Twinings - Lemon Infused Courgetti with Winter Pesto

I'm not sure what it is, but courgetti seems to always leave you feeling energised and refreshed. Try my third January recipe for Twinings: http://www.twinings.co.uk/blog/2016/january/lemon-infused-courgetti-with-winter-pesto 

Twinings - Gingery Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe is great for keeping away colds and bugs, or warming you up on these chilly winter days. The kale crisps add a delicious crunchy texture to the soup, and the Root Ginger tea accentuates the fiery ginger flavours. Check out my full recipe here: http://www.twinings.co.uk/blog/2016/january/gingery-butternut-squash-soup

Vegan Courgette Summer Pesto

After realising I had one too many courgettes in my fridge, I decided to do some experimenting. Why wouldn't courgette taste great in pesto? This recipe is cheese free and therefore vegan, and has a moist nutty texture, even though it contains very little oil. Healthy healthy! Perfect swirled through pasta or rice, or used as a dip or spread.

Ingredients (serves 2)

- 1/2 a courgette

- 1 small clove of garlic, crushed

- fresh or frozen basil from a 31g bag, stalks removed and discarded

- 20 almonds

- 4 cherry or small fresh tomatoes

- 2 tbsp sunflower oil, or any

- salt and pepper

1. Start by turning the oven to 200°c to bake the courgette. Slice the courgette and drizzle with the sunflower oil. Season well and bake for 10-15 minutes until soft and golden. 

2. Blitz the almonds in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. *Some bigger crumbs will give the sauce some texture*. 

3. Add the cooked courgette slices with their oil, crushed garlic, tomatoes, and basil to the mixer with the almonds. Mix for a few minutes until smooth. 

YUM!

Starting off #MeatFreeWeek with Aubergine, Sweet Potato and Spinach Coconut Curry

Curries are my favourite things to cook as you can pretty much whack anything in and they're bound to taste good! They're also very simple and cost effective when you have all the spices and bits stocked up in the cupboard, as well as being much healthier than buying pre-made sauces. My essential spices for curries are coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cardamon pods, turmeric, paprika and curry powder. I tend to keep chillies in the freezer so that they're available when I needed and don't bother to defrost them. The sweet potato can always be swapped for butternut squash, and the aubergine can be changed to courgette - and the good thing about curries is it doesn't matter what vegetables you use. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

- 1 aubergine, sliced into similar sized chunks

- 3 sweet potatoes, washed and cut into pieces (a little smaller than the aubergine) with their skins on 

- 2 handfuls of spinach

- 1 handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped in half

- 1 onion, roughly chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

- 1/2 thumb of grated fresh ginger (optional)

- a big dash of white wine * Probably very unusual in a curry, but I like using it. Red and rose is also fine *

- 400g tin of coconut milk

- 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced with or without seeds depending on taste

- 2 tsp mango chutney

- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

- 4 cardamon pods, seeds removed and shells discarded

- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

- 1/2 coriander powder

- 1/2 tsp turmeric

- 1/2 tsp coriander powder

- 1/2 tsp curry powder

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)

- a handful of fresh coriander, chopped (optional)

1. Start by cooking the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger in a pan with a little vegetable oil or coconut oil. 

2. Once the onion starts to brown, pour in the dash of wine - which should sizzle. Then add the sweet potato and aubergine. Stir frequently for a few minutes and don't let the vegetables burn.

3. Once the wine has evaporated away (after a few minutes - no need to count though), add the tin of coconut milk and chopped tomatoes and stir to combine. 

4. Boil the kettle and fill the empty coconut tin with 1/2 water and the stock cube. Put aside for a few minutes. 

5. Let the vegetables cook on a medium heat for around 5 minutes, and then add the stock from the tin. * Don't worry if the stock cube hasn't completely dissolved, it should continue to dissolve in the pan * Continue to cook your curry for a further 5 minutes.

6. Whilst the veg is cooking, in a saucepan, add a little vegetable/sunflower oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds which should spit a little and start to crack. In a pestle and mortar, grind the cardamon and coriander seeds together until crushed. Add these in with the mustard seeds for 20 seconds or so. Then pour the seeds into your curry, along with all the other curry spices and the mango chutney. * I don't usually measure my spices, I just dash a bit in - so don't be afraid to do the same! *

7. Let the curry cook for a further 10-15 minutes without a lid, to let the juices boil down, until the sweet potato is ready. Taste is and see if it needs more of anything. If it isn't spicy enough for you, add some chilli flakes, if something is missing, maybe add some chopped coriander, more mango chutney or curry powder. 

8. Finally, put in the spinach and finish the dish off for a few minutes, stirring frequently. 

* Serve with rice, yoghurt, or flat bread. If you're feeling adventurous, you could poach some white fish in turmeric and cardamon pod water for around 4 minutes...works a treat! *

My Baba Ganoush

It's an odd thing cooking a whole aubergine, but then again, it's pretty satisfying. Baga Ganoush is quite straight forward, tasty and healthy - however it's a bit of an effort too! Most recipes will ask for tahini, but I prefer to use peanut butter as it's less strong. One aubergine doesn't go very far, and then it's gone in a flash. So if you're making this dip for a lot of people, try double or tripling the quantities. 

Ingredients (makes a small bowl)

- 1 whole aubergine, washed

- 1 small clove of garlic

- 4 sprigs of mint, stalks removed and leaves kept

- a few drops of sesame oil

- 1/2 tbsp smooth peanut butter 

- juice of half a lemon

- salt and pepper

1. Turn the oven to 200c and cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Place your aubergine in the oven for 40-50 minutes, turning occasionally. *Some recipes say to prick the aubergine first, but this makes it harder to peel when it's cooked*

2. When the aubergine is charred and flattened slightly, take it out of the oven and peel off the skin.

*The aubergine will let off some water*

3. The water needs to be removed to form a smooth creamy texture. Put the aubergine in a sieve and push out the water with a spoon.

4. Mix all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

 

Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds to add a little colour.

Green Kitchen Travels 'Sopa de Legumes Portuguese' with a Bacon and Chilli Flair

I was a happy sister when I received the Green Kitchen Travels cookbook for Christmas. What a beautiful book, full of wonderful traveling pictures and exciting simple recipes from around the world. For someone who rarely uses recipe books, it was very inspirational, and it's lovely to see a book with character and charm. This certainly doesn't mean I'm becoming GF, DF, Vegan or Vegetarian, but I'll stick to my motto of everything in moderation. I substituted a few things in the original recipe...beans for lentils, sage leaves for bay leaves, water for fresh turkey stock and cabbage for a chilli and bacon topping. 

Ingredients (serves 5-6 as a main)

for the soup -

- 3 potatoes (450g), peeled and chopped

- 1 small/medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped

- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped

- 2 leeks, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 2 bay leaves (or 10 fresh sage leaves as the original recipe requests)

- turkey stock (chicken or vegetable as a substitute)

- boiling water

- juice of 1 lemon

for the topping -

- 100g lentils

- 250g chopped bacon bits (I buy them already chopped from Lidl as they're cheap and easy)

- 1 chilli, deseeded and chopped

1. In a large saucepan start by frying the onion, garlic and leek in a little oil for a few minutes. Then add the chopped potatoes, carrot, and sweet potato. Stir for a few minutes and then cover the vegetables with 3/4 fresh stock and 1/4 boiling water (roughly 2 inches above the veggies); and finally add the bay leaves. 

2. Bring the soup to the boil with a lid on, then turn down the heat and simmer until the vegetables are soft (about 20/25 minutes). 

3. While the soup is cooking, boil the lentils in a saucepan according to the pack instructions. It doesn't matter if they're overcooked, as they'll get mixed into the soup anyway.

4. The lentils should cook quicker than the soup. When they are ready, drain and leave them to one side. Rinse the saucepan briefly and then use it to cook the bacon and chopped chilli. No oil is needed as the bacon will give off it's own. 

5. By this time, the vegetables should be soft and ready to be blitzed. Whack the soup mixture into a food processor (be careful as it'll be hot and might explode! Better to do it little by little) and blitz to form a smooth creamy consistency. Pour in the lemon juice and set aside. 

6. When the bacon is cooked (about 4 minutes), you can start to serve up. Simply spoon a little lentils and chilli bacon on top of the soup and finish off with chopped fresh parsley or coriander. 

Easy Italian Baked Courgettes

If you like courgettes and Italian cooking, this is the recipe for you. Not only is it extremely easy, but tastes fresh, healthy and delicious. I like to eat these on their own, for a 'light' supper option, but they can also be accompanied with meat or fish; or as a starter for a dinner party. The great thing about this recipe is that you don't have to be exact with the ingredients...it'll taste good either way. 

Ingredients (serves 2)

- 2 courgettes, cut in half length ways

- 10 cherry or small tomatoes, cut in half

- a handful of pine nuts

- a handful of grated cheddar cheese (or any cheese)

- 6 basil leaves, chopped or torn into small pieces

- a dribble of olive oil

- salt and pepper

1. Start by turning the oven to 200°c. 

2. Once the courgettes have been cut in half, make a small triangular cut length ways down the centre to remove some of the seeds - in order to place your mixture on top. Some recipes will tell you to remove all the seeds when stuffing a courgette, or similar vegetable, however I feel this is a bit wasteful. 

3. Place the two courgette halves skin side down on a baking tray and dribble with a little sunflower or vegetable oil. Put them in the pre heated oven for 20 minutes to soften them.

4. While the courgettes are baking, you can begin to make the topping. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until combined. 

5. Once the courgettes have been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove them and pour your topping neatly over each half. Place back in the oven for a further 8 minutes and enjoy hot or cold. 

Add a few chilli flakes if you like things spicy.