Vegeree or Veggie Kedgeree!

I’ve been scouting around recently for a decent recipe for a fishless Kedgeree; sadly, the main recipe on the net was Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall’s offering (you may remember HFW upset me greatly a year or so ago when he went half-heartedly veggie for a few months, purely in order to sell more books – I now refuse to cook anything of his!) plus others which seemed to have an awful lot of ingredients which rather negated the simple feel of the original Kedgeree. I had to come up with my own.

It was a nice easy dinner and you could easily substitute any veg you have to hand. Yes, I know kedgeree was originally eaten for breakfast, but a curried rice dish really doesn’t do it for me at 8am, I’m afraid – I’m more of a porridge fan, myself – however, the same dish at 8pm for dinner is a different matter entirely.

Mr Simply Veg had the traditional topping of boiled egg quarters with his, but although I can just about manage an omelette, I can’t cope with anything that looks quite so overtly eggy so I topped mine with tomato wedges. It occurred to me a little too late (we’d already eaten it!) that some toasted cashews scattered over the top would be a tasty addition. Next time, maybe…

1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 shallots
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
175g baby sweetcorn
250g basmati rice
500ml water
1 bay leaf
150g frozen peas
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped coriander

1 egg per person
(or a tomato in my case…)
lime wedges

Fry the finely chopped shallots in the oil in a lidded frying pan until translucent, then stir in the curry powder, cumin and coriander and allow to cook for a minute or two. Add the sweetcorn, cut into 2-3cm chunks, and the rice followed by the water and the bay leaf; stir well and bring to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer, put the lid on and leave to cook for 10 minutes.

Put the eggs into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil; simmer for 5 minutes then run them under cold water and peel.

Stir the peas into the rice and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes by which time all the water will have been absorbed. Leave the lid on and allow to stand for five minutes before mixing in the chopped herbs.

Serve with a quartered egg (or tomato) and lime wedges. Oh, and don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving, as I did!

Serves four 

Mushroom Risotto...

…the ubiquitous meal offered to veggies at seemingly every restaurant in the land. Is there a vegetarian in the entire country who hasn’t had to plough their way through mountains of indifferent rice and sorry-looking funghi? Sadly, probably not.

However, there is good mushroom risotto and there is bad mushroom risotto. This one isn’t just good, it’s great! In fact, it’s almost as great as the one I had at a restaurant in Venice overlooking the Grand Canal. Unfortunately I couldn’t recreate the view but I guarantee this will give you a little taste of Italy!

There seems to be some debate recently over whether risotto needs to be continuously stirred or whether it can be left to simmer on its own as you would with any other rice. I am firmly in the 'stirring' camp; for me, it's part of the enjoyment of a good risotto....so soothing and therapeutic.



I followed this recipe from Antonio Carluccio but I halved the quantities to serve 2.



I’m thrilled to say my local supermarket has now started to stock veggie parmesan (well done, Waitrose) but if you find it hard to come by you can buy it online from Bookhams.com

My lovely son bought me a gift box of Italian goodies at Christmas so I have him to thank for our dinner tonight.

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