By Lisa Cherry, on February 3rd, 2012%
Ingredients:
300g oats
100g sliced almonds
25g walnuts, coarsely chopped
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
50g dried cranberries
50g other dried fruit of choice, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 180 with rack in the middle.
Oil a 4-sided sheet pan or line with parchment paper.
Stir together oats, almonds, and walnuts in a large bowl.
Heat oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan over low heat until heated through. Stir into oat mixture.
Spread evenly in sheet pan and bake, stirring once, until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool granola completely in pan (it will crisp as it cools), then stir in fruit.
Serve with yoghurt for a scrummy breakfast…Gorgeous!
. . . → Read More: Maple Syrup and Almond Granola
By Lisa Cherry, on January 26th, 2012%
This recipe is from Ben (it’s actually called Daddy’s Fish pie) who is my very busy neighbour who runs a project called The Oxfordshire Project and has a photography business!
I would love to know how you get on with this, as always, but it looks scrummy to me!
INGREDIENTS:
1 Medium onion
Half a lemon
A big pinch of Parsley
100g butter
50g Plain Flour
400ml Milk
500g smoked skinned Cod
250g Tiger Prawns
200 grams of smoked salmon
Salt and pepper
1.4 kilos of Potatoes peeled or unpeeled
70g Grated Cheddar cheese
Melt half the butter in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onion and cook until soft.
Stir in the flour and slowly add the milk until you have a thick sauce and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. If the prawns are uncooked fry them gently in a little oil and then add them to the sauce with the salmon and the cod, now you can season with the parsley, a little salt and some pepper. Now add the juice of half a lemon, and stir it all together. Once the sauce is bubbling take off the heat and set it aside.
Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and then boil in salted water until soft. Add a little milk and the rest of the butter and half of the cheese and then give the mixture a good old fashion mash.
Place the fish mix in to a lasagne dish or something similar and then layer the mash on the top and finish with the rest of the cheese scattered across. Place in an oven at 180C/fan 160Cgas4 until the cheese turns a delicious orange brown colour which will be around 30 minutes.
Serve with fresh vegetables or a green salad.
. . . → Read More: Fish Pie
By Lisa Cherry, on January 13th, 2012%
This recipe has come been sent in from Dani Miller. I’ve been asking her for ages to put something together as I have been lucky enough to sample her cooking and it’s wholesome, vegetarian goodness! Dani is training in Homeopathy and is qualified in Reiki I and Reiki II and you can find out more about her at www.wellbeingoxfordshire.co.uk
For 4 people you need:
- 675g/ 1 ½lb sweet potatoes
- 225g spinach
- 3 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic, crushed
- 2.5 cm/ 1 in piece fresh root ginger
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (or more depending on how spicy you like it)
- 400ml vegetable stock
- salt and ground black pepper
Pre-heat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into 2.5cm/ 1in chunks.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic, ginger, onion and cayenne pepper and fry gently until the onion is softened.
Add the sweet potato chunks to the frying pan and stir to coat them in the oil and spices.
Transfer into casserole or other oven-proof dish with lid, COVER WITH THE VEGETABLE STOCK… and cook for about 50 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft.
In the meanwhile wash and shred the spinach and toast the pine nuts.
When the sweet potatoes are soft, take the pot out of the oven, stir in the spinach and pine nuts, then return to the oven and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and serve with jasmine rice. Yummy!
. . . → Read More: Spicy Sweet Potato and Spinach Hotpot
By Lisa Cherry, on November 28th, 2011%
Another incredibly easy and cheap recipe that warms you from the inside all the way to the outside!
Top and tail and wash and slice, around 3 or 4 leeks. In a large saucepan, have a big blob of butter (technical term for about a tbp) melting over a medium to low heat (you don’t want the butter to burn). Add the sliced leek into the pan and stir so that the leeks start to separate and the butter coats all the pieces.
Then add some salt, some pepper and either some chopped fresh thyme (my preference) or about a tsp of the dried stuff. (With the salt and pepper, you can always add more to taste before serving). Add a pinch of sugar and then mix all around again so that all the pieces of leek are covered. Turn the heat down to low, put the lid on and ‘sweat’ for about 15/20 minutes, lifting the lid occasionally and stirring.
Take 2/3 small to medium sized potatoes, skin on, and cut into 4 pieces. Now add them to the mix of gorgeous soft leeks and stir together.
Now add about a pint of stock. Use an oxo cube and add the water to that to make stock or use a homemade stock made from the remains of your chicken. Have the heat on medium and tilt the lid of the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes.
While that’s simmering away you can make the Garlic Croutons.
Take one of the crusts from your loaf and cut into squares of about ½ inch. Melt some butter in a frying pan and add some crushed garlic. Over a medium heat, allow the butter and garlic to become good friends and then add the bread chunks. Stir and fry then stir and fry and croutons will be ready in about 10/15 minutes. Put to one side and put the remainders of the garlic in the frying pan, into the soup mixture.
Allow a little cooling time and then use your hand blender to create the soup. Taste and either add more water (a very little at a time) if it’s to thick and also make sure your seasoning is right.
Serve the soup with a pile of croutons on top and some wholemeal bread and enjoy!
. . . → Read More: Leek and Potato Soup With Garlic Croutons
By Lisa Cherry, on November 26th, 2011%
Briami Brimai Briami…oh how I love you. This particular dish tantalises all my senses allowing me to close my eyes and imagine that I am once again sitting in a Greek Taverna in moments. The Greeks use a lot more vegetables in their food than other European countries and have lots of stand-alone vegetable accompaniments making being a vegetarian in Greece an utterly pleasurable experience. Have you ever tried stating that you don’t eat meat to the French! And in Spain, you’re likely to be presented with an omelette. What I really love about this dish, is it’s simplicity. It’s ingredients are basically what grows in the heat of the sun….what could be more simple.
This is traditionally baked in the oven and cooked very slowly. I actually make mine in the Slow Cooker which simplifies it even further.
Over a medium heat, fry two onions, sliced in about 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil for around 10 minutes. Then add two crushed garlic cloves and continue to fry for a further 2 minutes, moving around the pan frequently infusing the onion and garlic and keeping the oil evenly distributed.
Now, into the slow cooker put 1 large seeded and chopped red pepper, 400g of thinkly sliced courgettes, 400g of unpeeled ½ inch sliced small waxy potatoes like desiree (although to be honest, I use whatever potatoes I have in the house!), 2lb of ripe roughly chopped tomatoes (peeled ideally if you have the inclination – I don’t!), 1 tsp of Oregano, a handful of chopped fresh dill (if you fancy), ½ tsp of cinnamon, salt and pepper and the onion and garlic mix.
(If you have some spare vegetables, you can add those too. I’ve put some broccoli in the one in the picture….but for your first Briami, I would urge you to cook it as it is meant to be made as it is soooooo good!)
Add a good splosh (that’s officially cooking terminology) of Olive oil into the vegetables and gentle mix around for an even coating.
I would probably cook this on slow for no more than 5 hours and on high for around 3 hours…there’s no meat so it doesn’t need forever. On first cooking anything on the Slow Cooker, I think it’s probably wise to check after a while so that you know at what point a dish is cooked, or even, how long could you leave it cooking so that it cooks to your exact taste while you go about the business of doing something else.
Serve alone, with a chunk of bread, with fish or chicken. However you eat this, close your eyes from time to time , smell the oregano and picture the sunset…..bliss!
. . . → Read More: Briami
By Lisa Cherry, on November 10th, 2011%
What I love about this recipe, is that it is cheap and it is wholesome. It allows me to feel like I’m back in Covent Garden in the early 1990′s in Cranks eating gorgeous wholesome veggie food always served with a crisp green salad on the side. This would serve 2/3 people depending on whether you were having a large meal or not….
Basically I just chuck it all in! Fry an onion on a medium to high heat in a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil until soft and then add a good handful of broccoli florets, some cauliflower, some carrot chunks (whatever vegetables you have in the fridge that you like) and stir well making sure the oil is covering everything and slightly sizzling away, just for a few minutes.
Now add some spice! A tsp pf chilli powder, a tsp of curry powder a shake of some Turmeric, salt and pepper. The key is to add what you like, that best meets your taste buds. If you like it hot, add a chopped chilli or a tsp of lazy chillis. You may need to cook this a couple of times to get it right for you. Keep stirring it all around so you don’t burn the bottom of the pan…maybe for around 5 minutes. When all of the flavours are nicely infused, add 400g tin of tomatoes, a tin of chickpeas and a handful of sultanas or raisons (if you like them). Stir stir stir.
Now turn down the heat with the lid slightly off the pan to a simmer for about 20 minutes….
Sprinkle with almonds (if you like them) and serve on a bed of rice.
Easy peasy and very cheap. Good for detoxing, uses up all your veg and fills you up! Yum!
. . . → Read More: Chickpea Curry
By Lisa Cherry, on November 5th, 2011%
This is gorgeous velvet heaven and painfully easy to make. A deep fiery colour of taste sensation, warmth and wellness awaits you.
In an oven heated to 200C/gas mark 6, put 500g of peeled and then diced yellow fleshed Sweet potatoes and two red peppers, deseeded then chopped, into a baking tin. Add about two tablespoons of Olive Oil, some salt and pepper and then mix it all around so that all the pieces are covered in the oil. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Transfer the roasted vegetables into a large saucepan and start to add your 500ml stock while blending with your Hand Blender. The key is to add as much as you need to get to the consistency that you like. I add nearly all of the 500ml and still get a lovely thick soup.
When the soup is ready, add your paprika in to the soup or if you really want a full flavour, you can sprinkle onto the veg before roasting and allow each piece to be coated in it and the oil (it really depends how much you like it!)…again, add to your taste but it gives such a lovely kick if you’re generous.
Warm up, serve with a wholemeal pave/crusty bread, and feel amazing.
. . . → Read More: Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Soup
By Lisa Cherry, on November 3rd, 2011%
There are a number of ways to do this including cooking the rice separately but this is one way.
In a large, heavy based frying pan, heat up a good couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil. Once warm, add 250g uncooked basmati rice and stir coating each grain in the oil. Add the florets of a medium cauliflower (make them quite small florets) and keep stirring through. Add 200ml cold water, some strands of saffron and 80g of Pataks Biryani Curry Paste and keep stirring through. You can also add frozen peas at this stage.
Once cooked I also like to add a packet of spinach and put the lid back on (no heat) and let it wilt into the rice.
This meal is ready when the water has been absorbed by the rice and the cauliflower is cooked.
If the rice isn’t cooked, add a little more water. Likewise, if the rice is cooked before all the water is gone, use a spoon to remove some.
With the lid off, can take upto 20 minutes. With the lid on, on a low heat, maybe 10 minutes. Again, use your own taste buds and your own judgement with cooking and you’ll get the recipe how you like to eat it best.
Sprinkle with almonds (if you like them) and serve with a wholemeal pitta bread and a dollop of natural yoghurt of you wish.
Easy peasy and quite cheap to make. Good for detoxing, uses up all your veg and fills you up! Yum!
. . . → Read More: Cauliflour Biryani
By Lisa Cherry, on October 16th, 2011%
These are gorgeous. I’m certain that one of these, warmed, is sufficient but I’m often found on my third with a big bowl of wholesome soup!
Heat the oven to 200C (fan). Put 8oz of self raising flour and half a teaspoon of salt into a bowl and then mix in 100g of cubed or grated cheese….feta or cheddar are perfect for this. Add in some chopped olives if you are using Feta, around 1oz, or a small onion, finely chopped, if using Cheddar….stir it all together.
In a separate bowl, mix together 250ml of plain low fat yoghurt, 60ml of Olive or Rapeseed Oil, a large egg and, if you want to, add 2 teaspoons of pesto...
Mix both the dry mixture and the yoghurt mixture together. The key with Muffins is not to over stir the mixture so the flour should really just be moistened by the yoghurt mixture.
Spoon the mixture into 12 Muffin Cases that are already sat neatly in a Muffin Tin, or don’t use Muffin casesput in the the oven for qbout 12-15 minutes. The tops should be golden brown and the centres firm when pressed.
Leave to stand for a few minutes and then serve warm….yum yum!
. . . → Read More: Cheese and Onion Muffins….
By Lisa Cherry, on October 10th, 2011%
It really doesn’t get any easier than this and there are ‘cheat’ opportunities if you’re short on time. I don’t eat red meat myself and my daughter isn’t keen, but my son loves this and eats a huge plateful with sheer delight! This is easy and inexpensive.
#Tip Always make more than you need as you can freeze a meal for the following week and it’s more time and cost effective than just cooking for one.
So empty a pack of beef mince into the frying pan to brown it off. Always do this with beef as it allows the meat to hold it’s flavour. When you’ve done that, using the back of a spoon to hold the meat in place, drain off any liquid into the sink. Depending on the fat/meat content, there will be varying amounts of liquid, just drain off as much as you can without the meat falling into the sink! Whoops!
Put the meat into the slow cooker and add a tin of tomatoes and a tin of kidney beans. Chopped carrots are a good substitute ( as I have used today) if you don’t have beans in the cupboard. You can add some softly fried onion if you wish as well. Add some salt and pepper, a red chilli finely cut up although I prefer to use about a teaspoon of Very Lazy Chilli’s.
#Tip Only use a teaspoon of Very lazy Chilli’s in the slow cooker as it loses some of it’s strength in the cooking process. A teaspoon of this when put in a dish cooked on the hob and your whole head will be on fire! It’s very strong!
I always crumble a Beef Oxo Cube into the mix too as it really strengthens the flavour. You can also add a splodge of red wine too if you happen to have an open bottle lying around….now stir it all up and watch the flavours infuse before your very eyes…
Put the slow cooker on High for 4 hours and relax, go out, drink coffee, attend a meeting….whatever you choose to do, this is busily cooking away without any further input from you – bliss!
All you have left to do now is put the rice on. Basmati rice takes about 10 minutes, wholegrain rice takes about 35 minutes or, if you’re really pushed for time, you can buy a Tilda ready cooked rice that takes just 2 minutes in the microwave.
Does it really get any easier? Serve with a chunk of bread and even a sprinkling of grated cheese if you like and enjoy your home cooked meal that took no time or effort at all….
. . . → Read More: Beef Chilli in The Slow Cooker….
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