03/12/2009 by D.

1 mug basmati rice
2 mixed peppers (red/green/orange or yellow)
2 tomatoes
8 mushrooms
1 onion
1 german smoked sausage (like the matteson’s ones) *
1 stock cube (beef or veg)
1 cup water (or white wine)
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp dark soy

Cook the rice by adding two mugs of cold water, bring to boil, then leave to simmer until the water is evaporated.  Turn off the heat (drain any remaining water), give it a good stir  and put a lid on the pot to let it fluff up.  Meanwhile chop all the veg. 

Cut the sausage in half lengthwise, then chop from the end, creating semi-circles.  Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the sausage (or tofu) on high in a single layer until it well browned on both sides.  Place on kitchen paper to absorb the grease and allow them to cool a little and go a bit crunchy.

Pour out any extra oil, then add the veg and fry until it begins to soften.  Crumble in the stock cube and stir well.  Add a little water or white wine if it is too dry (depends on how juicy the veg is).  Stir in the rice and season with soy sauce to taste.

To serve, spoon the rice mix onto plates and top with the sausage.

This is a really hearty supper with a deep savoury flavour and a lovely crunchy topping.  You just need to hide the sausage once fried, else it gets eaten before the rest of the dish is cooked.

*For a veggie version of this you can use smoked tofu, though it doesn’t go quite as crunchy, or you can do soy sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  To make them dry-fry the seeds in a hot pan until they start to brown.  Then add dark soy sauce and stir like crazy until you end up with a marmity mass of seeds.  Tip them onto a cold plate to cool, then serve in a bowl to sprinkle over the rice mix.  They make a great snack too.

Posted in Rice, German, Pork Sausage, Soy sauce, Sunflower seeds, Pepper, Onion, Tomato, Mushroom, Recipe | Print | No Comments »

03/12/2009 by D.

Fruit: bananas, oranges, Gala apples, Packham pears, Avocado
Veg: onions, carrots, Nicola potatoes, Romero peppers, Chestnut mushrooms, leeks, spinach, oriental salad, Kuri Squash

It’s been terrible weather and we’ve picked up the bag a day late which means its been in the locker and is a bit bashed.  Loads of lovely stuff though and some great recipes to make this week that haven’t graced our tables since last winter, so I’m very excited!

The peppers, onions and some mushrooms will go into a Leona Pfanne, which is a sort of German Paella, and very popular with everyone in our family.  I’ll post the recipe shortly.  The Kuri squash is destined for a coconut, squash and lamb stew.  The leftover mushrooms and leeks will be used in a pearl barley bake and I think the spuds will probably be used for good old bangers and mash.  I found out loads of good ideas for using left over mash this week.  My absolute favourite was what their inventor called cheesy splats (add cheese and fry in patty shapes for toddler supper or hangover breakfast).  I tend to add stock, milk, black pepper and nutmeg to it, thus creating a quick and delicious soup.  If you have any other good suggestions, do let us know.

The Gala apples continue to go into our Sunday night batch of Bircher muesli, which the toddler and baby just can’t get enough of!  Our version of this is grating the apples whole into a bowl, adding the same quantity of your favourite muesli (at the moment we are using the Dorset cereals berry one) and about a cup of greek yoghurt (more if you are doing more than two apples).  Sprinkle in half a teaspoon of cinnamon and mix everything together.  The result should be creamy and like porridge in texture, add more yoghurt if its too dry as the muesli will absorb quite a bit overnight.  Box it up and pop it in the fridge overnight, ready for breakfast in the morning.  It keeps well for a couple of days.

Posted in Apple, Bircher, Muesli, Yoghurt, Cinnamon, Potato, Weaning, Toddler, Recipe, Organic Box | Print | No Comments »

03/12/2009 by D.

I thought it would be nice to share some photos of the food you are making from this blog.  I get lots of lovely comments from readers and would like to share some finished results to help encourage more people to cook their boxes creatively.

Email me at talk@blog.londonplains.com with a photo of the finished result of one of our recipes and the winner will feature in the Christmas week blog!

Posted in Competition | Print | No Comments »