Brown rice with sweet potato, spinach and miso-tahini sauce

This is yet another variation on something I make really often - some grain, some steamed veg (most often something green (e.g. broccoli, spinach, leeks, edamame) and something orange (e.g. carrots)), some tofu, some sauce, some herb and some seeds. It really hits the spot; I especially crave it after an aerial evening; it's quick, super simple, flexible and good.

Lindsey's photo

I have discovered ornamental sweet potatoes (thanks to M from LUrC). They were planted all around where I work and now the frost has killed the plants and they have been removed, but some tubers are still there (+some are crazy spiral shapes). I tried a few and they are tender and sweet. But I am not sure whether I should eat more - perhaps they use bad pesticides on them. Anyway, interesting - I'd never noticed them before but they are everywhere.

1 cup brown rice (used TJs brown rice, black barley and radish seed mix)
2 medium sweet potatoes, trimmed and chopped into chunks
1/8 of a large kabocha squash, chopped into chunks
generous handful of spinach, washed and torn into pieces if leaves are large
2 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 clove garlic, crushed to paste
2 in piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1-2 tbsp mirin
1-2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1/3 block firm tofu, diced fairly small
fresh coriander, chopped
sesame seeds (black or white)

Put the rice on to cook with 2 cups of water - should take 20-30 min. Meanwhile, prep the sweet potatoes and squash and put on to steam - should take 10-15 min. When the squash is done take it out of the steamer and put the spinach in - will steam in 2-3 min - take out and refresh in cold water to stop cooking before squeezing all liquid out. While you're waiting for stuff to cook you can make the sauce: mix miso, tahini, garlic, ginger, mirin and vinegar in a small bowl, taste for balance. Also prep the tofu and coriander and toast the seeds (if you like). To eat, dump your chosen proportions of everything in a bowl, mix and enjoy.


Everything I love at the moment seems to involve some combination of miso, sesame and ginger. This is no exception.

Pumpkin soda bread

This is an adaptation of classic Delia. I first made the original a long time ago, in an effort to use up a whole pumpkin lantern - after souping most of it, why not make some quick and easy bread to go with the soup? That recipe contained cheese and eggs; this is an up-to-date, animal-free version.

8 oz plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz raw pumpkin or squash (peeled weight), grated
~2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
~3 tbsp white miso paste, broken up into small (~1/2 tsp) pieces
1 oz pumpkin seeds (and some extra for the top)
1/2 oz sesame seeds
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 6 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp fake milk (plus a little more, if needed)

Heat oven to 375F. Grease a baking sheet fairly liberally with olive oil. Put flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix with a fork. Add grated pumpkin, thyme leaves and miso (in small pieces) and toss together, then mix in the pumpkin and sesame seeds. Beat the milk into the linseed mixture, then add this to the pumpkin-flour mixture. Mix until it comes together into a sticky dough, using your hands towards the end (add a little more milk if needed).

Transfer the dough to the greased baking sheet and press into a 6 inch, flattened round. Make a cross on top using a blunt knife, then sprinkle with flour and pumpkin seeds. Put in the oven and bake for 45-50 min, until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from the oven and let cool for ~ 30 min. Best eaten warm, although perfectly fine at room temperature or toasted.

Pumpkin and tofu roasted with miso and thyme

At last I decided to butcher the squash (I think it was a red kabocha) I got from Drumlin the day I volunteered there way back in September. It was one of the first ones they harvested, and I was excited to eat it, but of course squashes keep well, so it had been sitting patiently in the pantry ever since. It was still in great condition when I finally got to it over the weekend. Some of it became soda bread - I had an old Delia recipe on my mind I wanted to veganise. Some I roasted with miso, tofu and thyme like this. I toasted the seeds with spices, and they came to L's birthday party with me and one of two soda bread rounds. And I still have half the squash left in the fridge!

1/4 of a large kabocha squash (about 9 oz, prepared weight)
2/3 of a pack of firm tofu, drained
2 tbsp white miso
~2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp mirin
1-2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp maple syrup
black pepper

Heat the oven to 400F. Wash and deseed the squash or pumpkin and cut into large chunks (don't bother peeling). Cut the drained tofu into similar sized chunks. Put both into a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients to make a smooth, viscous liquid. Pour the liquid over the chunks and mix well to coat all the chunks, with your hands or a big spoon. Transfer the mixture to a roasting tin (in a single layer), put in the oven and roast for ~45 min, until the squash is tender and all is nicely browned.


This was really delicious - the squash is tender, deep red, and very sweet and flavourful; I am really into baked / grilled tofu with sauces right now (had some good stuff at the LUrC potluck last night too).

Apple and cinnamon fruit leather / dried apples

A couple more preserving experiments with my haul of somewhat bruised, needing-to-be-eaten apples, to add to the apple chutney, apple jam, and apple, treacle and caraway muffins I already made with them...

I dried some in the conventional manner (in my dehydrator), and tried some just as they were (peeled, cored and sliced ~20 mm thick), and some where I dipped them in ascorbic acid solution aka pineapple juice before drying (both times dried ~140F for ~6 hours). I didn't expect to find a difference, and it is not huge, but I think I do like the juice-dipped ones best.

I also tried out making fruit leather. I filled a pan with chunks of peeled, cored apples (and the juice of half a lemon), covered and simmered, stirring occasionally, until they were soft. Then liquidised using a wand blender. I took the plastic sheets that came with the dehydrator (without holes), and greased them lightly with oil. Then spread the apple puree out across the sheets, to a thickness of about 1/4 inch / 1/2 cm. I did some just as it was, and the rest I mixed in cinnamon before spreading it out. It dried in approx 6 hours @ 140F. It is just like leather, texturally, and tastes quite intense and appley. I think I like the cinnamon one best - adds another flavour dimension, and some sweetness.

Big thumbs up from S - he discovered these a week later on a self-described snack quest when I was out, and made sure to tell me how much he liked them later.

I also tried liquidising raw apples and then drying those. These worked reasonably well, but the texture of the cooked apple version was better - think because the puree was itself smoother and thicker before drying it could be spread out thicker and dried more evenly. Taste-wise both are good. But we did a blind taste test of the two versions and found the uncooked version to have a better, more intense taste. So, need to figure out a way of intensifying the thickness (adding a second layer of apple puree after a hour or two of drying?), but otherwise go with uncooked.

Sweetcorn, tempeh, parsley and paprika

As I rode home last night I was thinking about how evocative food is for me - how both cooking and eating can make me feel connected to people, places, or times in the past. Then, as I parked my bike, I thought about my favourite childhood dinner - sweetcorn and cottage cheese pie with paprika and chives - and wondered why I'd never tried to make it. I couldn't really be assed with pie crust last night, and I don't really eat cottage cheese any more. But decided to substitute tempeh and see how it went.

1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 pack soy tempeh
1 1/2 cups frozen sweetcorn, defrosted
~1 tbsp chopped parsley
~1 tbsp chopped chives
~2 tsp paprika
salt+pepper
juice of 1/2 a lime (optional)

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Crumble in the tempeh and stir and fry for a few minutes to heat and brown. Add the sweetcorn, herbs and paprika and fry for a bit longer, until everything is combined and hot. Season to taste, and add lime juice if using.


I liked this. Not sure how accurate it was, but perhaps a little evocative. I didn't add lime juice, but did wonder if it could have used a little acidity. We ate it with cooked tomatilloes, so in this case lime wasn't needed but otherwise might have been nice? S pointed out it is quite similar to my favourite chicken of the woods preparation, which is totally true. It's also true that the tempeh is fairly similar in appearance and especially texture to chicken of the woods, although different in taste - also hadn't occurred to me til he pointed it out.

Quick quinoa salad

I felt like eating quinoa. While it was cooking, I thought I may as well mix it up with some stuff to make it more interesting. This was very quick and easy - herbs from the balcony (how much longer will they last as it gets colder?), and a few other things from the pantry / fridge / freezer, all requiring minimal prep. We both really liked it - not bad for an afterthought.

1 cup quinoa, cooked in 2 cups of water
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, defrosted
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1-2 tbsp chopped chives
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
salt+pepper
1/4 cup dried sour cherries (or cranberries)

Put the quinoa in a small pan with the water, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer over a low heat til the quinoa is tender and the water all absorbed or evaporated (~10 min). Meanwhile, defrost the edamame (pour boiling water over), toast the pumpkin seeds and chop the herbs. Mix the dressing in a small bowl: beat together olive oil, lime juice, red wine vinegar, mustard, honey and seasoning. When ready, transfer the cooked quinoa to a serving bowl and add the dressing. Mix thoroughly. Add the edamame, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and herbs, mix and serve.


I liked this so much I made a second round to take to the LUrC potluck last night - I thought it would be cool to make something savoury that featured some of the LUrC fruit (sour cherries). I forgot about edamame actually, so this version was just herbs, pumpkin seeds, sour cherries and dressing - I only remembered just now so obviously didn't miss the beans too much! Was psyched that my parsley was still alive on the balcony despite a few -3 or -4C nights. And the chives! So, although the quinoa and other ingredients are from distant lands; the sour cherries were from Cambridge, the herbs right outside my kitchen, and the honey from a friend of S's in Brookline.

Tomatilloes and thyme

A brought me the last tomatilloes from his allotment. He'd gathered them after the frost - perhaps these really are the final harvest? So some had squishy patches, but in general they were fine. I put them together with a couple I had from ECO, and wondered what to make. I have previously just used tomatilloes raw, in sauces. This time, a chilly evening, I felt like cooking them. Simply. So I did this.

8-10 medium sized tomatilloes
1-2 tbsp thyme leaves
olive oil
salt and pepper

Remove and discard the husks from the tomatilloes and give them a good wash to get rid of their stickiness. Chop into ~ 1 cm dice. Prepare the thyme leaves (wash and remove any twiggy bits). Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and then add the tomatilloes. Fry for a minute or so then add the thyme. Continue cooking until they have released their juice and then it has reduced back down - about ten minutes. Season to taste.


This was great - I'd forgotten how sweet tomatilloes are, while still being tangy and savoury - halfway between green tomatoes and physalis, perhaps. The tomatilloes and thyme became kind of a sauce for this, and went very well.