Easy Mr Alan Aubergine Recipe

I'm not really sure what to call this aubergine (or eggplant for you Americans) recipe, it is a kind of stew-come-goulash-come-caponata.

I decided to give it a formal title, after one of the main ingredients (it was going to be Sir Alan, but it's a very lovely dish - and I find Sir Alan neither lovely nor a dish).

Aubergine is one of my very favourite ingredients at the moment. Some people hate it, but I think if cooked well it has a lovely smokey flavour and is a really flexible ingredient. If you still really hate Aubergines...then why not try this...

How damn cute is he?! Plus it was World Penguin Day on Friday so this could be the way to celebrate it. This lovely little penguin aubergine is from the first European vegetable carving competition in 2011 - I didn't know this existed until today but it is now my favourite competition. Does vegetable carving count as a way to reduce waste?!

This is another use it all up type recipe - for vegetables I used aubergine and sweet potato. I would generally stick to including aubergine, but you could also add potatoes, carrots, peppers or squash. Some of those jarred chargrilled peppers would also be nice, and capers if you have them.

1 large or two small aubergines - chopped into chunks

2 sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped into chunks

Tbsp paprika - any type, or a combination of two

1 red onion or a couple of shallots - chopped finely

2 cloves garlic - sliced thinly or crushed

1 tin of tomatoes

Tsp tomato puree

Tsp sugar

Tin of pulses - chickpeas or cannellini beans work well

Handful of olives

Olive oil

tbsp capers (optional)

Chopped and creme fraiche to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Pop the aubergine and sweet potato (plus any other vegetables) into a roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil. Into the oven until soft and the aubergine is starting to go slightly brown around the edges - probably around 30-40 minutes.

In the mean time heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy bottom sauce pan or casserole dish. Chuck in the onions and cook on a medium heat until they start to soften and go transparent.

Stir in the tomato puree, garlic and paprika. 

I absolutely love the colour at this point. Paprika makes everything beautiful!

Cook this for 1-2 minutes.

Stir in the tinned tomatoes and sugar. Season.

Turn the heat down and cook the tomatoes for around 10 minutes. You can put the lid on or add some water if it looks like it's getting a bit dry.

Stir in the pulses, olives and capers (if you have them).

Once the roasted vegetables are ready, spoon them in and stir them in to the sauce. Cook for around a further five minutes. 

Serve with quinoa, couscous, rice or pasta and garnished with a few fresh herbs if you have them, and a dollop of creme fraiche or soured cream.

Delicious!

Beautiful beetroot salad

Did anyone else over-indulge at Easter? 

It should be pretty much a given, what with chocolate eggs, Easter meals and plenty of wine. But it was totally worth it!

Today it was back to reality. Back to work and trying to maintain some semblance of a healthy lifestyle (such as it is). I don't know about you but I sometimes struggle with inspiration for healthy food, and no more so than when I have had a fully indulgent few days.

I tend to find inspiration in the usual places - recipe books, blogs, pinterest, restaurants etc. Today I found it in a rather unusual place...

My own face. Yep. And not in a vain way. More in a "I worked out after four days of chocolate and wine and turned myself into a beetroot". Yes I'm on the floor, and yes it is because I was too tired to stand.

And that reminded me that I had two beetroots nestling in my vegetable drawer. I had a hate relationship with beetroot until a couple of years ago - it tended to make me think of the vinegar laden stuff I used to pick out of salads, and I genuinely disliked it.

But then I discovered roasted beetroot, and it is truly delicious. If there are any beetroot haters out there then I recommend trying this salad. It may just convert you in to a beetroot lover, I hope it does.

This beetroot salad recipe is healthy and delicious. Plus with ingredients as pretty as these, you know it's going to be beautiful too.

2 large beetroots - peeled and chopped into chunks

1 bulb of garlic, separated into cloves

Bulgar wheat - enough for however many portions you want

2 large shallots, or 3 small ones - sliced thinly into moons or half moons

Handful black olives - sliced thinly

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

6 or 7 sprigs of thyme

Handful of mint

Pre-heat your over to around 200. Pop your beetroot, garlic and thyme into a roasting dish and drizzle with some a generous glug of olive oil.

While they are cooking, cook your bulgar wheat according to the packet instructions.

Once it is ready and cooled slightly, mix in the olives and shallots. 

Mix a simple dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You could also use lime or lemon juice for this - I didn't have any in the house though so went for balsamic vinegar. General rule is two parts olive oil to one part acid. Season with salt and pepper.

The beetroot will take about half an hour depending on the size of the chunks. Once it is softened remove it from the oven. 

Squeeze the garlic cloves into the dressing. If any are too hard to squeeze (which dependent on size they may be) then remove them from their skins and chop them into small pieces. Mix with the bulgar wheat.

Combine the beetroot, bulgar wheat and dressing together. Garnish with chopped mint.

Enjoy!

Instant frozen yoghurt (or yogurt)

Today I had a really enjoyable day on a work course, and topped it off with an early finish and the sun shining in London.

Look how beautiful London is in the sunshine...

It's not quite summer yet, but it sure feels like it is well on its way. What better way to celebrate the sunshine, and to get over the over-indulgences of Easter, than to whip up this instant, healthy, fruity, frozen yoghurt?

How many times have you bought fresh berries in the supermarket, and then not eaten them quite quickly enough? This has happened to me on so many occasions - not only does this not fit with the ethos of this blog, but berries are blooming expensive.

So how to stop this travesty (not a drama queen at all)? Buy frozen berries! They are actually relatively cheap (I bought mine from Sainsbury's basics range - £1.30 for 400g), and obviously keep for a really long time.

Again this makes use of my trusty hand processor, as well as some left over yoghurt. This would work with most flavours of yoghurt, and turns a simple pot of yoghurt into a more impressive and delicious summer dessert. It is so so so easy too!

250-300g yoghurt (plain or fruit)
Roughly 150g mixed frozen berries
Handful of fresh berries (if you have them)
Couple of sprigs of mint

There are pretty much four steps to this...

Pop the yoghurt and frozen berries into the processor.

Whizz up until the berries are incorporated into it, and it takes on a frozen-ish consistency. It wont be quite like ice cream, but it will be more solid than normal yoghurt. INSTANT FROZEN YOGHURT!

Spoon into glasses and serve with a handful of berries and some mint sprigs.

EAT.

(A secret fifth step is that if you don't need it straight away, or don't have quite enough frozen berries, then just pop it in the freezer and take out when you need it. Give it about five minutes out of the freezer if you do this, otherwise it will be colder than a penguin's belly button).

Just look at this beauty...

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Red onion, feta and olive tart

The sun is finally shining, and it is nearly time for summer-time dinners in the garden. This tart makes me think of summer weekend evenings with friends over and a glass of crisp, cold white wine. It looks and taste much more impressive and complicated than it really is. And it fits with my top tips...

Experiment, experiment, experiment. This week I have been super-duper brave and tried to make puff pastry myself from scratch. What a ridiculous plan I hear you scream! But actually I cheated slightly...

I followed this recipe, also known as "Cheat's rough puff pastry". Try it - it was pretty successful for me actually, and was so much tastier than shop bought. Also cheaper. And you can make it in advance. Plus people will be really impressed that you made your own pastry - and the level of satisfaction when it turns out well really will give you a cooking boost.

Olive oil
2 large red onions - sliced thinly
150ml Balsamic Vinegar
70g Brown sugar
Enough of the cheat's rough puff to cover a medium sized baking tray
1 block of feta
Good handful of black or green olives - pitted and sliced thinly
50g Pine nuts - toasted slightly

Make your pastry and pop in the fridge until ready to use. The recipe above will give enough for this tart, plus a bit more so you could use this for a couple of small tarts the next day, or perhaps something sweet.

Heat a couple of glugs of olive oil in a pan, and add in the onions. Cook gently until the onions are soft and getting sticky. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, then cook on a low heat until it is gooey and sweet. Do taste it and add in more sugar or balsamic to you taste.

Roll out the pastry into a rectangle to fit on a lined baking tray. Cut off any excess. Prick the base with a fork.

Score a line about 2 centimeters in from the edge all the way around - don't put any topping on this bit.

Spread the sticky onion balsamic mixture on the base, then crumble over the feta and sprinkle on the olives and pine nuts.

Brush the edge of the pastry with a bit of milk or egg.

Pop in a medium heat oven for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed up and golden and the feta is slightly golden too.

Serve either hot, warm or cold with potatoes and vegetables, or a selection of salads. And a cold glass of white wine. And some sunshine.

Spicy vegetarian chilli with "tortilla chips" and smashed avocado

Have you ever seen Michael McIntyre's sketch about the spice cupboard? If not watch it, because my description will never ever do it justice. He plays each of the spices languishing in people's cupboards that never get used.

Did you know that spices don't keep forever? Shocking, right?! And they actually lose their potency quite quickly. So it really is use them or lose them. I am against buying masses of spices that you will only use in one recipe. Stick to a basic store cupboard selection, and before adding to it think carefully about whether you will actually use the spice in more than one recipe, or how often you plan to make the one you are buying it for.

My store cupboard essentials are -

Paprika (any variety - sweet, smoked, hot. Or a selection of these)

Chili powder or dried chili flakes

Cumin - seeds or ground, or both if you will use them

Coriander - again seeds or ground

Ginger - as well as frozen fresh ginger in the freezer

Cinnamon

Turmeric

Sumac - just because I love it

These can be bought in more supermarkets, but if you do have an Asian store nearby I would definitely recommend a trip there. My mum and I buy big bags of spices and split them between us, and it is so much cheaper than your normal supermarket.

One of the obvious things to make with spices is a spicy vegetarian chilli. Super easy (don't be fooled by the list of ingredients - it is really difficult to get this wrong) and super delicious. Plus it follows my top tips for reducing food waste - apart from the spices, it is a rough recipe that you could use a selection of veg in, it makes the most of the spice cupboard, and I use some of my frozen food in it too. Tick, tick, tick!

Mix and match the vegetables - I used sweet potatoes and aubergine because I had them, but you could equally use butternut squash, courgette, peppers, carrots, fresh tomatoes. The pulses and lentils add lots of much needed protein!

The pitta chips instead of tortilla chips are much healthier. I always keep pitta bread in the freezer.

1 onion - chopped finely

2 cloves garlic - sliced finely or crushed

2 tsp paprika - mix and match different types. I use regular and smoked.

1-2 tsp chilli powder (depending on strength and how spicy you like it)

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 sweet potatoes - chopped into bite size pieces

1 small aubergine - chopped into bite size pieces

1 tin of pulses - black beans, chickpeas work well

Handful of red lentils - thoroughly washed in warm water

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

Juice of half a lime (optional)

Olive oil

Frozen or fresh pitta bread

Preheat the oven to 200. Put the sweet potatoes and small aubergine in a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and season. Roast for around half an hour, or until the aubergine is slightly charring.

In the mean time heat a glug of olive in a heavy bottom saucepan or wok. Keep the heat quite low and add in the spices. Stir in the oil for 1-2 minutes, taking care not to burn them.

Add in the onion and cook until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. 

Stir in the chopped tomatoes and sugar. Turn the heat up a bit to medium, and once the tomatoes are starting to simmer add in a handful of lentils. Thoroughly washing these before hand will stop the froth that you sometimes get when lentils are cooking. You can add some water in at this point to ensure that the lentils cook properly.

Once the lentils are starting to soften, stir in your other pulses and the roasted vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. 

Cook for about 5 more minutes until the lentils are soft with a little bit of bite. Squeeze in juice of half a lime if you have it.

Serve with pitta chips and some seasoned mashed avocado and/or creme fraiche/yoghurt.

Pitta chips -

To make the pitta chips, cut the pittas in half in the middle - so you end up with the thin top and bottom of the pitta bread. Does that make sense? I have no idea!

Cut the bits of pitta into triangles, probably around four per half of pitta depending on the size - but roughly tortilla chip size.

Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season with a reasonable amount of crushed sea salt. Pop in a medium heat oven for about 8 minutes, but do keep an eye on them. And then you have delicious pitta chips - great for this, but also with dips at parties!