Tag: vegetarian

Crushed avocado

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I know it’s bougie, but it’s also incredibly tasty on toast so I make no apologies.

  • 1 perfectly ripe avocado
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pul biber (or regular chilli flakes)
  1. Scoop the avocado out of its skin and into a small bowl
  2. Add the other ingredients and mix
  3. Eat straight away at room temp

Rarebit jacket potatoes

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Cheesy, potato-y gorgeousness. A comforting collision of Welsh rarebit and a jacket potato. Feeds 2.

  • 2 large baking potatoe
  • 25g butter, melted
  • 2 heaped tsp dijon mustard
  • 50ml dark ale
  • 3 good shakes worcestershire sauce
  • 100g strong cheddar, grated
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Stick a skewer through the middle of each potato lengthways (helps it cook quicker and evener)
  3. Bake directly on the oven shelf for an hour, maybe up to an hour and a half – until the skin is brown and crisp, and the insides are soft and fluffy
  4. Turn up the oven to 200C fan (220C)
  5. Cut each potato in half lengthways (if it has a lengthway) and scoop out the flesh into a bowl, leaving 1 cm in the skins
  6. Mash the potato with the butter, mustard powder, ale, worcestershire sauce, egg and cheese, chives
  7. Put the skins like little potato boats, upturned on a baking tray, stuff bountiously with the mash and return to oven for 15 mins until golden brown

Serve with a crunchy salad or some steamed green beans

Celeriac schnitzel

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A lovely supper – crisp and savoury outside, soft and almost nutty inside. Well worth the effort and time. Feeds 2.

  • 1 celeriac, peeled
  • 1 tbsp salted butter
  • 100ml water
  • Couple of sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 heaped tbsp plain flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4 tbsp dried white breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp grated parmesan
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Cut 4 slices, 1.5cm thick from the celeriac (save the scraps for making soup or remoulade or celeriac chips)
  3. Lay the slices in a single layer in a roasting tin, season well and add the salted butter, water and thyme
  4. Cover with tinfoil, scrunched well around the edges to seal it, and pop in the oven for 30 mins
  5. The celeriac should be soft to the point of a sharp knife. Remove from the tin and lay out on a plate to cool (saving the pan juices for the aforementioned soup if you like)
  6. Leave the celeriac slices to cool slightly while you prep the next bit
  7. Pour the beaten egg onto a lipped plate or shallow bowl
  8. Tip the breadcrumbs onto a plate and mix well with salt and pepper, paprika, garlic and parmesan
  9. Sprinkle flour over the celeriac slices, making sure the upper side is lightly coated all over, patting the flour on with your fingertips
  10. Gently place each slice, flour side down, into the egg … and then into the breadcrumbs. At the end of the process, one side of each celeriac slice will be well coated, the other naked
  11. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and butter together over medium heat
  12. Carefully slide each celeriac slice, breadcrumb side down, into the pan
  13. Leave untouched until the underneath is golden brown and crunchy – around 3-4 mins – then flip over and give the unbreadcrumbed side a couple of mins

Serve immediately, crisp breadcrumb-side up, with a herby, mustardy potato salad and a green salad

Halloumi and roasted pepper burgers

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So delicious! Salty, squeaky cheese contrasting with sweet, soft peppers, topped off with creamy, spicy mayo and peppery rocket, and wrapped up in a toasty bun. It’s all good.

  • 1 block halloumi
  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 2 brioche buns
  • 2 roasted peppers (you can roast your own or I highly recommend these ones)
  • 2 tbsp mayo
  • 2 tsp sriracha
  • Small handful rocket leaves
  1. Cut the buns open and toast to golden brown
  2. Slice the halloumi into 8 slices
  3. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over a medium-high heat
  4. Place the halloumi in the pan and fry until golden on both sides
  5. Mix the sriracha and mayo together
  6. Cut the roasted peppers into chunky slices
  7. Spread half the sriracha mayo on the bottom half of each toasted bun
  8. Pile on 4 slices of halloumi, one of the cut-up roasted peppers, some rocket and the top of the bun
  9. Eat immediately while the halloumi is still hot

Goats cheese and thyme souffle

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Fluffy, creamy and delicate. Cook in shallow (ovenproof) bowls rather than ramekins so you don’t have to worry about the perfect straight-edged rise! Feeds 2 for an elegant date-night supper (or a comforting in-front-of-the-TV dinner).

  • 200g soft rindless goats cheese
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 100g parmesan, finely grated
  • 80ml double cream
  • Sprig of thyme, leaves chopped finely
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks
  3. Beat together the goats cheese, egg yolks, half the parmesan, cream and thyme until well-combined
  4. Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture
  5. Brush the insides of 2 individual ovenproof dishes with melted butter and sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan
  6. Gently scoop the souffle mixture into the dishes and scatter with the remaining thyme leaves
  7. Put the dishes onto an oven tray and bake for 10-12 mins until risen and golden

Serve warm with tomato, artichoke and walnut salad and beetroot and dill salad for maximum effect!

Roast cauliflower

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

The very nicest way to eat cauliflower, so tasty you may never eat it any other way ever again. It’s the very opposite of the watery mush you get if you boil it, this has caramelised, crisp edges and a yielding centre with not a hint of mush.

Vary the spicing depending on what you’re eating it with. Use it in a curry, tip over some cheese sauce, make cauli tacos or just eat it on its own. Spice suggestions below…

  • 1 whole cauliflower, outer leaves discarded and stem left intact
  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • Salt and black pepper
  • Large pinch garlic powder
  • Large pinch chilli flakes
  • Handful flaked almonds, toasted (optional)
  1. Pre-heat oven to 190C fan (210C)
  2. Cut the cauliflower into florets and keep any firm, pale green, inside leaves
  3. Mix your salt and spices into the oil, then toss the cauli and leaves in the oil until all lightly coated
  4. Tip onto a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 20 mins until the edges are brown and crisp, and the cauli is cooked
  5. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds

Moroccan – harissa paste (and leave out the chilli flakes), cumin seeds, squeeze of lemon juice

Mexican – onion powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, smoked paprika

Indian – coriander, turmeric, garam masala, mustard seeds

Green risotto

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Beautifully green. Creamy and fresh, this makes a gorgeous spring supper. Feeds 2 with leftovers. Makes marvellous arancini if you don’t scoff it all in one go.

  • 100g frozen peas
  • 100g spinach
  • Small handful fresh mint leaves – around 10
  • 3 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream (use the leftovers to make these cookies!)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 5 spring onions, chopped
  • 150g risotto rice
  • 75ml white wine
  • Salt and pepper
  • 50g parmesan, finely grated
  1. Put the peas into a bowl and the spinach and mint in a sieve on top. Pour through the sieve into the peas and leave the peas in the hot water for a couple of mins to defrost
  2. Drain the peas and put them, the spinach and the mint into a mini food processor. Whizz them up with the creme fraiche into a thick green paste
  3. In a saucepan, heat the stock to a simmer
  4. In another pan on a medium heat, pour in the oil and then cook the spring onions for a minute or so until soft
  5. Stir in the rice and cook for a moment until the rice crackles and the edges go translucent
  6. Season well then pour in the wine and stir until absorbed
  7. Add a ladleful of stock and stir in until the liquid disappears – keep adding stock and don’t stop stirring!
  8. The rice will take about 20 mins to cook – it should be soft with a tiny bite and the texture should be marvellously creamy and not at all chalky
  9. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the parmesan and green paste
  10. Check the seasoning and serve steaming with a fresh drift of parmesan on top

Coleslaw

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Beautiful shades of orange and palest green, crunchy and creamy with the yoghurt, mustard and vinegar cutting the richness of the mayo. A brilliant side dish for burgers or pulled pork, or make it a bit more special by scattering with finely chopped parsley, nigella seeds and toasted pumpkin seeds.

  • ¼ white cabbage, cored and finely shredded
  • 3 carrots, peeled and grated
  • 4 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
  • 3 heaped tbsp plain yoghurt
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • Pinch of sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Mix everything together and taste to check seasoning. Eat straight away

Baked feta and sweet potato

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A marvel of sweet and salty flavours. An excellent weeknight dinner. Trust me on baking the feta, it’s a game-changer. Feeds 2.

  • 2 orange-flesh sweet potatoes
  • ½ tsp veg oil
  • 200g block feta, drained and patted dry with paper towel
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • Zest of ½ lemon
  • Black pepper
  • Handful pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C)
  2. Scrub the sweet potatoes but don’t prick them or cut any bits off them because the juice will leak from the inside and weld itself to the bottom of your oven
  3. Use a little bit of oil on your hands to rub over the outsides of the potatoes and put them into the oven, directly on the oven shelf
  4. Bake for around 30 mins. Whilst they’re cooking, pop the feta in a little oven dish or make a foil packet on a baking tray. Sprinkle with the chilli, olive oil, thyme leaves, lemon zest and black pepper. Put the lid on or seal with foil
  5. Once the sweet potatoes have had 30 mins, place the feta in the oven and bake for a further 15 mins
  6. Check the sweet potatoes are done, then split them open and top with the soft, creamy, salty-but-mellow feta and a sprinkle of toasted pecans

Fry bodi

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A tasty side dish of green beans and tomato, eat it with grilled chicken and rice and peas. You can add a finely chopped chilli to spice it up if you like.

  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 1 ripe tomato, finely chopped
  • ½ a small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 200g fine green beans, trimmed and cut in half
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat
  2. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for about 5 mins
  3. Add the tomato and garlic and give it a stir, cooking for a further 2 mins
  4. Put in the beans and 2 tbsp water, stir together, season and cover
  5. Cook for around 8 mins, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender