Ratatouille

Twenty-nine years ago, when I first became vegetarian, ratatouille was my staple dish. I don't recall following a recipe but just threw a bunch of ingredients into a pan and stirred. Jokes abounded amongst my meat eating friends; "is that one rat or two?" My husband used to peer into the pan and say "having mush again?"

Well he was probably right. My version of this French Provençal stew consisted of soggy courgettes and tinned tomatoes with a few 'erbs thrown in.

Since those days I have tried cooking Delia's method (no need to salt, weight and drain the courgettes and aubergines these days) as well as Jaimie's, both successfully. Ratatouille can be served on its own, as a side dish, stirred through pasta or as a filling for lasagne. This week I did the Green Roasting Tin version which meant roasting all the ingredients before topping with breadcrumbs and vegan Parmesan. Easy, delicious and a complete meal with not a trace of rodent.

If you want your kids to eat more veggies, get them to watch the Disney film Ratatouille and then YouTube the recipe and cook it together.

Tray Bon

Following on from last week's excitement on receiving a new cook book, The Green Roasting Tin, I'm here to see if the proof was, so to speak, in the pudding.

The recipe I tried out was the Lux Warm Winter Salad, consisting of roasted Maris piper potatoes and celeriac with Parmesan, watercress, walnuts and soft boiled eggs with a dressing containing indulgent truffle oil.

Peeling the potatoes and celeriac was as tough as it got. Once done, it was a case of throwing them into a shallow tray with garlic cloves, oil and seasoning and roasting for 45 minutes. I soft boiled some eggs, whisked up a dressing and added the Parmesan, walnuts and watercress. 

This dish made a very tasty, substantial meal. A smaller portion would have made a nutritious lunch and an even smaller plate, a starter.

I would definitely make it again although there are 74 more recipes to try!

The Mother of All Days

Mothering Sunday. The day we celebrate the mother of all ...well, mothers. Our own is, or should be, the best, whether birth mother, adopted mother or chosen as a mother figure.

Today my own children have been kind to their mother. They have a) (most importantly) treated me with their presence and b) (a close second) treated me with their presents. It's been a win-win! Aside from the beautiful flowers and cards I was given a new veggie cookbook; The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer.

So far I've only had chance to read the intro and gaze at the beautiful pictures (something my children would have done at an early age, declaring they'd "read the book!") and already I'm hooked. I haven't been allowed in the kitchen much today but I'm raring to have a week of tasty easy-peasy vegan and vegetarian tray bakes. The ingredient combinations look amazing and there are a mixture of quick midweek suppers and longer, slower weekend bakes. I love cooking but am quite a lazy cook and really like the idea of swishing stuff around in a shallow tray with a drizzle of this and a sprinkle of that before leaving it to absorb flavour as it cooks without any interference until serving time. 

As Rukmini writes "chop, kick back and let the oven do the work." Yes ma'am!