it with water and leave it to infuse overnight, then drink it throughout the day. It tastes of cucumber & is really pleasant to drink!
You can fill it again, using the same cleavers, then just compost it and pick fresh.
You can also juice it and freeze it in ice cube trays to add to your green juices.
It is best picked before it flowers so now is the time to use it!
Initially I made the mistake of calling it Sticky Willy Water, so wasn't surprised when no one wanted to try it!!

I renamed it Cleavers Cleanse, which has a nice ring to it!

Here is a close up photo, but never ingest anything you are not 100% sure of. If in doubt, leave it out!

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So wild garlic season is in full flow and I have been making the most of it, pestos, pakora, soups, sourdough, kraut and this rather delicious leek and wild garlic kimchi!
Kimchi can be made with many veggies, traditionally it is napa cabbage and daikon radish, with lots of other flavouring ingredients including garlic, ginger and chilli. Traditional recipes include fish sauce or shrimp, some add rice flour and versions can range from hot to smoke coming out of your ears extremely hot!
Now I am a bit of a chilli wimp so never make my kimchi really hot and I also prefer to make mine vegan so no pungent fish sauce or baby fish for me.
Wild garlic, like all greens is extremely nutritious, packed with vitamins, minerals and polyphenols and it tastes really garlicky so its perfect for a kimchi!
I decided to add some leeks too, which are a fabulous prebiotic, and available in Scotland all year round.
So this kimchi is a fast ferment, ready in around 5 to 7 days, with a lovely flavour and pleasing texture.
You can make this as hot as you like by upping the amount of chilli powder you use.
I use Korean gochugaru chilli powder, which I buy online.
You can substitute chilli flakes and a tsp of paprika, but I'd use no more than 1 tablespoon, but I am a chilli wimp, so try it and adjust to your own taste preference.
So here is my simple recipe;

Ingredients
2 medium leeks, washed and finely sliced
A colander full of wild garlic, washed and sliced, around 200g
1 organic eating apple, grated
1 tablespoon of finely chopped or grated ginger
1 tsp himalyan fine salt or any natural salt
2 to 4 tablespoons gochugaru chilli powder

Method
Add the sliced leeks and sliced wild garlic leaves and stalks to a large bowl, add the salt and massage and squeeze the leaves until you have some brine.
Add the grated apple, ginger and chilli powder and mix well with your hands. If you don't have much brine then cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave for an hour or so. The salt will continue to draw out water from the cell walls. Try some of the mix and adjust the amount of chilli to your taste.
Pack tightly into a 500ml glass clip top jar, pressing down tightly to remove any air pockets. There should be enough brine to cover the kimchi.
Add a weight to hold all the veggies under the brine.
A small plastic ziplock bag scrunched on top works well or the bottom end of a butternut squash trimmed to fit the top of the jar, or a glass fermenting weight if you have one.
The idea is just to keep the kimchi submerged in the brine while it is actively fermenting, to create a safe and anaerobic environment for the beneficial bacteria to work their magic!
Then just close the lid, and put a bowl underneath the jar, and leave at room temperature for around 7 days.
Taste then if you are happy with the flavour, then transfer to the fridge, where it will continue to improve.
Your kimchi should have a wee sour tang, with a ginger zing and heat from the chilli, a touch of sweetness from the apple, and an underlying leek, garlicky flavour.
Magic happens when beneficial bacteria and yeasts get to work, creating amazing umami flavour, and that unique fermenty tang!
Kimchi will keep for months in the fridge, allowing you to enjoy it, well after wild garlic season has finished!

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 So wild garlic season is well and truly here and I have been using it in so many different ways! It is one of my favourite wild plants and grows in most woodlands and shady areas.
I have a forest of it literally across the road, and I also have a patch of wild garlic in my garden, which is spreading every year, so I have a constant supply during the growing season!

One of the ways I like to use wild garlic is in this delicious spicy green sauce, called Zhoug, which originates in the Far East and is made with varying degrees of spiciness!

I am a chilli wimp and literally can't handle hot spicy food so I like to make a tame version, but you can make this as hot and spicy as you like!

This is such an intense sauce, its a beautiful vibrant colour and will really tingle your taste buds! It's also extremely versatile and can be stirred into natural yoghurt, couscous or grain salad, soup, or mixed with coconut milk and served with oven roast veggies for a delicious spicy dinner!

Coriander, flat leaf parsley, mint and wild garlic can be used or a combination of them! I have made a wild garlic/coriander and a wild garlic/mint combo and both were delicious!

Coriander is a great detoxifier and remover of heavy metals from the body and mint is great for the digestion.
It goes without saying that all dark green leafy plants are highly nutritious and packed with vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, protein and a great source of prebiotic fibre for our gut microbes!

Using wild foraged greens is such a great way of adding diversity to our gut microbiome, and diversity equals resilience for our health so it makes sense to make use of natures bounty!

Always be sure of what you are picking, use a plant id app, to double check and if in doubt then leave it out!

Wild garlic is easy to identify, it smells intensely of garlic, so follow your nose! I posted a photo at the end of this post.

In the absence of wild garlic just use a combination of coriander/flat leaf parsley/mint and add a few cloves of garlic.

You can add as many chillies as you want but as I am a chilli wimp 2 standard green chillies is enough for me! you can leave the seeds in for extra heat! I have also made this with padron peppers which aren't spicy at all but the sauce was still delicious, so just use your discretion!

Cardamon, cumin, salt, black peppercorns, lemon and oil are the other ingredients you will need to make this delicious sauce.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of wild garlic leaves, about 2 packed cups full 
• 1 large bunch  of coriander, flat leaf parsley or mint
• 2 to 4 chillies, keep the seeds for extra heat, or remove them for a milder flavour
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon seasalt or Himalyan salt
• seeds of 4 or 5 cardamon pods
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2/3 cup of olive, rapeseed, or extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Crush the seeds and black peppercorns with the salt in a pestle and mortar.
2. Add the wild garlic and coriander or mint, to a food processor or blender with the oil, lemon juice and crushed spices.
3. Blitz into a vibrant green sauce.
4. Store in the fridge or freeze it in ice cube trays to add great flavour to soups, curries and dips.
5. This will keep for around 2 weeks in the fridge.