Roasted cauliflower with peanuts and gorgonzola

Cauliflower is such an under-rated vegetable, but it's bang in season.  I roasted it with lots of lovely flavours to give us a warming and delicious autumnal dinner.  Also, I love cheese, but I'm afraid it doesn't feel the same about me, so I added some small blobs of gorgonzola which gave me the savoury hit I wanted, with none of the unmentionable repercussions of a full cauliflower cheese (which I love ...), and some roasted peanuts for a bit of crunch.  Served it with potato wedges and wilted spinach.  Delicious.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Cauliflower
Polish mustard
Garlic
Italian seasoning
Chilli flakes
Spinach
Nutmeg
Peanuts

1.  Cut the potatoes into wedges, toss in olive oil and roast for about 45 minutes.
2.  Cut the cauliflower into 6 wedges.
3.  Mix together 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp polish mustard, crushed garlic, italian seasoning and chilli flakes - possibly a little water if its a bit thick.  Pour this over the cauliflower and move it around gently until all surfaces are coated.  Roast for about 40 minutes.
4.  Prepare spinach by removing thick stems, washing and cutting into thick ribbons.
5.  5 minutes before serving pop peanuts into the oven on a tray & wilt the spinach in a little water.  Grate a little nutmeg into the spinach to lift the flavour.
6.  Serve - dotting the cauliflower with gorgonzola (or other blue cheese) and sprinkle over peanuts, scoff.

Delicious.

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.

Peanut, vegetable and rice noodle soup... does this have an exotic name?

Get me for health giving soup !... but what to call it?  Peanuts are the crunchy garnish, and used sparingly ... but the single ingredient which makes it a bit more interesting.  Broth with some noodles and vegetables...?  So, it's a chinese(ish) rice noodle soup with peanuts and chili.  You need a good chicken (or vegetable) stock for this because most of the flavour is in the very "thin" liquor.  Right, so here we go.  I made chicken stock from roast chicken carcass, but chucked in star anise, szechaun pepper corns, sprinkle of Chinese five spice, cumin seeds and a pinch of fennel seeds - after a couple of minutes chuck in tbsp rice wine/ sherry, season til proper tasty but not over powering...this is now "broth", keep it hot.  Actually, it's probably worth mentioning that in this case the roast chicken was roasted with shed loads of garlic and lemon, and the stock made with additional celery, carrot, onion (and some more garlic).  Heat stock/broth back up to boiling point.  Meanwhile - chop and prep solid bits of soup - in this case spring onion, red pepper, carrot, celery (chop finely to avoid aniseedy overload) and mushrooms... and a red chili.  Then, cook noodles as per packet instructions and chuck in veg to soften at appropriate point... ie water boils - noodles say 5 minutes - chuck in noodles, stir, bring back to boil add veg (keep some chili and spring onion or other yummy veg (beansprouts, mange tout.... for garnish), bring back to boil for 3 minutes... drain.  When ready to serve pile noodles and veg in bowls (top with stips of chicken for extra yummy meatiness, and if you have some) ladel over hot broth.  Sprinkle on garnish - chili rings, spring onion, coriander, basil, chopped roasted peanuts, gold leaf... you choose  :).  I liked it, and had seconds, victim agreed the flavours are OK - but declares preference for egg noodles.  I get the point, as the thinner rice noodles are a bit slimey - but, from diet balance/ allergy/ variety etc... rice noodles are worth understanding and using where they are nutritiuous and tasty/ a carrier for tastes.

Anyway... clean, hot, balanced... but not victim's favourite.