Bean and carrot burgers

We started eating 'burgers' often. This means burger buns filled with all sorts of tasty things: fried or baked halloumi, marinated tofu slices, mushrooms, peppers, onions; fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers; chutney or ketchup etc etc. Sometimes also some kind of veggie burger. But bought ones are rarely delicious, and homemade a little bit faffy, and I hadn't really figured out a good recipe. This one caught my eye, just after I cooked a somewhat excessive amount of white beans, so I gave it a try. 

olive oil 

1/2 cup breadcrumbs 

1 small onion, finely chopped 

1 tbsp tomato puree 

1 1/2 tsp sea salt 

1 cup packed grated carrot (from 2 medium carrots) 

1 1/2 tbsp cider vinegar 

3 1/2 cups cooked beans (white or haricot - should be quite squishy) 

1 large egg, beaten pepper 

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned and crisp, 3 to 5 min. Put crumbs in a large bowl, then return the pan to the heat.

Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the pan, followed by the onion. Cook until softened and lightly golden, 8 to 10 min. Stir in the tomato puree, salt, and carrots and stir frequently until the carrots are soft and a bit blistered, another 8 to 10 min. Add the vinegar, scraping up all the browned bits until the pan is dry. Remove from heat and add the bowl with the toasted breadcrumbs. Add beans and use a wooden spoon or spatula to very coarsely mash the mixture until a bit pasty and sticking together - there should still be plenty of beans intact. Add pepper, and more salt if needed, to taste. Stir in the egg. Shape into 6-8 burgers.

To cook the veggie burgers, heat a thin layer of olive oil in the frying pan over medium heat and carefully cook until browned and slightly firm to the touch, 3 to 4 min per side. Serve hot or at room temperature, with whatever you like on or with veggie burgers.

 

The first time I tried these they fell apart. The second time I used squishier beans (haricot not white), and they were great - tasty and texturally interesting and good for fitting in a bun. So make sure the beans are on the squishy side.

Carrot and sunflower seed bread rolls

Little S talks about bøller a lot. Essentially, it is his word for all food - although it really means bread-rolls. My friend A-L makes awesome, no-nonsense overnight bread rolls with carrot in them. I found this recipe after I asked her for hers, and thought I'd give it a go in the meantime.

50 g fresh yeast (2 oz)
550 ml lukewarm water
80 g sunflower seeds
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
250 g carrots, peeled and grated
1000 g plain flour
2 tsp salt
extra sunflower seeds for decoration

In a large bowl, dissolve the fresh yeast. If you are using dry yeast then add this in the step together with the flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead everything into a nice and smooth dough.

Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and set it aside to rise. Let it rise for one hour.

Divide the dough into 24 pieces and make them into nice buns. Place the buns on a parchment paper covered baking tray. Let the buns rise for another 30 min. Heat the oven to 210C. Gently brush the buns will a beaten egg and sprinkle them with some extra sunflower seeds. Bake for about 20 min.


These were quite nice, but I liked the overnight-risen rolls better - both flavour and method!

Kid-friendly coconutty ‘flapjacks’

I stumbled upon this 'flapjack' recipe and it sounded really like something small S and I would both like - not too sweet, lots of tasty stuff. It took me a while to get around to making it but when I did I discovered that I was so right: we both love it! I've been making a half quantity in a loaf tin (I don't have a bigger square or rectangular baking tin) and that lasts us about a week. We have been developing a little tradition of baking snacks together on Sunday mornings that small S can eat after vuggestue through the rest of the week. We've made these a couple of time now. Also, I have discovered that I love pretty much every Anna Jones baking recipe I have tried so far - she uses all my favourite things!

4 tbsp chia seeds
200g rolled oats
150g dried fruit (used a mixture of dried apricots and raisins)
1 medium carrot
1 apple
100g desiccated coconut
100g pumpkin seeds
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
70g coconut oil, melted

Heat the oven to 200C and line a 20cm × 30cm baking tin (or large loaf tin for a half quantity) with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, soak the chia seeds in four tablespoons of water, then set aside (did 2 tbsp chia in 3 tbsp water for half recipe - the chia mixture felt too thick the first time).

Put the oats in blender and blend until you have a scruffy flour, then tip into a large bowl. Put half the dried fruit into blender and blend until broken down and a little mushy. Scrape into the bowl with the oats.

Grate the carrot and apple (no need to peel them... also ok with double apple no carrot or double carrot no apple, depending on availability) into the bowl, and add the remaining dried fruit, coconut, chia mixture, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and melted coconut oil. Mix well.

Spoon into the tin, smooth the top with the back of a spoon, and bake for 40–45 minutes (c 30 min for half quantity), until golden brown. Leave to cool a little in the tray, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Slice into pieces.

Best grated carrot salad

I've tried a few grated carrot salads in the past but never got it quite right. This attempt turned out exactly as I wanted; even better... The toasted coriander is key, and came from a Delia recipe (that I then decided not to stick to...).

1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
2 tsp white/red miso
1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
1 tiny clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp finely chopped onion
c 10 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp chopped chives
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp black onion seeds

Toast the coriander seeds and then crush them in a pestle and mortar. Put in a medium bowl with the vinegar, oils, miso, honey, salt and pepper (not much salt, miso is salty), crushed garlic and chopped onion. Whisk together with a fork. Add the grated carrots, lemon zest, chives, raisins and black onion seeds and mix to combine. Keeps well in the fridge (the raisins will plump up) for a few days.

Roasted carrots, chickpeas and cauliflower with yoghurt-tahini sauce

More cauliflower. I fancied roasting some chickpeas, and roasting carrots with coriander and spices. They all got roasted together and it was very very good.

Roast:
5 large carrots, scrubbed and top-and-tailed
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 tbsp paprika
1-2 tsp sumac
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-2 tsp nigella seeds
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt+pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
about 1 cup cooked chickpeas

Sauce:
4 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 230C. Put the carrots in a large baking tin along with all of the spices and seeds, salt and pepper and the olive oil (be generous with these - remember the cauliflower and chickpeas will be added partway through and they want to be coated with goodness too). Mix well and put in the oven for 10-15 min. Take out and mix in the cauliflower and the chickpeas. Put back in the oven and roast for another 20-30 min, until everything is tender and starting to crisp. While it's roasting make the sauce just by mixing together the yoghurt, tahini and lemon. Serve together.


Both roast and sauce are definite make-agains. S particularly loved the roasted chickpeas.

Ultimate gingery red lentil dal

They've had a red lentil dal on the menu at Grød all the time we've been here, and I keep ordering it even though I know it's really something I can make at home. Because it is pretty much the ultimate comfort food on a chilly day (it's starting to feel like Spring and sunny but it's still a bit chilly if we're honest).

I have been making versions of the Grød dal ever since we first went there. This time I think I nailed it. And I made crispy garlic butter flatbreads to go with it, which really took it over the edge.

(takes about half an hour from beginning to end)

Dal:
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups red lentils
4 cups hot water
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into half moons
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
juice of 1/3 lime
1 tsp honey
1-2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
yoghurt (or skyr, or ricotta)
more chopped fresh coriander
salty almonds (about 5 per bowl)

Cheat's garlic flatbreads:
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 cm slice of butter
flatbread (7 chapati size pieces)

Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan. Add the fresh ginger and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the dried spices and saute until fragrant. Add red lentils and mix around, then pour in hot water, add tomato puree, stir, cover and simmer for about 20 min. Peel and chop the carrots and add to the pan (they should need 10-15 min to become tender). Add about 1 tbsp of chopped coriander. Simmer until the lentils and carrots are tender.

Meanwhile, make the flatbreads. We had some thin Turkish flatbread that needed eating; I chopped it into 7 chapati size squares. Put the chopped garlic and cold butter into a small bowl and heat in the microwave for 15-20 sec, or however long it takes for the butter to become soft and scoopable but not liquid. Mix garlic and butter together. Heat a large heavy frying pan to a high heat, then put the first flatbread piece in it. Warm for a few min, until hot, then turn over. Put about a teaspoon of garlic-butter mixture on it and spread out. Transfer to a plate to keep warm. Repeat for the remaining flatbreads.

To finish off the dal, add the remaining 1 tbsp of coriander (remember to keep some for serving), lime juice, honey, salt and pepper. Taste and add more if necessary.

To serve, fill a bowl with dal, put some yoghurt on top and scatter with chopped fresh coriander and salty almonds. If necessary reheat the flatbreads in the microwave. Scoop dal up with flatbread or eat with a spoon.


Notes: the flatbreads were quite crispy - to make softer, perhaps it would be good to sprinkle them with water while warming the first side; I microwaved the garlic with the butter in the hope it would take the edge off the raw garlic taste and I don't know if it was that that did it but something worked and they were just garlicky enough.

Carrot and coriander salad

We have a food processor in our current place, which makes grated root vegetables a breeze. So, I made this Delia recipe in a few minutes' work, with no grated knuckles.

1 lb carrot, peeled
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp coriander seed
2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
pinch cayenne pepper

Grate the carrots finely. Put in a bowl and mix with vinegar and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight). If necessary pour off excess juice (drink it!).

Dry-roast the coriander seeds in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Tip into a mortar and crush the roasted seeds.

Heat the oil in the same frying pan, add the onion and fry until golden; allow to cool slightly then drain the oil through a sieve on to the carrots. The onion has now served its purpose and can be used in another dish (I put it in a lentil salad).

Add the coriander seeds, garlic and cayenne to the carrots, mix and serve.


I like this salad, but remembered two things I wasn't sure about: first, is it really necessary to leave it so long and pour off the juice? Second, the onion oil part results in very little oil and seems like an unnecessary faff as you have to do something with the cooked onion and surely you don't get much flavour from that tiny bit of oil, especially beside loads of tasty coriander seed.

Carrot and coriander soup

Since we got here we are eating a lot of simple, warming food: rye bread, butter, yoghurt, honey, tahini, muesli, sunflower seeds, carrots, chickpeas/lentils, celeriac (cheap and easy to find), parsley root sometimes; salad, curry, soup.

I made a chunky soup the other day. This time I wanted to make a blended soup. I'd just bought a big bag of carrots so that was part of the motivation. Aside from that, it's a chilly February day so what do you expect?

It's not quite a classic carrot and coriander. It has both fresh coriander leaves and toasty coriander seed. Ginger, garlic, and a little bit of celeriac add some more depth and warmth. A spot of honey magnifies the carrots' sweetness. And I experimented with using tahini to thicken the soup, and was pleased with the results - I just used a little, but it gives a smooth, subtle nuttiness that I like.

(makes approx 5 servings)

~1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
~6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
~3 in piece of celeriac, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 stock cube made up with ~3 cups of water
1/2 tsp honey
lemon juice
salt+pepper
1 tbsp tahini
~2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a large, lidded saucepan. Add the onion and cook for ~10 min, until softened and starting to brown. Add the garlic and ginger about halfway through that. Next add the ground spices and cook until fragrant (~1 min). Add the carrots and celeriac and saute for a few minutes before adding the stock, covering and simmering gently for ~15 min, until the carrots and celeriac are tender. Add honey (be restrained), lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Remove a few tbsp of the liquid into a bowl and mix in the tahini. Return this liquid to the pan along with the fresh coriander. Let cool for 10-20 min, then blend until smooth. Taste again to check acidity and seasoning. I've been eating it with a swirl of natural yoghurt on top and a grinding of salt and pepper.


This is so simple I almost wasn't going to bother writing it out. But it was good, and is improving every time I eat it (over a couple of days of keeping it in the fridge). So here we are.

Lazy vegetable and red lentil curry

Since we're subletting I haven't really felt like I settled in, foodwise, yet. The kitchen has most everything we need but not all, and I'm conscious of trying not to mess things up. And since we move again soon (to a different sublet) it feels like it would be silly to buy up lots of foodstuff. Not to mention that there is a whole lot of exciting food out there to buy / eat - baked goods especially are making us happy. And there's just a lot of adventuring / work etc to be done, so spending time doing anything very involved in the kitchen doesn't feel quite right. But then again, just eating pasta or salad all the time doesn't feel right either.

This has been my solution: simple curried vegetables, with red lentils to thicken and deepen. No weighing or measuring and minimal effort; but feels hearty and hygge (and yes not much different from that soup - just a few more spices, less varied vegetables and less liquidy).

(Note: partly inspired by our favourite food place discovery since getting here: Grød - all kinds of sweet and savoury porridge (including dal, barley-otto); perfect for a Danish winter and quite near work.)

~1 tbsp veg oil (or olive oil)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 in piece ginger, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
few grinds black pepper
1 tsp curry powder
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
chunk of celeriac, peeled and diced
~1 cup red lentils
1 veg stock cube made up with 2 cups boiling water
smallish piece of broccoli, washed and separated into florets
~1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
~1 tsp salt
~2 tbsp chopped coriander
brown rice and skyr / yoghurt* to serve

Heat the oil in a medium lidded saucepan. Add the garlic, ginger and onion. Cover and cook until softened and slightly browned. Add the spices and mix / toast for a minute. Add the carrots and celeriac and mix. Add the lentils and stock and stir. Cover and simmer for ~15 min until the veg and lentils are nearly tender. Add the broccoli and simmer for ~5 more minutes. Check everything is done and add vinegar and salt to taste. To serve, mix through some of the coriander and scatter some more on top. We ate with brown rice and some skyr*.


This keeps well to become work lunches etc as well - perhaps even improves with a day in the fridge. Usually I would have added tinned tomatoes to something like this, but (a) I didn't have any, and (b) I found that red lentils+stock work well in their place to create a sauce as well as adding texture and earthy flavour.

*I have been having a bit of a break from veganism since getting here - it's tricky to figure out what is / isn't vegan when there's a language barrier. So I am making the best of it and eating lots of all my favourite non-vegan foods (mostly yoghurt; occasionally cheese / eggs / non-vegan baked goods) - no meat! Hence the skyr - I always loved how natural yoghurt goes with spicy curry and brown rice. But this is just fine without it too.

New Year's Hygge Soup (chunky spiced red lentil and root veg)

We live in Denmark now. Since last Sunday. Crikey: nearly a week. After a rush of moving and flying and packing and cases and goodbyes and Christmas and birthday and everything, there we were. It snowed. Amy arrived from Berlin for New Year's Eve - hurrah. We explored a bit. Walking: the Mermaid and the busbies in Amalienborg. 360 degrees of Round Tower. Half-electric bikes to look at the Carlsberg elephant gate. Looks like we can swim and sauna at the harbour baths, but we didn't know in time to achieve it on New Year's Day. Sooo many fireworks.

Discovering supermarkets. Nearest is Rema 1000 (seems to be mid-range), also Aldi; Irma (seems to be more fancy / økologisk). After some foggy outdoor explorations on New Year's Day it felt like enough activity and we went home to create some hygge. With a bag full of red lentils and root vegetables. Soup.

(this served 3 good appetites, with bread, for dinner)

~2 tbsp olive oil (olivenolie)
3 cloves garlic (hvidløg), peeled and chopped
2 medium leeks (porre), sliced
4 medium persillerod (aka petersilienwurzel aka parsley root aka my new favourite thing - seems quite easy to get here; alternatively use parsnips, pastinak), peeled and diced fairly small
6 medium carrots (gulerod), peeled and diced fairly small
1/4 celeriac (knoldselleri), peeled and diced fairly small
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin (kommen)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (kanel)
1/4 tsp turmeric (gurkemeje)
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground thyme (timien)
1 cup red lentils (røde linser)
1 veg stock cube dissolved in boiling water
more boiling water
6 baby pattypan squash, chopped
6 mushrooms (champignon), chopped
splashes of balsamic vinegar (eddike)
splashes of soy sauce (sojasovs)
salt+pepper (salt og peber)

Heat oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add garlic and leeks, cover and cook for a few minutes. Add the chopped root vegetables, cover and cook for a few minutes more until everything is slightly tender and just starting to soften. Add the spices and thyme and stir for a few minutes until you can smell them. Add the lentils and stir, then add the stock and enough water to achieve a consistency a bit runnier than you'd like to end up with (the lentils will absorb some). Turn down low, and simmer for 10-15 min, until the lentils and vegetables are almost tender. Add the squash and mushrooms and cook another 5-10 min, until everything is done. Taste, and add vinegar, soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Eat warm with bread (brød). Would be good (perhaps better) reheated the next day, if there is any left.


This came out just as I wanted, and really hit the spot. A big pan of it went down real well.

Red cabbage, radish, sesame and wasabi

We had a red cabbage in the fridge, and three tubes of wasabi to use up before we leave (not going to happen)... I'd stumbled across these coleslaw recipes a couple of times, and this time thought I'd borrow the wasabi dressing idea for a red cabbage salad.

~1/2 a smallish red cabbage
2 medium-large purple radishes, peeled and grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and grated
~ 1 tbsp chopped chives

~1 tbsp peeled, finely chopped ginger
~1 tbsp wasabi paste
~ 2 tsp honey
juice of ~ 1/3 lime
~1 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)
~1 tbsp cider vinegar
~1 tsp sesame oil
~ 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tbsp white sesame seeds and 1 tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted

Finely shred the cabbage and put in a medium bowl with the grated radishes and carrots. Add the chives. In a small bowl, whisk together the ginger, wasabi, honey, lime juice, vinegars and oils. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, add the toasted seeds, toss and serve. Best eaten immediately but keeps OK for a couple of days in the fridge.


Another fresh+tasty Winter salad.

Grated Petersilienwurzel (parsley root), carrot and apple

I discovered Petersilienwurzel the first time I went to Germany with S, and was instantly intrigued: it's like parsley (+S loves parsley), but it's a root not a leaf. I didn't get to try it that time, but I bought some seeds and tried to grow them back in Norwich. No success.

While M was here we took her to Wegmans to stock up on Thanksgiving in a tin (based on a conversation with our Bostonian friend N, most traditional Thanksgiving dishes involve combinations of things out of tins). She ended up with a good selection - some things Thanksgiving-y (tin-shaped cranberry jelly, tinned pumpkin); also other American / local specialities (Boston brown bread in a tin). While there, S+I accidentally ended up in the produce section, where we came upon chestnuts (kurigohan happened, and it was fiiiinnne), elephant garlic, celeriac, and, resplendent beside said celeriac, petersilienwurzel! Wegmans truly does have EVERYTHING!

We roasted some in chunks with a mixture of other roots (carrots, celeriac, beetroot) and tofu, and it was really delicious - incredibly sweet (reminiscent of parsnip; they are quite closely related), with a delicate, slightly parsley-y / perhaps more parsnip-y taste.

After chatting with S's Austrian friend L, and eating her excellent vegetable strudel and beetroot, horseradish and caraway salad (from her grandmother's recipes), I decided to also follow her / her grandmother's suggestion for petersilienwurzel and grate it with carrot and apple. I threw in a few other things too, and it ended up a really yummy Winter salad - juicy and fresh and sweet.

5 small petersilienwurzel (parsley root), peeled and grated (celeriac is a good alternative / addition)
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1 medium apple, cored and grated
1-2 tbsp cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
~1 tsp chopped chives
handful of raisins (preferably golden)
handful of pecan pieces

Grate the petersilienwurzel (and/or celeriac), carrots and apple into a medium bowl. Add the cider vinegar, olive oil and seasoning (quickly, to avoid browning) and toss. Add the chives, raisins and pecans and toss. Ideally eat straight away, but it keeps OK in the fridge for a few days (consider just adding the pecans last minute if you want to serve it later).

Pickled carrots

K and I made an adventure to Brattleboro at the weekend. It was kind of a distraction from S being away; also I thought if I make sure I have plenty of fun on the Saturday I could get on with work on the Sunday? Never mind about Sunday though; Saturday in Bboro was lovely.

We went to the farmers' market, which I had never found before and was positively idyllic. It was in the woods, with most of the stalls in little wooden semi-permanent stands. Lots of prepared foods (two Thai, two Indian, tacos, dim sum, Malian, pizza... surely some more I forgot). Farm stands heaving with beautiful fruit and veg; cheeses, local pottery, maple syrup, flowers: everything looked really high quality.

We carefully budgeted out our cash, and bought: a pint of maple syrup each; a punnet of the most beautiful raspberries, hot chai. And back to the prepared food: as we were going in a man recommended the tacos, and we ended up following his advice - mine was with potatoes, salsa verde, yum... I also had a tasty steamed greens bun from the dim sum stall. Food tour!

The taco came with some simple but really good pickled carrots. Since I had a load of carrots at home D gave me, those pickled carrots got me thinking about making some. I've pickled carrots before but wasn't totally happy with the results. This is another go around.

~ 1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into diagonal rounds
~ 1/3 a large red chilli, deseeded and cut into rounds
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water

Layer the carrots in a big lidded jar with the chilli and ginger. Put the salt, sugar, vinegar and water in a pan and heat gently until just about to boil. Pour over the carrots so they are covered. Put the lid on the jar, let cool, and store in the fridge for up to a month. Ready to eat after ~ 24 hours.

Carrot, chickpea and ginger soup (with shiso and sweetcorn)

D gave me a big bag of reject carrots from his farm (perfectly good, just broken or slightly nibbled and therefore unsaleable) after a lovely evening at ECO.

I bunged them in the fridge and forgot about them for a few days, but then peeled one and dipped in it hummus, and it was such a tasty carrot I started to think about what to do with them. Some I pickled, and I also decided to make soup, for an unknown reason totally unlinked to the fact it just got hot again...

We had shiso from the CSA last week, and I didn't know what to do with it... I tasted some and I actually like it - tangy and slightly minty, but different. Sprinkled on soup seemed like it could work?

1-2 tbsp olive oil
~5 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
2 in piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
~4 cups chopped, peeled carrots
~2 cups chickpeas
~5 cups water
~4 tbsp chickpea miso
~1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
~4 leaves shiso, shredded
kernels from 1/2 a sweetcorn cob

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the spring onions and ginger. Cook until softened. Add the carrots and cook for a few more minutes. Add the chickpeas and water, bring to the boil and simmer for ~ 20 min, until the carrots are just tender. Let cool, then blend until smooth. Add the miso, honey and salt and pepper to taste and mix well. To serve, sprinkle generously with shiso and sweetcorn kernels. Think it might also be good cold: will test this later.

Beetroot and orange salad

A said she found beetroot inspiration (beetspiration?) on here the other day, which in turn inspired me to make something with the candycane beetroots festering in my fridge.

Of course they keep pretty much forever so no rush (same with the oranges), but I've been on a bit of a using-up kick so it felt good to eat them up.

I have been down on candycane beetroot of late - you just cannot cook them as they lose their pattern and colour and their flavour isn't as intense as the fully-pink ones either. But if you keep them raw they are lovely, so if you have candycane (Chioggia) beetroot this salad is the right sort of thing to do.

juice and zest of 1 orange (ended up with zest of normal orange and juice of Seville orange)
1/4 clove garlic, crushed with salt
1 tsp pomegranate molasses (or honey - if using honey and normal orange juice add a squeeze of lemon as well)
1 tsp white miso
2 tbsp olive oil
4 small beetroot (mine were candycane and very pretty but normal would be fine too), peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
handful of chopped coriander
Put the orange juice and zest in a small bowl and mix in the crushed garlic. Add pomegranate molasses, miso and olive oil and whisk together to make the dressing. Set aside. 

Prepare the beetroot and carrot and put the matchsticks in a serving bowl. Add the sesame seeds and coriander, then tip the dressing in and mix well. Good immediately or after being in the fridge overnight (perhaps keep the sesame seeds and coriander separately if overnight is the plan).


This was nice. The Seville oranges contain masses of juice so it ended up quite juicy and sharp - think this would be softened if normal orange was used, probably no bad thing. Very pretty - striped beetroot, orange, green and seeds; just enough crunch.

Aromatic coconut and udon soup

S has rediscovered udon noodles in a big way - currently, they are (almost, besides gorgonzola pasta) his favourite thing. Times have changed from when he bought a packet and they lay unused for almost a year... Last night I was heading home before him and asked for dinner suggestions. He said udon (naturally), and followed up with coconut (inspired, I think, by a soup we had at the Thai place at the end of our road the other night). I started thinking about all the lovely aromatics we had squirreled in the freezer (lemongrass, galangal, ginger...) and the tin of coconut milk I had left over from my abandoned kefir experiments, and realised it was a brilliant idea!

1 star anise
~2 tbsp chopped lemongrass
2 inch piece galangal, peeled and sliced
2 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped into matchsticks
2 dried red chillies
1-2 lime leaves (optional)
good handful of fresh coriander, chopped (stalky parts and leafy parts separated)
1 tin coconut milk
~1-2 tbsp light soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
water
hot chilli sauce
2 (single serving) packets of udon
1 small onion, peeled and sliced lengthways into bitesize pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
1/2 a pack of extra firm tofu, drained and chopped into ~2 x 2 x 1 cm chunks
3 large-ish button mushrooms, trimmed and chopped into sixths lengthwise
3 smallish tomatoes, cut into sixths (or use cherry tomatoes)

Put the star anise, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, dried chillies, lime leaves (if using) and the stalky bits of coriander into a saucepan and add the coconut milk, soy sauce, and lime juice. Add ~1-2 cups of water and bring gently to a simmer. Taste for saltiness, acid, thickness/intensity of coconut milk, and add more soy sauce, lime juice or boiling water accordingly. Put in the udon, onion, carrots and tofu and bring back up to a simmer. Turn off and let sit for 10 minutes or so before checking the flavour balance again. Adjust as before, also add a few drops of hot sauce if you think it needs to be spicier. A few minutes before serving, add the mushrooms, tomatoes, and the leafy parts of the coriander. Bring back up to simmering point, check all the vegetables and the udon are cooked, turn off the heat and serve the soup. Avoid eating the star anise, the big pieces of galangal, and the dried chillies.


Really good. Quick (veg preparation the most time consuming step), and super easy / minimal washing up - just one board, one knife and one big pan (besides bowls and spoon+forks). Most of the stuff is either always in the storecupboard or basic veg and herbs. Veg could be varied (brassicas nice); as could noodles / it could be served with rice on the side instead. Lovely, warming, filling, aromatic and comforting for a cold, cold, end-of-year day.

Ginger-sesame-miso soup

We ate at Life Alive after sauna and it hit the spot - I had something ('The Fool') rich with mushrooms, kale, sesame, ginger and sprouted legumes (and udon); S had a similar beast but with miso broth. Yesterday we had planned a big dinner (East by Northeast), so I wanted something light but filling for lunch. As I biked back from aerials it was chilly but brightening, and miso soup shaped into my answer as I rode. I've made miso soup before and it's so simple it hardly warrants a recipe. But anyway, for this one I merged S's miso with my sesame-ginger and it was really fresh and delicious while still warm enough for a chilly Autumn day.

(makes enough for one person, for lunch)

3 small carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 inch piece of daikon radish, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups boiling water
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 savoy cabbage (or other cabbage, or kale) leaves, shredded
2 inch cube of firm tofu, chopped into ~1 cm dice
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tbsp good-quality white miso
~1 tbsp shredded fresh mint (or coriander)

Put the carrots and daikon in a small pan with the water and the ginger. Bring to the boil. Boil for a few minutes, until the carrots are just starting to get tender. Add the cabbage and tofu and bring back to the boil. Turn off the heat and mix in the sesame oil and miso. Pour or dollop into a bowl, top with the mint, and eat (add more water, more miso or more sesame oil to taste).


This is amazing - a week later it's still all I want to eat. I've got S into it too, and we have made various versions, all successful - one with shredded kale, sliced turnip, sweetcorn, peas and edamame; another with noodles as well to make it even more beefy. Yum. Only thing that didn't really work was eating some cold without broth - thought it'd just be like steamed veg with some miso flavour; it turned out to be a bit peely-wally.

Sweet-pickled carrot and radish

We had a daikon in the CSA, and mounting carrots. I was interested in sweet-pickled slices - I looked at a few recipes and settled on something like this.

1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup demerara sugar
1 tbsp fine desert salt
150 ml coconut vinegar
150 ml cider vinegar
600 ml water
3-4 medium carrots
1 small-medium daikon radish
1 green chilli, thinly sliced crossways

Put the sugars, vinegars, water and salt in a pan and bring almost to a simmer. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then turn off the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Peel the carrots and daikon and then slice into matchsticks. Put in a bowl with the chilli.

When the vinegar mixture has cooled, pour it over the vegetables. Transfer to sterilised jars and store in the fridge (will be fine for several weeks).

Piccalilli

I saw cauliflowers coming into season, and for some reason thought of piccalilli. I'm not even sure if I like piccalilli! But I was thinking about making some more savoury preserves for Winter - I have a lot of jam, and the aubergine chutney I made a few weeks ago reminded me how good savoury preserves can be (and how much faster I tend to eat them). And in my head piccalilli has to involve cauliflower and be really yellow and crunchy... and that's about all I knew (aside from a sketch in the James Herriot country vet books I loved as a kid where he had to eat piccalilli to be polite to a farmer's wife although he loathed it... anyway, I digress).

The version in my preserving book looked OK, but this Jamie Oliver version really grabbed my attention - the ingredient list sounded intriguing and delicious - mango, broccoli and apple as well as the cauliflower. So I followed it (more or less) - gave me the chance to preserve some Somerville-harvested apples I had hanging around the kitchen as well as broccoli, chillies and carrots from the CSA and green tomatoes and green beans from my roof garden. Surprisingly, mango is something I often have in store, owing to my frozen mango habit.

(made 3 large jars and 2 medium ones)

½ large cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
2 bulbs fennel, cut into small chunks (subbed ~4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into small (~1cm dice), and some chopped green tomato)
4 red chillies, seeds still in, finely sliced (subbed dried)
2 green chillies, seeds still in, finely sliced
200 g fine green beans, chopped into short lengths (used roof beans - Kentucky Wonder and French Filet of varying ages - for these plus runners)
150 g runner beans, cut into short lengths (see above)
300 g shallots, cut into eighths (subbed 1 large and 2 small white onions for this and the red onion)
1 red onion, roughly chopped (see above)
2 handfuls fine sea salt
2 tbsp mustard oil (subbed canola oil)
2 heaped tbsp mustard seeds (used 1 tbsp yellow mustard seed and 1 tbsp brown mustard seed)
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp fennel seed, ground (I added this to make up for the absence of fennel)
2 tbsp turmeric
1 nutmeg, grated
2 tbsp English mustard powder (subbed ground yellow mustard seeds)
4 tbsp flour
500 ml white wine vinegar (subbed cider vinegar)
100 ml water
2 apples, grated
2 mangoes, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped (used equivalent quantity chopped frozen mango)
6 tbsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed (/finely chopped)
2 tbsp dried oregano
4 bay leaves

Put all the vegetables in a bowl, add the salt and enough water to cover. Leave in a cool place for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prep the remaining ingredients and start cooking them.

Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the vegetables. Add the mustard oil to the pan, then fry the mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric and nutmeg for a moment. Lower the heat, add the mustard powder, flour and a splash of vinegar. Stir well to make a thick paste. Gradually add the remaining vinegar and the water, stirring all the time to make a smooth paste. Add the apples, mangoes, sugar, garlic, oregano and bay leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Drain the salted vegetables and add them to the pan, stirring well to coat with the spicy paste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have just softened and started to release some juice. Spoon into sterilised jars and close the lids tightly. Give it at least a month to mature in a cool dark cupboard before eating.


Ha, I took a photo because having that hour of soaking veg in brine meant I was probably the most organised I've ever been before I started cooking...  I haven't tried the piccalilli yet (got to wait a month!) but it looks suitably, violently yellow - I especially enjoy how yellow the cauliflower becomes...

Carrots, red lentils and big couscous

While S is away I've ended up spending a fair bit of time in the kitchen, trying to work my way through a backlog of vegetables. Having got more carrots in the CSA this week, I made an effort to get through all the titchy / odd-shaped ones still hanging around in the fridge from previous weeks - in this and piccalilli.

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 in piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 green chilli, seeds removed, chilli chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped 
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander seed
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
~6 medium carrots, peeled and diced fairly fine (~1cm)
3/4 cup red lentils
1/2 cup big couscous
1 1/2 cups veg stock
2 tsp honey
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp soy sauce
salt+pepper
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, cover and cook for a couple of minutes until starting to soften. Add the onion and cook for a few more minutes. Add the ground spices and cook, uncovered, for 30-60 sec, until fragrant. Add the carrots and mix / cook for a minute, then add the lentils and couscous and mix well. Add the stock, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils, carrots and couscous are all cooked. Add the honey, lime juice, soy sauce and taste for seasoning. Mix in the fresh herbs. Eat warm.


I was aiming for something between a soup, a stew and a pilaf, which is what I ended up with: a warming, one-pot, Autumn dinner. Processing all those weirdo carrots took awhile but it was kind of nice to be cosy in the kitchen and feel useful.