Become Pro Vegetarian Chef

As well as bookmarking recipes from cookbooks , I mentioned that I have bookmarked some recipes from websites also.    I've had my eye on a couple of Ethiopian recipes from Azeb Woldemichael of   Mazi Mas as featured in The Guardian .  It is thanks to The Guardian that I have discovered Mazi Mas and have become a fan from afar.   Mazi Mas which translates in Greek 'with us' is a roaming eatery that serves global home cuisine to the public.  The chefs are migrant and refugee women who have struggled to find work in the U.K.  Mazi Mas   reminds me a little of The League of Kitchens in  NYC, America. For those of you who read my blog, will know that  I've been cooking up some global cuisine since the start of this blog; and most recently Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine has been on the menu , thanks to some new people frequenting my workplace and inspiring me.   I was more tempted by the Berbere spices which I have com...

I had some   Injera - Sourdough flatbread   left over from the weekend's  Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised  White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes. I don't like waste, so I wondered what else I could do with them?  I saw a recipe for a savoury Injera porridge but I have to be honest that did not appeal, then I was inspired by Injera Chips from defunct blog The Berbere Diaries .   Only three ingredients, the Injera , Berbere and Vegetable oil - so there was no stopping me from making these. I wasn't that generous with the Berbere and thank goodness as it was still quite spicy on the lips.   These Injera crisps are proper crunchy too like toasted corn snacks, so if you have tooth fillings, then I would advise eating them with caution or don't make them at all - you have been warned. How do I know this...take a guess?!   I am sharing this with Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary More Injera Ple...

Yes, I know the colours appearing on my blog are a bit in your face , but honestly its not been intentional on my part it just happens that the dishes I have been making want to show off.  Such as the  Black Sesame Seed Butter and my various Beetroot Curries , and now Atomic Yellow new potatoes described this way by my husband.   I would describe these shockingly yellow potatoes as Dauphinoise style potatoes coated in a rich cream turmeric sauce.   Although not necessary, I think it needed a bit more substance, so I stirred in some veggie meatballs and I was pleasantly pleased with the way the whole dish turned out.  All that was required was some greens on the side to tone down that yellow glow warming your face. I hope to make the Turmeric Cream again and in place of the new potatoes, it will be pasta.  I am sharing this with Tinned Tomatoes for Meat Free Mondays. Turmeric Cream New Potatoes and 'Meatballs' Serves 4 - 6 with accompanimen...

I love the voluptuous shape of the butternut squash.  I often describe it as the curvy  red head of the vegetable world.  I also love the wrinkles and crinkles of the curly kale, so it excites me when I can bring these two together as they would make a perfect combination like strawberries and cream.   The last recipe with this combination was my Butternut, Kale and Sweetcorn Stew , This evening its a far more simpler recipe of Kale and Butternut Squash Spaghetti dish, but there is no compromise on flavour, this dish warms you all over and that's even before you tucked in. This is essentially Spaghetti Pasta  Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino  or chilli flakes dressed up further with butternut squash ribbons and shredded kale.     It was a  relatively simple quick delicious meal and just what we both wanted after a long slow day at work.    Now I am off to laze.   Enjoy the rest of your day, I am really tired.  Goodnig...

I quite like Chilli Heatwave Dorito crisps, and can often be found munching on them either a Friday Night or Saturday nights, so I was really thankful to Krys who I have been friends with for a long while for sharing a recipe link to make homemade Doritos.  Krys said was going to make a vegan variation of this recipe; and I responded back that I would make a vegetarian version as the recipe used Parmesan cheese as a flavouring.  Parmesan cheese is not suitable for vegetarians as it is made with animal rennet.  I found a good alternative: Old Winchester which is made in the UK and makes for a good vegetarian alternative to Parmesan. So when I started to pull together the ingredients to make this recipe including chillii and paprika, I was reminded of a packet of Peruvian Jalapeno green chilli powder that I have had for a long time unopened.  I decided to use that instead of the chilli and paprika.  I was rather impatient coating the green chilli concoct...

This yellow turmeric infused rice with butter beans is inspired by a family Pilau  - Savoury Rice recipe . I make a variation of this rice dish with whatever is in season or what I have to hand every other month.   As we are going away for a long weekend to my mother in laws, we have been raiding the fridge and vegetable basket, so there was not much in the way of fresh ingredients, other than some curly kale which I wish was from the garden.  I always have some dried beans, lentils and pulses so decided to make this dish last night when I put some butter beans to soak overnight. For ease, yes I admit I will sometimes opt for tinned beans and pulses such as kidney beans, sometimes chickpeas and pinto beans.  But there are some beans  that I will never ever buy tinned and would prefer cooking them from scratch.  Butter beans is one of those that I like soaking and simmering from scratch, as the ones from the tinned are awful and sometimes a congeale...

This marigold yellow pasta with marmalade coloured roasted peppers and butternut squash was lunch for work - twice, last week.   As I was tucking in, it got some of my colleagues all intrigued and curious 'Gosh, that pasta is glowing'. The pasta is simply infused with turmeric powder.  I've also tried this method with beetroot See HERE .   Although I have used ready made penne pasta here, you could easily make vegan Turmeric pasta from scratch too, just add a teaspoon or half to the flour when your mixing and kneading.  Anyway, the turmeric pasta on its own was a bit bland, so I decided to make make a vinaigrette dressing for it with some Blood Oranges that were mingling with the lemons in a bowl. The Blood Orange Chilli Oil was spicy and quite tasty elevated by the addition of my bottle of Welsh Blodyn Aur Rapeseed Chilli Oil.    Of course, you can make your own Chilli Oil at home and I probably would had I grown my own chillies, but sometimes whe...

2016 seems to be the year of the Turmeric. Turmeric boasts a number of health benefits: digestive and antiseptic, but as a person of South Asian heritage Turmeric known as Haldi has been part of my heritage and not seen as a trend.  Turmeric is traditionally used in South Asian curries, pickles, thrown into chappati's aka roti's , rice,  Dals , soups, but also as a beauty treatment.   However as a vegetarian experimental cook, even I have succumbed to the recent attention turmeric  has been getting in the foodie world.  The past couple of years has seen the rise in turmeric consumption in the Western world doused in vegan tofu scramble to give it that ochre egg yoke  colouring, stirred into breakfast oats, as well as in drinks such as turmeric lattes, turmeric smoothies and turmeric teas - all of which seem to be the rage right now.   Today I bring you my bakers dozen: 13  meatless vegetarian and vegan recipes that make turmeric the golden ...

A lot more cooler today, thank goodness - but I still  didn't really want to be in the kitchen.   I made something relatively simple: I baked these Spice Herb Baked Potato wedges in the oven.  I was just going to serve them with some beans, but then changed my mind after finding some ready made veggie meatballs in the freezer.  To make my life easy, I decided to throw the vegetarian Quorn* 'meatballs' into the oven with the spice herb coated wedges.    I would normally have Sriracha and D goes for brown sauce, but  I had already planned to serve these wedges with a  Salsa, but no ordinary tomato salsa.  No these potato wedges were going to be served with Chilli Chocolate Salsa.  I was prompted to make this recipe after finding a bar of Dark Chilli chocolate, so the whole meal ended up revolving around this.  Chilli Chocolate Salsa is an acquired taste.  It was devilishly rich. This plate is further enhanced with salad...