Mediterranean eggplant ratatouille

I made the recipe you sent me from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook but didn't have some of the ingredients so it changed considerably into this; very delicious! I'll definitely be making it again soon.

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped (or 3 small)
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
1 eggplant, cubed
1 - 1.5 cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend (a mixture of Israeli/pearl couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa). Substitute with whatever grains you can find, or potatoes.
1 tsp dried oregano
1 large (28 oz/800g) can/2 medium (14.5oz/400g) cans chopped tomatoes
2 cups/400g vegetable stock (or a bouillon cube and boiled water)
10-12 mushrooms, chopped
1 large apple, chopped (or 3 small)
1-2 Tbsp capers
2 oz/125g feta, crumbled

Heat some of the oil in a large soup pot, add the chopped onion and celery and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover with a lid (this helps them sweat but not brown). While the onion is cooking, chop the eggplant. Add the remaining oil and the eggplant and cook 4-5 more minutes, until the eggplant begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, stock/water, grains, oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for  25-30 mins until all the vegetables are tender and the grains are cooked (check halfway through to stir and add more water if necessary). At the end, it should be thick & chewy, not soupy.

Add the capers and heat through, and salt & pepper to taste. Serve with the feta.

Optional: additional vegetables like zucchini and red bell pepper, olives, and sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts (or more affordable: sunflower seeds). You can definitely make this ahead and let it sit, it will improve.

Mom's Rice and Spinach Ring

I love this recipe (from Magimix Cookery). They say, "This is the most attractive vegetable dish and one that is very easy to make. Serve it with curries, roast meat or fish."

Ingredients:
12 oz (350g) long grain or Basmati rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb (450g) fresh spinach (or 8 oz - 225g - frozen spinach)
1 small bunch parsley (or dried)
1 large onion
1 green chilli pepper (or 1/4 tsp dried chilli pepper flakes)
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I prefer cumin seeds, more fragrant when you've fried them)
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala (not too much)
2 oz/50g butter

Method:
* Cover rice with enough cold water to come 3/4 in. (2 cm) over the top of the rice, add 1/2 tsp salt, stir well, bring slowly to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir well, to beat air into the grains, return the cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes by which time the rice should be tender and fluffy and all the water should have been absorbed. (I just boil the rice in lots of water for 10 mins, no measuring involved, drain and rinse with boiling water. Always perfect rice)
* Remove any tough stalks from the parsley. (I never bother; in fact, I use a ton of dried parsley. Seems to work!)
* Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic.
* Remove the seeds from the chilli pepper. (flaked red pepper easier)
* Cook the spinach until just tender and drain well.

* With Magimix double-bladed knife: process the parsley until finely chopped and remove. (if you've used fresh parsley)

* Process the onion, garlic and chilli until finely chopped.

* Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion, garlic, cumin seed and chilli (flakes) and cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft and transparent.

* Add the (cumin), coriander and garam masala and cook, stirring, over a medium heat for four minutes. (why four minutes?)
* Process the spinach (a bit), add the butter and process for long enough to melt the butter (a second or two), unless you've used finely chopped spinach to start with in which case, just drain it!
* Add the onion and garlic mixture, the spinach and parsley to the rice and season with salt and pepper.

* Press the rice into an oiled ring mold, cover tightly with foil and bake in a moderate oven (350º F/170ºC/gas 4) for 45 minutes.

* Turn out onto a serving dish (as if you need to be told!?)

"Note: the center of the ring can be filled with a savory mixture of leftovers" or, much nicer, chicken/quorn tikka massala!

Roasted Butternut with Blue Cheese and Shiitake Mushrooms

I have refrained from posting this sooner because I thought I'd serve it when you came to visit. But Jon liked it so much, I shall share it. We've had it twice already since I found it in the Vegetarian magazine Karen gave me.

Ingredients:

1 lg butternut squash; 1 (!) clove garlic; 160g orzo pasta [or rice, in my case]; 1 banana shallot [?] or a few normal ones; 10 fresh sage leaves [or ground]; 60g shiitake mushrooms sliced; 125 crumbled [! have you ever been able to crumble?] vegetarian blue cheese; 30g roughly chopped walnuts; olive oil; three [!] knobs of butter.

Method:

Preheat oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Clean the outside of the squash and remove seeds and fibres.

Brush the halves with olive oil/butter and crush the garlic into the two hollows. Season with salt and pepper. [Amazingly, 1 clove is actually sufficient.]

Bake in a pre-heated oven for an hour [or a microwave for about 2x5 mins.

Meanwhile, cook orzo/rice as directed.

Sauté sage, mushrooms and shallots with a knob of butter [or olive oil]. Then add orzo/rice.

Scoop flesh from butternuts leaving a good 1cm of flesh. Mix the scooped-out flesh with the pasta plus most of the blue cheese and walnuts.

Divide between the two halves and sprinkle with remaining blue cheese and walnuts.

Bake in oven for 15 mins until cheese is melted and squash is slightly golden.

I think next time, I'll just serve the above as a risotto type of dish!

It tastes very nice either way. ;-)

Broccoli-Edamame Soup

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times. Through March 31, a 1-year (9 issue) subscription is only $7; well worth it; they always have delicious recipes with beautiful inspiring photos. I took this one:

Broccoli-Edamame Soup with Jumbo Goat Cheese Croutons
serves 8

VT says: "This creamy soup gets its extra richness and bright color from edamame".

I say: it was really surprisingly creamy! I didn't make the jumbo crouton and only used a teeny bit of nutmeg (I'm not a big fan but Jim likes it). Next time, I have to remember to peel the stems of the broccoli as they were very fibrous and I had to sieve the soup. That made it even smoother (and fancier).

2 tsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 4 small)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or 2 veggie broth cubes & 6 cups water)
3 cups frozen shelled edamame (= one 12 oz bag from Trader Joe's)
1 lb broccoli - stems & florets chopped (= one bunch from TJ's; peel stems first!)
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ½-inch-thick slices from skinny whole grain baguette
4 oz. aged goat cheese, shaved (or soy cheese if you want to keep it vegan)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and nutmeg, season with salt & pepper, if desired. Sauté 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup broth, scraping bottom of pot to lift off any brown bits. Add remaining broth, edamame, broccoli, garlic. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, 20 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350F. Arrange baguette slices on baking sheet, bake 6 minutes until crunchy on both sides. Remove from oven, arrange cheese over toasts. Return to oven and bake 6 minutes more, or until cheese has softened.

(When broccoli stems are soft:) Working in batches, transfer soup to blender and blend until creamy and smooth. Return soup to pot and warm over low heat. Ladle soup into 8 shallow soup bowls; float 1 cheese crouton in center of each bowl.

PER SERVING (1¼ CUP SOUP AND 1 CROUTON): 195 cal, 12g protein, 9g total fat (4g sat fat) 19g carb, 15mg chol, 174mg sodium, 5g fiber, 5g sugars

Salmon Coulibiac with lime pickle sauce

I thought I'd lost this recipe but found I'd very cleverly put a card of it in my recipe file. Now I'm posting it here so I don't lose it again...

Ingredients filling:
8-12 oz/225-330 gr poached salmon,
2 fat cloves garlic, crushed
2in/5 cm piece lemon grass = sereh
thumb-length piece root ginger [probably 1 Tbl ground]
2 Tbs stir-fry oil [I only ever use virgin olive oil for everything - simplifies matters]
1 x 300 gr Sainsbury's Chinese egg-fried rice*
1 Tbl soya sauce
2 dessert spoons chopped coriander
ground nut/vegetable oil [see above]
6 sheets filo pastry
sea salt and fresh milled pepper

Preheat oven to 230°C [strange number]!/450°F/Gas mk 8

Season salmon with S&P, chop into cubes; stir fry garlic, lemon grass, root ginger; add rice and soya sce.
Toss. Remove from heat, season, add coriander and salmon;

Lubricate [lubricate??] filo and line tin with alternate pieces.
Pile in the salmon/rice mixture; fold sheets over the top and bake in the oven for 12-15 min until the top is brown and crispy.

Meanwhile prepare sauce:

1 tub 200 ml crême fraiche [I always use fromage frais], coriander, 4 tsp Sharwood's lime pickle, lime juice, salt and pepper.
Lime pickle is very strong so add a little at a time to your liking. We love it!


*Ingredients Sains' Egg Fried Rice: rice, egg, peas, spring onions, sesame seed oil, ginger: cook rice, mix in spices and throw in a beaten egg or two to set in the warm rice)
Bon appétit!