Eat the rainbow! Plant-based recipes from Deliciously Ella

Three plant-based recipes from England's Ella Mills aka Deliciously Ella: Eat the rainbow, bake some falafels and save the chickpea water to make a gluten-free mango cake.

Rainbow salad

This rainbow salad is a great way to up your vegie intake. It's filled with edamame, roasted beets, corn, rainbow chard, spring onions and avocado, which are tossed with quinoa and a maple and apple cider dressing. It's simple and delicious. I love it with hummus, which makes each bite extra creamy.

INGREDIENTS

250g quinoa, rinsed

100g frozen edamame beans

125g kale

1 × 200g tin of sweetcorn, drained

olive oil

35g rainbow chard, roughly chopped including the stem(s)

2 spring onions, roughly chopped

1 avocado, cut into cubes (optional)

a handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)

salt and pepper

For the dressing

1½ tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tsp olive oil

3 tsp maple syrup

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 240C (fan 220C).

2. Place the quinoa in a pan with 500ml water, bring to the boil then let it simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes, adding the edamame for the last minute or two. Drain and leave to cool.

3. Meanwhile, strip the kale off its stalks and tear it into pieces (discard the stalks). Then place the kale and corn in a baking tray (keeping them separate if possible) with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the corn starts to char and the kale turns a little crispy.

4. While the vegetables are cooking, stir the dressing ingredients together.

5. Once everything is ready, place the sweetcorn, edamame beans, rainbow chard, quinoa and dressing in a large bowl and mix well. Finally, stir through the kale (do this last otherwise everything will turn pink!) and add the chunks of avocado and pomegranate seeds (if using) on the top just before serving.

Serves 4 as a side

Tip: This is a great salad to make if you are trying to avoid food waste. If you have any leftover vegetables you can throw them in. We've even used roasted chunks of broccoli stem in the past, which were delicious, as were chunks of beetroot.

Baked butter bean and cauliflower falafels

Cauliflower and butter beans bring a creaminess to whatever they're used in, which is exactly what they do here – they add softness to each bite. The cumin, chilli and garlic give these falafels a fantastic flavour.

INGREDIENTS

½ cauliflower (about 200g), cut into small florets

1 × 400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed

1 × 400g tin of chickpeas, drained* and rinsed

2 garlic cloves, roasted

1½ tbsp olive oil

1 small red chilli (deseeded if you like less spice)

30g ground almonds

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

3 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220C (fan 200C).

2. Place the cauliflower in a roasting tray and roast in the oven (without oil) for 8 minutes – it should still be crunchy at this point. Remove and leave to cool.

3. When the cauliflower is completely cool, place it in a food processor along with all the remaining ingredients. Pulse until the mixture comes together as a smooth paste. Once combined, place in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours to cool to ensure the mixture is thick enough to hold its shape.

4. Scoop balls of the mixture out of the food processor using an ice-cream scoop, smooth them a little by rolling them in your hands if you like, then place them on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Check they're cooked through by inserting a knife into the middle of one ball – if it comes out clean they're ready, if not bake for a little longer.

Makes 10

Tip: If you want to add extra flavour, add a handful of chopped parsley or some more spices to the falafel mixture – a sprinkling of paprika or cayenne pepper is delicious.

*reserve the chickpea water for the cake, recipe below

Gluten-free almond cake with mango icing

If you're looking for a summery cake this is the one. It's sweet and light and the yellow top looks gorgeous.

INGREDIENTS

300g ground almonds

240g buckwheat flour

3 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of sea salt

440ml maple syrup

100ml almond milk

*the water from 1 × 400g tin of chickpeas (not the chickpeas themselves)

For the mango icing

100g dried mango

800g pure coconut yoghurt

1½ tbsp maple syrup

12 slices of fresh mango, to decorate (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (fan 180C). Line two 23cm cake tins with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the ground almonds, buckwheat flour, bicarb and salt, stirring well to remove any lumps. Add the maple syrup, almond milk and chickpea water and mix again until it comes together to form a smooth batter.

3. Pour equal amounts of the batter into the tins and bake for 20 minutes, until well risen and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean – if it doesn't, place the tins back in the oven for 5 minutes. Once ready, remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in their tins until room temperature, around 30 minutes.

4. While the cakes cool, make the icing. Place the dried mango in a small bowl and cover with boiling water, then leave to soak for 10 minutes. Once soaked, place the mango pieces in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of their soaking water and pulse until smooth – it could take about 5 minutes.

5. Whisk the coconut yoghurt using an electric whisk – either a stand mixer or hand beaters– until it becomes really thick. It's important to mix the yoghurt on its own, before adding the maple and mango in the next step.

6. Once the yoghurt feels very thick and holds its shape, add the maple syrup and mango puree and continue whisking for a further minute. (If you don't have an electric whisk you can use a balloon whisk – just make sure you whisk long enough to get a good amount of air into the mix).

7. Once the cakes are cool, spoon half of the icing over one and sandwich with the other. Smooth the rest of the icing over the top. Arrange fresh pieces of mango on top to decorate (optional).

Serves 12

Tip: The leftover water from soaking the dried mango is absolutely delicious to enjoy on its own as a sweet mango juice.

Recipes extracted from Deliciously Ella The Plant-Based Cookbook by Ella Mills (Woodward), published by Hachette Australia RRP $32.99