We got issues !
Food is a huge challenge in our home ! A real headache! We are veggie, have 3 kids, I'm wheat intolerant and Mr.M is just generally intolerant. He says he doesn't mind anything, serve it by the bucket load and he'll eat it ! Anytime I broach the subject of nutrition, he sites our respective Grandparents who grew up on bread crusts, nibbling on coal and the yule tide piece of fruit !
By way of inspiration, I bought Mr.M The Meat Free Monday cook book for christmas. I'm not a fan of Paul & or Linda (although if were to try to trace it back it would possibly stem from arguments at home. My tie dye wearing parents could get quite heated around the topic of musical tastes. Hair and beads swishing dangerously above us. Accusations of fancying the "smoothey" Paul. My Dad being the musician would therefore always have the upper-hand! So Captain Beefheart would trump The Beatles any day of the week.) However, I bought said book for its appealing layout and information design.
It's a lovely looking book. It's laid out per day and by season, so each page has a recipe for breakfast lunch and dinner made with seasonal produce.
Mr.M is struggling with the notion of cooking for our very fussy family. I'm afraid the beautiful book was languishing, so I had to rescue it from his "to read pile".
Super Veg Salad
I cooked the Super vegetable salad which was delicious. Basically steamed veg with a sweet vinaigrette dressing. It was a hit with two out of the three kids.
Yay! from adults and kids alike!
Dressing: 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp maple syrup (I used agave nectar)
Polenta Bread
The polenta bread was really tasty although I left out the chillies for the kids and added extra sour cream and egg as the mixture was terribly dry and didn't really "pour" from the bowl. If I were to do again I'd possibly cut back on the sweetcorn a bit too. However, I had friends 'round who tucked into it straight away and weren't shy about going in for seconds. Unfortunately, the kids exclaimed "YUK!" on sight and there was little I could do to talk them into a nibble.
So thumbs up from adults, YUK from the kids !
Polenta Bread: chop fine 1 green & 1 red chilli. Slice 6 spring onions. Fry for a couple of mins. Put into a bowl, add 340g drained tinned sweetcorn and 2 tbsps finely chopped fresh coriander. Mix 2 eggs with 120ml soured cream add to bowl. Add 174g of polenta & 21/2 tsps of baking powder. then 180g of grated cheese. Season. Bake for 35-40 min @ 180c test with skewer.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
My baby turned two this month so we celebrated with a easy choc cake decorated with strawberries. I made the recipe with Doves plain flour I'm not sure if this has an impact ? It rose fine but the kids & Mr. M conclude that all my cakes have a "Hamster cage" after-taste ! Hrumpf ! So I think next time I'll try more sugar or perhaps brown sugar for flavour, and leave out the hamster of course !!
Burns supper
What would january be without a Burns nosh up. I've been a bit shy at putting on an "event" as such. The last proper one I hosted ended with everyone barely being able to move for fear of being sick. The food was delicious mind you but portion sizes huge and all seemed incapable of saying no to the half litre of Cranachan I served up. So heed my warning, these recipes are delicious but go easy on the portions.
Here's a link to an ode to a veggie haggis [will open in a new window /tab]
Vegetarian Haggis
- 100g/4oz onion, peeled & finely chopped
- 15ml/1tbsp sunflower oil
- 50g/2oz carrots, very finely
- chopped
- 35g/11/2 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
- 50g/2oz red lentils
- 600ml/1pint vegetable stock
- 25g/1oz mashed, tinned red kidney beans
- 35g/11/2 oz ground peanuts
- 25g/1oz ground hazelnuts
- 30ml/2tbsp shoyu ( soy sauce)
- 15ml/1tbsp lemon juice
- 7.5ml/11/2tsp dried thyme
- 5ml/1tsp dried rosemary
- generous pinch cayenne pepper
- 7.5ml/11/2 tsp mixed spice
- 200g/8oz fine oatmeal
- Freshly ground black pepper
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C, 375°F or Gas Mark 5
2. Sauté the onion in the oil for 5 minutes, then add the carrot and mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Now add the lentils and three quarters of the stock.
4. Blend the mashed red kidney beans in the remaining stock, add these to the pan with the nuts, shoyu, lemon juice and seasonings.Cook everything, well mixed together, for a further 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Then add the oatmeal, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, adding a little extra liquid if necessary.
6. Turn the mixture into a lightly oiled 1lb loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes.
7. Serve with mashed neeps and tatties.
This soup was a bit of a hit this week - I'm sad to say, only with adults ! It is a simple variation of a few recipes I've tried over the years - I found the traditional Borsch recipes a bit complex, vinegar, sour cream, breadcrumbs ... you name it, I've seen it added to Borsch! The main thing is to get a red/purple veggies in there for colour. I don't do onion so have used leek & celery to mimic the texture.