This is a really simple and delicious side to a roast, or whatever you would normally eat mashed potatoes with, but much more exciting and healthy.
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes
3 medium carrots
1 stalk of celery
1 medium onion
2 turnips
2 cloves of garlic, halved
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pepper
1 handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
Method:
If you feel like being fancy, you could make a rough mirepoix* by chopping your carrots into rondels** and slicing up the celery and frying that with the onion quartered. When the onion is translucent, add with the the potato, garlic and turnip to salted boiling water in a pot. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. (Otherwise, you could just chop all the vegetables roughly and boil them all at once, altogether).
Drain the vegetables and then add the mustard, olive oil, pepper and fresh parley and mash it together until creamy.
Easy, healthy and delicious.
*mirepoix (pronounced "meerpwah"): the name for carrot, celery and onion chopped and used together for a base of a wide range of dishes.
*rondels: When you slice carrots at 90 degrees, they end up in little round circles, the word if from Old French, and also apparently Middle English. It's a very descriptive word. I like it.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Creamy Lentils
I pretty much just made this up right now and now I'm eating it and blogging about it at the same time so that I don't forget what I did.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 large carrot, chopped
2 peppers, chopped
5 tomatoes chopped / 440g can
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
2 tsp herbes de provence
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 cup dry, brown lentils
white sauce (1/2 c milk, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp flour)
1/2 block feta cheese
black pepper
Method:
Throw all herbs, garlic and vegetables in the pot with the dry lentils, water and stock. Boil for 45min until the lentils are soft. I think that the acid in the tomatoes and the salt in the stock makes them take longer to cook - usually they take about 30 min.
Make some white sauce with about half a cup of milk, 2 tbsp butter and then gradually add in the flour and stir quickly to prevent lumps on a medium heat. As the butter melts, and the flour cooks, the sauce will thicken. Let it boil for 5 min, stirring. Honestly, I am not sure about the quantities, I have never made white sauce from a recipe, I just throw stuff together and stir it until it's thickened. Sometimes I like to stir in black pepper as well.
Serve white sauce on top of the lentils and top with crumbed feta. Enjoy with some toasted pieces of baguette.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 large carrot, chopped
2 peppers, chopped
5 tomatoes chopped / 440g can
2 tsp vegetable stock powder
2 tsp herbes de provence
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 cup dry, brown lentils
white sauce (1/2 c milk, 2 tbsp butter, 1 tsp flour)
1/2 block feta cheese
black pepper
Method:
Throw all herbs, garlic and vegetables in the pot with the dry lentils, water and stock. Boil for 45min until the lentils are soft. I think that the acid in the tomatoes and the salt in the stock makes them take longer to cook - usually they take about 30 min.
Make some white sauce with about half a cup of milk, 2 tbsp butter and then gradually add in the flour and stir quickly to prevent lumps on a medium heat. As the butter melts, and the flour cooks, the sauce will thicken. Let it boil for 5 min, stirring. Honestly, I am not sure about the quantities, I have never made white sauce from a recipe, I just throw stuff together and stir it until it's thickened. Sometimes I like to stir in black pepper as well.
Serve white sauce on top of the lentils and top with crumbed feta. Enjoy with some toasted pieces of baguette.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Simple Borscht
As you may know, I don't like a lot of fuss when it comes to recipes- they shouldn't take days to prepare unless you are making something pretentious, ridiculous, and most likely Parisian. Most of the time, I don't think that the taste is much affected if it takes you 2 hours to cook instead of 2 days. This recipe I amended to be quick and easy. It is surprisingly tasty and one of my winter favourites.
Boscht, or Bortsch, is eaten from the Ukraine to Poland and Russia and can take many different forms, be eaten hot or cold, the common factor generally being beetroot. This version tends to be more typically Russian.
Ingredients:
8 cups beef stock
500g shin-in stewing beef
2 onions, peeled and chopped
5 medium carrots, chopped
8 medium beets, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 cups of thinly sliced cabbage
3 tsp red wine vinegar (lemon juice is a good substitute)
Double cream Greek yoghurt to serve (or sour cream)
Pepper to serve
Method:
This method is much simpler than the original recipe as you will see...
Add your stock, meat and onions into a large pot and let it get to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour until meat is cooked. If you like, you can get the meat out, cut it off the bone and cut it into bite-sized pieces to make it easier to eat.
Time for the carrots, beets and potato to go in. Let the pot simmer for an additional 30 min.
At this point, the meal is almost ready. Add in the cabbage and simmer for 15 min.
This is when you add the vinegar and stir in. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with a couple of tablespoons of the yoghurt and sprinkle with pepper.
Enjoy with a nice bread, or if you have a burst of energy, look up piroshski (small Russian pies often enjoyed with borscht) and try making some.
Notes:
To illustrate how Borscht is made in different ways, Constance Spry's recipe involves egg white and the only vegetable included is beetroot, other variations do not include beetroot at all, some rather include cucumber and others include a tomato base.
Beetroot are good for your heart, liver and can help prevent diabetes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeturia
I got my recipe from Simply Recipes and adapted it a bit: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/borscht/
Boscht, or Bortsch, is eaten from the Ukraine to Poland and Russia and can take many different forms, be eaten hot or cold, the common factor generally being beetroot. This version tends to be more typically Russian.
Ingredients:
8 cups beef stock
500g shin-in stewing beef
2 onions, peeled and chopped
5 medium carrots, chopped
8 medium beets, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 large potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
2 cups of thinly sliced cabbage
3 tsp red wine vinegar (lemon juice is a good substitute)
Double cream Greek yoghurt to serve (or sour cream)
Pepper to serve
Method:
This method is much simpler than the original recipe as you will see...
Add your stock, meat and onions into a large pot and let it get to the boil. Simmer for 1 hour until meat is cooked. If you like, you can get the meat out, cut it off the bone and cut it into bite-sized pieces to make it easier to eat.
Time for the carrots, beets and potato to go in. Let the pot simmer for an additional 30 min.
At this point, the meal is almost ready. Add in the cabbage and simmer for 15 min.
This is when you add the vinegar and stir in. Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with a couple of tablespoons of the yoghurt and sprinkle with pepper.
Enjoy with a nice bread, or if you have a burst of energy, look up piroshski (small Russian pies often enjoyed with borscht) and try making some.
Notes:
To illustrate how Borscht is made in different ways, Constance Spry's recipe involves egg white and the only vegetable included is beetroot, other variations do not include beetroot at all, some rather include cucumber and others include a tomato base.
Beetroot are good for your heart, liver and can help prevent diabetes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeturia
I got my recipe from Simply Recipes and adapted it a bit: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/borscht/
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Nacho Soup
The problem with this post is that I didn't have nachos to enjoy my 'soup' with so I just used some baked potatoes as the accompanying starch and served the soup over that.
WARNING: This is an extremely lazy meal.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 can Rhodes Mexican tomato mix
1 can kidney beans
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp ground garlic
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
2 avocados
4 tbs double cream greek yoghurt
1 tsp whole coriander
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup water
Method:
Fry the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
Add the can of tomato, corn, water and the beans with the spices.
Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes to combine the flavours.
Serve with a avocado cut up on top and add the yoghurt. If you have some fresh coriander, it will also garnish the dish nicely. A extra splash or Tabasco also won't do any harm. ;)
Enjoy.
WARNING: This is an extremely lazy meal.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 can Rhodes Mexican tomato mix
1 can kidney beans
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp ground garlic
1/2 cup frozen or fresh corn
2 avocados
4 tbs double cream greek yoghurt
1 tsp whole coriander
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup water
Method:
Fry the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.
Add the can of tomato, corn, water and the beans with the spices.
Simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes to combine the flavours.
Serve with a avocado cut up on top and add the yoghurt. If you have some fresh coriander, it will also garnish the dish nicely. A extra splash or Tabasco also won't do any harm. ;)
Enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)