Mish Mash of a Harvest Monday

It's a bit of a mish mash of a harvest this week.

The courgettes have been poor this year, i think because of the rain as many of them rotted before i even got to harvest them. 

The kohlrabi is small, I do have some more growing so will see how they contrast. 

A pear from the neighbours tree had fallen on our side.  Some Neckargold beans under the courgettes and a Chantenay carrot.  We have more to harvest, but i don't want to pull the carrots out yet, especially as i have all this other veg to use up first.  Picked some autumn raspberries too. 

Some more neckargold beans and beetroot

The first red Zebra Tomatoes, the translucent pale ones are called Lotos and yellow Galina Cherry tomatoes and Chocolate Cherry tomatoes.

Some of the cherry tomatoes went into this Tomato Pilau with Coconut and Cashew Nuts. 

Plums are still tumbling.

I've made more Cinnamon Plum Cake, but also Plum Dumplings bookmarked from Meat Free Any Day that was encased in suet pastry then steamed and smothered in spiced buttery sauce. 

Also the first Feo di Riogordo Tomato.  I am not expecting many more sadly.  

I am sharing this blog post with Harvest Monday hosted by Dave from Happy Acres.  

Tomato Pilau with Coconut and Cashew Nuts

I have had Tarla Dalal Tomato Rice bookmarked for a little while, to make use of my homegrown tomatoes, but once again I was tempted by a tomato recipe that I came across in the Guardian's food section.  Tarla Dalal was a famous Indian chef, cookbook author, food writer and host of cookery shows.  her first cookbook 'The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking' was published in 1974.  Since then Tarla Dalal wrote over 100 cookbooks, of which I own some, but like I said I was tempted by another modern recipe. The recipe in question this time is for Summer Pilau with Tomato, Coconut and Cashew Nuts and once again comes from Meera Sodha, the food is well presented and captured wonderfully by the photographs .  The recipes are also accessible, which is good for any home cook.  Some of you will remember that recently I made her Lebanese Green Beans and Vermicelli Rice , so I knew this was going to be a good one to make and eat too.

I stuck to Meera Sodha's recipe for the Tomato Pilau, the only two things that were different.  I used dried curry leaves as I am not easily able to find fresh where I live; and secondly, this was due to my impatience - I did not brown the onions well, hence why my Pilau is not as golden, but let me tell you it was still delicious, moreso because of my homegrown tomatoes!  

D loved it and said I should make this for our American guests when they come in September.  Hopefully we will still have tomatoes coming from the greenhouse, in which case I shall be making it again.  

Meera suggests serving it with a fresh green salad.  I told my husband this and he rolled his eyes and suggested that I should have thrown in some of our homegrown green beans to the Pilau.  Instead he had his with a dollop of mango chutney, I think it was a good decision. If I have tempted you once again, then please check out the full recipe. 

Other Pilau Recipes you may like
Broad Beans Pilau with Mint
 Butter Bean and Kale Curried Turmeric  Rice
Cauliflower Pilau
Fenugreek and Radish Rice
Rainbow Carrot Rice Pilau
Savoury Jerusalem Artichoke Rice
Savoy Cabbage and Lentil Rice
Wild Garlic and peas Rice

Creamy Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Mango Pearls (Vegan)

Its been snowing since the moment  I woke up and as I type this and look out the window, the snowflakes are still falling albeit slowly.  I went out into the garden briefly, the snow was soft and slushy.  I saw some people with children walking up the lane with sleighs to go up in the hills.  Its not for me.  I have never really liked the snow, even when I was a child - I really disliked playing snowballs, all that cold ice trickling down ...even the snow angels don't sing to me. I am hoping the snow will remain slushy and melt away and not freeze and turn to ice over night, as driving to work tomorrow in the early hours will be dangerous as many parts of the UK have been issues with an Amber Weather Warning.  I hope your all safe and warm, wherever you are. 

I have decided to share with you a Amber Warming Creamy Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Mango Pearls. 

This Amber Warming Creamy Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Mango Pearls was most welcome.  The mango pearls of course are optional.  When it bursts in your mouth, the sweet mango flavoured liquid offsets the creamy texture of the rice pudding, in the way a syrup would.  In case your wondering about the mango pearls, they were actually were given to me by my family.  The flaavoured mango pearls are also known as popping Boba balls bursting juice when they explode in your mouth. 

Creamy Carrot and Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Blood Oranges

Some of you may remember last month I made a Beetroot Rose Rice Pudding, my husband loudly asserted You can make that again!  Well I have been looking for a reason to make  a variation of it again and it came with the Food 'N' Flix  hosted by Wendy at A Day In The Life on a Farm. The movie chosen this month is The Martian. 

I had not watched it, so we picked it up when we were in Bath, Somerset for the day.  I watched it that evening.  The Martian is about an astronaut  Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) a Botanist who is accidentally presumed to be dead and is left by his crew on Mars.  When he wakes up, he realises he is all alone and has to survive.  He embarks on a journey, a journey of survival where he attempts to grow potato crops on a land where nothing grows, biding time for his colleagues to come and rescue him.   Here is a trailer to the movie if you have not watched it.  

The most obvious food reference was of course to potatoes and yes, I cook with potatoes a lot, sweet potatoes that is.  I took my inspiration from the myriad and bursting shades of orange, rust, bronze, marigold, clay, sandstone found  in the landscape of the planet, from the rockery to the grainy dry sand.  

I decided to make a Creamy Carrot and Sweet Potato Rice Pudding with Blood Oranges.  I have to thank Coffee and Casseroles for spotting the oranges in the movie about 29 minutes into the movie, there is a bowl of oranges on the table behind two actors in an Earth scene, as I blinked and missed them, but I  felt I just had to incorporate them into my dish too, Thank you once again.

Creamy Beet Rose Rice Pudding with Pomegranate (vegan)

The inspiration for this Creamy Beet Rice Pudding with Pomegranate Seeds  has two sources.   The recipe idea itself came about after a conversation with my work colleague.  She came back from town with what was supposed to be her lunch.   She says out loud to me 'I wanted a change from beetroot salad and I wanted something warm, so I have rice pudding from...'.  I started thinking -  Beetroot and rice pudding.  Then under her breath she grumbled and 'you still  owe me a beetroot cake'.

Well still no beetroot cake for her, but did make the Creamy Beet Rice Pudding that I was imagining and rating in my head.  I was inspired further to add the Pomegranate Seeds as I had also just watched Pan's Labyrinth in readiness for Food'n'Flix.

I have my own DVD of Pan's Labyrinth from Guillermo Del Toro along The Orphanage, The Devils Backbone and Cronos.  Its a dark fantasy Gothic supernatural fairytale set against the backdrop of fascist regime in Spain in 1944.  Ofelia the lead character discovers a labyrinth and meets a faun who tells her she is a Princess and sets her three challenges if she wishes to return to her Kingdom.    I had forgotten how graphic the movie was and although its a dark fairytale with good versus evil, its not a fairytale designed for children. Its been described as Alice in Wonderland for adults. 

Dirty Green Cauliflower Couscous and Courgette Salad

Cauliflower 'Couscous' or Cauliflower 'Rice' seems all the rage right now, but it appeared on humble blog in 2009 thanks to the vegetarian chef and cookbook author Rose Elliot.  But even then the real credit goes to one of the worlds famous chefs Ferran Adria and The Food at El Bulli Gourmet Restaurant.    

Early this year, I  was chatting to a fellow blogger, and we both mused how some food bloggers are acting that its their creation like baking  a jacket potato, putting vegetables into cakes or making vegan ice-cream from frozen bananas, never acknowledging or crediting origins or inspiration.  After all most recipes originate from somewhere, we all  - even I do it - put our twist on it, adapt it, enhance it, increase this ingredient, decrease that ingredient and so forth,  but its not often original.   Well Ferran Adria created and introduced foodies and popularized what we now call Cauliflower 'couscous' or Cauliflower 'rice', this idea of blitzing a vegetable to almost a crumb has now been extended to other vegetables like Broccoli - Yes there is Broccoli 'Rice' or Broccoli 'Couscous.  He is truly original and a culinary genius. I have no doubt that the credit for Cauliflower Pizza Crust, as well as those now made with Broccoli Pizza Crust, Carrot Pizza Crust, Sweet Potato Pizza Crust and Courgette Pizza Crust should all be traced back to him. He opened a culinary box of tricks to food bloggers, its just a shame its not often reciprocated.  

Anyway, this is a bowl of Dirty Green Cauliflower 'Couscous Salad blitzed in my blender. The dirty green from herbs and courgettes from my garden, enhanced by the piquancy of black olives. I scattered over some sunflower and pumpkin seeds too.  I had made a creamy tahini dressing to drizzle over it too (not shown).  

It made a pleasant change from the pasta salads we usually have for lunch at work and actually I felt quite healthy eating it.  I am sharing this bowl of Green Cauliflower Couscous Salad with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition;  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen; and Sunday Fitness and Food Fitness hosted by Marathons and Motivation and Ilka's blog.

Viva Vegan Venezuelan Black Beans with Panela

One of the reasons I wanted to make this recipe for Venezuelan Black Beans was the fact that the recipe used Panela.    Panela is unrefined whole cane sugar.  Some of you may remember that I picked up a a handsome bar of Panela (see below) when I went to the Eden Project a couple of months back. 

I'm planning a few other recipes with the panela, but if any of you have any other suggestions, please do share.  

I adapted the recipe for the Venezuelan Black Beans from Viva Vegan.  I even made the sofrito with onions and green peppers.  I am not going to type up the recipe here, even with my tinkering and will just say, go on treat yourself to the cookbook Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero; or borrow it from a friend; or your local library.  

For those of you who have Viva Vegan and have made this recipe, what did you think of it?! I would like to know. 

Maqluba - Middle Eastern Upside Down Savoury Rice Cake

All week,  except for Friday much to do with the EU Referendum I have been trying to raise some awareness of Refugee Week through Cooking A Dish from Another Country .  Refugee Week  in the United Kingdom is an event that promotes positive encounters between asylum seekers and refugees and members of the receiving communities, as well as raising awareness. The theme for Refugee Week  2016 was Welcome.  

Today I will share another Middle Eastern dish called Maqluba. .

Over the years, I've seen various versions of Maqlub.   Maqluba is a Palestinian dish popular throughout the Middle East.  Once the dish is cooked, the cooking pot is turned  upside down and removed to reveal  the edible crown beneath.  

I have no doubt that Maqluba takes centre stage on the table at Middle Eastern family feasts, especially now when many Muslims across the world are taking part in the holy time in the Islamic calendar of Ramadan and this may be part of the Iftar meal - breaking of the fast.  I do however wonder how the Syrian asylum seekers  in the Calais Jungle in France are coping at this trying and testing time.  There is an initiative called The Refugee Community Kitchen which has seen a group of compassionate people band together to help the refugees living in the camps of Europe.  The Refugee Community Kitchen have come together to create a kitchen to feed people to sustain them and their children.  I hope we can all play a small part here and donate a little.

Maqluba is often made with meat, but I have adapted a meat version from Libyan Food and Kitchen of Palestine. into a version, suitable not just for vegetarians but also vegans.  This one is made with aubergines and cauliflower.

I have to admit, I was expecting it to collapse on removing the pot, but it remained perfectly intact. I was really pleased to even slice it perfectly too.  Feel free to sprinkle with toasted pine-nuts, almonds or herbs.  
Other posts related to Refugee Week
Eritrean Zigni and Berbere
Middle Eastern Kibbeh
Somalian Fava Beans 
Syrian Cauliflower Zahra Mnazalet
Zimbabwean Butternut Squash

Vegan Vegetarian Jollof Rice

Early in the week, whilst I was doing some research for work (honestly I was), I stumbled on The Best Jollof Rice Competition held in Brixton, London today.  It the UKs first ever Jollof competition, in past there have been Best Rum Cake. Its hosted by The Afrikan Family Works. I  love these grassroots community spirited competitions.  I thought I would compete virtually with my vegan Jollof variation, but I sincerely wish the hosts and the participants the best and hope the event is a success.  

For those of you unfamiliar with Jollof.  Jollof rice or Benachin which means 'one pot' originates in Senegal.  Jollof is eaten all across West Africa and has recently become appreciated alongside the South Indian Pilaf and the Spanish Paella.

So here it is my vegan Jollof  rice.  I added peppers, okra and chickpeas to the Jollof rice only because I didn't have an accompaniment with it.  I am no expert at making Jollof, in fact this is my first time and I adapted and combined two different recipes, so I hope my blog readers of African descent will approve, or point me in the right direction, just please don't be mean.  

As a person of South Asian heritage who has seen so many much loved curry and dal recipes completely changed that they are no longer recognisable as curries or dals, I completely understand the reaction to this version of Jollof and I would agree we should not allow that version to become the official one just because it rates high in page rankings due to its celebrity association; and should respect it origins and roots.  Just think about it.  

The recipe will feed up to six greedy  people for sure, so we have eaten some today and will reheat tomorrow for our evening supper and some to spare.  Although I have written two Scotch Bonnets in the recipe instructions, I should be honest and point out that there is only one whole Scotch Bonnet in this pot, you can keep the seeds in it if you wish, but I won't begrudge you if you do wish to remove them.  

Mexican Style Rice, Achiote Tempeh 'Steaks' and Guacamole

I made this Mexican Style Rice, Achiote Tempeh 'Steaks' and Guacamole some time last week.  What day it exactly was I cannot remember, but I know it was warm and I thought, this was a good dish to enjoy eating out in the garden.

I had been given some Recado Rojo aka Achiote (Annato) Paste a long while back by a fellow blogger.  And it is her recipe suggestion that I have followed for the marinade, she called it Pibil. 

There was something Tandoori paste like about the achiote paste, but it was not as highly seasoned, spiced or particularly fragrant.  It did however impart a fantastic muddy red saffron colouring to the tempeh.  I have used annatto seeds in the past, mostly for the vegan chorizo sausages that require annatto infused oil, of course I made my own Annatto infused oil (and in the future I will have a go at making my own Achiote Paste too).  

Tempeh has always been a bit of a hit and miss with me, but I have to admit, I had not had this brand of tempeh before and if was soft and moist, whereas tempeh that i have had in the past have been quite firm and the soy beans texture was too prominent.  

Okay, I don't have a recipe as such for this Mexican plate, but here is what I did.  For the Achiote Tempeh had been marinating overnight in the sauce: 25g of the 100g packet of achiote with 100ml orange juice, a couple of cloves of garlic, minced and a dash of lime.  Combine well, then coat the sliced tempeh slices on both side and leave to marinade.   The following day, I baked them in the oven, flipping it over halfway so both sides were cooked for 20 - 25 minute. 

I cooked plain white Basmati rice in advance and allowed it to cool down.  Heat a little oil  in a pan, then saute an onion that has been sliced and a couple of garlic cloves that have been crushed until soft.  I then stirred in some cooked black beans (left over from a previous dish), sweetcorn from a can, minced jalapenos from a jar and a pinch of red chilli flakes and lots, and I mean lots of fresh coriander until it began to smell all wonderfully fragrant, finally I stirred in the cooked rice. 

Served with home-made guacamole and optional soured cream.  It was quite good, delicious in fact.  I had some Mexican style rice left over, so took it into work for lunch the following day.  It worked well cold (room temperature) too.  I am sharing this with Jac over at Tinned Tomatoes for Meat Free Mondays; and also to No Croutons Required hosted this month by Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen,

Mujaddara with Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Its been a long, productive and busy day in the garden.  I will up-date you with progress later in the week with photographs and a little herbal harvest, but today I am sharing a plate of food that a made a couple of months back.

I made this well known Arabic rice dish known as Mujaddara  when I was harvesting purple sprouting broccoli from the garden.  I enjoy eating rice and lentils.  One of my favourite dishes is the South Asian Chawal and Dal - basically rice and lentils, its a humble dish, but it is one that gives me comfort, and for me Mujarddara is similar.  

Although I had shallow fried some fresh  onions for the topping, I forgot to top the Mujaddara rice here (for the photography) with the crispy onions, only because I had replaced it with steamed PSB, adding fried onions does make a difference as it adds another texture as well as layer of flavour.    

I am not going to share the recipe for Mujaddara here, as there are loads of recipes on blogosphere and most vegetarian cookbooks have a recipe for Mujaddara - so go and flick through them and you will find. I am off to bed, its been a long busy day and I have work tomorrow. Bye bye long Bank Holiday weekend, time appreciated.  

Rosewater Rice Pudding

I cannot remember the last time I had rice pudding.  I think it must have been at my parents.  Maybe I should not admit to this, but when I was a child, I remember scraping of the cooked in brown bits at the bottom of the pan, I can't see me doing that now somehow - well maybe when no one is looking.

Rice pudding is not something I make- at all in fact, as D doesn't get on well with dairy milk so much, so I avoid making too many heavily milk based dishes, until now.  The skies here are constantly overcast and I feel a bit of ice in the air too, that its got me thinking of something more rib sticking than cake - so it is time for rice pudding.  

This began as a plain rice pudding, but I enhanced it with some rosewater and rose petals.

I don't have access to any fresh roses, (duh it is November) though I do see some pink ones growing in the new neighbours garden, but I don't ask them - making do with the dried rose petals in my store cupboard.  The last time I used the jar of dried rose petals was for the Rhubarb and Rose Bread, they impart a little colour if nothing else.  If you want to see a pink shade to this Rosewater Rice Pudding to signify the rosy aspect of it, I guess you could also add a little red food colouring, but that's up to you.  I like it how it looks here.

Another reason I wanted to make some rice pudding was that I had picked up a packet of flaked rice from the supermarket.  It was okay, but I think I prefer proper rice for rice pudding, as it gives more of a chewy, teeth sticking texture. 

Rosewater (and cardamon) is a classic South Asian and Persian combination, however I know that for some of my readers 'rosewater' may not appeal being deemed either a little too feminine or perfumed (like lavender), so I  am okay with them omitting this ingredient from the the recipe.  For those of you wanting something a little more different to jeuge up your plain rice pudding, feel free to stir in perhaps maple syrup, or even for the big kids in you - golden syrup or maybe some chocolate - oh gosh the options are endless.  I am sharing a bowl of this rice pudding at SimpleLives Thursday#70 hosted by Gnowfglins.

Rosewater Rice Pudding aka Gulab Pani Ki Kheer
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
100g Basmati rice or flaked rice
1 litre full fat milk
4 - 6 tablespoons caster sugar

1 tablespoon rosewater or rose syrup
1 teaspoon dried rose petals.
2 - 3 tablespoons toasted almond flakes for decoration and texture
Method
Wash and soak the rice for about 15 minutes.
Drain the rice and then place in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Stir in the milk and sugar and bring to the boil.   Then lower the heat and simmer for about an hour or until you get a rich, creamy texture. 

Add the rosewater or rose syrup, and dried rose petals.  Simmer for a few minutes for the flavours to infuse, then serve garnished with the tasted almonds flakes. 

Indonesian Savoury Pineapple Rice

I don’t know how authentic a Indo-Malay dish this is, but I have seen a number of Thai recipes for it.  I also found a Pineapple Fried Rice recipe on Rasa Malaysia (the site where I sought inspiration for the Malaysian Back Pepper Tofu), so it must surely exist.

I was never one for blending sweet and savoury flavours, but my tastes have developed so much since leaving home for University.  It may be a strange thing to say, but the flavours in this Indonesian Savoury Pineapple Rice were reminisce of Peshwari Naan.  A Peshwari naan is a traditional recipe where the naan is stuffed with a combination of almonds, apples, cinnamon, coconut, raisins and sultanas. Its often served with spicy curries. 

Anyway back to the Savoury Pineapple rice - it had texture from the cashew nuts and coconut, flavour and colour from the peas and juicy pineapple chunks.  I liked it,  but for my own reasons would have preferred a little more spice, perhaps a little sprinkling of chilli flakes.

The recipe does advise to hollow the fresh pineapple out with leaves in tact, so it can then be served as a plate for the pineapple rice. I haven't bothered with presentation purely  because I would  have been impatient with carving process, plus I wasn't in the mood to impress, but please don't let me stop you if you wish to do this.  It will definitely have 'wowzee' visual impact.  

Ketjap manis is an Indonesian soy sauce, which is sweeter and less salty than other types. If you can’t get it, just use normal soy sauce, and add a teaspoon of brown sugar; or a dash of honey. Oh I should mention, although I've used fresh pineapple for this recipe, you can if you wish use tinned pineapples for this recipe. I also think this recipe would be good served at room temperature too. So one for the lunch or picnic basket is you so desire.

Indonesian Savoury Pineapple Rice
Serves 4
Ingredients
300g Basmati rice, cooked and set aside.
1 large pineapple,
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 onion, peeled and minced
100g whole cashew nuts, toasted under the grill
140g frozen peas, thawed
3 – 4 tablespoons Ketjap Manis
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut, toasted under the grill

Method

Peel the pineapple, chop in half and discard the hard core. Then chop the flesh into ¼ inch pieces.
Heat the sesame oil in a wide pan, add the onion and cook until tender. Then turn the heat down, and stir in 4 – 6 tablespoons of the cooked rice together with the pineapple chunks, cashews, peas, ketjap manis and the sugar. Then stir in the remaining rice. Taste and add a little more ketjap manis if necessary. Heat until the rice has warmed up, then pile onto plates and sprinkle over the dessicated coconut.

Serve and enjoy!  Adapted from Rose Elliot's Vegetarian Supercook

Radishing Rice

One of my absolute favourite ways to eat this fuchsia root vegetable is raw, sliced in half and then dipped in equal mix of salt and red chilli powder. The radish delivers a crisp and crunchy burst of peppery mist, enhanced further by the salty-chilli flavours.

Another one of my favourite radish recipe is a South Asian curry known as Mooli Methi Salan (Radish Fenugreek Curry). Mooli Methi curry is traditionally made with fresh with fresh fenugreek.  Fenugreek is an acquired taste, I really like it and am actually growing some in the garden.  Its really hard to describe the flavour of fenugreek, its pungent and has bitter undertones.  Anyway, I would have made this spicy curry dish, but I wanted something a little lighter, yet comforting and ended up making a savoury rice.  In place of the fresh fenugreek I’ve used dried fenugreek also known as kasoori; kesuri methi.  You can find dried fenugreek, (as well as cassia bark and black cardamon) at most South Asian grocers, and even in some of the larger supermarkets, but if you can't find any you can substitute it with another green leaf, though the flavour won't be the same.

This savoury Radish and Fenugreek rice dish turned out to be quite flavourful.  I had under estimated the heat of the fresh green chilli finding the seeds a little intense, so you may want to use only one, rather than two as well as remove the fiery seeds.

When my mother cooked savoury Pilau rice dish, she would just *throw in all the whole spices into the pot to infuse the rice.  It was quite normal for us to be pushing the cassia bark to the side of the plate; or picking out the cloves and peppercorns, so the appearance of these inedible whole spices don’t bother me.  However, I understand not everyone is like me and may find them unsightly, even off putting.  So with the exception of the coriander and cumin seeds, you may wish to tie the spices in a muslin cloth whilst cooking.

Radish and Fenugreek Rice

Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or butter)
I medium onion, finely sliced
Optional: Cassia bark*
Optional: Black Cardamon*
1 ½ teaspoon mixture of cloves, cumin, coriander and black peppercorns*
1 -2 green chillies, sliced
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
185g or1 cup of Basmati rice, washed and drained
450ml or 2 cups water
Optional: 2 – 3 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
250g radishes, whole or chopped in half if you wish

Method
Heat oil in a pan with a tight fitting lid. Add the onion and all the spices and cook until the the onion is meltingly soft. Stir in the rice and the fenugreek leaves, dry fry for a couple of minutes, before pouring in the water. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and add in the radishes, do not stir in as they will overcook.

Put the lid on and cook on low heat for 25 – 30 minutes. Stir rice and radishes well, before serving. 

If you wish, serve with natural yogurt or soured cream.

Curried Tofu with Turmeric rice

This dish is unusual for me, as I don’t normally use tofu in ‘South Asian style curry' based dishes. I am always happy to use fresh vegetables, but I had picked up this tofu to compliment the dried Chinese mushrooms - a broth of sort had come to mind, however it had not been used and it was fast reaching its use by date. As Tofu is not a particularly affordable ingredient to purchase, I did not wish to waste it. I have a wish that one-day I’d like to have a go at making my own, but until that day (should it arrive) I’m relatively happy with this brand.
This is a mild spiced curry with absolutely no chilli heat at all. The flavours were fine, but I personally don’t think the tofu worked well here, as it was too soft and did not absorb the flavours. But I understand its addition here as it was designed with our vegan friends in mind. If you not vegan, I think ‘paneer’ a Indian tofu like cheese would work well, it has more texture and bite, even mock 'chicken' style pieces would work which would have been Ds preference.
Turmeric rice
Serve 2 – 4 with accompaniments
Ingredients
200g Basmati rice
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
400ml water
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Rinse and rain the rice. Heat he oil in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Add the rice and turmeric and stir on high heat for a minute or two. Add the water and salt, bring to the boil, then turn down to a gentle simmer. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook covered for 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Fluff the rice with a fork, and let sit until ready to serve.

Curried Tofu

Serves 2 - 4 with accompaniments

Ingredients
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 ½ tablespoon ginger root, grated
1 tablespoon Curry powder
1 tablespoon Garam masala
Salt to taste
Packet of firm tofu, drained and cut into ½ inch cubes or triangles
1 x tin tomatoes, chopped or blitzed in food processor
Method
In a large saucepan with a lid, cook the onions in the oil on medium heat until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, garam masala, salt and tofu. Cover and cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes, and simmer for 15 minutes for the flavor to develop. Occasionally stir gently so not to break the tofu. Serve with rice. Adapted from Moosewood Collective Simple Suppers.

sautéed kale with rice

This sautéed kale and rice dish was made in a ready steady cook mode, when I got home from work feeling a little tired to cook something a bit more thoughtful. So this dish was compiled with what I had left lingering at the bottom of the fridge.
In a wide pan, I warmed some olive oil, then I added some sliced garlic and the shredded curly kale (stalks removed). I continued to sautée the kale until it was tender and then seasoned it with salt and pepper to taste. I also found some broad beans. I have no idea how long they have been there, but added them to the pan too. Then I stirred the kale and broad beans to some cooked Basmati rice. As it was a little dry, I served it with some home-made piccalilli. Its not the best meal ever, but it fed us well.

Braised baby carrots with cheats broad bean pilau

Pilau, puloa or pilaf is a dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat is cooked. It begins with the process of caramelizing sliced onions in butter, until it is browned and golden, the rice is added and is then cooked in a highly seasoned broth made with a large blend of spices. Pilau's may also contain a variety of meat and vegetables.
My pilau is a cheats version, you will forgive me I'm sure, when I tell you its much healthier too as I've replaced the butter with Olive oil. The baby carrots, broad beans and the sad excuse of a garlic bulb are all from my garden plot. Its not highly flavoured as a traditional pilau, but it served us well for a homely meal.

Braised baby carrots with Broad Bean pilau

Serves 2

Ingredients

Basmati rice, enough for two people

Enough baby carrots for two people

Enough broad beans for two people

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely sliced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

100ml vegetables stock

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper

Method

Cook the rice, set aside.

Place carrots in a wide saucepan together with 2 tablespoons olive oil, ground cumin, vegetable stock, garlic, dash or two of Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Cover with a lid and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, until the carrots are tender and coated in the sauce.

While the carrots cook, in another pan, blanch the broad beans in boiling water for 7 minutes and drain. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and fry until brown and crisp in places. Add the cumin seeds and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the broad beans. Stir well over low heat for a minutes. Then stir the broad beans and the onions with all the oil into the rice and serve with the carrots and its sauce.

Adapted from Nadine Abensur's Cranks Fast Food. To make this more of a substantial meal, it may be worth serving it with some lentils or pulses. I think I may do that next time.