Vegetarian Chilli
Believe me the flavours are so good I doubt you'll miss having meat in it.
Ingredients:
1 large red onion, diced. 2 cloves of garlic, sliced. 2 small aubergines and 2 courgettes, chunked. 1 red and green pepper, chunked. 1 deseeded red chilli, diced. 1/2 tsp each of ground cumin; coriander; hot chilli pepper. 1 tin of chopped tomatoes. 1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed. Salt and black pepper to taste. Lots of dried and fresh oregano, 2 bay leaves and a small cinnamon stick.
B...
Sweet & Sour quick Pickled Salad
Isn't it funny how easy it is to forget how delicious something was if you've not eaten it for a decade or more? Invited a lone sailor to have supper with us a couple of days ago, he brought his "Grandmothers special salad" recipe to share. Reminded me and the Boss of something we'd not eaten for years. Happy days!
It's almost too simple to write up but, if you like us, had forgotten the crisp simple flavours? Well, you might be nostalgically pleased.
Ingredients for the dressing: simply ...
Gala Meatloaf
Very simple to make and equally good for lunch with salad or for supper with perhaps grilled vegetables. Pickles and chutneys on the side and that's it!
Ingredients: 3 hard boiled eggs. 700g minced beef or turkey. 1 finely diced spring onion. 1 medium sized carrot, grated. 1 clove of garlic. Salt, pepper, sweet paprika powder. Very finely chopped parsley.
Barbecue sauce to glaze, optional.
Pre-heat oven to 280 degrees. Butter a 1k capacity loaf tin.
Sauté the onion, carrot and garlic for ...
Aubergine, Tomato & Sweet Potato Curry
Many years ago I was fortunate to holiday with good friends in Kenya. These lovely people are of Indian origin, born in Kenya and have an amazing circle of friends and family both at their Mombasa and Diani beach residences. Anyhow, one of the "aunties" is such an awesome cook. Her version of this is far superior to mine but would she relinquish a recipe? Heck no.... For now this is as close as I'm going to get to that. Happy with the result, it's fiery; creamy and packed with delicious ...
Grain free Granola
"I can't believe it's not granola"
Crunchy nuts with gorgeous dried fruit, coconut and flaxseed. Really delicious on its own or, my favourite, with chopped fresh fruit and some Greek yoghurt. Brilliant power snack!
1 cup of roughly chopped walnuts.
1 cup of almonds. Half roughly chopped, the rest whole.
1 cup of chopped dried fruit. I used figs and prunes.
3 tbsp flaxseed.
3 tbsp desiccated coconut.
1 tbsp coconut oil.
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup.
Stir everything together until ...
Roasted Beetroot & Sweet Potato Soup
I'm not sure how best to describe the flavours but here goes... Earthy richness from the beetroot, sweetness from the potato and garlic and just enough spice and chilli to give a kick. Perfect on this rainy thunderstorm filled day in Corfu!
Roasting everything in a hot oven gives an intensity you'd never get from simply sautéing. Simple, delicious, healthy and inexpensive.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp of oil, I used coconut oil.
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut in chunks.
3 medium sized ...
Smokey Tuna Dip
I know, there's tons of recipes for tuna dip but most are mushy and wet in my opinion. I've been making it this way for years, texture is important in food!
Smoked paprika works beautifully however if you can get hold of a bottle of "liquid smoke" wow, takes food to a completely new dimension.
Main ingredients: A medium sized tin of tuna, drained. A small tin of sweetcorn, drained. 2 finely chopped spring onions. A few chopped caper berries or gherkins. About 4 tblsp of full fat cream ...
Vegan Cauliflower, Runner Bean, Coconut Curry
Satisfying, fragrant and mildly spiced - next time I'll add more chilli.
Ingredients: 300g runner beans, stringed and sliced. 300g cauliflower florets. 1 red onion; 3 cloves garlic; knob of fresh ginger; 1/2 tsp of turmeric, ground cumin, ground coriander; 1tsp curry powder. 1 small cinnamon stick, 1 chopped red chilli (remove seeds), 2 tsp mustard seeds, a few curry leaves, 400g tin of coconut milk. 1 tsp garam masala. Juice of 1 lime. Fresh coriander leaves.
Heat a tblsp of oil in a ...
Charred Asparagus with Caper Dressing
One of the best things about food is the pure excitement when vegetables and fruit appear at the correct season. None of this imported or forced stuff, thank you very much! YAY, asparagus season is here.
Very simple: Break the woody ends off the asparagus, shave the stems if you must, then blanch in boiling salted water for about 4 mins. Remove instantly from the water. This leaves them al dente.
Hard boil and egg or two and finely mash.
The dressing: 2 parts oil to one ...
Smooth Chicken Liver Pate
No, I don't really enjoy chopping liver either (I can hear you saying "yuck liver"!) but believe me this is so much better than shop bought. I never make a huge quantity, unless it's part of a buffet spread, as it keeps for no more than 3 days.
Remove any fat and sinew fibres from the chicken liver.
Sauté a finely diced small onion in 80g of butter until softened. Add 300g chopped chicken liver and a crushed clove of galic. Sauté until browned and cooked through. Add a tblsp of ...
