All in One Perpetual Spinach, Chickpea Minestrone and Macaroni

Apparently its the coldest April on record in the UK for decades.  And it shows, as i am still filling my hot water bottle up and snuggling it; or mooching about the house in my shawl, hugging me like a big warm blanket. 

On slightly warmer and dryer days, I have still been out in the garden.  The broad beans have been transplanted and so have the peas.  As long as the frost stays away, they should hopefully be okay.  

I harvested some perpetual spinach for dinner; and made this All in One dish of Perpetual Spinach, Chickpea Minestrone with Macaroni for lunch, that served us over two days.  Once in the evening, hot out of the oven and the other day: room temperature for lunch. Its such an easy dish to make, you just add all the ingredients: minced onions, crushed garlic, shredded spinach, chopped tinned tomatoes, macaroni pasta and chickpeas, in a deep dish and then add flavourings: herbs, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetable stock and then put in the oven to cook and swell.  Stir a couple of times, then serve.

Some of you may recognise this dish as I've made it before with red chard.  The original recipe was adapted from Rukmini Iyer 's The Green Roasting Tin and was made with kale and borlotti beans.  You can find my adapted variation of the recipe here, if you want to make it.    

I  am sharing the All in One dish of Perpetual Spinach, Chickpea Minestrone with Macaroni with  with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

I even made cake - Madeira cake to evoke some warmth, but the recipe i tried from a cookbook on my shelf that will remain unnamed was a bit on the unrisen side.  It tasted alright though. 

Have you been baking? And if so, what?!

Some Green Eats Glamorgan Sausage Rolls and Spanakopita

We have had good weather.

We took advantage of it and between the two of us, did a lot of gardening. 

But let me share these two images with you.  About two weeks ago, D laid down some turf  in front of the greenhouse.  It looks lush, fresh and of course very green. 

If you want to compare and contrast, follow this link to see the slabs.  No ball games or walking on the fresh lawn.  But I am looking forward to walking on it bare feet and sitting down on the grass come warmer days.

So back to the garden right now. 

The purple sprouting broccoli  is coming to an end.  We have mostly been eating the PSB added to Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino.  I think we have enough in the garden, perhaps for one or two more meals, then it will be all gone.  We will definitely be growing them again later in the year. 

Also harvested the last of the leeks. I was pondering what to do with them, but made my mind up after chatting to my nephew who is at University. He was telling me that my blog has become his on-line recipe book and that he's made a load of recipes from it, including Glamorgan Sausages.  

I actually cannot remember the last time i made Glamorgan Sausages at home.  The last time, or thereafter was perhaps when i was running the vegetarian cafe.  

Here are the ingredients for the Glamorgan Sausages: fresh breadcrumbs, cheddar cheese, leeks, mustard, salt and pepper - ready for an egg yolk for the mixing and then shaping.  

To make these Glamorgan Sausages a bit more substantial and more like a sandwich for lunch or a picnic (Yes, i am already imagining eating out on that garden lawn) I encased them in puff pastry.  I liked the way Johanna makes her vegetarian sausage rolls.  And took inspiration from her the last time I made vegetarian Haggis Sausage rolls, they just look far more appealing.  Plus glossed over with egg wash for the golden glean.  The fresh leek flavour was so prominent. 

We also have still have perpetual spinach.   

But it is dwindling now.

I made another Spanakopita. This time the recipe came from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Cookery (1988) .  I adapted her recipe a little with the inclusion of a sauteed leek, a teaspoon dried dill and a teaspoon raw rice to absorb the liquids.  Everything else was to the book.  I think, should i make spanakopita again, I will make it in a spiral, it's a bit more effort but its far more prettier.

I haven't yet transplanted any of the plants into the ground yet.  I am still a bit nervous about frost, so am holding back for another week. But come next week, they are going out into the earth soil.  Some of the peas are getting straggly and broad beans are ready to be transplanted. 

I am sharing my green harvest and and green eats with Harvest Monday tomorrow hosted by Dave from Happy Acres.  

Garlicky Rainbow Chard Pasta Salad

I made this Garlicky Rainbow Chard Pasta Salad last month with the last of the overwintered rainbow chard that was growing in the garden vegetable plot.

The rainbow chard would still be there, but it had begun to bolt, so it had to come out of the ground and make room for the new plants.  I made a number of dishes with it, including Rainbow Chard Pakoras aka Onion Bhaji's - that were delicious, but not as good as my mothers or sister-in-laws.

This pretty Rainbow Chard Pasta Salad was heavily flavoured and scented with garlic, but I don't mind having garlic breath.  It was splendid to tuck into during the busy working week. For those of you who may be interested in the recipe, there is not much to it really.  This is really a tarted up version of Aglio Olio.  

I am sharing this Garlicky Rainbow Chard Pasta Salad with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. Garlicky Rainbow Chard Pasta Salad.

Reflecting and eating Rainbow Chard Pakoras

I've had a busy week working from home made harder by the racism both here and in America,. The racism is not new, it's continual, its painful and its gut wrenching, its real. I've cried these tears before, now I cry for young people who have had to witness the brutality against black bodies replayed over and over again. I know that pain. Black Lives Matter.

One of the reasons i started my blog was for my mental health and wellbeing.  It was my escapism. My space away from those racial  microaggressions in everyday interactions as my work evolved around discrimination and prejudices and social justice, I consciously made a decision not to write about those things here, because I did not want this space tainted by ugliness of other peoples behaviour, but people have become more emboldened in recent years that even i cannot pretend anymore.  

Subtle racism has even seeped from some food bloggers in the past. I often noted as a non white vegetarian food blogger that started ten years ago, I was often excluded from the collaborations that thrusted some white food bloggers into the 'limelight', they would never extend the invitation to me and in some cases 'actively' exclude me.  It still happens. They know they have this power, privilege and influence, but they would never admit that racial bias played a part in their interactions with me.  I know it did. I will write about that some other time. Today is not that day.

As the only brown face in white spaces there were no safe spaces for me, so Blogging became therapy from both overt/direct and covert/indirect racism.  Growing vegetables was therapy.  Cooking was therapy.  Baking was therapy. 

So without further ado here are some Rainbow Chard Pakoras aka Onion Bhaji's that I made last weekend.  I am missing seeing my family, my father and mother (who are shielding), my brothers and sister in laws, my nephews and nieces - my intergenerational family.  I look forward to joining them again to sit down and eat pakoras and samosas.  I don't make Pakora aka Onion Bhaji's that often partly because I do not have a deep fat fryer and partly it's something my sister in law will knock up for me when I got over, so Pakora's like Samosas always feel like a treat for me.  But the hankering for fresh pakoras got me motivated and it was perhaps one of the best recipes I've made with the last of the Rainbow Swiss Chard (that had begun to bolt in the garden).  I shallow fried the Swiss Chard Pakoras in a wide pot.  They were delicious, crisp and mildly spicy. 

Still as much as the Rainbow Chard Pakora were delicious, I long to eat again with my family and know that they are all safe, not just from coronavirus that is disproportionately affecting Black and Brown people in the UK, but also from the racism that constantly ripples in our lives, we are always on edge for the tirade, the racial tsunami ...

All-In-One Red Chard, Chickpea Minestone with Macaroni

I have hardly been out in the allotment garden plot in recent days, partly because of the persistent freezing rain and it has been freezing with snow in some parts of Wales.

I was actually looking forward to November when things around me will be a bit quiet, so that I can also tend to the garden, but its unlikely that the ground will be cleared of spent plants.  One thing that is still growing well is my Rainbow Chard - Here is Ruby Chard.  

I  borrowed a cookbook from the library by Rukmini Iyer called eThe Green Roasting Tin and had bookmarked to make the All in One Kale Borlotti  Minestone with Ditalini, but adapted it with what I had growing in the garden and other ingredients in my kitchen cupboard which these days happens to be a lot of pasta and tinned chickpeas.  

What's great about this recipe is that you put everything in a ovenproof dish and cook! No hanging about the kitchen, stirring ...

There was plenty of left over that I took it into work the following day for lunch. I especially loved how the chilli oil elevated a simple minestrone.

I am sharing this blog post with Dave over at Happy Acres who hosts Harvest Monday every week.

Pomegranate Molasses Bulgar, Chickpeas, Red Chard and Seitan 'Meat'

I have not spent much time in the kitchen recently, as I want to rest at the weekends and be proper lazy.  So I share this Pomegranate Molasses Bulgar, Chickpeas, Red Chard and Vegan 'Lamb' aka Seitan that I made from scratch a few weeks ago, when I had energy and inclination to both potter and experiment in the kitchen. 

The pomegranate molasses gave that sweet twang. chickpea always give nuttiness, but so did the Bulgar.  Its nice warm, but its also good at room temperature as a salad, but do keep the mock lamb sitting on top, so not to go too soggy from the red chard, which by the way from the garden plot.

The seitan mock lamb was surprisingly succulent and so much superior than those from the supermarket.  In fact I wish I had made this seitan mock meat for my vegan Plum and Lamb Curry.

I am sharing this Pomegranate Molasses Bulgar, Chickpeas, Red Chard and Vegan Seitan 'Lamb' Salad with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen; and My Legume Love Affair #114  hosted by The Veg Hog.  The challenge was initiated by  Susan and hosted by Lisa's Kitchen.  

Other Bulgar Wheat Recipes
Bulgar Borlotti Burgers
Middle Eastern Sweet Potato Kibbeh
My Tabbouleh
Beetroot Bulgar
Spiced Vegetable Stew

Black Rainbow Chard Chili Beans

I harvested some rainbow chard from the garden plot at the weekend.  

I decided to make something I consider to be easy fare, a vegetarian and vegan black bean chili with the addition of rainbow chard.  

This Black Bean Chili was surprisingly quite nice with the addition of effectively what are just greens, albeit colourful rainbow chard greens.  

The black comes from the beans known as turtle beans.  Normally, I prefer chili a day or two later when the flavours have matured.  But this time, we ate it the same day as it was made and a day later and it was good to eat.  

I am sharing a bowl of this Black Bean Rainbow Chard Chili with Healthy Vegan Fridays by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition;  Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching For Spice. and finally CookBlogShare hosted by Hijacked by Twins.

Other Black Bean Chili recipes you will find on my blog
Beetroot Black Bean Chili
Chocolate and Black Beans Chili
Pineapple and Black Beans Stew
Pumpkin, Black Beans and Leek Chili
Smoky Black Beans
Red Pepper and Black Beans Chili

Dirty White Coconut Cauliflower Curry

If you like mild curries, then this Coconut Cauliflower Curry is for you.  

I would describe its between a Thai Green Curry and Indian style Curry, but without the hot warming heat spice of either.  There are spices in this, mostly garama masala (and optional green chilli), but honestly its tame compared to most curries. 

So why do I describe it as dirty?!  

I don't know why, but I was expecting it to remain beautifully creamy white from both the coconut milk and natural colour of the cauliflower, but I overlooked the grainy colouring of the garam masala which made the final dish look dirty.  I then decided to throw in some chard from the garden too - what the heck!

Looking for other White Vegetable recipes - click here to see the White Vegetable Palette for inspiration. 

Harvest Monday: Rainbow Chard Gratin and White Sprouting Broccoli

Its been a long while since I participated in Harvest Monday which is hosted these days by Dave over Our Happy Acres.

So here is my very small harvest.

A good bunch of Rainbow Chard  and Perpetual Spinach.

From A2K blog archives

I have  also harvested some white sprouting broccoli that have been simply steamed as an accompaniment for meals.

Last of the Chard

I took advantage of the dry weather today and spend most of the day in the garden, digging and weeding.   It is half dug, the other half will be done next weekend, weather permitting. D was out in the garden too, he worked on the greenhouse, the patio area where the pergola once stood and he temporarily fixed the neighbours fence that had fallen on our side early in the year due to high winds, without him doing this I was unable to dig the weeds in the ground.  

The purple sprouting broccoli that we have been enjoying the past few weeks has come to an end.  I've dug half of them out of the ground, and left the other half as they were covered with the buzzing bees attracted to the yellow flowers.  Whilst weeding, I re-discovered the strawberry plants, many had flowers, so I was keen to remove the weeds around them and allow them. I was however, a little disappointed that I did not come across as many worms as I did in the last two years, but I did come across a lot of butterfly cocoons. Rightly or wrongly, I left them in the ground - what would you advise?! 

There is quite a lot growing in the garden, raspberry canes are flourishing, the rhubarb seems to be stretching it stems, the strawberry white flower petals blooming.  The herbs like mint, thyme, rosemary and chives are thriving, but the only vegetable that I have harvested (weeded), is the last of my Swiss chard in many colours - silver, yellow, red and the traditional green.  I am sharing this small harvest with Daphne's Dandelions who hosts Harvest Mondays.  

Swiss Red Chard Tortilla

The thrifty and homely cook in me was able to create two dishes with the Swiss Red Chard.  

Today this Tortilla,  yesterday it was a vegan Tart.

I like this kind of dish, its almost one pot throw all the ingredients in and let it do its work and its done.  Its  also very good to eat warm on the plate with knife and fork, or cold for a picnic or finger buffet as it holds well.    I also like how the red chard stems studs the tortilla. There's quite a bit left over, so we will both be lunching on it tomorrow.

Vegan 'Salmon' Red Chard Tart

Remember that bunch of Red Swiss Chard I shared yesterday, well this is one of the dishes I made with it - a Red Chard Tart, except it looks very pink! 

What is different about that tart is the filling.  It is that it is made with tofu instead of eggs.  It looks salmon- like; and tasted a tad like sea-weed.  I mentioned this flavour of the sea once before when I cooked with Red Chard.  I served this simply with some new potatoes.

If you can't find red chard,  feel free to substitute with any other chard, or even spinach.  Oh I have to admit, in stead of making my own shortcrust pastry from scratch, this time I made use of shop-bought shortcrust pastry, still looks rather rustic.

I point one thing out purely for presentation reasons, it is perhaps best to eat this tart on the day it is made, as the following day it loses that pink tint colour and looks, well like cold quiche - a bit sunken and the baked brown comes through more.  But if that doesn't bother you, then it keeps for a couple of days in the fridge. 

Ruby Red Chard and Feta Pasta Loaf

I've had a tremendously busy day today, and a rewarding one too, it's lifted my spirit.  So I am off to put my feet up and enjoy what is left of my evening, but before I sign off from the blog, I thought I would share with you a recipe I made a week or so back when I visited  Usk Farmers Market, where I discovered the most wonderful home-made bread and was seduced by these tall long ruby chard stems.  I really miss growing rainbow chard at home, so was delighted by this find. I picked up a bag full that looked like a bunch of flowers and would look wonderful adorning any vase.  But the ruby chard was not for admiring.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

My husband reminded me of this pasta dish I used to make.  although its nothing like a macaroni cheese pie, its the closest thing I can think of to describe this pasta dish that is baked in a pastry.  I usually make this pasta loaf with spinach, but with the red chard to hand that is what I used.    

Swiss chard, chickpea and tamarind stew

Now, I love the sharp tang of tamarind, it makes my tongue feel alive especially when I am feeling poorly. I have to admit when others are feeling fluey, they may make a lemon drink, well I like to drink hot tamarind. So when I saw this recipe in the Guardian last year. I immediately tore it out to cook one of these days. Well that day arrived. It was so easy for me to put together as I had all the ingredients at home, small jar of tamarind concentrate remaining from the tamarind tofu and surprisingly even caraway seeds.

The recipe comes from Yotam Ottolenghi, chef/patron of Ottolenghi restaurant in London which he co-owns with Sami Tamimi. Ottolenghi is from Israel and Sami Tamimi is from Arab Eastern part of Jerusalem. Together, with their diverse backgrounds they have shared and introduced some robust flavours such as sumac, za’atar, ras el hanout, tahini and tamarind to a new audience. These spices, herbs, seeds and dressings all generously coat fresh vegetables, greens, grains and pulses, making them mouth wateringly appealing. The restaurant is not vegetarian, but serves a good selection of vegetarian and vegan based dishes. It is their creative and flavour packed dishes that have brought them into prominence, especially on the London food scene. I couldn't help myself comparing Ottolenghi to the Gate Restaurant, but the last time ‘veggie cuisine’ was promoted so highly in the mainstream like this was when the brothers Adrian and Michael Daniel opened their restaurant the Gate in Hammersmith, London in the early 1990s. The brothers introduced big, bold and bashful flavours like red and green harissa and zhug (schoog), and plating up exquisite and innovative looking vegetarian cuisine.
Although not a vegetarian himself, Yotam Ottolenghi features as the Guardian’s 'The New Vegetarian' column contributor. This space was previously honoured by Rose Elliot. Rose Elliot is a renowned British writer on vegetarian cooking. She has written over 50 vegetarian cookery books. She is a patron of the Vegetarian Society U.K and in 1999 was appointed MBE for services to vegetarian cookery. In fact Rose Elliot successfully pioneered the popular vegetarian column in the Guardian Weekend magazine, before being replaced by Yotam Ottolenghi. Rose Elliot is a committed vegetarian and a true advocate of vegetarian and vegetable based cuisine. Although she has been extremeley successful, I have noted that her books were marketed purely to a niche audience, namely vegetarians, whereas Ottolenghi has been able to win over vegetarians, non-vegetarians and vegans with his world influenced modern dishes, many of which happen to be vegetable based. For which I have to say Thank You. I have to admit Ottolenghi salads are far more interesting in flavour combinations than those you get from your regular deli; and for that many of us are grateful that vegetable based dishes on menu’s are being seen in a different light - appealing to a much wider audience.

Well, I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed each mouthful of this stew and why wouldn’t I? It contained ingredients I enjoy eating: the texture of chickpeas and the waft of coriander. As the rice absorbed the tomatoey tamarind sauce, it reminded me of a South Indian tamarind rice dish known as pulihora or puli sadham. D had one gripe, the stew had got cold very quickly, but other than that it was good, very good.
Swiss chard, chickpea and tamarind stew
Serves 4 with plain Basmati rice

Ingredients
300g Swiss chard (stems and leaves), cut into 1cm slices
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp whole caraway seeds
2 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon tomato paste
400g tinned plum tomatoes, chopped up, juice and all
2 tablespoon of tamarind concentrate
300ml water
400g cooked chickpeas
1½ tsp whole coriander seeds, toasted and ground to a powder
Salt to taste
Greek yogurt (optional) for serving
1 big handful coriander leaves
Serve with plain basmati rice
method

Bring a medium pot of salted water to the boil, blanch the chard for two minutes and drain.
Put the onion, caraway and olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan and sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and golden. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the tomatoes, tamarind concentrate, water, chickpeas, ground coriander and chard, and season to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, by which time it should be the consistency of thick soup. Taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve with plain Basmati rice.
To serve, spoon the rice into shallow soup bowls, then make a crater in the centre of each mound. Pour a ladle or two into the rice crater. Spoon yogurt on top, if you like, drizzle with oil and finish with lots of coriander. Slightly adapted from the original recipe.