Roasted Root Vegetable Gratin

I was writing out menus and shopping lists for Christmas the other day when I found myself mulling over the question of what to do with the leftover veg from lunch on Christmas Day. Sure… there’s always bubble and squeak; we’ve all been there and done that. But what about something a little different to have with your cold nut roast next day…such as a roasted root vegetable gratin? Ha, now there’s an idea!

Well, in the interests of research and not having any leftover veg about my person, I cooked a small pile of roasted roots yesterday and made a damn fine root veg gratin which we had for dinner last night. It was delicious; in fact, it was so good that we shamelessly polished off the lot between us before I'd even cooked the sausages that were supposed to go with it! Fact is, this can be used as a one-pot main course or, in smaller quantities, a side dish to a 'main event'.

The veg kept their individual flavours nicely and underneath the crispy topping there was just enough mustardy creaminess to bring the whole thing together; I will definitely be doing the same again on Boxing Day.

Actually, I’m really looking forward to Boxing Day, I always enjoy it a lot more than the whole palaver of Christmas Day – it’s so much more relaxed once all the fevered expectancy of the big day is over. A plate of nibbles, a bowl of nuts and a DVD and I’m a happy bunny. I'm easily pleased.

250g carrots
250g parsnips
200g celeriac
200g small new potatoes
2 medium onions
2tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
ground black pepper
4 tbsp crème fraiche
1 dsp grainy mustard
60g breadcrumbs
75g mature cheddar
25g pine nuts

Peel the carrots, parsnips and celeriac; cut into bite-size chunks. Cut the potatoes in half or quarters if they’re a bit big. Peel the onions and cut into eighths through the root.

Put all the veg into a large freezer bag with the olive oil, thyme and a few grinds of black pepper; hold the end securely closed and shake to coat the veg all over. Tip into a large roasting tin and roast at 200C for about 25 minutes.

(Obviously, if you're cooking this with leftovers, you can skip the instructions above)

Mix the crème fraiche and grainy mustard together in a large bowl then add the cooked veg and mix well to coat. Tip the mustardy veg into an ovenproof dish; grate the cheese then mix the breadcrumbs, cheese and pine nuts together and scatter evenly over the veg.

Bake at 200C for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Our little veg plot is almost empty and it's looking a bit sorry for itself but we still have lots of lovely carrots waiting to be used. Now we’re well into October, and the weather is feeling decidedly autumnal, it’s time for soup!

It’s not particularly cold here yet (give it time - it will be!) but it’s pouring with rain today and we’ve even had lightning and a couple of rumbles of thunder; it’s also so dark that I had to put the lights on because I couldn’t see to type. It’s 3pm….

This was a really nice soup; fresh and light with a subtle, rather than in-your-face, taste of coriander. When I say fresh, the carrots went from garden to bowl in under an hour – now you don’t get fresher than that!



1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
a large floury potato, about 250g, peeled and chopped
650g carrots, peeled and chopped
1.5l stock
a good handful of chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion for about 5 minutes until softened but not coloured; add the garlic and continue to sauté for another minute before adding the potato, ground coriander, carrots and stock.

Bring to the boil then lower the heat, put a lid on and simmer for 20 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender and stir in the chopped coriander.

Sprinkle with a little more chopped coriander and serve with plenty of crusty bread.

Serves 6 (I froze two double portions)

Winter Vegetable Stew with Chive Dumplings

Well….the rest of the country seems to be up to its ears in snow, but so far all we’ve had is a  sprinkle which looks a little like icing sugar on the top of a mince pie. We are forecast to have more tomorrow, though, so I'll look forward to watching it from the warmth of a snug armchair.

Despite having almost no snow, people are already panic buying; I had to go out yesterday to pick up a prescription at the Doc’s and while I was out I thought I’d pop into Waitrose for some bananas and maybe a bit of salad for the weekend. I didn't bother....the queue of cars to get into the car park was snaking back along the access road onto the main road which meant the traffic lights were snarled up with cars queuing on all three approaches! Anyone would think the world was coming to an end!

Snow or no snow, it’s still absolutely freezing so last night I had a poke around in the fridge and came up with an assortment of root veg which, together with some red lentils and a few dinky little dumplings, made a very warming and filling dinner for two. It was based on a recipe I saw in a Waitrose magazine but I halved the quantities and adjusted it to fit the veg I had in. It warmed us up from the inside out and was just the thing for a cold January evening.

1 large carrot
1 large parsnip
¼ of a medium celeriac
1 leek
1tbsp olive oil
½ tsp dried thyme
50g red lentils
500ml stock
15ml balsamic vinegar
10ml worcester sauce

50g self-raising flour
25g Atora ‘light’ suet
1tbsp chopped chives
plenty of black pepper

Peel the carrot, parsnip and celeriac and cut into 2cm dice; top and tail the leek and shred coarsely. Put all the veg into a large pan (which is suitable for oven use) and sauté for 5 minutes in the olive oil then add the lentils, stock, thyme, balsamic and worcester sauce; bring to the boil then turn the heat down, pop a lid on and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

Turn the oven on to 180C. In a small bowl mix the flour, suet and chives together, add plenty of ground black pepper then mix in 2 tablespoons of cold water until you have a soft but not sticky dough. Divide into five or six pieces and roll into small dumplings with floured hands. Put the dumplings on top of the vegetables and put into the oven, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the dumplings are cooked.

Serves 2

Butternut and Carrot Soup

Before Christmas I put all the fruit and veg I’d bought in a cardboard box and popped it outside in the garage to give me more fridge space. I think I may have had a brainstorm because I seem to have overbought somewhat….

We’re still ploughing our way through a small mountain of clementines and quite why I bought so many carrots is anybody’s guess, but I still seem to have masses of them; don’t even ask what I was going to do with the butternut squash I discovered because I can’t remember! Thank goodness root veg keep so well in a cold place.

My usual way of using up a glut of veg is to make soup and that’s exactly what I did a couple of days ago. It was actually quite nice to have something simple after all the excesses of the festive season.

1 medium butternut squash
400g carrots
1 large red onion
1tbsp olive oil
1.5 litres vegetable stock
good pinch of dried chilli flakes
½ tsp dried thyme
50g red lentils
a few snipped chives


Peel and deseed the squash then peel the carrots and chop both into 3cm chunks; peel the onion and slice it into eighths through the root end. Put all the veg into a large plastic bag together with the olive oil, hold the top tightly closed and shake well to distribute the oil; put the veg in a single layer on a large baking tray and roast at 200C for 30 minutes until tender and just beginning to char at the edges.

Scoop the veg into a large saucepan and add the lentils, stock, thyme and chilli flakes; stir well, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are completely soft.

Blitz with a stick blender until smooth.

(I was going to put a spoonful of crème fraiche on this but in the event I decided to go with a sprinkle of snipped chives…better for the waistline!)

Makes 6 good portions

Fruity Tagine with Lemon and Almond Couscous

The weather here has been awful for the last few days, constantly grey and cold, nothing like May should be at all. In a spirit of optimism we planted a whole lot of vegetable seeds last week but it’s been so chilly I’m not entirely convinced they’ll survive. However, there are reports of things warming up a bit later in the week; hmm…I’ll believe it when I see it!

So…what to eat? It’s too cold for light summery meals but I feel heavier winter meals should be over by now. I just didn’t know what to do for dinner last night; it was a case of opening the fridge to see what inspired me.

I finished up making this tagine; I’ve followed tagine recipes in the past that I’ve not been too impressed with, they just didn’t seem to do it for me, so this time I made it up as I went along, adding more of this and less of that to suit our taste. I make no claims as to its authenticity (I know you don’t usually find paneer in a tagine!) but we enjoyed it and I’ll definitely make it again.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp each of cumin, paprika and cinnamon
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into batons
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 tin chopped tomatoes
400ml stock
1 tbsp honey
250g paneer, cubed
1 tin chickpeas, drained
100g dried apricots, halved
handful of chopped coriander

200g couscous
275ml boiling stock
zest and juice of 1 lemon
50g toasted flaked almonds
handful of chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion over a medium heat for five minutes; add the garlic and the spices and cook for a further minute or two.

Add everything else, except the chopped coriander, stir well and bring to the boil; pop a lid on and turn the heat down. Leave to simmer gently for 45 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the tagine is ready put the couscous, zest and juice of the lemon in a large bowl; add the boiling stock, stir once, cover the bowl with a plate and leave for 8-10 minutes. When all the stock has been absorbed, fluff up the couscous with a fork and stir in the toasted almonds and the chopped parsley.

Stir ¾ of the coriander into the tagine before serving and sprinkle the rest of it on top.

Serves 4

Carrot and Sesame Burgers

The weather here is still perishing cold; snow, frost and ice are becoming a pain in the neck and I am sooo fed up with it!

We seem to have been living on cold weather food recently (soup, chilli sans carne, curry, etc.) but I fancied a little something for a change, so when I saw this GoodFood recipe it perked me up no end and sent me scurrying off to the kitchen to give it a go.

It’s a really easy recipe and very tasty. I used ciabatta rolls for serving, I don’t like commercially made burger buns and I couldn’t be bothered to make my own, they worked surprisingly well. If you want something to serve with your burgers I'd suggest some spicy potato wedges and mayonnaise, which is what Mr Simply Veg had with his. If we ever get a summer I think this mix could be used rather like falafel; rolled into little balls and baked instead of fried, served in soft flour tortillas with salad. It has to be worth a try.

I’ll just mention a couple of points…

The recipe says ‘serves 6’…well, I made eight enormous burgers with this and if I’d made them a more normal size I could probably have made ten! I packed the others up and put them in the freezer.

I added a couple of tablespoons of chopped coriander just because I happened to have some.

Next time I'd up the quantity of cumin in the recipe; it got a bit lost in the mix.

Take care when you're cooking the burgers; they have to be really well chilled and even then it’s a bit of a struggle to keep them together! If I was making them in the summer I wouldn’t attempt to cook them on a barbecue unless I used a griddle, but you may be braver than me.   

Spicy Red Lentil & Coconut Soup

I’m sorry if the blog looks a bit soupy these days, it’s just that it’s been so cold recently that I don’t seem to want to eat much else. If I knew who to complain to about this perishing weather I’d be firing off an email and giving them a piece of my mind!

I’ll be so glad when the first new leaves of Spring start showing, I’ve had enough of winter now; I want longer days, I want warmth and I want to be outside planting vegetable seeds so that I can watch them grow. Oh, and I want to sit in the garden with bruschetta and olives for lunch.

But while I wait for all that….I’m eating soup.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic, crushed

1 level tsp ground cumin

1 level tsp ground coriander

1 level tsp garam masala

2 bay leaves

good pinch of dried chilli flakes

1.5l vegetable stock

200g red lentils

200ml coconut milk

1 tbsp chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and carrot over a medium heat for 5 minutes; add the garlic, spices and bay leaves and sauté for a minute or two until the spices become aromatic. Stir in the stock and add the red lentils. Bring to the boil, stir well, then turn the heat right down and simmer gently for 20 minutes with the lid on.

Take off the heat and add the coconut milk. Remove the bay leaves then put half the soup in another saucepan or a large bowl and blitz with a stick blender; add the blitzed soup to the chunky soup, reheat for a couple of minutes and stir in the chopped coriander.

Enjoy with plenty of fresh bread.

Serves 4-6

Autumn Vegetable Cobbler

The weather has been really chilly this last few days; all very autumnal with a promise of winter in the air.

The raised beds in the garden, which were groaning under the weight of assorted vegetables during the summer, are now almost empty and looking a bit sorry for themselves. We pulled up the last of the carrots at the weekend and I also pulled a couple of leeks to see how they were getting on; I’ll leave the rest of them there to use up throughout the winter. I can feel plenty of leek and potato soup coming on…

I’ve been looking for ways to expand my new-found scone know-how (I’m so chuffed with myself…you’ve no idea!) and was thrilled to be able to cook a cobbler for the first time. Along with the handful of carrots and leeks I’d collected from the garden there were sundry other veg in the fridge so I used a few mushrooms, a couple of sticks of celery and a solitary sweet potato to make a rather nifty autumnal dinner that will definitely be making further appearances in future.

**If you’re luckier than me the vegetable casserole base will all stay in the dish rather than bubbling up, running down the side of the dish and burning on the bottom of the blasted oven!

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 leeks, well washed and cut into chunks
2 sticks of celery, chopped

150g chestnut mushrooms, halved

½ tsp dried thyme

1tbsp olive oil

1tbsp plain flour

350ml stock

2 tsp Worcester sauce

½ tsp Marmite

1 dsp tomato puree

100g self-raising flour

25g butter

½ tsp baking powder

75g grated mature cheddar

½ tsp dried thyme

75ml buttermilk (you may not need all of it)

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the veg for 10 minutes; stir in the flour and gradually add the stock followed by the Worcester sauce, Marmite and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, pop a lid on and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the cobbler topping, mix the flour and baking powder together then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the thyme and ⅔ of the cheese then mix in enough of the buttermilk to form a very soft dough. Pat the dough out on a floured surface to form a small circle about 2.5cm thick. Cut out 4 small scones with a 5.5cm plain cutter. Heat the oven to 200C.

When the vegetable mixture is cooked transfer it to a small ovenproof dish and put the four scones on top; sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and risen.

 

Serves 2

Mushroom and Chestnut Casserole

It’s been funny weather-wise this week, it started off sunny and warm, poured with rain yesterday and today things were very cloudy and chilly; if we'd had snow we could have had all four seasons in one week!

I hadn't intended to make this mushroom and chestnut casserole; it was a bit of a surprise, really. I fancied a curry to warm us up a bit, but I was having a rummage in the freezer (searching for some frozen coconut milk which I never actually found – I wonder what happened to it?) when I discovered a pack of frozen chestnuts left over from Christmas; I also had loads of mushrooms in the fridge so, together with a few other store cupboard bits and pieces, I made a rather unexpected dinner.

I love it when something delicious turns up by surprise; we’ll have the curry another day!

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

250g mushrooms, halved or chopped if large
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
2 tbsp plain flour

500ml veg stock

100ml red wine

1 dsp tomato puree
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
200g chestnuts (vacuum-packed)

Mix the stock, wine, tomato puree, soy sauce and thyme together in a large jug and set aside. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onions, carrots and celery over a medium heat for five minutes; add the mushrooms, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and fry until the water from the mushrooms evaporates; stir in the flour then add the wine and stock mixture; bring to the boil, stirring, then add the chestnuts; put the lid on, lower the heat and cook over a gentle heat for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I served it with tenderstem broccoli and some decent bread to mop up the delicious gravy, but rice or mashed potatoes would also be nice.

Serves 2 with enough left for lunch tomorrow

Vegetable Beanpot Soup

Well, it must have been something I said! No sooner do we get a few days of sunshine, sending my mind wandering to salads and warm weather food, than it turns cold again and I start thinking of soup! The joys of the British weather…

I seem to have been making this soup forever; it’s the one I return to again and again, firstly because we love it and secondly it’s made with standard store cupboard items so the ingredients are always to hand.

Just had a nice bowlful for lunch with some tomato bread – went down a treat…

1 large onion, chopped small

2 large carrots, chopped small

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

10 chestnut mushrooms, chopped small

1 tbsp olive oil

1 dsp tomato puree

1 lt veg stock

1 tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

1 dsp Worcester sauce (a veggie one, obviously!)

½ tsp curry paste

½ tsp Marmite

Put all the veg into a large saucepan, add the oil and fry over a medium heat for five minutes. Add the tomato puree and the stock and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Put half the beans and half the hot soup in another pan and blend until smooth with a stick blender. Add the smooth soup to the chunky soup then add the rest of the beans, Worcester sauce, curry paste and Marmite. Reheat gently. Eat and enjoy.

Serves 4 and freezes well

Mulligatawny Soup

I have a confession to make…..I am a soup addict; I know most people think of it as a winter food, but I have long been of the opinion that soup should be served on a daily basis whatever the weather. Obviously some soups are better than others, but I think I can honestly say that I've never met a soup I didn't like; I have a list as long as your arm of different recipes that I will one day get round to making and I’m gradually ploughing through them so watch this space.

I realise that vegetarian mulligatawny soup might seem like a contradiction in terms, but things become easier once you ignore the fact that it is vegetarian and just think of it as a nice flavoursome Mulligatawny. This was adapted from a long, convoluted recipe that originally included meat. I made so many changes and adaptations that I think I can safely call it my recipe now. It went very nicely with some fresh wholemeal bread.

250gm carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tin of tomatoes
100gm red lentils
1 lt vegetable stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

crème fraiche and a little coriander to serve


Soften the carrots and onion, without colouring, in the olive oil for 10 mins. Add the dried spices, garlic, tomatoes, lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Blitz with a stick blender then stir in the chopped coriander. Serve with a spoonful of crème fraiche and a few coriander leaves.
Serves 4 generously and also freezes well.

One-Pot Vegetable Pilaf

It’s probably the cold weather that’s doing it, but just lately I seem to want quick, easy meals that don’t entail a lot of faffing about and don’t need a lot of clearing up afterwards. This recipe hits the spot on both counts; it takes less than 30 minutes from chopping board to plate and the whole thing cooks in one pan. Result!

25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
150g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tbsp madras curry paste
150g basmati rice
300ml vegetable stock
150g broccoli florets
50g green beans
50ml coconut milk
1 tbsp chopped coriander
25g toasted flaked almonds

In a large deep frying pan sauté the onion, carrot, red pepper and mushrooms in the butter and olive oil for 5 minutes; add the garlic and curry paste and continue cooking for another minute.

Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water then add the rice and stock to the veg, stir well, bring to the boil then put the lid on and simmer for 8 minutes; add the green beans and broccoli and cook for another 4 minutes until the vegetables are just tender and the stock has been absorbed by the rice.


Stir the coconut milk and coriander into the pilaf and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds to serve.

Serves 2

Spicy Veg and Lentil Casserole

Last night's dinner was a rather tasty casserole; it was all a bit spur of the moment, but for some reason I was feeling short on inspiration and nothing seemed to appeal. There were loads of bits and pieces in the fridge that needed using up, so I got the whole lot out on the worktop to see what I could come up with. It turned into a fragrant veg casserole that cheered up a wet Saturday night no end and was very nice indeed.

I would have served it with naans if I'd had any in the freezer but onion bhajis provided a pretty good substitute. Incidentally, I know the list of ingredients looks as long as your arm but it's mostly store-cupboard stuff; nothing too tricky.


½ a small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
12 small new potatoes, halved
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1 medium parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
100g small chestnut mushrooms
3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
450mls veg stock
100g red lentils
100g french beans cut into 1inch pieces
100g frozen peas
1 tsp garam masala
handful of fresh coriander, chopped finely

Prepare the first seven vegetables, put into a very large pan with the olive oil and saute gently for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, turmeric, cumin, coriander, mustard seeds and chilli flakes and stir for a minute or two until the spices become fragrant. Add the tinned tomatoes and the stock, give everything a really good stir and bring to the boil; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the red lentils and simmer for another 15 mins (you may need to add a bit more stock). Add the French beans, frozen peas and garam masala, bring back to the boil and simmer for another 5 mins.

Stir in the chopped coriander before serving with naans (or, in my case, onion bhajis!)

Serves 4 generously