Archive for November, 2009

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Carrot & Apple Salad

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Bunch of carrots

8 small carrots
2 eating apples
1/2 lemon (juiced)

Peel and grate the carrots; they don’t need to be really finely grated.  Grate the apples the same size (no need to peel).  Mix in the lemon juice to taste (very sour apples only need a little to stop the discolouration).

You can mix in a lemon based vinaigrette if you like (swap out the vinegar element for lemon juice and use a non olive vegetable oil).  I find the fresh carrots and apples at this time of year don’t really need much adornment in that department, but I do like a few toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds served in a side bowl to sprinkle on top.

This salad has a very tangy, lively and fresh flavour and a nice crunch (especially with the seeds), so complements creamy or plainish dishes like baked potatoes, fish pie and pasta bakes.

Posted in Apple, Carrot, Lemon, Pumpkin seeds, Recipe, Salad, Sunflower seeds, Toddler, Vegetarian | No Comments »

Parsnip & Apple Soup

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Parsnips

tbsp olive oil
1 leek
1 large parsnip (or two small ones)
1 eating apple
1 veg stock cube
1 ltr water
1/2 lemon to taste
salt to taste

Trim the leek, then halve and finely chop.  Peel and dice the parsnip, discard any hard, woody central bits if its a big one.  Wash the apple, cut off the ‘cheeks’ around the core and dice (no need to peel it).

Gently fry the leek in the oil, then add the parsnip, apple and stock.  Simmer for around 40 mins until the parsnip is really soft.  Liquidise.  Season with a squirt of lemon juice and salt.  Stir and taste.  Adjust as necessary.

This is a very light soup, slightly sweet sour and the texture of apple mousse.  It makes a great starter or light lunch and works well with bread and salty butter.

Posted in Apple, Leek, Lemon, Parsnip, Recipe, Soup, Vegetarian, Weaning | No Comments »

Organic Box 25th November 2009

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

fruit: bananas, gala apples, kiwis, oranges, tiny conference pears
veg: Nicola potatoes, butternut squash, spinach, broccoli, onions, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, garlic, lettuce, hackney salad

It was very cold out collecting the bags tonight, so its lovely to see all the bright colours coming out of them.  The bunched carrots look delicious, so I will definitely keep them to eat raw in a salad, maybe teamed with potato and garlic gratin.  The small lettuces will be perfect for a salad paysanne which in our household is basically crispy bacon, hard cheese, spring onions, lettuce, garlic croutons, vinaigrette and a poached egg perched on top.

I’m going to do a big stew with the squash, parsnips, onions, potatoes and some braising steak (a few cloves, juniper berries and a bayleaf, not forgetting the bottle of Guinness).  I may even add dumplings!  The spinach is destined for saag aloo this week, if the toddler doesn’t insist on spinach and ricotta pasta. 

Which just leaves me with one conundrum: what to do with those tiny pears?  If you have any ideas… do let me know!

Posted in Bacon, Eggs, Organic Box, Parsnip, Salad, Squash, Stew | No Comments »

Beef, leek & lentil soup

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Freshly Cut Leek

2 leeks
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup Urid dal (the split white lentils)
2 beef stock cubes (I use Kallo stock cubes)
1 ltr boiling water
1 tbsp dark soy sauce (to taste)

Cut off the tough bit of the leeks, then half longways and shred.  Rinse any grit out.  Rinse the tomatoes and cut in half (if you use bigger tomatoes, cut to the same sort of size; size is very important for the final texture).  In a large pan, gently heat the oil and add the leeks.  When they start to sizzle, add the tomatoes, dal, stock cubes and water.

Leave to simmer for an hour or so.  Check occasionally that there is enough water covering everything.  If not, add more.  Taste to see how done the lentils are.  Add the soy sauce if you think it could be a little more salty.  Leave to simmer for another half an hour if you can wait that long!  It should be thick, but there should be enough liquid to make it soupy.  The lentils will retain some bite without being hard.

This soup is amazingly delicious and needs to be served chunky, not blended.  The small hits of tomato in the salty, beefy broth teemed with the creamy lentils makes a truly wonderful combination; great to take to work as a cheap and warming winter lunch.  I made up this soup as the white lentils I had bought for making masala dosa were nearing their use-by date and I happened to have some leeks and tomatoes in the fridge.  I now buy them specifically for this as it is so good.

NB I get these lentils from our local shop over the road which has Indian ingredients, but you can get them in the ‘world’ section of supermarkets.  The packets look like this.

Posted in Beef, Beef stock, Leek, Lentil, Recipe, Soup, Tomato, Urid dal | 1 Comment »

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