Sweet and sour pork

Vegetable Bake with Applewood Mash

Vegetable Bake with Applewood Mash

There's no denying that it is now the time of year for comfort food. It's dark in the morning, dark by late afternoon and grey, raining and blustery inbetween. Comfort food usually points to something that is tasty but actually not that good for you. This dish is different. It's full of vegetables to fill you with vitamins and minerals but hearty enough to warm you through. I made this on Halloween evening while my little monsters were out trick or treating. It can be prepared in advance and then simply put in the oven to heat through.

This recipe was inspired by the lovely hamper sent to me by Applewood Spreadable. As part of their blogger challenge they have asked a number of food bloggers to create dishes using their delicious smoky cheddar cheese spread.

Since there is a large amount of vegetables in this dish I would recommend you prepare all the vegetables first before you start. The list of vegetables is what I had to hand and what was sent to me by Applewood Spreadable. By all means do your own fridge raid and add or substitute whatever vegetables you like. If you wish to bulk it out further I would suggest adding a tin of beans such as butter beans or cannellini; baked beans would also work. If you don't have fresh basil use dried basil or mixed herbs.

One note on the amount of potatoes used. My oven-proof dish is deep with a small surface area so if your dish is bigger you may need more potatoes in order to cover the top. Add some more Applewood Spreadable if necessary.

Serves: Generously serves 4 as an accompaniment or 2 as a main meal

Equipment: 1 large frying pan, 1 oven-proof dish

Ingredients

2 tbsp (30ml) Olive Oil

1 Carrot, diced

1 Parsnip, diced

1 Leek, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

1 Courgette, diced

1 Aubergine, diced

3oz (85g) Mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

12oz (350g) Potatoes, diced

400g tin Chopped Tomatoes

2tbsp Tomato purée

Black pepper, to taste

Handful fresh basil leaves, torn

2 tbsp (30ml) Applewood Spreadable

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

2. In a large frying pan heat the olive oil and start to sauté the carrot, parsnip, leek and onion.

3. When the onion starts to soften add the courgette, aubergine, mushrooms and garlic.

4. Put the potatoes onto boil while the vegetable mixture keeps cooking gently.

5. When the vegetables start to brown slightly add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, black pepper and basil.

6. Continue to cook until the potatoes are well-cooked and ready to mash.

7. Drain the potatoes and start to break down with a masher.

8. Add the Applewood Spreadable and stir into the mash.

9. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the oven-proof dish and the spread the mash on top of it.

10. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes or until the mash starts to brown.

I was sent the Applewood Spreadable and hamper for free. No payment was made for this post. Recipe, words and photographs are my own. Please note that Applewood Spreadable is not suitable for vegetarians but Applewood (hard) Cheese is.

We Should Cocoa #38 - October 2013

I took the plunge a couple of months ago and asked the lovely Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog if I could be the guest host of her monthly chocolate cooking challenge We Should Cocoa. To my delight she said yes so here we are for my first blogging challenge hosting. Last month's challenge was the third anniversary of We Should Cocoa and appropriately the theme was Chocolate Showstopper Cake. 

We're now past the autumn equinox and this month the clocks will change bringing those dark nights ever earlier. It's time to start digging up the soil to reveal the goodies the land has grown for us. It's time to bring in the harvest so therefore the theme for October 2013's We Should Cocoa is:

Last October we had pumpkins on their own for We Should Cocoa but if you missed that or have another recipe here's your chance. It's not just about the big orange squashes though. Make the most of the wonderful seasonal produce that is in abundance this year. If you grow your own it's time to show it off and bring me your beetroot. Got a great local market or producer? Shout out about their swede. While we're thinking about local and seasonal let's just have a word about ugly vegetables. Some veg may not be lookers but that's no excuse to throw them away. If you have some odd looking aubergines or seen better days butternut squash I want to see what you have made with it.

To kick things off I've made a Chocolate and Potato Ring Cake using some leftover mashed potato. This goes to show that vegetables are a great ingredient to combine with chocolate. This year I've the pleasure of eating chocolate cakes made with aubergine and beetroot. It's not just about cake. You can keep it sweet or make it savoury just make sure your recipe includes chocolate and at least one vegetable.

To summarise, here are the rules:

Post your recipe on your blog. Remember, we all love a photograph too whether it's lovingly styled or snapped on your mobile, show us what you have made.

Link your recipe by the 25^th October to the linky below.

Mention We Should Cocoa in your post

Please link to me, JibberJabberUK, as this month's host and also Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog.

Please use the 'We Should Cocoa' logo in your post.

If you use Twitter please tweet your post to @jibberjabberuk and @Choclette8 with the hashtag #weshouldcocoa and we will endeavour to retweet it.

Please make sure you use this month's ingredient of vegetables and chocolate in your recipe.

A round-up of all your fabulous creations will be posted on JibberJibberUK after the closing date.

For any further details please look here.

Happy cooking!

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Tuna and Vegetable Spaghetti

Veggies galore in this tuna and vegetable spaghetti dish

When I was a child the only pasta we used to eat was spaghetti. This was once a week on Friday when my Nan made 'Meaty Bolognese' and not a single tomato was used in this recipe. Until I was about 15 and Dad bought some penne not a single other variety of pasta came into our house (except tinned ravioli). Now the choice of pasta in shops takes up many shelves but spaghetti still remains a favourite.

Getting kids to eat vegetables can often be a tricky task so I find one of the easiest ways is to load it into pasta sauce. For some added protein there's tuna in this recipe but you could easily omit it if you just want to stick to the vegetables. My personal preference for tinned tuna is in just spring water as I like to keep the taste of it. So this isn't just another ordinary tomato sauce I've included some Kikkoman Soy Sauce for some added tang.

Serves 4

Ingredients

10½ oz (300g) Spaghetti

1 tbsp (15ml) oil, sunflower or vegetable

1 Onion, chopped

2 Carrots, finely chopped

1 Garlic clove, sliced

1 small tin of Tuna, drained (around 100-150g)

1 tin chopped Tomatoes (around 400g)

1 tbsp (15ml) Tomato purée

1 tsp Dried mixed herbs

2 tsp (10ml) Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1 Red pepper, sliced

1 Green pepper, sliced

Method

1. Start to cook the spaghetti in boiling water.

2. In a large saucepan heat the oil then cook the onion, carrot and garlic until the onion starts to soften.

3. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, mixed herbs and soy sauce to the saucepan.

4. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat

5. Add the peppers and stir together.

6. When the spaghetti has cooked drain it and then put it in a large dish.

7. Add the vegetable tuna mixture to the spaghetti and stir together before serving.

Kikkoman sent the Soy Sauce for free to try and use. No payment was received for this post.