21/09/2009 by D.

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21/09/2009 by D.

1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
4 potatoes
4 carrots
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1/2 cup red lentils (cover with water)
1 bayleaf
1/2 pint chicken or veg stock
1/2 pint milk
1 cup grated cheese and ground black pepper to serve

NB Do not attempt this without the green pepper!!

Chop up all the veg into roughly 1cm cubes.  Melt the butter and oil in a large pan, then add all the vegetables.  Stir for a minute or so.  Add the lentils with their water, the bayleaf and the stock.  (To add the stock I chuck the stock cube into the pan, then pour over the boiling water and let them get on with it, but do it whichever way makes you happy).

Stir to make sure none of the lentils are sticking to the bottom.  Add the milk and bring to boil.  The liquid should cover all the veg.  If not, add more water or milk, (or exactly half and half if you like to be precise).  Leave to simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing sticks.

It should look like a thick golden stew/soup.  If the stock is still quite runny, squish a few potatoes against the side of the pan, then stir them in.  Check that you can’t see any lentils, they should have cooked down completely.  Remove the bayleaf. 

To serve, add a small amout of grated cheese to the bottom of your bowl, then ladle the soup on top.  Grind on some black pepper, and if you are hungry, line up some bread and butter for the side.

This soup improves with reheating and freezes well; certainly a recipe that is more than the sum of its parts, very cheap, easy to do and extremely tasty!

Posted in Lentil, Vegetarian, Pepper, Soup, Onion, Carrot, Toddler, Recipe, Potato, Weaning | Print | No Comments »

18/09/2009 by D.

Fruit: Bananas, Apples, Pears, Red Grapes
Veg: Potatoes, sweetcorn, green pepper, chard, salad, tomatoes, onions, carrots

I’m not feeling all that inspired this week, what with the darkening nights and drizzle.  We’ve had the chard and ricotta pasta with the salad and I’ll be making a harvest vegetable soup with the carrots, potatoes, onions and green peppers.  The soup has red lentils, cheese and milk in it so its creamy, thick and comforting; almost more of a stew really.  I’ll post the recipe at some stage as it is a real winter staple for us.  We’ll get some steaks and bacon from the butcher on broadway tomorrow and have steak and pommes dauphinoise for saturday evening and oat pancakes with bacon, banana and maple syrup on Sunday.  Yum, I love weekend brunch!  I’ll probably use the tomatoes in my cheese sandwiches next week as I’m trying to reduce the number of lunches I’ve been having at the pavilion!

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16/09/2009 by D.

1 tsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bag chard - any type, washed and shredded, stalks and all (or spinach)
1 lemon (juice only)
1 tsp nutmeg
1 stock cube (veg or chicken, I like kallo ones) disolved in 2 tbsp hot water
1 tub ricotta

heat oil, add onion and fry until transparent.  add chard, half the lemon juice, nutmeg and stock.  Leave to simmer for a five minutes until chard is wilted.  Add ricotta, then blitz with a blender (I use one of those hand held things straight into the pot).  Season to taste, add more lemon juice/salt as required.

I serve this with linguini, freshly grated parmesan and some dry pan-toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.  Or else I use the sauce to stuff cannelloni or pancakes, then cover them with a thick tomato sauce and a layer of cheese before baking for half an hour.

Posted in Spinach, Ricotta, Pasta, Vegetarian, Onion, Chard, Recipe | Print | No Comments »