Tales from a Veggie Kitchen

I have to include this here, as it was so yummy that everyone should try it. Apologies for the weak picture, my dad has yoinked my camera for a while, and my phone doesn't cope well with our bad lighting. It shows the salad nicely though.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4716/creamy-courgette-lasagne

Don't be fooled by the name, there's no actual cream in it. The creaminess comes from ricotta, which I adore, which is stirred in to the courgette mix before assembling the lasagne.

I added a pint of white sauce because I like saucy pasta which added to the creaminess and also increased the moisture content. It also allowed me to get away with using less cheese than I would normally on the top (the recipe is very skimpy on the cheddar, in my opinion). I also added some basic dried mixed herbs to the courgette mix, as I felt the need for a little extra layer of flavour.

I would also recommend that it serves 6 rather than 4 if you add a couple of pieces of garlic bread and a bit of salad each. I served it as 4 with a salad of baby spinach, 2 beetroots and an orange pepper and I was stuffed 2/3 of the way through. Of course I still ate it all, and because there's a large amount of veggies the stuffed feeling wears off pretty quickly.

I must say that this is one of my favourite dishes. If you're not a fan of fake meat then you can't go wrong with this lasagne, especially if you get a good quality tomato sauce.

Note: pic is taken with my phone, so not the usual quality. It looked more yellow than this.

BBC Good Food strikes again, and this time I was specifically looking for a curry of some sort. I saw this and it looked delicious. I'm so glad I don't have to type the recipe out, haha.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1397/spiced-vegetable-biryani

I bought all the ingredients (quite expensive if you include some yoghurt, poppadoms and mango chutney) even though the recipe says it's for 6 people. I was curious to see how much it would make. Well believe it, it really is for 6. I had to leave out a good portion of veggies so it'd fit into my largest oven dish, and even then it went for 5 servings.

Making sure the rice is cooked is key here, so it's best to use a dish with a lid in addition to the foil trick. I cooked mine for 15 minutes to roast the veg, then another 35 minutes for the rice part. This cooked it beautifully, but I think it's definitely a trial and error thing.

Taste-wise it was lovely, a bit weak in the spices because my spoon didn't fit in the curry paste jar and I ended up estimating the size of a tablespoon. But looking beyond that and it would certainly make a fine dish. The veg takes quite some preparing, but it can be done whilst waiting for the oven to hear. Or, at least, the veg that goes in first.

I did find that the mustard seeds and thick spices collected in one place, but I'm not sure how to stop that. I did stir it a bit, but didn't have much room to give it a good mix, and by the time it was cooked they had all settled again anyway.

It's a good dish to make on the weekend; reheated it's just as good and you don't have to cook for a couple of nights if there are just 2 of you. It does need the condiments I added to give interest (i.e. the yoghurt etc) and some protein, Alternatively you could use some ready-done fake meat pieces added when serving.

This based on another BBC Good Food recipes from the salad section, but I seem to be having trouble accessing their site lately. I can't remember the ingredient amounts exactly, but I'll outline it as best I can here.


Serves 4

Takes around 30 minutes too cook in all


400g new potaoes or baby news

200g green (runner/french) beans

A mid-sized crown of broccoli

Juice of half a lemon

A decent handful each of dill and chives

At least 2 -3 tbsp good quality olive oil

A 200g block of feta or goat's cheese

A handful of pine nuts

A bag of baby spinach leaves to serve

I also served the meal with half an avocado each. Because I love avocadoes!


* Chop the beans in half and separate the broccoli into florets

* Bring some water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes

* While the potatoes are cooking, mix together the oil, lemon juice and herbs and pine nuts in a large bowl

* When the potatoes are done, remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl with the dressing. Mix well.

* Using the water from the potatoes, boil the broccoli and green beans for about 4 minutes. When done add them to the potatoes and dressing and toss together well.

* Cut the feta into small rectangular pieces. Arrange the spinach leaves on plates and spoon the dressed salad mixture on top. Top the salad with the feta cheese. Now is the time to slice your avocado. If you have lemon juice left, squeeze onto the avocado to prevent it browning.


I loved this meal. So healthy, filling and tasty, all in one dish! I did adapt the recipe somewhat, as I served it warm, used feta instead of goat's cheese and added chives and the baby spinach, And the avocado. I didn't feel the recipes would have been interesting or tasty enough without the additions. It's a good time of year to make the most of fresh, in-season produce, so make it now!

This was something I could get along with!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1089638/buildyourownbruschettas

Simple and easy enough to make, although I always dislike washing up blenders. The toppings were delicious, although I think I used a little too much lemon. The amounts were fairly decent, but I could have used a bit more of the ricotta and walnut.

I also used a jar of roasted pepper meze instead of the tomatoes, and this helped extend the meal a bit. I found it just enough to fill, with room for ice cream afterwards.

This recipe makes a colourful, light, and visually impressive meal which I will defnitely make again. It is, however, heavy on the purse and the arms when you carry it from the shops. Oh well, can't have everything.

First up is the fennel and lemon risotto.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1089640/fennel-and-lemon-risotto

Now, I'm not a big risotto fan (overexposure as the veggie option in restaurants), but I have to admit this was delicious. The wine gave it a very strong tang; if you omit it you will have to really make the effort to add more flavour elsewhere. The fennel was lovely and buttery and imparted a flavour that synergised well with the lemon; that scented, fresh flavour that makes this a very summery dish.

I served it as recommended with shaves of parmesan, which I think is a must. My gripe is that without any sides, this wasn't a very big dish. I compensated a bit the second time by adding more rice and stock, and luckily my second fennel bulb was a bit bigger. Oh and I can't stand zesting lemons, but there's really no way around it; it's the zest that adds the real lemony hit.

Overall a very good recipe, one that I would make again if I can be bothered to zest!



Secondly, the cheesy broccoli pasta bake.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1094665/cheesy-broccoli-pasta-bake

I messed around quite a bit with the recipe, making it with the white sauce I usually make and adding some sweetcorn because I didn't think just the broccoli was enough veg. There's nothing much else to say about it really, it's a standard pasta bake. It can be rather bland if the sauce isn't tasty enough, so really make sure there's plenty of garlic, mustard and herbs in there. I even chucked in some old parmesan I had.

I put in the broccoli raw and it cooked just about enough but still a bit crunchy. I like it like that, but if you don't then boil it first. I also added herby breadcrumbs under the cheese topping.

It was ok, but I prefer making my pasta bakes with tomato based sauces.

Recipe found here http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1039650/roasted-chestnut-and-herb-pesto-pasta-with-mushroo

I used linguine as the pasta for this, which is one of my favourites.

Usually I dislike getting out the food processor, as it means a lot of fiddling and washing up to do, and usually a lot of mess, but making my own pesto was oddly satisfying. And having it taste like pesto in the end was a real boon! Having said that, it lacked the tang and punch of shop-bought pesto, which is probably to do with A) my parmesan being rather weak and B) the presence of the chestnuts.

Chestnuts are sweet, and the pesto very smooth tasting with a nutty sweetness not usually present. Also I didn't have quite enough olive oil, so the texture overall with the chestnuts was rather firm. It tasted good though, and I think benefitted from the addition of extra herbs. It was just different to what you would be used to.

I love mushrooms in any form, so not much to say there. I don't think I made any changes to this recipe, except being more generous with the basil than the other herbs. All in all it was enjoyed and I would make it again.