Sweet potato and caramelised onion soup

I made this the other day and several people on Twitter asked for the recipe.  As I'm always happy to spread the joy of the humble bowl of soup, here it is:

(apologies for the photo quality; I wasn't planning on writing this up!)

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Makes 4 bowls

1 tbsp olive oil
400g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
Two onions, sliced
Two large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp garam masala (or mild - medium curry powder will do)
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1 pint vegetable stock
Black pepper to season
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally until they are soft and starting to caramelise. Add the garlic, cumin and garam masala and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the sweet potato, carrots and stock. Cover and simmer for around 30 minutes or until veg is cooked.

Leave to cool then blend. Heat then serve, seasoning with black pepper to taste.

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Delicious, warming, full of vitamins!

Jenny

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Guilt-free Chunky Chips

I love chips and anything resembling them - fries, wedges, fried potatoes, crispy potato skins, anything - but they can be pretty fattening.  Cooking them this way is quick and will satisfy your cravings for fried carbs without too many calories.  I often make wedges in the oven using the same ingredients, but frying them this way makes them more chip-like.

Lots of my friends are on Weight Watchers at the moment, so I even calculated the WW points for you!   One serving comes in at 8 points, which is a lot less than a similar sized bowl of fries.

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Serves two as a lunch or generous side

600g of medium sized potatoes
1tbsp olive oil

Scrub the potatoes and remove any eyes.  Prick the skins several times with a fork and place on a plate in the microwave.  Cook on full-power for 15 minutes, then turn them all over.  Cook for 10 more minutes then check.  If they're all cooked right through, put them to one side to cool for a few minutes.  If they need longer, cook for a few minutes at a time, checking frequently.

Heat the oil in a frying pan.  Slice each potato in half length-ways, then slice each half length-ways again  so you've got four big chunky chips from each potato.

Place the first batch of chips into the hot pan and leave for a couple of minutes until one side of each is golden brown.  Turn over one chip at a time and leave until the next side is golden brown and then the same for the third sides.

Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of salt and a side of ketchup or BBQ sauce :-)

Jenny

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Vegan Suppers - Goulash and Dumplings

With snow on the ground and sub-zero temperatures outside, British winters call for warming, tasty,  filling, nutrient-packed dinners and this Goulash ticks all those boxes.  It's  also ridiculously cheap and easy to cook.

Traditional Hungarian Goulash definitely is NOT vegetarian and as much of the flavour and richness of the dish comes from the slow-cooked meat, it mightn't seem an obvious candidate for conversion to a veggie dish.  I've been cooking this recipe for years though and even a committed carnivore like my dad can't fault it. In fact, it's also one of my boyfriend's favourite meals and this is a man whose other favourites are corned-beef hash and steak and kidney pie!

I sometimes serve it without the dumplings but it's soooo much better with them.  You can add a bit of grated cheese to the dumpling mixture if desired but they're just as tasty (and remain vegan) without. 

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Vegetarian Goulash and Dumplings

Serves 4

For the goulash:

2 tbsp mild olive or sunflower oil

2 onions, roughly sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunky slices

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

400g potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes

3/4 pint vegetable stock

1 tsp caraway seeds

1tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper to season

For the dumplings :

75g self-raising flour

50g vegetarian suet (I use Atora Light)

2 tbsp finely chopped herbs such as chives or oregano (fresh is best but dried is fine too, just use a bit less)

generous pinch of salt

4tbsp water

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions.  Cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until starting to soften.

2. Add the garlic, carrots and caraway seeds and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add the potatoes and paprika, stirring well.  Cook for one minute then add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

4.To make the dumplings, sift the flour into a bowl and mix in the suet, herbs and salt. Add the water, 1tbsp at a time, mixing until you have a soft, dough-like mixture.  Make 8 dumplings, either by hand, or by using two spoons to shape them.  

5.Stir the goulash thoroughly then place the dumplings gently into the pan and cover. Simmer gently for 15 minutes or until dumplings have roughly doubled in size.

Serve in bowls, seasoning with salt and black pepper if required, and enjoy :-)

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Jenny
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Vegan Suppers - Curried Bubble and Squeak

Although I'm a vegetarian and only eat organic dairy (where possible), I am really trying to cut down for ethical and health reasons.  I have long been trying to incorporate more vegan-friendly dishes into my diet and last year, I decided to go vegan at least two days a week.  This lasted for a few weeks before I slipped up and subsequently forgot all about it.  The new year seems as good a time as any to start up this habit again so, to the mild disappointment of my carnivore boyfriend who I also cook for, I thought I'd start up my Vegan Tuesdays and Thursdays again!

I have a very limited repertoire of fail-safe dishes which I tend to cook again and again during the week. Some of them happen to be vegan, such as my super-fast stir-fry with crispy chilli tofu, but I need more variety if I'm going to stick to my vegan plans!

My first vegan meal of the year is definitely one of the easiest dishes featured in any of my cook books!  It's from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg and there's not really much cooking involved.  It's a variation on that old British leftover classic, Bubble and Squeak.  Always a fan of anything a) easy, b) cheap and c) quick, I thought this looked perfect for a speedy supper.  I changed Hugh's version a little, the main changes being less oil, the addition of a few splashes of water into the pan, more garlic and more onion.

We ate this for dinner on New Year's Day as we were tired, slightly hungover and the food situation in the house consisted mainly of festive chocolates, peanuts and the odd mince-pie.  We did have a few sprouts in the fridge from Christmas Day and they were still fine as they were the ones you buy still on the stalk (...tree? vine? stem??).  I finely sliced these and used them as my 'green veg' for the recipe.  I would never have considered using sprouts if I'd had anything else suitable in but they worked really well!  I do love Brussels Sprouts but thought they might be too strong and overpowering for such a stodgey, basic dish but they were perfect.

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Curried Bubble & Squeak

Serves 2

2 tablespoons sunflower or mild olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped or crushed
2 heaped teaspoons curry paste
3-400g cold boiled potatoes cut into chunks
150g Brussels Sprouts, finely sliced (cabbage or similar greens can be substituted here, but cook first)
Approx 100ml water
Salt and pepper to season

1. Heat the oil over a low heat in a large frying pan.  Add the onions and cook until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

2. Add the boiled potatoes, the curry paste and approx. 50ml water. Stir well to combine all the ingredients.

3. Add your sprouts or other green veg, stir well then leave to cook over a low-medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently and adding more splashes of water as required if it looks a bit too dry.  The mixture will stick a little, but this crust forms the tastiest bit so just keep scraping the bottom of the pan with your spatula!  

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste then serve in a bowl on its own or with a toasted pitta bread.

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I must admit, when I was dishing this up, I was dubious and didn't have very high hopes.  I thought it would be passable at best, dry and bland at worst, but it was surprisingly tasty.  

Perfect wintry comfort food and great for using up leftover veg or anything a little past its best.  Hugh suggests you might want to add a poached egg to the dish but, as this would defeat the purpose of Vegan Tuesday, I toasted a pitta bread to have with it.

We ate it out of bowls, snuggled on the sofa, with a bottle of Becks Beer (which I was delighted to learn is vegan) while watching Sherlock on TV as it poured with rain outside.  Happy New Year!

Vegan meal #1 of 2013 = a success!