My husband concocted this delicious meal last night from this week’s veg box contents when challenged with what to do with the sea spaghetti from The Cornish Seaweed Company. He also used the bean sprouts in our boxes. Ingredients can be changed as you see fit!
Serves 2
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
20g sea spaghetti
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
thumb sized knob of ginger, peeled and matchsticked
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 dried shitake mushrooms (or any fresh mushrooms as desired)
bean sprouts
150g buckwheat soba noodles (or any other noodles you fancy)
1 heaped tsp chilli bean paste or sliced fresh chillies to taste
1 Tbsp oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
a dash of sesame oil
juice of 1 lime
Method
Soak the sea spaghetti in cold water for 30 minutes, then drain. If using dried mushrooms, soak in boiling water for 30 minutes, then drain and slice thinly. Cook the noodles as instructed on the packet until al-dente and drain.
Heat a wok or large frying pan, add the oil and stir-fry the onion for 2 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and beansprouts and stir-fry until the beansprouts start to soften. Add the sea spaghetti, mushrooms, chilli paste, soy sauce and half the lime juice and stir-fry for 30 seconds or so. Add the noodles and stir-fry until everything is piping hot.
Divide into two bowls. Sprinkle some sesame oil and the remaining lime juice over each bowl and serve.
My husband Frank found this recipe from Rosie Sykes’ The Kitchen Revolution on the Low Sizergh Barn website while looking for something new to do with the Jerusalem artichokes in our veg boxes this week. Then, even better, he cooked it for tea last night! If you are ever up in the Lake District, the shop and tearoom at Low Sizergh Barn are well worth a visit.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
60g butter
4 sprigs of thyme
Zest and juice of half a lemon
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
80g whole hazelnuts
3 leeks, trimmed and finely sliced
400g Jerusalem artichokes, sliced into pound coin-thick circles
250g filo pastry
60g soft goat’s cheese
Method
Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and all the butter to a small pan over a low heat. Add half the thyme, and all the lemon zest and garlic. Cover and warm gently. If any butter solids come to the top, skim them off. Set aside until needed.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Toast the hazelnuts in the warming oven for a few minutes until light golden. While warm, wrap in a tea towel and rub them to remove the skins. Once cool, finely chop the nuts.
Add the remaining oil to a pan over a medium heat. Add the leeks and thyme leaves stripped from the remaining stalks, cover and cook gently for about 10 minutes until soft. Turn the heat up, add the lemon juice and stir. Let the leeks become pretty dry, season to taste, take off the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, boil the artichokes in salted water for around 3 minutes until soft. Strain and run under cold water.
Brush a baking sheet with the infused oil mixture. Lay out one or two sheets of filo to create a 30cm square. Butter the pastry and scatter with a quarter of the hazelnuts, cover with another layer of filo and press down. Repeat to create three more layers on top of the first. Cover the pastry base with soft leeks, then arrange the artichokes on top in overlapping rows.
Season and brush with infused oil, crumble the goat’s cheese on top and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the cheese has melted nicely.
Cut the tart into quarters. Serve with some bitter leaves dressed with orange.
This recipe is from the latest West Country FoodLover magazine. It’s a topping for a Turkish pizza but I reckon it would be just as good with a curry.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1 bunch (10-12) radishes
200g plain yoghurt
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Method
Trim, wash and slice the radishes finely. Mix with all the other ingredients and serve.
This recipe looks interesting – I’ve had similar salads in Thai restaurants so now is the time to try it at home, using the spring onions in this week’s veg boxes. It’s from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s book River Cottage Veg Every Day!
Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 20-30 minutes
‘Relaxing time’: 10-20 minutes
Ingredients
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and sliced
4 medium carrots, peeled
1 small white cabbage
For the dressing:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp clear honey
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 Tbsp white wine or rice vinegar
2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 Tbsp olive oil
To finish:
A handful of coriander, roughly torn
Lime juice
Method
Put the sliced spring onions into a large bowl. Cut the carrots into fine julienne with a mandolin or grate them coarsely and add to the bowl. Remove any blemished outer leaves from the cabbage, then quarter, cut away the core and shred the leaves as finely as you can. Combine with the spring onions and carrots.
For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together, making sure the honey is dissolved. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss thoroughly. Leave for 10-20 minutes to soften and ‘relax’. Serve the coleslaw scattered with coriander and sprinkled with a few squeezes of lime juice.
I’m not sure where the idea for this potato dish comes from, but my husband’s version brings back childhood memories of a similar recipe my Mum used to dish up. I like it served with slow roast lamb.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1.5 – 2 hours
Ingredients
1 kg potatoes, peeled
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
olive oil
a splash of white wine
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Slice the potatoes the thickness of a pound coin. Place a sheet of aluminium foil (about 90 cm by 30 cm) on a baking tray, grease half of it with some olive oil and cover with a layer of sliced potatoes. Sprinkle with a little of the grated garlic. Build up the layers until all the potato and garlic have been used and top with freshly ground black pepper.
Add a good splash of white wine and a drizzle of olive oil then fold the other half of the foil over and crimp the edges together to make an airtight parcel. Place in the bottom of the oven at 150°C/Gas mark 2 for 1.5 – 2 hours. Be careful of a sudden release of steam when opening up the parcel . Serve immediately.
A simple supper dish to celebrate the start of spring here in Cornwall. Jamie Oliver says: “This garlicky pasta has a deep, earthy flavour – totally delicious with the Cumberland sausage.”
Serves: 4
Preparation/cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
2 heaped teaspoons fennel seeds
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
olive oil
4 higher-welfare coarse Italian or Cumberland sausages
4 handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed
320g fusilli
1 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method
Bash up the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Cut open the sausage skins and squeeze the meat into the pan. Stir it around with a wooden spoon, breaking it up into small pieces so it resembles coarse mince. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to colour and the fat has started to render out.
Add the bashed up fennel seeds and chillies to the meat, and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat is crisp, dark golden brown and caramelised. Turn the heat down to low.
Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil. Blanch the wild garlic leaves in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then scoop out and put in a food processor. Add the fusilli to the water, bring it back to the boil and cook according to the packet instructions. Blitz the leaves in the food processor until you have a deep green sauce, then add a glug of olive oil, a grating of lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper.
When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water. Put the pasta back in the saucepan and add a splash of the cooking water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Gently stir the lovely green sauce into the pasta to coat it then immediately divide the pasta between your bowls. Top with the delicious crisp sausage meat and a nice grating of Parmesan cheese, and serve.
I first tasted coleslaw made with red cabbage at Cowslip Workshops near Launceston. I like the way the dressing takes on a pinky hue and I now prefer using red cabbage to white. It’s difficult to give exact quantities as it depends on the size of all the vegetables and whether or not you like certain ingredients to be prominent flavours but make as much as you need!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 red cabbage, core removed and finely shredded
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
1-2 Tbsp mayonnaise
1-2 Tbsp plain yoghurt
Method
Mix the prepared vegetables before adding a dressing made with equal amounts of mayonnaise and plain yoghurt and toss well to combine thoroughly. Season to taste and serve. If the mood takes you, add other ingredients such as diced apple, sunflower or pumpkin seeds or chopped cashew nuts.
This recipe was a technical challenge in The Great Sport Relief Bake Off. I’m going to make it tonight as a pudding for my Mum on Mothers’ Day. I may skip the candied beetroot hearts!
Makes 12 slices
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40-50 minutes
Ingredients
For the cake:
250 g self raising flour
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
250 g cooked beetroot in natural juices
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
160 ml buttermilk
160 g butter, softened
230 g caster sugar
3 large free-range eggs
For the icing:
280 g cream cheese
50 g unsalted butter, softened
50 g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
For the candied beetroot hearts:
2 raw beetroots
200 g caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line a 30x20cm/12x8in traybake tin.
Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl. Blend the beetroot in a food processor until you have a rough purée. Put the purée in a bowl, add the vinegar and buttermilk. Mix to combine.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, followed by half the dry mixture and half the beetroot mixture. Continue to mix gently, adding the rest of the dry ingredients and the remaining beetroot.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out of the tin and leaving it to cool completely. Meanwhile make the icing. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until soft. Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract until they are combined, then spread the icing onto the cooled cake.
For the beetroot hearts, thinly slice the beetroot, and cut into 12 heart shapes. Boil the sugar in 200ml/7fl oz water until the sugar has dissolved, then add the beetroot hearts and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Using a fork, carefully remove the beetroot hearts from the hot sugar syrup and carefully lay them on paper towel to soak up any excess syrup. Slice the cake into 12 even squares, and then decorate each square with a beetroot heart.
I made this tasty soup recently, the recipe is from a Guardian feature where you cook a large quantity of a particular ingredient, in this case butter beans, and use it for four different meals. You could easily use tinned butter beans if you prefer.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
500 g leeks, trimmed and sliced
500 g cooked butter beans
1.5 litres water
2 Tbsp Marigold bouillon powder
A small handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the leeks, stir, then cover and cook gently for 5-10 minutes. Add the beans and the water, then bring to the boil. Sprinkle the bouillon powder over the surface, stirring to disperse it, then leave to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Add the fresh parsley, and blend the soup lightly with a hand blender to just thicken it slightly, but leave some visible pieces of bean and chunks of leek. Check the seasoning and serve.
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jan/23/butter-beans-recipe-curry-soup-salad-pate
This recipe is from Sarah Brown’s classic Vegetarian Kitchen. The quantities will fill either six individual tartlet tins 7cm in diameter or one 28cm flan tin.
Serves 6
Preparation time: 40-50 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Ingredients
450 g onions, peeled and finely chopped
40 g butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
50 ml single cream
75 g Cheddar cheese, grated
Wholemeal shortcrust pastry made with:
165 g wholewheat flour,
1 1/2 tsp baking powder,
a pinch of salt,
75 g mixed fats (half butter and half solid vegetable fat),
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar,
5-6 Tbsp cold water,
1 1/2 Tbsp oil
Method
Roll out the pastry to fill six individual tartlet tins or one flan tin. Press the pastry firmly into the cases and prick well. Bake for 5 minutes at 200°C/ Gas mark 6 so that the pastry sets.
Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter, taking care not to colour them. During the frying, lightly sprinkle them with salt as this brings out the juices. Then stir in the brown sugar and tarragon. Remove from the heat and leave the mixture to cool.
In a separate bowl beat the eggs thoroughly and then mix in the cream and grated cheese. When the onion filling is cool, season with extra salt and black pepper. Mix it into the cheese and egg mixture and spoon this filling into the pastry cases. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry shells are cooked and the filling is firm. Serve hot, warm or cold.
