Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

I do struggle to  know what to do with runner beans in the culinary sense, but I do like growing them in my garden. So with the prompt being 'use all seasonal produce',  I was excited as it gave me the opportunity to use  some of the runner beans  as well as some of the cherry tomatoes tumbling from the greenhouse.  Oh I must not forget the last of the purple french beans too, that turn green on cooking.    I made a recipe called Harissa Runner Beans that I saw in the cookbook  Veggiestan . The only thing that I did differently was use Blodyn Aur  Lemon Infused Rapeseed Oil, hence the Lemon Harissa Runner Beans.   The recipe reminded me of a lot of Sri Lankan  Ceylonese Runner Beans  that I made many years ago, as well as some  cooked in paprika. We had these simply with Jacket Potatoes.  I have also made some Green Chilli or Verdi Chilli to sound more interesting with runner beans and green beans, but I will s...

I am not a lazy person when it comes to making pastry from scratch . I make pies all the time, but I wanted to make a different style of pastry this time, both easier and perhaps lighter. I've been enjoying making sweet Galettes with homegrown fruit , so a savoury one was just waiting to be eagerly made. Its my first time baking with spelt flour, and I thought it would be a lot more sturdy to hold the filling,, but the recipe I followed from a blog that I hadn't previously used a recipe from, sadly the pastry just collapsed and crumbled.  Despite the spelt pastry falling apart, the pastry was crisp and biscuity in texture and this balanced well with the sweetness coming from the roasted sweet potatoes. As I had really enjoyed  VPud 'Black Pudding' last time , I was very keen to get my hands on some more to make this particular galette as I have been imagining this combo would work well together. And it did, the vegan Black Pudding surprising spice  kick offsets...

The last time I used the  Red Camargue was for a Roasted Butternut Squash and Pepper Salad  and then when rediscovered it whilst looking for another grain and thought, why not.  I actually ended up using the red rice for two dishes: as an accompaniment and then with left-overs,  I decided to make this salad with it, making the most of our homegrown tomatoes.   This Red Rice Tomato Salad turned out to reflect the weather outside, autumnal.  The colours of the trees are certainly changing from lush greens to handsome shades of brown: sepia, ochre russet, terracotta, tawny and gold. I don't normally do dishes like this for the two of us, unless I have guests, as its one to impress as its quite colourful and pretty .  Its also a little fussy and involves lots of little ingredients to build the Salad, but once its done, its worth it as it makes you feel kinda special.  The salad is not just visually pretty, but it packs quite a punch too but i...

Due to work related distractions and tiredness, I have been missing Five on Friday since it began again at the start of September, but I thought no I will join in today and share Five things in my favourite room - Cooks Library come Dining Room.  Come, let me explain why it has two names This Dining room is where we would entertain guests, family and friends should they ever come over.  Trouble is because we live in the valley s and a little out the way, sadly we haven't had many diners sit at the table, except for us in the evenings or at the weekend when we have a proper cooked breakfast.  We only made this big purchase of dining table and chairs quite recently are quite pleased with it, but as I said only our bottoms have graced those chairs.   I describe this room as so-called dining room, because this room actually is the Cooks Library - my library. The room houses all of my cookbooks, D says I am like a squirrel with my cookbooks hiding them like nuts in...

Food from the Indian Sub-Continent is what I grew up with and I love its diversity, but when I left home for University all those years ago, I discovered a whole world of global vegetarian cuisine from Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Moroccan, Malaysian, Thai, Greek, Turkish, Irish, Scottish and Mexican.  Vegan Mofo prompt today is to share your favourite cuisine.  Its hard to choose one cuisine that i favour over others, but I can hands down say what dish I really really like - Vegetarian Chilli. Although the Mexican cuisine I had in Scotland and Wales has never ever authentic, more Tex - Mex style, I developed a taste for Mexican flavours and vegetarian Chilli in its many incarnations became my favourite go to meal.  Perhaps the first vegetarian Chilli I ever had was made with soya mince.   Later when I started making my own vegan Chilli from scratch, it was always made borlotti, pinto or kidney beans, then I discovered black turtle beans and this dish became my favo...

What I like about this Roasted  Balsamic Beetroot Galette with thyme is its appearance.  It looks warming, with its fiery flame red and sunset yellow colours.  This is perfect as it compliments Vegan Mofo prompt today which is  'Its cold and rainy and there's a snow drift outside your door. What are you going to make using the ingredients you have.  I usually have lots of dried beans, pulses and grains - but the one veg that shows its versatility during the autumn and wintry season is the beetroot - from cakes to  steaks . curries   to wobbly jelly. I have used two different beetroots in the galette.  A  Golden Beetroot and the traditional crimson-red .  I sliced the beetroot, then doused it generously with some good olive oil and good balsamic vinegar and allowed it to roast until it was tender.  I must emphasize the importance of good olive oil and good balsamic vinegar here, its essential as these two ingredients make the b...

Early in the week, whilst I was doing some research for work (honestly I was), I stumbled on The Best Jollof Rice Competition held in Brixton, London today.  It the UKs first ever Jollof competition, in past there have been Best Rum Cake. Its hosted by The Afrikan Family Works . I  love these grassroots community spirited competitions.  I thought I would compete virtually with my vegan Jollof variation, but I sincerely wish the hosts and the participants the best and hope the event is a success.   For those of you unfamiliar with Jollof.  Jollof rice or Benachin which means 'one pot' originates in Senegal.  Jollof  is eaten all across West Africa and has recently become appreciated alongside the South Indian Pilaf and the Spanish Paella. So here it is my vegan Jollof  rice.  I added peppers, okra and chickpeas to the Jollof rice only because I didn't have an accompaniment with it.  I am no expert at making Jollof, in fact this is ...

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for inspiration to use up the last of my courgettes.   Apparently, the descriptive 'Calabacitas' is often used in Mexican restaurants to describe a vegetarian filling that usually contains squash, corn and spices.   The recipe suggested serving this as a Taco filling, but I am not into taco's that much - Burrito being my first choice, always, but this time round I fancied a bit of crunch and decided to make some Tortilla baskets. The calabacitas was utterly gorgeous, not just the colour: gold, green and cream, but also to eat, the sweetness from the sweetcorn, the buttery butter beans, the zing from the lime.  For me though, it was both the coriander and jalapenos that elevated the courgettes to a thing of sheer culinary delight.  I served my portion of Calabacitas in a tortilla basket.  The crunch was amazing.  D insisted on having his burrito style with soured cream, grated cheese an...

I don't do road trips, not that I don't want to but I get travel sickness.   The closest to a road trip would be journeys to and fro Scotland to Wales; or to the other side of London, England when visiting family.  A journey that sometimes took over 8 hours depending on traffic  We always take with us bottled water, nibbles like crisps or a trail mix, but also a  flask of black coffee, vegetable wraps or pasta salad and for sweet, because there is always room for something sweet: flapjacks .    But for the prompt today I thought I would share a cake, you may find it hard to say no to this cake, its Violet and Chocolate Cake in the shape of a heart.   And remember cakes are made for sharing.  Enjoy. 

Vegan Mofo comes to an end and the last prompt is Fusion Food.  Where do I start, there are so many, but here are few fusion eats to get you thinking. -Irn Bru, Curry and Chips -Roti/Chappati Wraps -Thai Curry with Chips -'Chicken' Tikka Hoagie Roll -Dhokla Sandwich  Bombay Sandwich For those of us who live in the United Kingdom, even a cup of tea is fusion , think about it.  Anyway, I had grand plans to conclude my participation in this years Vegan Mofo with a hardcore fusion recipe; or showcasing a handful of fusion recipes featured on my blog from the past.  Then I remembered this heart-shaped  Zucchini-Courgette and Chocolate Cake with Matcha Icing that I made a couple of weeks back.  So this vegetarian would like to say Thank you to every one who came by through Vegan Mofo and left a comment, each has been appreciated.  I have bookmarked many recipes and hope to make them in the not too distant future, but I've also met some blog...

Welcome to August's round up of  The Vegetable Palette  and  Fruit Palette :  natures colours - natures goodness' '.  The theme for September was  Purple and Blues.   (Please scroll to the bottom of the page for the new theme if you would like to take part this month). I begin with a Savoury contribution to the Vegetable Palette which comes from The VegHog. The VegHog brings to the table a savoury  Vegan Creme Caramel with Blueberry Chia Compote . Is it a blancmange, is it a Creme Brulee - nope its vegan Creme Caramel. Check it our Mama! Next we have Ros from The More than Occasional Baker with these stunning Root Vegetable Pie with Skin on Mash.   The purples in this red onion, purple carrots and purple garlic, yes PURPLE GARLIC, want to know more check out this splendid autumnal Pie. Next up is my Vegan Creme Caramel with Blueberry Chia Compote . Is it a blancmange, is it a Creme Brulee - nope its vegan Creme Caramel. Check...

Welcome to the Round Up for  'Eat Your Greens' .     This is a monthly vegetarian and vegan cooking challenge for food bloggers  to make something with a green vegetable (or fruit) each month.   I begin with something light,   Janet from the Taste Space shared with us   Pickle and Green Bean Potato Salad .  Janet says the original recipe called for asparagus but she used green beans and it worked fantastically. This salad would be perfect for a buffet or even a lunch box.  The lovely Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe shares with us Spaghetti with Silverbeet and Cauliflower Grematola, which is packed with loads of Chard. I couldn't resist her quirky way of presenting her homemade vegan Parmesan, go on over and check it out, as well as the recipe. And she asserts,the vegan Parmesan makes such a difference to this pasta dish. The Veg Hog shares with us a warm bowl of  Pickle and Green Bean Potato Salad .  Janet says...