Pseudo-falafel

I like crispy falafel with a full taste or chickpeas. The best I ever had was in Israel, but alas I can’t head to the Middle East every time I get a falafel craving, so I came up with this simple recipe, which is call pseudo-falafel. Real falafel has tahini, but that’s not something I usually or often have on hand, so that’s why these are pseudo. I served them over rice and with watercress and garlic cheese, but any combination of greens and yogurt or creamy cheese will work fine. It’s not the Middle East, but it’s as close as I can get here.

Ingredients:
1 carton chickpeas (about 230 g)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
rice
water
watercress
yogurt or garlic cheese

Instructions:
1. Drain the chickpeas. Blend with the spices, baking powder, lemon juice, and oil with a hand blender until smooth, with some chunky bits left.
2. Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes at 200 C.
3. Cook the rice in the water and add the watercress when the rice is nearly done.
4. Serve the rice topped with falafels and yogurt or garlic cheese.

New York Times DIY Cookbook

This new DIY cookbook from the New York Times has “small kitchen projects that any cook can tackle” and is easy to follow.

Rhubarb Cake

This is a really moist and light cake that is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. It’s not too sweet, which is how I prefer my desserts, but you can easily increase the amount of sugar, if you prefer. M said it was the best cake I ever made, which is high praise indeed. I’m going to make it for a friend’s birthday dinner as well, because he doesn’t like chocolate and really likes rhubarb, so even if rhubarb cake is not traditional for birthdays, there’s no reason to always follow tradition.

Ingredients:

125 g butter, plus extra for the tin
1 cup sugar
2½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¾ cup yogurt or sour cream
¼ cup milk
1 egg
1 portion rhubarb compote (see previous recipe)
sour cream, yogurt, whipped cream, or ice cream

Instructions:
1. Butter the cake tin. Cube the 125 g of butter and put it into the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix. Add the yogurt, milk, and egg, and mix well.
3. Add about ¾ of the rhubarb compote and mix it into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 40 minutes at 180 C.
5. Serve topped with the rest of the compote and sour cream, yogurt, whipped cream, or ice cream.

Rhubarb Compote

Hurray! It’s rhubarb season. I love the long and beautiful blushing pink stalks and I plan to spend the next weeks trying out a variety of recipes that use them. The first thing I made this year was a rhubarb compote. It can be served with yogurt or cream or ice cream, or you can use it in the rhubarb cake recipe I’ll post next.

Ingredients:
400 g rhubarb
1 clementine or orange
1 vanilla pod
5 tbsp sugar

Instructions:
1. Wash and chop the rhubarb. Put it into a pan.
2. Juice the clementine or orange into the pan. Halve the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds. Add them and the halves to the pan as well.
3. Add the sugar. Stir everything together.
4. Cook over low heat for about 10 or so minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove the vanilla pod and serve the compote.

Lentils and Pine Nuts

We bought a big container of puy lentils, so I’ve been trying to come up with different things to do with them. They are my favourite sort of lentil and I love how they retain a bit of crunch even after you’ve cooked them for awhile, so they don’t become a shapeless mush. This recipe can be served as a salad or a side dish. As a salad, you could place the lentils over rocket/rucola leaves or another type of green or lettuce.

Ingredients:
1 cup puy lentils
water
75 g pine nuts
mint or parsley
yogurt
olive oil
lemon juice

Instructions:
1. Wash the lentils and boil them in the water for about 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
2. Add the pine nuts, herbs, yogurt, olive oil, and lemon juice to taste.
3. Serve warm or chilled.

Queer Lit

Much of the emphasis here at Veggie Dyke has been on the veggie part, i.e. I’ve posted lots of vegetarian recipes. While cooking and baking are major parts of my life, they aren’t everything. Literature is my other great love (in terms of career/hobbies; M is, obviously, my great romantic love). So I thought I would occasionally post about queer texts I’ve read; I spend a huge amount of my time reading, teaching, and researching literature, which means I know quite a few texts in what we might call the queer canon.

I’ll start with a book I’ve already mentioned once here, Alison Bechdel’s The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For. When I was first exposed to her comics, back in my days as an undergrad at a women’s college, I found them a bit threatening, probably because I was pretty closeted (I had girlfriends, but only ones who weren’t from my school, and I was careful about who knew about them). It was hard to fathom that there were women who lived happy and healthy out lives. I think, to be honest, I was jealous, just as I was jealous of all the women who marched off to the Rainbow Alliance meetings every week or who openly held their girlfriends’ hands on campus.

But here I am, over a decade later (that’s a frightening thought), with the most fantastic partner imaginable and a fairly happy and healthy out life of my own. So I’m in a better place to appreciate Bechdel’s work. I love the fact that her long-running comic is so diverse, although a more cynical person might accuse her of ticking lots of boxes (there are characters from everywhere on the LGBT spectrum, Jews, Muslims, Christians, a variety of socioeconomic classes, many different jobs, there’s a character with a disability, there are different sorts of relationships and families, lots of personality types, etc). Many people can see themselves in Bechdel’s work.

The drawing is well done (naturally), the writing is sometimes funny and sometimes moving and sometimes pedestrian, reflecting the realities of life (although Mo’s political rants do get a bit tiresome), and the story lines are interesting, even if they do move rather fast at times (but that’s probably how it has to be in comics). It’s fascinating to read The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For and notice how prescient Bechdel has been about world events and how her work has reflected the zeitgeist so well, even as it’s been firmly situated in the queer community.

I definitely recommend this book and in fact I plan to use it in my teaching next year. It is worth watching out for Bechdel’s work; you’ll be glad you did.

Gluten-Free Cornmeal Pancakes

I really do like making pancakes on weekend mornings, even though M isn’t always that keen on a heavy breakfast. Still, it’s important that she put some food in her belly before she goes off to her karate class. So in our attempt to lower our gluten intake, I’ve been remaking many of my old pancake recipes. Here is my newly gluten-free recipe for cornmeal pancakes.

Ingredients:
1 cup polenta/cornmeal
1 cup hot water
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup gluten-free flour
½ tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1 egg
1¼ cups milk (you can also use cream or soy milk)
oil or butter for frying
fruit to serve with the pancakes
maple syrup or agave to serve with the pancakes

Instructions:

1. Put the polenta/cornmeal (what you call it depends on where you’re from) in a bowl and add the water. Leave this to sit for 10-15 minutes, until the water is all absorbed.
2. Meanwhile, mix the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the cornmeal and mix.
4. Beat the egg and add it. Then add the milk.
5. Melt butter or warm oil in a frying pan.
6. Spoon the batter into the pan. It will be thick. You might want to press out any larger lumps. Fry on both sides until golden brown and a bit crispy. This takes just a couple of minutes.
7. Serve with fruit and syrup or agave.

Leek and Butternut Squash Gratin

As the seasons shift, I’m starting to use fewer heavy, wintry ingredients, such as squash, or I combine them with more spring-like things, such as leeks or asparagus or peas, which helps to lighten them up. Here, I’ve made a gratin with squash and leeks. It’s hearty enough for a chilly evening, but not so heavy that it sits in your stomach and makes you want to hibernate.

Ingredients:
3 leeks
oil
salt
pepper
mustard powder
½ butternut squash (roasted – use any leftovers you have from another dish)
150 g Gruyere or similar cheese
150 ml crème fraiche

Instructions:
1. Wash and slice the leeks, then fry lightly in the oil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and mustard powder.
2. Add chunks of the squash and continue to fry for another few minutes.
3. Oil a casserole dish. Shred or chop the cheese and add it and the crème fraiche to the vegetables.
4. Pour the vegetables into the casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes at 200 C until golden brown.

Cauliflower, Lentil, and Paneer Curry

Okay, so this isn’t a traditional curry by any stretch of the imagination. It combines Indian elements – lentils and paneer cheese – with Thai ones – coconut milk and curry paste – and with other ones – cauliflower and fennel. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good nonetheless. The flavours all work well together and the dish is very healthy, if a bit flatulence-inducing. So don’t eat it before a romantic evening.

Incidentally, paneer is great to use in cooking. It softens when cooks and takes on all the flavours you throw at it. Plus, it’s completely vegetarian.

Ingredients:
½ cup puy lentils (or other lentils according to preference)
water
rice (I usually go for brown basmati)
1 head cauliflower
1 fennel (onion would be fine too)
oil
4-6 tbsp red curry paste (depends on how hot you like it)
1 container paneer cheese
1 tin coconut milk
onion seeds or mustard seeds (depends on the seasoning you want; I have been having an onion seed kick lately), optional

Instructions:
1. Wash the lentils and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. Wash the rice and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, wash and chop the cauliflower. Dice the fennel. Fry lightly in oil for about 10 minutes, then add the curry paste.
3. Dice the paneer cheese and add it to the pan as well. Fry for another 7-9 minutes, then add some of the coconut milk. Add a dash of coconut milk to the rice as well.
4. When the lentils are ready, add them to the cauliflower mixture. Season with onion seeds, if desired.
5. Add the rest of the coconut milk to the curry and cook for another few minutes.
6. Serve the curry over the rice.

Low-Gluten Olive Focaccia

In my effort to make dishes that are gluten-free or at least quite low in gluten, I am working on some new baking recipes. I tried to make my olive bread gluten-free but what I hadn’t taken into consideration was the role the gluten plays in the bread. So I ended up with a flat focaccia rather than a puffy loaf. I’ve since understood that xanthan gum helps compensate for the loss of the gluten, so playing around with that will be my next step.

But actually, this recipe turned out quite well and was tasty. We had it with soup, but it could easily be served with hummus or cottage cheese or another spread.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup of spelt flour and 1 cup of gluten-free flour but 2 cups of gluten-free flour would be fine too)
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp fast-action yeast
¾ cup warm water
5 tbsp olive oil
¾ cup olives
sea salt

Instructions:
1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
2. Add the water and the olive oil and blend until just mixed. Leave to rise for about 30 minutes, or until doubled.
3. Chop the olives.
4. Turn the bread out on a floured surface and knead. Add the olives. Sprinkle with sea salt.
5. Leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
6. Flatten the bread out so it is round and low. Bake at 200 C for 30 minutes.

Dykes in Stripes

What is it about lesbians in striped shirts? I can’t be the only person to have noticed the dyke penchant for stripes, can I?

I was reading Alison Bechdel’s fantastic The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For (which I’m actually going to put on the reading list for a class I’m teaching) and a reader can’t help but remark upon the main character, Mo, and her fondness for striped shirts. That’s fair enough; it’s Mo’s personal style.

But look around you. At your next gender studies reading group or women’s gathering or at your next visit to the gay bar or some hot lesbian party, I guarantee you will see a number of women wearing stripes.

There are vertical stripes, like the pinstriped trousers I myself love wearing, and the thin stripes on waistcoats or sexy suits (I wish my sweetie would get a pinstriped suit one day, as she’d be hot in it, not that she isn’t hot in whatever she’s wearing, or not wearing!).

And there are horizontal stripes, too, especially on shirts, such as the ones Mo sports. Looking at Bechdel’s book, I started thinking about all the gay women I know and how stripes seem to proliferate in their wardrobes. My beloved has a lot of striped tops and even I have a few.

Why is this? Is there something especially dykey about stripes? Does it appeal to lesbians because it is one of the few non-girly patterns available?

Whatever it is, I like it, I admit it.

Vegetable Risotto

People always think risotto is difficult to make. It’s not. You have to stir it once in awhile, sure, but that isn’t terribly fiddly. You can vary the dish according to what you have on hand or what you feel like eating; I like the combination of peas and mint, for example, or some greens mixed with a few tomatoes, or pieces of roasted squash. You can also vary what sort of cheese you use; many people like parmesan in risotto, while here I use gorgonzola to add a different flavour.

Ingredients:
1 onion
oil
1 vegetable stock cube
150 g arborio rice
¾ l water
2 courgettes
1 tsp sugar
1 handful cherry tomatoes
100 g spinach
gorgonzola cheese
olive oil

Instructions:
1. Chop the onion and fry it in the oil in a soup pot. Add the stock cube and break it up.
2. Add the rice and stir, so it gets coated by the oil and onion pieces. After a couple of minutes, add some of the water and cover the pot. Let it cook for 20 or so minutes, adding more water as necessary, stirring occasionally.
3. Slice the courgettes and fry them in some oil in a frying pan. Add the sugar and stir. Wash and halve the tomatoes, then add them to the pan.
4. When the rice is mostly cooked, but still has a bit of bite to it, add the spinach and the cheese. Stir well.
5. Add the courgettes and tomatoes to the risotto and stir.
6. Top with a dash of olive oil and serve.

Avgolemono Soup

This is such a soothing, easy soup, and it has a lovely, spring-like lemony flavour. It’s traditionally eaten in Greece and I can remember having it at Greek restaurants when I was a child. It would always be followed by a plate full of lamb, which obviously I forgo these days!

Ingredients:
75 g rice (I used brown basmati)
water
2 onions
olive oil
1 vegetable stock cube
1 lemon
3 eggs

Instructions:
1. Cook the rice in the water in a soup pot, according to directions.
2. Chop the onions and then fry them lightly in the oil in a frying pan.
3. When the rice is almost ready, add the onions, along with the stock cube. Add another ½ l of water.
4. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pot.
5. In a bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Then pour them into the soup, stirring the whole time. Do not let them boil.
6. Serve.

Quotes on Vegetarianism

How can you eat anything with eyes?

Will Kellog

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Pancakes

Since we’ve been on a gluten-free kick lately (which does seem to have had a positive effect on my seemingly irritated skin), I’ve been trying to re-make some of my old recipes without the gluten. I like to make pancakes on the weekend; something about the act of putting batter together and frying up a stack of hot cakes signals a lazy weekend to me (never mind the fact that after eating the pancakes, I immediately head to work!).

Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
¾ cup oatmeal
1½ cups yogurt
¾ cup gluten-free flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cardamom pods (or ½ tsp ground cardamom)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup raisins
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
oil

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter.
2. Mix the oatmeal, yogurt, spelt flour, baking powder, and baking soda together.
3. Crush the cardamom in a mortar and pestle and add it, the cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and raisins, to the oatmeal mixture.
4. Lightly beat the egg. Mix it and the melted butter into the mixture. Stir until just blended.
5. Fry spoonfuls of the mixture in oil until golden on both sides.

Tomato Tart

This is a very easy and tasty tart. I made it twice in one weekend! The flavours all work together very well.

Ingredients:
1 portion pastry (see previous recipes)
3 onions
oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 portion olive tapenade (see previous recipe)
400 g cherry tomatoes
black pepper
sea salt
olive oil
70 g pine nuts

Instructions:
1. Place the pastry in a casserole dish.
2. Dice the onions and fry in oil. Add sugar and caramelise.
3. Blind-bake the pastry for 5 minutes at 180 C.
4. Spread a layer of olive tapenade on the pastry. Top with the onions.
5. Wash and halve the tomatoes. Place on top of the onions.
6. Sprinkle with black pepper, salt, and olive oil.
7. Bake at 200 C for 15 minutes.
8. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top. Bake for another 5-8 minutes.

Olive Tapenade

I used this in a tart (see next recipe), but it would also be great with rolls or bread sticks, as a starter. You can adjust the level of garlickyness depending on your own preferences.

Ingredients:
4-6 cloves garlic
170 g black olives, pitted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 dash sea salt

Instructions:
1. Peel the garlic and chop. Chop the olives (this just makes it easier for the hand mixer; you can keep them whole).
2. Blend the ingredients together with a hand mixture until fairly smooth, with just a hint of texture.

Simple Gluten-free Pastry

I made two tarts one recent weekend. They were identical except for the pastry. One was gluten-free. M said the gluten-free one tasted slightly sweeter. I thought it was a bit grainier. They both worked well in the dish, so I was very pleased.

Ingredients:
1 cup gluten-free flour
125 g butter
1 egg

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour and butter until it looks like breadcrumbs, but still has some lumps in it.
2. Add in the egg and beat again.
3. Wrap in cling film and chill for about 30 minutes before using it.

Simple Pastry

Simple Pastry

This is a good basis for any savoury tart or pie or even for some sweet ones. You can even add shredded cheese to the mixture, which turns crispy when baked.

Ingredients:
¾ cup flour
100 g butter
1 egg

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour and butter until it looks like breadcrumbs, but still has some lumps in it.
2. Add in the egg and beat again.
3. Wrap in cling film and chill for about 30 minutes before using it.

Veggie Crumble

Fruit crumbles are so easy to make and they’re a tasty, healthy end to a meal. So why not a veggie crumble? It’s the same concept. Lots of veg topped with a yummy crumble, perhaps with cheese and/or seeds in it. It’s really easy to vary both the filling and the crumble topping, so you could happily make many different veggie crumbles.

Ingredients:
900 g vegetables (I used a combination of potatoes, parsnips, peas, spring onions, and carrots, but any combination could work)
1 l vegetable stock (or milk, if you prefer that sort of taste)
parsley, tarragon, mustard, black pepper, or other spices
75 g flour (I used spelt flour)
50 g butter
2 tbsp seeds (I used poppy seeds)

Instructions:
1. Peel, wash, and chop the vegetables as needed.
2. Cook the vegetables in the liquid and season with the spices.
3. Blend the butter and flour, but leave some lumps. Mix in the seeds.
4. Pour the veg into a casserole dish, then top with the crumble.
5. Bake for 25 minutes at 200 C.

Fish and Prawn Pie

Yes, this is a vegetarian blog. But as I wrote in the last post, I sometimes make fish dishes. I made this fish and prawn pie a few weeks ago when we had a friend over. I’ll make a prawn-less version for a seafood-averse friend’s birthday later this month. It got good reviews, so I thought it was worth posting anyway.

Ingredients:
oil
300-400 g puff pastry
50 g butter
50 g flour
3 tsp ground mustard
300 ml liquid (I used a combination of single cream and milk, but stock, wine, cider, or ale could be used as well)
100 g frozen peas (or peas and/or corn)
200 g frozen prawns
1 onion
500 g fish (I used cod and smoked, undyed haddock)
black pepper

Instructions:
1. Oil a casserole dish. Roll out the pastry and place it in the dish so the sides hang over (you will use them to fold over the fish).
2. Melt the butter over low heat in a large pot and then make a roux by adding the flour and mustard to it. Add the liquid and mix well.
3. Add the frozen vegetables and prawns and cook so they defrost.
4. Dice the onion and the fish and add all that to the pot.
5. Season with black pepper.
6. Pour into the dish and fold the pastry over.
7. Bake at 200 C for about 30 minutes, until the pastry turns golden.

Vegetarians Who Eat Fish

I see a lot of people who say they are “vegetarians who eat fish” or are “pescatarians”. Eating and/or preparing fish is something I myself struggle with, as I live with a carnivore. I don’t think it’s right for me to inflict my own views on someone else, so I sometimes cook fish (though I wouldn’t cook meat, and of course that makes me wonder why that is my particular limit, and what makes fish okay (once in awhile) but meat not). Most of my friends eat meat, too, and some are picky eaters who are hard to satisfy or who have many objections to various food items. Since I love to cook and M and I occasionally entertain, that means I make food dishes at times.

I know some couples where the vegetarian half even cooks meat for the carnivorous one, but I confess that even the idea of having meat in the house, much less in my pots and pans, disturbs me. But then I know others where the carnivorous member/s of the family only eat meat when out at restaurants.

When M and I were away for the weekend, she had the full English breakfast, sausage and bacon included, each morning, while I had my vegetarian version (hoping my food hadn’t been made in the same pan) and tried not to feel too queasy at the thought of what was on her plate. But she “humoured” me by going to vegetarian restaurants with me and she usually eats my vegetarian food at home. Also, of course, she isn’t a vegetarian and I knew that when we got together, so I felt I had no right to say anything or feel sickened. Maybe I’m just oversensitive.

How do others deal with this? Will you cook fish and/or meat for friends or for omnivorous partners/relatives? How do you feel about them eating meat in front of you?

Spelt Rolls

We were having a friend over for dinner and I wanted to serve a simple salad with some rolls to start with. I loved the idea of warm rolls coming fresh from the oven. I envisioned butter melting into the yeasty interiors. So this is what I came up with. M and I also ate some of the rolls toasted with cheddar cheese and that was great too.

Ingredients:
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp honey or agave
1 tsp salt
1½ cups lukewarm water
2 cups flour
1 1/3 cup spelt flour
salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, or other topping, as desired

Instructions:
1. Whisk the yeast, honey or agave, salt and water. Add the flours and combine well, until it has formed a sticky dough.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for an hour or so.
3. Knead on a flour-covered surface or in the mixer for a few minutes. Shape into rolls.
4. Sprinkle the rolls with any topping desired, then leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
5. Bake at 180 C for 15 minutes.

Oatmeal Pancakes

I love to make pancakes on weekend mornings. They’re so hearty and soothing and they’re really easy to vary, too. I like making oatmeal as a fast breakfast (or a comforting dinner), so I decided to turn that dish into pancakes.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp butter
¾ cup oatmeal
1½ cups yogurt (or buttermilk)
¾ cup spelt flour (or plain flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 cardamom pods (or ½ tsp ground cardamom)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
oil
banana to serve with

Instructions:
1. Melt the butter.
2. Mix the oatmeal, yogurt, spelt flour, baking powder, and baking soda together.
3. Crush the cardamom in a mortar and pestle and add it, the cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar to the oatmeal mixture.
4. Lightly beat the egg. Mix it and the melted butter into the mixture. Stir until just blended.
5. Fry spoonfuls of the mixture in oil until golden on both sides. Serve with slices of banana.

Saffron Sauce

This is a simple sauce that can be used over pasta or with vegetables or even to top eggs. A little bit of saffron goes a long way.

Ingredients:
.5 g saffron
150 ml cream (single is fine)
1 dash olive oil

Instructions:
1. Crush the saffron in a mortar and pestle.
2. Warm the cream gently over low heat and add the saffron to it.
3. Stir frequently and then add the olive oil towards the end.
4. Serve over pasta or with vegetables.

Rice with Butternut Squash, Cashews, Raisins, and Pomegranate

This has a Middle Eastern flavour and is healthy and gluten-free. I loved the combination of spices and how they suited the vegetables.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
oil
rice (50 g per person; use brown basmati for a slightly more nutty flavour)
water
2 onions
1 tsp sugar
1 handful raisins
about 50 g cashews (or a handful)
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mint
seeds from 1 pomegranate

Instructions:
1. Rub the squash in oil and roast it in the oven for about 50 minutes at 180 C. When it has cooled, peel it and dice it.
2. Boil the rice in the water. This will take 25-35 minutes.
3. Dice the onions and fry them lightly in some oil. Add the sugar so they caramelise.
4. Cover the raisins with boiling water and set aside for 20 minutes, until they plump up.
5. Crush the cashews and the cardamom pods in a mortar and pestle.
6. Add the squash to the onions and fry for a few more minutes, then add in the cashews, cardamom, cinnamon, and mint.
7. When the rice is ready, add it to the frying pan. Mix everything well.
8. Serve the rice topped with pomegranate seeds.

Baked Aubergine Casserole

This was inspired by a recipe I saw in the Waitrose grocery store magazine. I adjusted it to our tastes and made it a bit healthier (spelt flour instead of white, for example). Next time, I’d add black olives too, as that would suit the flavours of the aubergine and feta.

Ingredients:
1 aubergine
1 onion
3-5 garlic cloves
oil
1 cauliflower
smoked paprika
black pepper
ground mustard
1 package crushed tomatoes
100 g feta cheese
200 g Greek yogurt
3 tbsp flour
2 eggs

Instructions:
1. Wash the aubergine and dice it. Peel and chop the onion and garlic, too. Fry all of these things in the oil for about 5-8 minutes.
2. Wash the cauliflower and break it into florets. Add it to the pan.
3. Season with the spices according to your taste. Add the tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Crumble the cheese and mix into the yogurt. Blend in the flour and beat in the eggs.
5. Lightly oil a casserole dish. Add the vegetables to it, then top the veg with the feta mxture.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes at 200 C.