Padron Peppers

On trips to Spain and Portugal, I’ve gone wild for padron peppers, sometimes eating them once or twice a day!

My amazing wife began growing the peppers in our garden, so I can make them at home. Some weeks I had them several nights in a row. Delicious!

Ingredients:

padron peppers (10-20, depending on how many you want to eat)

olive oil

sea salt

Instructions:

1. Wash and dry the peppers.

2. Heat the oil up until fairly warm, then fry the peppers, so they blister and turn brown in spots.

3. Sprinkle with salt.

4. Eat!

Mexican Pie

I get a newsletter from VegNews, which always has an interesting vegan recipe. A recent one included tamale pie and while I couldn’t get all the ingredients here (in a small city in the UK without a Mexican population) and others weren’t to our taste, I adapted the idea and made a Mexican-style pie.

Ingredients:

 

pastry

1 vegetable stock cube

2 cups boiling water

2 cups fine cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable oil

2 tsp mint

1 dash lemon juice

 

filling

2 red onions

3 garlic cloves

oil

1 tsp honey

5 mushrooms

1 pepper

2 cups spinach

1 tin/package black beans

½ cup frozen or tinned corn

1 tin peeled tomatoes

1 tsp salt

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp chilli flakes, if desired

 

Instructions:

1. Put the stock cube in the water.

2. Mix all the other pastry ingredients and then add the vegetable stock. Stir well.

3. Press half of the pastry mixture into the bottom and sides of an oven-safe dish and bake for 10 minutes at 180 C.

4. Peel and dice the onions and garlic. Fry lightly in the oil and honey.

5. Brush and slice the mushrooms. Wash and chop the pepper. Add them and the spinach to the frying pan.

6. Drain the beans and add them, the corn, the tomatoes (not drained, so add the juice too), and the spices.

7. Stir and warm through for a few minutes.

8. Pour the filling over the pastry. Spoon the rest of the pastry over it and smooth out.

9. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 180 C.

Vegan Red Pesto

Ingredients:

½ bunch basil (about1/3 cup)

2-3 garlic cloves

50 ml olive oil

2 roasted red peppers (jarred is fine)

6-8 sun-dried tomatoes (ideally in oil)

40 g pine nuts

35 g nutritional yeast

black pepper to taste

 

Instructions:

1. Wash the basil. Peel the garlic.

2. Blend all the ingredients together until smooth.

Spicy Aubergine Stew

The spices and herbs here can be varied as you like – add more chilli peppers, if you want it hotter, or use garlic or cinnamon or mustard or anything else. The veg can be varied too. I served this over couscous.

Ingredients:

1 onion

oil

1 tsp sugar

2-3 tsp chopped ginger

1-2 tsp coriander (fresh, frozen, or dried)

1 chilli pepper

1 red pepper

2 aubergines

liquid (water is fine; I’ve used rice milk)

1-2 tsp dried mint

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice the onion, then sweat it in the oil in a large saucepan. Add the sugar after a few minutes.

2. Add the ginger and coriander. Wash and dice the peppers and aubergines and add them to the pan.

3. Add a little liquid. Cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring now and then. If it is dry, add some more liquid. You don’t want the veg to stick to the pan.

4. Season with the mint. Serve with rice or couscous, as desired.

Easy Lunch

I know this sounds a bit odd, but I had a leftover baked potato (already baked, I mean) and I didn’t quite know what to have it with. I sliced some beautiful fresh tomatoes and squirted a dab of mayonnaise on it and ground some black pepper on top, and it was really tasty! I’d recommend the combination.

Chestnut Stir-Fry

I posted about roasted chestnuts last time and I just want to add that I’ve started including them in stir-fries. It’s delicious and adds a subtle, full flavour to the stir-fry. A great combination was red pepper, shallot, chestnuts, and mange tout. I seasoned it with tamari sauce and sour plum juice (but lemon juice would be fine). We liked it so much that we had it again just a few days later. And yes, you can use ready-prepared chestnuts if you prefer.

Peanut Tofu with Noodles

I love fast, healthy meals. This kind of recipe can be varied endlessly.

Ingredients:
1 container tofu (about 300 g)
tamari sauce (you can use soy)
oil
1 chilli pepper
1 red pepper
2-4 spring onions
1 package sugar snap peas (about 200 g)
5-7 tbsp peanut butter (I use crunchy to get nice peanut bits)
1 tsp lemon juice
noodles (Thai-style ribbon noodles work well with this, but any kind is fine)
1-2 eggs, as desired

Instructions:
1. Sprinkle the tofu with tamari sauce and marinate it for a few minutes. Bake it in the oven at 150 C for 10 or so minutes, so it gets a bit of colour.
2. Warm up the oil. Wash and dice the chilli and pepper and fry them in the oil.
3. Wash and chop the onions and wash and trim the sugar snap peas and add them. Remove the tofu from the oven, dice, and throw into the pan.
4. Add the peanut butter, lemon juice, and another dash each of oil and tamari. Cook over low heat for 5 or so minutes.
5. Put the noodles in, and the eggs if using them. If you use the eggs, stir them so they break into small ribbons. Cook for a few more minutes, then serve.

Ratatouille

No, this is not a post about the Pixar film, cute though that was. Instead, this is the actual recipe for ratatouille, or at least ratatouille how I made it recently. It’s good on its own or over rice or with garlic bread. And if you have leftovers, they’re fantastic because the flavours have extra time to meld. I love the vegetal smell of aubergine and it works so well to combine it with other vegetables.

When I was out of town recently, M made this recipe a number of times. That suggests that it’s pretty tasty!

Ingredients:
1 onion
olive oil (you need quite a bit for this recipe, so don’t make this when you’ve just got dregs left in the bottle)
1 tsp sugar
1 aubergine
2 peppers (I used red and yellow to get a nice colour to the ratatouille)
1 courgette
2-3 tomatoes or a handful of cherry tomatoes
3-5 garlic cloves (depends on how garlicky you like it)
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Dice the onion and sauté it in olive oil in a large pot for about 5 minutes. Then add the sugar and sauté for a few more minutes.
2. Wash and chop the aubergine into small cubes and add it to the pot. Wash and dice the peppers and add them as well. Sauté for about 30 minutes.
3. Wash and slice the courgette and add it. After a few moments, wash, chop, and add the tomatoes. Thinly slice the garlic and add the pieces.
4. Thinly slice the garlic and add the pieces. Sauté another 10 or so minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper.

Green and Red Couscous

Couscous is tiny pieces of semolina. It’s extremely fast to cook (you pour boiling water over it and leave it for 5-10 minutes) and it’s healthy and cheap. So I’ve been trying to make more dishes with couscous. Combine vegetables and protein and serve it over couscous, and you’ve got a meal in less than 20 minutes.

Ingredients:
about 150 g couscous
boiling water to cover the couscous
1 red pepper
oil
frozen peas (about 75 g)
1 handful cherry tomatoes (5-10)
1 handful radishes (3-5)
black pepper
creamy cheese such as Boursin, if desired

Instructions:
1. Put the couscous in a pot and pour the water over it. Place the lid on the pot and set aside for about 5 or so minutes.
2. Meanwhile, wash and dice the pepper. Fry it in oil.
3. Add the peas so they defrost.
4. Wash and dice the tomatoes and radishes. Add them to the pan. Season with black pepper.
5. If desired, mix creamy cheese into the couscous. Top the couscous with the vegetables, then serve.

Stir-Fry with Udon Noodles

I’ve been making lots of stir-fries lately, because they’re so easy and healthy. I’ll post a few variations on them, but play around and see what combinations you like. You can also add an egg in at the end, for extra protein.

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
½ broccoli (or a container of tender-stem broccoli)
oil
1 container tofu
100 g sugar snap peas
1-2 tbsp miso paste
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
chilli flakes to taste
150 g udon noodles

Instructions:
1. Wash and chop the pepper and broccoli. Stir-fry them in oil.
2. Dice the tofu and add it to the pan. Wash and add the snap peas.
3. Add the miso paste and peanut butter to the pan and stir well, so all the vegetables and tofu get some sauce. Season with chilli flakes according to how spicy you like it.
4. Add the udon noodles and stir-fry 2-3 minutes more, then serve.

Miso Tofu Stir-Fry

I work long hours and though I enjoy cooking, I don’t always have time to make a gourmet meal. That’s where dishes such as stir-fries or grains/rice/pasta and veg come in. They’re quick and simple to make, you can vary them according to what you have at home, and they’re healthy and tasty. I like to try different vegetable combinations and different spices, so this time I used miso, red pepper, and asparagus, and I found that they worked well together and also looked pretty. Of course, I livened mine up with extra Tabasco sauce.

Ingredients:
1 package tofu
miso paste (about 1 tbsp, but it depends on how salty you want it)
brown basmati rice
water
1 onion
oil
vegetables (I used red pepper and asparagus)
yogurt

Instructions:
1. Drain as much of the water from the tofu as you can. Spread miso paste on the tofu and place it in an oven-safe dish. Roast it for 10-15 minutes at 180 C.
2. Set the rice to boil in the water.
3. Dice the onion and fry it lightly in the oil. Chop the other vegetables and add them to the pan. Stir-fry for about 10 minutes.
4. Dice the tofu and add it to the pan as well. Stir-fry for 5-10 minutes.
5. Serve the tofu and vegetables over rice, accompanied by yogurt.

Stuffed Aubergine

I’ve never been a great fan of peppers (perhaps because I remember the green peppers my mother used to stuff with rice and ground meat, and which she used to leave for me and my father when she was going out of town for work), but I am trying to use them in recipes more these days. I think it’s important to challenge yourself and expand your tastes, so I frequently try new ingredients or new recipes. In this case, I used a red pepper as part of the stuffing for an aubergine and I was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients:
1 aubergine
oil
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp parsley
2 tsp sugar
balsamic vinegar
pumpkin seeds
nigella (onion seeds)
black pepper
2 tbsp yogurt

Instructions:
1. Wash and halve the aubergine, then rub it in oil. Wrap it in aluminium foil and roast it for 30 minutes at 200 C.
2. Meanwhile, slice the pepper, onion, and garlic and fry the pieces in a little oil with the parsley and sugar. After 10 minutes, season with the vinegar, seeds, pepper, and yogurt.
3. Take the aubergine out of the oven and scoop the flesh out, leaving the shell intact. Chop the flesh and add it to the pepper mixture. Stir and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Fill the aubergine skins with the stuffing and bake for another 5-10 minutes, then serve.