Green Chili with Welsh Leeks and Edamame Beans

The Welsh leeks season is coming to an end and I thought I'd make the most of it in this big bowl of Green Chile.  

This was not your typical chili as the spice flavours were toned down by the sweetness from all the greens including the leeks. Also the green from the leeks were a bit muted, but were uplifted by the addition of soya and edamame beans and peas (from the freezer) and a final garnish of fresh chives from the garden plot. 

I thought the bowl of Green Chile was going to be mellow from the sweet leeks, so I decided to make a Pineapple and Jalapeno Salsa to go with it.  This uplifted the dish with another dimension of spice and warmth. I will share the recipe for the Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa in the next couple of days. 

I am sharing this Bowl of Green Chili with Eat Your Greens challenge hosted this month by The VegHog - You still have a day to share your #EatYourGreens recipe with the VegHog.  I am also sharing this recipe with My Legume Love Affair hosted by Fix Me A Little Lunch;and sadly for the final time with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition.

Simple Turmeric Potatoes with Whole Fava Bean and Carrot Chilli

We had plans to go into Bristol this weekend, but D felt we had been there too recently and didn't fancy it.  

Then our plans to go exploring elsewhere were still scuppered as the rain came spitting down, so it was to be a day indoors for yet another week.  No gardening either, so its down to a bit of housework and some cooking for the week ahead.

I wanted a change from the rice accompaniment that we normally have to this Fava Bean Carrot Chilli, so I decided to make some Turmeric New Potatoes.  

Some of you may remember the last time I made Turmeric Potatoes they were Atomic Yellow and belonged to a fictitious world far and beyond... These ones are far more acceptable to the discerning eye.  The turmeric not only imparts colour, it does impart flavour too and worked well with the Whole Fava Bean and Carrot Chilli. 

Somalian Shahan Ful (Fava Beans in Xawash Tomato Sauce)

Refugee Week is a continuation of World Refugee Day and marks a collective acknowledgement across the world to raise awareness  of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers across the world.   

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some colleagues and some of my readers.

Today I will share a vegetarian Somalian dish, that also happens to be vegan.  It is Shahan Faul, Ful Sahan.  This is a bean dish that is also very common in Eritrea, Ethiopian and Sudan.  But before I share the recipe, you may be interested to know that Somali's have been in the U.K for over a century, arriving here as merchant seamen and settling in port cities like Bristol, Liverpool and Cardiff.  However, it was in the 1990s following famine and further conflict in the region in 2011 that many Somalis began to arrive in the UK after being granted with a refugee status.  

A refugee is "a person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of 'race', religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it" 

The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. 

So back to the recipe...when I originally asked a Somalian colleague in my workplace could he give or suggest to me a vegetarian recipe that I could cook at home and he immediately put his hand to his mouth and tried to contain the roar in his laughter - we are big meat eaters.  

This is true, Somali cuisine is meat orientated.  Vegetarianism is quite rare.  Vegetables appear to largely be side dishes, or a combination of meat and vegetables.  By the way, you may be interested to know that in Somalia pasta features quite a bit a part of their cuisine. This arrived with the Italians n the 1880s and sweet dishes came with the Arabs.

Anyway, after musing at my question he mentioned this fava bean dish and here it is a bronze gold bowl of loveliness.  Ful Sahan is often served with anjara, injera bread or Sabaayad which is made with a sourdough starter, but we had it with chewy brown rice.  The slow cooking of the sauce intensified the flavour and made the beans soft inside, but still retaining its wholesome shape.  I totally loved it and could have just easily eaten this from a bowl.  I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair #96 hosted by Lisa's Kitchen;  and No Croutons Required.

Wye Valley Asparagus, Broad Beans and Mint Quiche

Lighter and brighter evenings call for light and easy to eat food.  

Over the next few days, various quiches, tarts and salads will be appearing on our plate. One of the first is this Wye Valley Asparagus, Caerphilly Broad Beans and homegrown mint. 

D is totally enjoying these leggy green spears whilst they are in season and taking advantage of when he sees it on offer, bringing some home by the bundle for me to work my culinary magic on and bring to the table.  But truth is there is not an awful lot you can do to asparagus.  I mean I don't want to mess with it too much, turning it into a soup or an asparagus hummus. 

Because of the asparagus short season, I really do think the best way to enjoy it is to simply blanch it and tuck in: dipping it into soft boiled eggs; stirred into a pasta dish or as a simple tart topping, maybe even in a risotto.  

Back to this home-made Asparagus, Broad Beans and Mint Quiche.  All the flavours were there.  The green grassy flavour of the asparagus, the burst of the fresh broad beans still in its skin and the mint was just right, not overpowering at all. The oozy eggy creamy cheesy filling was just right too, it had a little wobble which I liked; and more to my surprise this aspect remained - even on reheating.  

Vegan Broad Bean and Coriander Soft 'Cheese'

Today I share with you a recipe that I bookmarked and made pretty much made as soon as I saw it.  The recipe in for Broad Bean 'Cheese' comes from Jasmine Trinity over at Self Sufficient Cafe.  When I saw it only last month as part of Eat Your Greens challenge, I bookmarked it immediately.  In fact I  was so bowled over by its awesomeness (a word that I do not use lightly) that  I made it within a week or so of seeing it, another reason for this haste was wanting to use up the last of my late broad beans.  

I've made vegetarian and vegan jelly's (in the British sense) with agar agar at home plenty of times mostly with fruit and vegetable juices, but I had never used agar agar and green vegetables in this way before and I was very, very impressed, not just with the result, but how it looked and tasted.  

Fresh Mint Broad Bean Potato Salad

A simple green potato salad dish straight from the garden plot to the plate.

Yes I am proud to boast that all the ingredients have come from my garden.  New potatoes, fresh mint, spring onions and broad beans finished off with a light olive oil dressing seasoned with salt and pepper. Simple.  

 So there is no real recipe to share here, you just have to make it to taste and tuck in with a fork.  

 Enjoy!

Yellow Mangetout, Broad Beans and Garden Peas Tart

There is still a week to go to share your vegan and vegetarian Eat Your Greens recipes. I have already received some made with seasonal vegetables and herbs, like chives and basil and I can't wait to share them with you all.  

Well talking of EatYourGreens, here is a Broad Bean and Garden Peas Quiche with some yellow mangetout.  All these came from my garden plot.  If I had chickens, the free range eggs would have come from my garden too, but that plan is maybe a year away.  

Anyway, I got carried away trying to make the garden vegetables look like an arty farty picture, that I forgot to put the shredded cheese on top, hence the reason it is looking so pale.  I only realised this omission when I took it out of the oven.  No worries, I chucked the grated cheese on top and bunged it back in the oven for a few minutes for it to melt. 

Also its not the best Tart I've ever made, in fact its mediocre.  It tasted alright, but how it looked was a bit disappointing.  For the sharp eyed amongst you, you may have already noted it, but for those of you who need prompting, well if you look closely, first at the above image - in trying to remove it from the tin, I managed to snap the bottom right, and secondly, if you look at the image below - the real reason for this is that there was a crack in the pastry which caused some of the filling to leak out.   Hey, these things happen even to the most experiences of cooks and this time it was my turn! 

Chilli Coconut Bulgur Wheat Salad

I made way too much Bulgur wheat a week or so back to accompany my Groundnut Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry.   Instead of ditching it, I thought what else could i do with it.  I decided to make a salad with it that could be enjoyed over two days, one day as a main meal, the second day to take into work for lunch.   I decided to roast some vegetables that I had in the house courtesy of a complimentary vegetable box from new acquaintances.  These included a Romano Red pepper, carrots and my own home-grown broad beans.  But even then I thought the roasted vegetable Bulgur wheat salad  would have been too plain for my taste buds, so I decided to make a Chilli Coconut Relish to go with it.  The Chilli Coconut Relish was originally just going to be put on the side, but I decided to stir it into the Bulgur wheat.  It was terrific.  

The chilli coconut flavour relish is based on a Red Pol Sambol recipe.  Sambol or Sambal  is a Sri Lankan condiment often found ready made to be sprinkled on a curry or rice dish, or anything that requires a flavour boost or enhanced further.  Its really is simple. I was introduced to it by a Sri Lankan acquaintance a little while back, but never really had reason to make it before.  I don't think they will approve completely of my version, but let us not tell ay and keep it between us. 

Vegan Smoked Paprika Capsicum and Broad Beans Tartlets

What we know as peppers in the U.K, bell peppers to be more precise, my mother has always called them capsicum, so it is with her in mind that I am calling my peppers in this recipe Capsicum.

I picked up some colourful dainty capsicums from the markets the other day, only because they looked rather cute.   I was going to slit them open, deseed and then roast them in the oven with a little olive oil and seasoning, then the plan was to stuff them with a grain, something like quinoa or couscous, but then when the day came to cook with them, well I couldn't be bothered.  I think I just felt hot and bothered, well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.  So I changed my mind making these Capsicum Tartlets instead, a little bit more easier as the pastry was ready made and the rest was quite straight forward, well I think so.  

Instead of throwing the sliced capsicum on to the paprika infused tofu batter, I decided to take time and make them sunburst style, the blanched broad beans however were just thrown on.  

We enjoyed these over two days, first warm from the oven.  The second day, at room temperature. The smoked paprika really lifts what could easily be described as a plain Capsicum Tart.  It made a pleasant change from the traditional egg and cheese based tarts.  

Broad Bean and Black Peppermint Flan

The last few weeks, I've been creating a lot of tart and flan based meals, and here I go again and present you with another savoury one.

This flan is studded with fresh broad beans and some black peppermint which came from the garden.  Black peppermint is exactly what is says it is - its mint that smells like black pepper.  But unlike the traditional green mint, the leaves of this one are thicker and dark, almost velvet purple in colour.  On cooking, the black peppermint didn't impart that much flavour .  I think to appreciate it more for both scent and flavour, it would benefit being part of a salad rather than a cooked dish like this;. 

Still we enjoyed a slice of this tart earlier.  We have more than half left over, which we will be taking with us tomorrow as we will be travelling down South again.  To be honest, I want to go and see my mother-in-law and my family again, as well as see the progress on my Dads allotment but at the same time there are so many things here that we have to do for our move down - I guess they will just have to wait until we come back.

I am submitting this recipe to Cinzia of Cindy Star for this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) #290. WHB is overseen by Haalo from Cook Almost Anything.
Broad Bean and Black Peppermint Flan
For the shortcrust pastry to line a 8 - 9 inch round tin
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
225g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
125g butter
3 tablespoons water
Method
Add flour and salt to a bowl. Add the butter then rub it into the flour with your fingertips, lifting the mixture out of the bowl to incorporate as much air as possible as this will make the pastry light. Continue until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs, then add the water a little at a time and use your fingertips to press the mixture together and form a dough. Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead rolling out the dough into a round. Blind bake in a hot oven at gas mark 6 for 20 minutes.

Ingredients for the filling
200g broad beans, shelled
1 tablespoon Black peppermint or regular mint, minced
Spring onions, sliced
250g cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Blanch the broad beans for a couple of minutes. Then mix the broad beans with the cottage cheese, mint, spring onions, seasoning and the beaten egg. Spread the mixture in the flan case and bake in the oven at gas mark 5 for 30 – 35 minutes. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Oven braised fennel, green and runner beans

This potato, fennel and runner bean salad was an attempt to use up what we have in the vegetable basket and fridge, otherwise it was all destined for the compost bin in the garden. But before I share the recipe, here's some photographs of vegetables growing in my garden.

The beetroot is not looking promising. Oh it has excellent leaves, but I'm doubtful about the bulb itself.

Kohlrabi, the biggest of the three has now been harvested.

The last of the broad beans, pretty disappointing show this year, hence the reason I picked some up at the weekend.

This goldrush courgette also got picked.

So did this courgette di nizza. As well as fennel, a snowball cauliflower, a floret or two of broccoli and a handful of green bean. I also harvested a load of runner beans from both the Scarlet Emperor and hestia dwarf plants

Some of you will know that I am growing potatoes in two large pots. Even though they have not produced any flowers, I am sure they must be ready, but I have chosen not to harvest them, until after my holidays.

Oven braised fennel, green and runner beansCombined with new potatoes to make a warm salad.
Serves 2 - 4
Ingredients
250g small new potatoes, steamed and set aside
100g green beans, trimmed and halved
200g runner beans, trimmed and cut into diagonals
1 small red onion, sliced
1 medium fennel, ferns removed and sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic, sliced
2 -3 tablespoons olive oil
150ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: fresh fennel herb for garnishing

Method
Place the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water and boil for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Set aside.
Preheat oven to gas mark 6. In a large oven or baking tin. Add all the ingredients and stir well to combine. Cook for 35 – 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the potatoes. Garnish with fennel herb and serve warm.

Garnish with fennel herb and serve warm.

Question is now what to do with the kohlrabi and courgette di nizza and gold rush that I’ve just harvested. Maybe I should spend a little more time in the kitchen this evening and make a pasta salad for our journey down south or maybe some cakes and biscuits to take back to my family, I’m sure they’ll be appreciated more than a tin of chocolates and flowers!

Broad beans and shallots in a hot and sour tamarind sauce

There are only a couple of fat green broad bean fingers to pick in my garden. Not enough for a meal, so whilst I am waiting for more of them to fatten, I picked up some from the local supermarket for this evenings meal.

Now there were a number of recipes I could have made that would have allowed the flavour of the fresh broad beans to come through, but for those of you who have got to know me a little through blogging will know that I like big and bold flavours and this dish delivers. The seasonal broad beans and shallots remain the stars of the dish, but they are complimented wonderfully by the hot and sour sauce. Hot from the flecks of Scotch bonnet (from my freezer) and sourness from tamarind.
Tamarind paste is a deep dark chocolate coloured pulp. It is made from the fruit of the tamarind tree. The fruit itself is shaped like a long bean, inside which is a sour pulp. The pulp can be processed to make a paste or pressed to form a 'square cake'. Small pieces of tamarind cake can then be broken off and infused in hot water to create an acidic liquid flavouring used in South Asian cooking. I've always loved the sourness of the tamarind and could happily drink it, but you don't want too much as it is quite acidic. A dish that you may be familiar with if you regularly frequent an Indian restaurant is Imli chutney usually served alongside poppadoms or samosas. For readers overseas, you may be familiar with tamarind drinks such as agua de tamarindo or traditional sour soup in Thai cooking.

A few good years ago, when I started reading up on the origins of fruit, vegetables and history of ingredients, particularly those that came from overseas into the U.K. I was very interested to learn that a key ingredient of Worcestershire sauce and Brown sauce was tamarind.

Anyway, if you can't find the tamarind paste, look for the tamarind cake which I recommend purchasing from a South Asian store as it will cost a fraction of the price. When you find it, follow this link where the Indian actress turned chef Madhur Jaffrey shows the technique of extracting the flavours from the pressed cake which can be used for this recipe.
Broad beans and shallots in a hot and sour tamarind sauce
Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
1 ½ Tamarind paste
300g shallots or small onions
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic, minced
250g broad beans
½ Scotch Bonnet (aka Habarneros) chilli, minced
Method
Dilute the tamarind concentrate in 4 tablespoons of hot water and set aside.
Ina wide pan, large enough to hold the shallots in one single layer, heat the olive oil, then add the shallots and fry them briskly, shaking the pan from time to time for a few minutes until they go quite brown.
Temporarily remove the shallots to a plate and add the sliced onion to the pan, turn the heat down a bit and fry for several minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add the mustard, fennel and cumin seeds, turn the heat up again and fry briskly for a moment or two, until they start to crackle. Add the garlic, broad beans, partly cooked shallots and chilli and stir well to combine.
Pour in the tamarind liquid and enough water to come about halfway up the vegetables, then cover ad simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until both the beans and onions are tender. If there’s too much liquid left at the end, remove the lid, turn up the heat and allow most of it to cook off until reduced to a aromatic sauce. Serve with plain boiled rice. Slightly adapted from Catherine Masons Vegetable Heaven.

Broad bean, pea, feta and mint frittata

Although this dish was substantial and tasted good, I do think flipping the frittata over was a bit of a mistake as the juices of the feta just drained out. I think if you have a frying pan that is ovenproof, put it in the oven for 10 minutes or failing that under the grill until it browns nicely. You learn.

Broad bean, pea, feta and mint frittata

Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
225g mixture of peas and shelled fresh broad beans
6 medium eggs
3 tablespoons of olive oil
85g feta cheese, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
About 8 mint leaves, finely shredded
Method
Cook the broad beans and peas in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes until just tender. Beat the eggs in a bowl and season to taste. Heat the oil in a 7 inch frying pan. Then add broad beans. Pour the eggs into the pan and stir briefly, then cook over the medium heat until set underneath and around the edges. Add the mint and crumble the cheese in to the liquid egg and continue to cook over a very low heat until the egg is set and only slightly runny in the middle. Invert a plate over the frying pan and hold both together firm, then turn over so that the frittata is on the plate. Slide the frittata, runny side down, back into the frying pan and continue to cook until set underneath. Serve warm or cold.

This was accompanied with an allotment salad made up of various salad leaves, red onion, radishes, and a grated carrot.

Broad bean pilau with mint

This dish is inspired by a Turkish recipe called baklali ve tereotu pilavi (broad bean pilau with dill), except I don’t have any dill. Over the past few weeks, I have been boasting at how wonderful my herb plots are, but the dill I was growing has just withered away by the heat of the sun, so I have had to substitute the dill with mint.

It was still a tasty dish, the flavours of both the mint and the broad beans came through.

Broad bean pilau with mint
Serves 2 – 3
Ingredients
175g long grain rice, washed thoroughly under cold water and drained
250g shelled broad beans
6 tablespoons of butter (for vegan alternative, the butter can be substituted with olive oil)
2 tablespoons of fresh mint, minced finely
250ml water or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Method
In a large pot, add butter and melt, then add mint and rice and swirl to coat in buttery juices. Cook for a couple of minutes. Then pour in the water or stock, seasoned with a little salt if necessary. Stir and then cover the pan and cook over low heat for 30 – 35 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the liquid absorbed. Turn of the heat.

Remove the lid, and cover the pan with a clean tea towel, replace the lid and leave it to ‘rest’ for 10 minutes.

Fluff up the pilau with a fork, and serve with natural yogurt or soured cream.