Cheddar and Spinach Puff Pastry Twists

These are extremely easy to make and very tasty. They will also freeze well, though I doubt they will last that long! This recipe makes 10 quite large twists; you could easily halve the size and make 20 medium sized twists.

Olive and Pistachio Pesto

A rather unusual alternative to basil pesto, this uses more specialist ingredients than I usually go in for but looked so interesting I couldn't resist trying it out. It was delicious. If you can't get hold of green peppercorns, I'm sure black would be fine. Be careful to use unsalted pistachios or this would be far too salty. The recipe I used called for parmesan but since I am a strict vegetarian, I substituted for strong cheddar. However, feel free to use parmesan (or a vegetarian equivalent if you can find it) instead. The recipe I used actually called for double the quantities here and it made a lot of pesto so I've halved it to a more manageable amount. I kept mine in the fridge for a couple of weeks and it was fine. 

Sweet Potato Peanut Stew

This warm and comforting stew is perfect for dark, cold autumn evenings. Adding peanut (or any other nut) butter to stew really enriches it and gives it a lovely thick consistency. You can vary the vegetables according to what you prefer or what's in season and you can eat this as it is or serve with bread if you like.

Spinach and Feta Muffins

I have been experimenting with savoury snacks recently in quest to find home made food which is easy to feed my daughter on the go. I experimented with a few different muffin recipes to little success before making these, which are a lovely consistency and very tasty. I lowered the salt content for my daughter so you might want to up it slightly, though the feta will add some saltiness to them. 

 

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

Autumn is here and that means one thing in my house: soup is back on the menu! We've had a cold snap here in the UK this week and this soup was perfect over the weekend to add a bit of warmth into the house. For extra heat, you could add fresh or dried chilli peppers, though I omitted them because I was giving this to my 11 month old daughter, who absolutely loved it. 

Olive and Basil Feta Cheese Spread

A lovely and quick dip/sandwich filling which is super easy to make. The original recipe was double the quantity but I halved it. If you are using as a dip for a gathering, you could double the quantities below. The original recipe called for Kalamata olives but I used black olives because I am cheap, so just use any colour olive you prefer.

Creamy Potato, Leek and Mushroom Bake

This recipe comes from an old Linda McCartney recipe book I picked up somewhere which I've modified slightly. It's basically a potato gratin with added layers of leeks and herbed mushrooms, and a cheesy breadcrumb topping. The recipe serves 2 as a main course, so if serving more, scale up accordingly. It doesn't keep particularly well so needs to be eaten up on the day it's cooked. Make sure you slice the potatoes as thinly as possible, as otherwise it will take hours to cook. I sliced mine using a box grater, and even then it took an hour an a half.

Serves 2
Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g mushrooms, sliced
3 tsp dried mixed herbs - I used thyme, marjoram and parsley
400g potatoes, thinly sliced (I used a box grater)
400g leeks, sliced
nutmeg, to taste
200 ml double cream
60 ml milk
2 tbsp cream cheese (optional)
100g bread
50g flavoured cheese (I used a mix of hard goats cheese and marture cheddar)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/Gas Mark 5

1. Saute garlic in oil/butter in a pan for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms and half the dried herbs (1 and 1/2 tsp) and fry for 5-10 minutes until softened.

2. Arrange layers of vegetables as follows:

Using half the potatoes, add a layer of potato on the bottom of a baking dish, dotting with 1 tbsp cream cheese (if using), and a sprinkling of herbs.

Using half the leeks, add a layer of leeks and sprinkle sparingly with nutmeg.

Add the mushrooms and cooking juices on top.

Using the remaining leeks, add another layer of leeks, herbs, nutmeg, and dot with 1 tbsp cream cheese.

Finish off with a layer of potato on top.

3. In a jug, combine cream and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and pour over the potato, leek and mushroom layers.

4. Blend bread into breadcrumbs. Grate cheese into breadcrumbs, add garlic powder and stir to mix. Cover the top of the potato bake with breadcrumbs.

5. Bake, covered with foil, for an hour. Remove foil and bake for another half an hour or until potatoes are soft.

Minty Cannellini Bean Dip

This is a super easy, super quick alternative to houmous with no tahini, so great if you have a nut allergy or just want to try something a bit different. The only thing which takes time is the roasting of the garlic, which can be done in advance and you can freeze the garlic until needed. The cannellini beans give a really smooth dip and you could vary the flavours as you want. As with houmous this dip is great in sandwiches.

Salted Caramel and Pecan Cheesecake

This was both my first attempt at making caramel and the first time I made cheesecake. I was not that confident about either, but the whole thing turned out very well; I made it for a barbeque for friends and it got a universal stamp of approval! The cheesecake is a 'no bake' version, slightly adapted from a Nigella recipe, and was very easy to make. I found this salted caramel recipe on a really nice baking blog I often frequent. The salted caramel can be made in advance, stored in the fridge, and warmed up when needed by placing your jar of caramel in a bowl of hot water. 

The recipe is quite detailed and as such might look quite complicated, but trust me, it's easier than it looks!

Apple Crumble Cake

Whilst on holiday recently I did a lot of baking; most of the cakes I baked were very nice but quite standard "nothing special" cakes (e.g. carrot cake, chocolate brownie) but this apple crumble cake was a bit different and very delicious so thought I would blog it. I found the recipe on the Waitrose website (here) but changed the method as I couldn't be bothered to do some of the things it suggested and the cake was lovely anyway.

Kashmiri Paneer Masala

I have recently discovered Maunika Gowardhan's Indian food website, and found this kashmiri paneer masala recipe there. I modified it since I didn't have all the spices in my cupboard, and it was lovely. So much so that I was pretty gutted there were no leftovers. We cooked this without salt or chilli and gave it to my daughter who couldn't get enough of it! In Maunika's recipe the paneer is first pan fried before being removed and added later. I didn't bother to do this as my paneer was quite firm and it held up well in the sauce.

Gluten Free Peach Polenta Cake

I made this cake for a gluten-intolerant friend of mine who came round for dinner one Sunday. The cake is actually best served warm on the day of cooking as it can go a bit dry upon cooling. You can always reheat the cake in the microwave if eating later; I froze the leftovers and popped it into the microwave on defrost to warm it up.

Baked Tofu and Mushrooms

This dish is a very tasty and unusual way of cooking tofu. The tofu is marinaded in a garlic, lemon, soy sauce and tomato paste marinade, and so is best made the night before cooking. It is very full of flavour and if you want to tone it down a bit use less garlic and/or less soy sauce. You can eat this with pretty much any carb of your choice; I had it with mash potato this time but in the past I have had it with rice or noodles, and I am sure you could also eat it with pasta. 

I am not a big fan of cooking with tofu because although it is very versatile and you can do some really interesting things with it, I find the prep can be a bit of a pain if you don't want it to fall apart when stirred into anything. To prepare tofu properly you should press it to remove excess liquid before dry frying it. I frequently don't bother to press it; if you dry fry it for long enough and make sure you press the tofu lightly when frying, you should remove enough of the liquid and give the tofu some stability. Note: if you dry fry it, make sure you use a non-stick pan or you will be very sad. I speak from experience.

Balsamic Caramelised Leek and Onion Quiche

Summer is here and that means quiche season in my house! This is a very straightforward caramelised onion  and leek quiche. A trick a friend once showed me for pastry is to line the bottom with polenta (cornmeal), as this really improves the crust. It's not critical, however, so if you want to omit it that's fine. This is lovely hot or cold, though I generally prefer quiche when it has been cooled.

Roasted Garlic and Smoked Paprika Houmous

I haven't made my own houmous in years, but decided to make some on a bit of a whim recently. Wow had I forgotten how much better it tastes home made! I used roasted garlic in this but if you can't be bothered, just grate fresh garlic directly into the houmous before blending.

Goats Cheese and Basil Bread Sticks

These bread sticks are super tasty and very easy to make. I made mini bread sticks for my daughter to eat, so I have no idea how many full sized bread sticks this would make, but I would guess around 12. 

Banana, Honey and Pecan Flapjacks

When I was on maternity leave I went to a mum and baby yoga class once a week, and at the end of every class we had tea and homemade flapjack cooked by the instructor. This has led to me having a slight obsession with cooking flapjack which my waistline does not appreciate! I have experimented with lots of different flavour combinations and so far this has been my favourite. This recipe substitutes sugar and honey for the traditional golden syrup used in flapjacks; if you are not a fan of honey then you can use golden or maple syrup instead. The bananas are laid in the middle of the flapjack and make it quite moist and dense; if you prefer crunchy flapjacks you might want to omit them. If you like a crumbly flapjack, put  more oats in, as this makes them quite dense.

Three Bean Chilli

Vege chilli is a classic vegetarian dish and this is a good store cupboard recipe. This dish is best cooked slowly, but if you need to cook it relatively quickly it will still taste great.

I use dehydrated soya mince in this, which you simply rehydrate by pouring hot water over the top and leaving for five minutes, but you could omit it or use any other type of vegetarian mince. I prefer dehydrated mince to other types as it doesn't have so many preservatives in it as other brands, and has the advantage that it is gluten free. You can use any type of beans you like; I used kidney, black-eyed, and black turtle beans in this but they are by no means necessary. The recipe list looks quite long but most of it consists of store cupboard spices which you can always omit if you don't have them.

This serves 4 - 6. We had a very generous four portions out of this plus a bit extra for my daughter (minus salt and chillies!), who had a lovely time digging into her portion and made a massive mess:

Lentil and Feta Meatless Balls

This week I have tried two cooking experiments: polenta chips and these lentil and feta meatless balls. The polenta chips experiment was a disaster (I am going to have to have a few more attempts before they become blog ready), but these meatless balls turned out perfectly. They went down very well with both my partner and our six month old daughter who couldn't get enough of hers; we gave her half a ball and ended up having to give her more as she complained when it was all gone (about half in her mouth and half on the floor, I have to admit). The balls are baked and will crisp up on the outside but are still soft on the inside. I stirred them into a tomato sauce to eat with pasta, but you could have them with any sauce you wanted; just be careful not to vigorously over stir into a sauce as they may collapse, or you may want to serve directly on a plate and simply pour a sauce on top of them.

I used tinned lentils to save on time and to avoid any issues with over- or under-cooking the lentils, but you could use dried lentils if you want. If so, just cook until soft but not falling apart, and allow to cool before making the balls. I also omitted adding any additional salt as the feta is salty and I was feeding them to my daughter, but you might want to add a bit of salt to taste.

Pesto Pasta with Halloumi, Asparagus and Olives

One of those random 'why don't I throw a bunch of things together and see if it works' recipes. This is a relatively quick and simple dish to make, but tastes fantastic. If you don't like olives, you can omit them and the dish would still be lovely. Similarly, if asparagus isn't in season, you could substitute for courgette or other green vegetable of your choice.

Banana and Lemon Cake

I have recently made the discovery that cakes, flapjacks and other baked goods will all freeze well. Joy! This means I can now bake to my hearts content without worrying that my partner and I will have to eat the proceeds in a few days (or trying to find people to offload my baked goods onto). 

The combination of flavours in this cake sounds like it wouldn't work (my partner's exact words before eating it: "I'm not sure about this...") but it really does. And providing you use ripe bananas, you should be able to taste the two flavours seperately whilst they still compliment one another.

Pasta with Leek, Butternut Squash and Feta Cheese

This was a random 'oh I have some odds and ends in the fridge that need using up' recipe of mine, which turned out quite nicely. I added in the feta cheese at the end of cooking as I wanted relatively large chunks of feta in my sauce, but you could cook the feta into the sauce if you preferred.

Caramelised Red Onion Chutney

This was my first attempt at chutney and was very pleased with how it turned out since I was playing it by ear a bit with the ingredients. It's a very simple chutney, but the addition of treacle adds a subtle flavour which really complements the dark brown sugar; however you could omit it if you don't have any in your store cupboard. I ate this chutney with a range of cheeses such as mature cheddar, goats cheese, and Camembert and it went well with all of them.

Leek and Mushroom Risotto

A rather straightforward risotto dish from one of my random vegetarian cookbooks. I used mature cheddar cheese but if you can get hold of any vegetarian parmesan style cheese (or if you are happy to eat parmesan cheese) then that would also work very well.

Vegetarian Brazilian Feijoada (Black Bean Stew)

Feijoada is a traditional dish served in Brazil, which essentially involves beans and a lot of meat, often smoked. To make the vegetarian version, I substitute meat for vegetables and add smoked paprika to get a smoky flavour. There are a number of ways you can play with the recipe; you can also use 'fake' meat with a smoky flavour such as vegetarian frankfurters, or 'fake' bacon. I've done this before with much success but since I don't tend to cook with fake meat that often, I usually just use a root vegetable or something from the squash family. Carrots, butternut squash and sweet potato all work really well in this dish, but you can basically use any vegetable you want. Adding onions or spring onions also enhances the dish, but I like to keep it simple: beans and vegetables, cooked until soft and creamy. I use a brazilian seasoning called 'tempero completo' in this dish, which is sold in the 'world foods' section of my local supermarket, but if you don't have access to it, just add in a tsp of dried vegetable stock instead. For a truly authentic Brazilian experience, serve with farofa (toasted manioc flour) but again it is fine without. In my house, we also eat this with an egg on top, though this is entirely optional.

Quinoa with Roasted Butternut Squash, Leeks and Feta

I've never cooked with quinoa before, so I was feeling a bit apprehensive about making this dish. I needn't have worried though as it tasted delicious. The addition of the feta cheese was very nice but if you wanted to make this dish a bit healthier you could omit it with no problems whatsoever.

Blue Cheese Rice with Cannellini Beans

This is another long-standing recipe cooked in my house, and pre-dates my conversion to vegetarianism (5 years and counting!). It's from a very old Readers Digest recipe book (the same one that my pasta with black beans and kale recipe came from) and its title in that is 'Italian cheese and rice' because it uses Gorgonzola, but in my house, this is known as 'blue cheese rice thing' because we use any blue cheese we fancy. I have no idea why Pete and I feel the need to call it 'thing' but the name seems to have stuck. Soft blue cheeses such as danish blue or gorgonzola work very well, but we usually use Stilton which is cheaper and more pungent, and what can I say? We're cheapskates who like strong tasting cheese...

Red Onion, Feta and Olive Tart

This recipe comes from one of my random vegetarian recipe books and is a firm favourite in my house. Apart from the caramelizing of the onions, the rest of the tart requires virtually no prep whatsoever (especially as I usually use pre-rolled puff pastry). Green or black olives will do just as well in this recipe, so use whatever you prefer/can get your hands on. It's also great cold for lunch the next day.

Raspberry Crumble Cupcakes

I recently found this recipe in one of my oldest and much loved baking books, and the idea of mashing together two of my favourite desserts (cake and crumble), was too much to resist. I made them as soon as I had an excuse to bake some cakes (a visit to Pete's work place to show off our baby) and they turned out really well. The cupcakes themselves are raspberry flavoured with a hint of lemon, but what really makes them special/unusual is the crumble style topping with pecans in. You could also substitute the pecans for walnuts if you wanted. The recipe calls for melted butter which makes mixing easier if you don't have a food mixer (I don't), and I just used a microwave to melt the butter quickly, though you could melt it in a small saucepan on a very low heat if you wished.

Vegetable Tofu Ramen

I was given a combined rice, slow cooker and steamer for Christmas by my boyfriends parents and I have to say it is so handy when you have a baby to look after and less time to cook. So I've decided to revisit some of my soup/casserole/risotto recipes; expect to see them appearing on the blog soon! I cooked this in the slow cooker on the steamer function but I've included instructions for normal cooking since this is a tried and tested recipe which I've cooked a number of times on the hob.

This recipe calls for some unusual ingredients that you probably won't have in your store cupboard (miso paste, mirin, sesame oil) but these are all ingredients you can get from any large supermarket or an Asian supermarket, if you have access to one. If you don't want to or can't buy mirin then you can substitute for sugar, and you can also omit the sesame oil, but the miso paste is absolutely essential for the flavour. You'll end up with quite a bit of miso paste leftover but it is very savoury in taste (read: delicious) and is a great store cupboard ingredient to have as it can be added to any style of soup, stew or casserole to give a lovely depth in flavour.

The vegetables can be substituted for any you like; beansprouts go quite well in ramen but I'm not a fan of them so I don't bother adding them. I peel the carrots and courgette to quicken the cooking time but if you'd rather slice them then you'll need to add them in earlier to allow for the greater cooking time. I used udon noodles here as I love their thickness but you can use any noodles you want.