Monday 21 March 2011

Aubergine with yogurt

Slice an aubergine, not too thinly, brush with oil and bake in the oven until well cooked.You can fry the aubergine if you want, in which case you can reduce the amount of oil the aubergines soak up by salting them for 20 min.Wash  the salt off and dry the aubergine before frying.

Allow to cool and cover with yogurt and crushed garlic, serve cold as a side dish. Garnish with paprika and finely chopped parsley

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Cauliflower Surprise

1 cauliflower, washed and cut into florets and steamed for 20 min. 
1 large onion sliced and stir fried until softened
Sultanas
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp Turmeric
100 ml of water

Place all the ingredients  in an oven proof dish and bake in a hot oven for 30 min
For the rice: 

Boiled rice
Sliced and stir fried onion
Peas
Sultanas
Flaked almonds
Qourn or tofu mince
Curry powder

Mix all the ingredients and place in an oven proof dish, cover with foil and  place in the oven for 30 min
Peel, slice and dice 1 large sweet potato 
Bake in an oiled dish for 30 min

All three parts should be ready at the same time

The surprise was that I didn't have the ingredients needed for the recipe, so I made this up!


Monday 14 March 2011

Ribollita


Leek, chickpea, carrot & sweet potato soup


1 leek chopped
1x 400g tinned chickpeas
1 large carrot grated or chopped very finely
1 large sweet potato grated or chopped very finely
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
1/2 tsp Thyme
2 large bay leaves
black pepper
1 liter veg stock

Place all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil, then simmer until the ingredients are well cooked. Liquidise some of the soup (either with a handheld blender or place half the soup in a liquidiser and then return it to the pan after it has been liquidised). Simmer for an hour on a low heat.

Saturday 5 March 2011

Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt




150ml of mixed berry puree
150ml of fat free yogurt
Honey or maple syrup to sweeten to taste

To prepare the berry puree I defrosted the berrys then used a hand held liquidiser, I then seived the puree to remove the skins and seeds.

Mix the fruit puree with the yogurt and honey and place in the freezer for about 3 hours, then remove from the freezer and mix to brake up any ice crystals that may have formed. Return to the freezer for a further 1-2 hours.

Mini Cheese and Pesto Tarts


You will need:

Short crust pastry
Pesto (I used a ready made roasted veg pesto, or you can use vegan pesto)
Tomato puree
Grated cheese (Chedder, mozzerella or vegan cheese)

And a  mini muffin tray

Divide the pastry into ferrero rocher sized balls, then mold into the wells of the mini muffin tray; alternativley you can make them as big or as small as you like using a cupcake/muffin tray.

Cover the base of the pastry with pesto
Add a small amount of tomato puree on top of the pesto


Top with grated cheese - not too much so that it doesn't overflow when it melts

Place in a hot oven and bake for 8-10 min - or longer depending on the size of the tart

Serve warm

Friday 4 March 2011

Ginger & Treacle Mini Cupcakes





Mix and sieve the following dry ingredients in a bowl:
200g Plain flour
1 1/4 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice

Mix the following wet ingredients: 
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
80 ml of milk (soya works well)
1 large egg (or egg replacement)
40 ml of treacle

Cream together:
60g sunflower spread
80g sugar

Add the wet ingredients to the spread and sugar mixture, it may split, but don't worry it will by fine once you add in the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches stiring in gently, don't overmix.

Place the mixture into mini muffin tray with cases & bake for 12-15 min in a moderate oven with out fan (180 C)