And it was all yellow

Today is the last day of World Meat Free Week but hopefully a new start for many people and a step towards helping to save animals and ultimately save the planet. There's no point me preaching to the choir but, if you are a meat-eater, give it a try. It doesn't matter that you missed the designated week - you can start tomorrow!

Something we may all have in common is ... The love of Gin! I have just bottled my first attempt at Elderflower Gin and, let me tell you, it is golden nectar. Not only does it taste delicious, it was sooo easy to make.

You will need:-

1 litre of gin (or vodka)
6 tbsp white sugar
25 elderflower heads (shake out the bugs - this is a vegetarian version)
Peel from 2 lemons

Pour the gin and sugar into a large sterilised jar and swish around
Submerge the flower heads under the liquid
Top with lemon peelings to weigh down the elderflowers
Keep in a cool, dark place and give it a swirl each day
After 1-2 weeks strain the liquid through a mesh or muslin cloth *
Pour into sterilised bottles

*Add more sugar at this stage if you want a liqueur
It can be drunk alone, with tonic water, ice and lemon slices or added to fizz for a cocktail

One glass in and I'm feeling rather mellow.

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!

Humble Hummus

Hummus/Houmous has been around for thousands of years and yet it's only in the last few years that we have embraced it in the UK. Originating in the Middle East, it is debatable which country actually invented it. The rise in popularity over recent years could be due to more of us eating vegan, vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free diets. Houmous literally ticks all the boxes. 

There is the classic version but now we can buy a variety of flavours including caramelised onion, lemon and coriander, chilli, red pepper, pesto infused ...

Accompaniments include various breads, crackers, crisps and raw vegetables.

It's sold everywhere so is easy to buy but is also incredibly easy to make. Here is the recipe for classic houmous. Once you've made it you can experiment with new flavours.

Can of rinsed chickpeas, 2tbsp lemon juice, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1tsp ground cumin, pinch salt, 1tbsp tahini paste, 4tbsp water. Blend together in a food processor for 5 mins until smooth. Serve in a bowl or plate. Drizzle with virgin olive oil, sprinkle with paprika and decorate with a few reserved chickpeas. Voila! 

Knocked-up Gnocchi

Just back from soaking up some late summer rays with a taste of Tuscany. In a restaurant in Lucca I was served homemade gnocchi with a Gorgonzola sauce and mint. Genius! The fresh mint cut through the richness of gnocchi and cheese.

When cooking gnocchi at home I find it clumps together in a rather unattractive mush. My trusted remedy is now to dry pan fry the gnocchi until it resembles miniature roast potatoes. These are delicious as an accompaniment or added to other ingredients to form a tasty meal.

My favourite recipe was taken from the Waitrose magazine but instead of boiling the gnocchi I use the above method. You can switch ingredients slightly, using whatever might be lurking in your cupboard or fridge and can vary the amount of garlic and chilli to taste. 

- Sauté garlic (2 cloves) and fresh chilli (1) before adding fresh cherry tomatoes (200g).

- Boil or microwave tender-stem brocolli (220g) for a minute or two before rinsing in cold water. Chop and add to tomato mixture.

- Cook the gnocchi  (500g) (boil or pan-fry or both) and add to tomato mixture

- Serve in preheated bowls with chopped, toasted hazelnuts, lemon zest and Gran Moravia cheese

The Waitrose recipe says it will serve 4 but I've found it serves 2 with hearty appetites.

Mum's the word

This saying means it's a secret/say nothing about this. I, however, am happy to share and tell you I've had a lovely Mother's Day spent with one of my children, my mum and my mother-in law. Lucky us.

Breakfast was made by my daughter. Banana and Blueberry French toast with a dollop of yogurt on the side. It's actually a recipe created by Jamie Oliver some years ago for Red Nose Day.

Butter bread thinly on both sides

Toss berries in honey to sweeten 

Mash bananas & add to blueberries

Beat eggs in a bowl with caster sugar & splash of milk

Dip bread in until soaked

Sandwich fruit mix between 2 slices of eggy bread

Fry on both sides in a little butter pressing down all the time

Once golden & crisp remove from pan & dust with icing sugar

Serve with either yogurt, ice cream, cream, creme fraiche & remaining fruit

Something scrummy for your mummy! 

Flippin' Crazy!

What a great run of events we have this week! Today is National Yorkshire Pudding Day, tomorrow is Chinese New Year and the following day is Shrove Tuesday! 

Q: What do all these days have in common? 

A: Flour, eggs and milk!

So today we can tuck into our Sunday Roast (nut roast for us) alongside our vegetables, roast potatoes and good old Yorkshire puddings.

Tomorrow we can enjoy a lovely Chinese takeaway, restaurant meal or homemade dish. I love to make the following Mushroom Fried Rice:-

Cook long grain rice as per instructions (adding frozen peas for the last two minutes of cooking)

Cook mushrooms in a little oil and butter and season with pepper (add chopped spring onions)

Scramble an egg and add to the cooked rice

Add the mushrooms and onions and a good long slug of soy sauce

Serve with sweet chilli sauce and a side of Thai crackers (suitable for vegetarians).

Another favourite is Veggie Chinese Pancakes using either tofu or mushrooms instead of duck.

Then, if you haven't had enough batter in one week, you can go for lovely sweet or savoury filled pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Below is a picture of my breakfast this morning (just a rehearsal for Tuesday) and my waffles eaten last weekend using the same recipe!

If you want to bump up the entertainment value you could have a pancake race. In my camping days we used to have a sports weekend and one of the races for the adults involved lighting a Primus stove, cooking a pancake and tossing it three times before running across the finishing line. A child-friendly version is sometimes done in primary schools and I remember my daughter's class excitedly discussing who was the "biggest tosser" in their year, whilst the teachers passed secret smiles to one another!

Easy-peasy-pizza!

I can't believe that National Vegetarian Week has passed me by. It was 18-24th May and, had I known, I might have forced the family to unite and support me in my quest to make just one meal for tea! Ha! I think I have already mentioned a very useful book I was given when I first became vegetarian and needed to cook myself a meal alongside the meat dishes for my family. It's called "No meat for me please!" by Jan Arkless and was, quite literally, my bible!

Actually the family do sometimes eat vegetarian food, particularly pasta dishes. The meal I have made since the children were little is Naan Bread Pizza originally taken from a Nigella recipe and, like all pizzas, can be adapted to suit the recipient's taste. Here is my basic recipe:-

Naan bread (plain or the garlic and coriander ones/small ones are good for parties)

Pasta sauce (I use Seeds of Change organic tomato and basil)

Grated cheese (I like cheddar but mozarella would work too)

That's it really. You spread the sauce on the naan with a sprinkling of cheese on top and bake in a moderate-hot oven for 10-15 mins.

The wow factor will depend on what you put on it before it goes in the oven and the possibilities are endless for vegetarians and meat eaters alike. They can be sophisticated or childish but, most importantly, tasty!

Here are two of my favourites; one with caramelised onion and basil, the other a face of caramelised onion hair and roasted pepper eyes, nose and tongue. Go on and give it a go! 

Well, I may have let National Vegetarian Week pass me by but I have made sure that National Gin Day is highlighted, ringed and starred on my calendar - roll on Saturday June 13th!

Pasta Zucchini!

Exactly four weeks ago I was in Capri with husband and friends having taken the hydrofoil from Sorrento. We were like the Famous Five (without the dog) and, rather than take the funicular up to town, we climbed the endless slopes and steps, pausing to look back at the bay we had left behind. After a quick coffee we charged back down to the harbour to meet our boatman at the allotted time. We then experienced a wonderful two hour boat trip around the island courtesy of our wonderful guide, Salvatore.

Back on dry land and in need of sustenance we went to the nearest restaurant (L'approdo) overlooking the small harbour and sat down to a glass or three of rose. Whilst the guys went for fish and meat dishes, we girls opted for a delicious courgette pasta which was one of their specialities. We were hungry after the boat trip and fresh sea air and were definitely seduced by the island with its colourful boats bobbing in the deep blue sea and the overhead cries of the gulls. The food was heavenly much, I suspect, like the rest of Capri.

Back home I have since tried to recreate that wonderful pasta dish. I had a courgette, some pasta and a block of parmesan. With the aid of a clip from Nigellisima I succeeded in making a delicious courgette pasta (almost) as good as my Capri experience.

Cook casarecce pasta according to instructions (used by Nigella, L'approdo and myself but any pasta shape would do) 

A large courgette peeled in stripes then diced

A couple of spring onions sliced (or finely chopped onion/leek)

Cook in garlic oil until soft and squidgy

Splash of vermouth (I used dry white wine)

Chopped parsley (I didn't have this)

Put the lid on the pan and cook gently.

Add a little grated parmesan (enough to add a bit of goo and a lot of flavouring)

Melt in a knob of butter

Add the drained pasta, stir and serve

The Nigella recipe states chilli flakes but I didn't see her add them nor did I detect any in Capri.

And there you have it (although Nigella eats hers out of the pan); a little bit of Capri in a bowl.

The Best Ever Beans on Toast!

An easy meal for a Vegetarian is often a baked jacket potato or beans on toast. When I was younger we used to return from a camping weekend and, whilst my parents unpacked, my sister and I would be sent upstairs for a bath and then return downstairs with rosy cheeks and damp hair to a quick and easy supper of beans on toast before bed.

I have always loved this simple meal and it's definitely my "go to" meal when I surface from a migraine, need to line my stomach before a night out on the tiles or just want a quick comfort fix.

In my early twenties I met a girl who came to temp in my office. It turned out we had lots in common and liked all the same things. One day whilst discussing what we would make for tea, she mentioned a recipe for Bean Rarebit in a Marks and Spencer Salads and Snacks book. I had the same book, given by a family friend for my 21st birthday! I rushed home to make the posh beans on toast that night and, some 30 years later, still make it occasionally. I have adapted the recipe a little over the years but it remains a firm favourite.

Bean Rarebit (or posh beans on toast) Serves 1 hungry vegetarian

20g butter

1 small onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove crushed or grated

1/2 pepper, deseeded & thinly sliced 

1 can Heinz Five Beanz

2x15ml spoons tomato ketchup

1x15ml spoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce

(I use Hendersons Yorkshire Relish)

Salt & Pepper

1x5ml chilli powder

Cheddar cheese grated

2 slices hot buttered toast

Melt the butter, add onion, garlic, pepper and fry til soft. Add the beans, ketchup, W sauce, salt, pepper, chilli powder. Cook for 5 mins. Add the cheese and stir for 3 mins until melted. Place on hot buttered toast and serve immediately (like my lava latte, I like mine hot). Enjoy!

The recipe from the early 1980s used baked beans and kidney beans but I use the Five Beans now. It also states a green pepper but now, of course, we have the choice of red, orange, yellow and, I have recently discovered, black pepper!

Beating the Winter Blues!

The end of January and the end to my dry January. In all honesty it hasn't been hard to go without alcohol as the social scene has been fairly quiet and for the first couple of weeks I was under the weather (and under the duvet) with a bad cold and therefore could barely taste anything anyway.

At times of ill health most people turn to chicken broth; but not we vegetarians. What's needed is a wholesome dish with robust flavours to lift the spirits and plenty of garlic to ward off evil spirits and bugs. That's when The Vegetarian Tart turns to Pasta "Puttanesca" (or Tart's Spaghetti)! In Italy a puttanesca is known as a lady of the night/tart/slattern/slut. It could be the fiery kick that gives it its name or it could be the laziness associated with using tins and jars of ingredients.  Either way, it's well worth making.  

This dish appears on many menus and in recipe books but here is my quick and easy version. 

Serves 2

200g dried pasta - my favourite is cavatappi as the sauce clings to it

Cook for 10 mins in plenty of salted boiling water reduced to a simmer or according to packet instructions

2 tblspoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped

2 tblspoons basil chopped

Heat the oil in a pan and add the other 3 ingredients until garlic is golden.

Then add the next ingredients:-

1 large tin (400g) chopped tomatoes

1 tblspoon tomato puree

1 jar (240g) pitted chopped black olives drained

3 tblspoons capers drained

salt and pepper

Turn the heat down and simmer for 20mins until sauce thickens.

Mix your drained pasta into the sauce, seasoning if necessary.  Serve in wide bowls with a sprinkle of more chopped basil and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

If dry January has passed you could always have a glass of wine with it!