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picnic in the park May 22, 2010

Posted by molly in : particularly random , 2comments

i just realized something: there hasn’t been a really nice warm sunny day in england since i started this blog. that is tragic. and if there have been nice warm sunny days in england since then, i’ve been away and missed out.

no longer!!

yesterday and today are absolutely gorgeous and remind me of why i loved living in southern california so much. all that sunshine and flip flops and you’re bound to be in a good mood. plus, english people rarely get to enjoy this type of weather, so they really take advantage of it. i love that – a hot day is appreciated so much more when it’s a rarity. even if there aren’t any beaches in london (not real ones, anyway) there are plenty of parks and they’re usually packed full when it’s this pleasant outside.

i ate two meals in my nearest park yesterday – along with about 300 other people (mostly young children). but the best was being able to cook dinner at home, a great recipe from yotam ottolenghi‘s new book, plenty, and pack it up in a tupperware container with a bottle of wine, a couple of glasses and forks, and a blanket, and dine al fresco with phil.

now, i’ll be honest, i don’t actually have the book – phil’s mum was kind enough to email a recipe from the book that she and phil’s dad had tried recently and loved, a multi-vegetable paella. ottolenghi published the recipe back in 2008 in the guardian, but i’ll post it here as well the way we made it last night. it’s a really lovely summer dinner, all vegetables – so full in fact that you’ll barely miss the meat. eat it outside for added enjoyment.

multi-vegetable paella

serves 3-4 (or two with leftovers) – a recipe from yotam ottolenghi’s plenty

the particulars:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
  • 1 fennel bulb, cut into strips
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp cayenne
  • 3/4 cup calasparra rice (we used short-grain rice as we didn’t have the real paella stuff)
  • 1/2 cup good-quality medium sherry
  • 1 tsp saffron strands
  • 2 cups boiling vegetable stock
  • Sea salt
  • 12 mini plum tomatoes, halved
  • 5 small grilled jarred artichokes, quartered
  • 1 cup broad beans (we used frozen)
  • 12 pitted black olives, halved
  • 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
  • 4 lemon wedges, to serve
  1. heat the oil in a paella pan (we used a wok), then gently fry the onion for 5 minutes. add the peppers, fennel, and garlic, and fry on a medium heat for another 5-6 minutes, until soft and golden.
  2. add the bay leaves, paprika, turmeric, and cayenne, stir, then add the rice and stir thoroughly for 2 minutes before adding the sherry and saffron. boil down for a minute, then add the stock and 1/3 tsp of sea salt.
  3. turn the heat as low as possible and simmer very gently for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid (but not all) has been absorbed by the rice. do not cover the pan or stir the rice during this time.
  4. remove the paella pan (wok) from the heat. taste, add more salt if needed, but without stirring the rice too much. scatter the tomatoes, artichokes, and broad beans over the rice. cover the pan tightly with foil and leave for 10 minutes.
  5. take off the foil, scatter the olives and parsley over the top of the paella and serve with the lemon wedges.

diy snacks May 19, 2010

Posted by molly in : particularly random , add a comment

this morning, i spent a good hour peeling raw almonds. i consider this my punishment for neglecting the blog yesterday. and it WAS punishment! i’ll be buying peeled/blanched almonds from now on, rather than attempting to do it myself.

but speaking of diy, this little nibbley snack is all about creating something special yourself. there are plenty of bags and jars of spiced, mixed, or roasted nuts at the supermarket. but why not spend a little time making it on your own? it takes no time at all (as long as you buy the almonds pre-blanched!) and you can use whatever spice you wish!

we had some amazing ones in paris that i’d love to re-create sometime. they were both spicy and sweet all at once – perhaps using brown sugar and cayenne, or something similar? i’m not sure, but at least now i can attempt it.

these roasted almonds would be great as a post-workout or pre-dinner snack. they’d also be great as a little gift, wrapped up in a pretty bag. next christmas spoiler alert!

spiced roasted almonds

the particulars:

  • 400g raw, peeled almonds
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp paprika (or the spice of your choice)
  1. preheat the oven to gas mark 5 / 350F.
  2. place the almonds in a roasting pan and drizzle the olive oil on top. toss to coat and place in the oven. roast for 10 minutes.
  3. take the almonds out of the oven and sprinkle with the paprika. toss to coat and leave to cool.
  4. enjoy them warm, or place them in an airtight container where they will keep for a week!

other news:

aubergine eggplant May 10, 2010

Posted by molly in : particularly random , 2comments

po-tay-to po-tah-to.

let’s call the whole thing off.

what is it about this vegetable that requires it to be made moroccan-style? if i ever go to morocco, i expect the streets to be lined with eggplant. i expect the currency to be eggplant-shaped, and for everyone to be wearing purple. is that wrong?

anyway, last night’s dinner incorporated some nice little extras to make the veggies we prepared stand out, rather than fade into the meal along with the rest of the ingredients. it is too easy to just throw some eggplant into a stirfry or warm salad and just shrug when it ends up not having a great consistency. and the same goes for asparagus, in my opinion. boiled asparagus is nowhere near as nice as grilled or roasted. and it is so simple – it just requires a tiny bit of extra time. and the genius of mark bittman (his book how to cook everything vegetarian will be accompanying me to food writing class this week, as we were asked to bring in our favorite recipe book). his recipes for any vegetable are so head-smackingly simple and work well every time.

so, combining a dish full of moroccan flavors with the beautiful fresh asparagus we bought at the farmer’s market on saturday, dinner was served.

spiced bulgar wheat with eggplant and roasted asparagus

serves 2

the particulars:

  • 1 eggplant, sliced in 1-inch thick rounds
  • olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 cup bulgar wheat (could use couscous or quinoa instead)
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
  • 2 large handfuls baby spinach
  • 1/2 lemon, cut into wedges
  • coarse sea salt
  • bunch of fresh asparagus, trimmed
  1. prepare the asparagus. preheat the oven to 450F and place in a roasting tin. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the sea salt. they will take 15-20 minutes in the oven (toss every 5 minutes) so plan the bulgar wheat stuff accordingly.
  2. heat up a grill or griddle pan. place the eggplant rounds evenly around the pan. drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. grill for about 5 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes. remove from grill or pan and slice in half. leave to rest.
  3. in a large saucepan, heat up some more olive oil and cook the onion and garlic. after about 5 minutes, add the cumin, cayenne, paprika and chili powder and season. cook for 2 more minutes.
  4. add the bulgar wheat and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. reduce heat to simmer and cover with a lid. leave to cook for about 10 minutes, or until the stock has been absorbed.
  5. turn off the heat and add the eggplant, cilantro, and spinach. season again and toss to combine. add more spices if required.
  6. serve hot with the lemon wedges and asparagus.

healthy superbowl feast February 8, 2010

Posted by molly in : mexican, particularly random , 4comments

believe it or not, the superbowl is realllllly not a big deal in england. i know. shocking! but i still wanted to enjoy the day as though it was a normal superbowl sunday by having some friends over and cooking up some classics. with a pretty healthy twist of course.

the main part of the meal was a vegan chili, based on the fitnessista’s sweet potato and black bean version. of course, i had to up the ingredients a bit to feed 9 hungry mouths, but the main southwestern flavours were there. i also whipped up some cornbread, based on the veganomicon recipe but with a few minor adjustments (the main one being that i used goat’s milk instead of soy milk, making it non-vegan…). and my friend suzanne whipped up her fantastic guacamole. she’ll tell you all about her recipe on another day!

phil and i also made some homemade hummus with crudites. i’d say this was the best hummus yet. i’m so glad i have leftovers for lunch today. i think the secret ingredient is paprika, and lots of it.

overall, i think this was a great meal – for any occasion, not just an american sporting event! congrats have to go to the saints, who i was totally rooting for. unfortunately, i fell asleep at 2am, missing the last hour (perhaps the most exciting hour too, by the looks of it)! and thanks to tom and lucy for staying over and powering through :)

on with the recipes.

cornbread

based on the recipe from veganomicon


the particulars:

  1. preheat the oven to 350F/ gas mark 4. either use a cast-iron skillet or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. i used a 9-inch round foil pan for mine. but usually this would be square. i guess i’m just a cornbread maverick.
  2. combine the milk and vinegar in a jug and set aside to curdle.
  3. in a large mixing bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. make a well in the centre and add the milk mixture and oil. use a wooden spoon to mix together until just combined. some lumps are okay.
  4. pour the batter into the prepared skillet or pan. bake for 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted through the middle comes out clean. remove from the oven and let cool before serving.

sweet potato & black bean chili

based on the recipe from the fitnessista, with adjustments. this serves about 8 people. i forgot to take a picture while it was cooking!!! fail!


the particulars:

  1. heat some vegetable oil in a large pot. add the onions and garlic; cook until translucent. add the carrots, celery, chili, and peppers. sprinkle the chili powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne on top. cook for about 5 minutes. throw in the sweet potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
  2. add the cans of beans and tomatoes, as well as some salt and pepper. bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, put a cover on top, and leave to cook for 20 minutes. stir occasionally.
  3. after 20 mins, take the cover off, continuing to simmer and stir every so often. after another 15 minutes, the chili will be done and ready to serve. OR
  4. leave to cook for up to 2 more hours. alternate with the cover off or on, depending on how liquidy you want the chili. the sweet potatoes will eventually start to disintegrate the longer you leave it, giving it a nice hearty texture.
  5. before serving, squeeze the lime juice in, adjust the seasoning and spices to your taste, and stir through.
  6. serve with rice and/or cornbread.

lesson learned: yumsville, usa. population: anyone who was in my living room last night.

pizza party, round two! February 1, 2010

Posted by molly in : particularly random , 1 comment so far

this is quickly becoming a sunday night tradition: making our own pizzas for dinner. phil’s parents do it all the time – genius idea! what a wonderful way to end the weekend.

i didn’t sample the vegan pizza we made at the workshop during the day because i knew i was having it for dinner. originally, i was planning on adding some grated goat’s cheese to mine, but after spending all day eating vegan, i decided not to. in fact, i was still pretty full from all the wonderful dishes in the afternoon that phil and i ended up sharing one pizza. we used the ready-made spelt crust as before, and prepared some wonderful goodies to top it with. he added slices of fresh mozzarella to his half before we stuck it in the oven.

here’s a photo, pre-bake:

the particulars:

and here is the result – my two slices:

om nom nom.

it was a lovely dinner (and let’s be honest, i saved room for a little dish of coconut ice cream).

happy february!