Tag Archives: vegetarian

Elin’s Gazpacho

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In hot weather Gazpacho, a chilled soup which originated in Andalucia in southern Spain, makes a perfect lunch or starter. I’ve tried quite a few recipes, but one of the best versions was served for lunch by my Danish friend Elin, while we were living in Copenhagen. I remember thinking how delicious it was (better than my recipe!) and how snazzy the croutons looked cut into soldiers. Elin has given permission for me to share her recipe with my readers.

Gazpacho should be made when you have tomatoes in the garden or can buy local ones in the market. Supermarket tomatoes which have been refrigerated won’t taste the same.

This recipe has quite a few ingredients so it’s not a five minute job. But the effort is well worth it. If preferred leave out the chilli altogether.

Elin's Gazpacho

4 large red capsicums (peppers)
2 chillies (preferably peperoncino)
1½ kg good quality vine-ripened tomatoes
10 semi-dried tomatoes
200ml extra virgin olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, depending on size, crushed
4 Tbs vinegar (preferably sherry)
1 bunch fresh basil
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 small cucumbers
1 loaf day-old Italian bread
2-3 Tbs sugar (depends on sweetness of the tomatoes)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
To serve:
1 red capsicum (pepper)
1 small cucumber
Extra virgin olive oil
The rest of the bread made into croutons

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place a piece of foil on a baking tray and place capsicum and chillies on top (saves washing up). Bake until blackened, then cool, peel and remove seeds. If they are difficult to peel you haven’t cooked them long enough. The chillies being smaller will need to come out much earlier – they are a bit fiddly to peel so just removed stalk and seeds.

Meanwhile pour boiling water over the tomatoes in two bowls, leave for 2 minutes then tip away water, peel and remove hard cores.

In a blender puree the capsicum, tomatoes, dried tomatoes, peeled cucumbers, chilli, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, basil leaves, 3-4 slices of bread with crusts removed and oil. You will have to do this in 2 or 3 batches. Taste and add sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Chill several hours or preferably overnight.

To serve: If soup is a bit too thick add a little iced water then pour into a soup tureen or ladle into individual bowls. Add some ice cubes (optional) and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve with the following side dishes so people can help themselves – peeled and diced cucumber, with some skin left on (to add some dark green colour) and diced capsicum. Make croutons from the rest of the loaf of bread – cut bread into “soldiers”, spray or brush with olive oil and bake until golden. For those who like spicier food you can serve some extra chopped chillies, but it was hot enough for my liking – probably because I used birds eye chillies rather than peperoncino which are much milder!

Serves 12

Note: sun-dried tomatoes as opposed to semi-dried tomatoes tend to be rather dark in colour which will result in a brownish gazpacho. So best to use semi-dried or leave them out altogether.

Spinach Salad with Red Dressing

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When we were living in Pretoria, South Africa, in the late 1980s someone brought a delicious spinach salad to a pot luck BBQ we were hosting. I made a mental note of the ingredients in the salad, but it took me a while to get the sweet and sour red dressing right.

This salad is very popular as part of a buffet or to accompany a BBQ. The ingredients are unusual and the contrast of the spinach and eggs with the red dressing looks good. I used to call it Sweet and Sour Dressing, but as everyone in the family called it Red Dressing, I decided to go with the flow. Serve in a large shallow bowl, so there is only one layer of each ingredient, then spoon the dressing over at the last minute and serve without mixing.

The bowl in the photo is hand made and was bought at the craft market at Los Dominicos in Santiago, Chile. We lived in Santiago for 4 wonderful years and every time I return I end up bringing back a salad bowl for someone who has admired mine and asked for the spinach salad recipe. It’s a perfect size and shape for this salad.

Spinach Salad with Red Dressing

2-3 packets baby spinach leaves or use half spinach and half lettuce leaves
1-2 cups bean sprouts
4-6 hard boiled eggs
4-6 rashers bacon, diced
1 can water chestnuts
Red Dressing (see below)

Wash and dry spinach and remove stalks. Wash and dry bean sprouts and sprinkle over. Drain and slice water chestnuts and sprinkle over. Cut eggs into halves or quarters, lengthwise and arrange over the salad. Can prepare ahead to this stage. Just before serving fry the bacon in a pan without oil until crisp, dry on paper towels and sprinkle over the salad. Vegetarians can leave out the bacon. Just before serving spoon over some Red Dressing.

Serves 8-10 or more as part of a buffet

Red Dressing

¼ cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 small onion or ½ medium
½ cup cider or white wine vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
½ cup tomato ketchup

Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Keep in the fridge in a jar with a lid. Shake well before using. Goes well with any salad but especially with Spinach Salad.

Tri-Colour Coleslaw

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At our rural property we had a good crop of cabbages until the earwigs found them. Matthew went up there for a couple of days earlier this week to water the new trees and brought a cabbage back with him. As I started to remove some of the outer chewed leaves out jumped a million earwigs! They were everywhere and it was easy to see what they had been eating. I had to throw away about about half the cabbage before I got down to virgin territory.

I’ve been reading up on the internet about tried and tested earwig traps and saving empty containers with lids. Vegetable oil with the addition of something attractive to earwigs, such as a dollop of peanut butter or the oil/juice from a can of tuna, is said to do the trick – it lures them in and they drown. We’re going to the property the weekend after next and those b***** earwigs had better watch out!

Coleslaw when I was growing up was pretty standard – cabbage, carrot and bought mayonnaise – or Heinz salad cream – sometimes with a tin of crushed pineapple thrown in for good measure. This is a more modern version.

Tri-Colour ColeslawAbout 4 cups shredded white cabbage
About 4 cups shredded red cabbage
About 1 cup thinly sliced celery
About 1 cup coarsely grated or julienned carrot
About ½ cup thinly sliced green (spring) onions
1 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)
Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise, preferably home-made
½ cup thick Greek yoghurt or sour cream
½ cup French dressing (see below)

Prepare salad ingredients and place in a large bowl. Place dressing ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously to emulsify. Add enough dressing to the salad to moisten to your liking – you may not want to use it all. Taste and add more salt if you think it needs it.

Serves 6-8

French Dressing
1 cup oil (sunflower, canola)
¼ cup cider or white wine vinegar
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbs honey (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic peeled and halved

Place all ingredients in a jam jar with a lid and shake vigorously to emulsify. Keeps in the fridge for up to a month. I usually make double or triple in a very large jar so it’s always on hand when I need it. If you like a sweet dressing add the honey. Otherwise just add about half a tsp of sugar.

Quick Fish Curry

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I love a good curry, even in the middle of summer. You can’t eat salads all the time, even in a heatwave. Anyway they were invented in a hot climate, the theory being that by making you perspire you cool off.

We eat a lot of ginger in our house so I buy at least half a kilo at a time. I try to choose fat evenly shaped tubers because they’re easier to peel, although I have to confess that if I can find someone ensconced in front of the TV watching cricket or rugby, I get him to do the peeling. My wonderful unpaid sous chef! Once peeled, process the ginger in a food processor until very finely chopped, then freeze in ice cube trays. They hold about a tablespoon and that’s how much I use in most recipes – stir fries, curries etc – even if the recipe says to use less! If you don’t like so much ginger, fill them only half full. Once frozen tip into a plastic container and keep in the freezer to use as needed. Zap very briefly (20-30 secs) in the microwave to thaw, or throw them straight into a stir fry as they are.

Buying ginger as you need it usually means throwing away what’s left over – when you eventually find it at the bottom of the fridge or all dried up in the vegetable basket! So I find it very convenient to always have it on hand – peeled, chopped and ready to go. I also have a jam jar of small whole red chillies in the freezer and another containing chopped lemongrass. We grow it and it’s all ready at the same time, so I have to freeze it, but you could buy some and freeze it. Using frozen ginger, chillies and lemongrass is probably not quite the same as using fresh, but once cooked you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.  In case you’re worried, jam jars won’t break in the freezer.

If you want to try growing your own ginger here are some tips.

Ginger is very good for you and I always thought you couldn’t eat too much. However, according to Wikipedia “an acute overdose of ginger is usually in excess of about 2 grams of ginger per kilogram of body mass, dependent on level of ginger tolerance, and can result in a state of central nervous system over-stimulation called ginger intoxication or colloquially the ginger jitters”. Maybe that’s my problem.

Quick Fish Curry3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, peeled
1 Tbs grated or very finely chopped ginger
2 stalks lemon grass
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 Tbs palm sugar or brown sugar
2 Tbs fish sauce
1 small red chilli, seeds removed (or less if you don’t want it too hot)
1 400g can coconut milk
4 kaffir lime leaves (see note below)
About 500g firm white fish cut into 2-3 cm chunks
Juice ½ lemon or 1 lime
Chopped fresh coriander and steamed rice to serve

Place garlic, onion, ginger, lemon grass, turmeric, paprika, sugar, fish sauce, chilli and coconut milk in food processor. Process till smooth then tip into a heavy based frying pan. Add kaffir lime leaves, crushed with your hand. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened. Add fish and cook gently for 4-5 minutes or until cooked. Add lemon juice and check for salt – you probably won’t need any as the fish sauce is salty. Tip into serving bowl and top with coriander. Serve with steamed rice and an Indian pickle or chutney.

Serves 3-4

Note: in Australia kaffir lime leaves are sold in most supermarkets, but if you can’t find them just leave them out. If you can buy them you usually have to buy quite a few, so freeze the surplus. If you can’t find lemongrass add some lemon rind removed with a vegetable peeler and very finely chopped. Not the same, but quite a nice addition.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

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Whenever I make oven-roasted vegetables I always think there will be lots of leftovers. But they’re so delicious, not to mention healthy, so everyone comes back for seconds and there’s none left.

You can use any combination of vegetables and there are some important rules. Cook the vegetables in a hot oven i.e. 200C or 400F in a very shallow baking tray in one layer – otherwise they will stew in their own juices rather than roasting. Also it’s important to cut vegetables which cook quickly, such as zucchini, into larger pieces than the rest. When cooked the vegetables should be slightly charred on the edges, while still maintaining a bit of crunch. The first photo shows them just out of the oven. The second photo shows them served on a bed of rocket, garnished with some soft goat’s cheese and toasted pine nuts.

2-3 large carrots, peeled
2 red or yellow peppers (capsicum) or one of each, seeds and membranes removed
4-6 small yellow squash (if available)
3 onions – red or brown
4-6 zucchini (courgettes)
6-8 whole garlic cloves
Olive oil, salt and pepper
Balsamic glaze or vinegar
Chopped fresh parsley or coriander to serve
Optional additions:
1 eggplant (aubergine)
1 sweet potato
parsnips or pumpkin

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut vegetables into sticks or chunks, onions into quarters or eighths depending on size. Leave garlic cloves whole. Place all the vegetables in a shallow baking tray in a single layer. You don’t want them all on top of each other, so use two if necessary. Drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well with your hands. Roast vegetables for 30-40 mins, turning a couple of times during cooking time. Serve at room temperature, drizzled with balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with chopped herbs.

Serves 6-8

Chilled Carrot and Orange Soup

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On a very hot day you can’t beat a bowl of ice cold soup. Not everybody will agree with me on this – chilled soups are something you either like or you don’t.  My Dad didn’t like them, even though he was quite adventurous, loved Asian food and most of the things I put in front of him.

The best known cold soups are probably Spanish gazpacho and Russian Borscht, a soup made with beetroot which can be served hot or cold and which is popular in many Middle European countries. I have about three other favourite recipes including this one for Carrot and Orange. The soup is equally delicious served hot.

Chilled Carrot and Orange Soup

500-600g carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, chopped
25g butter
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1½ – 2 cups orange juice (fresh or from a carton)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar
Finely chopped fresh dill and cream to garnish

Cook onion in butter till soft, add carrots, stock, sugar and simmer until tender. Blend till smooth in blender, add orange juice to reach desired consistency, check seasoning and chill.  Serve garnished with dill and a swirl of cream. Can be served hot.

Serves 6

Variation: for a creamier soup replace ½ cup of the orange juice with cream.

Reader’s requests for Tomato recipes

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I’ve recently received two reader’s requests.  One from my Chilean friend Sonia who remembers a Roasted Tomato Salad I made when she came to our house in Santiago, Chile.  It was given to me by my friend Ferne.  The other is from my American cousin Anne who remembers a cheese and tomato flan I made when she was in England in the 70s.  Fortunately I have a similar memory when it comes to food and knew immediately which recipe she meant.

The tomato salad needs to be made with Roma tomatoes because round varieties contain more water and don’t hold their shape.  Once prepared the salad will keep for several days in the fridge.  It’s a fantastic addition to a buffet or barbecue, perfect to have in the fridge over the holiday season and fairly quick to make when you’re asked to “bring a plate”.  Being asked to bring a plate to a pot luck lunch or dinner is quite common in Australia.  My Greek teacher, Michael Kazan, told us that when he first arrived in Canberra over 40 years ago and was asked to bring a plate he was somewhat perplexed.  If your host hasn’t got enough plates, they’re probably short of everything.  So he and his wife turned up with plates, glasses and cutlery.

Use your favourite shortcrust pastry recipe for the Lancashire flan, or buy it. Preparing the right amount of pastry and filling to suit your tin/dish is always hit and miss.  Quiche tins and dishes vary in their capacity, even ones with the same diameter.  I made up 250g of pastry (250g flour and 150g butter, plus a dash of water) and used the rectangular tin shown in the photo.  There was enough pastry left to make another small quiche shell which I partly cooked then froze empty, to use on another occasion.

Ferne’s Roasted Tomato Salad

1 kg Roma tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbs Thai sweet Chilli sauce
2 Tbs olive oil
Dressing:
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar, preferably white
1 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Preheat oven to 200°C.  Halve tomatoes lengthwise and place cut side up on a cake cooling rack over a baking tray or dish.  Line the baking tray with baking paper to save on the washing up.  Mix garlic, chilli sauce and olive oil and brush generously onto tomatoes using it all up.  Bake 30-40 mins or until starting to brown.  Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.  Arrange in a serving dish.  Place oil and vinegar in a jar with a lid and shake well.  At serving time spoon over some dressing and sprinkle with basil.  Serve at room temperature.

Serves 8-10

Lancashire Cheese, Tomato & Bacon Flan

1 uncooked quiche shell made from shortcrust pastry and chilled
100g lardons or bacon
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (discard the seeds)
125g grated Lancashire cheese (or substitute cheddar)
2 large eggs
1 cup cream (or use half cream, half milk)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tomatoes thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line pastry case with foil and fill with corn or something similar to give weight.  Bake for 5-10 mins until pastry has set.  Remove foil and cook for a few more minutes until light golden, remove from oven.  Meanwhile fry lardons or chopped bacon in a non-stick pan until lightly browned. Drain and scatter over the base of the pastry case, then sprinkle onion, chopped tomatoes and grated cheese evenly over the bacon.  Beat eggs, cream and milk, season to taste and pour over.  Arrange sliced tomatoes over the top.  Bake for 30-40 mins until puffed and golden.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Serves 8

Note: lardons are chunky bits cut from thickly sliced bacon or speck.

Mediterranean Tartlets

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These delicious tartlets make a perfect lunch in summer – combining all the flavours of the Mediterranean in one easy and adaptable dish.  The layers can be prepared the day before and assembled just before serving.  Vegetarians who don’t eat fish can omit the prawns.  If you can’t find yellow capsicum use all red ones.

Three sheets ready-rolled puff pastry squares (25x25cm)
100g feta cheese, crumbled
400g peeled cooked prawns, tails left on (optional)
½ cup black olives, pitted and halved
½ cup semi-dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
Onion Marmalade:
3 large onions, finely chopped
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs white balsamic or white wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
Grilled Vegetables:
4 small eggplants (the long thin ones)
4-6 zucchini (courgettes)
2 red capsicum (peppers)
2 yellow capsicum (peppers)
olive oil spray
Pesto:
2 Tbs pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 Tbs grated Parmesan
1 cup basil leaves
4-5 Tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 200°C.  Cut each pastry square into four smaller squares, approx 12.5 x 12.5cm.  Place on baking sheets lined with baking paper, prick with a fork then bake for about 15 mins or until golden brown.  Cool and store in a container with a lid.  If you can’t find ready-rolled pastry use block puff pastry and roll it out yourself.

In a large frying pan cook onions with butter and oil over a medium to low heat for about 40 minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden.  Don’t let them brown.  Towards the end of the cooking time add vinegar and sugar.  Store covered in the fridge.

Wash and dry eggplants and zucchini and slice lengthwise about half a centimetre thick.  Spray both sides with oil then pan fry, grill or cook on a griddle until lightly browned and tender.  Place peppers on an oven tray and cook under a hot grill, turning once, until somewhat blackened and blistered.  Remove, cover loosely with foil and when cool enough to handle remove skins, seeds and membranes and cut into 4 – 5 lengthwise strips.  Store vegetables, covered, in fridge.

Place all ingredients for pesto in food processor.  Process to a puree, stopping to scrape down halfway through and store in a container in the fridge.

To serve, place pastry squares on individual serving plates.  Spread with onion marmalade, then top with some grilled eggplant, zucchini and peppers.  Arrange a few prawns on top, then crumbled feta, olives and semi-dried tomatoes.  Thin down pesto with some extra olive oil, then drizzle over the tarts.  Serve with a rocket salad.

Serves 12

Blanca’s Chilled Avocado Soup

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This recipe comes from my dear friend Blanca Bulnes who lives in Santiago but spent 4 years in Canberra when her husband was the Chilean Ambassador to Australia.  It’s quick and easy to make and perfect for a warm summer’s day.

1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
4 large avocados
1 cup thick Greek yoghurt
½ cup cream
1 Tbs grated onion
2 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tsp ground cumin (not in original recipe but if you like cumin it makes a nice addition)
To serve:
chopped parsley, or toasted slivered almonds or red pepper puree (see below)

Home made chicken stock is best for this recipe.  Leave it in the fridge to chill, then remove any fat from the surface.  Otherwise make up a litre of stock using a cube. Vegetarians can use vegetable stock.

In a food processor mix avocado flesh with yoghurt, cream and some of the stock.  Scrape into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.   Chill for several hours or overnight. Serve garnished with chopped parsley or toasted slivered almonds or a drizzle of red capsicum/pepper puree.

Red Pepper Puree: place 2 capsicums on an oven tray and spray with oil.  Place under a very hot grill until slightly blackened and blistered, then turn and grill the other side.  Cover loosely with foil and leave until cool enough to handle.  Remove skin, seeds and membranes then blitz in a food processor with enough olive oil to make a smooth red paste.  Store covered in the fridge.

Pasta with Broad Beans and Pesto

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Last weekend our friends Venessa and Tony gave us a packet of orecchiette pasta all the way from Italy, although they had bought it at the local deli.  It’s shaped like baby pig’s ears, hence the name, and they said it was 50% nicer than any normal pasta.  Last Sunday David Herbert’s food column in The Weekend Australian Magazine featured a recipe for Pappardelle with Broad Beans, so I thought I would make it using the orecchiette instead of pappardelle.  The recipe also uses pesto, one of my favourite ways to enjoy pasta.

You can usually whip up a tasty pasta meal without having to go to the shops.  To this end a bag of pesto cubes in the freezer is a great resource for the busy cook. Towards the end of summer, when we  have an abundance of basil in the garden, I start making pesto cubes in ice cube trays,  tip them into a plastic bag and by the time I have finished I  have a couple of kilos – enough to last till next summer.  You’re right, I do have plenty of freezer space!

The third main ingredient in this recipe is broad beans which I always have in the freezer.  Fresh broad beans are delicious, but the season is very short and frozen ones are really very good.  David Herbert used some green chillies in his pesto, but I prefer mine without.  You could always add some to this recipe at the end, to spice it up a bit.  A bottle of wine, a crusty loaf and maybe a rocket salad and dinner’s ready.

Pasta with Broad Beans and Pesto

2 cups broad beans, fresh or frozen
350g pappardelle or pasta of your choice
Pesto:
2 Tbs pine nuts, toasted
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 Tbs grated Parmesan
1 cup basil leaves
4-5 Tbs olive oil
Extra grated parmesan to serve

Put two pans of salted water on to boil, one for the pasta and one for the broad beans.  Cook pasta according to packet instructions and broad beans for about 3 minutes, then refresh under cold water and when cool enough slip off the outer skins and discard.  While pasta is cooking make pesto by mixing all the ingredients together in a food processor until chunky-smooth.

When pasta is al dente drain and return to the pan with the broad beans and the pesto.  Mix well then transfer to four serving bowls.  Sprinkle with extra grated cheese and serve.

Serves 4