Cooking for my vegetarian girlfriend
And other adventures with Jane
Ingredients: Dried Sage and onion stuffing ( or anything stuffing), Boiled egg, egg, panko breadcrumbs
Preparation:
Boil an egg and set a side. Prepare the dried stuffing mix according to instructions. Next cover the egg in the stuffing and coat in whisked egg and then roll in panko breadcrumbs. Finally place on grease proof paper and cook for around 15 mins on 180F fan
A nice simple fruity salad
serves 2
Ingredients : half a diced red apple, little gem lettuce, walnuts, red grapes, celery, small tablespoon of mayonaise.
Preparation: In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped little gem lettuce and combine with good quality hard diced red apple, celery, grapes and a spoonful of mayonnaise. Roast a handful of walnuts in a dry pan and keep a constant eye. There is a fine line between them being cooked or burnt become bitter. Add the nuts to the mixing bowl and stir through. Make sure there is only a small amount of mayo, as this dish should not be too thick or heavy.
Important. If you are making a relish to keep for later, you must use sterilised jars. The simplest way to prepare a sterilised jar and lid is to wash them in very hot water, then put the jar in the oven for 10/15 minutes at 100C Fan and also boil the lid at the same time. Take out the hot items with a clean cloth or sheets of clean paper towel and place on a rack to cool. When filling the jar, make sure the spoon is sterile too.
Ingredients: An onion, a clove of garlic, a cube of ginger, 1 small red chilli, half a red pepper, fresh coriander, fresh sweetcorn ( or small tin of sweetcorn), a deseeded tomato, 2 tbsp of vinegar, 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar, a pinch of salt and white pepper
Preparation.
In a pan, cook the chopped garlic, onion and ginger over medium heat to soften but not burn/brown too quick. Next add all the remaining chopped ingredients, except the fresh coriander to the pan and cook until the liquid is reduced down. This will take about 5/7 minutes.
Next mix in a large handful of coriander and transfer to the sterilised jar with lid. Make sure everything is sterile.
This is a great dish to make ahead for work lunches, as it will keep for a couple of days and can be sliced into portions to have with a salad.
Serves 2
Ingredients: 1 large courgette, 1 tbsp butter or equivalent, half an onion or some shallots, 4 large eggs, 50g of grated cheddar, salt and pepper.
Preparation:
Grate the courgette and tab and press dry with some kitchen paper to remove any excess water then set aside.
Saute chopped onions and courgette with a pinch of salt for around 5/7 minutes until the mixture is softened.
In a bowl, crack the eggs and whisk with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then add the onions and courgette mixture and the cheese and stir through.
Next, pour the mixture into a suitable greaseproof round tin. I suggest one which more than 2inches deep and 6 inches wide.
Place the dish in the oven at around 150c Fan for 20/25 minutes until set.
Couscous is very flexible, and it can be prepared in many different combinations. This recipe is a reminder of a basic couscous salad and how much to weigh out. Using a little imagination, this dish can be changed into hundreds of different options. It is also brilliant at using up leftover salad material or other vegetables that can be chargrilled and added to the couscous.
Serving for 2
Ingredients: couscous, water, spices ( ground cumin, ground coriander, ground paprika, ground garlic salt, white pepper), cucumber, 2 medium tomatoes, 1 small red onion, homemade hummus and flatbread.
Preparation:
For two people, use 110g of couscous with 170ml of boiling water. Stir through and allow 5 mins for the couscous to expand and soak the water up.
Next, add your spices or herbs and stir in any vegetable combination ( salad or chargrilled) that you desire.
Serve with some homemade hummus and small flatbread or even a piece of grilled halloumi.
Cauliflower makes a robust vegetable to use for these mock hot wings, as they keep a good texture once cooked.
Ingredients: One head of cauliflower, flour, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, Franks Hot sauce, sunflower oil and honey
Preparation:
Break up the cauliflower into small florets. Then in a large mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of ground pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt and 3/4 cup of milk. Whisk into a paste and then drop the cauliflower into it and stir to coat evenly.
Place each piece of the coated broccoli on some greaseproof paper into a heated oven ( fan at 200) for 20 minutes. After this time, take them out and brush each one liberally with the hot sauce mixture.
To make the sauce, use half a cup of hot sauce and add a tablespoon of honey with two tablespoons of sunflower oil. Brush this on the cauliflower and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes
I am not sure on the etymology of this dish, but I will call them stuff eggs rather than the stupid name our cousins across the pond call them.
Ingredients: 4 Eggs, mayo, dijon mustard, paprika and corriander
Preparation: Start by hard boiling the eggs. Remember to shock them under cold water once cooked, so the inner membrane does not stick, and it is more comfortable to peel.
Once cooled, half lengthways all the eggs and then remove the yolks. In a bowl, add in 1tsp of mayonnaise and 1tsp of dijon mustard and stir in the egg yolk. Mix until you have paste and place the filling back into each egg then sprinkle with a little paprika and chopped coriander.
These roast potatoes can be a star of roast dinner, as they look lovely and taste great yet they are quicker to prepare than standard roast potatoes as there is no peeling involved.
Ingredients: medium baking potatoes, butter, sunflower oil, black pepper and salt
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to fan 180C for a fan assisted oven. Give the potatoes a rinse and pat dry. Place each potato on a dessert spoon and then carefully make small vertical slits, 2mm apart, three-quarters of the way down each potato, all the way along. By using the spoon, it will stop you cutting down too far and avoid the potato from rolling around.
Melt some butter into hot sunflower oil and pour over the potatoes and make sure they fat goes into the cut slits. Now sit back and roast
There are quite a few different ways to prepare the batter for the onion rings. Some people use sparkling water to make a lighter batter, and some choose to use eggs and milk. The one I made used the eggs and milk to make a thicker and more substantial batter.
Ingredients: Plain flour, 1 large onion, salt, smoked paprika, milk and an egg.
Preparation.
Mix one cup of flour with an egg and half a cup of milk. Keep whisking until you have a batter like mixture. Add some salt and smoked paprika. It should resemble paint and stick to the onion, but when you lift the onion out the sauce, the excess will drip back and leave no lumps.
Carefully shallow fry the rings in enough oil to just cover them. You will need to do these in batches and use plenty of kitchen towel to mop up the excess oil.
A tasty packed and stuffed bread using any anti pasta ingredients that you may have. If you don’t have of anti pasta you can make some of your own as buying only a few extras can really make this picnic bread expensive!
This stuff loaf was also made with homemade watercress pesto, garlic mushrooms and griddled courgette. Shop bought sweet roasted peppers, sun dried garlic and herb tomatoes, artichoke, leerdammer cheese and spinach was also added.
Preparation:
Cut a roof into the bread and pick out the bread. Save the breadcrumbs to make breadcrumbs later. Make sure you leave a little bread lining. Next start your layering.
I started with watercress pesto (Prepared like basil pesto but swap basil for watercress) and start to layer with each anti pasta ingredient you have. Near the top push down and replace the lid and wrap tightly with cling film. Allow the bread to chill before serving.
Cooking for my vegetarian girlfriend 
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