Is shrove Tuesday one of the best days of the year (Yes, yes it is). We’ve been discussing in the office whether pancakes should be savoury or sweet. So, lay down your cards - what team are you on?

But what have pancakes got to do with Yoga? If you look deeper into the philosophical side of a Yoga practice you’ll discover the Yamas (moral discipline) and Niyamas (guidelines) - principles and guidelines which will aid you on your spiritual path.

Iyengar describes the Yamas and Niyamas as “golden keys to unlock the spiritual gates” as each action taken in accordance with these guidelines has the power to give your life a deeper meaning, and even if you’re not inherently spiritual taking these actions can make the world a better place.

The first Yama is Ahimsa, which can be translated as non-harming / non-violence. An easy way to incorporate this Yama into your wider life is by adopting a vegan diet (or by consciously eating less meat and animal products, if veganism is not for you).

So… back to pancakes! Good news, we’ve done the searching for you and found 2 completely different vegan recipes, one for savory lovers and one for those with a sweet tooth.

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Recipe & Image from: https://veganpunks.com/savoury-vegan-pancakes/

Best Vegan Savoury Pancakes

with Creamy Mushrooms

12 Servings

Ingredients

For the pancakes:

• 2 cup plain flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 2 tbsp baking powder

• 1.5 cup oat milk unsweetened

For the creamy mushrooms:

• 450 g chestnut mushrooms – sliced

• 2 cloves garlic – crushed

• 2 tbsp fresh chives – roughly chopped

• 2 tbsp vegan crème fraîche or cream

• 2 tbsp vegan butter

• Salt and pepper – to taste

Method:

1. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and then add the baking powder and salt.

2. Pour the milk and apple cider mixture into the large bowl and whisk by hand, or on a low setting with an electric mixer. The batter should be thick but not gloopy. Like a thick smoothie.

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high hob – if you're not using a non-stick pan, use a tiny bit of oil spray or vegan butter to stop the pancakes sticking.

4. Using a quarter cup measurer, pour in a quarter cup of the pancake mixture into the frying pan, and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

5. Small holes or bubbles should start to form on top of the pancake – this is usually a sign that it's ready to flip. Lift up a bit of the pancake using a spatula to see if it's ready - it should be a golden-brown colour.

6. Using a spatula, carefully flip the pancake and allow it to cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. Be careful it doesn't burn by keeping a close eye on it – the second side will brown a bit quicker! Repeat until all the mixture is used up. It should make 12 pancakes.

7. Time to make the creamy mushrooms. Add the vegan butter to a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. It should start to melt gradually.

8. Pop the garlic in and give it a stir.

9. After a minute add the mushrooms and give it a good stir

10. Let it cook for around five minutes and then add in the chives, vegan crème fraîche, salt, and pepper.

11. Cook for another few minutes and stir well. Make sure the crème fraîche is well mixed in. Serve the mushrooms on top of the pancakes with more chives and crème fraîche.

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Recipe from: https://tasty.co/recipe/the-fluffiest-vegan-pancakes

Best Vegan Fluffy & Sweet Pancakes

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour (125 g)

• 2 tablespoons caster sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup non-dairy milk (240 ml)

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

• Maple syrup and icing sugar, to serve

Method

1. In a medium bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and stir to combine.

2. In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, add almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla, and stir to combine

3. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and whisk until smooth.

4. Let batter rest for 5 minutes.

5. Pour about ½ cup (65 grams) of batter onto a nonstick pan or griddle over medium heat.

6. When the top begins to bubble, flip the pancake and cook until golden.

7. Serve warm with maple syrup and a dusting of icing sugar.

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Let us know how you get on… bonus points if you show your allegience to team savoury or team sweet.

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Latest blog posts

I always think that dips are a perfect choice for parties: they're relaxed and informal to eat; they're easy to scale up and make in large quantities; and they're served cold so you can just put them on the snack table and forget about them. Probably most importantly, they are very quick to make, which is a huge bonus for those of use who don't take huge pleasure in rolling tens and tens of individual filo pastry parcels!

Homous is a steadfast favourite of vegans and non-vegans alike so you will rarely get anyone complaining about the basic recipe, but this variation on the classic makes it a touch more special (not to mention beautiful to look at!) I always think that you can make quite a striking looking platter with dips as well, combined with a variety of colourful vegetable sticks, crackers, breads or crisps, depending on what you like to dunk in to them! I would thoroughly recommend using a blender for this too; even a high-end food processor won't be able to get the smooth, creamy consistency that you want for this dip. The one downside for this recipe is that it doesn't keep brilliantly, so you will want to make it the day before, or the day of, the event that you're serving it.

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Recipe
1 can (240g) cooked chickpeas
250g raw beetroot
75g tahini
50g extra virgin olive oil
50g water (from the chickpea can or fresh water)
Zest (1.25 tbsp) and juice (50ml) of 1 large lemon
2 large (13g) garlic cloves
1.5 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions
Scrub the beetroot (no need to peel) and chop in to slightly more manageable chunks for the blender.
Place in to the blender, along with all the other ingredients, and process until completely smooth. That's it!
Garnish with parsley, sesame seeds or anything else you feel like!

Fennel and Spiced Hazelnut Sesame Roasted Peppers with Pomegranate & Cinnamon Couscous

This recipe is made a lot easier by the use of a blender. You can do it the old fashioned way by bashing with a rolling pin but I’m not sure I’d recommend catching yourself in the mirror red-faced bashing away at nuts….

I know it looks like there is a lot to do but really it takes about 30 minutes to prepare. You can use just about any grain you like. Try Quinoa or rice or Bulgur or go raw and use minced cauliflower.

This will serve 2- 4 people (depending on how hungry you all are). Sam Dyer

Stuffed peppers 2 red peppers: halved with the green stalks still attached, deseeded and the pith removed (that’s the white, slightly furry bit!) 1 bulb of fennel A few Kalamata olives Olive oil Salt and pepper

Hazelnut & Sesame Spice Mix 1tsp Cumin seeds 1ts Coriander seeds 1tsp Sumac ½ tsp fennel seeds ¼ - ½ tsp chilli flakes (or whatever amount floats your boat) 50g roasted hazelnuts (preferably with the skins removed) 25g Sesame seeds

Couscous Salad 250g Couscous ( in the picture I have used a whole wheat large couscous just for the pure joy of seeing the little balls and because I live on the best street ever where I can get any ingredients going….. use whatever you can forage) 1 Pomegranate: deseeded 150g Mange toute: topped and tailed and cut into bite size pieces A handful of coriander, mint and parsley.

Cinnamon Dressing 3tsp of agave syrup or maple syrup or you can use good old white sugar but just reduce to 1 or 2 tsp as it’s more powerfully sweet. 1 tsp cinnamon powder Drizzle of olive oil Juice of half a lemon Salt to taste

Here’s the Method: Make the spice mix first by gently frying all the ingredients in a dry pan, making sure it doesn’t burn and waiting for the sesame seeds to start popping.

Remove from heat and blitz in the blender

Add salt to taste and divide between the peppers, putting the mix in the bottom of the peppers.

Next comes the pretty bit… Slice the fennel from top to bottom so you have 1cm (ish) slices of heart shaped fennel. Trim if necessary and place in the bottom of the halved peppers. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and roast in a medium oven until roast peppers are soft and sweet. Add a olive to each and voila…

While the peppers are in the oven prepare the couscous salad….

Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet or lose yourself in a google search on the ancient art of couscous preparation.

When the couscous is cooked, cool and then add the mangetout, pomegranate and chopped herbs

Make the dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together and then mix through the couscous. Add salt to taste.

Serve with leaves. It’s a great time of year for wild picking. Try some dandelion leaves in there or some edible flowers.

Eat….mmmmm!

We have a new addition to our Camyoga team! Sam is our new chef who is now taking care of Dandelion cafe by making sure we always have something tasty, healthy and freshly made in our kitchen. I sat down with her for a quick interview to give you a brief introduction to our fantastic new chef :).

Welcome to the Camyoga team Sam! We are all very excited about you joining us! Can you tell us few things about yourself? Hi, I’ve lived and worked in Cambridge for the past 25 years. My working life started out very differently to being a vegetarian/ vegan chef. In previous incarnations I have worked for the City Council as their Environment officer and as a Cooperative development officer helping to set up Cooperarive businesses in and around Cambridge. When I am not being a busy mum of an active 11 year old and cooking, I am involved in volunteer food projects such as migrant support and sit on the National board for Housing Cooperatives. And for fun? swimming, dancing, cooking and the odd game of pool!!

When did you decide to start working as a chef? I decided that I would follow my dream of cooking after a particularly grueling programming lecture while at ARU doing a Masters in Computer science. Twelve years ago I started my own business Mouth Music, a veggie / vegan catering business operating out of Arjuna Wholefoods. While there we catered a wide range of fun events from festivals to weddings, business lunches and provided Arjuna with their takeaway menu.

What is your favorite recipe? That’s so difficult. It changes with the seasons and the years. Some of my customers’ favorites over the years have been the Chestnut mushroom and almond wellington and the chocolate expresso cheesecake, both vegan and both delicious.

How did you find your way to Camyoga? I closed my business Mouth Music last year and have since been focussing on private orders while looking for the next challenge. I have, for a while, been cooking soups for Camyoga, so was in the right place at the right time when the position of Cafe Coordinator became vacant.

What is your vision for Dandelion Cafe? Are you planning to introduce new meals or promotions? This is my first week, so I’m spending my time observing how things work at the moment, but my head is already full of possibilities for Camyoga in Cambridge as well as for the new site in Shelford. I’d like to introduce more raw food to the menu, such as avocado and cocoa mousse. Other ideas include a delivery service where customers will be able to phone before 10 am and have delicious and healthy salads, juices and lunches delivered. Also, a once a month supper club with a film or talk would be fun.

This all sounds very exciting Sam, thank you for taking your time to answer the questions! We are looking forward to tasting all of your new recipes.