Savoury vegetarian rice with butternut squash and cauliflower

With so much meat and dairy over the Christmas break, today was an opportunity to create a vegetarian rice based lunch. I peeled and diced a butternut squash yesterday and popped it in the fridge, ready to use, so was originally going to make butternut squash risotto, but discovered that I only had a small amount of risotto rice, so change of plans.
I decided to use a variety of different veg, using a rainbow of colour, it was a success so I thought I'd add it to my blog. This recipe is vegan.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 large handfuls, butternut squash, diced
1 large handful of cauliflower florets, break into small florets 1cm cubed
1/2 courgette diced
100g mushrooms, sliced
1 large tomato,  chopped

1/2 mug long grain rice
1 Knorr vegetable stock pot
1 pint boiling water
1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 large handful of raw cashews, toasted in a small pan.
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

In a large frying pan, over medium heat add the oil, the onion, squash and cauliflower, fry until the cauliflower starts to toast at the edges, keep stirring regularly. Add the courgette and mushrooms, continue frying until the mushrooms have softened. Add the rice, gently cook for another minute, stirring continuously. Add the stockpot, boiling water, tamari and tomato. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, stirring occasionally.
In a small pan, toast the raw cashews, you can add 1 tsp oil to help them turn golden brown. You must keep stirring as they toast as they do catch if you aren't careful. Remove from the pan onto kitchen paper. Add them to the rice while cooking and stir thoroughly.
After 15 minutes, check to see if the rice is cooked, it should be just cooked through. You may need to add more boiling water during the cooking if the rice looks like it is going to dry out.
When cooked, sprinkle over the fresh parsley and serve.

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Getting enough vitamins and minerals is easy with juicing organic fruit and veg!

My new fridge freezer is brilliant, I've got the space to store all the fruit and veg we need. There's only 2 of us, but we do get through a lot of veg between us, we always eat vegetarian meals where possible for our lunches plus we always eat veg with our evening meals. We love the variety, so do buy what we need on a weekly basis through Riverford, sometimes a large box, other times, we build our own box.
I've just logged in and ordered my Riverford veg for next week, not only a veg box, but I'm delighted that they have reintroduced "Juicing Boxes" as they give so much choice and allow you to "juice a rainbow", meaning a full mix of all the vitamins and minerals you can think of, considering I am drinking a 16oz glass of juice each day, this won't last long.
It's also time to start making marmalade, and they have a marmalade kit available which includes the Seville oranges and lemons needed, plus a great recipe.

Juicing box

Contents:

• Carrots UK
• Beetroot UK
• Spring greens UK
• Fennel IT
• Celery ES
• Cucumber ES
• Ginger PE
• Turmeric PE
• Apples UK
• Blood oranges IT
• Grapefruit IT

Seasonal organic veg box – large

Contents:

• Potatoes UK
• Onions UK
• Carrots UK
• Sweet potatoes ES
• Cauliflower UK
• True spinach ES/FR
• Leeks UK
• Chestnut mushrooms UK
• Red peppers ES
• Cherry tomatoes ES

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Why do I crave fresh juice? Geocaching here we come!

My poor Sage juicer has been sat unused for a few months, today though, I craved fresh fruit/veg juice for my breakfast.I decided to follow my craving and grabbed the following organic veg and fruit that came in my Riverford order before Christmas:-

Ingredients

2 small apples
1 small pear
1-inch fresh root ginger
2 sticks celery
1/2 cucumber
2 small carrots

I've got a great centrifugal juicer, so it extracts most of the juice and leaves very little waste. It produced a pint of juice, slightly sweet but very hydrating, full of vitamins and minerals to give me a boost and prevent any bugs.

I've also treated myself to the Liver Rescue hardback book by the Medical Medium. I've been following him on Instagram and started reading the free introduction on my Kindle app, it was advertised as "Medical Medium Liver Rescue: Answers to Eczema, Psoriasis, Diabetes, Strep, Acne, Gout, Bloating, Gallstones, Adrenal Stress, Fatigue, Fatty Liver, Weight Issues, SIBO & Autoimmune Disease". This makes so much sense that our Liver's are the hidden organ that we don't care for, but impacts on every other organ in our body, so I'm going to start seeing if it makes a difference.

When you want to get outdoors and see the countryside, it's important to have the right footware, so I bought some Karrimor hiking boots. We have decided to start getting out in the fresh air and going geocaching again. A great way and excuse to have fun in the outdoors, see great scenery and find hidden treasure. If you are looking at ways to get the family outdoors, it's worth investigating and you don't need a proper GPS, but a phone with the app will work well (just remember to take a charger to run in the car to keep the battery topped up). Another trick, mark the location where you leave the car before you start off on a trek, you may need to navigate back later.

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Christmas Wishes

Our preparations are underway, I'm getting ahead and pre-prepping everything that I can in the kitchen, then tomorrow I simply need to do the final cooking. We've collected the goose from Michael Coleman at Hewish Farm, the turkey from Danestream, and our organic vegetables, fruit, sausages and bacon have been delivered by Riverford.

This year's menu

Starter

Gravadlax with dill and mustard sauce, garnished with mixed salad leaves

Main

Roast Goose with sage and apple sauce

Roast Turkey and chestnut stuffing

Sprouts with chestnuts and bacon lardons

Carrot batons

Braised red cabbage with apple

Pigs in blankets

Bread sauce, cranberry sauce, cumberland sauce

Roast parsnips

Roast potatoes

Gravy

Dessert

 (for anyone that actually has room)

Christmas pudding with custard

I'm going to use one oven and roast both a turkey and goose for our Christmas dinner, so timing is everything as they don't both fit at the same time.

I'm intrigued that Raymond Blanc roasts his turkey in a very different way and in 1hr 30 minutes, I've spotted that he doesn't stuff the neck, so going to use his method this year and make stuffing balls to cook separately.

Michel Roux roasts a goose in 2hrs as he uses a ready cooked stuffing. I'm going to make my normal loose sage/onion/apple stuffing, that turns into a luscious apple sauce and goes perfectly with the richness of the goose.

The gravadlax is currently curing in the fridge, this was the first fillet before the curing mix was smothered over it.

It is so easy to make and tastes so much better when it's fresh.

A trick, once made, you can then freeze the other fillet for another time.

We find that one fillet gives enough slices for 5 of us as a starter. When slicing, you need to make the slices a little thicker than smoked salmon.

We love cranberry sauce with our Christmas Lunch, but also with cold meats and cheeses throughout the year.

I normally find some bargain cranberries in the shops and create jars of sauce to use or gift to friends.

Luckily cranberries also freeze really well, so the extra packet hubby came home with, have already gone in the freezer for another cooking session.

I've also created my special Cumberland sauce for my mum, due to being on warfarin, she's not allowed cranberries.

The red cabbage, is currently braising in a slow oven. This will be the first year I've served braised red cabbage, not sure whether my parents have ever eaten it, but it's lovely hot or cold and I know that my mum will adore the sweet and sour taste.

Now to prepare all the veg, parboiling the potatoes and popping them in their roasting tray with goose fat. Wrapping the pigs in blankets, making the stuffing balls, finishing the bread sauce. Then to prepare the carrots, sprouts and parsnips. Thank goodness we've just treated ourselves to a new fridge/freezer, it's like a tardis, just when you think it's full, you rejig the contents and there's more space.

Dinner tonight will be a lovely smoked ham glazed with some of my Cumberland sauce which I cooked this morning. It's a beechwood smoked, free range gammon from Waitrose. I boiled it for 2 hours then glazed in a hot over for 20 minutes. I'm really pleased with the result.

If I've been a good girl, I'm hoping I receive another cookery book from my hubby, every Christmas and Birthday he has given me a cookery book with an inscription inside.

I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for.

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A veg fest

The disappearing veg act.

On Sunday, I popped into our local Waitrose to pick up something for dinner. It had been a very wet and cooler day, poor hubby had been out at an event all day and was going to be very soggy when he got home, so we thought it would be great to do a "warming pot of goodness" for dinner.
As usual, we start with the meat when we go shopping, then return to the veg section. Imagine my amazement, when there was no green veg available, no broccoli, cabbages, flat or runner beans, the section was completely empty. For a balanced diet, it's essential to have your "greens", all of the iron, vitamin C and other nutrients. You can't eat a rainbow without green in there somewhere. Apparently, on checking with friends, they have also been experiencing this in other supermarkets too. As the temperatures are back to normal, we aren't barbecuing every night, I decided that the only way to get my veggie fix resolved, was to get my Riverford box order in asap.

If you haven't ever ordered an organic box, I know it can seem a bit daunting, with lots of questions that you need to find the answers to:-

• Do you want a regular order?
• Can you choose what is in your box?
• How expensive is it going to be?
• Do you have to have a box every week?
• Where is it delivered and do you need to be home?

 I have tried a few different schemes, our first box was a weekly box, all the boxes for the area were delivered to one location about 5 miles away, we had to go and pick it up every Friday evening. It was very cost effective and a complete surprise every time you collected it, you didn't know what would be in it, but a great option, until that option stopped and I had to hunt for an alternative.
I did try an Abel and Coe box, but that needs a regular order and was more expensive.

I then tried Riverford and have been shopping with them for about 10 years. We don't have a regular delivery setup, instead, I check on their website when ordering and it gives you a full list of all the options, therefore I can select the box depending on the contents I need. Sometimes I get a bumper veg box, other times, a small box or combination veg and fruit box, but you are in control.
The first thing you notice is how fresh everything is, covered in the natural protection it grew in (yes I mean soil), but that means the veg keeps longer. You get a printed sheet with Guys latest newsletter, details of the contents of the box, tips on how to look after unusual veg and also some recipes. If you need more guidance, there's always the Riverford website, and their recipe database is phenonmenal.
Guy is reducing the amount of plastic used and looking at using greener packaging that is returnable or recyclable. 

The box contents will depend on your farm catchment, if you enter your postcode, you will then see what your contents will be and when your delivery day is. My delivery day is now a Tuesday, and therefore I need to order by 11pm on Sunday evening. That means I can plan the meals for the week.
My delivery today is as follows (remember the contents may be different in your area).

100% UK organic veg box

• Salad potatoes UK
• Carrots UK
• Golden bunched beetroot UK
• French beans UK
• Courgettes UK
• Calabrese broccoli UK
• Mixed salad leaves UK
• Cherry tomatoes UK

All for £13.95 which is much cheaper than buying the same Organic produce through any supermarket.

The great news is the bunched beetroot comes with the leaves, so I've followed the instructions and cut them off the beetroot, washed the leaves thoroughly and split into 2 bags, 1 to go with dinner tonight, the other to keep for another meal.

Tonight, I decided to make life easy, roasting the root veg while the chicken in mustard was also roasting, merely leaving the beetroot leaves needing cooking in a pan 5 minutes before serving. 

Roasted root veg

Potatoes
Carrots
Golden beetroot
Red onion (not from box)
Garlic cloves (not from box)
Fresh sprigs of rosemary (from garden)
couple of bay leaves (from garden)
Olive oil

Cut into similar sized pieces, pop on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and toss well. Put the sprigs of herbs amongst the veg and roast in a hot oven for 60 minutes.

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Turkey Pitta kebabs with Tashi sauce (Cypriot style)

When it's so hot, you don't fancy cooking over a hot stove, perhaps the BBQ is calling you. This is a quick and very easy dinner to make. Perhaps you are having a BBQ and would like something different to serve that's simple to prepare ahead and guests can serve themselves.

Basically, you need pitta bread or flatbread, meat or sausages to chuck on the BBQ (or halloumi for vegetarians), the salad and some Tashi sauce.

As we now focus on turkey and chicken in our family, I've adapted the original recipe to use turkey steaks. You can use any meat suitable to be barbecued, even sausages work well and are great for the kids.

Whilst my husband was in Cyprus, they used white cabbage in their salads instead of lettuce and we love the difference. He has created his own sesame sauce (fondly known as Tashi sauce in our family), it is slightly different to the normal Tahini Salata as it contains Greek yoghurt, but is really scrummy).

Depending on your appetite, you will need for each person:-

• large appetite = 2 pittas, 
• small appetite = 1 pitta each.

Start by making the Tashi sauce, this will then have time for the flavours to develop. It can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.

Start to marinate the meat.

Then create the salad and pop it in a sealable tub in the fridge.

Pitta bread (gluten-free is great) or Flatbread

Turkey kebab (makes 4 pittas)

Turkey steaks (1 for each pitta)

2 tbsp olive oil

Juice half a lemon

1 tsp dried oregano

Pop all ingredients into a resealable bag and mix around, pop in the fridge until ready to cook.

Tashi sauce

1 garlic clove - crushed

2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)

Juice of 1 lemon

4 tbsp greek yoghurt

a pinch Maldon salt

Place the garlic and sesame paste in a bowl and mix, add the lemon juice and continue mixing. There is a strange chemical reaction and the sesame paste gets very thick, keep stirring until thoroughly mixed, add the greek yoghurt and salt, stir until combined. Check seasoning. Cover and pop in the fridge.

Greek Kebab Salad

1/4 small white cabbage, finely sliced

2 large tomatoes, cut into small chunks.

1/2 cucumber, remove the seeds (see tip) and then chopped into small chunks

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Mix all the ingredients together, cover and pop in the fridge.

Assembling the kebabs

When you are ready to start cooking, just pop the meat on the BBQ or in a non-stick frying pan. Warm up the pittas (check instructions on the packet).

I normally slice the meat into strips once cooked, pile this onto a serving plate, then everyone can help themselves.

Hold the hot pitta in a clean tea towel and using a small sharp knife, slit down one long edge. Open out the pitta to make sure it can be filled.

Take one pitta, open the pocket and add the turkey steak (one steak's worth of slices). Spoon over a couple of tablespoons of the Tashi sauce, then fill the rest of the pitta with a large handful of the salad.

Serve and enjoy.

Tip - if you need to deseed a cucumber (it's the seeds that can cause indigestion), simply slice the cucumber in half, then using a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds. I loosen the edge of the trench first, then scoop out the middle. This also gets rid of a lot of the water too.

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Chicken with Capers (thank you Hairy Bikers)

It's too hot to use the oven, but I wanted to cook something other than salad this evening.
Hubby had been shopping, and it was a "Ready, Steady, Cook" kind of evening, only a few ingredients available, so I needed to use what was in the fridge and larder.

Starting point.... Tonight's dinner had to be based around chicken legs. Time to do some research.

Now, I'm a bit of a cookery book addict, every birthday and Christmas I get given cookery books by Hubby with a declaration written in the front. I've lost count of how many books that I've got, but it's probably into the 200's now. For my birthday this year, I was given "The Hairy Bikers' Mediterranean Adventure", it was sat on the arm of the sofa this evening, so I decided to have a look under "chicken" and see if anything jumped off the page.
I loved the look of the "Chicken with Capers" recipe, very simple and I had all the ingredients including half a jar of tiny capers, fresh parsley in the garden and basil on the windowsill, as well as a lemon, onion, garlic cloves and white wine. The recipe is Sicilian and I served it with new potatoes and sauteed courgettes.

It was so worth it, very moreish, lots of flavour and definitely one to add to our repertoire. I always annotate my cookery books when I make a dish, giving information about success, changes possible or any tips for next time (or not if it was a disaster or wasn't liked). I realised that these books tell a story, they can be used again and again, seems pointless keeping separate notes about the recipes.

I thoroughly recommend their book. If you click on the picture, it will take you to Amazon for you to investigate at your leisure.

Happy cooking, especially as I've got a lovely cold glass of wine to drink whilst writing this blog post.

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Chicken lasagne

If you are gluten free and don't eat red meat, it's difficult to find a lasagne that you can eat. We also eat lots of veg, so I decided it was time to get a decent lasagne dish, some gluten free lasagne sheets and bone and skinless chicken thighs. I made a large lasagne as the spare portions can either be frozen or taken to work for lunch.
This uses my "all-in-one" sauce method, so you will need a balloon whisk for this.
Ingredients (serves 6)
For the bolognese
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pack chicken thighs, skinless and boneless - minced in a food processor
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 pint milk
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 beef stock pot (trust me, it improves the flavour)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin water
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 large chestnut mushrooms, halved and finely sliced.
For the white sauce
1 oz lacto free butter
1 oz plain gluten free flour
1 pint lacto free milk
Salt and pepper
Additional ingredients
12 sheets gluten free lasagne
1 tsp salt
1 large courgette, finely sliced lengthways
1/2 bag baby spinach leaves  (washed)
1 oz freshly grated parmesan

Method 
Bolognese
In a large pan, sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil over a gentle heat until the onion is translucent. Increase the heat and add the minced chicken, fry until all chicken has gone white, stir regularly. Add the carrots, nutmeg, milk and salt and pepper, cook for 1 minute,  then add the tomato puree, continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated.  Add the stockpot, oregano, tomatoes and the water, stir well, bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Sauce
Take one medium pan and put all the sauce ingredients in the pan together. Put the pan over a gently heat and then keep stirring using a balloon whisk until the sauce is smooth and has thickened. Season to taste.
Pasta (only if using gluten free lasagne sheets).
Fill a large pan with water, bring to the boil and add the salt. Pop in the lasagne sheets and cook until al-dente. (I've tried using the sheets without pre-cooking and it doesn't work for the gluten free as well). If using normal quick cook lasagne sheets, you can omit this stage.
Build the lasagne
Take a lasagne dish and rub a little olive oil over the surface to prevent sticking.
Take a couple of large spoonfuls of the mince and spread them over the bottom of the dish, then drizzle over some of the white sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets, next a layer of mince, then a handful of spinach, followed by a layer of courgette, plus another drizzle of white sauce.
Keep building the layers. You want to end with some mince and white sauce over the final layer of pasta. If you think you are running out of the white sauce, you can always add some more milk and thin it down towards the end.
Sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and then pop into a moderately hot oven Gas 5 (Electric 190C) for 40 minutes. It should be bubbly and golden on the top.
Serve with salad.

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Sunset juice

To increase vitality, reduce stress and build the immune system, we are increasing the amount of fresh organic vegetables and fruit in our diet. Last year I bought a brilliant juicer that removes all of the juice and the residue is really dry, it was a Sage juicer.

Our Riverford order this week was a Juicing Box and also a Large Veg Box for the 3 of us, we probably won't get through all of the veg, but it stores really well, so I'll top up next week. Our order arrives on a Thursday.

Juicing box

Box contents
Carrots UK
Beetroot UK
Curly kale UK
Fennel IT
Cucumber ES
Ginger PE
Turmeric PE
Apples UK
Pears UK
Blood oranges IT
Grapefruit IT

So out came the juicer and I decided a Vitamin A & C boost would help fight off the bugs and a cold that seems to be brewing.

I tried to think what I could call this juice and decided on Sunset Juice as the colour was amazing.

Ingredients

1 apple (pull stalk out)
1 large carrot
1 orange (I cut the peel and pith off)
1 thumb sized chunk of fresh ginger

Method

Scrub all the veg (no need to peel if organic).
I started with the carrot, then the apple, then orange followed by the ginger.

The resulting juice is amazing and so refreshing.

The benefit of this juicer is it takes the whole fruit, you don't need to chop it into smaller chunks. You can't beat fresh juice, maximum nutrients with such amazing flavour.

Large veg box (original)

Box contents
Potatoes UK
Onions UK
Carrots UK
Celeriac NL
Cauliflower UK
Swiss chard IT
Oca FR
Chestnut mushrooms UK
Red pepper ES
Vine tomatoes ES
I also added some avocado's, red onions and shallots to my order.


So far we've eaten a rainbow on Thursday, 6 veg with our evening meal, in a roasting tray I popped chunks of parsnip, carrots, red onions, beetroot and potatoes all tossed in 1 tbsp or olive oil, then some swiss chard braised in a pan. We roasted up some skinless chicken thighs in a roasting bag, this traps in the moisture and creates succulent chicken.
We are making our Turkey chilli tonight and will use some red onions, tomatoes, avocado to make salsa and guacamole as accompaniments.

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