Tag Archives: vegetables

Crushed Carrots with Pistachio Pesto

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I adapted this recipe from one by Noor Murad. She uses fresh coriander as the green herb in the pesto. I used mint and am confident that basil would work equally well. You could even use a mixture of fresh herbs. This recipe raises the humble old carrot to amazing heights. Serve as a side dish or as part of a buffet.

Carrots:
1 to 1½ kg carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
½ cup water
2 Tbs olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp chilli flakes
2 Tbs maple syrup
Pesto:
1 cup tightly packed coriander, mint or basil leaves
¾ cup pistachio nuts, lightly toasted
1 clove garlic
About ½ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish:
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lime or half a lemon
¾ cup Greek yoghurt

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place carrots and remaining ingredients in a shallow roasting pan. Mix then roast for 30 mins, or until no liquid remains and carrots are glazed, turning once or twice during cooking time. Tip onto a shallow serving plate and crush the carrots roughly with a  fork.

While carrots are cooking make the garnishes by mixing about half the lemon or lime juice with the red onion and the other half with the yoghurt. Also make the pesto by placing all ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Process until chunky, adding the oil gradually through the feed tube with the motor running and stopping halfway to scrape down the sides. Season to taste.

Drizzle the pesto over the carrots, then put blobs of the yoghurt all over and finally the drained onions.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Variations: use pine nuts instead of pistachios, a little Harissa paste instead of chilli flakes, parsnips or sweet potatoes instead of carrots

Roasted Peas with Brown Butter & Garlic

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Yotam Ottolenghi has taught me that all vegetables taste better roasted rather than boiled in water, the way our mother’s and grandmothers cooked them. Maybe not yours, but certainly mine. They knew how to roast potatoes, parsnips and pumpkin, but anything green went into boiling water. Roasting Brussels sprouts, asparagus and cauliflower takes them to a whole new level.

This recipe didn’t come from Mr Ottolenghi but from Pinterest, where you can find quite a few versions. I’m not going to give exact quantities. I used less butter than the recipes called for, so I’ll leave it up to you. Don’t be put off by the amount of garlic because the roasting makes it soft and sweet.

I served the peas with salmon topped with a mixture of finely chopped ginger and Thai sweet chilli sauce, baked in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper for for 8-10 minutes at 200°C.

Frozen Peas
Butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peeled cloves of garlic (about a dozen?)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the peas in a sieve and run hot water from the tap over them, drain and put in a bowl. Heat a large knob of butter in a saucepan until it turns golden brown. How much butter is up to you and depends on how many peas you are doing.

Add the butter, garlic cloves and seasoning to the peas. Line a baking tray with baking paper and tip the peas onto it, spreading them out into one layer. Bake for 10-20 minutes, turning once or twice. Time will depend on the size of the peas.

Variations: add some finely diced bacon or frozen corn kernels.

Brussels Sprouts with Black Garlic & Pasta

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Black garlic is sweet and pungent. Ottolenghi calls it “licorice meets balsamic meets essence of garlic.” I have heard it called  Poor Man’s Truffles.

Like all vegetables, Brussels sprouts, which our mothers and grandmothers loved to boil to death, are completely transformed by roasting in a hot oven. This is a delicious recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi which I have adapted with the addition of pasta and a couple of tweaks to turn it from a vegetable side dish into a vegetarian main course for four. By the way, I used Orecchiette pasta shapes which look a bit like mushrooms in the photo!

A friend lent us a black garlic-making machine. It looks a bit like a rice cooker and you just put the garlic heads in for 270 hours on a very low heat. We had to banish it to the garage because it was stinking the house out, but now we have plenty of black garlic. You should be able to find black garlic at your local farmer’s market.

500g brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthways
3 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds
12 black garlic cloves
2 Tbs fresh thyme leaves or 1 Tbs dried
30g butter
2 Tbs pumpkin seeds
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs Tahini
250g pasta of your choice, cooked al dente
Sesame seeds, toasted, to garnish

Preheat oven to 200°C and put the water on to boil for the pasta.

Place sprouts in a bowl with 1 Tbs of the oil and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well then spread out in one layer on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-15 mins until golden brown but still crunchy.

Meanwhile lightly crush the cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar, then place in food processor with the black garlic, thyme and the remaining 2 Tbs of olive oil. Blitz to form a paste.

Cook pasta according to package instructions. In a large wok or frying pan heat the butter until it turns a nutty brown. Add the black garlic paste, sprouts, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice and tahini. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 mins, then add the cooked pasta and a little of the cooking liquid. Check seasoning.

Serve in 4 individual bowls sprinkled with the sesame seeds.

Serves 4

Eggplant in Red Lentil and Coconut Sauce

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This delicious recipe is adapted from one by Yotam Ottolenghi. He used an Indian soft cheese called paneer as the filling. I used halloumi but you could use feta or ricotta.

I first discovered red lentils when watching a Nigella Lawson TV show, in which she said they are great because they only take about 20 minutes to cook. Be careful as overcooking results in mushy lentils.

3 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise ½ to 1 cm thick
About 100 ml vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped (or 6 shallots)
2 Tbs finely chopped ginger
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 tsp sugar
Strips of peel from 1 lime removed with veg peeler
200g red lentils
400ml can coconut milk
800ml water
100g spinach leaves
220g feta, halloumi or ricotta cheese
To garnish:
Juice from 1 lime
Fresh chopped coriander

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line two large oven trays with baking paper. Arrange the eggplant slices on the trays, brush both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 mins or until cooked and golden brown. Cool.

Put 2 Tbs oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions over medium heat, for 2-3 mins, stirring. Add ginger, chilli, spices, tomato paste, sugar, strips of lime peel and lentils and continue to cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add coconut milk, water and a teaspoon of salt. Turn down heat and simmer 20 mins, stirring from time to time, or until lentils are al dente and sauce is thick. Pour into an oiled baking dish large enough to take the eggplant rolls in one layer and put aside.

Arrange spinach leaves all over the eggplant slices in one layer, then a piece of feta or halloumi. Roll up from the thinner end so the cheese is enclosed. Arrange the packages seam-side down in the lentil sauce and press them in a bit. You should end up with 16 to 20 rolls in one layer. Bake 20 mins or until golden brown on top. Drizzle with the lime juice and garnish with the fresh coriander.

Serves 6

Substitutions: use lemon instead of lime

Roast Cauliflower with Cashew Hummus and Harissa Sauce

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This recipe was inspired by a recent Master Chef programme. The contestant, Courtney Roulston, used cauliflower steaks or thick slices and the method was quite long. I’ve adapted it to use cauliflower florets and taken a few short cuts with the method. Despite these adjustments it’s still a somewhat long-winded recipe, compared with the ones I usually put on this blog. But it’s worth it and most of the elements can be made ahead of time.

Courtney called the sauce Cashew Tarator, but it’s really just Hummus made with cashew nuts and a slice of bread, instead of chickpeas. She used raw cashews. I only had salted ones, but the salt washes off when you soak them.

The chickpeas were rolled in flour, deep fried until crunchy and used a garnish. Mine didn’t go crunchy, so when I made the recipe a second time I roasted them with the cauliflower.

To speed things up you could use bought Hummus instead of the Cashew Hummus, a bought sun dried tomato dip instead of the Harissa sauce (add some chilli sauce to perk it up a bit) and Dukkah instead of the Spiced Seeds.

Any leftover cashew hummus and harissa sauce make a delicious dip, either separately or together. Just dollop them into a bowl and swirl them together a bit. Serve with corn chips, pita bread or veggie sticks.

Cauliflower:
1 large cauliflower, cut into 3cm florets
2-3 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp cumin powder
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1-2 tsp salt
2 Tbs lemon juice
Cashew Hummus:
1 cup cashew nuts
1 slice sourdough bread, crusts removed
1 heaped Tbs Tahini
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp maple syrup
1 clove garlic
½ tsp cumin powder
1/3 cup cold water
Salt to taste
Harissa Sauce: 
1 large red capsicum
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
3 long red chillies, seeded and chopped
¼ cup olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds (I substituted fennel)
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 tsp maple syrup
2 tsp vinegar
Salt to taste
Spiced seeds:
2 tsp pistachios
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sunflower kernels
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sumac
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Garnish:
Pomegranate seeds (optional)

Cauliflower: Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a shallow baking sheet with baking paper. Place cauliflower in a bowl with remaining ingredients except lemon juice. Mix well then spread out on the tray in a single layer. Roast for 20-30 mins, turning halfway through, or until cauliflower is cooked and slightly browned. Remove from the oven, arrange on 4 serving plates (or one large one) and drizzle with the lemon juice.

Hummus: cover cashew nuts with warm water in a small bowl and bread with cold water in another bowl. Leave the bread for about 10 mins, then squeeze out water. Leave the nuts for 20-30 mins then drain. Place nuts and bread in food processor with remaining ingredients and mix till smooth. Add a touch more water if it’s too stiff. Can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Harissa Sauce: Roast the capsicum over a gas flame or BBQ until blackened, then place in a plastic bag and leave until cool when it should be easy to peel, remove seeds and chop. Cover tomato with boiling water, drain after a minute, run under cold water and peel. Place cumin and caraway or fennel seeds in a frying pan and stir over medium heat for a minute or two, until fragrant. Add oil, capsicum, tomato and chillies. Cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, cook for a couple of minutes, then cool a bit before pureeing in food processor. Can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for 3-4 days.

Spiced Seeds: place pistachios and seeds in a small frying pan over moderate heat and toast, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until the sesame seeds start to colour. Place in a mortar and pestle, add sumac, salt and pepper and grind a bit, leaving the pistachios quite chunky. Can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for a week or two.

Place a dollop of Cashew Hummus on top of each serving of cauliflower, dollop some of the Harissa Sauce around, sprinkle with Spiced Seeds and pomegranate kernels, if using. Drizzle with a little Extra Virgin olive oil.

Serves 4 as a light meal or 6-8 as a starter

 

 

 

Sweet Potato and Zucchini Slice

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Every year we grow zucchini (courgettes) in our vegetable garden. Despite our best efforts, some of them get away and end up looking more like marrows. Large zucchini are great for making into fritters or a savoury slice like this one. If zucchini are large remove the seeds and some of the skin.

It’s worth investing in a 0.5cm grating attachment for your food processor. The grating attachment which came with my Magimix is too fine for things like carrot, zucchini and beetroot so I ordered the larger one online. It makes grating vegetables a cinch and has become the attachment I use most.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large sweet potato (about 500g), peeled and coarsely grated
500g zucchini, peeled and coarsely grated
1 cup ricotta or cottage cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
¼ cup plain flour
5 eggs
2 Tbs chopped chives or basil
2 Tbs chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cherry tomatoes to garnish

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a rectangular slice tin. I used a 22cm round cake tin instead.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and garlic and cook gently until soft but not browned. Mix with remaining ingredients, then scrape into cake pan and smooth the top. Bake for 40-70 minutes. Time will vary according to the cake pan you choose. If you use a rectangular slice pan it will be thinner and take around 40 mins. The one in the photo took about 70 mins. Any size/shape will do. When cooked it will be golden all over and firm to the touch in the middle.

Serve cold or at room temperature, garnished with the cherry tomatoes. We preferred it cold.

Serves 10

Variation: Fry 3-4 rashers of chopped bacon with the onion and garlic

Green Bean Salad

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This is an adaptation of a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi called Four Lime Green Bean Salad.

His original recipe (which you can easily find online) is no doubt delicious, but I didn’t have any kaffir lime leaves or Iranian ground lime. I increased the amount of broad beans and peas to make equal quantities of all three vegetables.

A perfect addition to the New Year buffet or to accompany leftover Christmas Ham and Turkey.

500g fresh green beans
500g packet frozen broad beans (or use fresh, shelled)
500g frozen peas
Dressing:
Zest and juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon
3 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic
½ cup fresh coriander leaves
½ cup fresh mint leaves
1 long green chilli, deseeded
1 tsp salt
Garnish:
Black sesame seeds
2-3 tsp Za’atar spice mix
A few coriander leaves
1 long green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)

Top and tail beans then cook in boiling salted water for 3 mins. Drain, refresh with cold water and drain again. Cook broad beans in boiling water for 2-3 mins then drain and remove the outer shells and discard. Cook peas in boiling water for 2-3 mins then drain. Place both beans and the peas in a large serving dish.

Place all ingredients for the dressing in food processor and process till smooth. Pour over the beans and mix well. Garnish with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds, spice mix, coriander leaves and, if liked, the extra green chilli.

Serves 6

Substitutions: if you don’t have any Za’atar spice mix, experiment with a few of your favourite spices or spice blends

Eggplant, Nuts & Seeds with Labneh Dressing

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When I do my weekly shopping I often buy a couple of eggplants with a view to making some kind of vegetarian dish. Inspired by a photo in a recent QANTAS magazine I created this colourful dish which was delicious. There was no recipe, just a photo, so there was a lot of guesswork!

2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise about 1cm thick
olive oil
1 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 Tbs lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Seeds from 1 pomegranate or ½ cup dried Goji berries
1 Tbs each pine nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pepitas
2 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)
A few green leaves such as rocket, spinach (I used pea shoots from the garden)
Extra Virgin olive oil

To make the Labneh, strain the yoghurt for a few hours or overnight in a sieve lined with muslin or a man’s handkerchief, in the fridge. Discard the liquid.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Arrange eggplant slices on two large shallow baking sheets, lined with baking paper. Brush both sides with olive oil then bake for 20-30 mins or until cooked and golden brown. Arrange in a serving dish in overlapping circles.

Meanwhile heat the nuts and seeds in a dry frying pan over moderate heat, stirring, until lightly toasted. Remove seeds from pomegranate, or if using Goji berries, cover them with boiling water, then drain after 2-3 minutes.

Mix labneh with the lemon juice and season to taste.

Garnish eggplant slices with the pomegranate seeds or Goji berries, the toasted nuts and seeds and the labneh dressing. Add a few green leaves for colour. Drizzle a little Extra Virgin olive oil around the plate.

Serves 4

Roasted Vegetables with Spinach and Halloumi

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Flying home from Canada I walked through the galley kitchen during the night, on my way to the loo. A flight attendant was eating something from a foil container which looked delicious. Not like aeroplane food at all. She told me it was roasted veggies with quinoa, spinach and halloumi. I made a mental note and here it is.

1 recipe Oven Roasted Vegetables
1 cup quinoa or couscous, prepared according to packet directions
1 packet baby spinach leaves
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Balsamic Glaze
Lemon Juice
1 packet Halloumi cheese

Make the vegetable recipe you can find by clicking on the link and prepare the couscous or quinoa. In a large salad bowl mix the vegetables with the quinoa or couscous and the baby spinach leaves. Add oil and lemon juice to taste.

Slice halloumi cheese about half a centimetre thick. Dry well with paper towels then fry on both sides in a frying pan in a little olive oil until golden brown. Arrange the halloumi on top of the vegetables, then drizzle with the lemon juice and balsamic glaze.

Serves 4

Variations: use the larger Israeli couscous, cooked according to packet directions. Top the salad with cubes of feta cheese instead of halloumi.

Roast Cauliflower with Black Garlic Dressing

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This recipe was inspired by one made by a contestant in the latest Australian Masterchef series. His recipe involved smoking some of the ingredients. I skipped this stage and used honey rather than caramel to brush over the cauliflower.

Umami is the fifth taste sensation, after sweet, salty, sour and bitter. An intense savoury flavour, it’s  found in ingredients such as Parmesan cheese, tomato paste, stock cubes and, believe it or not, Vegemite and Marmite. The Masterchef contestant whose name was Simon admitted he had put a teaspoon of Vegemite into the dressing. The judges said it was absolutely delicious and he won the round.

Black Garlic is made by putting whole heads into a slow cooker for about a week at a very low temperature. The garlic cloves turn soft, black and sweet and are useful as a garnish or flavour booster. Sometimes described as poor man’s truffles, a whole head of Black Garlic will cost you around $10 and some specialty shops sell black garlic paste in a jar. If you don’t have any just leave it out. It won’t be quite the same but still tasty.

2 cauliflowers
2 Tbs honey or brown sugar
2 Tbs vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 shallots, finely diced
A few cloves black garlic (optional)
100ml vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Vegemite or Marmite
1 cup plain thick Greek-style yoghurt
Juice and zest of half a lemon
2 Tbs hazelnuts, skinned, toasted and chopped
Fresh herbs to garnish – I used Marjoram

Preheat oven to 180°C. Slice cauliflowers horizontally 2-3cm thick, including the stem. You should get at least 3 slices from each cauliflower. Keep the florets that fall off for another recipe.

Place cauliflower “steaks” on one or two shallow metal baking trays lined with baking paper. Mix the honey, vinegar and oil and brush all over the cauliflower. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the cauliflower over and brush with remaining sauce. Bake for 15 mins or until cooked through and caramelised.

Meanwhile in a frying pan sauté chopped garlic and shallots in a little of the vegetable oil until soft but not brown. Scrape into a deep jug, add the rest of the vegetable oil, the black garlic (if using), the Vegemite, salt and pepper to taste, then blitz with a stick blender. Alternatively process in a food processor. In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and zest and place in the fridge. Toast and chop the nuts.

To serve, place a slice of cauliflower on 6 individual plates or one large platter. Garnish with the yoghurt dressing, the garlic dressing, the toasted hazelnuts and some fresh herbs.

Serves 6