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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