Veg box tapas

I should probably have taken a pic of all the separate dishes - as this really was a kind of tapas - have what you fancy mix - rather than a put together menu of main and sides.

The dishes were - roast cauliflower with cumin, garlic mushrooms, leek and kale smoked cheese gratin(ish), groats and steamed purple sprouting broccoli.

It took about an hour, the cauliflower and mushrooms going in to start with.  Then a 20 minute gap - then started the gratin - then in the last 15 minutes the broccoli steamed over the groats.

Roast cauliflower with cumin

Olive oil
cauliflower
cumin seeds

It's a simple as that!  Split the cauli into florets and put in roasting pan with olive oil, a sprinkle of cumin seeds and a pinch of salt - roast at about 180 for 45 mins to an hour... tossing occasionally to brown evenly(ish)

Garlic mushrooms

Olive oil
crushed garlic
chopped mushrooms
splash of white wine
black pepper

In an oven dish, chuck in ingredients, toss about a bit, add a drop of water/wine if they look dry - stick in the oven with the cauliflower

Leek and kale smoked cheese gratin

Olive oil
Leek, chopped and washed
crushed garlic
white wine
water
kale, shredded
corn flour
soya milk
smoked cheese, grated or diced

1.  Sautee leek in olive oil until soft.
2.  Add garlic, splash of whie win and kale.  Simmer as kale gets soft.
3.  When veg are soft, slake cornflour in a little soya milk - add the slaked mixture and another cup of soya milk and keep stirring to make a sauce.
4.  Add grated/chopped smoked cheese, mix until melted.
5.  Put in oven dish and bake until everything is done.

Groats & purple sprouting broccoli

Steam the broccoli over the pan of boiling water - boil the groats.

Drain, serve, scoff.

Caribbean vegetable stew and rice

Raging sore throat and really spiky earache (you'll understand if you have had it like this) ... and otherwise rotating cold symptoms have kept me off work and indoors all day.  I tried to make something both comforting and spicy to help clear the tubes for tea.

I was still feeling grim at teatime so wanted something to basically cook itself... this did, once the veggies had been chopped and it was sitting in the oven waiting.

So, what I did was....

2 leeks, chopped and washed
Rape seed oil
caribbean spice mix
mixed herbs
crushed garlic
chopped mushrooms
chopped green beans
tin of kidney beans
peeled and chopped butternut squash
tin of chopped tomatoes
Spoon of peanut butter
water
seasonning

Brown rice
water

1.  Sautee leeks off in oil.
2.  Add herbs, spices and garlic - stir around.
3.  Add in other veg, drained tin of beans and squash.  Turn over in the oil.  Add water and bring to simmer.
4. Add spoon of peanut butter and tomatoes, stir in, simmer and taste - adjust seasoning if necessary- I added chili (but i think that's because this cold is preventing me tasting things).
5.  Add water and bung in the oven with the rice until ready to eat.

Dinner was great, and I thin the spice has helped a bit - but my ears still hurt... ho hum.

St Patrick's Day Colcannon

As requested for St Paddy's day - including the over done egg!

Mashed potatoes with onions fried in onion and steamed cabbage.

Mix together with lots of butter and seasonning.  Scoff.  Raise a glass to St Patrick.

Microwave poppadoms

Who knew?  Well, Jamie Oliver knew, and I watched his 15 minute meals thingy - and thought I would try it - excellent results.  Dry poppadoms from asian supermarket - broken into pieces - spread out on a plate - bung 'em in the microwave 90 seconds later all crisp and snacky!  Will do this again - and will do a raita thing too.

I have just checked the ingredients and these are also gluten free and vegan (lentil flour, rice flour, sodium bicarb, vegetable oil and water) ... so, plus points all round.

Cabbage lentil parcels with spicy tomato sauce, 'tatoes and purple sprouting broccoli

There are times, when you have a veg box delivery, when you have stuff to use up so as not to waste them, and stuff delivered which are so yummy fresh that you want to use them TODAY.  I had this today.  Last week's cabbage was waiting, as were a couple of carrots - but new today .. delish purple sprouting broccoli.  So, I did this...

Roasted potatoes (they're a bit of an addiction at the moment), cabbage parcels filled with lentils, leek, celery and carrot - with a tomato chili sauce - and steamed purple sprouting broccoli.

I won't separate this out into 3 dishes - I will set out the chronology of the processes of the dishes together.

Ingredients

Olive oil
Potatoes - chopped into bite sized pieces
Cabbage - leaves pulled whole from the stalk
Leeks - chopped and rinsed
Celery - chopped
Carrots - peeled and diced
Garlic
Puy lentils
White wine
Mustard
Mixed herbs
Onion
Tin of tomatoes
Chili flakes
Purple sprouting broccoli

1.  Put olive oil in a frying pan, and an oven dish (for the potatoes).  Put the oven dish into a hot oven.
2.  Boil potatoes, steam cabbage leaves on top.
3.  Sautee in olive oil - chopped leek and celery, diced carrot - when a bit soft add garlic, puy lentils, a glass of white wine, water and mixed herbs, and a spoonful of mustard - simmer for about 20 minutes - checking it doesn't get too dry.
4.  Meanwhile, drain parboiled potatoes and chuck into hot oil - move about until all covered in film of oil and return to the oven to roast.
5.  Set cabbage leaves out to cool.
6. Finely chop onion and soften in olive oil.
7.  When onion is soft add garlic, then add tin of chopped tomatoes and half a tin of water - and crushed garlic.  Simmer until it looks like a yummy sauce (you may need to add more oil or water as you get there).
8.  When the lentil mixture is done (about 20 minutes) spoon into cabbage leaves, and fold into parcels.
9.  Set parcels into oven dish, cover with tomato sauce and stick into the oven under the potatoes.
10.  Steam purple sprouting broccoli.

Taste and season as you go - I put salt on the 'tatoes - and lots of pepper in the lentils.

Just over an hour after the potatoes hit the pan put all dishes on the table - and scoff. We did.  The word parcelabulous was invented.

Butter bean and cabbage casserole with baked root veg, and roasted vine tomatoes

End of the veg box week, but absolutely delicious. The root veg bake has featured before - but this time had no cheese in so totally gluten free and vegan tonight.

So... Start the root veg bake first, then stick the tomatoes is the oven, then - after 10-15 mins ... cup of tea/ glass of wine ... whatever you fancy start the green veg casserole.

Root veg bake

Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 or 2 parsnips, topped and tailed
1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 swede, peeled and chopped
6 carrots, top and tailed
garlic paste
Mustard
Olive oil
Seasoning

Casserole

2 leeks
mushrooms
garlic
olive oil
tin of butter beans
white wine
veggie stock cube
shredded cabbage

tomatoes

tomatoes
olive oil
sale

1.  Turn oven on to 180+
2. Grate most of the veg - I use my KitchenAid which obviously makes this much easier - but grate using food processer add ins, or a hand grater will save you time... honestly it will.  Particularly if you make too much, freeze it and have it the following day.
3.  Mix in other ingredients - bake at 180 for about an hour.
4.  At this point splash olive oil onto tomatoes, sprinkle on salt and bung in the oven with the root veg.

Have a cuppa, chat, watch Corrie or whatever... for a bit over half an hour, then...

4.  Sautee chopped, rinsed leeks in olive oil.
5.  After about 5 minutes add chopped mushrooms, garlic, white wine and about a pint of stock.
6.  Simmer briefly and add butter beans, simmer again for about 5 minutes.
7.  Shred cabbage, stick it on top of the leeks and steam until done.  (I put a lid on it and turned off the heat).

Yum.



Veg and mac and cheese, green veg medley

Drizzle, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle ... not the dinner, the weather - it's all very tedious.   Lots of veg left in the veg box to use up.  Comfort food required.

So, two dishes...  if you can manage to juggle them, and start them more or less at the same time you could have them both on the table within 30 minutes - but I didn't - it was about an hour, but twas very tasty.


Veg and mac and cheese

kholrabi, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
cauliflower, florets separated, stem chopped into bite sized pieces
broccoli, florets separated, stem chopped into bite sized pieces
carrots, peeled and chopped - you guessed it - into bite sized pieces

Pasta (in this case gluten free)

soya milk (or ordinary milk, obvs)
mustard
corn flour
grated cheese (cheddar and cheshire today)

1.  Steam vegetables for about 12 minutes.
2.  Simmer pasta
3.  Boil soya milk, slake corn flour in water, add to hot milk to thicken sauce, whisk quickly over a low heat, to mix in until it thickens.  Season.  Add 3/4 of the grated cheese.
4.  Drain pasta, tip it with veg into an oven proof dish. (don't drain every last drop, some starchy water will help it remain moist). Pour over sauce, move about to mix in.
5.  Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 20+ minutes.

Green veg medley

leeks
olive oil
celery
garlic
white wine
chard

1. Chop and wash leeks.  Sweat down in olive oil.
2.  Add chopped celery and garlic, soften a bit more.  Add white wine and chopped chard stalks, cover and simmer.
3.  When veg are soft and nearly ready add shredded chard leaves, cover and  steam for five minutes.

Was lovely - have loads left for the freezer/ kitchen fairies lunches.  The gluten free pasta and the soya milk make the mac and cheese much lighter and fresher feeling.

Mung bean casserole

Tasted much better than it looks, honestly!

Mung beans
2 leeks
olive oil
garlic
spicy seasoning (I used a middle eastern/persian - ish mix)
bay leaf
potatoes
carrots
cauliflower
mushrooms
tin of tomatoes
chard

brown rice

1.  Simmer mung beans for about 30 minutes.
2.  Soften chopped and washed leeks in olive oil.
3.  Add spices, garlic and bayleaf, stir.
4.  Add other vegetables (not chard yet) and enough water to cook.
5.  Cover and simmer.
6.  5 minutes before serving chuck in mung beans, tomatoes and shredded chard.

Scoff.  Really healthy, really delicious.