I can't get enough coconut at the moment, and kale and beetroot have been very regular fixtures in our veg bag. So when I came across these recipes for beetroot and kale curries I was dead set on making them asap. Not least because they reminded me very much of the delicious coconutty food I'd eaten in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India many moons ago.
I made the kale one first, and it is great. I was totally going to follow it with the beetroot one (I have a guilty beetroot mountain in the fridge - much though I love the stuff I have not been getting through it quickly enough!) but the site was down when I looked on Friday... So I made this beetroot soup instead. Very much intending to do the beetroot one soon too though (yes, I do still have more beetroot in the fridge)!
½ cup / 45 g desiccated coconut
½ cup / 125 ml coconut water (didn't have - just used water)
4 cups / 130 g shredded kale
1 small red onion (used white), sliced
1 tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp fine sea salt, plus more for garnish
1 green chilli, if desired (used a bit of red), finely chopped
juice of ½ lime, plus extra for garnish
Mix desiccated coconut and coconut water in a small bowl and let soak for about 30 min. Prepare veg while you wait.
In a large pot over medium heat, add the onions, salt and cumin. Stir often, letting the onions soften in the pan. Add a couple tablespoons of the liquid from the soaking coconut if the pot becomes too dry (reserve as much liquid as you can, however). After about 8-10 min, add the kale and the coconut mixture. Stir to coat, and quickly cover the pot with a lid so that the kale steams inside. Wait just 30-60 sec (or a bit longer if your kale is tough) – the kale is ready when it is bright green and tender. Remove from heat and squeeze in the lime juice. Season to taste.
Note: I ended up with loads of liquid at the end. I evaporated it with the pan tilted to avoid overcooking the kale, but it's probably smart to avoid adding extra water as much as possible, and to make sure the kale is well dried after washing.
We made an epic ladcykel trip to Istanbul Bazaar the other week. S found a huge bag of white beans and insisted on buying it, on the condition that he cook them himself. A month or so later it became clear this would never happen, so I got started. I cooked a load of them, then we ate white bean things pretty much every night for a work week. See also white bean spread and white bean pasta.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cooked white beans
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup white wine
2-3 kale leaves, roughly chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
salt+pepper
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and fry until softened. Add white beans, tomato and white wine and simmer until all is softened and the wine is mostly evaporated. Add kale and oregano, cook for a few minutes more and check for seasoning. Eat with crusty bread. Just as good if not better reheated.
The last and best thing I made with my mound of cooked white beans. I never usually cook pasta for S as he always cooks it for himself, so he was especially excited about this. And I thought it worked really well. I took a little inspiration from here and here.
1 tbsp oil from sundried tomatoes (or olive oil)
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 very small celeriac, peeled and diced into 1 cm dice
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 cups white beans
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water or veg stock
5 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
enough pasta for 2 people, cooked in boiling salted water until very al dente
4 kale leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp chopped oregano
salt+pepper
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and saute until starting to soften, 2-3 min. Add diced celeriac and chilli flakes, cover and cook without browning until softened (about 15 min). Meanwhile cook the pasta (v al dente), drain and set aside. Add white beans, white wine and stock/water to the celeriac pan, heat and cook for 10-15 min. Blend using a wand blender until it is about half smooth, half remaining unblended. Add the sundried tomatoes, pasta, kale and oregano and cook for another 5-10 min. Taste for seasoning and serve in bowls.
I thought this was a triumph. Quick, hearty and warming, with a lovely combination of tastes and textures. Blending up part of the bean and celeriac mixture is the key - it makes a delicious sauce that coats the pasta, while the unblended parts keep it toothsome and interesting.
One night a week or so ago S had an express wish for a kale salad with white sauce. He wanted to use almond milk, but I couldn't work out how that would make things thick and creamy enough for his dream. So I suggested soaking cashews. I put some in water in the fridge a couple of nights ago, and last night S completed his dream salad. I was sure I'd seen the cashew dressing idea somewhere, but now I have no idea where, so we just made it up.
For the dressing:
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups water
1-2 tbsp white miso
1/2 clove garlic, peeled
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp lemon juice (or cider vinegar)
1-2 tbsp almond milk (and more for good consistency)
black pepper
Rest of the salad:
1 bunch kale
2 medium tomatoes
~2 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
~1 tbsp dried sour cherries
Put the cashews in a container with the water and leave in the fridge to soak, at least overnight; fine for several days (we used ours after ~ 48 hours).
When ready for salad, drain the cashews. Put into blender cup and add miso, olive oil, lemon juice, almond milk and black pepper. Blend the dressing until smooth, adding more almond milk if needed, until a good, creamy consistency is reached. Taste for seasoning.
Wash the kale, remove stalks and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces. Put in a serving bowl. Add the dressing and mix well with your hands, massaging the kale as you go.
Chop the tomatoes roughly and add them to the salad with the almonds and sour cherries. Toss and taste for seasoning. Eat straight away, or keeps pretty well in the fridge (consider keeping toasted almonds separately if planning to store it).
Is it the Scottish childhood? Who knows, but ever since I was the only one out of three sisters who ate porridge along with mama and papa bear and chattered about Goldilocks while pouring on the golden syrup... I have been a lover of oats.
I've never used them like this before - like a risotto, but with oats instead of rice as the grain - avenotto (? - I made that up). Seemed like you can't go wrong with oats.
1-2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tiny onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup oats
1 cup veg stock
1 cup boiling water mixed with 1 tsp mushroom powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1-2 leaves kale, washed and chopped
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt, pepper, vinegar
Heat a medium saucepan and toast the sunflower seeds until golden and fragrant. Tip into a bowl. In the same pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until almost soft. Add the mushrooms and saute until starting to crisp around the edges. Tip the onion, garlic and mushrooms into the bowl with the sunflower seeds. Put the oats in the pan and toast until slightly coloured and fragrant. Add the stock and boiling water-mushroom powder mix. Bring to a boil and add the dried herbs. Simmer until the oats are almost tender and the mixture has thickened (as for regular porridge). Add the kale and then cook until kale and oats are done. Add back in the sunflower seeds and onion-mushroom mixture, along with the parsley. Mix together, add salt and pepper and a splash of vinegar if you like, taste and add more if it needs it. Eat straight away.
Quick and good and digestible. Ha, so far today I had muesli (mostly unadulterated oats mixed with almond milk) for breakfast, this for lunch, and oat yoghurt for after lunch. What was I saying about oat love?
I wanted to try ponzu sauce - citrussy, sweet, salty, sounded like something we would like. But they all seemed to contain either HFCS or fish (maybe I should just make my own?). Then I found the Kikkoman Lime one is all clear, and brought some home.
This combination is nothing fancy, but it is really, really good.
1 cup Japanese brown rice cooked in 1 1/2 cups water
~6-8 big leaves kale, washed and shredded
olive oil
1/2 a packet of tempeh, crumbled or ~1 cm dice
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
salt+pepper
ponzu sauce
~2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
sliced avocado (optional)
Put the rice on first. Then blanch the kale in boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the tempeh and fry until golden brown. Add the garlic and fry til lightly coloured. Add the blanched kale and stir-fry til warmed through. Season with a little salt and pepper (ponzu is salty - don't add too much salt). Put some rice in a bowl, add kale-garlic-tempeh mixture, ponzu, sesame seeds, avocado if you want, and eat.
It can be a little challenging thinking of something that feels fancy and festive enough for Christmas, still a little traditional, but vegetarian and appetising to us. I was considering making something with filo pastry (we had some in the freezer), but then realised I had way too many things I wanted to make, and actually, since I had the filo defrosted for making mince pies, it made more sense to make this on Christmas Eve. So I did. It started with sweet potato, kale and almonds, then I added a bunch of stuff and spices and ended up with something kind of Middle Eastern in flavour.
(makes 2 medium parcels)
(move the filo from freezer to fridge to defrost 3-24 hours in advance)
4 sweet potatoes
1 cup chickpeas, defrosted
~4 medium kale leaves
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
~2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp golden raisins
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil
half a package of thickish filo (#7 - #10) = ~10-12 sheets (used rest of package for mince pies)
Heat the oven to 375F. Put the sweet potatoes on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven for ~30 min, until tender. When ready, remove, let cool until you can handle them and then peel.
Meanwhile, defrost the chickpeas and mash them roughly with a fork. Wash and chop the kale and steam it until just tender, along with the spring onions. Toast the almonds, tip into a bowl, then toast the coriander and cumin seeds. Let cool a little, then tip into a grinder and grind to powder.
Put the peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash lightly with a fork. Add the mashed chickpeas, steamed kale and spring onions, almonds, all the spices, raisins and parsley. Mix, taste and season with salt and pepper.
Take the first sheet of filo and lay it on a baking tray. Grease lightly with olive oil, then put the next sheet on top. Keep going until you have laid out six sheets (or half the total number you have, some number between four and six). Squish half the filling mix into a fat sausage shape along one of the short sides of the filo pile, then roll up around it, tucking in the short ends as you go. Repeat with the other six sheets of filo. Brush the tops with more olive oil, cut slashes on top, then bake for 30-40 min, until hot and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before eating.
half a bag of salad leaves (mostly baby kale and spinach)
~1 cup green beans, topped and tailed and chopped into pieces
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tsp white miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp olive oil
water
Boil the green beans for ~4-6 min, until just tender. Refresh under cold water and then drain. Put leaves and beans in a salad bowl. Add the toasted sesame seeds. In a small bowl beat the tahini, pomegranate molasses, miso, mirin and olive oil together with a fork, then beat in water until it is thinned to a good dressing consistency. When ready to serve, pour the dressing over the greens and mix well together.
leaves of 4-5 kale leaves, bigger veins / ribs removed
small clove garlic, peeled
handful of walnuts
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt
Put the kale leaves in a blender cup and add the other ingredients. Blend until all the big pieces are gone.
This was interesting. S didn't like it - said it was too bitter. I disagreed. Obviously it isn't basil pesto but it is pretty good nonetheless - that distinctive raw kale flavour goes well with walnuts. It stayed a very deep, vibrant green even after storing in the fridge for a couple of days - the colour doesn't seem to get oxidised and turn brown, unlike with basil.
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3-4 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper
1 bunch kale, washed and finely chopped
2 large beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and diced
1 spring onion, finely sliced
~10 brazil nuts, chopped
Mix the dressing (mustard, vinegar, oil and seasoning) in the bottom of a large bowl. Add the shredded kale, diced beetroot, spring onion and brazil nuts and toss until the kale is all coated with dressing. Best eaten after sitting for an hour or so - will keep in the fridge for a few days.
The best thing about this recipe is the discovery that beetroot and brazil nuts go really well together.
Yet another kale salad, I know. I'd actually been craving a bit of kale: having gotten somewhat overwhelmed by it before Christmas this time I was ready. I had a delicious kale and coconut smoothie from Naturewell in Silverlake while in LA, which perhaps awakened the craving...
I wanted a gentler, more digestible kale texture (than raw), so decided to let the kale steam a bit before turning it into salad. We ate a miso-horseradish sauce out the other day which was a great combination and reminded me about my burgeoning horseradish addiction, so that's where the inspiration for the dressing came from. It all seemed to come together really nicely.
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 bunch of kale, washed and shredded
~10 cherry plum tomatoes, thinly sliced (optional)
1-2 tbsp prepared horseradish
1-2 tbsp white miso
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp black sesame seeds
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large lidded frying pan.Add garlic and fry for a minute or two without colouring. Add kale, toss, put the lid on and heat for another minute or two, then switch off the heat and allow to steam with the lid on until tender, then remove the lid.
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing in a serving bowl: mix horseradish, miso, vinegar, lime juice and oils until smooth. When it is ready, add the kale, along with both kinds of sesame seeds and the chopped tomatoes (if using).
Oh yeah, thumbs up, think this was my favourite kale salad yet... or maybe it's not really a salad, just dressed kale, whatever, the spicy-salty-nutty-almost creamy dressing is wildly good.
All my salads lately have involved honey-mustard dressing (+raisins+flaked almonds). It's simple and tasty and storecupboard-friendly, and if you ask me it goes with almost anything. I guess it's kind of a go-to comfort food for me: I've been somewhat distracted by preparing for my trip to Scotland. This time it was kale's turn. I've been experimenting a bit with kalesalads, this time I thought I'd try it super simple. The kale and the daikon radish both came in last week's bumper CSA. The kale was listed as 'White Russian Kale', which suggests, as S pointed out, that it might taste like kahlua, vodka and cream. Not so, but it was quite nice anyway: the lobed, non-crinkly variety.
1 bunch kale, washed, leafy parts only (stripped from main stems and torn into manageable pieces)
1 cup whole spelt berries (or wheat berries)
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt+pepper
1/4 of a medium sized daikon radish, peeled and thinly sliced
small handful of golden raisins (would have liked cranberries but I was out)
small handful of flaked toasted almonds
Put the spelt on to cook (should take ~ 20 min). Prepare the kale and let it drain. Mix the dressing (mustard through salt+pepper) in a serving bowl. Add the kale and mix thoroughly, using hands to make sure all the kale is coated. Let it sit for a while to soften - at least half an hour. When ready to serve add the sliced radish, raisins and almonds and toss. Serve over the cooked spelt (or you could mix it all together before serving).
I liked this. I think this kale variety is perhaps a little better for salads than the regular crinkly stuff - with less surface area it seems to soften easier / be a bit less fibrous. Perhaps they just happened to be younger leaves, I don't know. Anyway, it definitely filled a comfort food gap for a late supper after aerials, and the crunchy peppery radish/irony green kale/sweet dried fruit/toasty crisp almonds were a pretty complete combination.
Alvin gave us another bunch of kale. I was pretty excited about kale salad after the one I made the other day: it seemed like there was a lot of potential. I used sufficient salt and oil to soften it (ie slightly more than before), and was thinking kale and coconut would be good together. I wanted everything I added to stick to the kale, so each bowlful and mouthful would be complete, avoiding the problem of all the additions dropping to the bottom and leaving the kale up top on its own.
1 bunch (purple) kale
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tahini
juice of 1/2 a lime (perhaps a little more, depending on consistency)
2 tbsp dried shredded coconut
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 marigold flowers (with multiple layers of petals, optional)
1 tsp sumac
Wash the kale, shake or pat dry, tear into pieces and put it in a bowl. Add the salt and coconut oil and massage with hands until everything is coated. Leave for about an hour, until reasonably wilted. Meanwhile mix the tahini and lime juice in a small bowl until it is a creamy texture (add a little more lime juice if it doesn't go smooth). Also dry fry the shredded coconut and sesame seeds in a frying pan until lightly browned and fragrant. When ready, add the tahini-lime mixture to the kale and toss until everything is evenly coated. Add the toasted coconut and sesame seeds, marigold petals (take care not to add any seeds by accident), and sumac, toss and serve. It will keep well for up to a week in the fridge.
This came out well: everything stuck to the kale successfully, there was the right amount of dressing, and it tasted interesting. It was very pretty too, with the dark curls of the kale, light-brown shavings of coconut, and bright red and orange marigold petals. S liked the 'salty and sour' (he's really into pickles right now).
Still largely apathetic about cooking much, due to the heat and also an abundance of tasty fresh veg that needs nothing more than a wash and a chop to make it good (Alvin is bringing me excess from his CSA every week and won't take no for an answer!). I did manage to switch on the oven for a few minutes on Friday night to make some muffins to take to M's for brunch on Saturday, but that's been about it.
While I was in the kitchen that night I also made this kale salad: I'd been thinking about making something different with kale - I always end up either making kale chips, sauteeing it with garlic, or just adding it to stew or curry. I remembered a tasty kale salad I tried from the Boston Veg Food Fest last year, and with the aforementioned heat-induced apathy the idea of not cooking the kale at all seemed good. A quick Google immediately threw out a recipe that seemed to be exactly what I wanted: kale with sumac (one of my current favourite spices) and chickpeas (my alltime favourite bean), plus a few other things that sounded like a great combination.
1 bunch (about 1 lb) kale, tough inner stems discarded, leaves roughly torn
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp dried ground sumac
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp lemon juice (or cider vinegar)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
equivalent of 1 tin of cooked chickpeas or white beans, defrosted
pepper
Put prepped kale leaves in a large bowl. Add olive oil and salt and rub and toss with your hands until all the kale is coated. Rest at room temperature until kale is lightly wilted, about 1 hour (or overnight in the fridge).
Meanwhile, put the prepared onions in a medium bowl and cover with cold water. Rest for 15 minutes. Rinse in several changes of water then pat dry. Sprinkle with sumac and sesame seeds, and salt if desired.
Mix lemon juice or vinegar, garlic and mustard in a small bowl. When the kale is ready, put everything together in a large bowl, toss and season.
In all, this was a great experiment. The kale was super tasty and green, and went well with the onions. The kale was just softened enough to be good - I wondered if I might have added a little more oil to make it a little easier to bite. And the soaking of the onions in water seemed to negate their pungency - I was initially wondering if the raw onions and garlic might generate the old everything-tasting-of-allium-for-a-day-after-eating problem, but actually it was totally fine.
Another good point about this salad is that it really does keep overnight / for days, in fact I thought it was better the next day as the kale had softened a little more. Which was especially lucky in this instance, as S was going to make pretzels to take to R's party but discovered at the crucial moment that he had no sodium hydroxide at home - this salad, which I had made the night before and discovered there was rather a lot of - stepped in and saved the day (ie we took it to the party instead, and S stopped into work on the way home from the party and then finished off the pretzels the next day - very good they were too - leaving them shaped overnight caused no problems).
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 in piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp raw peanuts, roughly chopped
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 large bunch kale, washed and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter, mixed with 1 tsp tamarind paste and thinned with water to a sauce-y consistency
Heat the oil in a large, high sided frying pan. Add the onion and saute, covered, til softened and starting to brown, adding the ginger and garlic part way through. Remove the lid and add the peanuts, cook for a few min more til they start to brown. Then add the cumin, chilli and sumac and cook for a minute or so, until they become fragrant. Add the kale and cover again. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the kale is wilted. Remove the lid and take off the heat, then add the peanut butter-tamarind mixture and mix it all up.
I ate this with some freekeh, which is this green wheat stuff I just bought at the Armenian store. It looked similar to bulghur wheat, so I boiled it in water as I would for bulghur. It is good, texture like bulghur, taste a bit more green. I also bought some carob molasses and a loquat, both new to me and both pretty tasty.
We're running low on veggies, which is fine, as we're going to be away this weekend (Nuit Blanche! Toronto! Niagara Falls!). I was super tired this afternoon and took myself home around six to make this stew - kind of a mishmash of the veggies we had left / storecupboard stuff, but also kind of exactly what I felt like making and eating.
1 tbsp light olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large, not very hot green chilli, chopped
~1 in piece of ginger, chopped
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 bay leaf
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
1 tiny green pepper that fell off my pepper plant, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
~5 large kale leaves, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter
1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup chickpeas
~1 tsp soy sauce
salt and pepper
Heat oil in a large frying pan and add onion. Cook until light gold, ~5min. Add the chilli, ginger and garlic and fry for a minute or so. Add the spices and toss for a minute or so. Add carrots and green pepper. Stir, then add the tinned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, some salt+pepper and half a cup of water. Put the lid on and cook for about 15 min, until the carrots are just tender. Meanwhile, take out approx 2 tbsp of liquid from the pan and mix in a small bowl with the peanut butter and sunflower seed butter. Add in the frozen chickpeas and cook for another 5 min. Add the frozen peas and cook another minute or so. Add the kale and cook til wilted. Add the parsley, turn off the heat, season with soy sauce and taste to check seasoning. Let sit for five minutes before eating. It's pretty filling, so fine to eat on its own.
That turned into a long ingredient list... belying its origins. Was simple, hearty and comforting for an autumn evening.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seed, roughly crushed
1 dried chili, crumbled
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 small onions, sliced
1 small green pepper, chopped
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups veg stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp za'atar
1 tsp tamarind paste
1 small bay leaf
1/2 cup green lentils
1 cup cooked chick peas
2 cups kale, chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Heat oil. Fry the dry spices til popping, then add the onions and garlic and fry til softened and golden brown. Add pepper and mushrooms and fry for a few more minutes. Add stock, tomatoes, lentils, tomato paste, soy sauce, tamarind, za'atar, bay leaf then bubble until lentils are nearly done and liquid much reduced (~15min). Add chickpeas and cook 2 more min. Add kale and parsley, cook til kale is green. Season to taste (if required - the soy sauce and chili should negate the need).
I made tattie scones out of mashed potato mashed with fried red onion and wholegrain mustard to eat with the slop.
This was a tasty and warming dinner for a sleety end-of-March night.
We had a mixture of traditional and not so traditional stuff for christmas lunch. It was just me and seb so it was pretty easygoing.
For pre-snacks we had some dehydrated veg chips that had been dehydrating overnight in our new dehydrator...
Some root veg: carrot, beetroot, sweet potato. Peeled and then either sliced v thinly with peeler or slightly thicker with knife. Blanched some in the steamer and put others out raw - trying out different treatments. Also did some tomatoes, some kale and some apple and banana, just laying them out as they were.
The apple, banana and tomato probably came out best. The other stuff dried out ok but didn't taste so amazing. Think that blanching was a good move. And it would prob be good to toss the slices / kale pieces in a little oil and salt before drying.
After presents and family phone calls we went to work in the kitchen...
First up was a celeriac and apple salad - followed Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe here:
Could add a handful of chopped walnuts and a few baby leaves. Serves four to six. 120g quinoa 3 tbsp white-wine vinegar 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp salt 1 red onion, peeled and sliced very thinly (used half a large one) 60ml rapeseed oil (used olive) ¼ head celeriac (250g after peeling and slicing) (used half a small one) 60ml lemon juice 2-3 granny smith apples (350g after coring and slicing) (used 2 1/2 gala) 2 tsp poppy seeds 1 red chilli, sliced thinly on an angle 15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped (didn't have any so left them out)
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the quinoa and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain into a fine sieve, run under cold water and then shake well to remove all the water. Leave to cool down.
While the quinoa is on the go, put the vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add the onion and, using your hands, rub the liquid into it. Add the rapeseed oil, stir and set aside to marinate.
Peel the celeriac, cut it into 3mm thick slices and then cut the slices into long, 3mm-wide strips. Place these at once in a large mixing bowl, along with the lemon juice, and stir well – this will help prevent discoloration. Quarter the apples, remove and discard the cores, and cut the fruit into matchstick-shaped pieces similar to the celeriac. Add the apple to the celeriac bowl and stir well, so it, too, gets a protective coat of lemon juice. (The apples and celeriac can also be cut using a mandolin or a food processor.)
To finish, add the onion and any juices from its bowl to the apple and celeriac mix, then stir in the cooked quinoa, poppy seeds, chilli and coriander. Taste and add extra salt, sugar or vinegar, if you need them – you're aiming for a pungent, sweet and sour flavour.
Next parsnips - did a version of Delia's mustard and maple glazed ones (from Delia Smith vegetarian collection):
1lb parsnips
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp maple syrup and 2 tsp wholegrain mustard, mixed.
Heat oven to 475F (might use a little less hot next time). Put baking tin with oil in it in to pre heat.
Top, tail and peel parsnips and chop into wedges 1-2 cm square and 4-5cm long. Try and err on the chunky side. Put in steamer and sprinkle with salt. Steam for 6min.
Take tray from oven and put over a direct heat. Add the parsnips (careful, they spit). Baste them with the hot oil, then put pepper on top and put in oven for 25min.
Coat parsnip pieces with mustard and maple mix and put back in oven for 5-10 min. Serve immediately.
Two versions of brussels sprouts - first (and best) was the roasted with maple syrup classic - did them with hazelnuts this time, though they were just as good without. The other was with chestnuts and panfried (cross 4oz chestnuts and roast at 400F for 10min and peel straightaway; peel and halve 8oz sprouts and cook in a little olive oil for 17min; add chestnuts and cook 20min; add 2tsp veg stock, 2 tsp sugar, 2tsp cider vinegar and cook 10min), but the chestnuts were hard and not good - the panfried sprouts were pretty good though - similar texture to the roasted ones.
Also had bean stuff I made yesterday, and cranberry sauce, which had gelled amazingly well and tasted wonderful (note, tasted a bit like rose - perhaps contaminated bowl - which was interesting - in future could do this on purpose) - impressed with how quick and easy yet tasty that one was.
Can't really see anything, but L-R there's celeriac salad, brussels sprouts with maple, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, parsnips, bean stuff and cranberry sauce. We had it with water as we'd run out of juice. I realised at the end that everything (except the beans) had some sweetness added to some extent - I guess I like the sweet-sour / sweet-earthy playoffs, but perhaps should have gone for a bit more variety and less sugar? The celeriac salad was really good, and a half quantity would be plenty for the two of us (which would halve the time spent slicing). The parsnips were good but a little burnt - need to make sure pieces are chunky, and I'm not sure the glaze really added anything. The bad chestnuts were a shame, and generally that dish was good but the roasted ones were similar and better (hazelnuts definitely optional). The beans didn't really fit that well (and were better warm), although I guess it was good to have something less sweet.
For pudding the main option was Christmas cake, which I decorated last night (alternatives being clementines and mince pies) - see here for recipe:
Dry toast cumin, coriander, mustard and chili til fragrant and popping. Grind to a powder. Mix with turmeric and grated ginger. Heat oil and fry onion. Add garlic and spices, cook for a few min, add stock. Simmer 5 min. Add chickpeas and potatoes. Cook til potatoes are done, then add kale. Cook til tender. Serve with coriander on top and basmati rice (1 cup rice / 2 cups water).
Tasty and pretty simple. Am exploring my spice cupboard quite a lot at the moment, and I like it. The chilis came from India.
Would like to try veggie naans like Andy made us soon - seemed to be quite straightforward (soymilk in dough, marg and garlic on top).
We went to Prana cafe in Newton, having tried some of their very tasty raw food at the Boston Vegetarian Food Fest. A major discovery while there was kale chips. So good. To make really good ones a dehydrator is best. But you can also make them in the oven.
1 bunch kale
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Wash the kale thoroughly. Remove the stems and discard / keep for stir-fry or stock. Tear the leafy bits into pieces. Dry as much as poss. Then...
either...
Oven method:
Mix through about a teaspoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet (or two - no piling up), sprinkle with sesame seeds and put in oven ~400F / 200C for about ten min / til looking crispy.
or...
Dehydrator method:
Steam the kale pieces for a few minutes, just until tender. Toss with oil, salt+pepper, sesame seeds. Spread out flat on dehydrator racks in a single layer. Dehydrate at 57C for about 2 hours, until completely crisp.
Can't really see anything, but L-R there's celeriac salad, brussels sprouts with maple, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, parsnips, bean stuff and cranberry sauce. We had it with water as we'd run out of juice. I realised at the end that everything (except the beans) had some sweetness added to some extent - I guess I like the sweet-sour / sweet-earthy playoffs, but perhaps should have gone for a bit more variety and less sugar? The celeriac salad was really good, and a half quantity would be plenty for the two of us (which would halve the time spent slicing). The parsnips were good but a little burnt - need to make sure pieces are chunky, and I'm not sure the glaze really added anything. The bad chestnuts were a shame, and generally that dish was good but the roasted ones were similar and better (hazelnuts definitely optional). The beans didn't really fit that well (and were better warm), although I guess it was good to have something less sweet.
