June 2, 2009 at 8:45 pm (Dips and sauces)
Tags: Carrot, Cabbage
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.
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May 17, 2009 at 2:14 pm (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.
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March 22, 2009 at 2:06 pm (Burger)
Tags: Lentil
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.
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March 18, 2009 at 11:14 pm (Curry)
Tags: Carrot, Dal, Potato, Sweet Potato
We went to the Indian spice shop at the bottom of the street for an overdue nosey. The keen eyed and generally awesome Kerri spotted bags of Chana Dal . . . I’ve been going on about it for an age (since I read this article) and we’ve trawled various cities in search of the stuff. I also got some amchur and black mustard seeds to add to my arsenal of spices. <3
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1 green finger chilli
- 1 potato
- 2 carrots
- 1 sweet potato
- 1 green pepper
- 150g chana dal
- 1 can of chopped tomatoes
- 500ml vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp vegetable ghee
- 1 tsp black mustard seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1tsp dried chopped fenugreek leaves (or ½ tsp fenugreek powder)
- 1 tsp amchur (dried green mango powder)
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 large pinches of salt
Method
Finely chop the garlic, ginger and chilli (or use a tablespoon of the green paste) and roughly chop the onions. Heat the ghee (or 4 tbsp of oil) in a stir-fry pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they start to pop add the onions and fry off for 5-7 minutes on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and fry for a further 5 minutes.
Add the remaining spices and one large pinch of salt and stir. Reduce the heat to medium after 3-5 minutes. If the mixture is becoming too dry or catching then add small quantities of water. Chop the carrots, sweet potato, potato and green pepper and add to the pan. Stir well to coat with spices.
Wash the chana dal well, add to the pan and stir in. After 5 minutes add half the can of tomatoes and stir. Add the remaining tomatoes when the first lot starts to simmer. Add the second large pinch of salt.
Add the stock in two batches making sure the pan returns to the boil between each. Simmer on a medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour until the chana dal is tender. Add small amounts of water if the sauce becomes too dry during cooking.
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March 14, 2009 at 8:36 pm (Soup)
Tags: Leek, Potato
Another of my favourite soups . . . one of the rare occasions I feel butter is warranted over an oil. It helps the leeks’ flavour come out and also gives the creamy texture to the end product.
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 4 leeks
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large pinches of black pepper
- 5 large white potatoes
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley
- 1 litre of vegetable stock
Method
Melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold about 3-4 litres of liquid over a medium heat. Chop the leeks and crush the whole cloves of garlic and add to the pan. Add the salt and pepper, stir and cover. Let the leeks sauté for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat a little if they start to catch the bottom of the pan.
Wash and dice the potatoes into ½cm cubes and add to the pan. Chop the parsley and stir into the mixture. Cover again and let stew for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add little amounts of water or stock if it starts to catch.
Add 250ml of stock and bring to a gentle simmer. Every 15 minutes add a further 250ml. Keep covered while simmering and allow to cook for about an hour. Stir regularly throughout as the butter makes it more likely to catch than if using oil.
Finally, set aside to cool and purée in a food processor. For best reults store overnight in the fridge to allow the flavour to develop.
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