Feeling hot hot hot...

We are having our British summertime. My forehead is a bit pink, despite factor 30. And I have more freckles. Time for hot spicy food!
Stir fried veggies, which had been marinated in chili, garlic and paprika. Mixed bean salad with feta cheese. Shredded lettuces and cucumber. Topped with Mrs Renfro's habanero salsa and more jalapenos. Served with plenty of plain yogurt for cooling!

Lurking at the back of the fridge bake...

So the veggies were getting a little past their best. The carrots a little bendy, even the two greedy guinea pigs were turning their noses up at them! So my plan was to use them all up in a bake.
Firstly I chopped a bunch of carrots and left them to boil, this would create a mash topping. For the bake itself, I lightly fried chopped onion, a leek and a green pepper (all found hidden in the back of the fridge). To this I added some frozen quorn mince, frozen peas, a can of green lentils and some oxo stock. For seasoning I added a generous squeeze of tomato ketchup, black pepper and some mint & rosemary leaves that I had frozen in the freezer. Stir until the majority of the stock is absorbed or evaporated, then transfer to an ovenproof dish. Top with mashed carrot & put under the grill to brown.
Delicious, very simple and uses up all those veggies!

Surprise Tatin from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty

Apologies blog. I have neglected you. My problem is that during winter, the times of the day when the light is good enough to take reasonable quality pictures - is never when I am cooking! Note to self - must figure out the settings on the camera!
Anyways, this is the valentines meal that I made for Mister Crafty. His sister had brought him a lovely veggie cookbook for his birthday, which is a few days before V-day, so as a treat I said I would cook something from it for us. The surprise tatin was delicious, the sweetness of the caramel and roasted tomatoes, contrasted perfectly with the hard goats cheese.
The recipe was easy to follow and available on-line. My only problem was that I didn't have any fresh oregano, so substituted parsley & basil, but I don't think the meal suffered. Here is to Plenty more!!!

Sign of the times...

Nice sign.

A real Pea-Souper...

Brrrr!!! It is rather chilly here. We still have snow on the ground and there is more to come. I even found this polar bear whilst I was out and about yesterday.
Cold days require soup, tasty thick soup served with crusty bread. In the shops today I found some reduced mint - perfect for pea soup!
So here is some Pea, Potato, Leek & Mint soup.
Ingredients:

• a couple of leeks - sliced
• a few potatoes - chopped into chunks
• an onion - chopped
• a handful of fresh mint - chopped
• black pepper
• 1l of vegetable stock
• a couple of handfuls of frozen peas
• a swirl of cream (if you so desire)
• a little vegetable oil

In a large saucepan soften the onion and leeks in oil.
Then add the stock, potatoes, black pepper, chopped mint and peas, and bring to the boil.
Once the potatoes are soft, blend until smooth. Serve with a dollop of cream & enjoy the warm cosiness!

Pumpkin & Chick Pea salad with Tahini sauce

With half a pumpkin sitting in the fridge I searched the net for ideas. I stumbled upon this warm pumpkin and chick pea salad with tahini, and was inspired!
Firstly I chopped pumpkin, green pepper and courgette into a roasting dish. I added oil, chili flakes, grated nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice, and then put in to the oven.
Meanwhile in a large bowl I added half a chopped red onion and a drained tin of chick peas.
Once the veggies were soft, I added them to the chick pea mixture and stirred well. This mixture was then spooned onto a bed of simple salad (spinach, tomato, cucumber and lettuce).
For a tahini sauce, I added a tablespoon of tahini and crushed garlic clove to about 4 tablespoons of plain yogurt. Stir well, and add lemon juice to taste. If the sauce is too thick/strong, dilute with further yogurt. Spoon the sauce over the salad & serve with some tasty breads.
Absolutely delicious if I do say so myself. Though the raw onion / garlic combo does mean no snogging immediately after :)

Happy Halloween!

So we were a day late eating our pumpkin, due to a spooky trip here.
Back home, in the cosy warm and brandishing a sharp(ish) knife I attempted to carve the pumpkin. Realising that a) my knife is a bit blunt, b) I am not that strong, and c) this was one tough cookie (or should I say pumpkin), I concentrated on dinner instead. For a pumpkin and halloumi pasty, in a roasting dish with a little oil went chopped pumpkin, red pepper and leek. Seasoned with fresh rosemary, paprika and pepper. Off in the oven. Meanwhile I rolled out puff pastry into two rectangles and greased a baking tray.
Once the veggies were soft, I spooned them onto the pastry, added some chopped halloumi and then covered with pastry, scrunching up the edges, like a Cornish pasty.
Put in the oven until golden & then scoff!!!