Red pepper and spinach risotto, greek inspired beans

Interesting mix of veg in the fridge, but nothing new purchased and this was delicious.

Risotto

olive oil
chopped onion
chopped red pepper
rice
white wine
crushed garlic
vegetable stock
paella seasoning
splash of chili sauce
big pile of spinach, chopped

Beans

Olive oil
Cannelini beans (would have been butter beans if I had any)
2 bay leaves
crushed garlic
tin of tomatoes
mixed herbs
plenty of black pepper

1. Sautee 2 lots of chopped onion in olive oil - 1 for the risotto, one for the beans.
2.  When a little soft add chopped pepper to the risotto base, and tinned (drained) beans to the bean mixture.
3.  Stir around - add rice to the risotto and stir until all grains are covered in a film of oil.  Add a glass of white wine and simmer.  Then add spice mix (paella/pimento and turmeric), herbs and crushed garlic.  Keep adding stock and stirring as rice cooks (about 25 minutes depending on rice).
4.  After starting 2 add 2 bay leaves, a tin of tomatoes and a half cup of water to the beans (chop tomatoes if they are not chopped).  Simmer.  Add water if its getting dry, but let the beans get nice and soft, season when serving.  (Don't add salt too soon, it will make the bean skins tough).
5.  When ricey mixture is nearly done add chopped spinach, put lid on and leave for 5 minutes (turn off heat).  Stir it in to become properly wilted, but not lose its colour.
6.  Season, scoff (with cheese if you fancy).

Potato, tomato and onion bake with steamed veg and a red wine mushroom gravy

Combination of the need for comfort food, lots of lovely stuff in the veg box and an autumnal evening and this found its way onto the table.

Potato, tomato and onion bake

Olive oil
8-10 biggish new potatoes
3 tomatoes
1 onion
Vegetable stock
Clove garlic, crushed
Small handful of grated parmesan
(Chopped fennel tops)

Steamed vegetables - in this case purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, green beans

Red wine mushroom gravy

Olive oil
Chopped onion
mushrooms
red wine crushed garlic
knob of butter

1.  Slice potatoes, onion and tomatoes thinly.  Layer into a casserole, seasoning in between layers.  Pour on veg stock (with or without wine).  Cover in foil and bake in the oven (180C) for about an hour.
2.  Meanwhile, start the gravy - sweat onions in olive oil, when softenned add garlic, herbs, tomato paste if you want, wine, water and seasoning to taste.
3.  Check on potatoes - if they are getting towards cooked (ie.  sharp knife is offered little resistance) sprinkle on grated parmesan (or not if vegan) and stick back in the oven for 20 minutes.
4.  Prepare veg and chop into approximately even sizes and steam for about 12-15 minutes.
5.  Just before serving whisk knob of butter into gravy (leave out if vegan, obv!) - this will make it shiny and unctious.  Drip unattractively into gravy jug (oh, no, that was just me)
6.  Scoff.
7.  Have seconds.
8.  Try to resist thirds.  Fail.

Yummy.

Smoked mackerel fishcakes, golden beets, green beans and leeks'n'stuff

This, sadly, is a REALLY bad picture.  I am sure there's something wrong with that camera.  However, I include it as the beets were truly delicious - kind of sweet and nutty at the same time, and a beautiful texture.

 

So...

 

olive oil

4 baking potatoes

2 smoked haddock

Tarragon

6 golden beets

balsamic vinegar

8 cloves garlic - whole

leek

Courgette

white wine

green beans

egg

corn thins

1.  Wash and prick potatoes - bake at 180C for about an hour and a half.

2.  Top and tail beets to remove furry roots - bake, in skins with drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Chuck whole cloves of garlic in and seal with foil.  Bake for about an hour and a half.

After about an hour....

3.  Chop leeks and courgette, fry gently in olive oil, add splash of white wine and simmer until softish (15 mins tops)

4.  Steam green beans.

5.  Get potatoes and beets out of the oven - when they are cool enough to handle, skin them.

6.  Mash the potatoes, add flaked mackerel and chopped tarragon.

7.  Whisk egg, whizz corn thins into "not breadcrumbs" ie. gluten free

8.  Shape fishcakes, dip in egg then "not breadcrumbs" - then fry on each side for about 4 minutes.

Yum!  Enough for dinner, lunch and an extra lunch.  The garlic is sweet and tender, don't just leave it in the pan, squish it onto the fishcakes/beets.

Caribean vegetable stew, with rice and peas

Veg box had squash, pepper and beans, and I fancied something a bit spicy, so came up with this.

Olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 squash
Handful green beans
1 red pepper
Tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp peanut gravy mix
Cajun seasoning

Big handful of brown rice
Tin kidney beans

Peanuts

Lettuce
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

1.  Put rice in vast iron pot, add drained kidney beans.  Add water to 2 inches above rice and beans.  Stir.  Bring to the boil, cover,  then transfer to an over at 150C.
2.  Sautee onion and garlic until a little softenned.  Then add prepared veggies.  Cook for a few minutes, letting them soften.
3.  Add tin of tomatoes, a tinful of water and the Cajun seasoning and peanut mix.  Simmer away until rice is done - about 30 minutes.
4.  Dry fry peanuts - smash up a bit in a pestle and mortar.
5.  Toss lettuce in a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic.

Scoff.  Delish.

Buy nothing September has not worked out quite so well, and I haven't written everything down - but I am avoiding big food shops.

Gluten free breakfast pancakes with apple and cranberry sauce

Truly rubbish pic, dunno what was wrong with the camera.  These were birthday breakfast pancakes for someone who is giving gluten free a go, to see if it helps with general aches and pains.

Olive oil (for frying, could be any vegetable oil)
Butter
Gluten free flour (Self Raising Doves in this instance)
Soya milk
Egg
Natural yogurt
Pinch of salt

Apple sauce

3 cooking apples
handful dried cranberries
sugar

1.  Put flour into bowl and crack in egg.  Stir in to start the process.
2.  Add pinch of salt and about a cup of soya milk.  Whisk.
3.  Add about 3 tbsp natural yogurt and whisk until flour has been incorporated, and the mixture is smooth.
4.  The texture should be of very lightly whipped double cream - if too thick add some milk, if too liquidy add some flour (easier to add a little mixture to some new flour, mix, then mix this in to the big batch - fewer lumps).
5.  Heat oil and butter in frying pan until just smoking.  Fry pancakes in batches - about 6ish cm across.  You know one side is done when you start getting tiny bubbles at the outer edges creeping in about 1 cm.  Flip and fry on the other side.
6.  Meanwhile peel and chop apples, put in a pan with sugar (to taste) and cranberries.  Add a tbsp water and cover with a cartouche (greaseproof paper scrunched up and wet and plonked over the fruit to seal in moisture).  Stew gently until pancakes are done.

Scoff, with or without maple syrup, sing happy birthday (badly).

Lentil & chard, with squash and tomato risotto

This was DELICIOUS! It is vegan and gluten free.  It took about 40 minutes, but a nice gentle 40 minutes.. once the initial chopping is done, it is all lid on and steam for a bit, and add water to stop it drying out.

So, start with the chard:-

1 onion

Huge armful of chard, preferably free from Mum's garden

Garlic

Olive oil

Wite wine

Puy lentils

Spinach

Fennel fronds

1.  Chop an onion finely and sautee in olive oil for about 4 minutes on a medium heat, add in chopped chard stalks and a clove of crushed garlic.
2.  Add half a glass of white wine (or not, .. water is fine).

3.  Steam/fry until softish for about 8 minutes. Add in chopped spinach stalks.  Cook again for about 2 minutes.

4.  What stalky bits are quite tender add chopped leaves - both spinach and chard.  Add some more water, stir and allow to wilt for 4 ish minutes.  Add chopped fennel at the end.

5.  Meanwhile, boil put lentils in plenty of water for about 25 minutes, until soft.

6.  Drain lentils, mix into mixture, season.  

If you've managed to finish before the risotto is ready, just reheat or eat warm.  

Squash and tomato risotto

Olive oil

1 onion

1 patti pan squash

Garlic

Risotto rice

Paella spice mix (or paprika, saffron and herbs)

6 tomatoes

1 stock cube

White wine

1.  Soften chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  Add chopped squash to softened onion, turn it over a couple of times and add rice and garlic.  Turn  rice over under all grains have a film of oil over them.

3.  Add a glass of white wine.

4.  Stir, add water/stock a bit at a time as it simmers and plops away, stirring now and again.

5.  Grate tomatoes and add pulp.  Gently keep simmering.

6.  It'll probably take about 20 minutes.

As previously stated, utterly delicious.  Gluten free and vegan.  Cheese could have been added to the risotto, but it really doesn't need it.

Oh yes - and £3 - dog food.  Total breach:  £20.59

£2.28

No spend September isn't so easy if your mate has no money either - a tea and soya milk for me, a coke for her - a full £2.28 breach.  I couldn't refuse, as she's a mate who has recently stopped smoking, so anything to keep the peace!  Accumulated total so far:  £9.82.

5th September:  another breach! bread and wine - oops! - and milk, which is allowed, so £7.77 breach:  .£17.59

No spend September

A challenge to stop impulse spending on nothing... spend nothing is September.  There are 3 exceptions:-  petrol, milk and presents (of the birthday, christenning variety NOT the a present to me because it's Tuesday variety).  There are also 2 other things allowed - the regular veg box and loaf, and my season ticket is paid for.

This is the first breach - and it's only the 2nd - but caused by a headache driving up the A1 on a warm afternoon, and needing to stay awake.  £4.54.

3rd September:  it's not cheating if someone else pays... So take-away curry tonight.  £3 on the lads up the road for washing the van.  There was petrol, but that's on the allowable list.  Total breaches so far £7.54.

Mum's garden dinner and pasta

A visit to the folks this weekend and presented with a bumper crop of rainbow chard, patti pan squash and tomatoes.  So - pasta with 2 sauces:- Greek inspired chard, mediterranean squash and tomato casserole.

Greek inspired chard

4 leeks
1 tbsp olive oil
Enormous haul of chard
2 cloves garlic
1 glass dry white wine
small handful black olive
mint, rosemary and thyme
salt and pepper
feta - crumbled over

1.  Clean and chop leeks, saute in olive oil.
2.  Wash chard well, strip leaves from stalks.  Cut stalks into 1 cm pieces, add to leeks.  Saute for a while.  When a bit soft add crushed garlic and white wine.  Put lid on pan and allow to soften for a bit.
3.  After about 10 mins add chopped leaves and stir around.
4.  Add chopped olives and perhaps more water if its dry.  Cover and simmer until soft.
5.  Before serving crumble feta over and season with salt and black pepper.

Mediterranean squash and tomato casserole

1 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large(ish) patti pan squash
1 courgette
1 yellow pepper
lots of small (or is large chopped) tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
pich chili flakes
1 glass white wine
chives, parsley

1.  Sautee chopped red onion in olive oil.  Add diced squash.
2.  Chop and add courgette and pepper and wine.
3.  Simmer until softenning slightly, add tomatoes and crushed garlic, stir and cover.
4.  Simmer until soft, add chili flakes, cover and heat through.
5.  Before serving mix in chopped chives and parsley.

Pasta:  cook according to packet instructions, drain, toss in olive oil to stop it sticking.

Scoff - surprising chard "hating" people - because they ALL finished their plates.