Nut Burgers

This fine fare makes the ideal accompanyment to some roasted root veg, goat’s cheese and nutmeg mash genourously lashed with onion and mushroom gravy with a hint of cider. One good reason to welcome autumn!

Ingredients

• 100g mixed nuts (brazil, walnut, hazelnut, etc)
• 75g red lentils
• 1 stale heel of wholemeal bread
• 1 medium red onion
• 1 small/medium egg
• 4 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp garlic granules
• a large pinch of salt

Method

Rinse the red lentils well under running water in a small pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil and simmer vigourously for 5 mins. Meanwhile, chop the onion and fry gently in a frying pan large enough to hold the lentils as well as the onion. Once the onion starts to brown and the lentils have been simmered, spoon the lentils into the frying pan and reduce the heat. Add the spices, stir and let cook for 2-3 minutes.

In a food processor, whizz the mixed nuts just enough to break them down but leave some texture and then do the heel of bread into coarse crumbs. Combine the lentils, nuts and breadcrumbs with the parsley, salt and egg in a bowl and stir together.

To cook, split the mixture in two and fashion into patties. Coat with a tablespoon of oil (groundnut or rapeseed work well) each and place on a baking tray in the oven at 180° C for around 30 minutes.

[No] Meat Balls

One of those harking back to childhood dishes. My mammy and her mammy used to cook meatballs with cabbage and creamy mashed potato. I’ve never been able to quite shake the longing for the same style of dish . . .

Ingredients

• 100g mixed nuts (brazil, hazelnut, walnut, etc)
• 75g dried soya mince
• 25g mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, etc)
• 1 red onion
• 1 white onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 8 sunblushed tomatoes
• 1 stale wholewheat pitta
• 1 tsp mixed herbs (oregano, parsley, marjoram, sage, thyme)
• 1 tsp pimento powder
• 1 tsp garlic granules
• ½ tsp cayenne
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp toasted seasame oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• a handful of rice
• a large pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 can of tomato soup (ideally Heinz Cream of Tomato)

Method

Chop the onion and crush the garlic. Blitz the pitta, nuts and seeds in a food processor. Chop the sunblushed tomatoes roughly.

Add boiling water to the soya mince as directed on the packet (ensure to drain well once it has stood for a few minutes – excess water will adversely affect the consistency of the balls).

Combine the above in a large mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients (apart from the soup) and mix well.

Add 3-4 tablespoons of the soup to the mixture and stir in. Allow to stand for 15 minutes or more.

Divide the mixture into six equal parts and fashion into balls using bare hands – take a few minutes with each rolling and pressing between the palms to ensure they hold.

Preheat the oven to 180° C and place the balls in a small casserole dish just large enough to hold all six. Pour the soup equally over the balls. Cook in the over for 40 minutes or until the soup begins to brown on top.

Serve with mashed potatoes and steamed cabbage.

Fresh Coleslaw

Nothing better than crunching some raw vegetables in a creamy mayo . . .

Ingredients

• 1 small white cabbage (300g)
• 2 large carrots (150g)
• 1 medium red onion (100g)
• 150g french mayonnaise
• 1 large pinch of salt
• 1 large pinch of pepper

Method

Half the cabbage from top to bottom and finely slice into half-discs across its width. Peel the carrots, if needed, and slice finely into strips along their length. Cut the sections again along their length into fine strips and halve. Finally, half the onion from top to bottom and finely slice into half-discs across its width.

Combine the sliced ingredients in a large bowl and mix through each other until evenly distributed. Add the salt, pepper and mayonnaise and stir in until everything is well coated. Place in the fridge for half an hour and remove from fridge 15 minutes befure serving.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

The staple of good kitchens throughout the land is a bowl of freshly made vegetable soup. Cheap to make and plenty of hearty warmth.

Ingredients

• 125g soup mix (mainly pearl barley, yellow and green split peas)
• 125g red lentils
• 4 small onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 4 stalks of celery
• 6 carrots
• 1 leek
• 25g flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 litre vegetable stock

Method

Rinse the soup mix and red lentils well under cold water. Add to a pan large enough to hold around 4 litres of liquid and pour over 2 litres of water. Bring to the boil and keep boiling partially covered for an hour until most of the liquid has evaporated and resembles an aromatic grey sludge. The mixture needs to boil vigourously to kill the toxins and soften the beans, etc instead of soaking overnight. While boiling skim off the foam from the surface.

Finely chop the onions and celery and crush the cloves of garlic. Reduce the heat to medium and stir all three in to the pan. Add the salt and litre of vegetable stock followed by another 500ml of water. Cover the pan and allow to simmer for an hour.

Chop the carrots and parsley and slice the leek. Add to the pan along with another 500ml of water and simmer for a further hour. The soup is ready to serve when the carrots are done.

Spicy Lentil Burgers

This recipe is inspired by a veggie burger I had at an airport ~25 years ago (and much thinking about it since) coupled with something of a eureka moment I had while making dhansak a few weeks ago.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 chilli
• 1 carrot
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (or ½ tsp fenugreek powder)
• 75g puy lentil
• 75g green lentil
• 25g red lentil
• 75g stale breadcrumbs
• 2 large pinches of salt
• 1 large pinch black pepper

Method

Slice the onions and the chilli and crush the garlic. Heat a pan with the oil over a medium high heat and fry the onion, chilli and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add the lentils and fry for another 3-4 minutes then add the salt, pepper and spices. Add a splashes of water as needed if the mixture is too dry (abut 125ml of water in total over the entire cooking time). Grate the carrot and stir into the mix. After about 5 minutes turn off the heat and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes. Stir in the breadcrumbs.

The burger mix should be dry and quite sticky when it has cooled. The burger should bind well and be either shallow fried for 3-4 minutes each side or baked in the oven for 15-20 minutes with a dusting of polenta.