Andalusian Bean Stew

OK … I know … another bean stew … but there are just so many possibilities 🙂

This one is distinctly rustic in character … lots of rough chopping … and strong flavours.

Traditionally  it includes chorizo …which I don’t do … so instead I’ve added tempeh, marinaded in tomato puree and tamari, and lightly sautéed in olive oil.  It’s a hearty warming stew, and you can practically throw it together.  So not much faff!

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ANDALUSIAN BEAN STEW

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Jam…. Pickle… Passata…. it’s that time of year again ….

Izzy wizzy let’s get bizzy 🐝 ✨

Greetings from a busy kitchen 💐 💕

I’ve been singularly failing to keep my blog going lately…and that’s because I’ve been madly busy harvesting and storing, preserving and pickling some of my homegrown fruit and vegetables. So cooking dinner has been taking a bit of a back seat!  Baked potatoes all round 😏

Here’s a taster of what’s been happening in my household lately… raspberry jam, cucumber pickle, roasted tomato and garlic passata and an almond vegan cheese made in honour of my delicious Italian tomatoes…… and some of the beans are air-drying for the winter …..

So. Where to start?

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ROASTED TOMATO AND GARLIC PASSATA

Ingredients:

Miso Ginger Broth with Soba.

This is vegan miso broth soul food.  Packed with goodness…and full of the flavours of Japan.   Give your immune system a boost … with this ninja-karate-kicking bowl of wonder 🙂

A traditional miso broth is unlikely to be vegan, so I’ve made a base stock with fresh vegetables, ginger and seaweed to enrich the depth of flavour.

The ginger in this recipe really sings, and I’ve used a dark hearty miso to match it.

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There are some more unusual ingredients included here today – particularly Kombu and Wakame seaweed and also Mirin; Japanese sweet rice cooking wine. Seaweed is just such a good addition to a varied vegan diet, full of minerals and trace elements. Some types are more readily available than others, but a decent whole-food store should have them.  Or else on-line…. chase them down, you won’t regret it 🙂

Any signs of a cough or a cold this winter, and I’ll be making this…. well any excuse actually, it’s just so good.

Hope you enjoy! 🙂

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MISO GINGER BROTH WITH SOBA

serves 3-4

Cook’s note: 100% buckwheat noodles, certified gluten-free tamari and brown rice miso will make this dish gluten-free 

Ingredients:

Mexican Bean Stew

I’ve been crazy busy lately, and I’ve been needing serious sustenance… so what better than just another bowl of beans 😉 💚 There’s a recipe for a bowl of beans from just about every country in the world… along with endless regional variations and generational differences.  This is a Mexican recipe that uses gorgeous Ancho Chillies.  They’re not hot, but they’re fruity, mellow and warm.

I made a vat of this, because it’s delicious…and gets deliciouser and deliciouser with re-heating. ❤️

Everyone loves avocados these days, and I realise that here in the UK we’re just a little conservative about how we use them.  That could be because they’re expensive… and we can only imagine the joy of going into the backyard and picking a couple…. and then serving them with everything.  How good must that be💕

So I served this stew with a tomato salsa, white rice, and beautifully ripe avocados.

And it’s good.

Hope you enjoy ! 🌺

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MEXICAN BEAN STEW

for 6

Ingredients:

Tofu and Mushroom Molee

Molee is a light, fresh curry sauce, from the Keralan region of India,  consisting of a delicately flavoured coconut sauce.

It’s quick and simple, shouldn’t be cooked for too long, and is open to all sorts of variations.  I’ve used tofu and mushroom here, but I think it would be fantastic with all sorts of vegetables, such as finely sliced carrots, peas, baby broad beans or a traditional Indian vegetable such as okra.

Hope you enjoy 🙂

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TOFU AND MUSHROOM MOLEE

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Gratin Dauphinoise – Potato and Patty Pan

Like many french dishes, Gratin Dauphinoise is simple, just a few perfectly matched ingredients.

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I grew some beautiful patty pan (summer squash) this year, which, like courgettes, arrive thick and fast…. and they just keep on coming🙃 .  Mine are white, and creamy and mellow in flavour.  There are however, all sorts of varieties of summer squash available in  good vegetable stores.

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I thought they’d be a delicious addition to a Potato Dauphinoise, vegan style.

And they are.  I’ve made this dish 3 times already  💕💕💕

I use oat cream here (infused with onion, garlic and herbs), which is of course much lighter than its cholesterol-laden dairy counterpart, but as far as I’m concerned, this dish is all the better for that.  The summer squash add a different and lovely creaminess to the dish.

It’s easy to prepare, needs to be cooked long and slow, (while keeping just an occasional eye on it), and it doesn’t re-heat particularly well. So you just have to eat it all at once …damn it 😉

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Hope you enjoy 💚

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POTATO AND PATTY PAN GRATIN DAUPHINOISE

for 4

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Bhajis

Cauliflower just seems to revel in Indian spices.  It comes alive every time.

These ‘healthier’ Bhajis are a take on the classic onion Bhaji…but with cauliflower 🍃 …and they’re baked … so less oil …

Moreover…they’re gluten-free… what joy 💚

Bhajis are traditionally deep-fried in ghee,  (and these Bhajis can be fried too) … and baking means you’re bound to lose a little crispiness around the edges …but they’re still delicious.

Hope you enjoy ! 💕

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CAULIFLOWER BHAJI

makes 12-16 small to medium Bhaji

Ingredients:

A trio of Green Goddess Soups 🌿 💚

Bowls of unmitigated goodness… three incredibly simple summery soups: broccoli, courgette and lettuce….

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We’ve all heard the stories about how the goodness of vegetables evaporates into the water they’re cooked in, so one sure way of making sure you still get the goodness is soup.

These three recipes are very quick to do, and don’t benefit from over-cooking….although making a batch and freezing…  or refrigerating and quickly re-heating…is just fine  … 💚

…. the broccoli soup is velvety smooth …..

… the courgette soup is surprising in it’s sweet freshness …

.. and the lettuce soup is complimented with the sweetness of peas and the coolness of mint ..

Hope you enjoy….

🍃

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GREEN GODDESS SOUPS

approx. servings : 3-4

Dolmades

Dolmades are the Greek version of stuffed vine leaves, a dish which is found widespread across the Mediterranean and the Middle East.  Inevitably there are many variations  and a variety of ingredients and flavourings.  This vegan recipe is fairly classic, using a stuffing of rice and black olives with Mediterranean herbs.

I have a grape vine growing over an arch at the bottom of my small garden.  The last couple of years it has grown madly, and regardless of how hard I cut it back, it always regrows with amazing vigour.  Even here in the UK, it produces bunches of very small but sweet and juicy grapes, which is a bonus, as I grow the vine mainly to create a canopy of dappled shade in the summer.

So, I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while; making Dolmades from scratch, using freshly picked vine leaves.  However, you can find packs of vine leaves that have been preserved in brine, in certain stores, such as delicatessens.

There’s a bit of faff involved, but I think it’s worth it, particularly with the right flavourings.

The thing that surprised me….probably because I’d never really thought about it, is that Dolmades are made with uncooked rice, and the rice cooks once the Dolmades have been made, rather than stuffing the Dolmades with rice that has been pre-cooked…. so the rice really absorbs the flavours as it cooks….

and in this recipe, mint and lemon juice play leading roles.

btw.

Dolmades are just incredibly moreish…they really are  🙂

…and they transport me straight to a little taverna on a quiet beach in Greece…heavenly…

Hope you enjoy!

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DOLMADES

makes 22-24 individual Dolma

Ingredients:

Briam.

A traditional Greek dish.  This is another one of those recipes that absolutely transcends the sum of its parts. I don’t know why. It just does.  It contains the simplest of ingredients and you can more or less throw it together and stick it in the oven.  And it’s just incredibly moreish and delicious.

 

My courgette plants (aka zucchini) have taken off.  And as anyone who’s ever grown courgettes will know, once they start, they just don’t stop.  Blink and another one appears.  Hence the emergence of recipes such as courgette cake ….and courgette jam…  But that’s way down the line.  The end of the line is when courgette growers eventually resort to leaving piles of courgettes on next-door-neighbours doorsteps in the dead of the night.  I’ve no doubt it shall come to that 🙂

But these are my first, young, fresh and tender courgettes…and this is an utterly sane and simple recipe.  A few everyday ingredients, and the patience to slice everything reasonably finely is all that’s required.  Plus 90 mins. or so baking time.

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BRIAM

Serves 4

Ingredients: