Spicy Tomato & Lentil Soup

Healthy & super easy to make!

Ingredients:

1.5l water
200g red lentils (check if they need to be soaked)
1 can peeled & chopped tomatoes
1 garlic clove (whole)
2 tsp salt
1 pinch of turmeric
1 allspice berry
1 dash of pepper
1 bay leaf
1 dash (or more!) of chilli powder
2 tsp soy sauce

Add the lentils to boiling water (if they need to be soaked first, do it earlier). Add the tomatoes and all the spices in any order. Cook at medium heat for as long as the lentils need to be cooked (check the package). 

  

Blue Cheese & Mushroom Pasta Bake

Vegetarian meals don't have to be super healthy or low in calories (thank god!)

This is one of these meals. I was surprised with the outcome as it tasted better than it looked and had a really rich flavour. Just make sure you use veggie cheeses if you're vegetarian, so no Gorgonzola.

Ingredients:

100g crumbled blue cheese
100g grated mature cheddar cheese
300g pasta
100g cream
1 can chopped tomatoes
200g chanterelle (or other) mushrooms
half an onion
2 garlic cloves
dried basil
salt & pepper
1 handful sliced black olives

1. Boil a pan of water for pasta. Heat oven to 180C. Chop the vegetables.

2. Fry the onions and mushrooms for a few minutes (with a bit of salt and pepper) and add garlic a couple of minutes before they're done.

3. When the pasta is ready, place it in a large oven dish and mix it with the canned tomatoes, cream and fried vegetables. Add a generous amount of basil and pepper and a bit of salt, then stir.

4. Sprinkle the cheese mixture on top, then stir gently so that some of it gets inside the dish.

5. Bake for about 25 min at 180 degrees. Scatter some sliced olives on top.

French-Indian food

One of my favourite Indian restaurants - Chez Mumtaj in St Albans.

Their weekend menu is not as vegetarian-friendly as it is during the week, but you can still get a few lovely dishes. A little swank, not your typical curry in a hurry kind of place :)

Paneer Shashlik - my favourite!

Spinach dumplings

Quick dinner - lentils with mushrooms

Ingredients for 2 -3:

1.5 cup red lentils (check that they don't require long soaking)
3-4 handfuls of oyster or other type of chopped mushrooms
half a cup of rice
half an onion
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp chilli powder
olive oil for frying
soy sauce (optional)

1. Cook the lentils with all the spices as recommended on the packet, normally 10-15 min.

2. Fry the mushrooms and onions with a little salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.

3. Once the lentils are soft and have absorbed most of the water (a little water is good as it creates a nice sauce), add the mushrooms and onions. Serve with rice. It's not a very saucy dish so the lentil to rice ratio should be 1:1 or 1:0.5

You can also pour a little soy sauce over the rice for a stronger flavour.

Lentil & Sweet Potato Loaf

Good alternative to a Sunday roast! The main ingredients are lentils, sweet potatoes, veggie broth and oats - except for these, you can experiment with different vegetables and spices.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup green lentils (that require short or no soaking)
750 ml instant vegetable broth (strongly flavoured)
a couple of bay leaves and allspice peppers for the broth
2 cups grated sweet potato
1 cup rolled oats
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
half tsp chilli powder
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp paprika
a little plain flour

Prepare the broth and add the allspice and bay leaves. Heat the oil in a large pot or a wok and sauté the mushrooms and onions until soft. Add the lentils, sweet potatoes, carrots and broth (take out the bay leaves and allspice before you do, they will be harder to find later). Add the spices (be generous, without the right amount of seasoning it can turn out quite bland). Cook the mixture on medium heat until the broth has absorbed and the lentils are soft - it can take 30-45 min.

Once it's ready, stir in the oats. The texture should be thick but pliable, you can add a teaspoon or two of plain flour to make it a bit thicker. Place the mixture into a loaf pan and bake at 250C for about 45 min or until it's firm. If the top gets too brown, cover the loaf pan with foil.

You should be able to cut the loaf into slices, but it gets a lot firmer when you let it sit for a couple of hours and then reheat.

Fennel & Mushroom Risotto

Serves 2
(For more portions you can use the same amount of vegetables, just add more rice and stock.)

Ingredients:

half a large cup risotto rice
0.75 litre vegetable stock
2 handfuls dried mushrooms (soaked for about 30 min, blended into paste and salted)
2 handfuls fresh mushrooms
1 fennel (peeled and sliced into thin strips)
half a cup green peas
250ml dry white wine
half medium onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons olive oil
ground black pepper
optional: grated hard cheese

Fry the fresh mushrooms and fennel for about 5 minutes, then add the onions and garlic and fry on medium heat for a few more minutes. When the fennel starts to look a little crispy, add the rice followed by the white wine, peas and blended dried mushrooms.

Stir until the wine is fully absorbed, then start adding ladlefuls of stock. Keep stirring frequently and allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next – this can take around 15 min.

Leave to sit for a couple of minutes before serving. Sprinkle the black pepper and, if required, grated hard cheese on top. 

Squash & Crispy Kale Pasta

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients:

250g pasta
1 x large butternut squash
200 ml soya milk
1 tbs coconut oil
1 cup green peas
a few pieces of sundried tomatoes
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder (alternatively, 1/2 vegetable stock cube)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 tbs dried coriander
salt and freshly ground pepper

For the crispy kale:

100g kale
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsb sea salt flakes

Preheat the oven to 200C. Halve and deseed the squash. Place it in a roasting dish, flesh side down, and pour in 150ml water. Bake for 1 hour (or until the flesh is soft). When it's cooled down, scoop the flesh out with a spoon.

Place the squash and green peas in a saucepan and stir with the soya milk to a purée. Pour it into a saucepan and simmer. Dissolve the bouillon powder/vegetable stock in a bit of hot water and add it in with all the seasoning and chopped sundried tomatoes.

Cook the pasta in a large pan of salted water.

While cooking the pasta, rub olive oil over the kale (torn into bite-size pieces). Spread it out on baking foil, sprinkle the sea salt flakes over the top and bake for about 10 min (in 150C) or until it's crispy.
Pour the squash sauce into the pan of drained pasta. Stir and cook on low heat for a couple of minutes. Serve with crispy kale on top.