Pickled Red Cabbage Salad

Pickled cabbage is a sugar free alternative to traditional braised red cabbage served with the Christmas roast.  The mild vinegary tang works well with roast turkey, roast pork, or roast lamb.

Serves 4 

Half a red cabbage, cored, quartered & thinly sliced

Half an onion, quartered & thinly sliced

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 big pinches of salt

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with your fingers, scrunching and rubbing the ingredients together.

Leave for as long as you can, ideally overnight, but it can be eaten within 10 minutes of making it you like crunchy vegetables.

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Curried Bubble & Squeak (Potato Cakes) with Coriander Relish

Got leftover boiled or mashed potatoes, cooked carrots and greens? I thought I'd jazz up Bubble & Squeak with some curry spices and some coriander relish to use up some odd leftovers.

Serves 2

200g potato

Handful of cooked carrot, cabbage, Brussel sprouts etc

1 tsp garam masala or curry powder 

1 tbsp plain or chickpea flour

2 tbsp olive oil for frying

Relish

30g pack of coriander 

1 large garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

2 cm ginger, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes 

2 tbsp dried mint

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 

1-2 tbsp water

Mash the potato well, before adding in the finely chopped vegetables and spice.  Do not add any oil or butter as you need a stiff mash that you can shape into four 'burgers' and keep their shape.  Add a little flour to the mash if needed to make it stiffer.

Fry the potato cakes in the olive oil in a non-stick pan over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes each side or until golden brown.

Whilst frying the potato cakes, whizz together all the relish ingredients until you have a pourable, double cream-like, consistency. Add more water and vinegar if needed to get a pourable relish.

Dip the potato cakes into the relish or pour over.

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Braised Red Cabbage

Quick braised red cabbage to accompany our Christmas Dinner of slow roast mutton. The other half of the red cabbage went in Red Cabbage Coleslaw.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced
350g red cabbage (half a red cabbage), thinly sliced

1 large cooking apple, cored and diced

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

large pinch of nutmeg1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup

4 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp cranberry sauce optional

Soften the onion over a medium heat in the olive oil in a saute pan for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cabbage and the spices and fry for a a few minutes until shiny.

Add the apple, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Stir in well then cover, turn down the heat to the lowest, and cook gently for half an hour.

Stir in the cranberry sauce if using, adding a little water if the cabbage is drying out a little.

Serve warm with mutton, pork, duck...

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Air Fryer or Oven Roasted Vegetable Salad

Now it is Sunday Roast season, I am putting a tray of mixed vegetables in the oven whilst the roast is cooking if there is space, or after.  These vegetables are then a potted up with some pulses, seeds/nuts, and a dressing as a grab and go midweek packed lunch.

Last Sunday I roasted half a cauliflower and half a squash, and mixed in a can of drained chickpeas after roasting the dish.  As the spice mix (leftover from my son making southern fried chicken) I tossed the veg in before cooking was really quite spicy, I made a cooling tahini dressing with a few spinach leaves whizzed in just for colour. It filled three takeaway containers.  A few weeks before I roasted 500g beetroot and 750g sweet potato

Firm vegetables roast well; squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, beetroot, carrot, parsnips, celeriac, fennel. But softer vegetables (aubergine, courgette, onion, peppers, cabbage) work well too, just with less cooking.

Toss the vegetables in a few tablespoons of olive oil and roast for around 45 minutes at 200C in a fan oven, or 20 minutes in an air fryer at 180C. You can add a little salt, paprika, cumin, or harissa as you wish. Toss/stir around halfway through the cooking time. 

Add a tin of drained green lentils, beans, or chickpeas, sprinkle over some mixed seeds, add some cheese (feta, goats cheese, cottage cheese) if you like, and a dressing like tahini dressing, vinaigrette, chermoula, chimichurri, zhoug, or salsa verde.

If feeling the need for some more carbs, adding some cooked quinoa, pearl barley, pasta, couscous etc

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Gluten Free Vegan Curried Vegetable Pancakes

We've gone pancake mad this Shrove Tuesday. Kids made sweet pancakes, OH made savoury pancakes with cheddar and chorizo, and today I've made Curried Vegetable Pancakes based on my Asian Vegetable Pancakes.

As the gram flour can be a little bitter, I made a quick Coconut Chutney to go with these.

Serves 4, as a light lunch

Pancakes

180g gram flour
350ml water
1 tsp salt
Thinly sliced, grated vegetables; 1 carrot, 1 small onion,  quarter cabbage (I used homegrown brussel sprouts)
1 tsp medium curry powder, or 1 tbsp garam masala, or 1 tbsp curry paste
Vegetable oil for frying

Coconut Chutney

100g desiccated coconut

100g cashew nuts

4 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp mustard oil

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1cm ginger root

100ml water or as required

Whisk the flour and water in a large mixing bowl. 

Finely slice and/or grate the vegetables, and mix well into the batter.  It should look like the vegetables are lightly coated in batter, rather than swimming in it.

Leave the veggies to rest in the batter whilst you make the Coconut Chutney if using.  Liquidise all the chutney ingredients, adding enough water to make a thick but pourable 'chutney'.

Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium high heat, greasing with about 1 tsp vegetable oil. 

Add 1/4 of the mixture and flatten out in the pan.  Fry for a few minutes until golden brown. Flip over with a fish slice and fry the other side till golden brown too.  

Remove to a warm plate and continue to fry the next three pancakes one after the other (unless you have more frying pans).

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Delia's Braised Red Cabbage

We make this massive batch of braised cabbage before Christmas, and then eat it throughout the holiday period.

I use Delia Smith's recipe, just substituting the buttering the original recipe for olive oil. And cook it on the hob rather than the oven.

1 kg red cabbage (we make Red Cabbage Coleslaw & Purple Sauerkraut with any leftover cabbage)
450g onions, chopped small
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
1 clove garlic, chopped very small
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

Put all the ingredients except for the apples in a large saucepan or casserole dish and season. 

Cover and bring to the boil over a medium heat, then turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes until the cabbage and apple are very tender.

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Christmas Minestrone

Hope it's not too late to save the cooking liquid from your Boxing Day ham? My Christmas Minestrone is made with ham stock (cooking liquid), leftover ham (or turkey, or pigs in blankets), Brussel sprouts (or cabbage).

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced 
1 large stick of celery, diced

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed 
100g leftover chopped ham, turkey, or pigs in blankets
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 litre ham stock or chicken stock
2 heaped handfuls of finely sliced Brussels sprouts, cabbage, spring greens, kale, or spring greens
1 handful small pasta or macaroni
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
2 bay leaves (optional)

Parmesan or extra mature cheddar for serving

Fry the onion, carrot, and celery in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When slightly coloured add the chopped meat.  Stir and put the lid on for a few minutes to let the vegetables sweat. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.  Stir from time to time to ensure the pasta is not sticking to the bottom of the pan

My mum always used to say that this soup was better the day after, as the flavours seemed to develop more, but I am never organised enough to do this nor have enough space in the fridge to keep it cool overnight. 

Serve with a grating of parmesan or extra mature cheddar.

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Purple Sauerkraut

I came across red cabbage sauerkraut (with beetroot) through @michaelmosely_official Just One Thing podcast on BBC Sounds. I did look a recipe up but it seemed to vary a little in every source, so now I’ve just made my own up.

1/4 large red cabbage (about 500g)

1 medium beetroot

1 turnip (optional)

1 small onion

1 tsp salt

Finely slice the cabbage and onion and place in a large mixing bowl.

Grate the beetroot, and turnip if using. I don’t bother to peel, and just discard any large bits of skin that won’t grate.

Add the grate vegetables to the mixing bowl together with the salt. Squish and mix the vegetables with your hands, taking handfuls and squeezing like you are trying to squeeze the liquid out, and pushing down with hands like you are flattening to the bottom of the bowl. I have heard of people using the end of a rolling pin, and pounding. 

Squish/squash/pound for a few minutes until the cabbage is limp and some liquid is collecting at the bottom is the bowl. 

Take small handfuls and cram them down firmly into a large jar, and pour in any liquid that has accumulated. Cover loosely so the fermentation gases can escape but no bacteria can get in, and leave out on the kitchen counter.

I start eating mine pretty much the next day when it tastes like a undressed red cabbage coleslaw, but ideally leave it a week or longer and it will start to taste like pickled cabbage.

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Red Cabbage Coleslaw

It's Christmas Eve, and with poor communication, we have ended up with 3 red cabbages.  Three quarters of the largest (about 1.5kg!) has been braised to have with our Christmas Day pork. A small one past it's best has been made into sauerkraut (recipe to follow), and another large quarter has been made into my favourite coleslaw.

500g thinly sliced red cabbage

1 large carrot, grated

1 medium onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

3-4 heaped dessertspoons greek yoghurt

1 levelish dessertspoon Dijon mustard

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Simply mix together all the ingredients, seasoning to taste.  The longer you can leave this before eating, the flavours develop more. But it is still great straight after mixing. Not sure it tastes different to coleslaw made with green or white cabbage, but I think it looks nicer!

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Minestrone - Italian Vegetable, Ham & Pasta Soup

A few years ago Princess' fondness for all things tomato led me to revive a favourite from my childhood in Italy - Minestrone or Italian Vegetable, Ham, Bean & Pasta Soup.

I used to have to purée the soup for her as she has cerebral palsy and has difficulty chewing, plus puréeing hid the vegetables from her younger brother and sister.  But now not only to Sprout & Baby Boy help me make it, but the 'lumps' are positively looked forward to.

Minestrone is great way of getting a hugely healthy amount of veg and pulses into the kids. I remember supermarkets in Italy selling ready chopped minestrone packs of vegetables, but like any traditional family recipe the variations are endless. I feel that tomato, beans, bacon, pasta, and a green vegetable are key to the taste - but you may not. A vegetarian version can be easily make by leaving out the bacon and using vegetable stock cubes

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 medium onion, peeled and diced (optional if you are using leeks)
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 large carrot, diced
1 large stick of celery, diced
100g bacon bits, lardons, or leftover chopped ham
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 litre recently boiled water (or ham stock if you boil a ham)
2 chicken stock cube (optional)
Half a small cabbage, finely sliced (or leeks, spring greens, courgettes, kale...)
50-100g soup pasta, macaroni, or broken pasta (50g makes a more soupy consistency, 100g a thicker 
1 tbsp olive oil for frying
1 tsp herbes de provence or oregano or 2 bay leaves (optional)

Soften the onion, carrot, and celery in the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. 

When slightly softened, add the bacon/ham. Stir around for about a minute then add the rest of the ingredients. If using ham stock, do not use stock cubes.

Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer for 20-30 minutes until the pasta is soft. Stir from time to time to stop the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

My mum always used to say that this soup was better the day after, as the flavours seemed to develop more, but I am never organised enough to do this nor have enough space in the fridge to keep it cool overnight. The closest I get is to make it on a Sunday morning whilst the kids and Dad are having breakfast, then turn the gas off and leave it on the stove with the lid on firmly whilst we go off swimming in the local pool and have this for lunch 3-4 hours later with a sprinkling of grated cheddar (it should be parmesan but I never have it in).

November 2025: Big Boy is now 17 and 6' 2".  He takes Minestrone in a flask as a packed lunch to Sixth Form college. 

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