The health kick continues... or does it?

I'd like to think that the healthy start to the year is continuing but I'm probably kidding myself. However, I did cook an entirely vegan and gluten-free meal last night that, even if I do say so myself, was delicious.

It was nearly all thanks to recipes I'd cut out and kept from various Sainsbury's Magazines. In fact, I don't think any of the recipes were at all recent. However, I'm very glad I did keep them and they will definitely be stored very carefully for future use.

The three savoury dishes were all from a Christmas buffet menu from many years ago. So long in fact, that the recipes aren't featured on the magazine website. Not that the overall buffet was vegan but these three dishes all were: spiced red lentils; cumin-spiced aubergine; and beetroot and coriander salad with preserved lemons and coriander. They all contained lots of herbs and spices and were very tasty indeed. 

As a nod to the fact that it was Pancake Day, I also attempted a pancake of sorts. To be honest, I had low expectations, but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a version of Farinata - an Italian chickpea pancake - and very easy to make. Mix or whisk together 330ml warm water with 100g of sieved gram or chickpea flour and a scant teaspoon of sea salt, then mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Heat a further tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and pour in the mixture. Sprinkle a good tablespoon full of chopped fresh rosemary over the top. Cook over a medium-high heat until the bottom of the pancake is golden. Meanwhile, heat your grill to a medium-high heat. Transfer the pan with the pancake to the grill and leave until the top is golden and the middle cooked. Cut into four and serve with a savoury dish of your choice. It's good at mopping up any juices.

All very delicious, but the most surprising dish was yet to come - a dairy-free chocolate mousse. Some time ago I had read about chocolate mousse made from avocado but never actually got around to trying it before last night. This is another recipe I will definitely be making again.

Actually, my nephew argues that it's not a mousse as a mousse should be light and fluffy and this is not. If I call it a chocolate 'pot' he is much happier. If you are brave enough to try it yourself, you can call it whatever you like. However, I do urge you to be brave!

You do need a food processor for this, or some kind of blender. I would say the hardest bit of making this dish is either removing the stones from the avocados or washing up the food processor once you are done so, even if you are the most incompetent of cooks, you can't use that as an excuse not to make it!

Take two ripe avocados, one large ripe banana, 40g cocoa powder, and 4 tablespoons of maple syrup or other type of plant syrup. Whizz together in the aforementioned food processor until smooth and spoon into 4 x 125ml ramekin dishes or small glasses. Chill.

The result is a smooth, rich, yet fresh tasting chocolate mousse - sorry 'pot'. Younger diners may prefer the other version of a simple chocolate mousse I featured last year but I think more sophisticated palates will love this (assuming they like rich chocolate desserts). I even felt rather virtuous eating it, although that may well be somewhat misguided!