Squash, Lentil and Coconut Casserole

I'm still on the spicy kick, as you can see. Last night’s dinner was inspired by a recipe I found recently in a Waitrose magazine; it sounded just the thing for a cold day. Yesterday was certainly that day – it was lovely, dry with some weak wintry sunshine, but it was absolutely freezing! When we went out for our daily walk there was a bitter easterly wind which made my eyes water and my face go numb…not a pretty sight…!

Anyway, when we got back I fiddled around with the aforementioned recipe and changed some of the ingredients (Mr Simply Veg isn’t keen on fennel), ditched the cream that was in it (cream and coconut milk…hmm, no thanks, my hips don’t need the calories) then added a handful of lentils.

OK, so it doesn’t look anything like the original dish but it was really good. We had it with crusty bread but next time I’ll serve it with rice or maybe noodles – it makes masses so I froze two portions for a later date.

Much as I love spicy food I’ve never used Cajun seasoning before – god knows why, I must be mad, it’s wonderful stuff!

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1kg butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2-3cm cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme
250ml stock
1 400ml can coconut milk
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
75g red lentils

Heat the olive oil in a large lidded pan; fry the onion and squash over a high-ish heat for 5 minutes then add the garlic and fry for a minute or two.

Add the Cajun seasoning and thyme, stir well then add the stock, coconut milk and tomatoes; bring to the boil then turn the heat right down, pop a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes. Mix in the red pepper and lentils, put the lid back on and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the veg and lentils are tender.

Serve with crusty bread, rice or whatever you fancy.

Serves 4

Thai Green Curry

It seems ages since I last posted; I wouldn’t like you to think we've been fading away and not eating at all for the last three weeks or so, it's just that I haven't been cooking anything new and have just stuck to easy-peasy stuff that I can do with my eyes closed and which doesn’t require much thought.

I did manage to make some more chutney, though, using all the remaining fruit from the garden, I’ve also made loads of plum compote and I have six jars of Christmas mincemeat maturing quietly in the pantry, so I haven’t been entirely idle.

 

Before my recent cooking slump I had finally tracked down some Thai green curry paste. I’d been after some for ages, but trying to find one that's veggie was a bit like searching for the holy grail. Waitrose, god bless ‘em, came up trumps so a few weeks ago I added tofu, assorted veg, coconut milk and palm sugar to some of the paste and made what can only be described as a very mediocre meal…I was so disappointed; best thing I can say is, it was OK...ish.

Undaunted, I ventured into the kitchen on Friday to have another go; instead of tofu I used paneer (I seem to be off tofu at the moment for some reason) I also upped the ration of curry paste to give it a bit more zing, I changed the mix of veg and added loads of chopped coriander and a good squeeze of lime juice. This time it wasn’t mediocre, it was bloody brilliant! You will see at the end of the recipe that I’ve said it serves four…well, it would have done if the two of us hadn’t eaten it all!

 

1 pack of paneer
1 tbsp vegetable oil
125g sugar-snap peas, halved
125g baby corn, halved
150g small broccoli florets
1 red pepper, chopped into largish pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste
1 tsp palm sugar
1 400g tin of coconut milk
handful of coriander, chopped
juice of half a lime

 

Chop the paneer into little batons (about half the size of your little finger) and fry in the vegetable oil in a large pan until golden on all sides; drain well and set aside on kitchen paper whilst you cook the curry.

In the same pan, in the residual oil, cook the baby corn, red pepper and broccoli for a few minutes, add the lime leaves, curry paste, palm sugar and coconut milk. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer then immediately add the sugar snap peas and the cooked paneer; simmer for a few minutes (you want the veg to still have some ‘bite’). Stir in the coriander and lime juice and serve with rice.

 

Serves 4 (or two very greedy people!)

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

Fragrant Sweet Potato Soup

Well, it’s a week to go until Christmas Day and it’s snowing like blazes! The temperature this morning was -8°C....that was outside, I hasten to add, not inside! Half the country seems to have come to a standstill, with many roads and some airports closed, but thankfully I have no reason at all to go out today.

I never need an excuse to make soup, but weather like this is positively calling out for soup and plenty of it! Something warming and spicy to lift the spirits and buck up the tastebuds; add some nice bread and maybe a chunk of cheese and you have a lunch fit for a king (or possibly three kings, given the time of year!)


1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tsp Madras curry paste (or more to taste)
800g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1l vegetable stock (Marigold Bouillon)
75ml coconut milk
ground black pepper
small bunch of coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then soften the onion and garlic over a gentle heat for 4-5 mins. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min. Add the sweet potato and stock then bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 15-20 mins until the potatoes are tender.

Remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk, then blitz like billy-o with a stick blender until absolutely smooth. Sprinkle with coriander and a few grindings of black pepper before serving.

Serves 4-6