weekly_food_challenge | Entries tagged with vegetarian

This is a regular soup for me, I make it in various iterations depending on what veg is in season, or lurking unloved in the bottom of the fridge. Something of a Sunday night special, when I want to be kind to future me - few things better at this time of year than opening the fridge after a long shift to see a jug of nice thick soup waiting for you.

Today's version was:

1 leek (alternately a large onion or a couple of smaller ones - or for that matter half a bunch of spring onions)
2 sweet potatoes (or equivalent other potatoes)
half a marrow
a couple of sad carrots
3oz of lentils (in this case mung daal but red lentils, split peas or whatever daal you have in the cupboard)
half a bag of kale (or whatever dark green veg is lurking unloved in your fridge)
a litre of veg stock

Thinly slice your leek, dump into a large pot with a knob of butter/margerine or a tbsp of olive oil, soften slowly on a low heat, stiring regularly. Peel and roughly chop your potatoes, carrots and marrow (or parsnips, squash, lump of turnip etc), once your leek is soft, dump chopped potatoes and lentils into the pan, stir around for a minute of two until potatoes are well-coated in leek and lentils.

Pour hot stock over them, stir and leave for a minute. Add other chopped veg and season. (I usually use a stock cube so I don't bother with salt, so I just add pepper, along with some thyme and a bay leaf because I have a small herb garden with both those things to hand.) Simmer for 20 minutes or so. Give it a stir every five minutes or so to make sure it doesn't stick.

Prep your green veg - when using kale I usually just remove the woodier stocks, when using broccoli I just cut the very end of the stock off, ditch any leaves, and roughly chop it. After 20 minutes, add the green veg and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Take pot off the heat and leave to cool for 20 minutes/half an hour - often I make this in the morning before I do a backshift, and I find the time it takes to have a shower, get dressed and blow-dry my hair is also a good interval for this - pour into a jug blender and blitz.

Normally I would put some cheese in this. (Sometimes the time the soup gets left to cool is the time it takes me to walk to the shops, grab some cheese for it and walk back.) Often I will pick up a lump of blue cheese from the supermarket on the way home from work so that I can call it Kale/broccoli and blue cheese soup. However I'm equally likely to make it with whatever soft strong cheese I spotted on the reduced chiller shelf, or at Xmas with leftover cheeseboard cheese. I've never tried it myself, but I imagine that if you have leftover cream cheese needing used up, then that would work too. However, the only cheese in my fridge right now is hard cheese, so by the terms of this challenge, no cheese in the soup.

el_staplador

I was seriously hampered by a lack of onions, but I came up with this, and it's quite tasty.

Ingredients
2 small potatoes
1 head broccoli
1/2 red pepper
a little oil
3 eggs
a little milk
salt and pepper
4 slices 'sandwich brie' (this is like any other sort of brie, but comes in a cuboid shape rather than a disc)

Equipment
Frying pan with a handle that won't melt
Spatula
Microwave
Microwaveable dish
Grill
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Peeler
Bowl

Method
Peel the potatoes and cut into slices about 1/4cm thick. Place in microwaveable dish with about a tablespoon of water, cover and microwave for five minutes. Cut the broccoli into small florets and the pepper into small pieces. Cook in a little oil in the frying pan for about five minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure the broccoli doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into a bowl. Add a dribble of milk and a smidge of salt and pepper.

Add the cooked potato slices to the vegetables in the frying pan, bashing them with the spatula to break them up if they've stuck together, and stir until you have a good balance of the various ingredients across the pan. Pour the egg mixture in over the top. Cook for another five minutes or so. While it's doing that, arrange the brie on top.

Cook under the grill for 10 minutes or until the top is browned.

norfolkian

Mood: disappointed

Peppers are one of my favourite things to cook with. They are so versatile. When I was thinking of what to cook for this challenge, I suddenly remembered this amazing dish I ate in Greece, called Gemista or Yemista, which are peppers stuffed with rice. Here is a picture of the ones I had in Greece.

I decided to try and recreate them at home, and I largely used this recipe from Rick Stein, but scaled it down and only did peppers rather than all the other veg as well. I neglected to remove the foil and continue cooking mine for 15-30 mins, which meant they weren't wholly successful, but they were ok. I left out the chilli flakes, but added capers to mine. I also found I needed a lot more liquid when cooking the rice than it suggests in the recipe. I also think it would have helped if the oven was a higher temperature. Oh, well. You live and learn.

Next time, I will try and do a version that has a tomato sauce with it as well, like the ones I had in Greece.

(There was definitely better lighting in Greece as well - provided by the sunshine!)

norfolkian

Mood: pleased

This week for the hand held challenge, I have cooked lentil and squash pasties. The recipe is from my River Cottage Everyday cookbook, but the recipe is also online here.

I am not that well practised at pastry-making, but it's something I want to learn more about. This was my first attempt at rough puff pastry - I have made proper puff pastry once before, but it was a long time ago. I made a mistake in that I did not allow enough time for the filling to properly cool first, so I'm pretty sure this affected my pastry and certainly made it difficult to work with as soon as the filling came into contact with it. I would recommend making the filling earlier in the day and giving it plenty of time to cool and maybe even get it into the fridge before filling those pasties.

I also generally think that shortcrust pastry works better for pasties.

Nevertheless, these were tasty, and still edible despite my mistakes. I think I do generally prefer meat-filled pasties, but as a veggie substitute these aren't bad. I cheated and bought ready chopped squash and also substituted cider vinegar for the apple balsamic, and french whole-grain for English mustard.*

Also, I have to admit to eating mine with a knife and fork because it was hot. But you could definitely eat them with your hands when cooler! (Although the pastry was quite flaky, which is why I think shortcrust works better for handheld things.)

*Yes, I'm a traitor.

norfolkian

Mood: relaxed

Traditionally, bigilla is made with dried tic beans. Tic beans are a smaller, darker relative of broad beans, but in this country they seem to be mostly used in animal feed. Like much Maltese cookery, recipes will vary a lot according to family tradition amongst other things. I based my recipe on one from the Food & Cookery of Malta - my go to cookbook when cooking any new-to-me Maltese recipes. However, there are also some recipes on the internet here, here and here. Most recipes seem to suggest adding pretty much all the ingredients raw (aside from the beans), but I decided to cook my garlic and chilli a little before adding to the beans.

I used tinned broad beans rather than dried, because my local supermarket did not have any dried ones. Plus I didn't have to bother soaking them or cooking them for too long.

This recipe makes enough for 4 - 6 people as a starter/snack.

Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp Olive oil
1 mild red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
4 large cloves of garlic, minced using a garlic press or finely chopped
2 x 300g tins broad beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of one lemon or 2 tbsps bottled lemon juice
Salt (to taste)
Handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used parsley and mint)

Method
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan and very gently fry the chilli and garlic, stirring often, for about 5-10 minutes until soft. Take off the heat once done, but leave in the pan. Meanwhile cook the tinned beans in some water for a few minutes (technically you don't really need to do this bit, as the beans are already cooked, but I decided to heat mine as I thought it might make them easier to mash, plus you can serve this dish warm or cold). Once the beans have cooked for a few minutes, drain and add to the pan with the chilli and garlic. Add the lemon juice, the rest of the olive oil and the salt. Using a fork or a potato masher, roughly mash the bean mixture. Finally, add the mixed herbs and stir it all together.

Serve with toasted bread or crackers. Or for a proper authentic Maltese experience serve with galletti.

norfolkian

Mood: creative

I costed this dish at 99p for the whole thing (using J*mie Ol*ver maths) and it can serve 3 - 4 people.

Ingredients
1 tsp oil - 1p (I checked how much Jack Monroe costs oil on her recipes on her blog, as I couldn't work this out...)
1 small onion, diced - 5p (60p/kg at Sainsbury's)
1 stick celery, finely diced/sliced - 10p (60p/450g at Sainsbury's)
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped - 2p (35p for two bulbs Sainsbury's basics range)
1 tsp dried mixed herbs - 1p (£2.50/85g at Sainsbury's)
1 400g can chopped tomatoes - 30p (Sainsbury's basics)
700ml water (arguably free)
1 vegetable stock cube - 5p (45p for a pack of 10 - Sainsbury's own brand)
100g dried spaghetti, broken up into small lengths - 5p (20p/500g Sainsbury's basics)
1 300g can mixed vegetables, drained - 40p (Sainsbury's)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Heat the oil over a low/medium heat and add the onion and celery. Cook gently, stirring, for 10 - 15 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and herbs and cook for two more minutes, stirring. Pour in the tomatoes and water and bring to the boil. Crumble the stock cube into the pan, stir well to dissolve, and turn down to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes. Uncover, add the spaghetti and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Add the mixed vegetables and cook gently for 3 - 4 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Maybe break your spaghetti into smaller lengths than I did... But either way, this was tasty!

norfolkian

Mood: tired

The cookbook I hadn't used yet was one I got for Christmas: Jack Monroe's A Year in 120 Recipes. I like Jack Monroe's recipes because they use easy to source ingredients and are often quite simple to make but tasty. For whatever reason, I just hadn't got round to cooking any recipes from it yet.

I ended up making quite a few changes, partly to do with availability of ingredients (e.g., the fresh tomatoes I bought annoyingly had started to go mouldy even though I only got them at the weekend) and partly because it was after work and I was tired (e.g., the recipe says to roast the aubergine in the oven then add the flesh to the sauce at the end, but I just chopped it up and did it all in the same pot).

So, this is based on Smoky aubergine, tomato and red lentil pasta sauce from the above book, but with my changes included. It was filling and pretty tasty.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 small green pepper, deseed and diced
1 small aubergine, diced into 2cm cubes
2 large garlic cloves, chopped or crushed
a couple of pinches of dried chilli flakes
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
75g dried red lentils
400g tin chopped tomatoes
zest and juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper

Method
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook gently for 5 - 10 minutes until starting to soften. Add the green pepper and aubergine and cook for a few minutes. Then add the garlic, chilli flakes and mixed herbs and cook for another minute or two.
2. Wash the lentils and then add to the pan. Stir, then add the chopped tomatoes, the lemon and about 200ml water.
3. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are soft and the liquid has reduced into a thick sauce (add more water if it starts to dry out).
4. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the pasta of your choice.

Some grated cheese would be lovely on this too, but I didn't have any cheese in the fridge. Booooo.

missdiane

I’ve been meaning to make something from my vegan cookbook Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give A Fuck. This coming Thursday we are having a goodbye party for our student worker who happens to be vegan and I wanted to make sure she actually has options to eat. I bought the ingredients today and will make this Wednesday evening.

Sweet corn and black eyed pea dip

“Some people call this Texas Caviar. We just call it goddamn delicious. This makes a fuckton of dip so if you’re flying solo, just halve everything”

1 red bell pepper
1 small tomato
3 cups cooked black eyed peas (I’m using to 15oz cans)
1 cup raw corn kernels (I intend to double this)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tbsps lime juice
2 tbsps red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

1. Chop up the bell pepper and tomato into pieces about the size of a bean
2. Add the black eyed peas to a large bowl and smash them just a little bit. You want roughly one-third of them smashed up, the rest can stay whole. This just adds an extra creaminess to the dip but you can skip it if you are over the whole mashed bean thing.
3. Mix in the pepper and tomato and everything else, stir and taste. Easy. Add more lime juice or salt if you think it needs it. Serve this as a dip or over some greens for a fucking bomb-ass salad.

Can you see why I got this cookbook? Aside from the food sounding good, the descriptions amuse the hell out of me

EDIT - I noticed it was missing some items. Eeek!

norfolkian

Mood: sick

I made this at the weekend and have pretty much been ill since then, but thought I'd try and get my post in before the week was up. Apologies if I don't make too much sense - I am a little feverish.

I wanted to do something different for my salad - I thought about making this amazing salad my mum makes, but it really requires fresh broad beans and Sainsbury's do not have any in stock yet.

Confession time: I had never bought an avocado before (I have eaten it in ready-prepared things just never bought a whole one before). I thought they would be hard to slice open/peel (given the fuss I have seen about 'avocado hand' injuries), but it turns out they're super-easy to get into and I might buy more in future!

Anyway, the salad I made was from Levi Roots's Caribbean Food Made Easy, but it's also available online here. I left off the thyme leaves although I reckon some chopped coriander would be nice in this if that is something you like.

A very refreshing, summery salad. I served mine with roast pork loin and potato wedges.

cosmolinguist

Abel & Cole, who I get my veg box from, have a great recipe search so you can type in whatever ingredient you want to use up or don't know what to do with, and that's how I found this recipe.

I used to be a bit intimidated by kale when it turned up but now I'm excited to see it, as it's an excuse to make this dressing. It'd work with spinach or any dark leafy greens, but I now associate it with kale.

You will need:

Knife/chopping board
Measuring spoons/jug
Whisk
Big bowl
Big pot and stove if you're cooking your greens

Ingredients for the dressing:

4 tbsp of tahini
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of water
1/2 tsp of ground cumin
2 lemons, zest and juice*
3 garlic cloves, finely minced**
Salt and pepper
A pinch of chilli flakes or chilli powder, if you like

* when I don't have lemons, 4 tbsp of juice from a bottle is fine
** one of the things I like about Abel & Cole recipes is that they don't pretend a single clove of garlic is sufficient for everything; three is enough for me as someone who really likes garlic but you could always use more or less if you prefer

(The original recipe also calls for 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar, which I've always ignored because I can't cope with much sourness and the lemon is enough for me, but feel free to try that if you'd like!)

The A&C recipe is a bit more complicated, suggesting you add the garlic and half the lemon juice/zest directly to the cooked greens, but I just whisk all the ingredients together in a big bowl while the kale is on the stove, and then drain the kale and add it to the bowl.

Prepare the greens however you like. The recipe suggests simmering it for just a minute. Kale is one of the few vegetables I boil, otherwise I find it too tough, so I remove the stalks, chop it finely and leave it for however long it takes me to mix up the dressing. If I used spinach I wouldn't cook that at all.

The result is great by itself as a side, or I add halloumi, chickpeas, lentils and/or chopped nuts for protein, and sometimes other salad-y stuff, like veggies or couscous. Meat-eaters could have chicken or lamb or something with it.

miss_s_b

Mood: cheerful

This is suitable for towel day because it's great for putting in tupperware to be stashed in your hitchhiking sack alongside your bottle of Old Janx Spirit to be warmed in a petrol station microwave at 3am, and also because it's the kind of orange you normally only see in 80's BBC scifi special effects.

It's suitable for vegetarians and has a reasonable amount of protein :)

You will need:

A slow cooker;
A chopping board and knife;
an orange zester (or the fine side of a box grater);
Some form of whizzer: I used a stick blender;
Optionally, a juicer, although I used my hands;
6 carrots;
6 oranges;
An onion;
100g red lentils
600ml veg stock;
1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 an inch of fresh turmeric (1/2 tsp ground if you can't get fresh) for colour, and about an inch of fresh ginger;
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Roughly chop the onions, ginger, carrots and chuck them in the slow cooker.
Juice and zest the oranges directly into the slow cooker.
Add all your other ingredients and switch it on to low.
Come back in 8 hours and whizz it up till smooth.
Eat straight away, or store in tupperware; freezes well.

If you want to fancy this up for a starter or something, serve with a blob of extra thick cream or natural yoghurt and fresh chopped coriander leaves on top of it, and buttered, fresh baked crusty bread.

norfolkian

Mood: geeky

Ford Prefect said: ‘I bought some peanuts.’
Arthur Dent moved, and groaned again, muttering incoherently.
'Here, have some,’ urged Ford, shaking the packet again, ‘if you’ve never been through a matter transference beam before you’ve probably lost some salt and protein. The beer you had should have cushioned your system a bit.’

For this challenge (which I LOVE, by the way), I took inspiration from the bit quoted above from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I largely followed this recipe from Jack Monroe for Beery Berry Crumble, but I did 50g oats and 50g crushed salted peanuts in the crumble (I roughly crushed the peanuts using a pestle and mortar). The texture and slight saltiness of the peanuts worked really well with the beery fruit. :)

I used dark muscavado sugar in the fruit mixture and white caster sugar in the crumble (as that's what I had in), but in my experience with crumbles golden caster sugar works really well in crumbles too.

A crumble fit for eating after going through a matter transference beam. :)

el_staplador

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 eggs
salt and pepper
(optional: grated cheese, chopped ham, etc)

Equipment
oven
2 ramekins
roasting pan
kettle

Method
Preheat the oven to about 180degC. Put the ramekins into the roasting pan and divide the butter between them. Put them into the oven for about 3 minutes for the butter to melt.

Meanwhile, fill the kettle and boil it.

When the butter has melted, take the pan out of the oven, add any optional extras to the bottom of the ramekins, and then break an egg into each. Season well.

Pour the hot water into the pan so it comes up around the outside of the ramekins, and return to the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on how runny you like your eggs.

I served this with potato rösti, asparagus, and a cherry tomato sauce. It was good.

tree_and_leaf

I love this recipe. It's cheap, it's really filling, and it tastes wonderful. What's more, with the exception of the garlic, ginger and onion, they're all non-perishable ingredients, and as I usually have garlic and onion about the house, with the substitution of dried powdered ginger for fresh, it is a marvellous emergency dinner. If I had to feed a friend unexpectedly, this is what I would turn to.

(It's better with fresh ginger, though).

The original recipe is Anna Jones - it was in a Guardian start of academic year student special - but I've tweaked it a bit (the original one is here, if you're interested).

Quantities: it will serve five to six if you serve with rice and cheese. It reheats well: leftovers are good turned into nachos, enchiladas, or burritos.

Note: you can use other grains than bulgar wheat - pearl barley might be nice, as might quinoa. Steer clear of cous cous, though, it will cook too quickly and disintegrate into mush. You can also use different kinds of beans - I have a possibly irrational aversion to kidney beans, but if you like them, chuck some in - and lentils, though I'd advise against red as again, they cook too quickly. Puy work well, though. Go with what you have in the store cupboard!

Equipment needed:
A chopping board
A kitchen knife
A wooden spoon or similar to stir
A measuring jug
A large saucepan or small stock pot

If you are using cheese, then you either need a grater or a bag of pre-grated cheese.

Ingredients:
Oil for frying
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
An inch-long piece of ginger, peeled and grated, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chilli powder (or 1/2 tsp if you don't like heat)
1/2 tsp cumin (ground or bashed seeds)
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 × 400g tins of peeled plum tomatoes
150g green lentils, soaked
150g bulgur wheat
2 sqs dark chocolate, or 1/2 tsp cocoa if you're making it vegan
400g tin of black beans
1 litre vegetable stock (I like the Marigold Bouillon powder)
Salt and black pepper

Optional extra: cheese to serve

Before you start cooking: soak lentils according to the directions on the packet.

Peel and finely chop your onion, and gently fry until it's soft and translucent (this will take at least ten minutes). In the meantime, peel the garlic, smash it with your knife, and then chop it, and peel and grate the ginger. Drain the beans and the lentils.

Once the onion is done, add the tomatoes - bash the fruits with your spoon a bit to encourage them to break up - and then tip in the lentils, wheat, and beans. Add the chocolate and spices, stirring well until the chocolate is melted.

Now add about half the stock, and simmer for twenty minutes or until the lentils and wheat are cooked. Top up the liquid as you go - you may not need all the stock. Should you need more, it's fine to just add plain water.

Serve with rice, or with tortillas, or however you like your chilli! I like it with grated cheese, but obviously omit this or use your favourite cheese substitute if you are a vegan or dairy-free.

el_staplador

This was freely adapted from this Riverford recipe - which is very nice in its own right, but I didn't have any courgettes. As you'll see, you can play around it a lot and still end up with something edible. My measurements here are very approximate - if your 'make up the usual quantity of white sauce' method looks different from mine, by all means do that instead.

Ingredients

1/2 head swiss chard
1 red pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oil

1 bag spinach
1 tub quark cheese

25g butter
25g plain flour
350g milk
75g cheddar
nutmeg

3 sheets lasagne

Equipment

2 or 3 saucepans (depends on whether or not you mind doubling up)
colander
sharp knife
chopping board
wooden spoon
mixing bowl
cheese grater
baking dish
hob
oven

Method

Preheat the oven to 200degC or so.

Wash the chard. Separate into stalk bits and leaf bits. Set the leaf bits aside. Chop the ends off the stalk bits and then chop them up into pieces about 1 square centimetre in area. Deseed and chop the pepper. Chop the garlic finely.

Cook all that very gently in the oil in a covered saucepan for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile -

Wash and trim the spinach. Boil a pan of water. Cook the spinach and the leaf bits of the chard for about a minute in boiling water. Drain and then rinse with cold water. Chop up small. In a mixing bowl, mix the spinach, chard and quark together.

Grate the cheddar. Make a white sauce - melt the butter, mix in the flour, and add the milk little by little, stirring between each addition. When it's got to a proper sauce consistency, add most of the cheese and a little nutmeg.

Layer as follows in the baking dish, starting from the bottom:
pepper and chard stalks mix
half the lasagne sheets, broken up to fit in as a single layer
half the white sauce
quark and spinach mix
the other half of the lasagne sheets, broken up to fit in as a single layer
the other half of the white sauce

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top. Bake for half an hour or so.

spiralicious

Garlic Ranch Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
Red potatoes, as many as needed (I used four)
Garlic, minced (As much as you can handle. This time I used about eleven cloves. It was the center of the garlic bulb, so they were mostly small)
Butter
Half and Half
Homemade ranch dressing (recipe is below)*

Because I used red potatoes, I left the skins on. If you are using a different kind of potato, peel them first. Wash potatoes. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain. Or if you are in a hurry or are like me this week and don't have access to a working stove, you can “bake” them in the microwave.**

Once the potatoes are done, plop them into a large bowl. Take potato masher of choice and break them up a bit. Add butter to preference and mash until well incorporated. Add Half and Half. Continue to mash and add half and half until potatoes are creamy.

Stir in minced garlic.

Stir in homemade ranch dressing to taste.

Ta-da

*basic homemade ranch dressing:
( Read more... )

**Microwave instructions:
( Read more... )

miss_s_b

Your challenge this week is to cook something vegetarian. This may be more of a challenge for some of you than others ;) How you interpret the word vegetarian is up to you, but if you want to know The Vegetarian Society's Definition, it is:

A vegetarian is someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, fungi, algae, yeast and/or some other non-animal-based foods (e.g. salt) with, or without, dairy products, honey and/or eggs. A vegetarian does not eat foods that consist of, or have been produced with the aid of products consisting of or created from, any part of the body of a living or dead animal. This includes meat, poultry, fish, shellfish*, insects, by-products of slaughter** or any food made with processing aids created from these.

* Shellfish are typically ‘a sea animal covered with a shell’. We take shellfish to mean:
Crustaceans (hard external shell) e.g. lobsters, crayfish, crabs, prawns, shrimps
Molluscs (most are protected by a shell) e.g. mussels, oysters, winkles, limpets, clams, etc. Also includes cephalopods such as cuttlefish, squid, octopus.
** By-products of slaughter includes gelatine, isinglass and animal rennet.

norfolkian

Mood: satisfied

I grew up in the South of England and we didn't have supper. That doesn't mean we didn't have evening snacks sometimes, but we never called it supper. (And our evening meal was either dinner or tea (a large meal, e.g. a Sunday roast was definitely dinner, but a smaller meal, e.g. fish fingers and beans could be tea), but the midday meal was always lunch.)

In the interests of full disclosure I actually ate this for lunch, but this is a popular Maltese snack which can be eaten at any time of the day, including supper, so I am including it in this challenge. :)

Hobz biz-zejt literally translates as 'bread with oil', but this dish does have a little more to it.

Serves 1

Ingredients
1 or 2 thick slices of white bread (preferably a sourdough)
Tomato puree or paste or one very fresh in-season tomato (my tomato puree of choice at the moment is Sainsbury's Taste the Difference cherry tomato puree with basil)
Extra virgin olive oil

One or more of the following optional ingredients
Capers
Sliced olives
Tinned tuna flakes or anchovies
Fresh herbs (some basil leaves would work well)
Salt and pepper

Method
Spread the tomato puree/paste on the bread. If using a fresh tomato, cut the tomato in half and rub the tomato halves onto the bread while squeezing the juice out.

Pour some olive oil out onto a plate or into a shallow bowl - enough to lightly coat one side of the bread. Dip the bread, tomato side down into the olive oil.

Garnish with one or more of the optional ingredients.

****

I bought a pre-sliced sourdough, but generally I'd prefer to have thicker slices than this. :)

Sliced white bread with tomato puree, olive oil and capers

Sliced white bread with tomato puree, olive oil and capers

pseudomonas

This is a dish I class as comfort food, and it's one from my mum. My mother doesn't just make soup, she believes in it. It's one of those things she checks up on — "have you been making any soup lately?". This soup is a bit of a departure from the vegetable-based norm.

Chop half an onion finely; sweat in a little oil until translucent. Add a handful of basmati rice, and keep frying until the rice is turning translucent too.
Add vegetable stock to the pan, and simmer until the rice is cooked.
Meanwhile, beat the juice of half a lemon with an egg.
When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat, and once the soup has come off the boil, gently stir the egg-and-lemon mixture in. It should thicken the soup; there might be a few strands of omelette formed, and that's OK too.

Serves one fairly greedy

pseudomonas. Don't try to make extra, it won't keep.

heartonsnow

Use about one medium sized potato and half an onion per person.

Grate or put thro a food processor.

Add an egg, a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of flour and mix well.

Spoon dollops carefully into a frying pan with hot oil in it.

Fry on medium heat turning a few times until golden brown each side.

Bake in a medium oven for 20 mins.

Eat hot or cold.

pseudomonas

Yes, this is far too simple, and also late. also my dog ate my homework. But it turned out totally party-in-my-mouth gorgeous so I thought I'd share.

One serving:
Three slices, maybe 4mm thick, from a block of halloumi.
Half a large orange.
About 5cm of pickled cucumber (I like the brined sort, not the vinegary sort; recipe here).
Sprig of dill.

Fry the halloumi in a frying pan with a tiny drop of oil, until it's got some dark brown patches on it among the white, on both sides. Then cut the slices in halves or quarters.

While that's doing, halve the orange pole-to-pole and (carefully!) pare the peel, pith, and membranes off the outside. Slice into thin slices (3mm-ish). Segmenty-bits will separate.

Slice the cucumber thinly (I went for long thin slices rather than rounds)

Arrange the orange, cucumber, and halloumi on a plate; sprinkle with finely-chopped fresh dill.

norfolkian

Mood: satisfied

Ok, so I interpreted the challenge pretty loosely this week. I didn't get any new appliances for Christmas and I couldn't think of any recipes or cookbooks that I had that came with an appliance (in hindsight I could have used one that came with our breadmaker, but I've made bread in the breadmaker lots of times and wanted to do something different). So, I used this Abel & Cole Veg Box Companion book which came as a free gift back when I was getting Abel & Cole veg boxes for a time. I don't get the veg boxes anymore, but there are some good recipes in here (and I hadn't looked at this book for ages, so this challenge was a good prompt to use a little used cookbook and cook something a bit different!).

My recipe was based on a recipe in the book called Roots Manoeuvre Curry (recipe is also on their website). You can use all sorts of different root veg in this, but here's what I did. (NB, I have a small electric fan-assisted oven - you may need to adjust temps/timings for your particular oven). :)

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients
Rapeseed oil
2 large parsnips, chopped (2-3cm chunks)
3 medium carrots, chopped (as above)
1 small swede/turnip/rutabaga, chopped (as above)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced using a garlic press
1 tsp frozen chopped ginger
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp ground turmeric
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 400g tin coconut milk
A couple of handfuls of broccoli florets
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method
1. Pre-heat oven to 200C.
2. Meanwhile add the root veg to a large roasting tin, along with a drizzle of oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Give it all a good mix. Put it in the oven and roast for 35 mins.
3. While the veg is roasting, heat a little oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about five to ten minutes until starting to soften. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger and cook for a couple more minutes.
4. Add the spices to the pan, stir well and cook for another minute.
5. Pour in the tomatoes and the coconut milk, stir well, bring briefly to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
6. Once the root veg has roasted for 35 minutes, take the roasting tin out the oven and carefully pour the sauce over the veg [I say carefully because I managed to burn one of my fingers on the handle of my roasting tin and splash some of the sauce up the wall when I was doing this]. Add in the broccoli florets.
7. Turn the oven down to 180C, return the roasting tin to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
8. Squeeze in the lime juice at the end of cooking.

I served mine with long grain rice. It was yummy.

Root vegetable curry in a roasting tin

miss_s_b

(note to

el_staplador: THIS is cutting it fine ;) )

Equipment needed:

Slow cooker/crock pot
a couple of mixing bowls.
Chopping board and sharp knife, unless you buy your fruit precut.
weighing scales
1 tbsp & 1 tsp measuring spoons

( Recipe under the cut )

miss_s_b

Mood: cheerful

So yesterday there was actually usable veg in the reduced section.

( behold my mighty spring onions )

Yeah. I think I win the "biggest reduction" boasting rights. 55p to 6p is an almost 90% reduction. Beat that! Ahem. Not that I'm competitive or anything. Anyway... Mac'n'Cheese:

Equipment Required:

Deep lasagne dish or similar.
Oven AND hob.
largish saucepan
Balloon whisk and wooden spoon.
Measuring jug.
1 tbsp, 1 tsp & ½ tsp measuring spoons
Sharp knife and chopping board
Cheese grater, unless you bought your cheese ready grated.
(optional) Frying pan/skillet and tools for flipping things in it and getting things out of it.

( Rest of recipe under the cut )

missdiane

The bargain bins themselves were a bust. I couldn't find any "Final Sale" "Managers Special" or other similar last-ditch effort stuff in the Stop and Shop when I rolled by early Saturday morning before it started to snow. It's as if they hid it all so I couldn't do the challenge. I did slip and slide (literally) out this morning to get some bits and bobs at the H-Mart (Korean grocery). Alas, the only thing in the bin of iffy stuff were carrots which I already have those at home. However I did see this rather good sale

It made me think of this yummy breakfast ratatouille recipe I spotted yesterday on Extra Crispy.

So I will most definitely be making it this week since I have a little over a dozen eggs that I need to start using up already. It'll probably be a dinner rather than a breakfast since I have more time to savor things in the evening.

Two skinny but long eggplants cost me $.68. Their zucchini was also a rather good regular price of $1.29/pound and there was a pound bag of mini yellow and orange peppers for $2.39 which this won't use but a few of them. I knew I already had a shallot, a can of diced tomatoes, some balsamic to use for the red wine vinegar, some mini flatbread for the crusty bread, and some fresh parsley at home which another part of the Fabulous Broke Life (FBL) is to use up items you already have on hand. I didn't go hunting for fresh thyme since I have dried and same with garlic. I also didn't go looking for capers since I don't like those anyway. I shall try to remember to report back on how it turned out.

Oh and if you're ever wondering about getting one of those instant pots - go for it. I freaking love mine. I got a smaller one since it's only me and I've used it SO much. One thing I want to make soon in it is congee since a friend told me it would only take 20 minutes.

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Weekly Food Challenge

A challenge for cooks every Wednesday

Entries tagged with vegetarian

Kitchen Surprise: Winter Vegetable/Bottom of the Fridge Soup

Kitchen Surprise: Fridge Frittata

Challenge 54: Peppers - Mediterranean stuffed peppers

Challenge 53: Hand held - Lentil and squash pasties

Challenge 52: Beans - Bigilla (Maltese Broad Bean Dip)

Challenge 47: Less than £1 - 99p Minestrone

Challenge 46: Unused cookbook - Aubergine, tomato and red lentil pasta sauce

Texas caviar

Challenge 45:Salad - Avocado and Mango Salad

Kale with tahini dressing

Challenge #44: Extremely Orange Warming Soup

Challenge 44: Towel Day - 'Don't Panic' crumble

Challenge 43: baked - baked eggs

Ginger challenge - Vegetarian/ Vegan Chilli

Garlic: vegetable lasagne

Challenge #37: Garlic Ranch Mashed Potatoes

Challenge #34: Vegetarian

Challenge 32: Supper - Hobz biz-zejt

Challenge #31: Egg and lemon soup

Challenge #29 - Fried Things Potato Latkes

Challenge #29: Fried Things: halloumi & orange salad

Challenge 27: Appliance cookbook - root vegetable curry

Challenge #24: Slow Cooker Fruit Crumble

Reduced Cabinet Bingo Part 3: Mac'n'Cheese

Planned discount meal

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