The Mediterranean Vegan

Panellets are a Catalan sweet meaning "little bread." They start popping up in bakeries for All Saint's Day and continue to be eaten throughout the winter in Catalonia. Here is a vegan version for those of us who are tired of looking at them through the bakery window. Makes 15 panellets What you need: 1 sweet potato 1 cup sugar 1 cup ground almonds 1/2 lemon zest variations: candied (glacé) cherries espresso powder pine nuts coconut flakes Boil the sweet potato until very soft and drain in a colander. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potato until a creamy paste forms. Mix in the crushed almonds, sugar, and lemon zest until well incorporated. This is your base dough for the different variations of panellets. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees celsius (500 fahrenheit) and roll out foil onto a cookie sheet (or coat lightly with oil). For the cherry version: Roll dough into small balls and press onto cookie sheet. Press the middle of the balls lightly with your thumb to create sp...

This bittersweet spinach dish comes from Catalonia, the northeastern region of Spain. Serves 1-2 What you need: 300g Spinach (1 package) 1 head of garlic, diced 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup pine nuts 1 tbsp olive oil In a large pot, fill with water and bring to boil. While waiting for the water to boil, sauté garlic, 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of pine nuts in 1tbsp of olive oil until the raisins have puffed up a bit and the pine nuts are browned. When the water starts to boil, add the fresh spinach to the water until slightly wilted. Drain the spinach in a colander and run cold water over it. Press the spinach to drain all the water out and add to the pan with raisins,garlic, and pine nuts. Sauté until the spinach is hot and serve.