Corn Chowder with Veggie Roll Ups

This slightly spicy soup is just the thing to take the edge off a chilly spring evening, with the corn being a welcome reminder of the balmy days to come.

Corn Chowder

1 onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
800 gram tin corn kernals, drained and rinsed
3 potatoes, peeled and diced into 2 cm pieces
1 red capsicum, diced
1 litre vegetable stock
50 grams feta cheese, crumbled

1 - Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, and cook until golden and tender. Add the chilli flakes, and cook a minute more.

2 - Add the corn, potato, capsicum and stock, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the potato is tender. Set aside to cool.

3 - Remove half the soup and puree it. Return to the pan, reheat, then serve. Garnish with feta, and coriander if you like. Serve with the veggie roll ups.

Veggie Roll Ups

3 pieces wholemeal Sorj bread
1 small tub hommus dip
2 carrots, peeled and grated
1/2 iceberg lettuce, washed well and sliced thinly
Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 - Place each piece of Sorj bread out onto a flat surface. Spread with the hommus dip.

2 - Layer the carrot and lettuce on top then sprinkly with some of the lemon juice. Roll up each piece of bread, then cut into threes. Repeat with remaining bread. Serve with chowder.

Spinach, tomato and potato dhal with honey roasted pumpkin

I love this dhal - it's so satisfying, and warm, with just a hint of heat. The tomatoes give it a lovely fresh flavour, stopping it from becoming too heavy, a common dhal problem. And you really can't go wrong with honey roasted pumpkin.

Spinach, tomato and potato dhal

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
6 salad potatoes, washed well and quartered
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 cup Persian red lentils (I used the Mount Zero brand, which are magnificent, and hold their shape when cooked. If you can't find these, used Puy lentils)
2 1/2 cups water
3 tomatoes, skinned and deseeded, and diced
2 large handfuls spinach leaves, washed well and stems removed

1 - Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan, and add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, or until tender and golden. Add the spices, and cook for a minute more.

2 - Add the potatoes, lentils and water, and bring to the boil. Turn heat down and simmer, covered, for 35 - 40 minutes, or until the potatoes and lentils are just tender, stirring frequently.

3 - Add the tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes more.

4 - Add the spinach, and stir in until wilted. Serve.

Honey roasted pumpkin

500 grams pumpkin, peeled and sliced into thin wedges
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup pepitas, toasted
2 tablespoons honey


1 - Preheat the oven to 200 C. Place the pumpkin in a baking dish, and toss with the oil. Roast for 30 - 35 minutes, or until tender and just beginning to caramelise.

2 - Remove from oven and drizzle with the honey. Roast in oven for 5 minutes more.

3 - Place the pumpkin on serving dish, and scatter with pepitas. Serve.

Potato and leek soup with parmesan and olive pinwheels

Oops - I've already repeated a recipe. Oh well, it's so good I'm sure you'll want to have it again. Besides, I'd been to the farmer's market and came home with a 5 kilo bag of potatoes and a large bundle of leeks - what's a girl supposed to do!

Warning - although these pinwheels are a highly useful way of using up that last sheet of pastry languishing in the freezer, they come at a cost. A cost to your waistline. They are the most addictive little devils you'll ever whisk out of the oven. Don't say I didn't warn you. My husband was late home from work the night I made them, and it took all of my reserves of will power not to chow down his. Grumbles, I'm sure, was eyeing them off, too! So that's my new definition of love - saving your special one some pinwheels. It doesn't come any more self-sacrificing that that.

Potato and Leek Soup

6 large potatoes (I used Dutch creams), peeled and chopped roughly
3 leeks, washed well and the white part of the stems finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
20 grams butter (or olive oil for vegans)
1 litre vegetable stock or water
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 - Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Fry the leeks for 3 minutes, or until soft and golden.

2 - Add the potatoes and carrots, and toss in the leed mixture.

3 - Add the stock, and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

4 - Puree the soup, then season with plenty of pepper. Reheat to serve.


Parmesan and Olive Pinwheels

Makes 12

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 tablespoons olive tapenade
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 - Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2 - Spread the tapenade evenly over the puff pastry, and top with the parmesan cheese. Carefully roll up the pastry into a log, then cut into twelve pieces.

3 - Lay each piece side down on the tray, then bake for 15 minutes, or until the pinwheels are puffed and golden. Set aside for a few minutes, then munch away!

Red Thai Vegetable Curry

This is another one of those dishes that are marvellous at vaccumming up the sad vegetables left in the crisper drawer, and turning them into something delish. I've specified you use one tablespoon of red curry paste, but check the heat as you go - some brands are much hotter than others.

Red Thai Vegetable Curry

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 sweet potato (or one small one), peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 tablespoon cooking oil
400 gram tin coconut milk
1/2 cups (125ml) water
Rice, to serve

1 - Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium high heat, and add the red curry paste. Let cook for a minute or two, or until the paste smells fragrant, then add the potatoes, sweet potato and carrots. Stir the vegetables around until they are coated in the paste.

2 - Add the coconut milk and water, and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer, and cook for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are just tender.

3 - Add the broccoli, and cook for 5 minutes more, or until the broccoli is tender. Serve in large bowls over the rice.

Moroccan style potato stew

This is my take on Madhur Jaffrey's Moroccan Potato Stew, featured in her book World Vegetarian. Her's is a nice gentle stew, but if you've been reading this blog for a while, you've probably realised that I just simply cannot help myself: I must add a fiery chilli kick to pretty much everything! I also added some more tomatoes than the original recipe called for, just to give the dish a bit more depth.

As a side note, if you only buy one vegetarian recipe book in your entire life, you really wouldn't go too far wrong with this one. With over 600 recipes to choose from, covering almost every cuisine you can think of (and quite a few you probably couldn't), it really is a fabulous resource when it comes to cooking authentic, interesting and tasty ethnic vegetarian meals.

Right, enough babbling. The recipe:

Moroccan style Potato Stew

2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced (save the rest for tomorrow night's meal)
2 Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced roughly (see here for an easy way to peel a tomato)
500 grams salad style potatoes (I used the waxy Red Desiree variety), washed well and diced
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teeaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
500 mls (2 cups) water

1 - Heat the olive oil over a medium low heat, and cook the onion for five minutes, or until tender and golden. Add the chilli flakes and cook for another minute (this allows the chilli to release it's heat).

2 - Add the remaining ingredients, and combine well. Bring the stew to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, or until the pototatoes are tender (but not falling apart).

3 - Mush up a couple of the potatoes to thicken up the sauce, and then serve.

Baked potatoes with coleslaw, smoked cheese and sour cream

I was thinking about these as I was scarfing them down, and came to this valuble conclusion: Baked potatoes are the Irishman's taco - you can stuff them with pretty much anything at all, and as long are they are hot and topped with cheese they'll taste great!

As you can see, I obviously need to get out more.

Baked Potatoes

1 large baking potato per person (I used Bintjes)
100 grams smoked cheddar cheese, grated
1 small tub sour cream
Coleslaw (recipe below)

1 - Preheat oven to 200 C.

2 - Wrap each potato in foil, then place on a baking tray. Bake in oven for 1 - 1 1/4 hours, or until tender.

3 - Unwrap the potatoes, and score with a deep cross. Fill the cross with the coleslaw, sour cream and cheese, then chow on down.

Coleslaw

1/2 small red cabbage
1 red onion, peeled
2 medium carrots, peeled
3 tablespoons whole egg mayonnaise
2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 - Place all the vegetables in a food processor with a grate attachement, and grate until fine.

2 - Place grated vegetables in a bowl, and mix with the mayonnaise and mustard. Serve.

Potato and leek soup with caramelised onion bruschetta

I love this combination! The sweetness of the onions works really well with the velvety, peppery soup. And the best bit is that the onions can be easily done whilst the soup is simmering away, and is well worth the effort.

Potato and Leek Soup

6 large potatoes (I used Dutch creams), peeled and chopped roughly
3 leeks, washed well and the white part of the stems finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
20 grams butter (or olive oil for vegans)
1 litre vegetable stock or water
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 - Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Fry the leeks for 3 minutes, or until soft and golden.

2 - Add the potatoes and carrots, and toss in the leed mixture.

3 - Add the stock, and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

4 - Puree the soup, then season with plenty of pepper. Reheat to serve.

Caramelised onion bruschetta

3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
50 grams butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
1 thick slice of Italian-style bread per person

1 - Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Once melted, add the onion, and cover the pan.

2 - Let the onions cook for 10 minutes with the lid on the pan, stirring reguarly.

3 - Remove lid, add the brown sugar then continue cooking over a medium heat, stirring often, until the onions are dark brown and tender. Add the thyme leaves.

4 - Toast the bread, then spread with onion mixture. Serve.