Vegetarian Foods Archive

I made this Green and Yellow Summer Vegetable Minestrone a couple of weeks back with homegrown golden yellow courgette and runner beans, though I have to admit the sweetcorn and peas both at the height of the season have come from the freezer.  I know shame on me, call myself a seasonal cook.  Anyway, this Minestrone was fresh and tasty. The courgettes had crunch, the runner beans imparted that faint beany flavour, the peas and sweetcorn were sweet and the broth light and fragrant from both fresh basil and min. But there is a but.... I was not convinced by the addition of rice, so maybe next time I would replace the rice by stirring in some baby pasta, but that is no criticism to the dish itself, it tasted alright and if presented wit it again, I would happily eat it especially on a breezy day like today.   I am sharing this post with Deb at Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammies) Sundays   and  Lisa's Kitchen.  and Jac at  Tinned Tomatoes. ...

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for inspiration to use up the last of my courgettes.   Apparently, the descriptive 'Calabacitas' is often used in Mexican restaurants to describe a vegetarian filling that usually contains squash, corn and spices.   The recipe suggested serving this as a Taco filling, but I am not into taco's that much - Burrito being my first choice, always, but this time round I fancied a bit of crunch and decided to make some Tortilla baskets. The calabacitas was utterly gorgeous, not just the colour: gold, green and cream, but also to eat, the sweetness from the sweetcorn, the buttery butter beans, the zing from the lime.  For me though, it was both the coriander and jalapenos that elevated the courgettes to a thing of sheer culinary delight.  I served my portion of Calabacitas in a tortilla basket.  The crunch was amazing.  D insisted on having his burrito style with soured cream, grated cheese an...

Vegan Mofo comes to an end and the last prompt is Fusion Food.  Where do I start, there are so many, but here are few fusion eats to get you thinking. -Irn Bru, Curry and Chips -Roti/Chappati Wraps -Thai Curry with Chips -'Chicken' Tikka Hoagie Roll -Dhokla Sandwich  Bombay Sandwich For those of us who live in the United Kingdom, even a cup of tea is fusion , think about it.  Anyway, I had grand plans to conclude my participation in this years Vegan Mofo with a hardcore fusion recipe; or showcasing a handful of fusion recipes featured on my blog from the past.  Then I remembered this heart-shaped  Zucchini-Courgette and Chocolate Cake with Matcha Icing that I made a couple of weeks back.  So this vegetarian would like to say Thank you to every one who came by through Vegan Mofo and left a comment, each has been appreciated.  I have bookmarked many recipes and hope to make them in the not too distant future, but I've also met some blog...

The past few weeks or so, I have made a few Persian inspired dishes inspired mostly by Iranian   food bloggers, rather than from the spate of mainstream Middle Eastern cookbooks published recently in the UK.  It started as a means  to find inspirational ways of using my spices such as Advieh , Baharat , Sumac, Za'ata r and ingredients such as Maftoul and Freekeh, but like any curious cook I have been lured and enticed by other recipes.   When I saw an Iranian style Koresh tweeted by The Persian Fusion,   I just knew I had to make a vegetarian variation of it.  Something about it had me salivating.   Koresht/Khoresht/Ghalyeh  are stews or curries in Persian cooking.  They should not be compared to South Asian curries popular in the Western world.  Persian stews and curries are  quite mild.   I substituted the chicken breasts with Quorn 'chicken' fillets and adjusted the spices to taste and the tomato sauce acc...

The next few weeks my blog will at least twice a week feature a recipe made with courgettes aka the summer zucchini.   The reason, its in season - but mostly I have so much of it coming from the garden.  I've made a few courgette recipes, so will share them later, but today its Turmeric Lemon and Courgette Orzo.  Its not much of a recipe, as I eye-balled everything.  I began with 250grams orzo pasta and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric to the rolling boiling water.   The ochre yellow turmeric dyes the rice shaped orzo pasta whilst cooking.   The yellow courgettes are quartered and then sauteed in olive oil and minced garlic, I decided to continue with the yellow theme.  And added in some diced yellow pepper and sweetcorn from a tin and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.    The final touch was drizzling over some good oil, I used  Welsh Blodynn Aur Rapeseed Oil,  but a good extra virgin olive oil would be fine too. ...

Cauliflower 'Couscous' or Cauliflower 'Rice' seems all the rage right now, but it appeared on humble blog in 2009 thanks to the vegetarian chef and cookbook author Rose Elliot.  But even then the real credit goes to one of the worlds famous chefs Ferran Adria and The Food at El Bulli Gourmet Restaurant.     Early this year, I  was chatting to a fellow blogger, and we both mused how some food bloggers are acting that its their creation l ike  baking  a jacket potato, putting vegetables into cakes or making vegan ice-cream from frozen bananas,  never acknowledging or crediting origins or inspiration.  After all most recipes originate from somewhere, we all  - even I do it - put our twist on it, adapt it, enhance it, increase this ingredient, decrease that ingredient and so forth,   but its not often original.    Well Ferran Adria created and introduced foodies and popularized what we now call Cauliflow...

I hope you don't mind me sharing a recent observation when I was waiting to get the bus back home from work. I start with a statement.  I think chivalry is dead or taking its very last dying breaths.  I had faith it was still alive in the older gentlemen but not now.  I waited to get my bus home and noted fellow blogger Sareta's Kitchen make and was inspired to give it my own South Asian twist - Indian, Pakistan and Bangladesh all rolled into one.  Here it is my Curried Anglo Italian Ratatouille with fenugreek and chickpeas.  Of course, I had to present it prettily, it takes a little time but its worth the effort when you want to make an impression. You could serve this with plain Basmati rice if you want, but some good crusty bread is what we had.   So how was it?  I really liked it.  If ratatouille was served to me like this I would enjoy it more. Yes we British people Love Fusion Food.  Yes - we do, really - when people think of t...

Last week, I was unwell, but I had to force myself to go into work as I had made a commitment to help someone who without me would not have been supported.  You see I am the only one in my office who does what i do, if I am not there, no one will pick up the work I do.  Yet we are all replaceable when they don't need you.  I was happy I went in though, as the person I supported gave me a biggest and warmest hug and her little one gave me a bonus hug, I don't get many thanks in my job, so it really mean't a lot to me.   Anyway, I was glad when the weekend came, but it wasn't as relaxing as I wanted as it was D's turn of not feeling well.  We have not done anything this weekend and both stayed indoors nursing sniffles, scratchy throats and sore heads.  I had wanted to do some gardening, but as well as poor health, the weather scuppered that too.  The sky  turned proper grey and the rain fell, falling from the sky in all direction encourage...

For those of you who grow vegetables, no doubt you are in undated with courgettes aka zucchini. Do get yourself the cookbook What Will I Do with All Those Courgettes ?!  Saying that though, its done me no good today as  I couldn't find my copy and am still in the process of looking for it.  The last time I saw it was when we lived in Scotland and now of course, my home is in Wales.   Anyway, I ended up making a simple Dal recipe with the addition of courgettes from my garden plot.  I still have a very sore throat from last week and i keep losing my voice now and again, so wanted something soothing and a little spicy.  Plus its been raining on and off - yes typical of a long Bank Holiday weekend.   Yes I know this is really a Dal, that you eat with roti, chapatti or naan bread, but I like to enjoy it like a soup with a big spoon and some crusty bread, there was definitely something about it that made me feel well.  It was also really yummy ...

I've mentioned before that I am looking for ways to enjoy my homegrown yellow and green courgettes aka zucchini.    I stumbled upon a meat version of this recipe and of course decided to adapt it for my vegetarian diet, by replacing it with meatfree soy mince protein which makes the recipe accidentally vegan, which seems to be the case with most of my recipes unless of course you decide to scatter over some cheese, though a vegan alternative would work well here too.  I served the stuffed Fantail Courgettes with some couscous, but you can also serve it with rice or just eat it as it is, but I feel it is more of an accompaniment than a while meal.  I think its quite an attractive dish too, one that would be appreciated at dinner parties or when you have family or friends over, but D and me, we are posh folk (just kidding) and only the best for us.  I am sharing this courgette recipe with The Veggie Indian ;  and    Healthy Veg...