Potato, brie and other veg bake

 

The veg box is still full of sweet potatoes and carrots, but also a couple of good sized spuds this week.  There was brie in the fridge, and apples in the fruit bowl - so ... ta dah ...

olive oil

potatoes (2 large)

onions (2 medium)

carrots (3 medium)

sweet potato (1 large)

apples (2 medium)

Brie

garlic

vegetables stock

salt and pepper

1.  Slice all veg in to thin slices - as thin as you can manage.

2.  Drizzle olive oil into a baking dish.

3.  Layer the veg etc - potatoes, onion, carrot, sweet potato, onion, apple, brie, potato.

4.  Mix garlic into veg stock and pour onto the layers.

5.  Season well with salt and pepper.

6.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for at least an hour at 180.

7.  Steam vegetables as a side.

8. Serve, scoff, show off.

Delicious

Sweet potato and mushroom cheesy bake

I had a load of sweet potatoes, and a carton of mushrooms - and, found a recipe for a bake on Abel and Cole's website - so I nicked it... and adapted it to what I have got in.  The result was delicious - even the veg dodger was satisfied.

Shallots

Olive oil

Sweet potato

Potato

Garlic

Stock

Plain flour

Soya milk

Cheddar

Wholegrain mustard

Spinach

Breadcrumbs

1.  Sautee chopped shallots in olive oil, add garlic.

2.  Add peeled and cubed sweet potato and potato, then add chopped mushrooms.

3.  Sautee briefly, then add stock and simmer until the vegetables are nearly tender, add spinach and allow to wilt, stir in.

4.  When the veg are tender and the stock has been reduced add a couple of spoons of flour and stir to coat the vegetables.

5.  Add the soya milk and simmer as it thickens, then stir in grated cheese and a spoonful of wholegrain mustard.

6.  Transfer to an over dish.

7.  Mix breadcrumbs with grated cheese and sprinkle over the top.

8.  Serve, scoff - we had a rocket salad with it.

Sea bass escovitch, with sweet potatoes

 Caribbean food week:  Day 5

Also Friday - so the tradition in our house is fish from Paul the fish.

The idea is that you pour hot, sweet, spicy sauce over simply cooked fish ... it certainly was hot - look at all that steam.

It was the first time I have cooked anything quite like this, but the overwhelming opinion was definitely - put it on the do again list.

Sweet potato
Olive oil

White balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Lime
Onion
Carrot
Red pepper
Red chili

Sea bass

Green beans

1.  Peel and chop sweet potato into chunks, roast, in olive oil for about 40 minutes.
2.  Thinly slice onion, julienne carrot and red pepper.  Very thinly slice chili.
3.  In a saucepan mix together half a cup of olive oil, and the same of vinegar.  Squirt in the juice of half a lime.  Chuck in vegetables and all ow to simmer for about 10 minutes until the veg are softish.  A bit of crunch from the carrots and peppers is fine, but you want the onion soft.
4.  Steam the green beans.
5.  Brush olive oil onto the sea bass fillets and fry for a few minutes on each side.
6.  Place fish on a serving plate, and cover with the sauce.
7.  Serve, scoff ....

Butter bean cottage pie, with root veg mash and cumin, emmental cabbage bake

The day started really sunny, but got somewhat cooler.  What I fancied was comfort food, but a little bit different.  So, a bit of a rummage in the fridge and the cupboard...

Once again, all available from Todmorden market

Veg outside
Cheese and butter from The Crumbly Cheese
Butter beans, bits and bobs from The Mediterranean Pantry



Sweet potato
Carrots
Potatoes
Olive oil
Red onion
Garlic
Cajun seasoning
Tomato puree
Bouillon powder
Butter

Cumin seeds
White cabbage
Emmental
Chives

1.  Peel the root veg and boil until mashable.
2.  Sautee red onion and garlic in olive oil.  Add cajun seasoning, butter beans, tomato puree and a cupful of stock made from bouillon powder.  Simmer for a few minutes.
3.  When the veg is soft, mash with butter and plenty of black pepper.
4.  In an oven proof dish, plonk in butter bean mix, and top with the root veg.  Bake for 20 minutes.
5.  In a frying pan add cumin seeds to a tablespoon of olive oil, fry gently until the seeds start to release their aroma.  The add chopped white cabbage and half a mug of water.
6.  Simmer gently until water has reduced, then stir in grated emmental until it melts.  Stir in a small handful of chopped chives.
7.  Serve, scoff ...

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!

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.

Aduki bean and sweet potato casserole with rice

It does what it says on the tin.  Aduki beanes were soaked overnight, and then boiled for 40 minutes.  A spiced casserole, including onions, garlic, spice mix ...  mushrooms, green beans and sweet potato was cooked (started in olive oil, then adding diced veg and stock) ... then a tin of tomatoes - and then the beans to heat through.

Serve with rice.

Recipe is vague, I know - but actually thsi is a veg box fix - the important message is soak your beans :)

Chickpea, sweet potato and chard red thai curry

I have been a bit pre-occupied for a while, so Kitchen Fairies has suffered, as has my diet, a bit.  So, when the opportunity presented itself for me to inflict kitchen fairies on a new victim I was very pleased.  After a full day of work, and with meeting for a proper purpose, as well as scoffing and chatting ... and the new victim being veggie ... made this the perfect tea.  Easy, tasty, quick and forgiving as I had faffing to do as it cooked.   Used veg from the veg box, so rang the changes from peppers and bamboo shoots etc etc.  Predictably was too busy chatting to remember to take pic of actual dinner - but, given that I am incapable of cooking for 2 here are the 5 lunches which have now been stowed in the freezer for another day.

So, my recipe today:-

1 tbsp peanut oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 tbsp red Thai curry paste
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 sweet potato, diced
Handful green beans, chopped
Some mushrooms, chopped
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tin coconut milk
water
Big handful of chard - toughest stems chopped off, leaves chopped into big strips
1/2 tsp sugar (to taste, when I tasted it, it was slightly too hot and sour, you might not need it, you might want more)
To serve:-
Jasmine rice (cooked in rice cooker - cook to packet instructions)

1.  Fry onion gently in peanut oil, for a couple of minutes.  Set rice off cooking (follow packet instructions, or chuck in a rice maker with the right amount of water and ignore 'til done).
2.  Add curry paste, garlic diced sweet potato and mushrooms, stir round for a while.
3.  Add green beans, stir in.
4.  Add chick peas, coconut milk, and water - simmer for a bit (about 15 minutes).  Add water if it looks like it's going dry.
5.  When veg is soft enough to put the tip of the knife in, add chard, allow to soften for 5 minutes .. ish.
6. Squirt of lime, or lemon if you have it.  Scoff

Newest victim claimed to enjoy it.  I hope so, and hope to victimise them more in the future.

Sausage casserole

Sausage casserole, in July?  Yes, because of the grim weather this sort of autumnal dinner was required.  Fry sausages with onion and garlic, add celery, red pepper, mushrooms, and because there was some in the fridge sweet potato.  Sautee for a bit until veg is a little soft, but not cooked add tin of chopped tomatoes, splash of hot sauce and a pint of stock.  Add chopped beans (or other green stuff) and chuck in the over for about 40 minutes. Served with brown rice.  Victim scoffed it but didn't say much.  However, chopped up, mixed with the rice and served to additional victims who had suffered car trouble and many hours on the motorway as "gunge" at 11:30pm it was very favourably received.

Caribbean(ish) turkey, squash, sweet potato and peanut casserole

Diced turkey in the fridge, and some random vegetables... What do you do? Well, I did this... Chopped and sautéed one onion, garlic, one red pepper, one courgette, one peeled sweet potato and half a chiquito (or butternut, or other) squash.... After a few minutes add turkey, stirred until edges were a bit cooked. Added tin of chopped tomatoes, pint or so of chicken stock and good splash of hot sauce. Stuck in the oven for an hour while watching Saturday night film ... Before serving added chopped spring onions and some peanut gravy mix ... Could have been peanut butter and chili. Served with brown rice and natural yogurt. Victim liked it! Shed loads left for freezer.

Baked sweet potato, black bean salsa and garlic yogurt dressing

Alright, it looks a bit of a gruesome pile - but it was very tasty, and very very healthy.  Bake sweet potato for about an hour in a hot oven (pricked like a spud and with olive oil lightly rubbed on the skin).  Chopped red onion, cucumber, celery, red pepper, radish, tomato, added sweetcorn and black beans.  Then mixed seasonning well, and adding enough olive oil to moisten.  At the end added a small handful of salad leaves.  The dressing is made of greek yogurt, garlic, salt and pepper and lemon juice mixed together.  I still think sweet potato is too sweet, but it is a superfood - and with all the chopped salad this has got to be a significantly health giving tea.  Victim didn't say much!  but ate it.

Chicken and sweet potato hotpot

Veg box revenge.... sweet potato and red cabbage lolling about at the back of the fridge - actually turned into something quite delicious.

Started with the red cabbage - chop an onion and saute in olive oil, added chopped red cabbage - give it a few stirs and add a tsp or so of dried fennel seeds, salt, black pepper and apple juice - a good grind of black pepper and enough water to keep it moist.  Simmer, and chuck in medium oven with a lid on.

Then, onto the hotpot.... chop leeks, celery, carrots and saute in olive oil in a big casserole pan - add chopped green beans, chopped asparagus ends (optional - leftovers), suate a bit longer.  Push veg to edges and brown chicken chopped into bite sized pieces in the centre - add 2 cloves chopped garlic, and some "greek seasoning" (or some paprika/ oregano and mint).... when a bit browned deglaze with white wine, and add chicken stock, tomato puree and some mushrooms and  fresh tomatoes.  Simmer, lid on, for about 20 mins.  Meanwhile peel and thinly slice sweet potatoes - and then arrange in tidy layer on top ... the missed pic as the gathered victims were straight in there with the serving spoon.

In medium oven, with lid on for 30 mins - lid off for final 15-20 mins. 

Steam romanesco as you would broccoli.  Serve, and watch the vitamins take over gathered victims systems - doing them more good than they expected.  Also, sweet potato top gets big thumbs up from sweet toothed, and slightly spiced hot pot thumbs up from peeps who like "summat a bit different".  The only thumbs down was for the red cabbage - but that's just because they're nuts... I loved it.

Turkey and sweet potato chili with brown rice

Gently fry chopped onion and garlic, add pepper, chopped kholrabi and fry a little longer  Add chili mix (I often make my own but today was persuaded to use a mix - sod that in future!).  Fry again, add turkey in tiny peices and chopped runner beans and mushrooms.  Add a little water to make sure it does not stick.  Add drained black and kidney beans.  Simmer, then add a tin of tomatoes.  Add about half a pint of water. Cover simmer until done (about 40 minutes - but could be on, or stuck in an oven for much longer and not be ruined).  Serve with brown rice and natural yogurt.  A spritz of lime on serving zings it up a bit.  Victim enjoyed, and I am pleased to have got a low fat, high veg meal into us as we start our health kick.   Loads left for sticking in freezer - and taking to work for nuking.  Egg news:  3 today (my money's on Sophie, Clarissa and Rosemary)