Archive for July, 2006

Mushroom and butterbean burgers

July 6, 2006 at 9:56 am · Filed under Pulses, Vegan

These little burgers are really simple to make – all you need is a hand-held blender and a bit of patience when you’re frying them.  They taste lovely and mushroomy.

Serves 2-3

1 can butterbeans

1/2 red onion

250g chestnut mushrooms

salt & pepper to taste

plain flour for coating

sunflower oil for deep frying

1. Finely chop the onion and slice the mushrooms, and place together with the drained butterbeans and seasoning in a large bowl.

2. Whizz up the mixture with a hand-held electric blender until smooth.

3. Using your hands, shape the mixture into small patties, about 5cm in diameter.  Roll each pattie in the flour to coat.

4. Heat 2cm oil in a large frying pan and fry the patties in batches.  When they are brown on one side, turn over and fry on the other side.  You may find that any excess flour burns in the frying pan, in which case you’ll need to change the oil after you’ve fried each batch.

5. Keep warm in a low oven.

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Vegetable moussaka

July 5, 2006 at 9:09 am · Filed under Eggs and cheese

I doubt if any Greek would recognise this, but it’s nonetheless tasty.  I refrained from using pulses or any other meat substitute, instead going for a purely vegetable base.  It’s much lighter, and you’ve got eggs on top for protein.  I used peppers and mushrooms just because I happened to have them in the house, but other vegetables such a spinach or courgettes would be equally good.

Serves 2-3

8oz new potatoes

1 large aubergine

olive oil for frying

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

6oz mushrooms

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp oregano

salt & pepper to taste

8 fluid oz low-fat natural yoghurt

2 eggs

10z parmesan cheese

pinch of nutmeg

1. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted water until tender.  Set aside to cool (or even better, use left-over potatoes).

2. Slice the aubergine and fry in about 2 tbsp olive oil until nearly cooked.  Aubergine tends to soak up a lot of oil.  To minimize the amount of oil used, make sure it’s very hot before you put the aubergine in, and fry on a very low heat.  The oil will soak up very quickly but the aubergine should continue cooking in its own juice without burning, as long as you keep an eye on it.

3. Set the aubergine to one side, and heat another tbsp oil in the pan.

4. Finely chop the onion and garlic, and fry over a gentle heat for 2 minutes.

5. Slice the mushrooms and roughly chop the peppers and add to the pan.  Continue cooking until tender.

6. Add the tomatoes, oregano and seasoning, and continue cooking until most of the tomato juice has been reduced. 

7. Place the vegetables in a large oven-proof dish.

8. Slice the potatoes and place a layer over the vegetables.

9. Layer the aubergine slices over the potatoes.

10. Whisk together the yoghurt, eggs and a small amount of seasoning with a fork, and pour over the top of the vegetables.

11. Bake at gas mark 5 for around 40 minutes.  Half way through the cooking time sprinkle the freshly grated parmesan and nutmeg on top.

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Cauliflower with chickpeas and coriander

July 4, 2006 at 9:13 am · Filed under Pulses, Vegan

This vaguely Middle-Eastern inspired dish is just as good cold as it is hot.  I served it with taboulleh – cracked wheat salad.

Serves 3-4

1 medium onion

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium cauliflower

1 green pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp sultanas

2 tbsp fresh coriander

1 can chickpeas

salt & pepper to taste

1. Finely chop the onion and gently fry in the olive oil in a large saucepan for 2 minutes.

2. Break the cauliflower into small florets (the smaller the better), roughly chop the pepper, and add both to the pan.  Continue to fry for another 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Add the cumin and fry for 1 minute.

4. Add the water and sultanas and put a lid on the pan.  Cook gently for around 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is tender.

5. Add the drained chickpeas and the chopped coriander, and season to taste.

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Mozarella, tomato and basil salad

July 3, 2006 at 11:46 am · Filed under Eggs and cheese, Salads

I can hardly claim to have invented this recipe, as it’s so classic Italian, but here’s the version I made last night.  I used low-fat mozarella, not out of choice but because the shop had sold out of the full-fat version, and it was perfectly acceptable.

Serves 2

125g mozarella cheese

8 ripe tomatoes

1 small bunch basil

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

1. Slice the mozarella and tomatoes and mix together with the roughly torn basil leaves, oil, vinegar and seasoning.

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