Category Archives: Vegetable Dishes

Mushroom Samosas

17 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by in Main Courses, Snacks and Tapas, Starters, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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I’m not a fan of deep frying, preferring to bake these these Samosas or parcels in the oven. I know that this is not authentic for a samosa, but whatever you want to call them the crispy pastry with a lightly spiced mushroom filling is delicious.

For 8 samosas

1/2 onion – sliced

1 clove garlic – finely chopped

olive oil or butter for frying

300 grams oyster mushrooms

seeds of 8 cardamom pods – ground

salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

juice of 1/2 small lime

8 sheets filo pastry

oil or melted butter for brushing on to the pastry

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and add the sliced onions and chopped garlic. Fry gently until translucent.

Rip the mushrooms into strips and add to the frying pan.

Season with the cardamom, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook slowly, stirring from time to time, until the mushrooms are cooked. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Lay out a sheet of pastry and brush with oil or butter. Fold the top third lengthways over and brush this with fat. Fold the bottom third over and brush with fat. Turn the whole piece over so that the unbrushed third is uppermost.

Add a spoonful or two of the mushroom mix as below and fold the pastry first diagonally and then vertically until the filling is within a neat parcel.

Place all the parcels on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes in a medium hot oven. 130 C in a fan oven, so around 140 C in a conventional oven.

I served mine with Steamed Broccoli and Cabbage with Whole Spices – recipe to follow – and a Tomato and Coriander Salad.

Creole Style Sweet Potato Soup

30 Friday Oct 2020

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This recipe came about with wanting to use up half a can of coconut cream and half a sweet potato that were lurking in the fridge, the resulting soup is so delicious that I have been making it ever since.

For 4 portions

750 ml light stock – either vegetable or chicken

500 grams sweet potato – peeled and cut into small cubes

80 ml coconut cream

1 teaspoon smoked picante paprika/pimenton

1/2 teaspoon coarsly ground black pepper

Juice of 1/2 a small lime

sea salt

Fresh coriander leaves – roughly chopped

Put the sweet potato, a little salt and the stock in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for about ten minutes until the potato is cooked and soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Take the pan off the heat and purée the soup with a hand blender until smooth.

Reheat the soup. Check the seasoning adding more salt if necessary.

Serve the soup sprinkled with fresh coriander.

Seaweed Salad & Rice Noodles with Mushrooms

25 Sunday Oct 2020

Posted by in salads, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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Of course mixed seaweed is not a foodstuff that one comes across easily, but if you are, like me, culinary curious and happen across a market stall selling various salted and dried seaweeds the mixed salad is a good one to buy to see if you like it. My sister and I bought 250 grams and I forget how much we paid, it seemed pricey at the time, but that amount makes about 16 portions. The seaweed expandes to more than twice the size when you soak it. Of course it makes a perfect salad to accompany fish.

For 2 portions

60 grams dried seaweed salad – soaked overnight in plenty of cold water

Cucumber – peeled and cut into julienne

6 radishes – sliced

few sprigs of fresh purple basil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

juice of half a lime

Drain the water from the seaweed and rinse the seaweed in more water. Drain and add to the salad bowl together with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

RICE NOODLES WITH MUSHROOMS

For 2 portions

50 grams rice noodles – soak for at least an hour in cold water

1 clove garlic

2 cm square piece of fresh ginger – finely chopped

1 tablespoon peanut oil

6 shiitake mushrooms – sliced

6 oyster mushrooms – sliced

1 tablespoon mushroom sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce – Nam Pla

Drain the noodles from their soaking water, put back into the container and pour boiling water over them.

In a wok, fry the ginger and garlic in the peanut oil for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes to cook the mushrooms.

Drain the noodles and add to the mushrooms. Mix well then season with the mushroom and fish sauce and mix again.
Vegans may want to omit the fish sauce, in which case add some salt to the dish.

If you are serving the noodles with the Sea Bass in Coconut Sauce, then you can add a spoon or two of the sauce to the noodles to moisten them.

Spicy Mixed Lentils & Vegetables

17 Saturday Oct 2020

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A delicious way to prepare lentils, mixing them with a mixture of sweet sautéed vegetables spiced with garam masala and chilli then topped with a garnish of sweet caramelised onions and crispy ginger.

For 4 portions

50 grams green lentils

50 grams mung beans

50 grams small white lentils

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida

4 cloves garlic – finely chopped

1 fresh chilli – finely chopped

2 carrots

stick celery

1/4 red pepper

1/2 medium courgette

olive oil for frying

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

Piece of fresh ginger – peeled and cut into fine strips

1 large onion – peeled and cut into thin rings

Pinch of white sugar

Soak the three types of lentils in advance, either in cold water overnight if you remember, or pour boiling water over them a couple of hours before you plan to cook them and let them steep. I find that the soaking helps soften the centre of the pulses so that they then cook more evenly.

Drain the lentils from their soaking liquid and put in a pan with enough water to reach about a centimetre over them.

Add the coriander seeds, asafoetida and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until the lentils are cooked.

Next prepare the garnishes. Heat a couple of tablespoons oil in a small frying pan and add the ginger. Cook until slightly browned and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Sprinkle a light dusting of sugar on to the onion rings, then slowly fry them in the same pan, adding more oil if needed. The sugar helps the onions caramelise.

Keep frying the onions on a low heat until browned and caramelised. This will take some time, at least 20 minutes, stir them round from time to time.

Now to the vegetables. Cut all the vegetables into small cubes.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and add the garlic and chilli. Fry for a few minutes.

Add the vegetables and stir in. Fry gently for ten minutes stirring from time to time.

Add the garam masala and season with salt. Mix in well and continue frying until the vegetables are cooked and lightly browned.

The lentils should have absorbed nearly all their cooking liquor, if not drain some off leaving the lentils a bit moist.

Add the lentils to the vegetables and stir well to mix. Cook for a couple of minutes for the flavours to infuse.

Serve topped with the caramelised onion rings and crispy ginger.

Broccoli with Garlic

14 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by in Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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A very simple recipe, broccoli braised with lots of garlic and ginger and then flavoured with either oyster or mushroom sauce.

As you can see in the photo, a good variation is to add a few mushrooms to the dish. I used oyster mushrooms.

For four portions

1 large head broccoli – cut into florets

Few mushrooms – either oyster or shiitake – sliced – optional

whole head of garlic – peeled and sliced

Piece of ginger as big as your thumb – peeled and finely chopped

peanut or olive oil for frying

1 tablespoon oyster or mushroom sauce

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a wok and add the ginger and garlic.

Stir fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the broccoli and mushrooms if using, and stir fry for a few minutes until it becomes a lovely bright green.

Add the oyster or mushroom sauce and a tablespoon of water. Stir in well the coat the vegetables.

Cook for a few more minutes until the broccoli is just cooked but still has some bite.

Thai Pomelo Salad

05 Saturday Sep 2020

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My grapefruit tree seems to have got itself extremely confused about the seasons this year, so surprised me with five fruits ripe in August. The usual season for ripe fruit is late December to March or April. So to celebrate this unexpected bounty I remembered this spicy salad that I had in Thailand many years ago.

As with most salads a little variation can be made without losing the essentials of what makes the salad successful. For this one the essentials are, of course the grapefruit, peanuts, fresh coriander, coconut slivers and the dressing. I’ve used as well on this occasion some alfalfa sprouts and watercress.

For two portions

1 grapefruit – either pink or yellow fleshed

30 grams dry roasted peanuts

piece fresh coconut roughly 4 x 4 cm – peeled and sliced into slivers

small bunch of fresh coriander leaves

small bunch of watercress leaves

alfalfa or other small sprouting seeds – fenugreek are very tasty

For the dressing

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon Nam Pla fish sauce

1 tablespoon agave syrup / honey

1 finely chopped green Thai chilli

Cut the grapefruit in half and then cut away the skin and pith. Cut in half and then into thin slices.

Put into your salad bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Mix well.

I served my salad with a Prawn Green Curry, steamed broccoli and black rice.




Acar Campur

02 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by in Food for One, Vegan, Vegetable Dishes

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This is an Indonesian cooked vegetable salad with a slightly sweet and sour dressing, which can be eaten hot or cold although I prefer it cool as the flavours are more pronounced.

When I cooked this I was at the end of the week with little in the fridge, but the three things I had were exactly what go in this dish, with the addition of some sweetcorn which I thought would fit for this.

For one serving

For the paste

1/2 sweet onion – roughly chopped

1 large clove garlic

15 grams nuts – ideally candlenuts but otherwise macadamias or hazelnuts

1 small green chilli

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon smooth mustard

1 teaspoon agave syrup / honey

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 tablespoon Nam Pla fish sauce

100 ml water

Put all the above ingredients in a food processor and blend to a paste.

65 grams french or runner beans – cut into bite sized lengths

1 carrot – peeled and cut into julienne

few sprigs of broccoli or cauliflower

Fresh corn kernels from 1/2 a cob of corn – just slice them off – optional

Put the paste into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring regularly. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

Put the beans into the sauce adding a little extra water if needed so that they are covered. Simmer for a couple of minutes.

Add the carrots and corn and bring back to a simmer, again adding water as needed. Cook for about another 3 minutes.

Now add the cauliflower or broccoli and simmer for a couple more minutes until the broccoli is just cooked but still has bite.

Either eat as it it or leave to cool before serving.

Indian Spinach Salad

29 Saturday Aug 2020

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This salad does not have to be only spinach, it can be a mixture of any dark leaves. If you can include some bitter ones like chicory or rocket it will add to the depth of flavour. I used mostly spinach, three shredded chicory leaves and some watercress.

If your leaves are tough, then you will need to boil them in water for five or ten minutes until they are tender but still with a bite.

If the leaves are very tender then blanch them by pouring boiling water over them and then leave them for a couple of minutes before draining the water away.

The dressing is raw and made in the food processor.

Bunch of fresh mint leaves

1 clove garlic – roughly chopped

fresh ginger – 2 x 2 x 2 cm – roughly chopped

1/4 teaspoon smooth mustard

2 tablespoons peanut or olive oil

fresh chilli – roughly chopped

Whizz these ingredients together, then add to the warm leaves. Mix well and leave to marinate for about an hour before serving.

Mixed Dal Curry

28 Friday Aug 2020

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Dal or lentils have the second highest protein content of pulses after soy beans, and more importantly are very tasty. There are many recipes for dal using a variety of ingredients, so you can adapt to whatever you may have ready in your veg garden or fridge.

The dal are generally boiled with flavourings and then once cooked a fried spice mix is added to complete the flavouring.
My regular readers will already know that I am a great fan of soaking dried pulses and grains for several hours or overnight. I find that this way the centre of the pulse is already softened so then they cook more evenly and quickly.

For 4 portions

70 grams green lentils/ Pardinas

70 grams moong dal/mung beans

50 grams white lentils

125 ml tomato passata / tomato frito

125 grams butternut squash cut into small cubes

Piece of fresh ginger 2x2x2 cm – chopped

1 small green chilli – chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the finishing spice

2 tablespoons peanut or olive oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

8 curry leaves

3 cloves of garlic – finely chopped

piece of ginger 2 x 2 x 4 cm – finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida

Put the lentils and beans in a container with a generous amount of cold water to allow for absorption. Leave for alt least four hours.

Once the lentils are soaked, drain and put in a pan with the passata, ginger, chilli, butternut squash and salt. Add water to cover.

Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.

Check the water level from time to time and add more if needed. You want a fairly wet mix and some of the lentils will break up into the liquid and thicken it.

The lentils should take around 40 minutes to cook through, so check them after this time. If you prefer your curry to be a softer purée, then continue cooking a little longer.

Once the lentils are about done, prepare the spice mix.

Heat the oil in a shallow pan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds, then the curry leaves. Fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the garlic an ginger and fry for a few more minutes until the garlic is lightly browned.

Stir in the turmeric, coriander and asafoetida, then add the spice mix to the pan of lentils.

Stir well to mix in an leave to cook for another five minutes for the flavours to mix.

I served my curry with plain boiled brown rice, spicy spinach salad, a fresh peach chutney and pickles. So tasty! I’ll give you the recipe or the spinach salad and peach chutney tomorrow.


Three Salads

02 Sunday Aug 2020

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In this summer heat, lunch for your friends wants to be a light and fresh affair, Watermelon Gazpacho followed by three salads served with freshly homemade bread. To finish a small pot each of intense dark chocolate sorbet and crispy ginger biscuits.

BEETROOT & RADICCIO SALAD WITH PURPLE BASIL

The beetroot was roasted for an hour with whole cloves of garlic, a generous splash of balsamic vinegar, sprigs of fresh oregano and olive oil, season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
Let the beetroot cool before mixing with shredded chicory and purple basil leaves.

LENTIL & POMEGRANATE SALAD WITH FRESH CORIANDER

His salad is cooked green lentils, a good amount of the little pomegranate jewels that I have plenty of in the garden this year, then finely chopped cucumber, tomatoes and celery. Add a generous amount of roughly chopped coriander leaves and dress lightly with lime juice and olive oil.

I’m a fan of soaking dried grains so that when you come to cooking the grains are already re moistened in the centre, and so require less cooking. Pour boiling water over the lentils and leave an hour or so to steep before cooking until just tender. Drain the lentils and let them cool before adding them to the salad.

SALAD OF FRESH FIGS, ROASTED RED ONIONS AND HAZELNUTS

This is a Yotam Ottolengi recipe which has a lovely contrast of flavours with the sweet roasted red onions and figs, and the peppery watercress and rocket. His recipe uses radiccio rather than rocket, but as I have both I decided that the more peppery rocket suited this recipe better. I was surprised to find that what I thought was weeds in my vegetable patch is actually rocket, and it hasn’t become overly peppery in the strong Spanish heat.
I haven’t used roasted red onions in a salad before, and I have to say, I’m a total convert. I shall be roasting a tray full regularly so that I have them at the ready in the fridge.

This amount serves 4

2 small red onions – peel them and cut each into 6 wedges

50 grams hazelnuts with skin / or ready dry roasted unseasoned hazelnuts

1/2 small head of radicchio / or a similar amount of rocket

good bunch of fresh basil – either the green or purple

bunch of watercress with the stems removed

6 ripe fresh figs, cut into quarters

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Roast the onions drizzled with olive oil at 180 C for 30 minutes. Leave to cool.

If you are roasting hazelnuts, turn the oven down to 140, and once it has reached this temperature, spread the hazelnuts in a shallow pan and roast for 20 minutes. Leave to cool then break up into pieces with a pestle and mortar. If you are using the ready roasted hazelnuts break these up as above.

To put the salad together, start with the leaves, rip them into pieces and put in a large bowl, add the onions and figs.

Dress with the oil and vinegar and gently toss. I like to do this with my hands as it’s more gentle than using implements.

Scatter over the broken hazelnuts and serve.