Full English vegan fry up

Recipe and photograph – Dr Joan Ransley

This fabulous vegan fry up is tasty and filling and contains a wealth of gut-friendly ingredients. Black beans are a great source of dietary fibre which helps to keep the gastrointestinal tract moving and also contain galacto-oligosaccharides, which act like a fertiliser in the gut and provide material for beneficial gut microorganisms to feast on. Ginger is a soothing spice and gentle on the gut.

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Place the peppers on a roasting tray and drizzle over a little of the olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes or until the skins begin to blister and turn brown. Remove from the oven.

To make the ketchup. Drizzle a little more of the olive oil in a pan, add the chopped shallot and sweat until soft. Add the grated ginger and tamarind paste to the pan and cook gently for 2 minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes and palm sugar. Simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce is thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the ketchup cooks make the avocado mash. Simply mix the mashed avocado with the black beans, lemon, garlic and cumin to form a rough paste.

Place the mushrooms in another pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Cook over a moderate heat for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Move the mushrooms to one side of the pan, add the spinach and cook until it wilts.

Serve the mushrooms, spinach, avocado and black bean mash with the tomato and tamarind ketchup. This would be lovely served with fresh toast.

Cooks tip
Palm sugar adds caramel flavour as well as sweetness to a dish. It is great for balancing the acidity of dishes containing tamarind, lemon or lime.

Variation
This dish would be great topped with a poached egg for vegetarians and a rasher or two of bacon for meat eaters.