Vegetarian Foods Archive

I've read about 'Rundowns' in a number of my vegetarian cookbooks, to name a few:  Delicious Jamaica ;   Caribbean & African Cookery , and  The Rasta Cookbook ,  but never got round to making any of the recipes in these cookbooks at home.   But when I saw it on the menu at a restaurant in the big, bustling and diverse city of Bristol, England, I just had to have it.   We went there a couple of years back with friends from Brittany.  I had the Rastafari Rundown with butter beans, corn cob, greens carrot, sweet potato, herbs, coconut milk served with Rice'n'peas and fried dumplings.  It came in an oval shaped enamel pot.   It was my first time and it was really good.  However, the second time we went there, it was not so good - the rice was not good at all and sadly the dumplings were stale, we never went back again.  Anyway, a 'rundown' is a method of reducing coconut milk slowly to achieve a thick creamy sauce, it is usua...

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 ...

Its been a little while since I have made stew with fluffy herby dumplings.  And the atrocious weather on Sunday kept me indoors and in the kitchen, cooking up some advanced meals for the working week ahead, this Butternut Squash, Kale and Sweetcorn Stew was one of them.  I think stews, casserole and ragout type dishes are best made a day or two in advance for the flavours to embrace the chosen vegetables.  So when I got in from work, all I had to do was put the stew on the hob to start warming through and as it does, begin making the dumplings  which only takes moments to whip up - really - dropping the uneven shaped balls on top. Put the lid back on and allowing the vegetable suet to do its magic, fluff up and almost double in size in the steamy bubbling heat.    I have written about suet before, click here if you want to learn more. The dumplings could be kept plain or just with herbs, but I wanted a little cheesyness without the greasy weight and t...

I love the voluptuous shape of the butternut squash.  I often describe it as the curvy  red head of the vegetable world.  I also love the wrinkles and crinkles of the curly kale, so it excites me when I can bring these two together as they would make a perfect combination like strawberries and cream.   The last recipe with this combination was my Butternut, Kale and Sweetcorn Stew , This evening its a far more simpler recipe of Kale and Butternut Squash Spaghetti dish, but there is no compromise on flavour, this dish warms you all over and that's even before you tucked in. This is essentially Spaghetti Pasta  Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino  or chilli flakes dressed up further with butternut squash ribbons and shredded kale.     It was a  relatively simple quick delicious meal and just what we both wanted after a long slow day at work.    Now I am off to laze.   Enjoy the rest of your day, I am really tired.  Goodnig...

Yes, I share with you another stew of sorts.  Though I have to admit this is a much lighter stew compared to those features a couple of weeks back. I guess its a sign that Spring is here.   Contrary though, the ingredients are not spring like at all, mostly autumnal.  Squashes, sweet potatoes and red and yellow peppers have been featuring quite a bit on my plate recently, I think its the colours that shout and make me feel all warm and humble.   Or maybe its accidental, as I want a change from the drudge brown-beige and greens.   I normally squeeze some fresh lemon juice when eating dishes made with black eyed peas.  Its something my mother taught me as it enhances the dish and I love it.  This time I decided to add slithers of  home-made preserved lemons  to the dish instead to infuse the nutty black eyed beans. The black eyed peas certainly did take on the zing from the preserved lemons that had almost deteriorated in the pot. ...

This marigold yellow pasta with marmalade coloured roasted peppers and butternut squash was lunch for work - twice, last week.   As I was tucking in, it got some of my colleagues all intrigued and curious 'Gosh, that pasta is glowing'. The pasta is simply infused with turmeric powder.  I've also tried this method with beetroot See HERE .   Although I have used ready made penne pasta here, you could easily make vegan Turmeric pasta from scratch too, just add a teaspoon or half to the flour when your mixing and kneading.  Anyway, the turmeric pasta on its own was a bit bland, so I decided to make make a vinaigrette dressing for it with some Blood Oranges that were mingling with the lemons in a bowl. The Blood Orange Chilli Oil was spicy and quite tasty elevated by the addition of my bottle of Welsh Blodyn Aur Rapeseed Chilli Oil.    Of course, you can make your own Chilli Oil at home and I probably would had I grown my own chillies, but sometimes whe...

One of the aims of  Refugee Week  is to promote positive encounters between asylum seekers and refugees and members of the receiving communities, as well as raising awareness.    The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is  Welcome.    As my blog is a vegetarian food blog  my Simple Act  is to  Cook A Dish from Another Country  and try and raise some awareness that way among some of my readers. Today I will share a vegetarian Zimbabwean Butternut Squash recipe.   But before I share the recipe, I would like to shine a little light on Zimbabwe.  Since 2000, the scale of state violence, the political instability and economic deprivation  in Zimbabwe has seen the UK receive refugees from there.  A refugee is someone whose asylum application has been successful and who is allowed to stay in another country having proved they would face persecution in their homeland. Zimbabwe's human rights record under Robert Mugab...

This is  not a cake 'cake' with a sponge, and its not a cheesecake though on first glance that is how it appears. This is a Butternut, Mango and Orange Marigold Layer Cake,  which I have also pretentiously dubbed as Sunrise Cake. The bottom is an almond crust, the middle Mango and butternut Squash filling is infused with Mango sweetness and then the topping finished off with a zingy zesty orange  jelly made with  agar agar  and then finished off with a light scattering of dried marigold flower petals - all depicting colours of the Sunrise.  I was impressed with myself, though I have to admit the rice paper butterflies actually look a little out of place, here or maybe dare I say it tacky - I did like the scattering of the dried marigold petals. This is not a very sweet cake, needs a squirt of (soya) cream to cut the richness of the butternut mango filling and the sharp twang from the orange topping.  Its also a very big cake, you can slice i...

Friday evening at last. I share with you a bowl of  Cinnamon Spice Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry.  I made it  over the weekend,.  It served us well early this week for two easy warm up meals when we came in late from work.   This Cinnamon Spice Butternut Squash and Chickpea curry  recipe is actually from Prashad: Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Kaushy Patel .  All I did different was in place of some of the chickpeas I added some butternut squash to the pot.  Prashad is one of my favourite Indian Vegetarian Cuisine cookbooks and I still have to get my own copy of their last cookbook Prashad At Home .  The copy I have been shamefully hogging has been from the library. This is a mild curry, even D commented on that, but it made for a change from spicy ones that I make often.  I do think this Cinnamon Spice butternut Squash Chickpea Curry benefits from sitting and being enjoyed a day later, rather than on the day as the spic...

I don't know if he was just very hungry or being honest, but D complimented on how delicious this Harissa Butternut Squash Stew was, not once but twice with a Thank you Lady.   I thought it was going to one of those stews that would benefit from overnight rest in the fridge, but we had it within an hour of making it and it was most enjoyable.  The harissa and the smoked paprika offset against each other wonderfully. Be careful with the cooking of the vegetables, especially the broccoli towards the end, you do not want it really soft, but still with bite, otherwise it would be more bordering on soup than stew, which is not a bad thing, but sometimes you want texture not bambino  food. I served this Harissa Butternut Squash Stew with some Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching for Spice as this was good a couple of days later too; and  with CookBlogShare hosted by Easy Peasy Foodie. Harissa  Butternut Squash Stew with Broccoli and Chickpeas Ser...