Bean pasta

Bean pasta is weirdly good. We've found and tried all sorts - red lentil, pea, soybean... Our favourite, after trying them all, is of course the first one we tried: green soybean fettucine. It's great - has a really interesting, springy texture. This recipe reminded me of it, and to combine green bean pasta with lots of other green things. 

200 g bean pasta
500 g asparagus, cut into 1-2 in long pieces
1 leek, trimmed and chopped
300 g frozen peas
1 pack tempeh, chopped into chunks
4 tbsp olive oil
zest of a lemon
3 tbsp capers
A large handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Boil a large pan of salted water.  Add the bean pasta. When it has about 3 min left add the asparagus, peas, leek and tempeh. Cook until done. Drain and put back in the pot with olive oil, lemon zest, capers, mint and some salt. Taste and eat.

New potatoes, peas, radishes and skyr

D+Sh visited last weekend. For the first time in ever. It was fun. It felt very different from any time we ever spent together before. They were on holiday, and if anyone was in charge it was S+me. Perhaps I am grown up at last.

We made quite a lot of adventures: the zoo, Louisiana (both really good), Relae. But spent a fair bit of the inbetween time chilling on our balcony (it was very hot out, like over 30C), listening to jazz drifting up from the bar across the canal, and more of it from boats floating past with bands on. We ended up having some nice salad+bread type meals on the balcony too - it was salad weather, and Danish bread is sooo good. This was one of the salads. It makes very pleasing use of in-season fresh peas, new potatoes, radishes and chives. Plus skyr, which forms a creamy dressing while remaining fresh and light and not overpowering.

20 or so new potatoes (adjust according to size / taste)
500 g bag of fresh peas, shelled
1 bunch of radishes, trimmed and sliced
1 tbsp chopped chives
4 tbsp skyr mixed with 2 tsp lemon juice and 2 tsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Cook the new potatoes until just tender and set aside to cool while you prepare the other ingredients. Blanch the shelled peas by pouring boiling water over them then draining pretty much straight away. Put all ingredients in a serving dish and mix together. Serve warm or cold.

Massaman curry (from tinned paste)

Sascha bought this little tin of curry paste when he stayed with us (and S demanded he make us dinner when we got home from work / before going to basketball). The remainder of the tin had been in the fridge ever since - I wasn't sure how long it'd last but guessed it needed using up before too much longer. Last night I got home before S and decided it was time for curry. I filled it with a pretty random selection of stuff from the corners of fridge, freezer and cupboards. Which actually worked out really well.

The paste is good, and tinning means it has no unidentifiable ingredients. In case I want to try and recreate it / find it again, it is labelled Massaman curry paste, and the ingredients list is: garlic, sugar, soybean oil, dried red chillies, tamarind juice, shallot, salt, lemongrass, spices (coriander seeds, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, lesser galanga, cloves), kaffir lime, galangal, citric acid (E330).

1/2 tin Massaman curry paste (see above)
1 tin coconut milk
1/4 butternut squash, deseeded and chopped into ~2 cm chunks
2 medium potatoes, washed and chopped into ~1 cm chunks
~1/4 cup okara (optional - chucked it in because it needed eating)
~1/2 cup frozen chickpeas
1/2 block super firm tofu
~1/2 cup frozen peas
~2 tbsp crushed toasted peanuts
~2 tbsp chopped coriander

Heat a deep frying pan with a lid. Put the curry paste and half the coconut milk in and stir-fry for ~ 3 min. Add the potato and squash. Cover and simmer for ~15-20 min, until the potato is almost cooked, adding the okara after about 5 min if using. Add the chickpeas and tofu and heat for another 5 min or so, then add the frozen peas and heat for 2-3 min, until they are cooked. Take off the heat and stir in the toasted peanuts. Serve with rice, and with coriander sprinkled on top.

Green tofu spread

I made this spread / dip with the rest of my fresh tofu, recipe from the same page (adjusted a little).

8 oz fresh tofu (or silken)
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
~2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 clove garlic
1 spring onion, roughly chopped
~3 tbsp chopped coriander
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt+pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender cup and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if needed.


I put two spring onions in and thought it a bit much, although the onioniness wears off gradually, perhaps tomorrow it will be perfect. It is lovely and creamy and delicately green, kind of a minty green (might be nice with mint instead of coriander, incidentally).

Brown pasta with tempeh, garlic, sugarsnap peas and mint

S's go-to is pasta with some kind of veg-based sauce. He bought some brown pasta as a special concession to me: I prefer it, he doesn't. Somehow, though, today we both managed to agree that this one is weirdly good. Realised after making it that this combo is also very much inspired by N+G's picnic special pasta salad recipe: tempeh, pasta, peas and mint. The garlic scapes and sugarsnap peas came out of the CSA, and the mint is from the yard. It's the best thing about this time of year: being able to eat superfresh food.

Sufficient brown pasta for two people
water
salt
olive oil
3-4 garlic scapes, chopped
1 small punnet of sugarsnap peas, washed and trimmed
1/2 a block of tempeh, diced
1 tbsp mint, chopped
black pepper

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then add the pasta and simmer until done (10-20 min depending on variety). Drain.

Meanwhile, heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and fry until softened and starting to colour. Add peas and tempeh and fry until the peas are just tender and the tempeh is lightly golden. Add the mint, and salt+pepper to taste.

Eat the pasta mixed with the pea-tempeh-garlic mixture, and be happy about Summer despite the oppressive heat.

We mixed in some carrot green-lime stuff with some of it, and that was also good, if the above combo isn't exciting enough for you... Also good with finely grated lemon zest, avocado chunks, or grated parmesan, depending on your proclivities.


Open to variations: made some last night as a salad using brown pasta left over from this, pea shoots (from CSA), regular garlic fried with the tempeh, chickpeas, and lemon juice. And coriander instead of mint, although I think mint is better here.

Spring pizza

Ramps were the one I hadn't tried in the Northeast Spring trinity (the other two in the trinity being fiddleheads and morels). They are essentially wild leeks, and while they grow in other places too people seems to be particularly nuts about them around here. I'd given up hope of eating ramps this year: Spring is basically over, and I thought my last chance had come and gone in Philly. But then they were selling them in the canteen at work (about the last place I would have expected!): they weren't in the best nick but good enough and I couldn't resist, so I bought a bunch.

But then, what to do with them? I settled on pizza as a good way of extending a small quantity of a fancy ingredient. I decided they would go well with hazelnuts, but otherwise wanted to keep that one simple. But figured we would need more than one pizza, so made enough dough and a second pizza with a riot of colourful (mostly green) Spring tastes on it. I wanted to explore a few more things regarding pizza: hoping for a good, quickish dough recipe, using 00 flour (bought by accident a while ago when looking for pasta flour, but probably perfect for pizza?), pre-heating our cast-iron pan / sliding prepped pizza onto hot pan, and freezing dough for future use. Decided to try out Jamie Oliver's recipe, as it contained both 00, semolina and olive oil, all of which seemed right in pizza, and also it proves in one hour (not unreasonable).

For the dough:
(makes enough for 4 smallish or 3 bigger pizzas)
3 1/2 cups strong white bread flour / 00 flour
(or 2 1/2 cups strong white bread flour / 00 flour plus 1 cup finely ground semolina flour (pasta flour))
1/2 tbsp fine sea / desert salt
1 3/4 tbsp dried yeast
1/2 tbsp raw sugar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

Toppings for ramp pizza:
~4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dandelion-ramp miso
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch (5) ramps, cleaned, trimmed, separated into bulbs and leaves and chopped
~8 hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (add after baking)

Toppings for green pizza:
1/2 cup frozen broad beans (without jackets), defrosted
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1-2 tbsp mint leaves
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt+pepper
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small bulb fresh spring garlic, trimmed and chopped (including green parts)
bunch of spring greens: nasturtium leaves, radish leaves, rocket leaves, roughly chopped (~1 cup when chopped)
5 black olives, de-pitted and chopped
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 piece of dry tofu, thinly sliced
flowers from 2 chive flowerheads (add after baking)

Mix the flours (I used the mixture of 00 and semolina) and salt with a fork, then dump on a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a large measuring jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes. Add some of the liquid mix to the well, then bring in the flour, continuing to add the liquid and bring in the flour gradually until you have used all the liquid and the dough starts to come together. Knead for about 10 min, until the dough is smooth and springy. Put the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, prepare the toppings. For the ramp pizza, mix together the tomato puree, vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil, salt+pepper and miso, then thin with a little water until a good spreading consistency. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, then add the white parts of the ramps and fry for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add green parts, season and fry for a minute or two more until wilted. For the green pizza, put the broad beans, peas, mint, 1 tsp olive oil, salt+pepper and lemon juice in a blender cup and blend until they become a smooth, green puree. Cook the garlic and spring greens together as for the ramps, adding the garlic first and then the greens.

Punch down the dough. Divide the dough into 3-4 balls (one per pizza). You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in clingfilm, in the fridge (or freezer) until required (I used two balls for this and put two more in the freezer*). For immediate use, roll a dough ball out to a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to a piece of baking paper scattered with semolina on top of a large wooden board. Put a pizza stone, cast iron pizza pan or baking sheet in the oven and heat to 450F. Arrange the toppings on the dough circle: smear the puree or sauce across the surface, taking it right up close to the edges, then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients (except stuff to be added after baking). Open the oven and carefully slide the paper and pizza onto the heated stone or pan. Bake for ~20 min, until the pizza is lightly browned and puffy around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a minute or two, then sprinkle with the final toppings (hazelnuts on ramp pizza, chive flowers on green pizza) before eating.


Both came out pretty good. The sliding onto pizza pan worked out pretty good, and the dough puffed up nicely (although there is definitely a sweet spot with thickness - it is possible to go too thin and end up with something super crispy that doesn't really puff up and browns instantly at the edges). I liked both topping combinations: ramps and hazelnuts definitely go well together, and the radish/nasturtium/rocket mix was very tasty with the green puree, sunflower seeds and pretty purple chive flowers.

*To use dough from the freezer, take frozen dough balls out to defrost ~2 hours before you want to use them (I had no problems with them sticking to the clingfilm or anything like that). When they are soft, you can roll them out as for the fresh dough and proceed from there. 

Spring freekeh

It doesn't feel much like Spring today, although it should be nearly Summer already - this is Memorial Day weekend, it'll be June in a week. The air is thick with drizzle, and it's chilly although still very humid. Yum. Anyway, it's supposed to clear up by tomorrow lunchtime. And a little bit of mizzle wasn't going to stop me biking a crate full of tomato plants around town this morning, or making food that tastes of Spring.

I have really warmed to freekeh. It's like a more green-coloured version of bulghur wheat, and it tastes green: a little like the grass I used to chew on as a kid. So, I have decided it is much more interesting than bulghur. I have also decided it goes brilliantly with other green-looking and green-tasting things: peas, broad beans, courgette, pumpkin seeds, mint, chives... I thought my chives were dead after the winter but they resurrected, and are looking wonderfully green and healthy. The mint isn't doing too badly either.

I'm not sure what this is: sort of a salad, sort of a pilaf. Makes enough for 2-4, depending how hungry you are and how much else you've got going on.

1 cup freekeh (or bulghur, or wheatberries)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 small courgette, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh or frozen broad beans
1-2 tbsp chopped mint
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
1-2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 tbsp dandelion leek miso
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)
salt+pepper (maybe)

Put the freekeh in a small pan with ~ 2 cups of water and 1 tbsp olive oil. Boil until freekeh is tender and the liquid has almost all evaporated. Add the sliced courgette, peas and broad beans (may need to add these a little earlier if they are big) and cook for a few minutes more, just until everything is tender and the liquid is gone.

In the bottom of a serving bowl, mix the miso, EVOO and white balsamic vinegar. Add the freekeh-veg mixture and mix well together. Set aside and allow to cool until at least warm, ideally cool (so that the herbs stay bright green when you add them). Add the chives, mint and pumpkin seeds and mix it up. Taste to check if it needs any salt and pepper.

Bowlful of fiddleheads

Yesterday, via Alvin's CSA, I came by a little bag of beautiful fiddleheads. These things are perhaps the cutest food ever: little dark-green scrolls, each one a developing fern leaf, wild harvested. This variety is, I believe, a Northeastern speciality: they only grow in the region (think they are these). So we are lucky.

I'd eaten these only a couple of times before. The first time we just boiled them (in Keane, NH). This time I decided to blanch them with steam and then fry them with garlic. When I tasted them I immediately thought of peas, so decided to eat them in a sort of Spring-filled rice bowl, with peas, mint and dandelion-ramp miso (ramps aka wild leeks being another Northeastern Spring speciality).

(this quantity about right for 2 people)

For the fiddleheads:
1 small bag of fiddleheads (about 2 cups)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
salt+pepper
lemon juice

The rest of the bowl:
1 cup brown rice, black barley and radish seed mix, cooked
1 cup frozen peas, cooked
2-3 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1-3 tsp dandelion-ramp miso (to taste)

Clean the brown stuff off the fiddleheads and trim off any brown patches. Put them in a steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes, until any bitterness has gone (but they are still green and have some bite). Remove from the steamer and plunge into cold water, then drain / dry out as best you can.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, then add the garlic and fry for a few minutes, until just starting to brown. Add the fiddleheads and fry on medium-high until any wetness has evaporated and the garlic and fiddleheads are starting to brown around the edges. Turn off the heat and add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

For each serving, assemble a mixture of fiddleheads, rice mix, peas, toasted seeds, mint and miso in a bowl, in whatever proportions you like, mix and then eat.


The fiddleheads have a fairly subtle, green taste: they are very nice. And they look so pretty and interesting. I like how the flavours go together but remain distinguished in this mixture. And I like being able to assemble it to taste per bowl: you can use as little or as much of the other stuff and mix it up as much or as little as you like, so that you can always have some mouthfuls where you have nothing but fiddlehead and others where you have the whole interesting lot.

The fiddlehead cooking method worked well. Think you could use asparagus chopped into 2 inch pieces instead of the fiddleheads, if fiddleheads are not available. And use any kind of miso (preferably aged).

Thai green curry with plantain, chickpeas and cauliflower

I have been ferreting through the freezer, trying to figure out why it is so full and disorganised (probably a clue is its bad design... at least, S pointed out, it being really full means it is more energy efficient!), and what treasures might be lurking at the back...

Among other things, I discovered galangal, lemongrass, and half a bag of frozen peas. And, possibly due to an exciting visit to Jitlada Thai in Hollywood, wondered if maybe I should make a Thai curry?

This recipe looked like the business. Amazingly, I actually had most of the key ingredients for the paste (or reasonable substitutions). I didn't have any of the recommended veg to go in it, but decided to freestyle with what I had - no way was I going out to buy food last night - it hit -12C and my fingers froze on the bike ride home in spite of double, super thick gloves.

Green Curry Paste:
1 stalk fresh lemongrass, sliced finely and minced OR 3 tbsp frozen or bottled lemongrass
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2+1/2 tbsp soy sauce, OR equal parts Thai Golden Mountain Sauce and soy sauce, leave out the dark soy
1-2 tsp brown sugar (to taste)
1-3 green chillies, minced (to taste) (used 1-2 tsp dried red chilli as we didn't have any green)
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece galangal OR ginger, peeled and sliced
2 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or frozen), snipped into thin strips with scissors, OR substitute 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 loose cup chopped fresh coriander leaves and stems
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 tsp dark soy sauce, OR substitute 1 more tbsp regular soy sauce

Other:
2 kaffir lime leaves, OR substitute 1 bay leaf
1 tin coconut milk
1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas OR 1 1/2 cup firm tofu drained and chopped into cubes OR a combination
1 black plantain, peeled and chopped into chunks
~3 medium carrots peeled and sliced
~10 mushrooms, roughly chopped into quarters
~1 cup of cauliflower chunks about an inch diameter
3/4 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped (optional)
2-3 tbsp oil for frying

To make the green curry paste, place all paste ingredients in a blender. Add a few tbsp of the coconut milk, enough to blend ingredients. Process well.

Place oil in deep frying pan. Turn heat on medium-high and add paste. Stir-fry until fragrant (about 1 minute), then add the coconut milk. Add tofu and / or chickpeas and stir to combine.

Add lime leaves (used bay) and reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

Add plantain and carrots. (Note: if more sauce is desired, add up to 1 cup vegetable stock.) Cover and simmer another 5 min, then add the cauliflower. Simmer for 3-5 min more, until carrots are soft enough to pierce with a fork.

Finally, add mushrooms and frozen peas. Stir and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until peas are cooked but still bright green.

Do a taste test for salt and spice, and add more soy sauce, salt, lime juice or coconut milk accordingly.

Vegetables: The recommended combo was 1 cubed sweet potato (added when I did the plantain and carrot), 1 red pepper, chunked and a cup of sugarsnap peas (both added when I did the mushrooms) - alternative recommendations were: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, french beans, aubergine, squash, and courgette.


All in all this was really successful: the curry paste worked out well and tasted good and quite authentic. The colour of the curry paste was a bit off (kind of greenish, but also brownish): wondered if I might have skimped a little on the coriander by measuring it before chopping - another time measure after chopping and will probably end up with more. The basil was the tired stuff off our windowsill - fresh holy basil would probably have been much better (and greener).

The plantain, chickpeas and cauliflower all tasted great in this format - was especially pleased with the plantain and chickpeas together. However, they are all brownish and so are the mushrooms and tofu, so that didn't help with the colour issues! So, another time it would be cool to try and get hold of some kaffir lime leaves and holy basil, and some more colourful veg, but I was really impressed with this recipe as a quick, storecupboard-based weeknight supper.

It probably took about an hour in total - could have sped this up by cutting the carrot thinner, and also by prepping the cauli / mushrooms / peas while the pot is on (I was tired and thought it best to prep everything at the beginning to avoid getting confused / stressed). We ate it with simple coconut basmati rice (toss through a few tsp of coconut oil when the rice is cooked and steaming).

Edit: I made this again (after another freezer-clearance effort): this time used holy basil and lime leaves, and green chillies, and made sure my herbs were well-packed. And the paste came out deep green and wonderfully aromatic - I could eat it on its own. I used only one chilli - perhaps use more next time, it wasn't very spicy. For content, I used chickpeas, carrot, tempeh, baby turnips (roots and greens), courgette, peas, radish greens... turns out this is a good way to use random things up / most of the necessary items can be stored in the freezer or pantry indefinitely - only really need the fresh holy basil and coriander.

Peanut and vegetable stew

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.

Stuffed squash

These little round squashes were so cute I had to buy some...  I didn't really know what they were, but turns out they are a kind of spherical courgette.  They were so pretty I couldn't bring myself to cut them up and decided to bake them whole and stuff them instead.  I wanted to fill them with fresh, summery tastes - peas, mint - so decided to try preparing the filling separately so the peas etc didn't get overcooked during the oven baking process.

2 little round squashes ('8-ball' squash)
1 cup brown rice (I used brown sushi rice as that's what we had)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsp mint, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tbsp sunflower seeds, toasted
1 1/2 tbsp black olives, pitted and chopped
~30g frozen edamame (a good handful), defrosted
~30g frozen peas (a good handful), defrosted
salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
olive oil

Put the rice in a small pan with 2 cups of water and boil for ~25 min until tender.

Cut little lids in the squashes  like you were making pumpkin lanterns.  Remove flesh from inside, leaving about 1cm thickness.  Put the lids back on, put the squashes on a baking tray and put in the oven at 400F for 20min.

Meanwhile, chop the innards.  Heat ~ 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and then add the onion and garlic.  Fry until softened (4-5 min).  Then add the courgette innards and fry over a moderate-high heat.  A lot of liquid will come out of the courgette, so keep frying pretty high until it is all evaporated and the stuff is golden and tasty.  Season to taste.

When the rice is ready, mix the rice and onion and courgette mixture in a large bowl.  Make sure it is cool enough not to discolour the herbs, but still warm.  Add the olives, defrosted peas and edamame, toasted sunflower seeds and herbs and mix well together.  Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

When the little squashes are tender to the point of a knife, remove them from the oven.  Take off the lid again, pour out any excess liquid, and fill them up with the rice mixture, so it's bulging out of the top.  Balance the lids back on top so they look cute, and eat before they get cold.




They worked out pretty good - fresh and tasty.  Lots of the inside mix is left - perhaps we can stuff some peppers with it in the same way tomorrow, or it'll work just as a sort-of risotto.

Polenta fritters / Pea and mint soup

Polenta Fritters

I decided to try polenta last night - don't know if I ever really made it before, but I know I like it.  Did a cupful of polenta in 3 cups of hot water (+1 tsp salt), cooking for about 15min total.  It was good, if a bit lumpy (need to whisk it together more gradually in the beginning?).  I expected it to firm up in the fridge overnight but it remained soft.  Used leftovers today to make fritters:

~3/4 cup cooked soft polenta
1/2 banana, roughly mashed
small piece of yellow chili, finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander, chopped
1 spring onion, sliced
handful sweetcorn, defrosted
~1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
salt
squeeze of lemon juice

Mix ingredients together with a fork.  Heat a little veg oil in a frying pan.  Shape the mixture into rough patties (was still quite wet) and drop them into the pan / flatten into shape.  Cook ~3 min on each side / til done.


Pea and mint soup

This is one of my super quick and easy standby classics.  We got pretty wet today looking around at Wake Up The Earth in the rain, and when we got back I felt like something soupy and minty to eat with good bread so this was it.

1 small onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
2 cups frozen peas
2 cups veg stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper
olive oil
~ 2 tbsp almond milk

Heat ~1 tbsp olive oil in a medium saucepan.  Add onion and garlic and sweat for ~ 5 min without colouring / til soft.  Add the veg stock and frozen peas and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about 5 min.  Take off the heat, add mint, and allow to cool a little.  Blend in liquidiser til smooth.  Add almond milk and season to taste.

Green and white bowl

Another quick weeknight supper.

1 cup white quinoa (this makes about twice as much as needed for leftovers)
alfalfa sprouts
1/2 an avocado, diced
~50g firm tofu, diced
1 spring onion, finely chopped
handful of sugarsnap peas
1/2 tbsp coriander, chopped
1/2 tbsp mint, chopped
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

1 quantity of tahini lime sauce

Boil the quinoa in 2 cups of water for about 12 min / til cooked / with a little bite left / water absorbed.

Steam the peas for 3 minutes, until green colour intensified but still with some crunch.  Refresh with cold water.  Chop into pieces of desired size.

Toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan, and prepare the sauce.

Mix the quinoa, sprouts, spring onion, herbs, peas, avocado and tofu together in a bowl and then add sauce and sesame seeds to taste.