Beetroot and feta quiche

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the shortcrust pastry

• 200g plain flour
• pinch salt
• 100g butter

For the filling

• 3tbsp mature cheddar cheese
• 4 medium free-range eggs
• 100ml semi-skimmed milk
• dried herbs
• 2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 2 small cooked beetroots, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp feta cheese
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour to create breadcrumbs. Add a small amount of water until a firm dough is formed (roughly 3 tbsp). Cover with clingfilm and set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Roll out the pasty into a circle big enough to cover your dish on a lightly floured surface (tip: I find flouring the rolling pin a little helps too).
3. Heat the oven to 180c/200c Fan/Gas 6 and place a baking tray in the centre to heat up.
4. Grease the dish with margarine, oil or butter generously and lie the pastry over, pressing into the corners. Place cooking beads on top on the pastry (alternatively, cut a circle of baking paper and lie on top of the pastry and fill with rice to weigh it down) and bake in the oven, on top of the heated baking tray, for 10-15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, beat the eggs and milk together, add the herbs and season.
6. Take the pastry out of the oven and remove the bead / rice. Using a pastry brush, or the back of a spoon, wipe a little of the egg mixture over the base to create a seal (this will prevent soggy bottoms!). Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven again. Place the grated cheese in the pastry, followed by the tomatoes and then the beetroot. Cover with the egg mix and sprinkle over the feta.
8. Reduce the oven to 160c/180 Fan/ Gas 5 and bake for 45 minutes or until the egg has risen and set.
9. Remove from oven and leave to cool a little. Chip off the pastry overhanging carefully and voila!

Giant yorkshire pudding roast dinner

Bringing a special (and filling) touch to Sunday lunch. You won’t be needing a big dinner after this, that’s for sure.

Ingredients:

For the Yorkshire puddings

• Olive oil
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 free-range eggs
• 450ml milk

For the roast dinner

• Olive oil
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped in half.
• 2 tbsp flour
• 6 large carrots, chopped into quarters
• 2 onions, chopped into quarters
• 1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
• 100g frozen peas
• knob butter
• 8 vegetarian sausages of your choice.
• 3 tbsp gravy granules
• 2 tsp yeast extract (marmite)
• dash red wine

For the stuffing

• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• 80g white breadcrumbs
• 1 free-range egg, beaten

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 230c/ 210c Fan/ Gas 6-7
2. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into 4 sandwich cake tins and place in the oven until very, very hot. (Careful!)
3. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and a dash of milk and whisk until smooth. Then add the rest of the milk slowly until fully combined.
4. Pour the batter into the four tins equally and place back into the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the sides have risen and the pudding is golden. Turn the dishes around after 10-15 minutes to ensure an equal rise on all sides.
5. Add 4 tbsp olive oil into a deep roasting tray and place in the oven.
6. Drop the potatoes into a saucepan filled with cold water and bring to the boil. Leave bubbling for 10 minutes or until cooked but still firm. Drain the pan then add the flour and shake with the lid on to the fluff up the sides. Leave to rest.
7. Carefully, remove the tray from the oven and tip in the floury potatoes. They should sizzle spectacularly. Add the carrots and onion. Place back into the oven and reduce the temperature to 180c / 200c Fan/ Gas 5-6. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden. Shake the tray every 15 minutes and be careful not to overcook!
8. For the stuffing, sweat the onion in a dash of oil until soft. Remove from the heat and add to an ovenproof bowl with the sage and breadcrumbs. Season well and then stir in the egg. Flatten with the back of a spoon and pace in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a crisp top has formed.
9. Place the cabbage and peas into a saucepan half filled with boiling water. Add the butter and boil for 15 minutes or until cooked.
10. Put the vegetarian sausages into the roasting tin with the veggies and potatoes and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
11. In a gravy boat, mix the gravy granules with 230ml boiling water and the yeast extract as well as a good glug of red wine, if using.
12. Place the giant Yorkshires in the oven for 2 minutes to warm through.
13. To serve, place the sausages with all the trimmings inside the Yorkshire and drizzle over the gravy.

 

Tip: Use seasonal veg where possible and add mulled wine to your gravy at Christmas!

Keralan vegetable curry with rice noodles

 

Serves three

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Spice Tailor Keralan curry pack
• 1/4 can coconut milk
• 300ml water
• 1 sweet potato
• 1/4 head broccoli
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1/2 green pepper
• 40g rice noodles
• 2 shalots

Method

1. Chop the vegetables and prepare the spices

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Fry the spices (from the Spice Tailor package) for 30 seconds

3. Add all of the vegetables and coat well in the oil and spices. Fry for 5 minutes.

4. Add the sauce mixture (from the Spice Tailor package) and stir well.

5. Add the coconut milk and water, stir well. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Add the rice noodles and remove from the heat. Put a lid on the saucepan and leave to soak for 5 minutes or until the noodles are cooked.

Serve and enjoy!

Avocado and Chocolate Smoothie

Ingredients:

Serves two

• 1 avocado
• 150ml coconut milk
• 300ml soy milk (alternative milks work just fine as well)
• 2 tbs cocoa powder

Method:

1. Put it all in a blender and blend!
2. Serve with ice and enjoy

Vegan, Chocolate Flapjacks

No sugar, no dairy, high protein and packed with vitamins…

Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-15 minutes

Makes about 20 flapjacks

Ingredients

• 360g oats
• 30g raw cocao powder
• 2 bananas
• 6 tbsp maple syrup
• 6 tbsp cashew, almond or smooth peanut butter (use organic)
• 4 tbsp coconut oil. plus extra for greasing

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C).
2. In a saucepan, mash the bananas with a fork then add the maple syrup (or honey), nut butter and coconut oil. Allow to simmer until a smooth paste forms.
3. Add the oats and stir well so that they’re fully covered.
4. Grease a baking tray with coconut oil and transfer the flapjack mix into the baking tray, pressing it down firmly with a spatula so that it’s very compact.
5. Bake for 15-20 mins until the top starts to brown.
6. Once it’s cooked, remove the tray from the oven and leave it to fully cool before slicing the flapjacks.
7. Serve with a nice cup of chai tea!

Blackened Salmon with Kale and Asparagus

Blackened Salmon with Kale, Asparagus and Feta

These Salmon filets are dredged in a flavorful spice mixture, cooked to perfection and served over sautéed kale and asparagus. The perfect healthy lunch or dinner – serve over noodles, rice or quinoa, cauliflower rice for Paleo options.

Serves 2

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients 

• 2 tsps Paprika
• 1 tsps Dried Parsley
• 1 tsps Dried Oregano
• ½ tsps Salt
• ½ tsps Black Pepper
• ¼ tsps crushed chilli flakes, optional
• 2  Salmon Filets
• 1tbs Olive Oil, divided
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 6 pieces of asparagus
• 2 Oranges
• 100g Noodles cooked to packaging directions
• tsp soy sauce
• Sprinkling of feta

Method

1. In a bowl, combine the paprika, dried parsley, chilli flakes and oregano with salt and pepper. Press the flesh (topside) of the salmon filets into the spice milk, pressing to make sure they are well coated.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat half the olive oil until very hot. Add the salmon filets flesh side down and cook for 3 minutes per side. Remove from the skillet and place until the grill at 160 degrees for 10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through and flaky.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the same pan and add in the kale and asparagus. Season lightly with salt and pepper and stir it around the pan until it begins to wilt. Squeeze the juice of two oranges over the vegetables.
4. Cook the noodles to package instructions.
5. Assemble your bowls! Add your base – in this case noodles with a drop of soy sauce; top it with a generous portion of kale and asparagus and then top with a filet of salmon and sprinkle with a generous helping of feta.
6. Enjoy!

Healthy, Vegetarian Curry

Vegetarian Curry with Brown Rice

 

Serves Two

Cooking time: 30 minutes – 1 hour

Ingredients 

• 200g can of coconut milk
• 100ml water
• 2tbs madras curry paste (alternative pastes can also be used)
• 1 large carrot
• 1/4 broccoli head
• 1 large onion
• 1 sweet potato
• 100g brown rice cooked to packaging instructions
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Cook the brown rice to packaging instructions in water with a pinch of salt 
2. In a large wok or frying pan, heat the curry paste for 1 minute before adding the coconut milk and water.
3. Chop all of the vegetables to desired thickness and add to the curry broth. N.B The larger the vegetables, the longer the curry will takes to cook. I like to keep my onions in quite large chunks, rather than finely chopped.
4. Boil until the vegetables have cooked, for around 20 minutes. Season well and serve in a bowl.

 

 

 

Get involved

BUDDING CHEFS – I NEED YOU!

I LOVE cook books and professional chefs, don’t get me wrong, but one issue that arising from many pro-recipes is that a top chef’s idea of a relatively simple dish can often actually be world away from what the average, untrained cook have the time and skills to achieve.

My recipes are aimed at the day-to-day chef to the ‘one time wonder’ who cooked that amazing dish that one time. Real recipes for real people.

So I am looking for YOUR recipes! I would love to hear your favourite dishes, drinks and snacks, try and test them myself and profile on my blog – all completely credited to the chef, of course.

Beautiful imagery would be preferred, however, if your phone camera isn’t up to the job, I can always take a piccy during my trialling stages.

This is a great opportunity to have your work published for all to see.

I look forward to hearing all of your wonderful ideas

sophie.livingthegreendream@gmail.com

Sophie x

Fruits of the Forest Smoothie

Fruits of the Forest Luxury Smoothie

This is such a quick and easy recipe and tastes absolutely delicious. All you need is one pint glass,  blender and the ingredients.

Serves two

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 pint Frozen Fruits of the Forest (Blackberries, red currents, raspberries, blackcurrants)
• 1 Vanilla pod (It might not be from our forest, but it is from a forest…)
• 1.5 pints of non-dairy milk (soy milk / almond milk / rice milk) My favourite is almond milk.
• Sprinkle of dried coconut flakes
• Sprinkle of walnut pieces to taste

Method

• Add the frozen fruit, vanilla pod seeds and milk into a good blender (as the fruit is frozen it will need a beating).
• Blend until smooth (if you berries are really frozen, you may need to add some more milk or water, as it could become more like a sorbet!)
• Sprinkle your desired amount of dried coconut flakes and walnut pieces on top.

Cheat’s Ramen

Whilst this recipe has moved somewhat away from our ‘China series’ and into the Japanese sphere, I have not veered too drastically off path. See, the name ramen is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese lamian (拉麵) and is in fact, a modern adaptation of Chinese cuisine that was introduced to Japan over a century ago and actually, until the 50s, ramen was called shina soba, 支那そば, literally meaning ‘Chinese soba’.

Whilst ramen is traditionally a meat or fish based broth, this version is a fantastic vegetarian alternative, taking just 30 minutes to whip up. It can also easily be made vegan.

Serves two

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the broth:

• 1 small chilli (Only use half, or even remove, if you are not a fan of spicy foods)
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 stick celery
• 1 clove garlic
• 600ml boiling water (You may need a touch more if the water evaporates)
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs mirin (Japanese rice wine vinegar)

To add:

• 100g ramen noodles 
• 4 large mushrooms
• 1/2 a courgette
• 1/4 cabbage
• 5 water chestnuts
• 2 eggs (remove if making vegan)

Method:

1.  Chop the chilli, celery and spring onions (leaving a little spring onion to garnish). Fry for 1 minute in a large saucepan on a low heat then add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further minute.
2. Add all of the remaining liquid ingredients, as well as the stock cube to the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes until the kitchen fills with a wonderful aroma.
3. Chop the mushrooms, courgette and cabbage, then add to the broth with the water chestnuts.
4. Add the two eggs to the broth for 5 minutes to cook then remove and place in cold water.
5. Add the noodles to the broth and cook for 5 minutes, or to cooking instructions.
6. Whilst the noodles are boiling, peel the eggs shells off and place the white eggs into the broth for final cooking and liquid absorption.
7. Finish with a few sprigs of spring onion and serve in a bowl with chopsticks and a Japanese soup spoon (or a fork and soup spoon).

Enjoy! Tanoshimimasu – 楽しみます