Meat Free Mondays

Sweet and Spicy Marinated Tempeh

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While trying to eat less meat I’ve struggled with plant based protein alternatives.  Tofu is s big turn off for me (I’ve given it every chance but it’s just not for me).

I remembered some of the delicious tempeh I had in Bali and gave it a try with a satay type marinade.

If you haven’t used tempeh before, its a soy protein widely eaten in Indonesia and you should be able to find it in the freezer section of Asian supermarkets or some larger supermarkets.

It usually comes in a flat loaf shape and you usually crumble or slice it before cooking.

This is a really versatile dish, you can eat it  straight from the oven with rice or noodles, or it also yummy in salads, budha bowls or sandwiches and wraps.

Tempeh makes a great addition to jar salads with veggies, and rice noodles, perfect for bringing to work for lunch.

Ingredients

500 Grams Tempeh

For the marinade

1 Red chilli (finely chopped or 1/2 Tsp chilli flakes)

Thumb sized piece of ginger (grated, or its fine to cheat and use a tablespoon of the prepared stuff in a tube)

2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

3 Tbsp Peanut butter

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

Juice of 1-2 limes (I only had a lemon and also worked OK, because what your after is acidity to balance out the salt and sweet in the marinade)

3 Tbsp Maple syrup (cane sugar is traditional but this work well)

Method

  • Defrost the tempeh and slice into  1cm thick slices
  • In a large bowl combine all the ingredients for the marinade and stir well to make sure the peanut butter disolves.
  • Put the tempeh slices into a large dish and cover with the marinade, ensuring all the slices are covered. Cover and put in the fridge for a couple of hours (ideally overnight)
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment and lay the temp slices on this and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Courgettes/Zuchinni stuffed with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

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Courgettes can be pretty boring, and during Summer they are cheap snd plentiful.  I found myself with a couple of largish courgettes and these can often be watery and tasteless.

I decided to try pimping them up with some some dried tomatoes and feta, and they were yummy.  This makes a good lunch dish or you could serve them as a side dish and is fairly quick and easy.

Serves 2

2 Large courgettes

100 Grams Breadcrumbs

100 Grams Feta Cheese (crumbled into 1-2cm lumps

50 Grams Sun dried tomatoes in oil (roughly chopped)

1 Tsp Fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp of dried (you can use any herbs you have, rosemary also works well, but use a bit less as it’s stronger)

1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes

A little extra oil for brushing the courgettes with

Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large bowl

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Trim the top and bottom of the courgettes and cut in half length ways, use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds in the centre of the courgettes
  • Brush with oil and place cut side down in a baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes
  • In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients
  • Remove the courgettes from the oven and over to the cut side with a spatula
  • Fill the scooped out centre of the courgettes with the filling before returning to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the filling is golden brown

Romesco Sauce

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If you learn to make no other sauce, then I would encourage you to learn this.

It takes 5 minutes to make in a food precessor and goes with absolutely everything.  You cam go old school and roast and peel red peppers, but if you like a short cut, then a jar of roast peppers works just as well.   Try it with grilled chicken or fish, use it as a dip or toss it into some pasta, its also yummy spread on sandwiches or burgers (I feel myself turning to Bubba describing all the ways you can eat shromp in Forrest Gump, but you get the idea).

The sauce is originally from Spain, and most families have their own recipe, so don’t be afraid to tweak it to suit yourself.  I had some cherry tomatoes that were going soft so I roasted them in the oven beforehand, but if you don’t have time to do this, use a jar of sun dried tomatoes.  This recipe makes a fairly big batch, but you can reduce the amounts.  The sauce can live in your fridge for 4-5 days, but you may tempted to take spoonfuls of it every time you pass the fridge.

Ingredients

100 Grams Blanched almonds (you could alao use hazelnuts)

650 Gram Jar of roasted red peppers, drained weight 400 Grams (well drained and roughly chopped)

2-3 Cloves of Garlic (roughly chopped)

250 Grams Roasted tomatoes (or a jar of sun dried tomatoes)

25-50mil Olive oil

1/2 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tbsp Red wine vinegar (I only had cider vinegar, ad it was fine)

Method

  • Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse 3-4 times until they are well broken up
  • Add the other ingredients (hold back some of the oil, as may not need it all)
  • Whizz in the food processor until it starts to form a sauce.  Check the flavour and add the rest of the oil if you think it needs it.  Blitz some more until it has the consistency you like (I like mine fairly rustic and chunky, but you can continue blending until you have a super smooth sauce if that’s what you prefer.
  • Refrigerate until ready to use (can be eaten hot or cold).

Courgette/Zucchini Bread

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This is actually more of a sweet loaf/tea bread, but you can kid yourself that this is slightly healthier than normal cake because it also incorporates vegetables. This is really good on it’s own, but I also like to spread cream cheese or butter on it.

The courgette/zuchini keeps the cake super moist and tender, and during the Summer when they courgettes are cheap and plentiful this is a good way to use them up if you are running out of ideas.

If you’re super organised and want to make a double batch this also freezes really well.

Ingredients

2 Eggs

125ml vegetable oil

350 Grams Courgettes, coarsely grated

300 Grams Plain flour

2 Tsp Cinnamon

1tsp baking powder

75g Walnuts (roughly chopped)

150g Dried cranberries or sultanas

75 Grams Brown sugar

1/4 Tsp Salt

(extra butter for greasing the loaf tin)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degree (Celsius), and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper
  • Add the oil, sugar, and eggs to a large bowl and whisk until combined before adding the courgette
  • In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients before adding to the dry ingredients and mix well
  • Transfer the mix to the prepared baking tin and bake for 1 hour.  Test the loaf with a cocktail stick and if it comes out clean the loaf is cooked.  If it doesn’t give the loaf another 5 minutes in the oven before checking again

Greek Rice

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Good side dishes can make a meal.  I love this with roast chicken but it’s also yummy with fish, barbecued meats, or griddled halloumi.

Rice can be a bit meh, but herbs and lemon give this a really fresh taste.  I used chicken stock, but you can swap this for vegetable stock if you’re vegetarian.

Ingredients

100 Grams Uncooked rice (I used basmati, but if you’re using a different type of rice then make sure to rinse it first so it fluffs up)

1 Small onion or shallot (finely chopped)

1-2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

200 mil Chicken/vegetable stock

1 Lemon (juice and zest)

1 Tsp Dried Oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano)

1 Tsp Dried Dill (or 1 Tbsp fresh dill)

Method

  • Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid, and gently fry the onion/shallot over a medium heat until it starts to become translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute
  • Add the rice, salt and stock and cover the pot with a lid, before bringing to the boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and the rice should continue to cook with the residual heat until the rice has absorbed all the stock (if you’re using brown rice you may need to cook for longer)
  • Grate the zest of the lemon with a fine grater, before squeezing the juice and setting to one side
  • Stir the lemon juice and zest into the rice and cover with a lid again for another 5-10 minutes before checking that the rice is fully cooked before stirring in the herbs.
  • This can be eaten hot or cold.

Asparagus and Leek Quiche

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I love when seasons change and new foods become available.

Asparagus is great at the minute, so I decided to make this yummy creamy quiche with it as the centre piece.

I used marscapone to add creaminess the the egg mix, because it’s what I had in the fridge.  You could also use creme fraiche or recotta if this is what have.

I used ready made pastry which made this even easier (it looks quite impressive for not a huge amount of effort if you’re cooking for people and can be serve hot or cold).

Ingredients

1 Sheet of ready made short crust pastry

6 Eggs

1 Leek (finely sliced)

1 Bunch of asparagus

1 Tbsp Oil

100 Grams Marscapone cheese

25 Grams of Parmasan (or other strongly flavoured cheese like mature cheddar)

Salt and pepper

Butter/oil for greasing a loose bottom flan/pie dish

Method

  • Grease the flan dish, and line with the ready made pastry, making sure the it’s pushed well into the edges. Pierce the base of the pastry with a fork and then chill the flan dish for 30 minutes
  • In a frying pan heat the oil over a medium heat and gently fry the Leek until it softens but do not allow to brown (set to one side and allow to cool)
  • To prepare the asparagus, snap off the ends and the blanch the asparagus on boiling water for 30-90 seconds depending on the thickness of the spears). Remove the boiling water and submerge in ice water (this will help keep their bright green colour)
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Cover the base of the pastry with greaseproof paper and poor baking beans or old dried rice or beans on top). Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and carefully remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans
  • In a large bowl, add the marscapone, parmasan and eggs and whisk until smooth (add salt and pepper)
  • Cover the pastry base evenly with the cooked leeks, then arrange the asparagus spears wth tops pointing to the outside of the tin
  • Pour the egg mix on top of the vegetables and carefully place the tin back in the oven ad bake for another 20 minutes or until the centre of the quiche is just starting to set

Potato and Raclette Galette

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Last year I ate the world’s nicest pizza when I was in France, which was made with potato and the yummy French cheese Raclette.

I took a craving for it but couldn’t be arsed with waiting to prove pizza dough, so I decided to make a galette using puff pastry.

I made a big galette, and it’s yummy served with salad for lunch.  If you’re entertaining you can make smaller individual ones that make lovely appetisers. You can prepare all the elements the day before and assemble and bake just before people arrive so that you’re not super stressed, and people will rightly assume you are a total domestic god or goddess.

If you can’t find Raclette (it can be tricky enough), any other tangy hard cheese can be used.  The lovely folks at my local Indie Fude recommended a brilliant Irish alternative called St Gall, which was delicious. I used a left over baked potato that I cut into slices, but you could also use left over boiled potatoes and crumble them across the pastry.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 Sheet ready made puff pastry

250 Gram Onions finely sliced

1 Tbsp Oil

1 Large potato (use either cold boiled potatos or a cold baked potato

150 Grams Raclette or other tangy hard cheese (finely grated)

Few springs of thyme or whatever your favourite herb is.

1 Egg yolk or little milk for glazing the edges

Method

  • Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onions stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until they’re brown and caramelised (brown not black). Allow to cool
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  • Unroll your sheet of ready made pastry.  I put it on baking paper and put it a cooking sheet
  • With a knife, score a line (don’t cut through the pastry) about 1-2cm on the inside edge of the pastry this.  Then pierce the rest of the pastry with a fork (this will help it cook evenly). Brush the edges with the egg yolk
  • Sprinkle the caramelised onions on the pastry (keeping the edges clear), then lay out the slices of potato on top and sprinkle with herbs and grated cheese
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  It can be eaten hot or cold

3 Minute Tortolini Soup

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It’s January and everyone is broke, so we’re all back to bringing lunch from home.

Generally, I find sandwiches pretty boring, and I always try to find different lunch ideas, and love this. It takes 5 minutes to assemble the ingredients at home and when you’re ready to eat just top up your container with freshly boiled water. Just make sure you use a jar or container that can handle boiling water. Mason jars are ideal, but I’ve also repurposed the plastic containers that you buy ready made soups or stews in.

I used spinach and peas but you can swap out the vegetables you use, for things like kale, this might need to be chopped finely as it has a tougher leaf than spinach. I used normal shop bought tortolini and just use the filling you enjoy. I have listed the ingredients for 1 portion, but you can scale up the amounts for this soup and make it in a pot.

Makes enough for 1

Ingredients

4-5 Pieces of tortolini

Small handful of spinach

2-3 Tbsp frozen peas

1-2 Scallions/spring onions (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Pesto (just use the stuff from a jar)

1/2 Stock cube or 1 teaspoon of bullion powder

Method

  • Add all ingredients to a mason jar or heatproof container (this can live in the fridge for 2-3 days
  • When you’re ready for lunch top up the container with freshly boiled water and cover 3 minutes
  • Stir well and transfer to a bowl (the jar or contain will be really hot, so be careful), or you can eat it straight from the jar if no one is around and you don’t want the washing up

Roast Red Pepper, Tomato and Lentil Soup

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Cold dark winter days call for warm comforting food.

This delicious bright red soup is super healthy and filling, packed with fibre and flavour.

When I’m using the oven, I always throw in a tray of vegetables to roast so that I get my money’s worth by cooking a couple of things at once. I roasted a red pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes and garlic which give a really intense flavour. I also used a potato which helps give a creamy texture.

Ingredients

1 Red pepper (deseeded and cut into large chunks)

1 Tub Cherry tomatoes

1 onion (peeled and cut into large chunks)

1-2 Cloves of garlic (skin left on)

100 Grams Split red lentils

1 litre Vegetable stock (I used a stock cube)

2 small potatoes (cut into large chunks)

1 Tbsp smoked paprika (add half a teaspoon first then check for taste as some paprika is stronger than others)

1 Tbsp Vegetable oil

Salt

Method

  • Add the onion, pepper, tomatoes and garlic to oven proof dish, drizzle with oil and roast at 180 degrees (Celsius) for around 30 minutes or until the edges of the pepper start to char. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly
  • Add the lentils, potatoes, and vegetable stock to a large pot and bring to the boil, before reducing to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes (or until the lentils and potatoes are soft)
  • You can use a blender/food processor or an immersion blender. Add the roast vegetables (remove the skin from the garlic), to lentils and stock.
  • Sprinkle in half the smoked paprika and blend the ingredients together until creamy and smooth. Check the seasoning, add more paprika if you like it spicy and salt if you think it needs it
  • I served this with some fried up tortillas that had gone a bit stale (try this it’s yummy), but fresh crusty bread is also delicious with it

‘El Bulli’ Bean Soup with Picada

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El Bulli was one of the most famous 3 Michelin star restaurants in the world.  I don’t claim this was what they served their customers, but apparently they would provide a 3 course meal for staff each day, and this is one of those dishes.

Anyone who’s ever worked in fancy restaurants will you the traditional staff meal can often be a bit ropey to say the least (I worked in a place once that only ever fed us cheap and nasty chicken nuggets).  A cook book based around El Bulli’s staff meals has actually been published called The Family Meal (dropping hints ahead of Christmas, just in case Santa is reading this)

It’s good to see El Bulli fed their staff well, and while it isn’t an extravagant dish, it’s delicious.  The thing that takes it to another level is the Picada (a Catalan version of pesto, made with hazelnuts and parsley).

Do yourself a favour and try to buy ready blanched hazelnuts, it will save a lot of time and effort.

Ingredients

For the soup

1 Onion (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil

1 Clove garlic (finely chopped)

2 x 400 Gram Tins of cannellini beans

1 Litre Vegetable Stock (I used a 2 x stock cubes)

400 Mil Carton of Passata

1 Tsp Rosemary (Finely chopped)

1 Sprig of Thyme (or 1/2 Tsp of dried Thyme)

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the Picada

1 x Large punch of parsley or couple of handfuls (roughly chopped)

1-2 Cloves of garlic

75 Grams Hazelnuts (try to buy the pre-blanched one, as removing the skins is a pain in the a*se)

50-75 Mil Olive oil, (or more if you want the Picada to be looser)

1/2 Tsp Salt

Serves 4

Method

  • For the soup, heat the oil in a large pot, and add the onion and cook over a medium heat until it becomes translucent, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding the rest of the soup ingredients to the pot.  Simmer for over a low heat for 20 minutes.
  • While the soup is cooking you can make the picada.  If you haven’t been able to find ready blanched hazelnuts, heat the nuts in a frying pan until they smell nutty (I know this sounds weird but when you can smell the nut smell it means they are ready),  Transfer the toasted nuts onto the centre of a clean tea towel, bring the edges together and roll the nuts within the towel until the papery outer layer comes away
  • If you have more sense than I did and have bought hazelnuts without skins, add these to a food processer and pulse a couple of times until the nuts have broken up.  Add the rest of the picada ingredients to the food processer and blitz until you have a bright green paste.  I like mine quite chunky and rustic, but you can whizz it up until you get a super smooth paste if that’s your thing. 
  • Transfer the picada to a bowl and wipe the food processer, and you will be ready to transfer half the soup to the food processer and whizz until smooth before returning to the pot and stirring well.  This helps to thicken the soup
  • Add half the picada to the soup and stir well, before serving in large bowls.  Spoon a dollop of the picada in the centre of each bowl, serve crusty bread for a simple but delicious meal.