Celebrate Vegetables, & Vegetarian Wine on World Vegetarian Day

Mash Direct Vegetable Burgers – review

Basil and almond pesto pasta

Stir fry vegetable soup

Mushroom stroganoff

Aubergine pasta bake

 

Aubergine pasta bake

Slow cooker carrot and coriander soup - vegan and gluten-free

Carrot and coriander soup

The last time I made soup in my slow cooker was in the second year at university. On Saturdays I worked in a well-known high street retailer of magazines, books, stationery and music. After I had finished selling Daniel O'Donnell CDs and saucy lady magazines (always sandwiched between a gardening and classic music magazine) to the good people of Southampton I would stroll back to my flat and pick a can of soup for my Saturday dinner. Every other day I would cook myself something from scratch but Saturday night was tinned soup night. One Saturday however I decided to make myself a potato and garlic soup before I went to work and leave in the slow cooker to be enjoyed by myself upon my return. Oh the joy of not even having to get the get the tin opener out and putting my bowl in the microwave for a couple of minutes! All day I looked forward to this soup feeling smug in the knowledge that a warming, tasty and filling dinner would be ready for me on my return. When I did get home I was confronted by three angry flatmates and an overwhelming garlic stench. It seemed that while I was ensuring I left university debt-free they were awoken from their slumber by the smell of my dinner cooking and as the day went on it got stronger and stronger. I did taste the soup and with my best food critic's hat on I condemned it as 'foul'. Perhaps it was one too many a garlic clove in it...I have searched through my student recipe folder for it but sadly it seems lost to history.

With such a sorry tale to tell about my soup making it's probably no surprise I have shunned my slow cooker when I have made it since. However, this changed when I was flicking through the copy of Mrs Beeton's Household Management I was given for Christmas. Whilst I was amusing myself with the thought of making turtle or calf's head soup (both out of stock at my local supermarket it seems) I came across two recipes for carrot soup. Both of them needed to be cooked for ages which made me think this would be perfect for making in the slow cooker. The first recipe required 4 quarts of liquor for just 6 carrots, 2 onions and a turnip. I found this equated to about 8 pints of stock which could only make some very watery broth with a bit of veg floating in it. So I raided my fridge, of which the contents is listed in the ingredients before, added some stock and of course coriander. The main ingredient is obviously carrots but a variety of veg can be used depending on what you have available.

I've billed this soup as being vegan and gluten-free. Obviously if you are following a vegan or gluten-free diet you will be aware of what ingredients you can use. However for other people some ingredients such as vegetable stock if you make it up from a cube can be a bit of a minefield. There are vegan and gluten-free stock cubes available in supermarkets but you may need to search through the ingredients list.

Serves 6 – Can be frozen

Equipment: Slow cooker/crockpot, hand blender

Ingredients

2lb (900g) Carrots, chopped

2 Large onions, chopped

2 Stalks celery, chopped

13oz (375g) Potatoes, peeled and diced

2½ pints (1.5 litres) Vegetable stock

1tsp (5ml) Dried coriander leaf

Black pepper to taste

Optional: to garnish fresh coriander leaf or chives chopped

Method

1. Pre-heat the slow cooker on HIGH while you prepare all the vegetables.

2. Put all the vegetables, stock and dried coriander leaf into the slow cooker. Season with black pepper.

3. Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

4. Remove the pot from the slow cooker base and put on a firm surface. The vegetables should just look as it they have been cooked.

5. Using a hand blender on pulse blend the vegetables until you get the consistency you require.

6. Check the taste and see if it requires any more seasoning.

7. Either serve immediately or chill and reheat when required.

Vegetarian Nachos

Vegetarian nachos with tortilla chips

On the rare occasions that we do venture out to an eating establishment I am always surprised at how little some meals cost and yet other very simple dishes cost a fortune. My latest bugbear in pubs and restaurants is the fashion to serve nachos with a few dips and pretend this constitutes a meal. The last time we went out the pub was proudly advertising such dish for £6.95. I noticed this while I was tucking into my steak and mushroom baguette complete with chips which had cost just £5.95. So if you are going to have nachos this is the way to do. I've used vegetarian mince because it works just well as beef mince and it's cheaper. If it is not for you then of course use beef instead.

Getting some flavour into tomato based dishes can be a little tricky at times. I've given this recipe a lift by using some Kikkoman Soy Sauce and a little chilli powder. My kids don't like anything 'too spicy' so the chilli quantity listed is very family friendly. Ramp it up if you prefer something a bit more head-blowing. The vegetables listed are what I had in fridge at the time. Substitute the carrots and mushrooms for whatever you like – peppers, peas and sweetcorn would also work well.

This makes enough for at least 6 people as we had the leftovers for lunch. You may want to buy another pack of tortilla chips though if you are serving more than 4 people.

Ingredients

1 tbsp (15ml) Oil, sunflower or vegetable

1 Onion, chopped

2 Carrots, peeled and chopped

1 pack 500g Frozen vegetarian mince

2 Mushrooms, sliced

1 tin (around 400g) Baked Beans in tomato sauce (I used mixed beans)

1 tin (around 400g) Chopped tomatoes

¼ tsp (1.25ml) Chilli powder

1 tbsp (15ml) Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1 bag 200g Tortilla chips

2oz (55g) Cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1. In a large saucepan heat the oil and then gently fry the onion and carrot until the onion starts to soften.

2. Add the mince and break it down with a spatula.

3. Once the mince can be stirred easily add the mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, chilli and soy sauce.

4. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer to cook for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Once cooked lay out the tortilla chips on plates and divide the mixture between them. Sprinkle on top with the cheese.

Kikkoman sent me the Soy Sauce for free. No payment has been received for writing this post.

Vegan Blueberry Bran Muffin

Vegan Blueberry Bran Muffins

I like a blogging challenge – you may have noticed this if you have read some of the posts on here. So when the lovely Victoria from A Kick at the Pantry Door announced her new monthly blogging challenge of Feel Good Food I was in. To start the challenge the chosen ingredient is the superfood blueberries.

As always I knew I could bake the blueberries into a cake but I was undecided until I saw the theme of this month's Breakfast Club run by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours. This month's host, Elizabeth at Elizabeth's Kitchen, has set High Fibre as the challenge and with some wheat bran to use up my mind was made up – muffins it was!

 

I thought I'd make these muffins vegan not just for dietary reasons but on a practical note. Quite often I run out of eggs but still want to bake so having some recipes that can be made out of store cupboard ingredients is very handy. This recipe contains no strange or hard to get ingredients. The bag of wheat bran came from my local branch of Morrisons.

As these muffins don't contain any eggs they don't rise like a muffin normally does. However, if you don't want to hoof down a bowl of cereal whilst trying to put your shoes on and dry your hair at the same time, this is the breakfast for you. Pop a couple in your bag and eat them at a more digestible moment.

Equipment: 12 cup muffin tin lined with cases.

Ingredients

7oz (200g) Wholemeal plain flour

5oz (150g) Demerara sugar

2½ oz (75g) Wheat bran

2 tsp (10ml) Baking powder

4½ oz (125g) Blueberries, washed and dried

8 tbsp (120ml) Sunflower oil

8fl oz (230ml) Water

1 tsp (5ml) Vanilla extract

1½ tsp (7.5ml) Lemon juice

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

2. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, wheat bran, baking powder and blueberries together. Make sure the blueberries are coated or they may sink.

3. In a separate bowl mix together the oil, water, vanilla extract and lemon juice.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Unlike other muffin mixes this isn't so wet.

5. Spoon the mixture equally between the 12 muffin cases.

6. Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Sausage & Pepper Pasta

I could big up this dish a little more. Perhaps 'Sausage & Pepper Pasta' isn't fancy enough and I should stick 'supper' at the end of the title or call it a 'stew'; only it doesn't cook for that long. It has a slight kick to it but nothing that will blow your head off or have the kids spitting it out. It does though have the things that kids love, namely sausages, tomato sauce and pasta. I've listed two separate ingredients for this recipe – one meat and one vegetarian. My only gripe with the vegetarian version is that this recipe is for 4 people so I allow 2 sausages each and the vegetarian sausages I use come in packs of 6 rather than 8 (please rectify this just me Quorn and Cauldron).

Although the recipe includes peppers as well if you haven't got any or don't like them this still makes a very tasty tomato sauce to have with sausages and onions.

Serves 4

Meat Ingredients                                              Vegetarian Ingredients

8 Pork sausages                                         8 Vegetarian sausages

1 tbsp (15ml) Oil                                        1 tbsp (15ml) Oil

1 Large onion, sliced                                   1 Large onion, sliced

1 Red pepper, sliced                                    1 Red pepper, sliced

1 Yellow pepper, sliced                                1 Yellow pepper, sliced

2 Cloves garlic, crushed                               2 Cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp (5ml) Paprika                                     1 tsp (5ml) Paprika

Tin of chopped tomatoes                             Tin of chopped tomatoes

½ pint (284ml) Chicken stock                       ½ pint (284ml) Vegetable stock

1 tsp (5ml) dried oregano                            1 tsp (5ml) dried oregano

1 tsp (5ml) Demerara sugar                         1 tsp (5ml) Demerara sugar

½ tsp (2.5ml) Worcestershire Sauce              ½ tsp (2.5ml) Vegetarian     

                                                               Worcestershire Sauce or                                                                Henderson's Relish

Salt and Pepper to taste                                Salt and Pepper to taste

10oz (300g) Dried pasta                             10oz (300g) Dried pasta

Parmesan, grated to sprinkle on top             Vegetarian Italian hard cheese,  

                                                               grated to sprinkle on top

Method

1. In a large saucepan heat the oil and cook the sausages until evenly browned.

2. Remove the sausages from the pan and drain on a piece of kitchen paper.

3. Using the same oil fry the onions until just softened.

4. Put the peppers in the pan and fry for another 3-4 minutes.

5. Add the remaining ingredients except for the sausages and mix well.

6. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. While the mixture is cooking slice the sausages and then add to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes.

8. Cook the pasta while the sausage sauce is simmering.

9. Serve the pasta and sausages together with the grated cheese on top.

Potato Salad with Chives

Potato salad with chives