Technique of the Week!! Poaching

Poaching is a technique you don’t see a lot but it’s actually a lovely way to cook food. Most people will have tried poach chicken and fish which keeps the food moist and full of flavour without added fat, however what about poached vegetables?

The difference between poaching and boiling vegetables in water is subtle, poaching is using flavoured liquid, just covering the vegetables and keeping it on a low heat. I used a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook ‘Plenty’ as my guideline and it was delicious!

It is important to have a wide deep pan so that your veg isn’t too piled up on top of each other, also there is no need to do much food prep as you can keep the veg whole or just simple sliced in half.

The vegetables poaching

The liquid I used is based on Ottolenghi’s recipe but I changed it slightly to make it abit healthier and cheaper. I used the following quantities-

400ml Water
200ml White wine
100ml Extra virgin olive oil
2 Bay leaves
1/2 Onion
1 Celery stick
Pinch Salt

Boil off the white wine for 2 minutes first then add everything else in and simmer for a few minutes. The vegetables I decided to poach included 1 bulb of fennel, 2 carrots, 2 baby leeks and 1 courgette. The carrots and fennel went in first for 3 minutes then everything else went in for a further 4 minutes and that’s pretty much all it needed.

Beautifully poached vegetables

I wasn’t sure what they were going to taste like but when I tried each vegetable I was surprised in a very good way! Oh wow, they keep their individual flavour but it’s enhanced by the flavours in the poaching liquid. The leeks in particularly were my favourite because they were soft and succulent with a slight sweetness. I could have eaten a whole bowl of poached leeks.

I also like the fact that the vegetables keep a bit of crunch, especially the courgette which I’ve never cooked in water before (except if chopping up small and adding to soup).

Ottolenghi recommends serving them simply with a caper mayonnaise which I think would make a fantastic addition to a tapas board or mezze but I also think these would be a perfect side dish to a stew or lasagna to lighten up the meal.

You can keep the wonderfully flavoured poaching liquid to use either for further poaching or to use as a stock or the base of a sauce. I saw a recipe where they added some further vegetables to the liquid to create a sauce so I would like to try this . Whatever you do though, don’t throw it away!

Have you ever tried poaching vegetables? Is it something you would try?

A New Farmers Market: West Hampstead (London, UK)

West Hampstead Farmers Market

I’m always looking out for good farmer’s markets to go and visit, especially in London because it gives me an excuse to go into the city. I love walking around London, it’s such a diverse and proud city and areas such as West Hampstead are a must if you are looking for somewhere to spend a nice day.

The market was really easy to find, it was tucked in next to the train station with big signs and plenty of eager shoppers! When I arrived it was already midday and it had opened at 10am so a lot of the sellers told me I had missed some of the produce they had to offer! One guy told me his whole stall was full of edible flowers and by the time I got there they had all gone!! I was gutted because I definitely would love to make a few pretty dishes covered in organic edible flowers. The market is open every saturday from 10am – 2pm so get there early to avoid missing out on anything

Over all everyone I spoke to was really friendly and they all had the time to let me ask them some questions and really try to get to know what they were about, even when it took me a few minutes to think of some interesting questions!

Here are some of my favourites from the day (I am going to go back and do another blog post when it’s not vegan mofo to share photos from some of the non vegan producers)

Lets start off with a very autumnal offering of apple juice from Brambletye Farm!

Organic, Pure Apple Juice

I tried a taster and the juice has a very intense, rustic apple flavour so sharp and delicious you could tell that there was no sugar added (which a good juicy apple like theirs doesn’t need anyway)! They use a mix of apples from their orchards based in Sussex and you can tell from the different colours in the bottles that this is proper home-made, natural apple juice. They also mention that this is unpasteurised juice meaning it is completely raw which is fantastic and really good for you! Here are the friendly guys who helped me learn a bit more about their apples

It was nice to see organic apples being used. Apples are one of the worst fruits for having pesticides used on them so there is no way you should juice a non organic apple! I think I have mentioned this before but I was told by a woman whose friends work in the industry that you would have to wash an apple 126 times to get close to it being clean from chemicals! So if you are going to splash out on anything make it apples!!

Next up I found a stall selling my current favourite ingredient – Garlic! From the aptly named The Garlic Farm

Plenty of lovely varieties to choose from

The ladies on the stall were again very friendly and we had a great discussion about the differences between supermarket garlic and ‘farmers market’ garlic, mainly the size difference! But also she told me that supermarkets use heavy pesticides where as they do not. Once again a win for the farmers! I add garlic into pretty much everything I cook so it was nice to learn about the different varieties. Their garlic is hand picked for flavour.

Elephant Garlic

I like my garlic large as I hate having to peel all the fiddly tiny little cloves you get from the supermarket but this is another extreme. I asked if adding one clove would be overpowering and she explained that Elephant garlic is much milder in flavour and very much suits being roasted whole then you squeeze out the garlic paste to use in a recipe. I will have to try it!

Finally on their stall they had some really fun looking chutneys, check out the names!

Vampire inspired garlic relishes and chutneys.

There were plenty of fruit and veg stalls selling interesting, rustic looking vegetables and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found this cauliflower:

Bright Purple Cauliflower!!!!

It reminded me of when I first saw the romenesco cauliflower (which they also had on this market), I can’t believe the little under rated cauliflower has so many hidden talents! Cauliflower is quickly becoming one of my favourite winter vegetables, it’s so versatile and yes when boiled it can become bland but when roasted or pureed it comes to life There were only 3 left when I found it and I’m not joking when I say I had to literally stop people from grabbing them before I could take a photo! Everyone was just as excited as I was, who doesn’t want to come home from a local market with such a little gem!

I also found Black Cabbage which I have never seen before and very large celery (you can’t really tell from the photo but it was double the size of normal celery!

Black Cabbage

Really big celery

Fiveways Fruit Farm had some beautiful looking soft fruits from the last of the season and also some really crisp, fresh and juicy apples! My favourite was the Russet apple, at home we always eat gala or braeburn because they are more available in the supermarket but I will definitely look out for Russets now!

Beautiful apples to taste and buy

They also had a lot of blueberries which were big and juicy. I told the guy running the stall how happy I was to see British Blueberries because in the supermarket the other day they only had polish blueberries to buy and I couldn’t understand it because I’m sure we have good blueberry growers in this country! Now I know to hold off buying them until I see them at a market.

There were loads of other stalls selling cakes, ready meals, organic meats, fish, cheeses, goats cheese, home made cakes and local eggs but because non of these are vegan I shall save them for another day! Thank you to everyone at the market for allowing me to get snap happy and for taking the time to talk to me. I recommend everyone run down there on saturday and buy buy buy!

A Photo Diary of my day at a French Market!

I had a long weekend over in France last week and as well as lots of swimming and sunbathing we also managed to get to a few Markets, including a night market in Najac and a farmer’s style market.

I love capturing photos of fresh produce, the colours are so vibrant and beautiful! I especially love seeing all the veg piled high at a market, much nicer than all the uniformed packets at the super market! I’d rather buy a big ugly mishaped tomato which tastes so sweet and full of juice over those perfectly smooth bland little guys who have only ever lived in a fridge!

I love the long shape of these tomatoes

Supermarkets charge more for tomatoes like this!

Home grown veg/ market stall veg is so much more interesting, there is real character to the produce and you can get a feel for the different variaties available. The stalls are rustic with wooden crates, paper bags, sunshine naturally ripening the fruits and lots of cute old French ladies with wicker baskets buying their fresh bread! Food looks more appealing in this atmosphere and it brings the creativity out in people. We are more connected to our food when buying it laid bare in it’s natural form and when you look around you can see people thinking about how they can do justice to the food Can you tell I love markets!

Big Paper Sacks full of herbs and dried teas

Slightly beaten up Gourds but perfect for baking or stuffing!

Garlic

For example if I had only ever shopped in the super market I wouldn’t have ever seen these wonderful Aubergines or unusual Patty Squashes.

A mixture of aubergines

Patty Squashes

I can’t help over buying when ever I’m at a market stall, curiosity gets the better of me and I always come away with something I’m not entirely sure what it was but I simply had to have it! (We bought a spaghetti squash which neither of us had cooked before). All of the fruit and vegetables are all piled so high that when looking for what you need you almost always see something else which looks perfectly ripe and simply must be purchased!

Amazing big lettuces freshly picked

I remember at university deciding it would be cheaper to shop at Leicester market (a very good fruit and vegetable market) but soon realising that this also meant buying in bulk. Unfortunately I wasn’t quite as inventive with my vegetable dishes back then (unless it was roasting them to stir into pasta) so I soon went back to the supermarket however now adays I use left overs to make big soups or ratattouiles so nothing is wasted. I’ve also got into making smoothies and juicing since being in France and this is definitely when a market will come in handy, any left overs get popped in to be juiced! Look at all these beautiful fresh fruits available to buy.

Local Strawberries

So many plums!

Wild Figs – AKA Prickly Pears

Nectarines – Love how they’re a cute squashed shape!

This is what we bought in the end, mum made some delicious meals using the fresh vegetables and any that looked like they were nearing their use by date got juiced each morning. My mum also has a huge vegetable patch so I will post pictured of that soon. With the mixture of home grown veg and these farm veg I was spoilt!

We juiced the melon and the carrots, the aubergine and tomatoes became a fantastic moussaka and the fruit got eaten!

The fennel was braised and served with a morrocan tagine, the peppers were roasted and served with courgette cous cous, the parsley was juiced and the patty squash was baked and eaten as a side dish!

aaaaaand one last photo……….

The gorgeous view from the balcony where we ate breakfast each morning!

 

I Can Eat A Rainbow….Or Two!

When you think of a rainbow of food do you think of sprinkles, icing, colourings and sweets or maybe do you think of bright and vibrant vegetables and fruits? It’s not a bad thing if you think of the first option!! But maybe don’t eat a rainbow of those foods on a regular basis. Fruit and Vegetables on the other hand – you should eat a rainbow of these every day!

Different coloured foods have different benefits to them and to make sure your body is getting everything it needs it is important to eat a wide variety of colours. Just like you wouldn’t only eat one food group every meal time then you also shouldn’t only eat one type of vegetable every time.

Now I shop on a budget so I understand that it can be daunting to try to buy tonnes of vegetables which eventually might just go off in the fridge but here is a list of a few fruits and vegetables which I love and find easy to incorporate into my every day diet.

RED: Peppers, Tomatoes, Chillis, Red Onions,  Strawberries, Apples, Rhubarb, Cherries and Watermelon etc.

I have focused on Red Peppers as I love eating them with salads, in stirfries, as crudites with hummus, stuffed with more veggies, roasted and added to pasta, chopped and sprinkled on pizza, added to soups or even blended into a smoothie with other fruits and vegetables.~
They are extremely versatile and will be happy to be cooked in so many different ways. They have high levels of Vitamin C, Vitamin A and Vitamin B6 along side a very long list of other vitamins. They also provide a source of fibre and have hardly any calories!
Best Eaten: Raw in a salad.

ORANGE: Carrots, Butternut Squash, Oranges, Pumpkin, Peaches, Mangoes.

Out of all the orange fruits and vegetables the main vegetable in my fridge every week is the carrot! Again it is so versatile and can be used in soups, stews, sliced thinly into stirfries, grated onto salads or in sandwiches, cut into sticks as a snack with dips, roasted as a side dish, mashed in with your potatoes for a more colourful mash. They contain Carotene (which is turned into Vitamin A), Vitamin B, Vitamin C and they are packed with anti-oxidants and can lower cholesterol.
Best Eaten: Unpeeled and roasted with some spray oil then mashed.

YELLOW: Lemons, Bananas, Yellow Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Pineapples

I love lemons and use them often in my cooking and also in other meals. For example the other day I had a slice of lemon in a mug with fresh mint and a drizzle of honey with hot water and it was lovely. The zest and juice can add a fresh flavour to meals, it can be roasted or chargrilled for depth of flavour, slices can be added to soups and stews, it can be preserved and added to tagines. It’s lovely for sweets and savouries! It’s a great source of Vitamin C and it is good for your immune system. Also adding lemon juice to an Iron rich source such as spinach will help your body absorb the Iron better.
Best Eaten: Squeezed over some steamed greens.

GREEN: Spinach, Broccoli, Kale, Peas, Limes, Salad leaves, Mange Tout, Apples, Grapes, Asparagus

I think Green vegetables are the easiest to fit into your diet! There are so many options and varieties. My favourite is Spinach and I do think I get through a bag a week easily! With greens you should remember that the darker the leaf the better for you – and Spinach is a very deep green colour! Spinach contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6 etc. You can eat it raw in salads and sandwiches, steamed, stirfried, in soups, stews, pasta, any kind of sauce, as a side dish, in a curry and many more ways.
Best Eaten: In a soup with garlic, lemon and butter beans

PURPLE: Pomegranate, Aubergine, Red Cabbage, Prunes, Figs, Plums, Purple Carrots, Beetroot

I think Aubergine is probably my most eaten “purple” vegetable however I am focusing on Pomegranates here because I have been loving them recently! They have no cholesterol or saturated fat, it is high in fibre and has plenty of that good old Vitamin C. It also has Vitamin B, Calcium and Magnesium. It’s said as well that it can help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. It’s not as versatile as some of the other purple contenders but my favourite way to have a pomegranate is to squeeze all of the juice from the seeds into a jug, add slices of lemon, plenty of ice and sparkling water. It’s a gorgeous pink coloured healthy drink! Much better than fruit squash. You can also pick out the seeds to snack on, add to salads, cous cous or rice etc.
Best Eaten: On a Sunny day.

So there you go, a little inspiration to get some colourful food into your diet x

Web Sources used for this post: Whfoods, Disabled-World, Self Nutrition data, carrot museum, Nutrition and you

Veggie Packed Macaroni and Cheese: Meat Free Monday

This recipe is loosely based on a tuna pasta bake my mum used to make us when we were younger, it had loads of veg, a white sauce and a breadcrumb topping and it was delicious!!

Serves 6-8 (a good one for the freezer!)

180g Sprouts (around 8 sprouts)
140g Broccoli (around 10 florets)
140g Carrots (1 Carrot)
100g Shallots (3-4 shallots)
2 Garlic Cloves
300g Macaroni
Large handful breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
¼ teaspoon dried Chilli Flakes
300ml Soya Milk
1 Teaspoon Margarine
100g Cheddar
1 Teaspoon Plain Flour
Salt and Pepper

To prepare your vegetables: Peel the Sprouts and cut into quarters.Slice the shallots and carrots. Cut the broccoli into small florets and crush the garlic.

Preheat the oven to 200c

Steam the sprouts, broccoli and carrots untill soft (you can boil them but steaming retains all the goodness and flavour). As the vegetables are cooking put your macaroni on to boil in a pan of hot water for around 10-12 minutes or untill cooked, once cooked drain in a sieve and put to one side.

In a frying pan add some olive oil then fry the shallots and garlic for 3-4 minutes, then add the steamed veg and seasoning and let the veg brown a little. Then take the pan off the heat and stir the vegetables into the cooked macaroni and transfer all of the combined pasta and vegetables into a large lasagna dish.

In a small saucepan make the white sauce by heating the milk and butter in a pan, then add the flour and whisk untill the flour is combined and not lumpy. Add the cheese and keep stirring over the heat untill the cheese is melted. Season the white sauce and mix it into the pasta and vegetables, spread the mixture out so it covers the bottom of the lasagna dish and is level on top.

To make the breadcrumbs put a toasted slice of bread into a blender and add the dried basil, dried thyme and chilli flakes. Blitz untill you have herby breadcrumbs and then sprinkle these over the top of the cheesy pasta/ veg combination in the lasagna dish.

Put in the oven (uncovered) at 200c for around 10 minutes then serve with a side salad!

Photo: Prepared vegetables

Bubble and Squeak – The Ultimate Post-Christmas brunch!

Bubble and Squeak conjures up memories of my mum cooking brunch in the kitchen on boxing day whilst we happily sorted through presents received the day before. We’d be in our pyjamas with a good cheesy christmas film on in the background! We’d have piles of freshly fried bubble and squeak made with everything left over from the day before topped with eggs and washed down with fresh orange juice! This recipe tastes best when your using left over roasted veggies but my healthy take on it is also delicious!!

Serves 4:

1/2 small Savoy Cabbage
8-10 Sprouts
2 Carrots
1 Large Potato
Pinch Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Power
1/2 teaspoon dried Rosemary
Olive Oil for cooking

Preheat a baking tray in the oven at 190c

Prepare the vegetables by slicing the carrot, and cabbage, chop the potato into chunks and peel the sprouts then chop in half. Place the chopped potatoes onto the hot baking tray and spray/ drizzle with olive oil, roast for around 20 minutes. Steam (or boil) the sprouts, carrots and cabbage  untill soft then mash them with the roasted potatoes, garlic and rosemary.

Let it cool down a little bit then shape into cakes and fry in some olive oil untill golden brown and hot through.

Serve with a poached egg and plenty of tomato ketchup!!

Help yourself to seconds!

Ps: As kids this was a great way to fill us up of vegetables!! We used to have everything in there – carrots, leeks, peas, potatoes, cauliflower, parsnips! Anything left over that could be mashed

Vegetable delivery!!

I’ve just been handed a big bag of vegetables from my dads garden and it’s a bit like Ready Steady Cook as I’m now thinking of all the meals I can use them in! I have a large beetroot (to add to the one in the fridge), carrots, spring onions, apples and the biggest courgette I’ve seen in a long time – It’s more like a marrow! The smell from the bag is just amazing, especially the spring onions, they are very strong!

I went through a stage of desperately wanting to go on Ready Steady Cook. I had about 10 weeks off from sixth form because I had glandular fever and everyday I’d set up camp on the sofa and it would be on in the afternoon. I even printed off the application however it was very long and I never got around to deciding what I’d actually put in my bag so unfortunately I never sent it in! I love the idea of creating something amazing from a selection of random ingredients. I used to think I’d try to catch them out with a wild card ingredient like marshmallows when the rest of my bag is vegetables…but I think they actually monitor what you take in.

Another day time show I enjoy on the odd bank holiday/ day off is Daily Cooks Challenge, especially the round where they have to make a meal using the ingredient of the celebrities choice. I’d choose fennel because I don’t have a clue what to do with it except add small quantities to a soup…I stirfried it once and as you can imagine I’m scared senseless of using it again!

I will sort out my bag of veg tonight, wash the mud off, and decide what delicious meals I can come up with  

 

 

Pure Goodness: Vegetable Soup to cure a cold!

A fun but very busy weekend has been topped off with a cold, temperature and a lack of energy! I was craving something warm and nutritious so made my favourite, very simple “pure goodness” soup! This is filling and completely healthy so I often just have a bowl as a snack when I get home from work to keep off the hunger pangs untill dinner! After a bowl of this any nasty cold should start to feel abit better! (I’m guessing summer is truely over?)

Vegetable Soup

Serves 6- 8 (great for the freezer!)

1 White Cabbage
2 Onions
1 Small Butternut Squash
3 Carrots
1 leek
2 Celery Sticks
2 Cans of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Litre Vegetable Stock
Fresh herb of your choice (Coriander, parsley or basil)
Black Pepper
Spray oil

Slice the cabbage, onions, leek and celery. Chop the butternut squash and carrots into small chunks of equal sizes. Add all of the vegetables into a large saucepan with the spray oil and fry for 5 minutes to release the flavour of the vegetables. (It’ll smell lovely at this point!). Then add the vegetable stock, tomatoes and a large pinch of black pepper and simmer untill all the vegetables are soft (about 20-25 minutes). You can either sprinkle the herbs on top or if freezing you can mix them in to add the flavour.

Serve with a big chunk of warmed through crusty bread..or if your being healthy like me then just enjoy the soup on its own!