Tuesday 9 September 2014

Flans and "quiches": retro food 80s style!


I sometimes fondly remember the days of my early adulthood in the 80s and those trendy vegetarian cafes like Cranks: those were the days of quiche and salads with iced Perrier and a carob flapjack for lunch, discussing our latest anti-Thatcher demo or hunt-sabbing exploits... before Subway, Starbucks and Greggs took over every high street in England every town seemed to have its little independent veggie cafe tucked away down a sidestreet where everything was served in earthenware bowls and the salad bar was bigger than the seating area. There would always be a large noticeboard with adverts for yoga classes and alternative gigs and a stack of fanzines, flyers and leaflets to peruse. Am I the only one who misses these places with their DIY-culture sincerity and their wholesome fare? One day recently I decided to revive the "quiche and salad" lunch idea, and was gratified that my family received it so well bearing in mind they do not necessarily share my predilection for small, old-fashioned wholefood cafes. Of course, my "quiche" does not contain any egg. I've included a vegan option in the following 3 recipes, made with tofu, which is actually my favourite.

All these recipes make 8 portions, in a 10"/ 25.5cm loose-bottomed flan dish.
Broccoli and cheese flan:
50% wholemeal shortcrust pastry, made with 175-200g butter and 300g flour
About a cupful (250ml) of gram flour (garbanzo/chickpea/ baisen) and cold water to mix
1/2 a head of broccoli (calabrese), cut into small florets
About a cupful sweetcorn 
3-4 tomatoes, sliced (or halved cherry tomatoes)
100g (or more if you like!) grated Cheddar cheese
A few black olives  
salt, black pepper, paprika, turmeric, hing, dried oregano
  • Roll out the pastry to about 5mm in thickness and press into the oiled flan dish. Blind-bake at 200C until just solidified.
  • Steam the broccoli until just tender.
  • Meanwhile, mix the gram flour with the water, salt, paprika, hing and a generous pinch of turmeric with a balloon whisk until it is smooth and not lumpy. Stir in the cheese, sweetcorn and broccoli.
  • Fill the pastry case with the mixture and top with the sliced tomatoes and the olives. Sprinkle the oregano and black pepper on the top.
  • Bake at 200C until the filling is set and the tomatoes tender
  • Serve with your favourite salads and oven-baked saute potatoes/ steamed new potatoes.
  • After you have offered it to Krishna, pour yourself a large Perrier or Shloer, and eat while listening to "Meat is Murder" by The Smiths for an authentic 80s experience!
Broccoli, cheese and sundried tomato "quiche"
Pastry as above
4oz grated cheddar cheese/ vegan "cheese"  (such as Scheeze or Cheezly) plus extra for topping
61/2tabs (30g) Orgran "No Egg"/ gram flour and soya flour
150-160ml milk/ soya milk 
A handful of broccoli florets, blanched
10 sundried tomato halves, soaked and coarsely chopped
A pinch each of salt, black pepper and turmeric

  • Spread the cheese onto the pastry case (which has been blind-baked, as before).
  • Add the sundried tomatoes and broccoli.
  • Beat together the rest of the ingredients and pour on top.
  • Sprinkle with the extra grated cheese
  • Bake for 30 mins at 180-190C.
  • This goes well with a good chutney and a green salad.
Tofu and roast vegetable "quiche" : vegan
Blind-baked pastry case, as above, but made with vegan unhydrogenated margarine (you can use oil, but it's harder to handle the pastry)
1x250g block of firm tofu
250-300g sweetcorn
a handful of roasted vegetables such as peppers, courgettes (zucchini) and aubergine 
200ml soya milk
2x tabs lemon juice
black pepper, hing, herbs
1 tab soy/tamari sauce/ liquid aminos
turmeric 
sunflower seeds and/ or pine nuts 

  • Line the pastry case with the roasted vegetables
  • Reserve a handful of sweetcorn and the seeds/ pine nuts and whizz everything else in a blender until quite smooth.
  • Add the rest of the sweetcorn to the blended filling.
  • Pour into the pastry case and top with the seeds and pine nuts
  • Bake for 20 mins at 200C (or 225C if you don't have a fan oven).


9 comments:

  1. Gosh, Sarojini, have been not keeping track of changes, so much new here - loving both the blog versions. All the best, can't wait to see your cookbook! :)

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  2. Thanks for the comment- so good you like what we've done :)

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  3. WOW! This is totally impressive! Thanks for posting some vegan quiches - I needed some pointers!!!

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  4. Yes I remember Cranks!!! you took me back!!! your quiches sound fabulous - I love the idea of vegan quiches:)

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  5. Thanks for posting recipes!! :) Namaste! :)

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  6. Hi!...i'm so glad to be here through another....Loving your recipes..will come back more often!!..I love the retro style and the quiches look delicious:)

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    1. Thanks! We don't often add stuff cos these recipes are from before we went vegan, but there are plenty to click through. Visit theyogivegans for more dairy free recipes.

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  7. This is so yummy and sounds interesting

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