Cookery Feature- The Happy Pear at 20!

A much loved fixture in Greystones for as long as many of its customers can remember, The Happy Pear recently marked two decades of “flavourful food, cheerful community and happy, healthy living – all powered by veg”. It all started with a small greengrocers shop and ‘The Happy Pear Twins’ David and Stephen Flynn still have the original shop, to which they soon added a café and bakery, their own regenerative organic farm, a coffee roastery, a range of over 80 plant based products, plus cookbooks, online courses and a community of almost 2 million followers. Their mission has always been ‘to help people eat more veg, to get healthier and be happier’ and they’re famous for their ardent - and sometimes controversial - advocacy of veganism, but their food philosophy has moderated somewhat since they’ve had children and they don’t force them to eat an exclusively vegan diet. 'Eat more veg and keep well away from UPF's (ultra processed foods)' is the key message, and their commitment to the environment and sustainable food production is seen in practice at their farm. Celebrating two decades of the Happy Pear, this latest book includes many tried and tested recipes from the café, Flynn family favourites and top 20 lists highlighting stories and lessons from along the way – who could resist the likes of ‘20 ways to eat more veg (and to get your kids to eat more veg!)’, ‘20 ways to pick yourself up when feeling down’ or ‘20 things we've learned after 20 years’ ..?

The Happy Pear 20 by David and Stephen Flynn, with photographs by Joanne Murphy. Hardback €24.99/£23.99 (ISBN 9781804581032)

And you don’t have to be vegan to love these tasty and very versatile recipes – here are just three to try:

Easy 10-Minute Indian Dhal recipe 
We have cooked this dish hundreds of times, and it is always well received. It's richly flavoured and deeply nourishing and ready in just 10 minutes. Here, we serve it with toasted wholemeal pitta bread, but it's also perfect with wholemeal couscous, for example, or a pack of pre-cooked brown rice.
Serves 2 on its own, or 4 with an accompanying grain

Ingredients
3 cloves of garlic
thumb-sized piece of ginger
bunch of scallions
1 × 400g tin of chickpeas
1 × 400g tin of lentils
10 cherry tomatoes
3 wholemeal pitta breads
1 tbsp oil
1 handful of baby spinach
1 × 400g tin of coconut milk
1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
To serve
1 lime
1 fresh red chilli (optional)
small bunch of fresh coriander or other fresh herb of choice

Method
Preparation: Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger. Finely chop the scallions, removing any limp outer leaves. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and lentils. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
Toast the pittas: Put the pitta breads in the toaster at max heat.
Cook the dhal: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 minute in a large saucepan over a high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and scallions and cook for 1 minute. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients: Add the chickpeas, lentils, baby
spinach, coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, curry powder, tamari or
soy sauce and salt and black pepper. Stir well and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat.
Garnish and serve: Finely chop the fresh coriander (including the stalks). Squeeze the juice of the lime over the dhal and add the coriander. Stir to combine. If desired, finely slice the chilli and sprinkle on top for added heat. Cut the toasted pitta breads into soldiers (strips) and serve them on the side of your easy dhal. Enjoy!

Easy Sesame and Coriander Flatbreads recipe 
These are surprisingly simple to make, and you can adapt this
basic recipe to virtually any flavour you like. Here we've gone
with sesame and coriander, but you could leave those out to
make plain flatbreads. Makes 4

Ingredients
200g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
150ml natural soy yoghurt or coconut yoghurt
flour for dusting
3 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp oil, plus extra for brushing
10g fresh coriander
salt

Method
Make the dough: In a mixing bowl, add the flour and a teaspoon of salt and stir together. Add the yoghurt and mix well until it's uniform in consistency. In the bowl, knead the mixture for 5 minutes till you get a soft dough.
Divide and roll out: Cut your dough into 4 equal pieces. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out each piece of dough to about ½cm thick.
Cook: Put a large pan on a high heat. Once it's hot, reduce the heat to medium. Add a sprinkle of sesame seeds and 1 tablespoon of oil (use sesame oil if you want to increase the sesame flavour) then one of the rolled-out flatbreads. Cook till it starts to turn golden underneath, it may also start to form air pockets. Turn and cook on the other side till golden too. Repeat with the remaining flatbreads.
Serve: Brush with a little oil, then sprinkle with some freshly chopped
coriander and coarse sea salt for one of our favourite types of flatbreads!

The Creamiest Hummus Ever! recipe 
We make literally tons of hummus every week in our factory in Pearville! Over the years, we have explored every trick and hack in search of the perfect hummus. Here are three simple tips to take your hummus to the next level:
1. Boil your tinned chickpeas with baking soda for a few minutes, then remove the skins – this makes the hummus creamier.
2. Use ice instead of water – it will help make the hummus lighter and fluffier.
3. Blend for longer – our friend from the Middle East blends his hummus for 30 minutes in his food processor!

Makes about 800g

Ingredients
2 × 400g tins of cooked chickpeas
½ tsp baking soda
2-3 cloves of garlic, depending on your preference
4 tbsp lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
4 tbsp tahini
3-4 ice cubes
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to garnish
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of sumac or sweet paprika, to garnish
1 tbsp sesame seeds, to garnish

Method
Prepare the chickpeas: Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to a pot. Add the baking soda, cover the chickpeas with just-boiled water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the chickpea skins: Drain and rinse the cooked chickpeas. Set a small handful aside for garnish (if you'd like), then soak the rest in a large bowl filled with cold water. Try to get rid of the chickpea skins that came loose during the cooking by rubbing them together, or use a small sieve to help with this. Discard the skins.
Blend: Peel the garlic cloves. Add all ingredients for the hummus, except the sumac or sweet paprika and the sesame seeds, to a food processor and blend till super smooth – we recommend blending for 2–5 minutes, depending on your patience! Taste and adjust the seasoning to your palate. If it's too strong or too thick, add a little water to thin it out.
Serve: Serve with a glug of olive oil and a pinch of sumac or sweet paprika and a light dusting of sesame seeds.