Easy Aloo Gobi, Indian Potato & Cauliflower with Green Lentils

Most Indian recipes call for a long list of spices.  We do have these, but I thought I'd make an easy Aloo Gobi with a ready mixed spice blend. I used a spice mix called Chaat Masala as it needed using up (and goes well with potatoes - see Yotam Ottolenghi's Chaat Masala Potatoes), but Garam Masala, or even curry powder would work well.

I also added a tin of green lentils, and some ground flax seeds, for more fibre and to thicken the dish a little.

500g salad or all round potatoes

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 small cauliflower

1 small onion

1 large clove of garlic

1 tbsp chaat masala or garam masala, or 1 tsp hot curry powder

1 can green lentils, including liquid 

1 mug frozen peas

3 tbsp ground flax seeds

Turn the a medium heat on under the olive oil in a large sauté pan and start chopping the potatoes into bite sized piece.  Place the potatoes cut size down in the pan as you cut them.

Once potatoes are all cut and frying gently, cut the cauliflower into similar sized pieces to the potato.  

When you can smell fried potatoes, turn the potatoes over with a slice, make a clearing in the middle of the pan and add the cauliflower.  Cover with a lid whilst you peel and thinly slice the onion.

Flip over the cauliflower and potatoes when you have sliced the onion. Mix the cauliflower into the potatoes and make a clearing in the middle of the pan for the sliced onion. Put the lid back on until the garlic is peeled, sliced and ready to go into the middle of the pan.

Whilst the onion is frying (don't worry if there not much oil left in the pan - browning adds flavour!), sprinkle over your chosen spice and stir every thing together.

Pour in the cooked lentils and their liquid, and another can of water from the tap.  Cover and bring to the boil.

Once boiling add the frozen peas and the ground flax seeds.  Bring to the boil again, this time without the lid.  Once boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes to make sure the potato is cooked (You should be able to push a for into a piece without it feeling hard like uncooked potato. If it crumbles it is definitely cooked!), to cook the peas, and dry the dish out a little.

Serve with chutney and/or extra chilli if wanted.

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Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

An unexpected spaghetti squash arrived in our Riverford vegbox last week.  We had such a meaty cooked breakfast for yesterday morning for one of my daughter's birthday meals, that my partner half jokingly said we should eat the squash for dinner, before he went out for the day to his elderly mother's.

Googling 'spaghetti squash recipes' brought me back to Riverford's recipes, and their Pesto Stuffed Spaghetti Squash with Breadcrumbs & Mozzarella. As we did not have any mozzarella to spare (today's homemade pizza is the last birthday meal) I thought I'd use feta, which sent me off on a Greek inspired filling.

Serves 2

1 medium to large spaghetti squash

200g feta

50g pine nuts

1 tbsp chopped or dried mint

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1/4 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

1 handful breadcrumbs (1 thin slice of bread 'liquidised)

Extra virgin olive oil

Pepper & salt

Preheat the oven to 180C whilst you split the squash in half from top to bottom.  Scrape out the seeds, and reserve for roasting.  Rub a little olive oil, salt,and pepper on the flesh of the squash.

Bake cut side down with 1 tbsp water under each half for 25-30 minutes until the flesh can pulled into shreds easily with a fork.

Scrape the flesh into a bowl with the feta, pine nuts, mint, garlic, chilli if using, and 1 tbsp olive oil.  

Mix well and refill the two squash shells.  Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the filling and drizzle over a little olive oil.

Bake for another 8-10 minutes until the breadcrumbs are a golden brown.

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Caponata, Sicilian Vegetables

Caponata is Ratatouille's Sicilian cousin.  Apart from the aubergine, ingredients seem to vary. Tomatoes, onion, celery, olives, and capers seem common from recipe to recipe. Courgette, pepper, pine nuts, and raisins (should only be in a cake in my opinion) slightly less so.

2 aubergines

1 courgette

1 red pepper

1 onion, peeled

1 stick of celery

2 large cloves of garlic

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 can cherry or chopped tomatoes

20 unpitted green or black olives, destoned

2 tbsp capers

30g pine nuts

Can of cannellini beans, black beans, or green lentils (optional)

Chop the aubergine, courgette, onion, and celery into chunky bite sized pieces.

Toss in the olive oil, together with the unpeeled garlic cloves and salt, and bake in a high sided baking dish for 40 minutes at 200C, stirring halfway through the cooking time.

At the end of the cooking time, stir in the rest of the ingredients into the hot baking dish to warm up.  There should be enough residual heat in the baking dish to heat the tomatoes enough. If not, pop back in the oven for 10 minutes.

To make this dish a little more filling (and add more carbohydrate, fibre, and protein) add a can of cannellini beans, green lentils, or black beans.

Eat hot or cold. The flavours of this dish will develop if left to cool overnight.

Caponata can be cooked on the stove, frying the vegetables in the olive oil until browned and they adding the remaining ingredients.

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Roasted Beetroot, Sweet Potato, & Chickpeas

With children back in college, and OH working back in the office more days a week I have been trying (and usually failing) to meal prep a couple grab & go lunches so they can be alternated throughout the week.

My son made Lentil Bolognese on Sunday night, and had four pasta dishes that he didn't need to worry about keeping cold until lunchtime.

On Thursday night I finally got round to roasting some vegetables I bought on Monday to bake.  And this dish would have had some kale in it, had I not used is as a Super Green Pasta Sauce last night

500g beetroot

750g sweet potato (I took 2 sweet potatoes out of the 1kg bag to make soup)

1 can of chickpeas, drained

3 tbsp olive oil

Wash but do not peel the vegetables and chop into bite sized pieces.

Toss in the olive oil with the drained chickpeas.

Bake for 40 minutes at 180C, stirring around halfway through the cooking time.

This quantity made three portions.  Today, for a fry filling lunch, I microwaved a portion and added halloumi, za'atar, and tahini dressing. Other ideas of ingredients to add are feta, goats cheese, cottage cheese, quinoa, pearl barley, Chermoula, Chimichurri, Zhoug, or a good old Italian Salsa Verde.

A single portion could be made in an air fryer with one beetroot, one sweet potato, and about a third of a tin of chickpeas.  Cook for 20 minutes at 180C, mixing halfway through the cooking time.

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High Fibre Wholemeal & Wholegrain Sourdough

I sell homemade organic white bread flour sourdough loaves (with a wholemeal starter), but thought I'd try to make a wholegrain sourdough for the family.

The more wholegrain flour you use, the higher in fibre this sourdough is, so experiment with 500g wholegrain flour, or adding different wholegrain/wholemeal flours eg wholemeal rye flour.  

Wholegrain sourdough will rise less than a white sourdough but is better for you!

Proving time: 3 hours 45 minutes (5 x 45 minutes)

Overnight proving: 12-24 hours

Cooking time: 40 minutes

I mix the dough late afternoon the day before the morning I want to bake.

300g lively wholemeal starter

375g water

2 tsp salt

250g wholemeal flour

250g wholegrain flour (I used Sainsbury's Wholegrain Seeded Flour, other wholegrain flours are available)

Mix the starter & water together in a large mixing bowl.  

Mix in the flour and salt until you all the dry flour has been incorporated.  It will be a rough looking dough. Don't worry.  Cover the bowl and leave for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes do the first of four 'stretch & folds'.  Wet your hands, scoop your fingers under either side of the dough and lift it upwards so the top and bottom of the dough stretch and fold down from your hands.  Give the bowl a quarter turn and do one more stretch and fold.  Cover and leave for another 45 minutes.

After four stretch & folds and a final 45 minute rest, tip the dough out onto a floured surface, stretch the dough out to the side and up onto the middle of the dough at the top, bottom, and sides of the dough.  Shape, and place in a well floured  banneton or bowl with a well floured cloth. Cover and place in the fridge for 12-24 hours until you are ready to bake.

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven and a deep lidded casserole dish (I used a domed turkey roasting dish) to 230C.  When the oven reaches temperature, tip the dough out onto a piece of baking parchment, and score with a razor blade, bread knife, or scissors (optional).

Lower into the preheated dish, and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on, then 20 minutes with the lid off.

Leave to cool entirely on a baking rack to make slicing easier.

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Jamie Oliver's Creamy Mushroom Soup

I make Jamie Oliver's Creamy Mushroom Soup every few weeks, and although I know most recipes by heart that I cook regularly, this one I cannot.   So in fear that one day Jamie's recipe will vanish from his website I will copy it here.

600g mushrooms

1 onion

2 sticks of celery 

3 cloves of garlic

a few sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley

a few sprigs of fresh thyme

1 tbsp olive oil

1.5 litres organic chicken or vegetable stock

75 ml single cream

Brush the mushrooms clean if required and tear into pieces.

Peel and finely slice the onion, celery and garlic, then pick the parsley, finely chopping the stalks. Pick the thyme leaves.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion, celery, garlic, parsley stalks, thyme leaves and mushrooms, pop the lid on and cook gently until softened.

Pour the stock into the pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, then whiz with a stick blender until smooth.

Pour in the cream, bring just back to the boil, then turn off the heat.

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Samosa Potato Salad

Digging up over a kilo of salad potatoes, and having a vegetable samosa for lunch from a family butcher, gave me the idea of a samosa potato salad. OH thought it a bit dry to have for lunch at work, so I added a cashew and tamarind cream. It is ideal for a packed lunch as nothing in it needs to be kept cold.  And for those following Zoe Health, the plant count is over 20, with 10 in the garam masala alone!

Serves 4

Samosa Potato Salad

1kg cooked salad potatoes

1 tbsp light olive oil

1 large onion

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 medium carrots, grated

200g frozen peas

100ml recently boiled water

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp mixed seeds (optional)

Cashew & Tamarind Cream

50g cashews

100ml recently boiled water

1 tbsp tamarind sauce or lemon juice

1 small garlic clove

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Boil the salad potatoes whole for 10-20 minutes, drain, and leave to cool.

Fry the onion in the light olive oil a large saute pan over a medium heat until golden brown.

Stir in the garlic and grated carrot and fry for a few minutes.  

Add the peas and hot water.

Simmer gently whilst you cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces into the pan.  Sprinkle over the seeds if using and mix well.

If making cashew cream, soak the cashews In 100ml boiling water. Once cool enough to handle, place all the cashew cream ingredients into liquidiser cup and blend until smooth and pourable like single cream.

Serve hot or cold.

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Tandoori Salmon & Potato Traybake

Oven season begins, and with a surplus of potatoes I thought I'd combine Tandoori Salmon with potatoes and cook a hands off traybake.

Serves 4

500g salmon fillet

100g greek yoghurt

2 tbsp tandoori masala powder

1 clove of garlic, peeled & crushed

Juice of a small lemon

1kg white or salad potatoes

1 tbsp light olive oil

Mix the yoghurt, tandoori masala, garlic, and lemon juice together.  Spread over the flesh side of the salmon and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

About an hour before you want to eat turn the oven on to preheat to 220C/200C Fan.

Cut the potatoes into wedges, or in half if smaller salad potatoes.  Place in a high sided baking dish big enough to spread them into a single layer, toss in a tablespoon of light olive oil and turn skin side down.

Bake the potatoes for 30 minutes then remove the dish from the oven.  Toss the potatoes so the ones on the outside are moved to the middle then make space in the middle of the dish for the salmon. Scrape all the marinade onto the salmon, and arrange the potatoes around it.

Return the baking dish to the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with something green like wilted spinach, peas, green beans, or cucumber raita. 

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Padron Peppers

I first came across Padrón peppers in a tapas bar in Madrid 30 years ago, enjoying a weekend break in the city by a work colleague (we both worked for a UK bank, me in Lisbon, him in Madrid).  Despite looking like a hot green chilli they are usually mild, although the odd one can sometime surprise! 

We were thrilled to discover our organic veg box supplier stocks them from time to time.  However, it appears to be a short season so we buy them whenever they are available.

This week we have found them in a street market in the South of France, although the veg box ones have more flavour.

Serves 4 as a tapas

300g padron pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan until very hot.

Add the whole peppers and fry until the skin starts to blister and the peppers soften.  Stir every now and then to stop them burning.

Serve with a good sprinkle of sea salt and a cold beer

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Sausage & Potato Traybake

We make this every time we go to France, currently twice a year, with good quality Toulouse sausage, merquez, or cooking chorizo from local butchers. 

Vegetables like chunks of red peppers and cherry tomatoes could be added when you add the sausages, but my teens would rather a green salad. 

Serves 4

1kg small potatoes, halved 
1kg sausages 
1 tbsp olive oil or butter 

Preheat the oven to 220C.

Toss the potatoes and oil together in a large high side baking dish, or dot with butter if you have no oil (as we did, on arriving for our first night at our Airbnb). 

Bake the potatoes uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and stir around the potatoes, then lay on the sausages. Return to the oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes take the dish out the oven again, remove the sausages to a plate and stir around the potatoes, pushing the browner ones to the middle, and the lighter ones to the sides of the dish. Return the sausages to the dish with their paler undersides facing up. Bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown and the juices run clear (a bit hard to tell with merquez). 

Serve with a green salad or something green.

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Mediterranean Rice

OH came up with this dish whilst cooking in the cramped static caravan in the south of France, and with the limited supplies in the small campsite shop (we had sweetcorn instead of yellow pepper, and he mistakenly picked up tuna in tomato sauce) 

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced 
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 cans tuna chunks in oil
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and diced 
1 beef tomato, diced 
500g cooked rice (we could only find rice in sachets, which only took 12 minutes to cook)

Chilli powder (optional)

Soften the onion, pepper, and garlic in a large saucepan in either olive oil or the oil from one of the tuna cans.

When the onion is translucent, add the chopped tomato and cook gently until it starts to soften.
Stir in the tuna and rice and heat to piping hot. 

Serve with chilli powder if desired 

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Singapore Chow Mein Noodles

I ordered Singapore Vermicelli last time we had a birthday Chinese takeaway. So the next time I made a stir fry, I thought I'd try Singapore Noodles.  I prefer rice noodles, but I find them hard to stir fry without going sticky, so this was made with egg noodles

Serves 4

4 layers of noodles

1 tbsp mild curry powder

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp low-salt soy sauce

2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

600g sliced stir fry vegetables (if slicing your own vegetables include an onion, and then a rainbow of colourful vegetables - red pepper, carrot, pak choi/cabbage, mushroom, sweetcorn, beansprouts)

250g protein (optional), choose from 200g firm tofu, 2 free range eggs, or 250g cooked prawns

1 red chilli, sliced (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.  Leave in cold water once cooked until ready to use.

Mix curry powder, turmeric, sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce and 1 tbsp water in a small bowl.

If using egg, beat the eggs in a mug.  Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok/large frying pan over a medium high heat. Swirl the oil around when hot, and pour in the egg, cooking it like an omelette.  Turn the egg over after a couple of minutes and cook the other side.  Take out when cooked, chop into bite sized pieces, and leave to one side.

If using tofu or prawns, heat 1 tbsp of oil in the wok. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok over a medium high heat. Grate the tofu if using.  When the oil is hot, stir fry the grated tofu or prawns for a few minutes until slightly brown. 

Add another tbsp of oil after you've removed the egg, or when the tofu/prawns have been stir fried.  When hot again, add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for 3-4 minutes until softened and starting to brown in places. 

Drain the noodles and add to the wok, along with the sauce mixture and egg. Stir-fry for a further 3-4 mins, mixing thoroughly and reheating the noodles.  

Serve with sliced chilli if you like some spice!

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Air Fryer Pain au Chocolat Bread & Butter Pudding

The idea for this came from a day old pain au chocolat discovered the day after we returned from a short break in France.

Serves 1, as I only had one pain au chocolate but could be doubled etc depending on the size of your air fryer

1 pain au chocolat

1 egg

150ml whole milk

2 tbsp double cream or Greek yoghurt (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

1 tsp sugar

Slice the pain au chocolat into 1cm thick slices.  

Lay in an air fryer liner.

Beat egg and cream/yoghurt/vanilla essence if using in a mug. Beat in enough milk to fill the mug.

Pour the egg mixture over the pain au chocolat and leave to soak in for 5 minutes or more if you can.

Sprinkle over the sugar and bake in the air fryer for 10-15 minutes at 180C until golden brown on top, the egg mixture is wobbly rather than runny.

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