The only enchiladas I’ve ever made before were the spicy bean enchiladas from Anita Bean’s Food for Fitness, which are made with beans. Going through another back issue of Vegetarian Living, I stumbled across this recipe which used veggie mince, so thought I’d give it a go. I’m glad I did, as I think I prefer it to the other one.

Vegetarian spicy enchiladas

Spicy enchiladas (serves 2)
Taken from the November 2010 issue of Vegetarian Living

400g canned chopped tomatoes
150ml tomato juice [I didn’t have any tomato juice, so swirled some water about in the empty chopped tomato can and used that]
50g tomato puree
1 large red onion, finely chopped [I used a white onion]
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried or frozen oregano
2 mild green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of unrefined sugar [I left this out]
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g Linda McCartney Vegemince^TM [I used Sainsburys own brand meat-free mince]
150g vegetarian mature Cheddar, grated
4 soft corn tortillas

1. Place the chopped tomatoes, tomato juice and puree in a medium-sized saucepan. Add half the red onion, cumin, oregano, chillies, lemon juice, sugar and coriander. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and sauté the mince for a few minutes until lightly browned. Keep to one side.
3. Spread 4-6 tbsp of the tomato sauce in the base of an oblong ovenproof dish. Spread one of the tortillas with 2 tbsp of sauce, sprinkle with cheese, top with a quarter of the mince and sprinkle with chopped red onion, reserving some cheese and onion for garnishing. Roll carefully into a tube.
4. Place in the dish on top of the sauce, seam-side down. Repeat with the other tortillas and spoon over the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese and the chopped onion.
5. Bake the enchiladas at 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 for 15-20 minutes, when the cheese should be bubbling and starting to brown.

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Mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, crème fraiche and filo pastry. Yes, it’s as nice as it sounds.

Mushroom, spinach and potato pie

You can see the recipe at the BBC Good Food website

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As I was going to be out all day on Wednesday, I’d left instructions with The Meat Eater to rescue the Riverford veg box from the hiding place our nice veg delivery lady leaves our box in if I’m out, and when I got back in late that night, he said ‘WE’VE GOT AN ALIEN VEGETABLE’ and dragged me off to the fridge to show me. I already knew we were getting some kind of weird looking vegetable, as after seeing on the Riverford website this week’s box contents, I’d seen we were getting a kohlrabi and looked up what it was. It’s one of these

and after uploading the photo, I thought it looked familiar and realised it’s the spit of The Running Bug logo.

Separated at birth, eh?

I had a look in The Boxing Clever Cookbook which lists recipes by season and decided to make this, halving the ingredients to serve 2:

Kohlrabi gratin with buttery crust (serves 4)
900g kohlrabi, peeled, halved vertically and cut into thinly sliced semi-circles
3tbsp fresh parsley
Finely grated rind of one lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
90g butter or margarine
300ml carton single cream or fromage frais
90g white breadcrumbs
1-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
120g Gruyere or Edam cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 190C/Gas 5
2. Lightly grease 1.5 litre gratin dish
3. Arrange half the kohlrabi in the bottom of dish. Sprinkle with half the parsley and lemon rind. Season
4. Dot kohlrabi with 1/2oz butter or margarine
5. Make second layer with remaining kohlrabi, parsley and lemon rind, and season again
6. Pour cream or fromage frais over the mixture and dot another 1/2oz butter or margarine over the top
7. Loosely cover the gratin with foil and bake for about 40 minutes until kohlrabi is just tender
8. Meanwhile, melt 50g butter or margarine in frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and garlic and fry over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until crumbs have absorbed butter or margarine and are beginning to go crisp. Season.
9. Remove foil from gratin, first sprinkle over cheese, and then breadcrumbs, and bake uncovered for about another 15 minutes

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I got sent one of these

in this week’s Riverford box. After ignoring the old ‘Google is your friend’ thing, I posted a photo of it on Facebook and asked what it was. I got the following answers:

‘No idea – I’d probably draw it!’
‘Put batteries in it and sit on it…. ?’
‘Whatever it is I think u will be parping for a few days after u eat it!!’
‘Take acid, wait a bit, stare at it and if it gets scary … eat it.’
‘Put a pair of sunglasses on it first’

None of which, although amusing, were particularly helpful. But on investigating the Riverford website, it said I’d been sent a romanesco cauliflower and so I googled it and lo! lots of pretty pictures of bright green trippy alien optical illusion Christmas tree type vegetables appeared.

I also googled what the hell to do with it and found out – quite disappointingly really – that you treat it like a normal cauliflower.

So I made cauliflower cheese. Albeit a posh cauliflower cheese with spinach and pasta.

Here it is.

I used this cauliflower cheese and spinach pasta bake recipe from the BBC Good Food website and very nice it was too.

Next week in my Riverford box, I’m not getting an alien cauliflower, I’m getting brussel sprouts.

Bah.

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I don’t recall ever having stuffed a pepper before. Mushrooms, yes, and I vaguely recall stuffing a tomato some time back in 1994 but peppers? No. This is probably because I’m not mega keen on cooked peppers.

Well, I wasn’t mega keen on cooked peppers, but I’ve changed my mind. These were delicious.

This recipe was adapted from one I found on BBC Good Food, after a search for sweetcorn (that I needed to use up from my Riverford delivery) led me to it. I used fresh sweetcorn (their recipe asks for frozen) and left out the avocado (due to me absolutely hating avocado). I left out the coriander, too.

Well nice.

Peppers filled with corn, chilli and cheese (serves 2)

2 green peppers, tops removed and deseeded
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 courgette
Fresh sweetcorn (I used a cob’s worth)
25g vegetarian cheddar, grated

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then cook the peppers for 5 minutes. Remove and drain, cut side down, on some kitchen paper.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion for 3 minutes until tender. Add the cumin and chilli and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the courgette then cook for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Remove from the heat, then stir in the sweetcorn, cheese and seasoning. Spoon the filling into the peppers, then stand them in a baking dish. Drizzle with remaining oil, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the peppers are very soft.

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I love mushrooms. I don’t very often make stuffed mushrooms because a) I think it’s going to be a bit of a faff and I try to make my life pretty much as faffless as I can; and b) I’m never sure what to serve them with and although I’d be happy to have them on their own, The Meat Eater would probably look at his plate and ask where the potatoes are.

But, while going through the Easy Vegan cookbook, I came across this recipe for baked stuffed mushrooms and thought I’d give them a go. I didn’t quite stick to the recipe as I didn’t read the recipe properly and have a spare mushroom for stuffing with and I didn’t use any celery as I’m not a huge fan of it. Also, I used a red chili (fresh from the greenhouse) and used white breadcrumbs (fresh from the packet of Kingsmill white sliced from the freezer).

And in case you’re wondering if The Meat Eater was left asking where the potatoes were, don’t worry. I served them with mashed potato and baked beans.

Well nice.

Baked stuffed mushrooms (serves 4)

5 very large portabello mushrooms or 10 large cremini/chestnut mushrooms
2-4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 rib/stick celery, finely chopped
1-2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 fresh green chili, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup/50g fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons freshly snipped chives plus extra to garnish
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4

Select 4 portobello mushrooms or 8 cremini mushrooms for stuffing. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms. Put the caps stem-side up in an ovenproof dish. Finely chop the remaining mushrooms and all the stalks. Heat a non-stick skillet/frying pan and add 2 teaspoons of the oil. Add the chopped mushrooms, celery, garlic, and chili and saute, stirring frequently, until soft. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a bowl.

Add the breadcrumbs, tomato, and chives to the bowl, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well, adding a little oil to moisten, if necessary. Fill the mushrooms with the breadcrumb mixture. Pour about 4 tablespoons of water into the dish, then cook in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and the topping is crisp. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Credits:
Baked stuffed mushrooms
Recipe by Rachael Anne Hill, Easy Vegan, Ryland Peters & Small

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After not being mightily impressed with the meals so far cooked out of The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook, I thought I’d choose what had to be a foolproof recipe. A recipe containing leeks and potatoes cooked in cream, milk and cheese can’t go wrong, can it? No, it can’t. It got a rating of ‘yum’ by The Meat Eater and didn’t get put in the bin.

Here it is pre-oven

and post oven

and on the plate.

The blurb said (yes, I know, why do I take so much notice of what the blurb says?) that it didn’t need much in the way of accompaniment other than a light salad but I had been tempted to have it with a burger but took a trip to the tip while it was cooking and had it on its own when I got back. A burger or sausage would have gone nicely with it, although, at 719 calories per portion, maybe stick to the light salad they suggest.

Potato and leek boulangere (serves 4-6)
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 1 hour
Suitable for freezing
Calories per serving (4 portions): 719
kj 2996
Protein 18g
Fat: 51g (saturated fat 32g)
Carbohydrate: 50g

Ingredients
25g (1oz) butter
500g (1lb) leeks, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
875g (1 3/4 lb) potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
4 tomatoes, sliced
300ml (1/2) pint double cream
300ml (1/2) pint milk
125g (4oz) smoked cheese, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Use the butter to grease a large, deep 30 x 30cm (12″ x 12″) ovenproof dish. Put in half of the chopped leeks and garlic, cover with half of the slices of potato and season well.
2. Cover with a layer of the remaining leeks and garlic, then the remaining potato slices and season well again. Cover with the slices of tomato.
3. Mix the cream with the milk and pour over the top.
4. Cover with grated cheese and bake in a preheated oven, 180c, Gas Mark 4, for 1 hour or until the potatoes are cooked and the cheese well browned.

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I’ve had courgettes in my veg box from Abel & Cole for the last four weeks but luckily, The Meat Eater says he’s not fed up with courgettes yet (unlike when he moaned about getting spinach twice in a week) and so I looked in my trusty Leiths Vegetarian Bible for another courgette recipe (they categorise everything by vegetable which is very handy) and found this one. I generally try to avoid pastry and especially pastry and cheese but this time I thought ‘sod it’.

The recipe here is adapted slightly as Leith’s recipe involved making your own pastry and rolling it out and placing it on a damp baking tray and pricking it with a fork and baking it on one side, then turning it over and baking it on the other and so I thought ‘sod that’ and bought some ready rolled.

I also used dried oregano, as I’ve never seen fresh oregano in my life.

While I was making it, I thought it might be a bit bland as it is just simply a layer of mozzarella and a layer of courgette and tomato, but it wasn’t bland at all. I froze the leftovers and heated them up a few days later and they were fine too.

Courgette and tomato tart

Ingredients:

225g ready rolled puff pastry
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
150g mozzarella cheese
6 ripe tomatoes
2 courgettes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220c/gas mark 7.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat until soft and golden-brown. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Allow to cool, then scatter over the top of the pastry. Slice the cheese and arrange on top of the onion.
3. Cut the tomatoes and courgettes into slices 1cm thick. Arrange the tomatoes and courgettes in alternate overlapping rows over the tart. Scatter over the herbs, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

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Today’s veg box arrived containing a cabbage and potatoes. Luckily enough, Leith’s Vegetarian Bible had a recipe containing both cabbage and potatoes and as it involved cooking it in garlic, double cream and cheese I thought that sounded like a winner.

And it was, as The Meat Eater declared it ‘very yum’ and gave me permission to cook it again. Maybe I’ll give him permission to cook it himself.

Potato and cabbage gratin (serves 4)

Ingredients
675g new potatoes
Butter, for greasing
1 clove of garlic, crushed
290ml double cream
225g Savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
55g Gruyere cheese, grated
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cayenne pepper
Dry English mustard

(I swapped Leerdammer cheese for the Gruyere as Tesco didn’t have any vegetarian Gruyere and I omitted the Parmesan as Tesco didn’t have any veggie Parmesan-style cheese either. I also swapped the fresh marjoram for dried as Tesco didn’t have any fresh marjoram.

Maybe I should start shopping at Waitrose.)

Method

1. Wash the potatoes and cook them in boiling water until just tender. Drain and cut into halves or quarters depending on size.
2. Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter.
3. Stir the garlic into the cream and mix together with the potatoes, cabbage and marjoram. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Spoon half the potato mixture into the base of the dish. Sprinkle the Gruyere cheese on top and cover with the remaining potato. Season the Parmesan cheese with a pinch each of cayenne and dry English mustard and sprinkle over the top.
5. Cover the dish with kitchen foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

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I recently reinstated my veg box delivery but opting for Abel & Cole for a change, instead of Riverford. Not that I had any problems with Riverford; I thought they were great, but the fact that you can skip any fruit or veg you don’t want appealed to me, as I used to end up with hundreds of mud-covered carrots which, not owning a rabbit or a carrot-eating cat, usually ended up in the bin.

The problem with skipping something in your delivery is that you don’t know what it’ll be replaced with and when I skipped potatoes one week, I received beetroot instead. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? (Well, actually I grated it and had it in a salad and it was fine with the added bonus of turning the feta cheese a nice pink colour.)

But wanting to avoid any more ‘what the hell do I do with that?’ vegetables, although I’ve had a delivery of courgettes for two weeks running, I decide to keep the courgettes and find a nice recipe for them. Having eggs to use up in the fridge, a frittata seemed to be the obvious choice. Although, having an oven with a grill that doesn’t work, it had to be an oven-baked frittata and the last time I made a frittata and put it in the oven instead of under the grill, it turned out to be a soggy mess.

Still, Google came to my rescue and I found an oven-baked frittata recipe which I can’t link to, as I just scribbled down some notes into my notebook and can’t remember where I found it.

I also used the cherry tomatoes that came in the box and it turned out perfectly, which is more than can be said for the home-grown potatoes that I overcooked into near-disintegration.

Oven-baked frittata (serves 2)

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 courgette, diced
75ml milk
1 tbsp cornflour
3 eggs
70ml single cream
25g cheese
70g cherry tomatoes, quartered

Method

1. Fry the courgette for 5 minutes
2. Blend a little milk with the flour, add eggs, cream and rest of the milk
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. Add the cheese
5. Pour mixture into an oven-proof dish
6. Add the courgettes and tomatoes
7. Cook for 25-30 minutes on 200c

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