This is the perfect soup for the depths of winter, it is thick and warming. The original recipe came from Simply Vegan by David Scott but this is my take on it. If I haven’t got vegetable stock to hand I add a splash of soy sauce to add flavour. Often I finely chop the broccoli stalk and add that at the same time as the potato, again for extra flavour. This soup has a chunky texture but if you prefer a smooth soup you can easily blend it and reheat before serving.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 small onion, finely chopped
25g butter or vegetable margarine
450g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes
700ml vegetable stock
250g broccoli, divided into small florets
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Fry the onion in the butter or margarine for 3 minutes. Add the cubed potatoes and fry for a further minute. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add seasoning to taste and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir well to break up the potato and thicken the soup. Add the broccoli and simmer until just tender. Serve.
This recipe is from www.british-leeks.co.uk via West Country Foodlover magazine. Be careful not to overcook the leeks at the beginning as they cook some more as the sauce is made.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
30g butter
4 large leeks cut into 2cm slices
30g plain flour
400mls whole milk
175g cheddar cheese, grated
2 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
30g chopped parsley
For the topping
100g plain flour
100g rolled oats
75g diced butter
50g chopped hazelnuts
50g grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 190°C. Place the butter in a large sauté pan and turn the heat to medium. When melted, add the sliced leeks, stir around in the butter and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the leeks are soft, add the flour and stir around in the leeks for a few minutes.
Now add half the milk, stir well and bring to the boil. When the sauce starts to thicken, add the remaining milk and repeat the process. Add the grated cheese, the mustard, the chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.
Make the crumble topping by combining the flour with the oats before adding the diced butter and combining together using your fingers. Once the mix resembles bread crumbs, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
Pour the leek sauce into a baking dish and top with the crumble. Place into a hot oven to cook for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve straight from the oven to the table.
This is from a Thomasina Miers column in The Guardian. If you haven’t got chipotle en adobo (a relish) she suggests deseeding a dried chipotle, simmering it in water for 20 minutes to soften before pureeing it; failing that use smoked paprika. You could also substitute hazelnuts for the almonds.
The sprouts made a tasty supper with grilled sausages. Thomasina Miers also suggests serving over rice or quinoa loosened with sesame oil, and topped with feta.
Serves 2-4
Preparation time: 10-20 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients
500g brussels sprouts
45g almonds (optional), skinned
60 g butter
1 tbsp chipotle en adobo (or 1 tsp hot smoked paprika)
1 tbsp honey
juice of 1 lime
Method
Wash and tail the sprouts, cut away any discoloured/damaged leaves, and cut into halves. Put a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, toast the nuts (if using) for 5-10 minutes, tossing them every so often until they are toasted all over. Roughly chop the nuts.
Turn the heat under the pan right up, add the butter, wait for the butter to start foaming, then cook until the solids turn a rich deep brown and it smells deliciously nutty. Throw in the sprouts, fry for a few minutes, then turn them over and cook for 5 minutes more, tossing every so often so they colour all over.
Add the honey and chipotle to the pan, toss to coat the sprouts and squeeze in the lime juice. Leave to heat through for a minute and sprinkle with the chopped nuts before serving.
I cooked this cauliflower cake at the weekend. It was rather time consuming to prepare but it looked impressive and tasted good! I served it with a green salad. It’s from Yotam Ottolenghi’s newest book Plenty More.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
1 small cauliflower, broken into 3 cm florets
salt and black pepper
1 medium red onion, peeled
75 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
7 eggs
15g basil, chopped
120g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp ground turmeric
150g coarsely grated parmesan
melted butter, to grease the tin
1 tbs white sesame seeds
1 tsp nigella seeds
Method
Put the cauliflower florets in a pan and add a teaspoon of salt. Cover with water, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until they florets are quite soft. Strain and leave in a colander to dry.
Cut 3 or 4 round 0.5 cm slices off one end of the onion and set aside. Coarsely chop the rest of the onion, and put in a small pan with the oil and rosemary. Cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat, stirring from time to time, until soft, then set aside to cool. Transfer the cooked onion to a large bowl, add the eggs and basil, whisk, then add the flour, baking powder, turmeric, cheese, a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper. Whisk until smooth, then add the cauliflower and stir gently, trying not to break up all the florets.
Line the base and sides of a 24 cm springform cake tin with baking parchment, and brush the sides with melted butter. Mix together the sesame and nigella seeds and toss them around the inside of the tin, so they stick to the sides. Tip in the cauliflower mix and arrange the reserved onion rings on top. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven 200°C/Gas mark 6 for 45 minutes, until golden brown and set: a knife inserted into the middle should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and leave for at least 20 minutes before serving; it needs to be served just warm, or at room temperature, rather than hot.
This side dish from Nigel Slater’s classic Real Good Food. It’s delicious served with roast meat but can also be served as a main course on its own.
Serves: 4 as a side dish
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
500g waxy potatoes, peeled
a medium-sized celeriac, peeled
90 g butter
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 heaped tablespoons Dijon mustard
a level teaspoon of thyme leaves
60ml vegetable stock
a handful of dill leaves
Method
Slice the potato and celeriac so thinly you can see through them. Mix them together and soak in cold water. Melt the butter in a metal-handled, deep frying pan (one that can go in the oven) and when it starts to bubble add the garlic and cook slowly for five minutes, till it is soft and has perfumed the butter. Take off the heat and stir in the mustard, thyme leaves and a grinding of salt and pepper.
Drain the potatoes and celeriac and dry them on kitchen paper. Toss them in the mustard butter so that they are wet all over, then loosely flatten them and pour in the stock.
Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper, then bake in an oven preheated to 190°C/Gas mark 5 for an hour and ten minutes, until tender to the point of a knife. Remove the greaseproof, turn up the heat to 220°C/Gas mark 7 and bake for a further ten minutes, until coloured and lightly crisp on top. Tear the dill up a bit and scatter it over the top and into the juices.
My husband made these delicious morsels for tea last night, he used pomegranate molasses instead of tamarind paste in the raita and it was delicious. They’re from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg Every Day.
Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower (about 800g), trimmed
sunflower oil, for frying
For the batter:
150g gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsps ground cumin
2 tsps ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
a good shake of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
For the tamarind raita
6 heaped tbs plain yoghurt
A large handful coriander, chopped
2 tsps tamarind paste or mango chutney
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
For the raita, mix all the ingredients together, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Cut the cauliflower into small florets, no more that 2 cm across in any direction, discarding nearly all the stalk.
For the batter, put the gram flour, baking powder, ground spices and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine and get rid of any lumps. Slowly whisk in 175 ml cold water, which should give you a smooth batter with a similar consistency to double cream. Add a little more water if necessary – different brands of gram flour will vary in how much they absorb.
Add the cauliflower florets to the batter and turn them, making sure they are all thoroughly coated. Heat about 1 cm of oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. When the oil is hot enough to turn a cube of white bread light golden in 30-40 seconds, start cooking the pakoras, a few at a time so you don’t crowd the pan.
Place spoonfuls of battered cauliflower – just a few florets per spoonful – into the hot oil. Cook for about 2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown on the base, then turn over and cook for another minute or two. drain the pakoras on kitchen paper, then serve piping hot with the raita for dipping.
I love risotto and its soothing texture. If you can’t find taleggio, Camembert will do in its place. This recipe is from Nigel Slater’s Real Food.
Serves: 2 generously
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 35-40 mins
Ingredients
50 g butter
2 large leeks, chopped and rinsed
2 large cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
225 g arborio rice
900 ml hot vegetable stock
225 g tallegio cheese, cut into thick slices
Method
Melt the butter in a shallow, heavy bottomed pan and add the leeks and garlic. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are soft (about 15-20 minutes). Stir in the oregano and the rice.
Pour in three ladles of hot stock and stir. Leave to simmer gently, stirring regularly, until the stock has almost all been soaked up by the rice. Add more stock and leave to cook once more, at a gentle pace, then add more when that too has gone. It will stick if you forget to stir it.
The rice should be plump and tender after about 18-20 minutes. Taste it to see if it is done to your liking. Stir in the cheese at the last minute – it will melt creamily. Check for seasoning.
This dish can be served as a main dish or as a side with roast meat.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash, peeled
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds, smashed
1-2 dried red chillies, crumbled
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
250 ml single cream
1/2 a nutmeg, grated
a wineglass of Chardonnay
2 handfuls of freshly grated parmesan cheese
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Cut the butternut squash in half lengthways, remove the seeds, then cut into 1 inch slices and toss in a bowl with the smashed coriander seeds, chilli, thyme leaves, salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil to coat everything. Mix around then place the squash slices tightly in a roasting tray or earthenware dish, standing up on their sides. Take a piece of greaseproof paper slightly larger than the roasting tray, dampen it under the tap and scrunch it up then drape it over the squash, tucking in at the sides. Place the tray in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the squash starts to soften. While the squash is cooking mix together the grated nutmeg, cream, wine, half the parmesan, salt and pepper. Take the butternut squash out of the oven, remove the greaseproof paper, pour over the creamy sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan. Place with the squash back in the oven for another 10 minutes until golden, bubbling and delicious.
I was recommended to try making kale chips by a CSA member. I found this recipe from Australia on the internet and my husband made them last night. We ate them as a starter with a glass of chilled white wine and they were soon gone!
Serves 2-4
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 12-15 mins
Ingredients
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 5. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper. Trim centre stems from kale, tear into small bite size pieces. Combine olive oil, paprika and chilli in a large bowl. Add kale leaves and toss to coat in oil mixture.
Spread kale out in a single layer on prepared trays. Bake for 12-15 minutes, swapping trays half way through cooking time, or until leaves are crisp. Serve sprinkled with sea salt.
This is for those of you who don’t like plain boiled sprouts! The Riverford Farm cookbook suggests serving with rice.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Ingredients
3 tbs sunflower oil
2 shallots or 1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped
600g Brussels sprouts, finely shredded
4cm piece of fresh ginger, cut into very fine strips
4 cm piece of crystallised stem ginger, cut into very fine strips
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oil in a wok, add the shallots or onion, plus the garlic and chilli and fry quickly for about 2 minutes, without browning. Add the shredded sprouts and the fresh and crystallised ginger. Cook stirring constantly for two minutes. Add 3 tbs water, cover and steam for 3 minutes. Season to taste and serve.
