Vegetarian Foods Archive

What's the weather like where you are?  Or should I not ask?! It's not so nice here at all, we went into Cardiff this morning and driving there and back - well it felt like we were in a submarine with the rain coming down in buckets.  I am not feeling 100%, plus its been a good, but busy week at work, so I was actually glad to get back home when we did, as I was not in the mood for Christmas shopping and the hustle and bustle.  I was glad that I didn't need to do any cooking either when we got in either. I made this Savoury Crumble a couple of days back, yes I know two Savoury Crumble s in one month.  This one is very autumnal in appearance, though its quite wintry outside.  Gold and yellow from the butternut squash and sweetcorn, moss green from the kale and studded with clay brown aduki beans.  It was quite pretty to gaze at, but then I went and covered it with a blanket of wholemeal flour and cheddar cheese crumble topping.  Once baked, a ...

I made this Sarson Ka Saag, Potato, Paneer and Pea Pie filling during British Pie Week (7th - 13th March 2016)  and then lost Internet connection for five days so could not share the recipe with you then.   I don't want to be pedantic, but many people make a mistake of thinking Spinach is Saag.  It is not and sadly many people of South Asian heritage continue to perpetuate this.  Why I am not sure, perhaps because they don't know their greens!  So let me tell you,  Saag is mustard greens and Palak is Spinach.  See Aloo Saag Pies .  We have similar ingredients, but our approach to making the filling is different.  She uses tamarind.  I don't but if you want you could dollop a tablespoon or two of sweet mango chutney, but its not essential.  I used tinned Sarson Ka Saag.  there is no way I will ever attempt making saag from scratch at home.   THIS blog link if you wish to learn more.  Saag is a dish I used to re...

These are British style flapjacks enhanced with turmeric, apricot and mango pieces.  I don't have breakfast during the working week, so a banana, flapjack and coffee are what gets me to lunch on a working day and today was no different.   I make flapjacks all the time and vary them wit different dried fruit or fresh seasonal fruit.  Recently its been strawberry flapjacks  with strawberries from the garden, but I wanted to experiment a little.   Turmeric seems to be trendy at the moment, so I thought I would chuck a teaspoon into my flapjacks just for a change.  Not only were the oats a golden autumn yellow, the turmeric also imparted its flavour and that was okay with me as I don't mind turmeric, but D was not overly keen on having these particular ones for his breakfast, saying that his preference was the other ones I usually make.  He thought these were more suited for a snack. These Turmeric Flapjacks are so easy to make vegan, just replac...

Wondering what to do with those monster marrows other than stuffing them with brown rice, quinoa and other grains.  Here's something that will last in your kitchen larder (if your fortunate to have one); or if your heart desires share with family, friends and Besties.   It will compliment toasts,  crumpets and even croissants.   If you have not heard of it, let me introduce you to a different type of curd made without eggs Marrow Cream.  This is is no ordinary Marrow Cream, this recipe was bestowed to me (and other fellow bloggers but I won't say that too loudly) by one of my long term friend  Nic from Nip It In The Bud  who I met through blogging.  We started blogging around the same time and I have watched her and her husband grow from a loving couple into a blossoming family, first there was little Euan and now there is Luca.   A few years ago, when I was a lot more proactive in the allotment garden, I would make a lot of homemade jam...

It's a a pizza kind of day.   Except this is not a pizza, its more of a tart.   I made this a few weeks back with what is a luxury fruit in our home: fresh Turkish Black Bursa Figs.   I was a little unsure when D picked these Black Bursa Figs, as we had plums falling in our garden, but he said he wanted something different fruit to eat for a change from the usual apples, bananas and oranges.  I then thought fair enough we don't eat fresh figs much, only if we go overseas to places like Turkey or Cyprus.   The figs are squat like in shape and much darker in colour, deep purple and nearly black in places. They made for a nice change, but we had way too many and they were super ripe and fragile to the touch.   I decided to make a pizza like tart.  I spread a little green basil pesto on the base, topped it with slices of figs then dotted it with some mozzarella balls (you can use a vegan alternative if you want).  Then it went into the ...

This Winter Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin is perhaps something best served around Halloween when loud bold colours seem more acceptable on the dinner plate, though I must add orange is the real colour of Halloween, not Gothic blood wine colours.   This a dish that was made from scratch, from peeling and cooking the beetroot (which were from my own garden plot) to making the sauce, the only shortcut I used was horseradish sauce from a jar.  I have seen fresh horseradish root in the city of Cardiff, but its very expensive and I would only want a tablespoon or two, not the whole root - so its from a jar, no shame in that.   You could make this grating completely with beetroot, but I thought it might be too overpowering and alternated it with sliced potatoes.  This recipe is vegetarian, but it can easily be made vegan. I served the Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin enjoyed it with Cauldron Lincolnshire sausages which I prefer to the other supermar...

I made this Courgette Marrow Aubergine Spicy Ground Chorizo Pizza a few weeks back.  It is a little  reminisce of  Lahmacan . dubbed in the English speaking world as the Turkish Pizza, but of course this one is vegetarian as it is made with soya mince in place of minced meat. I really, really loved it.   The base is not traditional tomato, but spicy ground chorizo made with soy mince and all the flavours associated.  It was a little old fashion way of making vegan chorizo , but it was delicious and I will make it again .  The courgettes in this recipe were bordering on becoming marrows, hence the reason that I have named the recipe so.   The spicy ground soy mince chorizo base recipe comes from Mo Wyse and Shannon Martinez of  Smith and Daughters in Australia.  I was recommended the cookbook Smith and Daughters That Happens to Be Vegan by the Green Gourmet Giraffe. As a vegetarian I do like the cookbook, but I am a ...

Over the weekend, we cleared the greenhouse and harvested the last of the ripe red tomatoes and some of the green, the rest were removed and burned. I had made a   Green Tomato and Coconut Curry   from  Celia Brooks cookbook  New Urban Farmer: From Plot to Plate   a couple of years ago and was about to recreate it, but then  I picked up another one of my cookbooks, this time Modern Vegetarian from Maria Elia.  I had remade her Tomato and Date Baklava (not photographed) and it was delicious, and whilst flicking through the cookbook, my eyes fell upon her Tomato Coconut Curry, so this version is based on that recipe with a few tweaks by me.  I also decided to add some paneer cheese to it, as it would have been lacking protein.  If you are vegan, you can substitute the paneer easily with tofu.  I served the curry with Basmati rice. D said it was delicious and it was, I loved the flavour of the coconut coming throu...

I have lots of flavoured cheddar cheese in the fridge from Christmas and the New Year.  We have been snacking on them in the evening with crackers, but I have also decided to incorporate some of it into our cooked meals. This is a Smoked Cheddar Cheese Nut Roast that I made to accompany Sunday Veggie Roast Dinner.  D is never excited by nut roasts.  So to please him I told him he would also get some mock meat slices on his plate (left over from a previous meal).   This Smoked Cheese Nut Roast  recipe comes from Green Gourmet Giraffe.  Johanna's version is vegan.  Wow this was a flavourful nut roast.   It was very textual too. I changed it just a little, but they are not worth mentioning really.  Adding a red pepper for colour and upping the smoked paprika and Smoked cheddar cheese and finally because it just seemed right, I had to use the  Outback Spirit Tasmanian Pepper Salt seasoning  that Johanna sent me ...

April weather has been teasing us - a peek of sunshine, followed rather quickly by a burst of rain - I know its not called 'April Showers' for nothing.  The point is, its still not very warm and we are still tucking into autumnal coloured food.  In fact, let me forewarn you in advance, this week my blog will feature food that is mostly orange in colour.    Here is my One Pot Curried Butternut Squash, Red Chard , Chestnut Mushrooms and White Beans.   Food that glows and food that warms the belly. I really dislike using the word 'curried', as its used so lazily these days, but this  One Pot Butternut Squash, Red Chard, Chestnut Mushrooms and White Beans recipe is actually curried .  The recipe is also inspired and adapted from Anjum Anand.  It was surprisingly quite good.   The original recipe has cobblers on top which are a sort of scone, but I had some puff pastry in the fridge and to make evening meal a little easy, I...