Roasted Cherry Tomato Salsa

From Vegetarian Cookbook, Paul Gayler, Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

This was the nicest salsa and it was so easy to prepare.

A punnet (do they call them punnets when they’re not berries) of cherry tomatoes was prepared for roasting by cutting them in halves and placing them in a baking dish. They were seasoned, topped with chopped basil and garlic and a pinch of sugar. Olive oil was drizzled over and they were baked for roughly 5 minutes. They then went into a serving bowl and had a little lime juice added with some more olive oil.

This was a delicious salsa.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Spinach, Basil & Pumpkin Rice Torte

From Vegetarian Cookbook, Paul Gayler, Dorling Kindersley, 2000.

Still on the pumpkin binge, I thought a pie might possibly be the next variation on the theme.

I needed to cook 200 g of rice before I began. This was set boiling.

While the rice was cooking the pumpkin was cut into slices and also boiled.

While the two saucepans were boiling away I was able to attend to the frying section of the dish. An onion was chopped and sautéed for about 5 minutes. Spinach, two bunches of English spinach, and about a handful of basil were now tossed into the pan to cook until wilted. I then tossed the pan contents into a colander and pressed them firmly against the side to drain out as much moisture as I could. This mix was then chopped.

The cooked rice was now split into two equal portions and the spinach mixed into one of the portions with a quantity of grated Parmesan cheese and one beaten egg.

The other portion of rice had Parmesan cheese and one beaten egg mixed into it.

A springform cake tin was greased and buttered filo pastry pressed around the bottom and sides to form a casing for the filling with a bit of an overhang. The spinach layer was added first followed by slices of pumpkin and, finally, the other rice. Left over pieces of filo were cut into strips and draped across the top as a decoration.

The pie went into the oven for about 45 minutes. It was then carefully taken out of the tin and put hack into the oven for a little longer to ensure that the torte sides were done.

It was served with a roasted cherry tomato salsa.

I’ve had this cookbook for some time now and not cooked over much from it but now that I’ve got back into it I think I should investigate it a little more.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chilli

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Press, 2004.

This was a simple chilli to make and a particularly tasty one.

In a frying pan a chopped onion, a chopped red capsicum and two chopped garlic cloves were cooked with the lid on until tender. Two tablespoons of chilli powder were added and stirred in for about a minute. This mix was added to the slow cooker.

In also went about a cup and a half of brown lentils, a can of tomatoes,, about a quarter of a cup of molasses, a little ground allspice, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some salt and pepper. Two cups of water and one of apple juice were added. They were cooked at a low level for about eight hours.

This was a delicious chilli. When I want to make a chilli in future this is the one I would turn to. It was even better the next day.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Roast Pumpkin Soup with Chickpeas, Leeks and Spiced Croutons

From For the Love of Food, Denis Cotter, Collins, 2011.

My son brought along one of the pumpkins he had grown so I immediately set off looking for recipes. Pumpkin and chickpeas are always a great partnership so I set off to make this soup.

The pumpkin first had to be roasted. It was cut into a couple of large slices that were then brushed with olive oil and set in a baking dish. About a cup of stock was poured into the baking dish and the pumpkin was cooked for about a half an hour.

In a large saucepan the other vegetables were cooked. One half of a fennel, chopped, was sautéed with some chopped shallots for a few minutes. Chopped garlic was then added with grated ginger (I only used half the quantity because I usually find ginger is overdone), leeks (I only used 2 though the recipe called for 3 and even then it seemed far too much) and a can of chickpeas. These were sautéed for a few minutes before white wine was added. The whole lot was covered with baking paper and simmered for 15 minutes.

The cooked pumpkin was cut into a rough mash that still maintained some larger lumps and added to the vegetables in the pot. Further stock was added, it was the brought to the boil and simmered for a few minutes longer. It was then seasoned and some lemon juice added.

The soup was served with spiced croutons that had been made by chopping bread into small blocks and tossing them in an oven dish with ground cumin, ground fennel, crushed dried chillies and olive oil. These were cooked in the oven until they were crisp.

This was a thick soup that was a meal in itself. The ginger still came through a little strongly even though cut back to half the quantity. If I made it again I would cut back the leeks to one and leave out the ginger altogether, or at least cut it back much further. The soup, like many of the thicker soups, was much nicer the next day when the flavours had all matured.

The croutons turned out, for me, to be the hero of the dish and the spiciness and heat lifted the soup tremendously.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Layered Mediterranean Gateau

From Vegetarian Cookbook, Paul Gayler, Dorling Kindersley, 1999.

Before doing anything much else you need to roast the capsicums for this: one red, one yellow and one green. When roasted they are peeled and all the seeds removed.

It was time then to cut an eggplant into slices and fry them on both sides until browned and soft.

In the blender I then pureed a handful of basil leaves, a clove of garlic and some olive oil to make a pesto.

The gateau was then formed in metal ring moulds. The vegetables were placed in one at a time with the pesto between them. The eggplant seemed best to begin with and also end with. On the top went some tomato slices. This went in the oven for about 10 minutes to heat through.

While it was in the oven a vinaigrette was made of some chopped basil, red wine vinegar, olive oil and a tomato that had been skinned, removed of its seeds and then chopped. Seasoning was added to taste.

When it was ready it was unmoulded on the plate, some yoghurt was placed alongside and vinaigrette spooned over.

This turned out to be a good accompaniment for some vegetarian burgers that had a mushroom base. Some rocket leaves were added to complete the meal.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

All-American Burger

From The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet, Joni Marie Newman, Fair Winds Press, 2011.

I really have no idea what ‘all-American’ means. It seems to be applied to anything at random—possibly to make it sound good. Whatever it means, this burger so far has been, for me, the best I have made from this book.

The base for the burger was mushrooms. These were chopped and fried with garlic until softened a little. About a third of a cup of vegetable stock was then added and brought to the boil and turned down to simmer. This was not the full amount of liquid required by the recipe—which was three-quarters of a cup. It calls for TVP granules to be added at this stage and the heat turned off for the TVP to soak. However, I do prefer to have TVP soaked first and have the water drained off, which I had done, so I added less liquid with my soaked TVP.

This was all left to cool. Nutritional yeast was now to be added. I used Vegemite. Some mustard to taste, onion powder and seasoning also went in. The flour, sufficient to make a good mix, and it was all mixed together. Hands were the best tools for this.

It all went in the fridge for about half an hour and was then formed into four burgers ready to be fried.

The burgers were tasty and had a good texture to them that was somewhat similar to that of meat burgers. They were served on a bed of rocket with a minty yoghurt dressing.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Pasta and White Bean Stew with Summer Vegetables

From Fields of Greens, Annie Somerville, Bantam Books, 1993.

With the cold weather on us it seemed appropriate to investigate a few more stews. Fields of Green generally satisfied with its recipes so this looked like one to try even though it had summer vegetables in it whereas we were now in autumn.

While the recipe called for cannellini beans to be cooked, I decided to use a can to save a little time. There were other ingredients that had to be cooked prior to adding to the stew though. Green beans were dropped into a pot of boiling salted water. They only needed a couple of minutes so that they remained a little crisp. They were scooped from the water and put aside. The pasta was then added to the boiling water. I used penne. This was cooked until almost al dente and strained, given a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and saved.

Some tomatoes were peeled and cut up. The recipe called for the seeds to be removed but I usually ignore this.

Preparation now done, the stew could be put together. A chopped onion was sautéed in the pot with a little salt, and some dried herbs: basil and oregano. When the onion had softened, some chopped garlic (a few cloves) was added with chopped red capsicum. These were sautéed a little longer and chopped pumpkin was added (about 2 cups). Again a little more sauté before the tomatoes were now popped in.

The cannellini beans went in also at this time. If they had been cooked by myself I should have kept some of the broth but since I had used a can I had to also add some stock at this time. The penne went in too and some chopped fresh basil. This was all cooked for about 20 minutes and the green beans were added long enough to heat through. It was then served with some grated Parmesan cheese on top.

The stew was just right for the cold night. The flavour mix was perfect and the cannellini beans and the penne made for a satisfyingly filling. There was some left and it was eaten the next day. By this time the penne had become totally soaked with the liquid and was totally soft. Somehow I enjoyed it more the next day when all the flavours had infused and matured.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvege@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send an abbreviated version. Of course, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.