Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

I made this Guacamole Spaghetti Pasta not that long ago, when we came in from work wanting something relatively quick and easy to eat.  I have made pasta with avocado in the past and enjoyed it such a Jalapenos, Coriander and Avocado Pasta Salad  and  Avocado Coriander Chilli Spaghetti , so thought why not try this combination. Even though we cleaned the plate mostly out of hunger, I have to confess that I found eating the  Guacamole Spaghetti pasta a bit weird.  I think I will in future reserve guacamole for my tortilla chips rather than for coating pasta. The recipe for this Guacamole Pasta sauce also is not the way I make guacamole.  This was a lot more sloppy because of the tomato juices flowing from the quantity of fresh tomatoes. Something I had not thought about before is my preference for avocado.   Oh my goodness can someone have a preference for avocado type .?  I hear you shout.    Yes I do and so does the Zimba...

This morning we took a drive to Swansea for the Swansea VegFest 2017. The last Swansea VegFest I attended was in 2015 at the  Swansea Environment Centre .  Swansea Vegfest for the past two years has been held at Brangwyn Hall .   We had arrived in Swansea way to early as it was still an hour to doors opening at 10.30am to the VegFest event, so we walked into the city centre and Swansea Market.  It was not a great day to be exploring a city still new to me, as the weather had turned dramatically with heavy rain that we got proper wet, even with out waterproofs. We returned at around mi-day when the Swansea VegFest was in full swing and super busy, making it a little difficult to check out some of the stall, but as we were in no rush to head back home, I walked round and round until I got to see most of the stalls, especially those that were new to me.  Good Carma Foods  is run by a lovely woman called Charlotte who I have met many times. C...

Since my last Harvest Monday blog post, the red from the roses and the strawberries has faded replaced with shades of orange from nasturtiums and greens, mostly from courgette. But before I share with you my hefty green harvest, let me introduce you to Selwyn and Carys - (traditional Welsh names), my new scarecrows gifted to me by The  Waltons .  Selwyns hovering above the courgettes and marrow plants.   And Carys watched over the higgledly piggeldy brassicas ,   I was pleased to see some patty pans growing, I have never grown them before so am pretty excited.  I had run out of room on the plot and gave some of the extra plants to my neighbours who is growing hers in pots.   I  harvested a whole trug of misshapen courgettes, some in the shape of gourds, some truncheon and some round.    Tucked under the courgettes and marrows are some peas.  Oh and if you look closely, there is my first purple climbing bean. A few...

I am giving my readers advance warning, that the next few blog posts for the next few weeks will be packed with courgette aka zucchini recipes. So if you have an aversion to this mild, yet versatile vegetable then don't visit - but let me tell you there will be sweet and savoury zucchini recipes, some new, some interesting and some traditional. Here is the first of many... Zucchini, Broad Beans, Peas and Mint Soup - all the fresh green ingredients have been grown in my garden plot and were picked at the weekend.   I know its warm, so why on earth would I make soup? I just fancied something light and its been a while since I made a zucchini soup. I have to admit, I did not enjoy it as much on the day it was made, preferring it a day or two later when the flavours improved, still it made for a lovely summer soup, one to eat with a spoon from a bowl or from an mug if you want to sit in the garden and slurp, watching the bees sneaking in and out of nasturtium flowers. ...

One of my nephews has been calling me my little courgette because of my moss green rain coat, its term of endearment and affection, but its also a cheeky little request to make him  a Courgette Cake , I promised to when courgettes were in season and indeed they are now.  Courgette brownies are not new and nor are courgette cakes, they have been around a while - in fact throwing vegetables in sweet recipes including cakes, biscuits and rice pudding is not a new idea at all, even if some people think and convince themselves and those around them that they were the first to introduce the social media generation to this idea. Sadly I think its the same people who fall for fake news, which also is not new.  The world is indeed shrinking and everything according to them can be answered by google.  One of my lecturers at Glasgow University, now a Professor Greg Philo  teachings impacted and completely changed the way I viewed the mass media a.  I still have ...

What is amazing about this recipe is that it uses zero pasta sheets, the courgettes are sliced thinly with a mandolin into thin sheets to replace the traditional pasta sheets. It was really good.  I have never really been a fan of ricotta.  I had a pie once and the ricotta just tasted congealed to me and dry, but this was really nice and quite light to eat, compared to pasta based lasagne's that can sometimes be stodgy, but also a great way to use up those courgettes.  This is one of those recipes you make when you have time on your hands and perhaps over the weekend when its raining and it certainly was. I followed the original recipe which comes from Donna Hay with very few tweaks.  Round courgette for the tradition courgettes, Tuscan Black kale for spinach and kale  and cheddar cheese for the topping in place of mozzarella.  Just make sure you drain excess liquid from the vegetables otherwise it will exude a lot of liquid whilst cooking and you d...

We told a few of our work colleagues that we were going to Birmingham for a break and they all looked at us for with dismay, well Birmingham these days is a city break location and actually has lots to offer as a tourist destination . I have been to Birmingham many times with my family and through one of my previous jobs at  time when they were still revamping The Bullring, but D had never been there except through it on the train when travelling to see family down south from Scotland on the train.   Birmingham is the UKs second largest city.  Like Cardiff it has changed dramatically over the past decade.   Library of Birmingham affectionately known by some locals as 'The Cake'. The glitzy disco ball dome like Bullring. The famous Birmingham Bull.  We did not go into the Birmingham Bullring as I had no desire to shop and only admired it from outside,  Birmingham is known for its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, so I loved seein...