Mediterranean bangers and mash

Tonight's dinner:
Home-made chorizos using the recipe from Vegan Brunch (next time I personally would up the garlic a lot, and the spice), accompanied by potatoes mashed with olive oil, roasted root veges and braised red cabbage with coriander seeds.

The last was inspired both by some of the delicious spiced cabbage dishes Mum and I ate in Poland, and by the memory of a Greek pork dish that my Dad used to cook me when I was younger. In the original dish, pork is first fried then cooked in red wine until it reduces, after which crushed coriander seeds are added. I thought it would be yum to do something similar with red cabbage, but living with a teetotaller we don't have wine in the house. I subbed for some vegetable stock, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses. The result came out sweeter than the original, but still hit the spot. I'd love to try it with the wine sometime.

Fika for a group

We had a casual flat-warming last Sunday afternoon, with people dropping in and out. With uncertainty over exactly how many would be coming, when, and how hungry they would be, figuring out what to prepare was initially a bit daunting. Also, we still had a lot of sorting out to do to get the place ready for visitors, so I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen. In the end, the spread was easy, cheap and delicious:

My never-fail wholegrain bread, freshly baked
The potato and spinach bake from Vegan Brunch
Home-made hummus
Store-bought ajvar
Home-made tapanade (recipe below)Quinoa tabbouleh with roasted eggplant and pomegranate molasses dressing (recipe below)
Afghans
Watermelon mocktail (recipe below)
As well as ubiquitous chips and fizz

Plenty to go round, plenty left over (and we weren't complaining), good at any temperature.

Green Olive Tapande

Basically you need green olives (with or without pimento stuffing), capers, and garlic. Blend it all up in a blender with a little olive oil and a little water until a chunky dip forms. I added parsley, a little nutritional yeast, a little lemon juice and a little sriracha chilli sauce. Tapande is pretty much ground up olives with add-ins, so start with olives and test your way forwards.

A little goes a long way, so don't feel like you have to make a whole lot. Excellent on crackers, toast, or fresh bread. For some reason right now I want to dip celery sticks in it, but that could be just me. (Gluten-free)

Quinoa Tabbouleh with Roasted Eggplant and Pomegranate Molasses Dressing

Um, this one isn't really a 'recipe' either. Basically, roast your eggplant according to how you usually do it, and let it cool. Chop it into little bits, along with finely chopped cucumber, tomato, and plenty of chopped parsley, and add everything to cooked quinoa. Dress with olive oil, a little minced garlic, a little pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve cold or room temperature.
(Gluten-free)

Watermelon and Mint Mocktail

Blend de-seeded watermelon flesh till liquid (pulpy ok). Mix with a decent amount of lime juice, some freshly squeezed orange juice if you want it sweeter, and some chopped mint leaves. Add sparkling water or ice if desired. Serve cold.

Post Punk bouillabaisse

I really wanted to make Isa's latested creation - vegan bouillabaisse. I wanted to make it so much that I couldn't wait until I had a chance to buy the ingredients (not having nori and fennel on hand all the time). But, despite a lot of needs must substitutions, it still came out delectable. I'm still keen to try it as written some time, but it's good to remember that this version will more than do in a pinch:


As the linked recipe, but with celery instead of fennel, fried zucchini instead of roasted squash, dried thyme rather than fresh, no nori, and tomato paste instead of tinned tomatoes, with some fresh cherrry tomatoes chucked in for texture. I also upped the spice.

Lovely for a winter's evening - hearty, brothy, and a bit fancy with the spice and the orange zest. Not your run of the mill lentil soup.

Venetian antipasti and "French" potato salad

Whenever fennel and zucchini both turn up in my fridge I want to make this recipe. It's based on one from the Venetian antipasti section of the World Food Cafe 2 cookbook, modified to suit my kitchen and incorporating breadcrumbs in the gremolita à la Vegan Yum Yum. Although it's pretty easy and quick to throw together, it both tastes and looks kind of fancy. I wanted to have it along side a Venetian inspired bean salad and some herbed polenta, but my kitchen helper was against the polenta given the amount of stirring involved. So we padded out the salad with potatoes instead, and added a mustard-based dressing that I believe takes it over into the territory of what Swedes call "French potato salad". Here follow the recipes for both.

Zucchini and Fennel with a Herb and Lemon Gremolita

(serves 2)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 a big zucchini, sliced thinly lengthways
1 fennel bulb, sliced thinly lengthways
olive oil for frying
lemon juice to taste (but don't forget to zest the lemons first)
salt and pepper

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
finely chopped Italian herbs, especially parsley (use fresh if poss, but we use a frozen mixture)
salt and pepper

METHOD

Fry the fennel in olive oil until soft and browned on both sides. Remove and arrange on a plate. Do the same with the zucchini, adding more olive oil if necessary. Drizzle the cooked veg with lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

For the gremolita, combine breadcrumbs, zest and garlic (and herbs if using frozen) and toast in olive oil until garlic is golden and breadcrumbs have browned. Add herbs (if using fresh) and salt and pepper, and sprinkle over the veges.


French Bean and Potato Salad

1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup cooked large white beans
4 cups cooked cubed potatoes
2 Tbsp capers
2 Tbsp finely chopped Italian/French herbs (we used the same frozen mix, but get some oregano in there)
a handful of rocket (optional)

Dressing: a glug of olive oil, juice of 1/2 a lemon, some mustard (start with a tsp, add more to taste)
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and adjust seasoning to taste.

Briq à légumineuse

This is an adaptation of a recipe for the Tunisian snack Briq à l'oeuf in the Caldicotts' wonderful vegetarian cookbook World Food Cafe 2. The original involves some kind of runny egg business - "l'oeuf" of the title - which is obviously not vegan, so here is Briq à légumineuse - not sure if my internet translation into French makes any sense, but I've replaced the egg with legumes! I've tried both chickpeas and white beans mashed into the mixture, but lentils would probably be nice too with black olives!

INGREDIENTS

400g potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed till smooth
200g cooked chickpeas/ white beans/ lentils, roughly mashed
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 cup green olives, chopped
2 handfuls chopped coriander leaves (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

filo pastry

METHOD

Fry the garlic in olive oil and add spices. Add the garlic and the rest of the ingredients to the potato mixture. Make filo parcels, using only one sheet per parcel. Fry the parcels in oil until very brown. Serve with lemon and chilli sauce.

Corn chowder for my loving person.

I invented this soup for my loving person, after hearing him remember fondly a soup his father makes. I also associate corn soup with my Dad, who enjoys a good chowder. My favourite soup when I was little was the chicken and corn soup they serve at a lot of Chinese restaurants in Wellington. This soup sort of reminds me of all these things, and of love. Made for my loving person, inspired by our Dads. It doesn't hurt that it's super easy, quick, and a one pot meal.

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 fresh chilli (seeds removed), finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed (small)
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
400g corn (fresh, fozen or tinned)

1/2 cup red lentils
3 cups stock
juice of 1/2 - 1 lime (optional)

1 heaped tsp cumin
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp paprika (smoked if poss)
1 tsp coriander seeds - crushed

salt and pepper
vegan creamer (optional)
oil

METHOD

1. Saute the onion, garlic and chilli in a little oil, in a pot big enough for all the ingredients. When softening add the spices and stir. Let it cook for a couple of minutes more.
2. Add the stock, lentils, potatoes, carrot and corn. Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature and simmer with the lid on until everything is cooked.
3. Blend half of the soup and add back to the rest. Warm through, and add lime, salt & pepper and creamer to taste.

Wintery warmers

I always laugh when my sisters say there's no food in the house. You can make such delicious things with such simple ingredients. Yesterday I used the leftover pastry from my soup pie to make an improvised savoury tarte tatin with onions, tomatoes, and zucchini, jazzed up with some dried thyme and a sprinkling of brown sugar. That was a tasty lunch.

Then for dinner for the whole family I made this simple and delicious recipe from the wonderful Isa Chandra. Except without the dill as I'm not much of a fan (somehow living in Sweden for three years has made me associate dill with fish). And with the more substantial texture of wholemeal flour in the dumplings, made with fresh rosemary seeing as my parents grow a ton of it. We bunged in an extra can of beans to bulk out the protein content (fava, because we ran out of white beans). Worried too about it not being enough for a hungry family of six, Dad fried up some cabbage and orange capsicum dressed with lemon juice and black pepper and a drizzle of rosemary and garlic infused olive oil. This was not only delicious on its own but also went well just dumped in the soup as my Mum ate it.