Courgette and Carrot Fritters

These taste quite like potato pancakes (latkes) but are healthier and a touch sweeter. Great for a chilly evening, especially dabbed with sour cream or Oatly cream.

 

Ingredients:

1 onion or 2 shallots

2 carrots

1 courgette

¾ cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp mint, if desired

2 eggs

oil

 

Instructions:

1. Grate the veg together into a bowl.

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together, then add to the veg.

3. Add the eggs. Stir well.

4. Fry until golden on both sides in oil in a frying pan.

Matzoh Ball Soup

Ingredients:

1-2 carrots

1 celery stalk

1 onion

1 vegetable stock cube

water (about 6-8 cups)

matzoh balls (see previous recipe)

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop the vegetables and cook with the stock cube in water.

2. Add the matzoh balls and cook for 10-30 minutes, depending on size, until they are cooked and fluffy.

3. Serve and eat.

Matzoh Balls

I discovered a place to buy matzoh meal in the small, not-very-Jewish city where I live, so I was able to make a childhood favourite. This time, of course, it was without the chicken. Even when I became a vegetarian, my grandma still kept making this soup with chicken and she’d tell me to just pick it out if I didn’t want to eat it!

 

Ingredients:

2 eggs

½ cup matzoh meal

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tbsp vegetable stock or tonic water or regular water

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper, optional

 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the eggs lightly.

2. Mix all the ingredients together.

3. Chill for 10 minutes.

4. Shape into balls and add to boiling water or soup. Cook for 10-30 minutes, depending on size.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)

½ cup butter or margarine (I use Pure) (or about 1/3 cup oil)

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ tsp salt (if there is no salt in the peanut butter)

1¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

1. Cream the butters and sugars together.

2. Add everything else except the chocolate chips and mix well.

3. Add the chips and stir.

4. Drop by teaspoons or tablespoons onto a lined baking tray.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 190 C.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

You could also add nuts, if you like.

 

Ingredients:

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1½ cups flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

¾ cup chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter or margarine and sugars together.

2. Add the egg, then mix in everything else except the chocolate chips.

3. Once it is mixed well, add the chocolate chips.

4. Drop by teaspoons or tablespoons onto a lined baking tray.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 180 C.

Roasted Spicy Sweet Potatoes

This can be varied with other spices. If I were making it just for me, I’d use chilli powder. You can also add regular potatoes and/or other veg.

 

Ingredients:

4 sweet potatoes

3 tbsp olive or other oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp mixed spices (I used tikka masala mix and mint)

 

Instructions:

1. Wash the potatoes and cut into chunks.

2. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish and toss the chunks with the sugar, spices, and oil.

3. Roast for 15 minutes at 220 C. Stir, then roast for another 15-20 minutes.

4. Serve with rice or quinoa.

Fluffy Pancakes

Great with syrup and with bananas or other fruit.

 

Ingredients:

1½ cup milk (I use rice milk)

4 tbsp lemon juice

2 cups flour

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

oil for the pan

 

Instructions:

1. Mix the milk and lemon juice and set aside for a while.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt together.

3. Mix the eggs into the milk and then mix well with the flour mixture.

4. Oil the pan and fry the pancakes a few at a time.

Aubergine Pate

This is great as a dip or spread, especially when with people who are busy munching on caviar or liver pate or similar. You can vary it with different spices or by using yogurt instead of tahini.

 

Ingredients:

1 aubergine

olive oil

sea salt

1-2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp tahini, optional

1 tsp mint

1-2 tsp honey

1 tsp chilli powder or flakes

 

Instructions:

1. Wash and slice the aubergine, then drizzle it with olive oil and salt. Roast at 200 C for about 25 minutes, until soft. You can remove the peel if you prefer.

2. Mix it in a food processor with the other ingredients and more olive oil until smooth.

Vegetable Korma

This seems somewhat involved, but it actually isn’t that complicated, and the results are lovely. The veg can be varied, and the sauce can also easily be varied – I added dried chilli flakes to spice it up for me.

 

Ingredients:

1 onion

water

50 g cashews

50 g almonds

2-3 dried apricots

1 tin coconut milk

rice (about 50 g per person, so 200 g would suit this amount of food)

1 pepper

1 head cauliflower

150 g other veg (frozen peas and beans are fine, but vary according to taste)

2-3 garlic cloves

1-3 tsp fresh or frozen ginger

1 tsp oil

1 tsp sugar

1-2 tsp tikka masala (or curry powder or garam masala or other spices)

1 tsp mint

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and quarter the onion. Simmer it in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Add the nuts and continue to simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

2. Drain the onion and nuts (save the water to boil the veg in, if you want). Remove any almond skins.

3. Mix the onion, nuts, apricots, and half a tin of coconut milk in a food processor until fairly smooth (though some pieces are fine).

4. Rinse the rice and cook according to directions. I usually add 1-2 tbsp coconut milk for extra flavour.

5. Meanwhile, wash, de-seed, and slice the pepper. Wash the cauliflower and break it into florets.

6. Boil the veg for 4-6 minutes in water, then add the frozen veg and boil for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Peel and dice the garlic and ginger and fry lightly in the oil. Add the sugar and spices and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add any leftover coconut milk.

8. Add the nut mixture to the spice mixture and warm through.

9. Serve the rice topped with vegetables and korma sauce.

Pear, Apple, and Raspberry Crumble

Ingredients:

4 pears

1 apple

50 g rapeseed oil, plus extra

1 tsp lemon juice

55 g sugar, plus extra

1 tsp vanilla extract

5 tbsp oats

60 g flour

30 g almonds (ground or chopped)

30 g dark chocolate, optional

50-60 g raspberries (frozen is fine)

 

Instructions:

1. Wash, peel, and chop the pears and apple.

2. Lightly oil them and toss them with lemon juice and a little sugar. Bake at 190 C for 10-15 minutes, until softened.

3. Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together except the dark chocolate. Grate or chop the chocolate.

4. Top the fruit with the raspberries.

5. Dot the crumble topping over the fruit and sprinkle with chocolate (or mix the chocolate into the crumble topping first).

6. Bake at 190 C for 30-40 minutes.

Blondies

I made these for my students and they appealed to their desire for a sugar hit. I like to sprinkle them with sea salt so there’s a salty and caramel mixture, but you can leave the salt off.

 

Ingredients:

½ cup vegetable oil (or melted butter if you prefer)

2 cups dark brown sugar

1½ cups flour

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp salt, plus extra to sprinkle on top, if desired

2 eggs

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together until a soft ball/mush has formed.

2. Spread in a lightly oiled pan or tin.

3. Sprinkle with fine sea salt, if desired.

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

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ - ¾ cup caster sugar (add more if you like it sweeter)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 tbsp cocoa powder

 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the egg whites until foam, then add the cream of tartar.

2. Continue whisking on a higher speed, and add about 1 tbsp of sugar at a time.

3. Slowly add in the vanilla and cocoa powder.

4. Whisk until firm and shiny.

5. Pipe onto parchment paper on baking trays and bake for 40 minutes to 2 hours at 140 C until crisp on the outside and chewy inside. The time varies depending on how big the cookies are.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

2 shallots or 1 onion

oil

2-3 tsp minced ginger (I use frozen, but fresh is great too)

1 vegetable stock cube

5-6 carrots

1 potato

water (about 4 cups)

black pepper, to taste

powdered ginger, to taste

yogurt or cream (we use Oatly)

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and dice the shallots or onion, then fry lightly in oil.

2. Add the ginger and stock cube and fry another minute or two.

3. Peel and chop the carrot and potato and add them to the pan.

4. Boil the water and add it to the pan.

5. Cook the vegetables for 15-20 minutes.

6. Puree the soup.

7. Season as desired, then top with a dollop of yogurt or cream.

Light Wheat Buns

This is another recipe inspired by The Nordic Diet by Trina Hahnemann, but I shifted the proportions quite a bit to allow for a lighter wheat taste for my M.

 

Ingredients:

275 g white flour

50 g spelt flour

5 g fast action dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tsp honey

300 ml warm water

 

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and leave to rise. Hahnemann suggests overnight in the fridge, whereas I left it for much of the day on the counter.

2. Shape into buns (the dough is soft so you might need to use a couple of spoons) and bake for 15-20 min at 220 C.

Beetroot Patties

I randomly took The Nordic Diet by Trina Hahnemann out of the library awhile back. The book annoyed me with the way she constantly bangs on about smaller portions, healthy eating, no dessert (well, few desserts), exercise, etc, as though we didn’t already know all that. But nonetheless, a couple of the recipes struck me as new and interesting.

 

So I made my own version of her beetroot patties (which she serves with barley, which probably tells you all you need to know!). They’re great with mayonnaise, served with watercress and over couscous.

 

It helps to wear gloves when working with beetroot – we keep a stock of disposable plastic gloves, which we use when cooking with beetroot and other vegetables that stain easily.

 

Ingredients:

500 g beetroot

1 shallot

4 tbsp parsley

½ cup oatmeal

3 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 dash sesame oil (or other oil)

 

Instructions:

1. Peel and grate the beetroot.

2. Peel and dice the shallot. Wash and chop the parsley.

3. Mix all the ingredients together. Shape into patties (this recipe makes about 8).

4. Bake for 15 minutes at 180 C. Turn over and bake for another 5-10 minutes.