Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

One of my cute nieces and she is rather cute came over for a visit and stayed most of the afternoon. I had picked up some ready made mini meringues from the supermarket for a speedy dessert with fruit and whipped cream, but the niece hinted for brownies. I couldn't say no to that beautiful face.     We topped the Brownies with some mini meringues dubbed as snow.   She normally likes her brownies plain and pure, without fruit or any other fancy toppings, but was rather forgiving of these mini meringues.  D thought it was a slightly odd combination, but welcomed them with a dollop of whipped cream.  I am sharing these with Tin and Thyme for  We Should Cocoa  . Snow Capped Meringue Brownie Bites Makes 1 x 8 inch square tin, cut about 9, even more if you cut them into smaller bites! Ingredients   115g butter 45g cocoa powder 2 eggs, lightly beaten 225g caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 55g self-raising flour 50grams ...

D keeps asking me 'Are there any cookbooks you want?'   He knows, its a silly question as I will always say Yes .  But recently I haven't been saying 'yes' as I have to be realistic.  Will I ever cook from all these cookbooks?  I am trying, honestly.  I won't tell you how many cookbooks I have, but my bookshelf is burgeoning , that it  just looks a mess.  So, I have been having a slow sneaky clear out of cookbooks that I know that I will not really use, starting with celebrity chefs: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as it happens (and his new River Cottage merchandise will only come into my home now via the  library  which I have been frequently a lot in recent years.  Don't be upset with me Hugh I still have a signed copy of you DVD and your Veg Every Day).  D does not know that I am doing this (yet) and I don't really want him to notice it yet as he thinks we have space in our home right now.  Part of me agrees and part of ...

Hello April. Well what a bright day it is outside.  The sun is shining, but of course that does not mean its warm.  I am just glad it is is not raining as it gives me an opportunity to spend a few hours in the allotment garden plot.   Its also my turn to  host this months    Round Up . I've also finally got round to doing a brand new #EatYourGreens challenge Logo. Hurrah ! To participate this month in the #EatYourGreens challenge you just make a vegan or vegetarian recipe that is made with green vegetables or fruit on your blog.   For more details  Follow this link on how to participate  just please remember to link back to the host page (this page) and co-host  The VegHog.    T he use of the new #EatYourGreens logo is optional, but is appreciated .   The  deadline is the 29th April 2018 and the Round up will be on the 1st May.

The Easter long weekend was a relatively chilled one.  On Good Friday, we stayed at home. It was wet.  On Saturday w e went to Abergavenny . It was drizzly. And yesterday we were in the allotment garden plot.  I did a little bit of digging and weeding, but mostly I helped D replace the numerous smashed glass panes in the greenhouse, so that it can be used for growing seedlings again, though we both know that we are again, a month or so behind many other allotment-holders and vegetable growers .   Whilst out in the allotment garden plot we saw an amazing sight.  Two herons flying directly above us.    Herons do indeed look like birds from a prehistoric time. For a few moments, they sat on a tree, then they flew off making as much noise as they arrived . We have seen some amazing birds since moving here, but to see herons flying above us, now that was Amazing.  Today, its Monday - a Bank Holiday in the UK and yes, of course it is ra...

In My Kitchen...  I have some red Chard and leeks (not shown) harvested from the allotment garden plot over the Easter weekend.  In My Kitchen, some ethically sourced Brown Rice from smallholders in Malawi.  It was being sold in my workplace by a charity to raise awareness of Fairtrade fortnight . We were in Bristol on a Sunday and had a good walk around.  Walking from the city centre to a VX Bristol Junk Food.   This time I came out empty-handed.  Over the Easter weekend, we went into Abergavenny.   We went into a second hand and upcycled furniture shop.  We came out with this wine rack. It didn't quite fit where we had planned, so its temporarily placed on top of the kitchen cupboards laden with....no...not wine...but... Flavoured syrup - the new ones in the kitchen are Chocolate Mint and Lavender.  I got the Salted Caramel over Christmas for D.  Yes, we do drink a lot of coffee, but I also figured these are good ...

April weather has been teasing us - a peek of sunshine, followed rather quickly by a burst of rain - I know its not called 'April Showers' for nothing.  The point is, its still not very warm and we are still tucking into autumnal coloured food.  In fact, let me forewarn you in advance, this week my blog will feature food that is mostly orange in colour.    Here is my One Pot Curried Butternut Squash, Red Chard , Chestnut Mushrooms and White Beans.   Food that glows and food that warms the belly. I really dislike using the word 'curried', as its used so lazily these days, but this  One Pot Butternut Squash, Red Chard, Chestnut Mushrooms and White Beans recipe is actually curried .  The recipe is also inspired and adapted from Anjum Anand.  It was surprisingly quite good.   The original recipe has cobblers on top which are a sort of scone, but I had some puff pastry in the fridge and to make evening meal a little easy, I...

The weather here continues to be miserable and as much as I am trying for it not to bother me, its actually beginning to bring me down.   I had to wait for a bus recently, nothing unusual about that, I do that every working day.  But there was no bus shelter at this particular stop and I was getting wet, really wet.  Sodden in fact, even with my raincoat on.  Yes I was feeling a bit grumpy.  So some of you may have noted,  we have been eating a lot of  soups , stews and  one pot  dishes. This stew was cobbled together with what we had at home, which was very little at the time. I often make this stew with red lentils, but had a packet of   Urad Dal which is black gram without the skin.  Its perhaps my least favourite legume, but I do still try and eat it.   Its actually been a while since I cooked with it, the last time it was Urad Dal with poppy seeds .   I didn't mind the Urad Dal so much this ...

I have had a manic week, so I am pleased to note it is Friday. The weather is predicted to be overcast, but that has not stopped us from making plans to get out of bed early and drive somewhere new to explore.   What exciting plans do you have for the weekend ?  While you ponder my question, I will share with you a Three coloured Pasta Salad that I made early in the week for the working week.   The three coloured pastas are: tomato, spinach and plain.  It bulked up with roasted squash and sage and a good grating of vegan cheese.  The sage fragrant hits you quite strong, but the flavour not so much.  I didn't mind this Three Coloured Pasta Salad, it made a change from the usual tomato, cucumber and black olive one that  I often make.  But D was not that keen.  I think he would have preferred if I had made a sauce of the butternut squash to smother the pasta, but he still ate it.  Good man.  I am sharing this...

The April weather continues to tease us.  Yesterday, the sun was shining and I actually walked about without my raincoat.  Then we woke up today and its spitting rain.  Its late afternoon and its still raining.   So today, we play catch up with laundry and house work related stuff.  Whilst going through some of the kitchen cupboards, I came across a packet of   ras al hanout;   purc hased it for   Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti, , but I find that I rarely use it as I often have all the spices at home to make from scratch, but as a person who dislikes waste.  I decided to use  the  ras al hanout  to coat some cashew nuts.  This recipe is inspired by the Rosemary Cashew Nuts I made earlier in the year.   Once made and cooled down, I tipped them carefully into a recycled jar from  Douwe Egberts  Coffee (my instant coffee of choice).  Every time I go into the kitchen to make a cu...

I am quite pleased with myself today.  I feel like between the two of us, we have accomplished something. We got up and spent all morning in the garden allotment plot while the summer sun was out for Springtime.  D tied back the unruly climbing and trailing rose stems.  He also transferred some of the herbs into bigger plots. I cleared a plot today and whilst I was weeding, I found myself  actually enjoying the weeding, removing the woven weeds from the soil was quite therapeutic.  My body will ache in a couple of days, but that's its way of saying - exercise more.  I will share progress later in the week as we intend to spend some more time in the garden allotment plot either later today or tomorrow (providing the heavy rain stays away). I was also quite pleased  to have some left over salad in the fridge (a bit like this one) as I did not want to make something having spent hours in the garden toiling.   This particular Coriander Po...

I am quite partial to violet - I think its my way of harping back to my childhood days when I adored Parma violets whereas my school friends loved the love hearts if you were a girl or fizzers if they were a boy.  It was a time of gender stereotypes.  I am so pleased that times are changing and people are more accepting, if not more tolerant.   So much is my fondness for violet that I got D to make me Violet Gin last Christmas!. This  Vegan Violet Chocolate Layer Cake with Violet 'Buttercream' C ake had intended to be a super duper three layer cake, but I managed to drop one of the sponges when it came out of the tin. I usually just go with the flow when I mess up, but this particular day I actually got stroppy and was quite miffed with myself.  I was really looking forward to having a go at making a three layer cake and had set myself a goal to achieve it, but it was not to be.  I picked up the bashed chocolate crumbly pieces from the kitchen...

A little while back, I was lucky to stumble upon a vegetable market with reasonable priced vegetables and 2 proper bunches of herbs for £1.50.  I mixed it up with dill, coriander, parsley and mint. After making the My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen .  The challenge was initiated by   Susan  and hosted by Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as  My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen .  The challenge was initiated by   Susan  and hosted by Ash-e Jo  or  Ash-e-Jow  . I was looking forward to making and eating this  Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans.  I have been intrigued by it for a long time, but never got round to making it at home until now. I know the green bobbing on the top looks like green olives, but its actually dried limes.  I showcased it My Legume Love Affair #11 8  hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitche...