Leek, fennel and smoked mackerel spaghetti

Interesting veg box experience today.  No onion, no potato - and with smoked mackerel to use up.

So, I came up with this, which also had the advantage of being quite quick ... which was useful, as the van has to go to the garage tomorrow, so I had to empty it ... it's amazing how much you can cram into a small camper van!

So, put the water on for the pasta (gluten free spaghetti in our case), then start the sauce,  when the water is boiling, and the leek and fennel have started softening ... all done inside 20 minutes.

Olive oil
1 leek, chopped into rings
1 bulb of fennel, finely chopped
1 glass of dry white wine
smoked mackerel, flaked
1 big tbsp capers in salt, rinsed and roughly chopped
black pepper

Spaghetti - or other pasta

1.  Sautee leek in olive oil for a few minutes (as previously suggested, get your pasta water on first, for the speediest serve), until the crunch lightens.
2.  Add chopped fennel, and continue to sautee.  The two vegetables will soften and go a bit translucent - now chuck in the white wine and simmer - gently - for a few minutes.
3.  Chuck in flaked fish and roughly chopped capers.
4.  When the pasta is done, drain.
5.  Drain pasta.
6.  Toss sauce into pasta, serve and grind on black pepper.  ( a glug of olive oil if it looks a little dry)

Could have added lemon - but the wine was dry, so no real need.  Could have added a spoonful of creme fraiche for silkiness - but trying to keep it lactose free.

Root vegetable nut crumble, with cabbage and peas

Recipe an adaptation of Leith's vegetable bible (or something similar).  Lovely, though, I think addition of a good tomato sauce would make it excellent.

Start the veg on the hob, but put the oven on to 180 after 5-10 minutes

So....

Olive oil
Onion, chopped
Celery, chopped
Celeriac, chopped into 1cm cubed (ish)
Turnip .. chopped into 1cm cubed (ish)
Potato - chopped into 1cm cubed (ish)
Mustard - 2 tsp
Garlic - 3 cloves, crushed
Apple juice (3/4 pint)
Veg stock, about a pint

Crumble topping

Oats
Pasrmesan
mixed nuts (hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts... today)
seeds
seasoning
paprika
olive oil

Serve with:-

Savoy cabbage
Frozen petit pois

1. Sautee onion and celery in olive oil, until a bit soft.
2.  Add chopped root vegetables, and turn over in the oil for a few minutes.
3.  Add apple juice and stock, garlic and mustard .... simmer.

Make crumble:-

Zizz parmesan, nuts and seasoning.
Mix into a bowl of oats, with a little GF flour
Glug in olive oil (about 5 tbsp), and seeds
Mix .... all oats should have a film of oil on them

Tip veg into oven proof dish.
Top with crumble.
Bake for 30 minutes

Steam cabbage, in last 5 minutes chuck frozen peas into water under cabbage steamer.

Simple, wholesome, bloody delicious - loads left for seconds .

we' re thinking about tangy tomato or rich mushroom sauce :)

Slashed root vegetables, butter beans and cabbage with roast tomatoes

Got home late, and wanted speedy dinner, nut veg in veg box didn't really lend themselves to that kind of concept ... as my immediate idea was spiced roast root vegetables, and that would have been over a hour.  I think I did this in 25 minutes, but frankly, I didn't time it.

1. Bung cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt,  whack up the oven to its highest setting.
2.  Peel and chop root vegetables (turnip, kohlrabi and carrots), boil.
3.  Chop and sautee onion and celery in olive oil, add rosemary and white wine, sautee until quite soft.
4.  Chop cabbage, steam over root veg.
5.  Add butter beans to onions, heat through.
6.  When root veg are soft, add olive oil spread and lots, no a bit more, lots of freshly ground black pepper.  Slice through quickly and thoroughly with a sharp knife (hence slashed, not mashed).  (Use butter here if you are not lactose intolerant/vegan).
7.  Mix cabbage with butter beans.
8.  Serve, scoff.

Delicious. Nutritious, Seasonal - what more do you want?

So, these are vegetables... and a happy new dinner

Get home late - open fridge - make dinner.  OK.  So, no veg box yet - and no onions ... ???

Lots of garlic though, and some green beans, and some mushrooms .... ideas began to form, and door to table - just under an hour, including proper crispy crust on potatoes.... yum

Olive oil
Potatoes, sliced
Celery, chopped
Green beans, chopped
Garlic
Mushrooms (button and chestnut)
White wine
Stock (cube in water)
Frozen peas
Little gem lettuce, cut into wedges

1.  Turn oven up to full whack.
2.  Slice potatoes into 1/2 cm slices and arrange in microwavable/ovenproof dish, with olive oil splished into the bottom.  Drizzle a little more over the potatoes.  Nuke for about 8 minutes - until the potato slices are nearly cooked.
3.  Meanwhile ... chop celery and green beans, and simmer gently in white wine and stock, with a clove of crushed garlic.
4.  Transfer potatoes to hot oven, to cook fully, and crisp up the tops.
5.  Chop mushrooms, cook gently in olive oil, over a low heat in a saucepan until they have released their liquid and concentrated down again.  Season with black pepper.
6.   Let everything tick over for 20 minutes or so ... making sure that nothing gets too dry.  If the mushrooms are all done - transfer to an oven dish and put in under the potatoes.
7.  Add frozen peas and lettuce to the green veg, allow to cook to 5 minutes.

Serve, scoff.... squeeze on lemon juice if you like it.  Honestly, this was brilliant.

Leek and potato gratin

We arrived at our home from home for a few days - not late, but quite tired - and there was an Aga... yay!  There was also quite a lot of house to explore, and a fire to light and curl up in front of ... so, a nice comforting bowl of yumminess...

Olive oil
2 big leeks
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Fennel seeds
Green beans
Potatoes
Dry white wine
Cheese, grated
Sliced tomatoes
Soya milk
Corn flour
Seasoning

1.  Chop and wash the leeks, sautee in olive oil, add fennel seeds and crushed garlic.
2.  Chop and boil the potatoes, steam chopped green beans on top of potatoes.
3.  When leeks are nearly soft add dry white wine, simmer for a few minutes.
4.  Drain potatoes.
5.  Make a sauce of leeks by adding soya milk, a fork full of cornflour slaked in water, and grated cheese.  Simmer for a few minutes, stirring while it thickens.
6.  Mix potatoes and leek sauce mixture in ovenproof dish.
7.  Top with sliced tomatoes, and grated cheese.
8.  Bake in lower part of hot Aga oven for 30 minutes.

Explore holiday home....

Scoff.  Have seconds.  And another glass of wine.  And ...... relax!

Caribbean roast vegetable and chickpea soup

Yesterday, a lovely wedding - this meant a night in a hotel - therefore, the compulsory full english breakfast (I'm not going to name and shame - it wasn't brilliant) - leaves you quite full, or at least wanting something tasty and nutritious and not swimming in grease.  I looked in the fridage and found the remains of the veg box (nearly) were sweet potato, butternut squash, red pepper and pak choi.  Add a tin of chickpeas, tin of tomatoes and some yogurt and tadah!


Olive oil
Sweet potato, peeled and chopped into biggish bits
Red pepper, chopped and deseeded
Butternut squash, peeled and prepared
blackenned cajun seasoning
garlic, lots of it, crushed and the tough peel removed (papery bits can be left)
Stock
tin of tomatoes
tin of chickpeas, drained

lemon, zest and juice
salt
natural yogurt

pakchoi
olive oil

1.  Roast prepared vegetables and garlic in olive oil, whit a good sprinkling of cajun seasonning - in a hot oven, until soft and slightly singed.
2.  Meanwhile gently soften a chopped onion in olive oil.
3.  Add roast vegetables and garlic to onion, add a pint or so of stock.
4.  Bring up to simmer.  Add 1/2 tin drained and rinsed chickpeas and a tin of tomatoes.  Heat through.
5. Zizz to a smoot soup - add more stock/water to taste.
6.  Tip in the remaining chickpeas, and heat through.
7.  Just before serving squeeze in lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

Top with yogurt, which has a big pinch of salt, the zest of the lemon, and the other half of the lemon's juice mixed in.

Top that with shredded and fried in olive oil, pak choi.

FAB-U-LOUS!

Autumnal "spanish" omelette, with roasted vine tomatoes

Start with the tomatoes ... put them in the oven in an oven dish with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Omelette

1 leek, chopped and washed
Mushrooms, chopped
8 medium potatoes
cavolo nero, shredded
broccoli, florets separated and stalk peeled and chopped
8-10 eggs, whisked

1.  Soften leek in olive oil, then add mushroom pieces, fry gently in a big frying pan, which you can put in the oven.
2.  At the same time boil chopped potatoes, and steam cavolo nero and broccoli.
3.  When the potatoes are done, and the greens are soft - add them all to the frying pan, and mix together.
4.  Add the eggs, shake the pan to even out and cook in a medium oven for about 20-30 minutes.

This was a fabulous use of the end of the veg box.  Filling, delicious and quite easy. "First class is too trite" was my provided quote.

Sprouts are not just for Christmas

Brown rice risotto - with leeks, mushrooms and broccoli - with brussels sprouts and hazelnuts

It all sounds very worthy - but bloody hell, it tasted fabulous.

Brown rice leek and mushroom
risotto

olive oil
leeks, washed and chopped
brown rice
mushrooms, chopped
vegetable stock
garlic
broccoli
fried onions

Brussel sprouts and hazelnuts

Butter
Sprouts shredded
hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1.  Sautee leeks in olive oil, until soft.
2. Add rice (I used brown rice, which means about twice the time of white rice) and some stock, simmer.
3. Add chopped mushrooms and garlic, simmer - keep on a medium heat.
4.  Keep an eye on the pan, add some water/stock when it is going dry.
5.  After about 20 minutes, add broccoli florets to steam on the top.

Brussel sprouts

1,  In a frying pan - melt a good know of butter, with a tbsp of olive oil
2.  Add shredded brussel sprouts, toss for a minute of two.
3. Add chopped hazelnuts.
4. Toss mixture together - don't burn it - but dont serve it cold :)

Cajun cod, tiny roasties ... spring greens and peas

Fish and chips are a bit of a Friday night tradition ... but a twist is always welcome.

To be honest, it's not much of a twist - f&c is a classic because it's delicious.

The twist was i) greens with peas - has been lettuce before but today we had spring greens - and the combination is GOOD and ii) polenta and cajun blacknned seasoning on the cod pieces.

Start with the potatoes - boil, drain and roast in olive oil.

After about 45 minutes start on the rest ....

Toss fish pieces in polenta a spice mixed together - fry for a couple of minutes on each side.

Steam green and frozen peas.

Serve, scoff, have seconds.

Spinach omelette (with roast tomatoes and potatoes)

The main part of this dinner took about 10 minutes - it was the mini roasties and roast tomatoes which took the other hour.  So, I put this firmly in fast food - buy chips/ bake oven chips / .... heat tinned tomatoes/ fry fresh tomatoes... to get a quicker version of basically the same thing.

The omelette is...

olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
garlic, crushed
spinach leaves, shredded
eggs (4), whipped

so ... boil - roast bits of potatoes (or buy chips from the chippy ... yum) .. roast tomatoes ... or use conveniently packaged tomato ketchup .. to serve along side the omelette

The omelette

1. sweat down chopped onion in olive oil - for about 5 minutes
2.  add crushed garlic and shredded spinach, keep moving around the pan until spinach has wilted.
3.  Beat eggs, add to hot pan.
4.  Swirl egg mixture in pan, pull cooked edges in and swirl uncooked egg into the spaces - stick in the oven for a couple of minutes if the top still looks uncooked ..

Serve - with salty cheese (feta and chvre - cos we had them) and other stuff.

My camera is doing odd things, but my taste buds are not - this was really tasty.

layered potato, tomato and cheese with vegetable ragu

Olive oil
Potato
Onion
Cheese (edam in this case)
Tomato
Garlic
Vegetable stock

Red onion
Olive oil
Mixed herbs
Mushrooms
Courgette
Yellow pepper
Spring greens
Baby kale
garlic

1.  In an oven proof dish, splosh of olive oil.
2.  Layer thinly sliced potato, onion, tomato and cheese.  Season every layer of potato.  End with layer of potato.
3.  Pour in a pint of stock, with crushed garlic.
4.  Drizzle with olive oil.
5.  Bake for about 1 and a half hours, until potato is soft, and top is golden brown.

After 5 above, start the rage.

1. Sweat chopped veg in olive oil, with the herbs.  (onion, mushrooms and courgette)
2.  Add a little water or stock, and simmer.
3.  Cook until soft.
4.  Add shredded greens and cook until soft (about 4 minutes)

Serve, scoff.... have seconds, smile.

Fennel, red pepper and lemon risotto

Olive oil
Onion
Celery
Fennel
Red pepper
Garlic
Arborrio rice
White wine
Stock
Parmesan
Frozen peas

1.  Sautee chopped celery and onion in olive oil.
2.  When a little soft, add the chopped fennel and red pepper.
3.  Add rice and stir until each grain is covered in a film of oil.
4.  Add garlic, white wine and stock gradually, stirring frequently.
5.  Keep adding stock, seasoning and stirring until rice is very nearly cooked.
6.  Stir in grated parmesan and a handful of frozen peas.
7.  Serve - garnish with baby kale and parmesan shards.

Smooth, silky and comforting - with a nice fresh edge from the aniseed fennel and lemon.

Courgette and mushroom rarebit with sauteed potatoes

Quite late home, and no clear idea what to make for tea - this emerged, and was tasty.

We love baby roasties - or home baked chips, but I wanted to speed them up, so I zapped them (chopped) in the microwave first, then shallow fried them while the oven heated up - then finished them for 20 minutes in the oven.

The courgette, mushroom bake started out as an idea for mushroom rareabit with griddled courgettes - but ended up all in the same dish with the eggy cheesy mixture over the top.  It worked though!  What to call it?   No idea!

Baby roasties

Chop potatoes into bite sized pieces.  Microwave for 2 minutes, toss, microwave for a further 2 minutes.

Shallow fry in hot olive oil.  Toss, when a bit browned transfer to over dish and bake with the veg.

Courgette and mushroom rarebit

Cur 2 courgetted longways into 3.  Gently fry in olive oil until the crunch has gone and there's a little colour on them.

Meanwhile, put 4 field mushrooms, gil side up in baking tray greased with olive oil.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn mushrooms over, add courgette strips.  Bake for 10 more minutes.

Grate some cheddar and mix with 4 beaten eggs.

Slice 2 tomatoes.

Turn beg over in the baking dish. add tomatoes to the top.  Bake again for 10 minutes.

Shred some basil.

Sprinkle basil onto veg, and top with cheese and egg mixture.  Bake for 12 (ish) minutes until top is golden.

Serve and scoff!

Root veg and squash mash with lentils, shallots braised in red wine

This is very close to a Yotam Ottalenghi recipe - but we didn't have celeriac, puy lentils or ground cumin - so we used celery with the shallots, some little green lentils and a little biryani curry mix instead - and it was delicious.

Start with the shallots, then the lentils, then the root vegetables.

Shallots braised in red wine

Olive oil
Shallots, peeled and chopped if necessary
Celery, chopped
Bay leaves
Mixed herbs
Vegetable stock
Red wine
salt and black pepper

1. Sweat off shallots and celery in olive oil.
2.  Add bay leaves and herbs, chuck in wine and stock.
3.  Simmer for about an hour until veg are soft.  Add more wine/stock if it is going dry.
4.  At the end turn heat up, to thicken sauce into sticky yumminess.
(You could pull out the veg, and stir in a knob of butter, to make more luxurious)

Lentils

Boil in plenty of water until soft - about 30 minutes. Drain.

Root vegetable mash

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 sweet potatoes, chopped into chunks
1 squash (festival in our case) peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks
salt
black pepper
butter
curry powder (or some other spice eg. cumin)

1.  Boil carrots for about 10 minutes
2.  Then add other veg and boil until all yield to a sharp knife.
3.  Drain, add a good knob of butter and seasonings.  Mash.
4.  Stir in lentils.

Serve mash and lentils with shallot, red wine sauce on top.

Extremely healthy comfort food.  DELICIOUS.

crispy courgette batons - with halloumi, watercress and left over paella

I have included this in the blog for two reasons - i) courgettes done this way are delicious and ii) it has been really hectic, and I have not posted for a while, so I need to get back on it!

So - crispy courgette batons

Olive oil
Polenta
Salt and pepper (don't skimp)
Courgette, cut into batons

Easy...

Mix the polenta and seasoning.  Put into a plastic bag (or a bowl and move the pieces gently).  Add courgette pieces and toss gently to coat.

Fry in olive oil. allowing it to crisp up before tossing to mix up.

Drain on kitchen roll, keep warm.

Serve with other stuff.

Onion bhaji; potato, turnip and pea curry; spinach thingy

There was spinach, and onion, in the fridge from the veg box.  There was a need for comfort food.  I happened upon a delightful asian/eastern european cornershop in Leeds this afternoon which had, in their very beautiful vegetable display, some very beautiful turnips.  So, with a tiny outlay I revamped our dinner.

To make this assortment of dishes, start with the potato curry, then chop and mix the bhaji mix - until adding the water stage.  Then, when you are about 10 minutes off, start the spinach - then, fry the bhajis, keep them warm while you fry them all off, and serve.

Potato, turnip and pea curry

Olive oil
Black mustard seeds
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds
Turmeric
Potatoes, peeled and cubed
Turnips, peeled and cubed (approx the same amount as potato)
Garlic, crushed
Stock
Frozen peas

1.  Heat oil in pan, add fry spices.   When they release their aroma chuck in potatoes and turnip.  Toss them all about so that every piece of veg is coated.
2.  Add crushed garlic, stir in.  Add a cup of stock - put a lid on a simmer gently.
3.  Keep simmering potato mixture, check every now and again, make sure there is enough liquid to help it cook through, but that it is a "dry" mixture. Adjust seasoning.
4.  Tip some frozen peas on top, put lid back on, turn flame off and keep cooking for 5 mins.

Onion bhajis

large onion, chopped into fine half moons
chili flakes
lemon juice
salt
dried herbs
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
gram flour
water
oil, for frying (I used a mixture of olive oil and peanut oil)

1.  In a bowl mix onion and seasonings.  Add salt and leave for at least 10 minutes.
2.  Add bicarb and garm flour, toss together.
3.  When about ready to fry, stir in a small amount of water.  Mix to form a batter around the onion mixture.
4.  Fry, in hot oil, in blobs.
5.  Drain, on kitchen roll, and keep warm.

Spinach thingy

Olive oil
Chopped onion (I used the extra bits which weren't in moons from the bhajis)
Crushed garlic
Spinach, washed, stalks removed and shredded
Black pepper

1.  Sweat off onion in olive oil, then add the garlic.
2. Add spinach and enough water (not much) to let it wilt down.
3. Season

Bring all dishes together and scoff.  I was going to do a raita type thing, but was fine without.

potato and cabbage gratin, with cumin - and beetroot and carrot burgers

I have included a pic for completeness - but it's an awful one.  This is a shame because the dinner was delicious.  And comforting.  That was important after a long and trying week.

The feature today is the potato and cabbage gratin the beetroot and carrot burgers have featured earlier.  I have made them a few times now and they freeze beautifully.  Just bake them from frozen.

Potato, cabbage gratin, with cumin.

Chopped potato (1 huge, today)
Shredded cabbage
Olive oil
Chopped onion
Crushed garlic
Cumin seeds
Corn flour
soya milk
grated cheddar

1.  Boil potato with cabbage steaming on top.
2.  Sweat onion in olive oil, until soft.  Add garlic and cumin.
3.  Make the sauce by adding soya milk to onions, slake the corn flour in a little soya milk and stir into the onion mixture.   Simmer and stir while it thickens.
4.  Tip the cabbage into an oven proof dish, drain the potatoes and add and mix through.
5.  Add 3/4 cheese to the sauce and pour over the vegetables.  Sprinkle the last of the cheese on top.
6.  Bake at 180 for 25-30 minutes, till the top is bubbling and golden.  (The burgers will be great in the oven for the same time).

Comforting, and tasty. I'm supposed to avoid lactose - and cheese gives me head aches - but sometimes, just sometimes ... you have to say it's worth it.

veg and lentil pilaf ... innit

Lots of stuff happening this week.  Today, I was, unexpectedly, required to be available at work om Saturday... so, I turfed up.

I tried to speed this recipe up ny par-cooking the rice, and then adding it to the veg mix to finish.

Brown rice
red rice
olive oil
onion
garlic
mushrooms
red pepper
mexican seasoning
kale
lentils (tinned and drained)
vine tomatoes
lime juice


So...


1.  Put brown rice, a handful of red rice - and enough water to cover + 1 inch into a cast iron pot.  Bring to the boil, cover and simmer.
2.  Put cherry tomatoes in a hot(ish) oven, after you have sploshed on a glug of olive oil, a twist of salt and a twist of pepper.
3.  Chop an onion, some mushrooms and a red pepper.  Sautee the onions in olive oil until a bit soft/
4.  Add mushrooms and pepper, stir around.  Add garlic and seasoning (I used mexican - not so much for it to be HOT, but just to add a depth of falvour).
5.  Drain par-cooked rice and add to veg. Stir around til all rice has a film of oil.
6.  Add chopped kale and some stock, simmer until done - stir occasionally.
7.  mix 3 tbsp of yogurt with the juice of a lime, 1 tbsp of olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic - salt and pepper to taste.

Serve/// admire, scoff.... gloat :)

peas, sweetcorn and chicory - with fish and chips and gherkin fritters

Fish and chips are a solid tradition in this household, but sometimes it's worth adding a twist, particularly when something less usual turns up in the veg box.  This week, I thought I'd try batter instead of recent cornmeal crispy coatings, and had a bit of a bonkers idea about chopped gherkins in the batter (you know, in the batter instead of in the tartare suace, well why not ??) ... and had some red chicory in the veg box.

The gherkin didn't stick very well to the fish in the batter - BUT little blobs of it fried in the batter (like a bhaji) were DELICIOUS!

So, start with the potatoes, chop and par boil - heating the oil in a tray in the oven, so that it's hot to transfer the drained potatoes an hour before you want to serve.  Then prep the veg and batter for the fish then need to be sorted 20 minutes before you want to serve.  Start the veg, then when it's simmering start frying the fish .. then it'll all be done about the same time.

"Chips"

Boil, drain, roast in hot oil...

Fish in batter

Enough fish (I cut pollock fillets into 3-4 pieces, about 4 cm square)
cornflour
polenta
cream of tartar
cold water
Chopped gherkin
salt and pepper

olive oil

1.  Mix cornflour, polenta and cream of tartar with cold water to form a batter - the consistency of double cream.
2.  Stir in finely chopped gherkins and seasoning.
3.  When ready, coat fish in batter, and fry in batches, in hot olive oil.  Fry for a minute or so on each side, and drain on kitchen roll.  Keep warm.
4.  Collect the remaining chopped gherkin and batter into spoonfuls, and fry as little fritters.

Vegetables

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
frozen sweetcorn
frozen petit pois
garlic
chopped chicory
white wine
squirt of lemon juice

1.  Sautee onion in olive oil.
2.  When soft add frozen veg and garlic, turn in oil - add in wine and simmer
3.  Throw shredded chicory on the top and allow to wilt, add a little water if its looking dry.
4.  After about 4-5 minutes it should be heated through - squirt with lemon juice and grind on black pepper.


Rally good.  Chicory works really well with peas and sweetcorn instead of lettuce in the french version.  The gherkin fritters were spectacular.

Mushroom and courgette crumble

No pic because we were hungry, and I forgot.  However, it was tasty enough to record.  The bottom was chopped and sauteed - onion, garlic, mushrooms, courgettes and tomatoes - with a teaspoon of mixed herbs chucked in.  The topping was rolled oats, mixed seeds and crispy fried onions (from an Asian supermarket) mixed with olive oil to form a crumble.  It was all healthy and vegan - and then I added grated cheddar.  Bake for 25 mins (ish).

Thai butternut squash, sweet potato and chickpea curry

Another late-ish night.  The new veg box was delivered - which is great BUT I have to resist the temptation to use all the new yummy stuff and let the old stuff go off.

So, I challenged myself to use the butternut squash and sweet potato which had been knocking about - so thai red curry.



Peanut oil
Onion
garlic
Thai curry paste (yellow in this case)
yellow pepper
butternut squash
parsnip
sweet potato
tin of chickpeas
tin of coconut milk

rice
water

1.  Sautee onion in oil.
2.  Cook rice by your favourite method.
3.  Stir in other prepared veg (peeled and diced), garlic and curry paste.
4.  Add a little water to allow it to simmer.
5.  Add drained chick peas and coconut milk, simmer ... for about 30 minutes

Taste - if too hot, add a teaspoon of sugar and cook out.  If it is going dry before it's cooked - add a cup of water.

Serve, scoff.  It all looks very yellow but very tasty.

Mustard mash, cavolo nero and kale with pine nuts - and a bit of a vegtable ragu

Quite (!) a busy week, and  need to chill at the weekend - but also some teenage student fetching and carrying (not that I mind, actually) - so by Sunday teatime, some comfort food was in order.  BUT, this isn't just comfort food - this is comfort food with bells on - it is incredibly nutritious and delicious.  There is some butter in the mustard mash - but otherwise - gluten free and without anything processed.

Start with the potatoes, then chop the onion, then the greens.  If you get the onions softening before the potatoes have boiled, you are really on it.  Keep working on the ragu, put the shredded greens on top of the boiling potatoes when they have been boiling for a couple of minutes.

Keep the ragu cooking, adding stock if it gets too dry.

When potatoes are boiled and mashed, stick them under a hot grill to crisp up the top for 5 minutes.  Keep the greens warm and roast the pine nuts at the last minute.

Mustard mash

potatoes, peeled
butter
whole grain mustard

1.  Boil potatoes - chopped into even chunks - in salted water,
2.  When done, drain, and mash with a good knob of butter (olive oil or soya spread for vegans).
3.  Beat in a splodge of wholegrain mustard.

Cavolo nero, kale and pine nuts

1.  Shred cavolo nero and kale, steam on top of boiling potatoes.
2.  Roast pine nuts in dry frying pan.
3.  Toss pine nuts onto steamed leaves

Vegetable ragu

onion
garlic
olive oil
mixed herbs
yellow pepper
mushrooms
courgette
vegetable stock

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil until a bit soft.
2. Add chopped pepper, mushrooms, courgette and herbs and continue to soften.
3. Add a cup of stock and simmer until vegetables are all soft and tasty.

delicious.  Really!  Try it!

Gluten free flatbread, with grotty nosh

"Grotty nosh" is my Dad's inelegant name for this soup, which is a bit of a tradition in our family.  It's the leftovers of the week, all collected up and heated up in vegetable stock and zizzed.

It works with pretty much anything in a vegetarian household - I would be a little bit more careful if meat or fish had been involved.

Today's grotty nosh included a sprinkling of lettuce, which had a lemon dressing, which added a fresh edge to the soup.

The more interesting part of the lunch was the gluten free flatbread.  To do this I mixed buckwheat flour and gf self raising flour in equal parts and made into a soft dough with natural yogurt.  Roll out squash ball sized balls and dry fry in a hot pan.  Simple, and delicious.

I have just received a chorus of tasty, tasty, very very tasty - so I think that's a good sign.

Mushroom and kale spaghetti

The veg box arrived today, so possibly too much choice.... but after unpacking all the goodies, couldn't resist the mushrooms, and there was a leek, a courgette and kale to finish up from the last box - so ....

Olive oil
Dried mushrooms (just a few, optional)
Leek
stick of celery
courgette
garlic
dried herbs
chestnut mushrooms
kale
vegetable stock
2 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp grated parmesan
salt and pepper

spaghetti (gluten free in this case)

1.  Soak dried mushrooms in boiling water.
2.  Sautee chopped, washed leek in olive oil.
3.  Add finely diced celery and courgette.
4.  When a bit soft, add crushed garlic and herbs.
5.  Add chopped mushrooms, fry the mixture off for a bit and then add stock so that it doesn't burn.
6.  Put on pasta water - when boiling add pasta to water (8 mins - follow packet instructions)
7.  Stir shredded kale into mushroom mixture with mushroom soaking liquid.  Chop reconstituted mushrooms finely, and add into mixture.
8.  When spaghetti is cooked - drain and add to sauce - add cream and cheese - stir around and serve.

Season as you go - with salt and a lot of freshly ground black pepper.

Scoff.  Flavourful, both earthy and fresh.  I'll do it again.

Romanesco and butter bean casserole

Well, what a week!  Wedding, music competitions (well done... v proud) ... work pressure, family health issues, back to Uni .... ! phew! It's been a roller coaster.

So, came home late tonight - having forgotten what was waiting - needed tasty filling dinner and to use up the end of the veg box dinner.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the fridge and the romanesco was sitting there!

There was also some colcannon left - so heated that through in the oven ... meanwhile


1 leek
olive oil
1 romanesco
garlic
1 courgette
2 carrots (purple, cos they were in the veg box :) )
Vegetable stock
tin of butter beans
about a dozen pitted black olives
tin of tomatoes

1.  Sweat chopped, washed leek in olive oil.
2.  Add in florets of romanesco and garlic.
3.  Stir around, then chuck in peeled, and chopped into chucks carrots, and then diced courgette.
4.  Stir a bit, add a pint of stock, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
5.  Add in a drained tin of butter beans and some roughly chopped, pitted black olives.
6.  Simmer.  When veg soft-ish (abut another 5 minutes) add in a tin of tomatoes = chop them with a knife in the pan.... simmer again.
7.  Scoff - with whatever you fancy - we have reheated colcannon - could easily have been rice.

This was really, really good.  The romanesco has a lovely, gentle nutty flavour which goes really well with the mediterranean influenced garlic, olive, tomato casserole vibe.  The purple carrots made it all a it more funky.

Lentil, kale and courgette spaghetti

Well, arrived home late-ish.  Interesting bunch of vegetables from the veg box and NO TINNED TOMATOES!! (or even fresh tomatoes)  So, a bit of a think ... and I came up with this.

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 courgettes, chopped
Garlic
Kale, shredded/finely chopped
Herbs
Stock
Roasted red pepper (from a jar, here)
Spaghetti
Parmesan, shaved

1.  Sautee onion in olive oil.
2.  Boil tiny green lentils in plenty of water.
3.  When it's a bit soft, add courgette and continue frying.
4.  Add garlic, herbs and shredded kale.
5.  Round about now, put pasta on to cook.
6.  Add chopped roasted red pepper
7.  Add some stock and black pepper, tip in cooked, drained lentils.
8.  When its all cooked toss it all together, glug of olive oil, and serve.

Scoff.  This was delicious with, or without, a shaving of parmesan.  I was proud of my invention.

Bubble and squeak with a fried egg avec sauce de tomate

Had roast chicken, mashed potato, steamed cauliflower and broccoli and petit pois for lunch ... delicious - but come 7 o'clock we were peckish, so mashed up the vegetable left overs - fried it off in olive oil and butter.

Fried egg on top and squirt of tomato ketchup.

I know it's not a proper recipe ... but, don't neglect your leftovers.

Mushroom rarebit

Busy, busy day.  Work stuff, and family stuff.  But also yummy stuff in veg box.  So, my solution here was quick and easy stages, with some time for phone calls in between the cooking.

Olive oil
Garlic
Mushrooms, field
4 eggs
Cheddar, grated
Tomatoes
Brocolli
Runner beans


So, whack oven up to HOT.

Put mushrooms into a baking dish which has had a splosh of olive oil to lubricate it.
Roast mushroom (stem side down) for about 15 mins
Meanwhile, prep and chop vegetables for steaming.

Put veg on to steam.
grate cheese, stir in mustard - stir cheese and seasoning into lightly whisked eggs.
Stick egg & cheese mix onto upturned mushrooms - bake for 20 mins.
Realise there is too much egg and cheese, and that you forgot to put the sliced tomatoes on the mushrooms - so make tomato rarebit as well - egg& cheese on tomatoes - baked for 20 minutes

It was absolutely delicious.  No really!

Leek, mushroom and cavolo nero risotto

Late home - but a new veg box - so it's a bit like ready, steady, cook.... I think this took about 30 minutes start to finish.  It was tasty and filling - and there is some left for lunches.

By the way, have I mentioned that I LOVE cavolo nero?

It was the mushroom, cavolo nero combo which led me to this as the first of the new veg box dishes.  (The veg box is getting autumnal, so more inventiveness will be required from now on eg. 2 different squashes, beetroot, 2 cabbages and sweet potato languishing in the fridge as I type).

But, for today...

Olive oil
2 leeks - chopped (rinse well)
garlic, crushed
mixed herbs, good pinch
rice - basmati - because that is what I had - purist would quake - a good handful
chopped mushrooms (100g -ish)
veg stock
cavolo nero, shredded

1.  Sweat leeks in olive oil until nearly soft, add garlic and herbs.
2.  Add rice, toss until every grain is covered with a film of oil.
3.  Add chopped mushrooms and stir in.  Add stock/water/wine.  Simmer
4.  Stir liquid in, and let simmer until looking dry again - then add more liquid.
5.  When rice is a bit done, but still chalky in the middle add shredded calvolo nero.
6.  Carry on adding liquid, simmering etc .. until nearly done, taste and season as you go.
7. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Scoff.  I added loads more black pepper - but, that's just me, apparently.

Macaroni vegetable cheese

I'm not supposed to have too much lactose - but I love cheese.  So, the compromise on this was to make the cheese sauce with strong cheddar and soya milk.

Also, finishing off the end of the veg box meant not cauliflower cheese, but everything else in the fridge cheese.

Steam veg (Leeks, runner beans, carrots, cabbage).  Boil pasta shapes (gluten free).  Make cheese sauce by boiling soya milk, adding slaked cornflower, mustard and cheese.  Mix together with halved cherry tomatoes, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at a high heat to brown the top.

Delish.  And an end of the veg box victory.  Enough left for tomorrow's lunches, and dinner I think.

Salmon fishcakes, stir fried radish and pak choi, steamed green beans

I don't much like tinned salmon - but I think it's fantastic in fishcakes.

These fishcakes are gluten free, and very simple.

There was radish, pak choi and cucumber left from the veg box, and I didn't actually quite fancy salad, so I did a bit of a stir fry.  I would recommend it.

So,  from start to finish...

Potatoes
Tinned salmon
polenta
olive oil
green beans
Onion
Bunch of radishes
Pak choi
cucumber
fennel seeds
chili flakes
celery salt
garlic
white wine


1.  Peel and boil potatoes.  Mash.
2.  Stir in drained tinned salmon and season.
3.  When cooled, squish into patties and toss in polenta.  (Put them in the fridge if you have time).
4.  Fry in olive oil, keep warm in the oven while the other stuff is finished off.
5.  Steam beans.
6.  Stir fry chopped onion in light olive oil, add pak choi stems, fennel seeds, radish, cucumber, garlic and chili flakes.

Yum. Light, fresh and filling and somehow suited today's autumnal sunshine.

Rice & lentils, roast tomatoes and steamed vegetables

There is a "rule" in our house ... use up last week's veg box first - perhaps adding special stuff from the new box, particularly if it's a thing which will go off quickly.  Usually this requires self-control as all the lovely fresh veg comes in ... but tonight it was a bit of a relief, because the mix of new veg is quite a challenge - it's going to be an inventive week.  Something I can tackle tomorrow with a bit of thinking time - but not when I got in at nearly 7pm tonight.

So, from the old veg box - cherry tomatoes, cabbage, lemon.

From the new veg box carrots and runner beans.

From the larder basmati rice, puy lentils, dried fried onions, olive oil, garlic.

From the fridge natural yogurt.

1.  Cook rice & boil lentils.
2.  Roast tomatoes with olive oil and salt.
3.  When the rice, lentils and tomatoes are approaching ready (after about 30 minutes) steam the chopped veg.
4.  Stir crushed garlic, lemon juice and seasonning into yogurt.
5.  When cooked mix together rice, lentils and onions.

Serve all the elements together, and let people mix what they wish to on their plates.  Surprisingly a really well balanced bunch of flavours and textures.  One word of warning - when you squish the tomatoes to get the juice into the ricey mixture the juice is i) very very hot and ii) squirts everywhere.

Now, what do I do with... pak choi, radishes, leeks, carrots, beetroot, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cucumber, green beans, french beans, onions and potatoes?  Lots of lovely ingredients, but how to make them work together?  (fortunately still some tomatoes and cabbage left to factor in)

Asparagus risotto with roast tomatoes

Very thrilled to get asparagus in the veg box.  But it's also a school night, so no real desire for multiple courses (ie. asparagus luxury as a starter) but wanting to use it at its best.  The other fresh organic veg also coming to the party - delicious but showcasing the asparagus.

olive oil
1 red onion finely chopped
crushed garlic
risotto rice - a big handful
Italian herbs
red pepper, diced
green beans, cut into in bite sized pieces
about 3/4 litre
bunch of asparagus - stem cut into 2ish cm pieces, spears left whole
80g parmesan, grated

Roast tomatoes

olive oil
tomatoes
sale

So, start with the tomatoes - roast in a little olive oil with salt in a medium oven.  For 40 minutes + ... just bring them out when the risotto is finished.

Risotto

1.  sautee onion in olive oil (and celery and/or carrots finely diced,  if you have them) gently for about 6 minutes
2.  Add rice, turn until every grain is coated.
3.  Add herbs, garlic and vegetables and some stock.
4.  Stir, simmer, add stock etc.  When nearly done add asparagus spears.
5.  After another couple of minutes, turn off heat, stir in parmesan, and leave to sit for a couple of minutes.

Serve, scoff.

Last of the veg box dinner

Left from the veg box - new potatoes, vine tomatoes, an onion, a few mushrooms and a cabbage - but it was also for a birthday tea, so I wanted to try to make it a bit more special.

Boil new potatoes
Crush in hot olive oil
Chuck in chopped olives and roast for 40 minutes.

Bake tomatoes in olive oil and a sprinkle of salt for 40 minutes

Chop the onion

Fry half with chopped mushrooms and garlic, in olive oil.  Add a splash of white wine and a drained tin of butter beans.

Fry the other half until a bit soft, add cumin seeds, crushed garlic and shredded cabbage.  Toss about a bit.

Scoff - celebrate birthday with nice wine.

Leek and potato soup

Olive oil
Leeks
potatoes
mustard
garlic
herbs
salt and pepper
water (and some veg stock if you wish)

Sweat down chopped leeks in olive oil.
Add chopped potatoes, and some water.
Simmer, add herbs, mustard and garlic.
Season etc
Simmer until veg is soft - Zizz


You could remove some veg to keep some chunk texture, but today I choose not to - so it's quite a thick, smooth lovely creamy texture.

Equally, you could add cream, you could serve with creme fraiche - but you don't have to.

We had this with gluten free crackers and cheddar.  There are 6 more portions for the freezer for weekday lunches.  Win-win.

Gluten free crackers - onion and poppy seed

Tried a new combination of flavours for the gluten free savoury crackers ... and they were declared "absolutely, bloody, brilliant ... "  ... they were very, very good! Today we had gnomes, frogs, chicks, cats and crocodiles.

So, ...

Gluten free SR flour
Mustard powder
Butter / margarine
garlic
poppy seeds
dried fried onions
cold water

GF mixtures are gluten free ... dah dah! .. stating of the obvious!  This means that they are not elastic in the same way that wheat flours are - so think of this as a very "short" pastry.

So,  rub in the flour and fat as you normally would.  Add flavourings (bash hell out of the dried, fried onions in a pestle and mortar so that the tiny pieces can be distributed into the dough).  Mix gently, add water to bind.  Put the dough into plastic bags in the fridge to chill.

Turn oven to 180C.

Roll dough out between 2 sheets of floured baking parchment (it helps the mixture stick together and not split and crack).  Run a pallet knife gently under the pastry, lifting it from the paper.  Cut out shapes with a cutter, and transfer to a baking paper lined baking tray - I lifted them out of the mixture within the cutter squeezing the shape very gently together, rather than cutting out multiple shapes and then picking them out of the sheet. The lifting of the raw pastry means that you can move the fragile crackers - if you don't loosen them first you will not get them out of the shapes!

Bake for about 12 minutes - turning the tray around after about 8 minutes to get an even(ish) bake.

Cool on a rack (if you can wait) and then scoff!

Spinach cornbread bake

In Greece, many years ago, I had a delicious cornbread "cake" with feta and mint.  I have never reproduced it successfully, and this was not an attempt at it.  BUT, it did give me the building blocks to start thinking about what to do with shed loads of spinach and a gluten free bake - and I came up with this.

I don't measure things, so this is all guess work

So...

Shed loads of spinach (half a kilo)
garlic (3 cloves, crushed)
nutmeg (not much, just a hint, grated fresh)
oregano (fresh, chopped, a small handful)
cornmeal/ polenta (200g ish)
Baking powder (1 tbsp)
olive oil (a splash)
2 eggs (separated)
milk (about 1/2 a pint)
feta cheese (most of a packet)
salt and pepper
butter

Shred the spinach and allow to wilt gently with some garlic.
Make a batter with the cornmeal, baking powder, egg yolks and milk.  Whip the egg whites to soft peak stage.  Fold into the cornmeal batter.  Fold in cooked spinach and crumbled feta cheese - season.
Bake, in buttered dish, for about 30-40 minutes.

We had it with tiny roast potatoes and a tomato salad.

Gluten free "cheese" crackers with fennel ... and some gnomes

 For a while now I have been thinking of trying some GF biscuits - but savoury ones, because we're not a very sweet household.  Today I had a chance to try some.  The first batch was over cooked - but later ones came out better.  Today I made gnomes, cacti and guitars - but you can make whatever you fancy.

My decorated effort was a gnome - with sundried tomato hat and jacket, olive taponade wellies, olive eyes and cashew cheese beard.  Cashew cheese recipe - more or less this - http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/dips-spreads/raw-cashew-cheese-recipe/ from Chocolate and Zucchini.

The biscuits I made up myself ... )all ingerdients are "ish"

120g gluten free plain flour
75g polenta
salt and pepper
80g cold margarine (olive oil spread)
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp crushed garlic
cold water

Rub fat into dry ingredients, herbs and spices.
When it looks like breadcrumbs, add enough cold water, and stir/kneed to bring it together.

When it is pastry-like - roll out between 2 pieces of floured greaseproof paper - cut out - lay onto greaseproof paper lined baking trays, pierce with a fork, and bake in pre-heated oven (about 10-12 minutes)

Peanut spicy vegetable casserole with cheesy noodles

Years ago I was cooked something similar to this by a Nigerian friend.  It had chicken in it, and it was very very hot - and it was served with rice.  A few years later (and still some years ago) I was served a veggie version (green beans, tomatoes and peanut butter with chili) with the added cheesy noodles.  It is now a real "go to" comfort food - the lovely silky mild noodles with the spicy and sweet peanutty sauce/casserole (with or without chicken).

olive oil
chopped onion
chopped celery
chopped mushrooms
chopped green beans
chili flakes
peanut butter
garlic
chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
lime juice

noodles
grated cheese
butter

Sweat off onions and celery, in olive oil, until a bit soft.   Then add other veg, chili flakes, peanut butter and garlic.  Add some water and cover.  Simmer until softish, then add tomatoes.  Stew until soft and delish (you could steam the green beans and toss them in the sauce later, for a different texture).

Cook noodles.  When cooked stir in grated cheese and butter until noodles are all coated.

Serve, and squirt with lime juice.

Re-imagined salad nicoise

The end of the veg box included courgettes, cabbage, green beans and tomatoes.  The new veg box brought lots of things, but including some nice new potatoes - so I re-imagines a salad nicoise - green beans in a tasty sauce - new potatoes and boiled eggs (could have added tuna, but preferred to stay veggie today).  Also, a spoonful of steamed cabbage - we have so much, and it's really nice, so why not?

Easy bits, boil - washed and chopped, diced new potatoes, steam - green beans and chopped cabbage on top.

Gently cook chopped celery, courgette, shallot and tomatoes in olive oil with garlic, wild rosemary and a few chili flakes.  Cook them slowly, stirring now and again, until they are all soft and silky in the olive oil.  Boil eggs - peel shells off.

Mix beans and veg sauce - serve with potatoes, eggs and cabbage.

Scoff - have seconds!

Potato, cauliflower and courgette curry with rice

Stressful day (again) and latish home - but a rummage in the fridge and cupboards and this was on the table in about 45 minutes.

Curry

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
curry spice mix (whatever sort you have really)
crushed garlic
4 potatoes, diced
1 courgette, diced
1/2 cauliflower
stock
tin tomatoes
frozen peas

rice - cooked according to packet instructions.

1.  Sautee onion, in olive oil, until a bit soft.
2.  Add spice mix, garlic and potatoes, stir around.
3.  Add courgette cauliflower florets, stir around.
4.  Add stock, make sure it's not catching on the bottom of the pan and leave to simmer for a while.
5.  After 20 minutes or so taste and adjust seasoning - add a teaspoon of sugar if it is too hot.
6.  Keep adding stock if it looks a bit dry.
7.  Add a tin of tomatoes, simmer.
8.  a few minutes before serving stir in frozen peas.

Scoff. Delicious.

Lentil spaghetti

Some days you need comfort food!  Today was one of those days.

Quick search in the fridge and cupboard - and knew this would be tasty and filling.

Spaghetti sauce

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1-2 courgettes chopped
Italian herbs
chili flakes
crushed garlic
2 handfuls of red lentils
about a glass of red wine
6 tomatoes, chopped
mustard (american hotdog mustard, or hot mustard and a tsp of sugar)
salt and pepper
grated parmesan to taste

spaghetti (gluten free for us)
salted water

So ...

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil.  After a minute or so add chopped carrot and celery.
2.  When cooking has started add herbs, garlic and lentils.  Stir
3.  Add a glass of red wine and some water/stock.  Simmer.
4.  Add chopped courgette.  Simmer some more.
5.  When lentils are swollen and getting soft (10-15 mins) - add chopped tomatoes and seasoning.
6.  Put spaghetti into boiling water.
7. Simmer sauce and cook spaghetti.

... when done serve with (or without) grated parmesan

Mushroom and onion pasta, chopped salad - oh, and some steak

After making the carnivores suffer yesterday I relented and made them steak.  However, also needed the extras to be gluten free and go with salmon for the pescatarean.  So, I thought - some tasty mushroomy pasta for carbs and a fridge full of veg just begged to be eaten - best way, chop it all up and mix it togther, American's would call it chopped salad, so lets go with that.

It all went down extremely well.



Chopped salad

Celery
Cucumber
Radish
Carrot
Tomato
Frozen petit pois
Cress
olive oil
orange juice

Chop everything up into 1/2 cm dice - squeeze on juice of half an orange (I didn't have any lemons or limes) and a slosh of olive oil, season, stir.

Mushroom Pasta Salad

1 onion, chopped
6 large mushrooms, chopped
garlic
olive oil
pasta shells (gluten free, or otherwise!)
oregano

Fry onion in olive oil,  just as it is starting to caramelise add chopped mushrooms and garlic.  Fry until mushrooms are just soft.
Boil water, add pasta ... when cooked, drain.
Add splosh of olive oil, mushroom mix and fresh oregano and mix through.  Grind on plenty of black pepper.

Steak

Oil the meat, not the pan - grinding of black pepper.  Fry, in hot pan for a minute or so each side.

Scoff - one person had 4 helpings of the pasta!

Tomato, red pepper and pesto crumble

Still got a bit of a glut of tomatoes and red pepper, but fancied something a bit mediteraanean - this worked - well, I thought so.  There were some bits of red pepper left on one plate - but I base this on young adult vegetable phobia... the crust was polished off by all.

So, for the crumble

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
chopped celery
crushed garlic
Chopped red pepper
6 large tomatoes, chopped
a little vegetable stock

Usual thing, sweat down onion and celery, then add garlic and other veg.  Simmer until soft, add water/stock if it's going dry/thick.

Crumble topping

rolled oats
grated cheese (I used cheddar)
2 big spoons of pesto
olive oil

Mix together.

Put the tomato mixture in an oven proof dish, top with crumble and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden.

Boil new potatoes, steaming the veg on top.

Ta-dah!  I though it was very tasty.  I think the meat eaters wanted a steak with it.

Red pepper, Tomato and Butter bean curry

No pic for this one - but it's dead easy.  A glut of red peppers and tomatoes after helping a mate cater for a 600 people bash led to its invention.

Sweat chopped celery in oil, add cumin, mustard and fennel seeds. Add crushed garlic, chopped red pepper, 4 diced potatoes and 6 chopped tomatoes. Stir around for a bit. Chuck in some turmeric and chili flakes, stir around a bit more. Add veg stock if it's going a bit dry. Drain a tin of butter beans and chuck them in too, season to taste. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add garam masala simmer for a further few minutes - scoff.

Broad bean, courgette and petit pois risotto, with a green salad

Broad beans - what a labour of love! Fortunately, I had someone here handy who enjoys the peace of double shelling them - so I exploit it :).

So, recipe ...

Olive oil
2 spring onions, chopped
Crushed garlic
risotto rice
large bag of broad beans, double peeled to a small handful of green gems
1 courgette, diced
Italian herbs
white wine
vegetable stock
frozen petit pois
grated fontina and parmesan
lemon zest, juice of lemon
seasonning, specially black pepper

Salad

olive oil
garlic
lemon juice
salt and pepper
spring onion, sliced thinly
radish, sliced
cucumber (small amount, diced)
cos lettuce, sliced to about 1 inch pieces

1.  Put the salad dressing ingredients in the bottom of big bowl, whisk together.  Chuck on onion, radish and cucumber.
2.  Sautee onion briefly in olive oil.  Add diced courgette, crushed garlic, and toss in oil for a few seconds.
3.  Add risotto rice, and stir until each grain is finely coated in oil.  Shake in herbs.
4.  Add a glass of white wine and simmer.
5.  Add vegetable stock, simmer.  Keep adding stock and simmering for about 5 minutes - then add broad beans.
6.  Carry on adding vegetable stock and simmering until nearly dry until rice is nearly done.
7.  Add a handful of frozen peas and another ladle of stock.
8.  After 2 minutes, turn off the heat, stir in cheeses and let the rice suck up the final juices for 5 minutes.
9.  Sprinkle on lemon zest and squeeze in lemon juice.
10.  Serve, with a good grinding of black pepper.
11.  Chuck shredded lettuce onto salad and toss - serve with risotto.

Summery and delicious.  Made me feel better after a few days of grim viral bleaugh-ness.

artichokes

Well! Artichokes in the veg box!  Not a thing I do often - but delish when I have eaten it.  So, cut of stalk - boil to death (30 minutes +) - pull leaves off, dip into good olive oil and balsamic vinegar (approx 4 - 1).  Scrape "meat" from leaves in teeth ... lovingly, and while chatting, putting the world to rights etc - quite romantic in fact - so thanks veg box peeps (Abel & Cole)

Squid paella

Oh, what a week it's been!

recipe... ish

olive oil
chopped onion
chopped celery
chopped red pepper
garlic - crushed
paella mix - or paprika and saffron and a few herbs
risotto/paella rice
tinned tomatoes
white wine
squid - sliced into rings
snow peas, chopped into pieces
black olives
salt and black pepper
lemon to serve

OK - sautee chopped onion in oilve oil, and when a bit soft chuck in veg and garlic, stir around a bit - them chuck in rice and spices (or spice mix)- stir around.  When all rice grains are coated chuck in tomatoes, wine and squid, and some water.  Keep simmering for about 15 mins as it all cooks together.  Add in chopped snow peas (or, frankly, frozen peas) and black olives - add more water if it's looking dry.  Keep simmering for another 10ish  minutes - tuen off the heat and let it gently suck up the juices... serve, scoff!

Pop up restaurant

Yesterday, my friend and I, hosted our first popup restaurant.  It was fantastic - but we took very few pics as we were too busy.  This is the gluten free scone with smoked mackeral pate, beetroot jam and horseradish cream.  It was followed by vegan moussaka, coleslaw and green salad, and finished with strawberry and rhubarb, hazelnut crumble with ginger ice cream.

Gluten free scones

Rub olive oil spread into self raising gluten free flour with a teaspoon of baking powder (it really needs extra raising agent), salt.  When is resembles breadcrumbs form into a soft dough with an egg and a splash of soya milk.  Bake at 180 for about 12 minutes.

Mackeral pate

Zizz 3 packets of flaked mackeral fillets and 1 box of medium tofu until smooth.  Add black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Chill.

Beetroot jam

2 red onions, finely chopped and sauted off in olive oil.  Finely chopped beetroot - about 8.  A handful of sugar, a splash of red wine, a few chili falkes and a good splosh of sherry vingar - simmer to let flavours meld - add water if it gets too think.

Horseradish cream

Grate about 1 inch horseradish root finely.  Add 1/2 carton double cream, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Taste to adjust.

Vegan moussaka

Potatoes, peeled boiled and cut into thick slices.
Sauce 3 chopped onions sauteed in olive oil, add chopped celery, chopped red pepper, courgettes and mushrooms.  Add red lentils, a good few herbs, lots of garlic and a few chili flakes.  Add a splash of red wine, some vegan bouillon, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and water.  Simmer, stir, simmer, season etc.  I added a teaspoon of cinnamon at the end to ring the changes.
Make a litre of white sauce with soya milk (I just thickenned with cornflour, but could have done a bechamel) flavoured with bay and nutmeg.
Put the moussaka together - lentils, sauce, then potatoes - drizzle with olive oil and bake for an hour until top is crisp and golden.