Spring Vegetable, Goats Cheese and White Bean Pie: Meat Free Monday

I wanted to make a special dinner for me and Scott which we could both enjoy and would feel like a treat. We’ve been really healthy recently getting ready for the summer so we definitely deserved it! I’ve been wanting to use filo pastry again for a while because there are so many different things to do with it and out of all the pastry options it is the lesser guilty option. I decided to buy a flan dish to make a big pie rather than make mini ones again (I got mine from Sainsburys for only 2.66!)

I have been really inspired recently by beans and grains and have been using them alot more in my cooking which has been really interesting and also seems to be more healthy. I’ve felt less sluggish from refined carbs and have dropped a few pounds even though I’m eating the same amount! For this pie I have made it more substantial by adding a bean and garden pea puree underneath all of the vegetables. As you can see from the photos below I first put a layer of bean and pea puree, then cooked spring vegetables and lastly some goats cheese.

I used goats cheese because it has a lower lactose level than cheese from cows milk. If you are vegan I am sure this pie would taste just as nice without any need for the cheese.I was very impressed that Scott liked it as much as he did because I really wasn’t sure it would go down well as a vegetarian date night dinner however I received lots of compliments and enthusiasm so there we have it, A husband approved vegetarian pie (Also the pie was substantial enough to serve on it’s own so there was only one dish, a chopping board, cutlery and 2 plates to wash up) Perfect!

So here is the recipe (serves 4 – we had left overs the next day and it tasted just as nice!)

For the bean and pea puree:
1 can Cannellini beans (235g drained)
90-100g Frozen peas (defrosted, cooked and cooled)
1 Lemon – Juice only
10 Mint Leaves
3 Spring Onions
1 Large Garlic Clove

Blend all of the ingredients together to make a smooth puree and season to taste. Put to one side.

For the Pie:
130g (1 cup) Shelled Broad Beans
10-12 Asparagus Spears
1 Leek
1 Onion
Bunch Mint
1 tspn Dried or Fresh Dill
100g Goats Cheese
4-5 Filo Pastry sheets

Pre heat the oven to 190c. In a sauce pan saute the leeks, onion, dill and mint in a little olive oil untill softened.

Boil or steam the asparagus and broad beans for around 5-6 minutes untill softened. Drain well.

Lightly grease your flan dish and then layer the filo pastry sheets over each other, lightly brush or spray each layer with a little oil to help stick together. I had to cut the edges off some of my sheets as they were too long, I used the edges I had sliced off by laying them in the dish to create a thick bottom layer.

Scoop the bean and pea puree into the filo pastry pie and smooth it down into a nice even layer. Add the sauteed leeks and onions in next, then layer your asparagus and broad beans on the top.

Crumble the goats cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the pie so it is evenly covered. Scrunch up the edges of the pastry to make a rustic but attractive edge (see photos).

Place the pie in the oven for 25 minutes untill hot through and the pastry has browned.

Serve hot!

Almost there bread rolls and an IOU

Before I begin I should probably just let you know that this post was written on sunday (20th May) and since then I am feeling a little better. Now please continue …

I’m having one of those days…….you know when you wake up feeling wide awake and assume it’s probably around 7am so you start to get up, then you spy the clock out of the corner of your eye and your worst nightmare hits home…it’s 1am and you’ve been in bed for 2 hours!! I then spent the rest of the night waking up every 30 minutes or so and feeling pretty darn sorry for myself the next day.

Then, when it was actually time to get up, a few hours of revision was followed by my attempt to make my own recipe bread rolls. With just an idea and a feeling of adventure I began but very soon my lack of baking knowledge and need for a glass of wine and a nice hot bath took over and by the end I was surrounded by a pile of half decent almost passable but definitely not “shout about” bread rolls and I have tears in my eyes and a sick feeling in my gut. Because that is me out of time for making bread rolls, with a big exam looming and no more fennel I am done!

Now these aren’t a complete disaster, as far as a bread roll goes it is edible, in fact it is quite fine. But my idea as a whole really has not come across well, the flavours are muddled and the beautifully caramelised, sweet and sticky fennel seeds on the top are in fact burnt to a crisp and really better off scraped into the bin! Never the less I have 15 rolls and I am not one to waste food! So I will be eating them of course!

So this post is not just one massive excuse to my offering of a bread roll, this is infact the epitomy of my friday challenges…a chance to learn! Well… I think it started to go wrong when I cooked the fennel in a cup of vegetable stock and began to panic that maybe that would strip all of the flavour out, or make it too soggy. It seemed ok so I left it to cool to room temperature and then made the dough. Before the first rise I scrunched all of the fennel and zest of an orange into the dough and soon had what can only be described as a slimy ball of dough sliding around my kitchen top. I added flour…more flour….more flour untill I felt it was back to a consistency of dough I recognised then I started to shape it into rolls.

In comes Scott “I thought you let it rise once before shaping it”….. Me “No, do you, I don’t know I can’t remember”. Frantic scramble through my Jamie Oliver book. “Oh yeah I do, aahh”. I quickly squished all the perfectly shaped and weighed out rolls back into one big ball and leave it to rise.  One hour later I re shaped them into rolls and then left to rise for a second time. At this point I’m feeling fine and the rolls are looking good!

I dry fried some fennel seeds in a pan untill lightly toasted then added sugar and the juice of an orange. This idea originated from my Braised Cabbage recipe because when I added the fennel seeds and sugar to the cabbage magic happened, I had to stop myself eating it all there and then…caramelised fennel seeds were the bomb!
My fennel seeds unfortunately started to clump together and when I did try and put them onto the rolls they wouldn’t come off the spoon, or my finger and I ended up squashing alot of rolls trying to get the seeds on to them. Never mind I thought, it would still turn out amazing, my faith was still in these rolls!

I followed the cooking method from my LEON Baking book and added ice cubes to a preheated oven and put the rolls in for around 17 minutes. When I took them out the first thing I noticed was that the fennel seeds were black; clumped black little bitter balls of charcoal fury ready to make you wince at every mouthful! (At this point I was on the phone to my mum who sensibly suggested I just scrape them off, but in my over tired bad mood I insisted the whole world was over and this bread was the end of my life, how could I put burnt fennel seeds on my blog!?!?).

I tore one open straight from the oven, burning my fingers and my mouth and of course the inside was under cooked. At this point I should have known this was coming. I popped them back in for 3 minutes then left them on the side to cool down. Later on, me and a very nervous looking Scott decided to try another roll, after Scott pointing out that it’s never an exciting moment when the chef presents you with food and says “This is going to be disgusting, tell me what you think?”. I instantly didn’t like it even with the seeds scraped off. The fennel flavour was lost and a weird texture, the orange didn’t mix well and the bread had an over powering taste of flour!

So I won’t be sharing my recipe this time, but I am giving (promising) an IOU for my own recipe bread roll. Not everything turns out how you imagine and sometimes life can get in the way of even the most dedicated blogger (in my case a rather important exam) but it’s important to remember to laugh about it, learn what you can and move on to the next challenge! Which I can reveal is “Artichoke”, a vegetable I have been dying to conquer for a long time!

The day I faced my fear….and won!

Apologies in advance because this isn’t a food related post but it is about me. Infact it’s about something which has consumed my life since I can remember – my fear of blood, gore, needles and hospitals! I remember going to the gym with my mum many years ago and the ‘Give blood’ van was there, she said she was going to go and give blood and then I turned green…then I turned grey….then I lost all colour completely! It felt like I had lost my vision and my ability to breath all at once and all I could concentrate on was this blanket of nausea and fear which had taken me away from the world.

This has happened to me many times over the years and most of the time it is triggered by an innocent comment from someone or I catch sight of something which instantly takes me back to that feeling. I hate it because I don’t know how to explain it to the people around me and I’m sure I’ve looked like a drama queen when I’ve had to stick my head between my knees and focus on my breathing because someone mentioned their gran had an operation!

When I was in my late teens I began to realise that I was really encouraging myself to behave this way, not voluntarily or consciously but I found myself imagining the worst or picturing things which made me feel ill when talking to friends about it and then I would feel sick again. I stopped watching anything which would set me off (including hospital dramas!!) and everyone knew not to mention recent gory events when I was around. It was my thing…my fear!

Over the last four years I have had a few health problems which has meant I have needed regular blood tests. Now I think my fear of needles is rediculous because I have had numerous piercings without fainting or being sick, but mention blood test to me and I instantly begin to well up and lose colour. My mum always came with me and held my hand, it was always a big deal and we’d have to warn the nurse I was upset. I’d fuss and pull my arm away frightened of the impending event and begin to get myself into a state of panic. I would imagine that the needle was going to break, or my arm was going to fall apart and I would start thinking of every horrible thing I’d ever seen and before I know it I’d be crying and desperately clinging to my mum (I’m 25 by the way this is not when I was younger). Then it would be over…pain free and no need for further medical assistance…and I would instantly feel embarrassed and apologetic, but also a massive sense of relief.

One day I had a blood test booked and no one was free to come with me. The night before I started to talk myself out of going and then I thought No this is my chance to be brave and start to get over this. The morning of the appointment I rang my mum crying but hopeful and she said that sometimes people cling on to their fears because that’s who they have made themselves, that’s what everyone knows about them and to them that’s normal. But it is something I can let go of and I don’t need to be that person any more. It was such an enlightening moment because I knew she was right, I instantly react in a scared way because that’s what is now expected of me and that is my reaction of habit.

I went to the appointment feeling a bit numb and as I walked in I began to cry but I saw the nurses face and the familiar feeling of embarrassment and I just stopped. I sat down, looked away and then breathed a sigh of relief when it was over so quickly. I know it may sound silly to some but to me that was a really defining moment. I practically skipped home with the biggest grin on my face and I knew that I would be able to do it again on my own when the time came.

I still cringe at gore and I’m not quite ready to give blood (I know its an amazing thing to do Im working up to it) but I can now listen to someone mention an operation without fainting, I can write this post without feeling sick and I can get on with my life as an adult! I faced my fear…and I won

Meat Free Breakfast: Mushroom and Rosemary Scrambled Eggs

Today kicks off National Vegetarian Week so I thought instead of focusing on offering a dinner recipe I would share a breakfast idea. Meat Free Monday isn’t just about cutting out meat from your evening meals and one complete day without meat a week could be really beneficial to your health and the environment. Before I went vegetarian my favourite weekend breakfast was a grilled bacon sandwich or a sausage bap with a fried egg. Turning vegetarian not only made my choices healthier but also opened me up to a greater variety of ingredients to include, such as a medly of tomatoes griddled and served with nice thick slice of toast or home made baked beans with loads of goodies stirred in!

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day but I think all of my weekend breakfasts revolve around eggs, if you are vegan then this mushroom mix is still definitely worth a try and would be fantastic on some grilled sourdough toast or even served simply with some panfried tomatoes.

I would usually match  mushrooms with thyme because together they are so delicious, but I have a rosemary plant in my back garden so I decided to use some of that instead. It was delicious so I’m glad I did!

This recipe will serve two but Scott doesn’t like mushrooms really so I just made it for myself and froze half the mushroom mixture. I figured it’ll taste amazing stirred into a pasta dish another day.

6 Closed Cup Mushrooms
15g Dried Porcini or Mixed Mushrooms
1 Red Onion
1 Garlic Clove
2 Sprigs of Rosemary
2 Spring Onions

Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup of boiling water and put to one side.

Heat some oil, butter or spray oil in a frying pan and add the diced red onion, crushed garlic and rosemary. Soften for around 3 minutes depending on the heat of your pan (try to keep it quite a moderate heat). Once the onion has begun to soften add the sliced closed cup mushrooms for around 1 minute. Give it all a good stir frequently so it doesnt stick to the pan!

Drain the porcini mushrooms but reserve the water. Chop any large pieces then add them to the pan with the mushroom water. Continue to cook on a moderate heat untill the water has evaporated and everything is cooked.

Season to taste then add the chopped spring onions, stir and remove from the heat.

Make your scrambled eggs (see my opinion of the perfect method here), put your toast on and then serve the eggs and mushrooms on the toast.

This was so delicious I didn’t even add ketchup!!

An alternative way of serving these mushrooms with eggs is to make an egg net which kind of looks like a pancake with holes in it! It’s so simple and looks impressive. You make this by heating a oil in a pan untill really hot. Beat an egg and put it into a jug with a very thin spout so that the egg pours out in a thin stream. Once the pan is hot slowly pour the egg into the pan making a zig zag pattern making sure you leave some holes but not too many. This will cook really quickly and should slide out of the pan like a pancake! Pile the mushrooms into the middle and wrap it up.

Are you making any changes for National Vegetarian Week? What’s your favourite weekend breakfast?

Pesto Pinwheel Rolls (Purple Foodie Blog recipe): Friday Challenge!

I found this recipe online after googling “Interesting bread rolls” and the colour and shape caught my eye straight away! You can see the recipe and method for making these here on the Purple Foodie Blog – there are a lot of nice recipes and gorgeous photos too!

I don’t think mine look as nice as the originals because I used some wholemeal flour I had left over which meant the pesto was not so noticeable against the bread (In the original the rolls are pale white and the pesto is bright green). However they tasted amazing, especially just out of the oven! I actually made 12 but we quickly devoured a few before I photographed them!

I bought a jar of pesto but this would work with a whole manner of home made pestos and I think it would taste really nice with some parmesan or fresh herbs tucked in there too!

I was pleasantly surprised with how simple this was to make, I love the idea of rolling the dough up with the flavour inside! And once again I found that my initial expectations of how the dough would react were wrong – I thought it would remain quite flat but actually they rose very nicely!

What I have learnt about bread:

The addition of an oily flavour such as pesto was delicious because the flavour seeped into the dough when rising. I also really like the contrast of colours. Again I have realised that letting the dough rise a second time one shaped is vital to create a nice big fluffy roll. I think for my own recipe I definitely like the idea of creating a more interesting shape with the bread roll and adding a strong flavour.

Serving Suggestion: On it’s own just out the oven (sooo good!) or served with a nice simple and fresh salad – such as my Virtual Vegan Potluck Kohlrabi Ceviche – recipe here

One Lovely Blog Award!

This is a really over due post but I’ve had so much going on, so many recipes running through my mind that needed bringing to life etc that it got put on a shelf for a rainy day! Laura from the “Cook to Love” blog gave me a ‘One Lovely Blog’ award back in April and I was really chuffed as her blog is really inspiring with tonnes of vegan/ gluten free recipes!

Vegan and gluten free seems to be a mix I am seeing a lot of recently and after my realisation that I am a carb monster since giving up meat I wonder how they do it! My mother in law is gluten free and so I am always keen to learn more about cooking and baking without gluten (I think I do alot of it without realising). There are so many alternatives and gluten free products out there now it’s interesting to see how baking has evolved.

OK so to accept this award I have to tell you some things about myself. I think you all know quite abit now but luckily there were some questions prepared to give a bit of structure -

1. Favorite color: I don’t really have a favourite colour any more…but I do like green!
2. Favorite animal: hmm I really like all kinds of birds, they’re so interesting to watch
3. Favorite number: I have two numbers I consider lucky – 7 and 14!
4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Slimline tonic….with a side of gin and a wedge of lime
5. Facebook or Twitter: I miss myspace!
6. My passion: cooking, painting, drawing, cuddling and picnicing
7. Getting or giving presents: honestly….giving presents!!
8. Favorite pattern: ??? I have an awesome red leopard print pencil skirt I love!
9. Favorite day of the week: Sunday! Me and Scott have a lazy morning then we walk into town and get coffees and spend an hour in HMV browsing music and people watching.
10. Favorite flower: Daisies (the teeny ones)

Ok and the five people I would like to pass this on to are…..drum roll…. (in no particular order)

An Unrefined Vegan – To quote her website “Unprocessed, unbleached and cruelty-free:  low-fat, low-sugar, whole food and plant-based recipes to nurture body, brain and conscience.” Seriously her recipes are amazing and so inspiring that she has found such a natural, healthy way of life!

Veggie What now – A vegetarian allergic to Soy and Nuts! She’s creative though and there are some really interesting ideas on her blog.

Sophies Oven – Really delicious home cooking and a great theory on cookies! One of my fave non veggie food blogs!

Vegan Sparkles – Mouth watering photos, inspired recipes and a really genuinely lovely personality. Oh and I love the starwars/ sci fi references dotted throughout, so fun!

I ate lunch – Each recipe is enveloped in a story or memory and it’s really nice to read a blog where the writer is so honest and open about everything! Plenty to read plus some pretty snazzy lunch ideas!

Now I’m done passing on the love I’d like to just give you an update on how my bread roll friday challenge is going. To be honest it started off boring because I realised that making bread rolls actually isn’t that difficult! But I think it has picked up again after spending a Saturday banning Scott from his computer and browsing the online world for inspiration.

The great thing I have got from it is that I now think I could whip up a pretty decent bread roll without worrying too much about it and without the need for too much of a recipe. It has made my confidence in baking grow as I am now trying out different flours and letting it be fun rather than an exercise doomed for failure.
I do also now have a freezer full of bread rolls because we don’t really eat too much bread (only for a scrummy fried egg sarnie which Im abit addicted to at the moment) but atleast I know that the next time I want a roll with my soup or I need a burger bun I have one ready and it’s not full of chemicals and additives!

Braised Cabbage with Butter Beans: Meat Free Monday

As usual this is a recipe which started with just an image in my mind of the end product but I had no idea how to get there! I love cabbage but I’ve never cooked it in wedges before so I decided to just get all of my intended ingredients out and follow my instincts. I have found on numerous occasions now that actually by working this way and just listening to my instincts and making decisions once I have seen how the dish is panning out I have ended up with something better than I could have imagined….if I may say so myself I think this is one of those times!

I knew I wanted the cabbage to have some colour to it which is why I pan-fried it first and also I knew I’d want to use some sort of herb/ spice mixture so I dived into my cupboards and ended up pulling out my trusted fennel seeds! I think they give the dish a real kick and also add a different dimension to the flavours. I really adore fennel seeds now, especially mixed with a nice rich tomatoey sauce!

If you read my post “A Balanced Diet for a Balanced Well being”you will know that I have been quite high on my carb intake and I want to make sure I am eating healthily with a better balance of protein and carbs. Well this dish is a perfect example of the changes I am making because before I would have made the cabbage with a tomato sauce and then served it with rice however because I’m more aware of my dietary needs at the moment I decided to add butter beans (lima beans) because they are high protein and fiber with a lower more moderate level of carbohydrate. I had this for dinner as a complete meal and felt satisfied! They are also a great source of source of iron, copper and magnesium.

So on to my recipe – as I said I was literally seeing how it went at each stage and making decisions as I went along so if you read this and think I have turned one simple step into 3 or 4 steps then please let me know!

Serves 2

1/2 White Cabbage
1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
Pinch Sugar
1 Garlic Clove
300 ml Vegetable Stock
1 Can Chopped Tomatoes
I heaped tablespoon Tomato Puree
1 Can Butter Beans (approx 300g)
Large Bunch Fresh Parsley
Salt and Pepper
Spray oil for cooking

I used half of the cabbage for this recipe and kept the other half for a soup recipe. Slice one half of the cabbage into 4 even wedges. Heat some oil in a large deep frying pan on a medium heat and once hot place the cabbage wedges into the pan and cook for 3 minutes on one side. Then sprinkle the cabbage with half the fennel seeds and sugar and turn the wedges over to cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Sprinkle the other half of the fennel seeds and sugar onto the other half of the wedges.
You can be quite generous with the spray oil at this point as you don’t want it to burn.

Turn the cabbage wedges back over again (be really careful to not let them fall apart) and add the crushed garlic clove to the pan for one minute then add 300 ml of vegetable stock.
Cook uncovered for 15 minutes (let it bubble away slightly) and then turn the cabbage slices over again. You don’t need to turn them more often than I have mentioned as they will begin to fall apart so less touching them the better!

Add the canned tomatoes, tomato puree, butter beans, chopped parsley and some salt and pepper and stir. Don’t worry if the vegetable stock wasn’t all evaporated as that little bit left in the pan will make the sauce nice and juicy! Use a small spoon and stir the tomatoes around the cabbage making sure you don’t disturb the cabbage too much. I liked leaving the pale colour of the cabbage peeking out so I purposefully didn’t coat the cabbage with the tomatoes.

Cook for a further 10 minutes uncovered stirring occasionally so nothing burns or sticks to the bottom then garnish with more fresh parsley and serve!

This was one of the nicest meals I’ve had in ages and I feel like I’m finally getting myself back around to a healthy balanced diet I should be eating! Plus I love butter beans so this was just my cup of tea!

Kohlrabi, Radish and Carrot ‘Ceviche’: Virtual Vegan Potluck

I need to do a brief introduction to this post to explain these big arrows (below) and why I am deviating from my usual routine and posting on a weekend – I am taking part in the Virtual Vegan Potluck Party!! This recipe I am sharing with you is a side dish I have created for this virtual potluck party and by clicking on the arrows you will be directed to the next party guest who is also sharing a dish! You will see arrows on their page too, by following the arrows you will be guided around everyone who is taking part and you should then end up back with me again.

It’s been quite sunny here over the weekend so I imagined the Potluck Party would be held outside with a marquee, there would be a variety of herbs, spices and strong flavours and we’d all be sipping elderflower cocktails from tall glasses filled with ice and mini umbrellas…now that I have set the scene let me also explain that although my dish is technically a salad I would suggest it is a perfect side dish because the lemon and cumin would compliment any strong flavoured dish and the vinegar would help it hold its own against the main course! Even simply served alongside a hot buttery Jacket Potato!

I had fun choosing the ingredients for this and although it turned out to be a little expensive (unless you grow carrots – for some reason the shops charge double the price for a carrot with its leaves attached) I think it is a real treat for the eyes and the taste buds! I have frozen the remaining carrot tops to add to a soup or smoothie another day.

I have wanted to buy a Kohlrabi for ages now, ever since I saw them in Borough Market last year, and I am so glad I did try it. It is a weird-looking vegetable but once peeled and thinly sliced it was so delicious, kind of like the texture of an apple but the flavour of celery?!? I decided to marinate it in some olive oil, cumin, cider vinegar and lemon juice similar to fish ceviche recipes I have seen as I have had the idea of making a “Vegetable Ceviche” going through my mind for a long time now and I wanted to see how the vegetables would change. It worked perfectly and this dish tasted even better the next day after I had put all of the veg into a big bowl with the marinade/ dressing.

The only disappointment with this dish was that I had said I would make a Raw dish, however it was only after taking photos that I started to realise ingredients such as Olive Oil and Cider Vinegar are probably not raw as they would have gone through some processes before being bottled! Such a shame I will definitely research other options which may be more true to the raw food diet.

I had the idea to serve it on a long platter rather than in a bowl or on a plate as everyone could take a section of the dish using a fish slice and have a little bit of everything on their plate. I layered the sliced Kohlrabi onto the platter first to form a base and then scattered everything else on top. I used the carrot leaves for garnish as they are so pretty and there was no use wasting them!

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

For the marinade/ dressing:

3 tblspoon Good Quality Olive Oil
3 tblspoon Cider Vinegar
1 large Garlic Clove
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds (whole)
1 Large Lemon- Juice only
Ground Black Pepper to taste

For the Salad (you can use the quantities you prefer if you would rather have more radish than carrot etc):

1 large Kohlrabi or two smaller ones (I read that if its larger than a tennis ball then it can be slightly bitter so I’d suggest two smaller ones)
10-12 Radishes
4 Carrots
Handful of seed mix – I used Sunflower seeds, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds
Handful of Carrot leaves as a garnish

Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl and put to one side.

Peel the Kohlrabi (I kept peeling untill it no longer had any green on it and was just white) then thinly slice it using a sharp knife. Place the slices of Kohlrabi into the bowl of dressing and mix so it is all coated.

Wash and peel the carrots then thinly slice them. For the thicker part of the carrot I First sliced it into half or quarters lengthways and then continued to slice the carrot. I often don’t peel my carrots but because this dish is quite neat and pretty I think it is necessary.

Wash and thinly slice the Radishes then add them and the carrots into the bowl with the kohlrabi and mix. Leave this in the bowl for around 30 mins.

Take your platter tray or plate and first layer the Kohlrabi slices over lapping them so they create a full base. You can do this in circles on a round plate or in a long line like I have.

Scatter the radishes and carrots over the Kohlrabi so that everything is evenly spread, then add a sprinkle of seeds and a garnish of carrot tops! This will start to build character as you build up all of the ingredients.

Finally drizzle the dressing from the bowl over the platter and then serve!

I had some left over dressing which I put in a jug in the fridge for a salad the next day – remember you don’t want to drown the salad!

I have now added this to “Britains Got Salad” over at the blog “we don’t eat anything with a face” a great idea to show how verstaile salads can and should be!

Hazelnut and Apricot Bread Rolls (The Naked Chef): Friday Challenge!

For Christmas I was given a few of the same cookbooks so I returned one and found Jamie’s first 4 cook books on sale for the same price as the book I was returning! They are quite retro and you can see how Jamie has evolved and improved however I love them! You can buy the collection of the individual books here. The recipe isn’t online anywhere so I’m afraid I can’t provide a link this time, however if you know how to make a bread roll then just add in some crushed hazelnuts and dried apricots before the dough rises!!

This recipe is from one of Jamie’s earliest books “The Naked Chef” and as much as I love Jamie I have to say that I found the recipe quite hard to follow because it was dotted around different pages. Also he says the weight of the nuts and fruit should be 1/4 of the weight of the risen dough but then says you must have your filling ready before the dough. Anyway apart from it taking a little while to piece together the recipe I was more than happy with the result!

The combination of nuts and fruit within the bread works very well and it was delicious eaten toasted with a little butter or as a burger bun with a twist!

When the bread rolls came out of the oven I was expecting them to be quite heavy and they looked quite dense however I let it cool down a little bit, cracked one open and ta daa I had light fluffy bread in amongst the hazelnuts and apricots! So happy!

I Like the idea of mixing things into the bread dough, I was worried it wouldn’t rise but it worked nicely. I’ve got loads of ideas running through my head although from doing a little googling on the subject I seem to be a bit behind the times haha (You know people have only been making bread for like thousands of years). I think I will be spending this month throwing a variety of things into bread doughs and then seeing what happens!

What I have learnt about Bread Rolls:

Something I had been doing wrong in the past is not letting them prove for a second time after shaping them into rolls – This makes a much softer fluffy roll. After reading lots of recipes I’ve also realised that there is not really a right and wrong set of ingredients for bread, you can mix flours, add oil or milk, salt and sometimes sugar or even honey! So far I’ve used Strong white bread flour but I’d like to have a go at mixing some healthier grains in there!

Serving Suggestion – Heat the roll under the grill then spread on some butter (I used dairy free butter) and a good thick dollop of good quality honey! With the nuts and apricots within the bread this makes for a filling and satisfying breakfast.

A Balanced Diet for a Balanced Well being

In August 2011 I read an article about badger culling and how it is common practise to protect cattle from TB. Then I had a bit of an argument with my friend about it as we both had very different view points on the subject, and I haven’t eaten meat since that afternoon! It was that quick a decision! I think everyone was a bit confused when I announced my decision because although everyone knows I care about animals and the environment I had not been very vocal on any thoughts of vegetarianism. My decision wasn’t about the badgers but instead it was the realisation that I was complacently eating meat without knowing all of the facts behind it. I decided that while I was learning the facts I would take myself completely out of the game and not risk eating anything which may upset me later on.

I didn’t give much thought to what I would need to eat differently or how it may affect my health later on in life. I thought the whole protein concerns were just carnivores trying to put me off and I had no intention of spending money on expensive whole food alternatives as I honestly just thought that the extra fruit and vegetables would keep me going. As many vegetarians will agree I think it is only since going vegetarian and taking responsibility for my food choices that I’ve begun to take a bigger interest in my health, in the background of my food and in the balance we need within our diets to stay healthy.

It’s not just vegetarians who need to be careful with their diet but everyone should be aiming for an overall better balance of health and a better understanding of what our bodies need. I started using an online programme called “My Fitness Pal” which tracks not only the calories but also the carbs and protein of your diet, and I was interested to see how I am reguarly low on my protein and high on my carb intake! I had swapped meat for carbs without even realising it – especially at the weekends! Even though I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables it doesn’t mean I’m the pinnacle of a healthy vegetarian and I am now realising this. I spoke to my mum at the weekend about my concerns as she was vegetarian for a long time and she told me she had been concerned about her protein levels – especially as she got very ill resulting in a life saving operation.

The only way I can think to describe what I thought about protein is to compare it to a conversation with my granddad the other day. We were driving through a deep puddle down a country lane and he kept saying “slow down, slow down you’ll flood the engine” and I had no idea what he meant. I said “oh I thought you just drive slowly through puddles so that you don’t swerve to one side” and he explained about the water splashing up under the car and how it could cut out the engine! Well similarly I thought not eating enough protein meant I might just be a bit tired or something but actually you could end up writing yourself off and shutting down your engine. Well ok that’s a silly comparison but you know what I mean!

So over this next month, and probably continually for the rest of my life, I want to learn more about what exactly it is that our body needs, why it needs it and how I can get it without breaking the bank! (I should probably learn a little bit about cars too!!). I like being someone who can share vegetarian ideas which are accessible and appealing to a mass market as I think some people look at the long list of ingredients in a lot of vegan/ vegetarian food and get put off. But I also want to be aware of providing the best balance of simplicity and vitality that I can.

I used to roll my eyes at the whole protein debate but now I’m jumping right in and making sure we are all aware of the vital part protein plays in our diet. I have come up with a few easy ways to get a bit of protein in our diets which I will be sharing over the next few weeks and also I will be sharing an evaluation on my own diet and any changes I may be making myself!

Any help/ opinions from my fellow bloggers is always welcome, I have found so many sources of inspiration since beginning to blog and I feel I have so many people to learn from. As Dr. Wayne W. Dyer said “The highest form of ignorance is to reject something you know nothing about” something we should all keep in our minds when making choices for our health.