Sweet Potato & Lentil Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny is a curried vegetable soup from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, taking it's name from the Tamil words for 'pepper' and 'water'.  The traditional Indian version is vegan, but the British of the Raj liked to add chicken or mutton - Mulligatawny with Lamb.

This vegan Mulligatawny is from diabetes.org.uk's recipes, with a few tweaks of mine.

Serves 4 (original recipe suggests 8 servings)

2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, diced (250g)
400g tin tomatoes
75g red lentils
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed

1cm root ginger, roughly chopped (optional)
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp medium curry paste (or powder)
1 litre boiling water
75g brown rice

Soften the onion in the olive oil in a soup pan for about 5 minutes until it starts to brown.

Stir in the carrot and sweet potato (I did not peel either, as the soup is liquidised), and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring regularly.

Add tomatoes, lentils, garlic, stock cube, curry paste/powder and 1 litre of boiling water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  I added cooked rice at this stage, not realising the recipe said to add it after the soup had been liquidised, for texture.

Blend the soup with a stick blender or food processor until smooth.

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Mexican or Italian Bean Salad

Slowly moving into salad season, so I thought I'd experiment with a bean salad.

Serves 2

1 can beans in water, drained  (black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans)
1/4 cucumber, cubed 

1 beef tomato, diced 

1 red pepper, diced 

1 stick celery, diced 

1 small red onion, peeled & diced

Mexican dressing - small pack of coriander finely chopped, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1 small green chilli pepper finely diced, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,1 tbsp red wine vinegar, freshly ground pepper & salt

Italian dressing - 2 tbsp finely chopped broad leaf parsely, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,1 tbsp red wine vinegar, freshly ground pepper & salt

Mix all the ingredients together with the dressing of your choice. Leave to marinade for 30 minutes if you can.  

Spoon into mini pittas to eat.

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Trampó, Majorcan Tomato & Green Pepper Salad

This Tomato & Green Pepper Salad is lovely and refreshing, made in a matter of minutes but is all the better for being left for a few hours for the flavours to develop.

Serve 4 as a side 

1 large ripe beef tomato, cut into 1cm pieces
1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 1cm pieces

1/2 a sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (optional)

Large pinch of salt  

Mix all the ingredients together and leave for a few hours for the flavours to develop if you can. 

The lemon juice was a mistake as my eyes flitted to the Moroccan Tomato & Green Pepper Salad above in my pdf of Mediterranean recipes to try, but it possibly made the salad more refreshing.

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Courgette Glut Gazpacho

Courgette Gazpacho is a great way to use up a courgette glut. I first had a green gazpacho in France from a carton bought in a supermarket. I googled the brand (Alvalle) to find the ingredients but have had to guess the quantities.

Serves 4 as a starter

2 medium courgettes, topped & tailed
1/2 cucumber

1 green pepper, de-seeded

1/2 small onion, peeled

1 garlic clove, peeled

2 heaped tbsp greek yoghurt (optional)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1tbsp wine vinegar

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

400ml chilled water

Salt & pepper to taste

Roughly chop all the vegetables and liquidise. Can be eaten straight away, poured over ice cubes to chill some more. Or chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the flavours develop.

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Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

I came by a large amount of past their best onions last week.  I peeled and trimmed them, and then recalling a slow cooker onion soup recipe, decided to caramelise them in the slow cooker whilst I got on with a lot of other cooking on the hob.

It is a slow recipe - about 18 hours - but a very hands off one (apart from slicing all the onions)

Serves 6

2kg onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp light olive oil
1 tbsp butter

1.5l boiling water

200ml white wine

3 organic beef stock cubes

2 tbsp plain (or gluten free) flour 

Put the sliced onions in a slow cooker on low overnight with the oil and butter.  The recipe I read online said 10 hours minimum. I put mine on high around 7pm, then down to Low at 11pm. The next morning at 8am they were only just caramelising, with a surprising amount of liquid. 

I kept them on low until 11am, then added the water, crumbled stock cubes, wine, garlic, and flour mixed with a little water until pourable.  Mix well, and leave for another couple of hours, stirring occasionally.

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Azifa, Ethiopian Lentil Salad

 
Not exactly salad weather, but we had some cooked Puy Lentils to use up.

Serves 4, as an accompaniment

1 tin cooked Puy lentils, drained

1 mild green chili pepper, finely diced
2 tomatoes, sliced or diced
1 red onion, sliced or diced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 medium limes, juiced
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Season to taste. Ideally, prepare a few hours ahead and leave at room temperature for the flavours to develop.

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Funghetti (Italian Fried Aubergine)

My mother used to cook this when we lived in Italy, saying it was the only way my brother and I would eat aubergine

1 large aubergine, cut into 1cm cubes

1 large clove of garlic, crushed 

2 tbsp olive oil

Toss the aubergine in 1/2 a teaspoon of salt in a colander.  Place a small side plate on top and weight down with a several cans for 30 minutes. 

When the time is up best up the oil in a frying pan. Squeeze any liquid out of the aubergine and fry over a medium heat until golden brown. 

Stir through the garlic and fry for a minute or so before serving. 

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Middle Eastern Broad Beans

I never used to be a fan of broad beans until I had an Egyptian dish of Ful Medames.  The dried broad beans used in this dish are hard to find, and I had largely forgotten about it until I had a bumper harvest of broad beans on my allotment this year.

My partner usually just steams the beans and tosses the warm beans in a little olive oil and crushed garlic.  But left to me to prepare them one day last week I added my Middle Eastern twist...

1kg broad beans
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Small garlic clove, crushed
Squeeze of lime juice
Pinch of salt
Large pinch of ground cumin

Pod the beans and steam for 15-20 minutes until tender.

Toss the warm beans with the rest of ingredients and serve as a warm side dish or cold salad.

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Filling Summer Tomato Soup

Gazpacho, in the quantity I make it and drink it, is filling.  However, to make it more so, I have combined Gazpacho, Ajo Blanco, and Salmorejo.

Serves a greedy 1 (makes 1 litre)

1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 can chilled water
1/4 cucumber
1/4 small onion
1/2 a red pepper
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
50g almonds
1 slice of bread, torn into pieces

Roughly chop the cucumber, onion, and pepper and liquidise all the ingredients. Serve.

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Vegan Vegetable Laksa

Watercress Laksa

Having made and frozen some vegan Thai Yellow Curry Paste recently, I've been having a lot of vegetable laksa over the last few weeks.  It's a quick, filling lunch with optional superfood ingredients.

1/2 tbsp yellow curry paste
500ml boiling water
1 organic vegetable stock cube, crumbled
1 large handful of greens (today's was made with watercress, but I've made it with shredded cauliflower leaves, kale, spinach, cabbage etc)
1/4 onion, finely sliced
1 nest of rice noodles (optional)

If making with noodles cook the noodles in the water and stock cube according to the packet's instructions, adding the curry paste, and vegetables at the end to wilt.   Place onion into a large soup bowl and pour over the hot stock and vegetables.

If not having noodles you may wish to wilt tougher greens like cabbage in the boiling stock on the hob.

More delicate greens like watercress and spinach can be put straight into a soup bowl with the all the other ingredients and simply wilted with the boiling water and stirred gently to combine the curry paste and crumbled stock cube.

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Vegan Creamy Mushroom Soup

Mushroom soup looks so unappetising but taste oh so good.

Serves 4

400g mushrooms, brushed and roughly chopped
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large stick of celery
1 tbsp olive oil
40g cashew nuts
2 vegetable stock cubes

Gently fry the vegetables in the oil in a saucepan with a lid on to soften for 5 minutes or so.  Shake the pan every now and then so the vegetables don't catch.

Add 1 litre of just boiled water, stock cubes,  and cashew nuts. Bring to the boil, cover again and simmer for 20 minutes.  Then liquidise with a stick blender and serve.

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Quick Pea & Ham Soup with Greens

It's been a soup day today, trying to fill up on liquid rather than carbs.

After the Mushroom & Miso Broth for lunch, I couldn't resist having some of the gorgeous baked ham leftover from Sunday, and made a quick kind of Pea & Ham Soup to make a little go a bit further.

1tsp sunflower oil
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
60g/2 slices cooked ham, roughly chopped
Large handful frozen peas
Large handful shredded greens (spring greens, kale, cabbage...)
500ml recently boiled water
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

Fry the onion in the oil over a medium heat.  Add the ham and stir around until you can smell it cooking.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring back to the boil.  Serve.

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Quick Mushroom & Miso Broth with Vegetable Noodles

I finally found a fitting send off to the one remaining large mushroom that has been knocking around the fridge for the last week.

This is a vegan and carb free version of Jamie Oliver's chicken based Miso Broth recipe.

Serves a greedy 1

1 tsp sunflower oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 large mushroom, roughly chopped
1/2 a spring greens head, finely sliced (or cabbage, carrot ribbons, courgetti...)
1/2tsp grated ginger
1/2tsp grated garlic
1 level tsp miso paste
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml just boiled water
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Gently fry the onion in the sunflower oil for a few minutes until it starts to brown.  Stir in the mushroom, then add the ginger and garlic once you can smell the mushroom strongly.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring back to the boil.  Serve once it comes back to a boil.

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Indian Cucumber Salad (Kachumber)

I believe a proper kachumber has tomato & fresh coriander in, but I neither, and only a glut of homegrown cucumbers.

Serves 4 as a side dish

1 cucumber, peeled if the skin is tough like mine
1 small onion, thinly sliced
A large pinch of salt
A large pinch of cayenne
1 tbsp of chopped coriander or 1 tsp dried mint
Juice of half a small lemon

Thinly slice the cucumber into half moons and mix with all the other ingredients.  Leave to stand for 10-20 minutes for the lemon juice to mellow the raw onion.

A good accompaniment to a rich, creamy curry.

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Retro Bortsch or Beetroot Soup

Beetroot must be the Marmite of vegetables.  Mention it to the wrong person and they start gagging and retching at the very thought of it.  I'm sure this is because of a traumatic memory of the overly vinegared stuff on their grandmother's table served with the cold cuts.  But sadly it is hard to get past the amateur dramatics to get them to try it served a different way.  After all, it's flamboyant colour is near impossible to hide.

Bortsch has been a favourite of mine since my early teens, when my mother seemed to go through a phase of working her way through the 1960s recipes from her Kenwood liquidiser manual.  In the absence of this manual I have attempted to recreate Borscht as I remember it.

We usually ate it chilled in summer, but it equally good warm on a cold British summer day.

Serves a greedy 2

2 large or 3 medium cooked beetroot
1 small onion
1 medium carrot
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
600ml boiling water
1 beef (or vegetable) stock cube
juice of 1 small lemon
salt and pepper
2 tbsp greek yoghurt (optional)

Peel and roughly chop the onion and start to soften in a saucepan over a medium heat whilst you peel and roughly chop the carrot, beetroot and garlic, and roughly chop the celery.  When the carrot and celery is chopped add this and soften for a few minutes before adding the hot water, stock cube, garlic, and chopped beetroot. Bring to the boil with a lid on and then simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes blitz the boiled ingredients.  If eating hot,  blitz with the lemon juice.  Season to taste.  Pour into bowls and serve with a heaped teaspoon of yoghurt.

If serving chilled, blitz, cool, then chill in the fridge.  Stir in the lemon juice before serving, then add yoghurt to each bowl as before.

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Thai Carrot Salad

Can't recall where the recipe for this salad came from. My recollection is the original is much sweeter, as Thai tastes can be, but this is a slightly healthier version.

Serves 2

2 large carrots
3 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
3 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp brown sugar
Large pinch of salt

Peel and grate the carrots.  Mix together with all the other ingredients.  Leave for the flavours to develop if you can.

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Kimchi Style Carrot & Celery Salad

Knocked a quick salad together for lunch today.  Probably will be making another one later as it was so damn tasty.

Serves 1

1 medium carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 small clove of garlic
1/8th tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp maple syrup, honey, or sugar

Grate the carrot, thinly slice the celery, and crush the garlic.  Mix everything together.  Wait as long as you can tolerate.

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Wagamama's Edamame Soya Beans

I bought a bag of frozen soya beans from the supermarket a few months ago on a whim, and still have not remembered the meal I had in mind to put them in.  So today, googling what to do with soya beans, I turned up a simple snack from Wagamana's website - Homemade Edamame

Serves 1

100g frozen soya beans
1 very small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 pinch hot chilli flakes
1 pinch sea salt

Cook the soya beans according to the instructions on the packet.  Mine were boil for 5 minutes from frozen.  Mix through all the other ingredients.  Eat.

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Chilled Summer Soups

It's hotting up nicely outside so here, in no particular order, is my list so far of chilled soups...

Bortsch - chilled beetroot soup

Gazpacho - Spanish Tomato, Pepper & Cucumer Soup
Ajo Blanco - Spanish Almond & Garlic Soup
Yoghurt & Cucumber Soup
Chilled Lemony Sorrel Soup

Quick Moroccan Inspired Fish Stew

There is an advertisement on television right now with a dad and young daughter making a Mediterranean Fish Stew.  Here's my take on it.  More Moroccan, and less (read as no) child participation.

Serves 4
Cooking Time: around 15 minutes

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, chopped small or pureed to hide it
1-2 tsp harissa paste
4 fillets frozen white fish (I use pollock)
Handful of black olives (optional)
Handful chopped parsley or coriander (optional)

Fry onion, garlic and red pepper (if using) in the olive oil over a medium heat in a saucepan until they starts to brown.  Add red pepper puree if not added chopped earlier.  Add tomatoes, half a tin of recently boiled water, harissa and bring to a simmer.  Add the other ingredients and simmer until the fish can be broken up easily into small pieces.  Stir in parsley or coriander if using, and season to taste.

I serve it over couscous (add a good pinch of salt, pepper and a glug of olive oil to half a mug of couscous.  Cover with a full mug of boiling water in a dish with a tight fitting lid and leave to cook in the heat of the hot water whilst you make the fish dish) or bulghur wheat (boil a mug of bulghur wheat for 10 minutes in lots of salted water whilst waiting for the fish to cook).  If in need of brownie points off the children I will serve it over pasta.

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