Rosy Leek and Potato Soup with Dill.

Last week I was delighted to I stumble upon a “proper greengrocer” just up the road from home in Westbury-on-Trym. What beckoned me in however was seeing uncooked beetroot for sale with some quite fresh looking tops still attached - something you don’t see that often. I suspect this is because they don’t keep very well and often become wilted and look unappetising. 

Once home I removed the leaves including the stalks and plunged them into some cold water to recover as they were beginning to wilt slightly. After cooking and pickling the beetroot I used the well washed green part of the tops lightly steamed as a vegetable with my main meal that evening, storing the red stalks in a box in the fridge waiting for inspiration as to how to use them

Towards the end of the week I decided to make leek and potato soup and remembered the red stalks from the beetroot which by now needed using. An appetising combination can be made by combining the lightly cooked tops with mashed potato so in full experimental mode I decided to chop the stalks and add them to the ingredients at the sweating stage. The soup turned a wonderful warm pink and the subtle flavour of beetroot was infused within the soup. Another spontaneous touch was the addition of some dill that I had recently dried from the remains a bunch of fresh dill.

Ingredients

1 or 2 leeks trimmed and washed well

3 or 4 potatoes peeled

half an onion red or white

a handful of beetroot red stalks washed well

2 cloves of garlic crushed, peeled and roughly chopped

a good pinch of dried dill (or a few sprigs of fresh)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 litre of vegetable stock

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish – Greek yoghurt or soya single creamand fresh chopped herbs of your choice (you could use any beetroot green tops you might have left over)

Method:

Chop the onions, leeks, beetroot stalks and potatoes roughly. 

Heat the oil gently in a large pan and sauté the onion until it starts to look translucent. Add the chopped leeks and stir though coating well with the oil. Cook gently until the leeks start to soften – add the garlic and cook gently 1 or 2 minutes until the aroma bursts through. 

If at any stage the ingredients start to stick to the pan add a small amount of the stock and stir through. 

Finally add the beetroot stalks and potato and stir through once more to combine the ingredients and cook gently for another minute or so. Add salt and pepper and the dill. Cover the pan and, if you have time, leave the ingredients to sweat for 4 or 5 minutes before adding the stock. Adding the stock bring to the boil simmer gently for 40-45 minutes. 

Once cooled blend the soup well. Reheat and serve garnished with any fresh help you have – I used fresh mint. Swirl a dash of Greek yoghurt through or single soya cream for Vegans.

I'm not sure which I relished the most - the knowledge I had used evey part of the beetroots or eating the soup! And it is perfect for these dark cold days - a feast for the eyes and the stomach and maybe a useful recipe for Valentine's Day?

Banana Bread

 

As you know it’s not like me to make a cake but this morning I decided to make banana bread because there were 2 very brown bananas that were in danger of decomposing in my fridge. I tend to put any overripe bananas into the fridge for this very reason and I find that in the fridge they become well seasoned for inclusion into this recipe. One thing I am keen to do is not waste food so this was my incentive to make this very simple bread. You might ask what is the difference between banana cake and banana bread? For me this recipe is more of a bread as it only uses one egg (instead of up to 3) and also tastes really yummy spread with butter.

I have to thank Pat, an old client of mine, for this recipe; Pat had worked as a Cooking Technician in a school before she retired. It was her job to pre cook the recipe that the students were to make that day so that they could see what the finished product looked like with her vast range of experience she was a fount of knowledge and an inspiration for me when it came to trying out new recipes. 

3oz butter or margarine (at room temperature)

4 oz caster sugar (you could substitute brown if you prefer)

5oz self raising spelt flour*

½ tsp of bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp of ground ginger

½ tsp ground green cardamom

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp mixed spice

1 egg beaten

2 very ripe bananas

4oz dried mixed fruit

Prepare a 2 lb loaf tin by greasing and lining it with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 180 c or gas mark 4/5.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl adding the dried fruit and stirring it well to coat with the flour. In a large bowl cream together the butter or margarine and add the dry ingredients stirring gently till well mixed. Beat the eggs and mashed bananas together and add to the remaining ingredients. Stir well (the mixture will seem quite thick but moist) using a wooden spoon and turn the mixture into the loaf tin. Tap the tin on the worktop a few times to level the ingredient and place in the oven for 1 hour or until cooked and golden brown. Check the centre is cooked with a skewer or cocktail stick. If necessary return to the oven until cooked through – use some foil shiny side up to cover if there is any sign of burning.

Leave to cool before removing from the tin; keeps well for one week in an airtight container. Can be frozen. 

I've never come across self raising spelt flour so I make my own. Just add 2tsps baking powder to 150g flour.

 

Vegetarian Paella

When I lived in Spain it became my ambition to learn to cook the perfect paella. In those days I was a regular meat eater and I have to admit my favourite version was with chicken and rabbit. My partner at the time and I tried many methods of cooking the paella and in the end we decided the half on top of the stove and half in the oven method was the best. Unfortunately we didn't have the requisite paella cooker, a large gas ring on legs, nor did we have the huge shallow pan for cooking the dish so this method seemed to be the best option within our limitations.

I tend to agree with Chef Alberto Herráiz who describes best method in his recent book Paella: "For the best flavour and texture . . . (and) the easiest and most successful method is to start off the paella on the stove and carry out the rest of the cooking in the oven."

In Spain it is traditionally a meal that is cooked outdoors - during the long hot summer's you can see the Andalusians cooking paella on huge gas fired cookers in enormous pans in the parks at weekends and fiesta days. It’s easy to buy the pans in a good ferretaria (hardware shop) and sizes range from the fairly small 2 person size to the enormous 16-20 (or larger) person size. There are many regional variations on the paella theme and a myriad of recipes which usually depend on how your family has cooked it over the years. When I was staying in Valencia many years ago I discovered there is a vegetarian version but at that time didn’t take much notice of the method so when I decided fairly recently that I was going to cook the dish I turned to one of my Spanish friends, Sylvia, for help.

Sylvia and I had gone to stay in the ashram for a few days and I had been asked to cook while we were there. Rummaging through the herbs and spices in the ashram kitchen I found some saffron which was way past its use by date. This meant it was safe to eat but probably not as fresh as it could have been so I decided to make a paella rather than wastethe precious spice. I had no idea what I was ingredients to put in the dish but knew how to cook it so checked that there were the basic ingredients of risotto rice and butter beans.

In Andalusia the locals always used broad beans in their paella and so this had become a staple ingredient in mine as it was easy to buy the broad beans in season and the frozen alternative was readily available. This wasn’t an option in the ashram so I decided to use butter beans and have done so ever since as the combination works really well. Checking with Sylvia she gave me a long list of other ingredients that could be included but fundamentally you can use whatever is available so there is no need to buy specific vegetables – just use what looks and tastes good.

If you don’t have saffron just use tumeric which will give the finished dish a wonderful flavour and the lovely yellow look. I use the following method as I have found it is the best way when cooking for large numbers – please feel free to adapt it accordingly.

Basic Ingredients for 6

450 gs /14 oz rissoto or paella rice (if you like you can to wash rice do so now and drain so it will be dry once it is time to cook it)

175 gs/6 ozs butter beans (you can substitute with 1 tin of canned beans if needed but I prefer to cook my own – they somehow taste better).

Small piece of kombu seaweed soaked for 10 minutes and washed well.

1-2 red onions peeled and sliced into crescents

3 sticks of celery washed and cut into bite size crescents

4/6 cloves garlic, crushed, skin removed and diced

Approx 1.2 ltrs veg stock

Good quality olive oil (this is an essential ingredient)

salt and fresh ground pepper

pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tblspn of hot water

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsps smoked paprika

Good bunch of fresh parsley washed. Cut off the stalks, chop roughly and put to one side. Chop the leaves finely and use to garnish.

A large shallow baking tray or a paella dish (good kitchen shops stock these)

Any or all of the following vegetables:

3-4 sweet peppers (use a variety of colours) rinsed and dried, de-stalked and de-seeded and cut into largish chunks

2 courgettes wiped with damp paper towel and cut into bite size rings

1-2 aubergine wiped with paper kitchen towel and cut into bite size cubes

Enough salt to sprinkle on the aubergines

8-12 mushrooms wiped with dry paper towel, stalks removed but kept and cut into quarters depending on size

500 gs sugar snap peas washed and topped and tailed (if not available you can use fresh peas podded when in season or frozen – normal size rather than petit-pois)

2 carrots peeled and cut into diagonal shaped rings

Optional added extras – I hard boiled egg per person – peeled and chopped roughly.

NB when cutting all the vegetables bear in mind that the dish is cooked for quite a long time so don’t make the pieces too small (or they will disappear) nor too big to put into your mouth.

Method
1. Firstly soak the butter beans for at least 8 hours or overnight. Rinse and change the water a few times during soaking if possible. Finally drain and rise well before placing into a large pan with enough cold water to more than cover. Add the washed kombu and bring the beans to the boil – they will take around 1 ½ to 2 hours to cook but keep an eye on them as you want them to stay whole and if anything slightly undercooked. Also check, from time to time, the level of water.

2. Once cooked drain well but reserve the cooking water and use plus any additional water to make up the quantity for the vegetable stock (one reason best not to add any salt to the cooking beans). Put to one side to cool and refrigerate in necessary.

3. While the beans are cooking you can do the following: prepare the aubergine and place into a colander – sprinkle with salt and place a plate on top with a heavy weight to press down. Leave in a suitable container for around 30 minutes to drain. Some people say it’s not necessary to do this but I always regret it if I don’t as I think the salting and draining gives the aubergine a more interesting flavour.

4. Prepare the onion, celery, peppers, carrots and mushrooms. Using a large shallow roasting tin (placed on top of your cooker) add enough oil to gently saute the onions. Once the onions start to look cooked i.e softened and glistening add the celery stirring gently into the onions and cook until this starts to soften. Continue this process with the peppers, then lastly the carrots. This step will take about 5-8 minutes depending on your ingredients; don’t spend too long at this stage because you are going to place the whole tin in the oven at the end of cooking when the veg will be cooked through. Once they are ready i.e al dente and still whole remove and leave to one side to cool.

6. Prepare the garlic by crushing it well using the flat blade of a large knife and chopping finely; keep to one side. Rinse the aubergine well and dry – a lettuce spinner does the job well or pat with a clean kitchen cloth. Taking a large baking tray with enough oil to coat the aubergines toss them in this along with the chopped garlic. Place the pan in the oven at gas 4/5 or 170-180 for stirring occasionally until the aubergine starts to look slightly cooked. (Approx 15 mins). Once cooked to al dente you can add the aubergine to the onion and pepper mix stirring gently together to make sure the vegetables stay whole and good looking.

7. The mushrooms can be oven cooked in exactly the same way as the aubergine but only cooked until they just start to brown and if liked adding more garlic in the same way – or they can be pan fried in a little oil until they just start softening and loosing their juices. Add to the remaining vegetables.

8. At this stage all the vegetables except for the peas and the courgette are par cooked and can be combined gently with the cooked beans and put to one side – you can refrigerate them in a suitable container if needed and use the following day. If not place to one side and prepare the peas and the courgettes; add them to the pre cooked vegetables. Now is a good time to add salt and pepper. Check the level of salt carefully as the beans need quite a bit to bring out their flavour.

You are now ready to start cooking the paella; timing is crucial as you want to take it more or less straight to the serving table once it’s cooked. It can be kept warm with some foil covering but it’s best served straight away.

9. Taking a large pan of your choice place all your cooked vegetable inside plus the uncooked (parsley stalks, courgette and peas) and the tumeric, paprika. At this stage you will have an idea if the pan is going to be large enough but bear in mind you are going to add rice and stock and the rice is going to expand. Adding more oil if you think it is needed (you really cannot have too much oil in this recipe)

10. Place the washed and drained rice into a separate large heavy bottomed pan add the stock and saffron (if using) with soaking water. Bring the pan to the boil and let the rice cook for around 3-4 minutes or until the liquid has almost been absorbed. Remove from the heat and add the part cooked rice to the rest of the vegetables stirring gently to even out the mixture. Place the pan uncovered in the preheated oven on gas 4 or 180 and cook through without stirring for around 30 minutes. If the rice starts to burn badly cover the dish with foil (shiny side down) but a crisp outer edge is what you are looking for.

11. Serve the dish garnished with the chopped parsley, lemon wedges and for the very hungry non vegans chopped hard boiled eggs can be sprinkled on top at this stage.

Easy Moroccan Lentils

This dish has become a standby meal for me as I usually have all the ingredients to hand. I've adapted it from a recipe I found online for a Moroccan lentil soup which was so hearty I decided it was better as a main course.  I’ve added the surprising twist of spinach at the end of the cooking which changes the original recipe enough to make it very much my own creation. If you want it to be more spicy add some cayenne pepper to the spices and to counter the spiciness you can garnish the stew with some natural yogurt when serving.

Before starting, I find out what ingredients I have in the fridge/cupboard and gather them all together. On this occasion these are the vegetables I decided to use.

My love affair with the humble lentil began when I was a boarder at the Blessed Sacrament Brighton, a day and boarding school, in the late 50's.  In post war Britain food was still very scarce and as a result our school meals were very simple affairs. During the week we only ever had bread, butter and golden syrup but I remember our "treat" on Sundays was plain bread and butter with jam!  By some fluke my school was run by an order of French nuns who clearly had a very continental approach to food. My memory is of many simple but hearty meals often  served with plain boiled lentils as the main part of the meal. Although my sister, who was also at the school, remembers them with disdain, I loved the earthy wholesome flavour of the lentils and ate them with relish. I continue to enjoy them but now must say I do prefer them with a few extras.


As long as you have the required onion and some carrot and celery you can add whatever other vegetable you want to this recipe. Some suggestions are: potato, pepper, courgette, sweet potato, butternut squash, leeks. You can use the small greenish lentils I have shown here or orange lentils.  All these work well: split red lentils, continental lentils and puy lentils. 
I tend to cook this in my slow cooker as it is easy to throw all the ingredients in before I go out for the day and fantastic to come back to the amazing aroma and taste of a ready cooked hearty meal. It's worth noting that one cup (uncooked) of non-sprouted lentils contains 49.5 grams of protein, 115.4 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fat and 678 calories. Lentils also have the ability to remove internal body fat (if you eat them on a regular basis) and help to reduce blood cholesterol. The high levels of soluble fiber not only help with lowering cholesterol but also help to keep the gut healthy.


Ingredients:
150 gms of brown or puy lentils (around 2/3 of a cup) washed thoroughly and soaked in hot water for half an hour or so.
3 tblspns of olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled halved and chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic peeled, crushed and chopped finely
I large carrot scrubbed (if organic) and chopped fairly finely
2 celery stalks scrubbed and chopped fairly small.
Any of the below:
1 red yellow or orange pepper wiped, de seeded and chopped roughly/ 1 small sweet or normal potato peeled and chopped into rough dice/ 1 courgette wiped and chopped into dice
Plus:
3 tsps on cumin
2 tsps on paprika
20 gms of root ginger peeled and grated (if you don't have fresh substitute with one teaspoon of ginger powder)
1 can/200g's of chopped tomatoes
3/4 litre of water
Enough stock cube or powder to make up ¾ litre stock
I good bunch of spinach washed and torn up.
3 tbspns coriander or parsley washed and chopped fairly finely (optional for garnish)

Method:
 1. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and gently cook the onions, until they soften, for about 2 minutes.  Add the celery and garlic, cumin paprika and ginger and cook all together gently with the lid on the pan (to sweat the flavours) without colouring for another 5 minutes or so until soft and spices are amalgamated.
2. Add the tinned tomatoes, drained lentils and enough water to cover the ingredients (roughly 1/4 litre depending on quantities of ingredients). Don't add the vegetable stock at this stage as the salt in the stock will stop the lentils cooking.
3. Bring to the boil, cover and then simmer very gently for about 30 minutes until the lentils are just starting to cook but still al-dente and the mixture has thickened. Check the level of liquid on a regular basis adding more water if needed and stir occasionally to ensure the lentils don't stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the vegetable stock mixture at this stage using as much liquid as needed to bring the mixture to the right consistency. Pile in the washed spinach (it doesn't matter if it is wet) and bring the pan back to the boil again allowing the spinach to wilt into the mixture. Simmer long enough for the stock to integrate with the rest of the ingredients (approx 15 mins) and stir well to combine spinach with lentils.


NB If you are using the slow cooker method chop all the vegetable ingredients quite finely before adding to the pot otherwise they will not cook through. If you have time to fry them off before (completing step 1) adding the remaining ingredients then this is not necessary. If you don’t do this remember to cook off the cumin seeds before adding to open the flavours of the seeds. This can be done in the oil from the recipe if you want to include it in the rest of the ingredients or dry as I have done here.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Chocolate Cake

This recipe is an adaptation of one that I found in my “vegan bible” Easy Vegan Cooking by Leah Leneman (thornsonselement.com). I stumbled on this book while cooking for a group of around 30 at Mandala Yoga Ashram a couple of years ago. It was one of those serendipitous discoveries that I will always remember with a smile. During the course one of the ashram residents approached me and quietly asked if I felt I had the time to cook a birthday cake; she had just discovered one of the course students had her birthday in a couple of days time and it is very much in the ashram tradition to make a cake to celebrate any birthday.

To be honest, I’m not that enthusiastic about making cakes for various reasons perhaps because living on my own (and not having the luxury of a freezer) it means that I will have to spend the next week eating it. Another reason is that my daughter Sophie excels at baking (perhaps following in the footsteps of her paternal grandmother Nancy?) and so on family events that require a cake we can depend on her to produce something delicious to mark the occasion. I was reassured however, to hear that there were plenty of good cookery books in the ashram kitchen with gluten free, vegan and sugar free recipes.
Looking through the books available I discovered this recipe and immediately took to it because it sounded so simple and had the bonus of all being measured by cups, a method I very much prefer when making cakes. Later that week I went through the book more extensively and realised what a great little recipe book it is – especially the recipe for Masoor Dahl (maybe I will post that another day). This anecdote could go on for at least another two paragraphs but it ends with me finding my own copy of the book in a local junk shop. For now I will be disciplined and give you the recipe.

Ingredients

170g/ 6 oz/ 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I use spelt flour which works well)

4 tsps cocoa or carob powder

½ tsp salt

¾ tsp bicarbonate soda

115g/ 4 oz/ 2/3 cup raw cane sugar

90ml/ 3fl oz/ 1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tsps cider or wine vinegar

200ml / 1/3 pt / ¾ cup cold water
1 small or 1/2 large mashed ripe banana

You will also need two round 6 ½ -7”or 16-17 cm baking tins, greased and bottom lined with parchment paper. If you want a larger cake, double the quantities and use a 7 ½”/ 18cm tin instead  (this size makes a very large cake - enough for around 10/12 people).

Turn the oven on to 350c/180C/ Gas 4 before you start to mix the ingredients.

Sieve the first 4 ingredients together into a large bowl. Add the sugar making sure all large lumps are broken up and mix well.

Mix the oil, essence and vinegar in a jug and add to the dry ingredients in the bowl along with the well mashed banana. Once the ingredients start to incorporate start adding the water slowly to the mixture. At first this seems somewhat counter intuitive but don’t be tempted to leave any of the water out - you will end up with a mixture of soft dropping cosistency.

The recipes states to use a fork to mix but I find a wooden spoon is better just don’t stir too vigourously just enough to mix the ingredients together instead or large air bubbles will mar the finished cake.

Divide the mixture into two and place in the prepared tins – give them quite a strong tap or two to encourage any air bubble to leave the mix and to let the mixture settle in the tins before placing in the oven - I have left the mixture for 15 minutes and found there was no ill effect. Bake for around 30 minutes and test to check if the cake bounces back when lightly pressed - if not leave a little longer. If it is starting to burn round the edges cover with a little bit of foil (shiny side up) to stop the outside cooking any further. Leave to cool thoroughly before removing from the pan.

I didn’t have much success with Leah’s recipe for Chocolate icing so turned to the net for this one:

http://minimalistbaker.com/one-bowl-vegan-chocolate-cake/

This will give you more than enough to ice the smaller cake; if you just want to ice the outside of the cake and use a different filling I recommend using half the quantities. Roughly double the ingredients for the larger cake.

1 cup/ 224gs vegan butter (I use stork margarine) at room temperature

2 – 3cups/ 300-336gs of icing sugar

1/3 or 2/3 cup/ 31/63gs cocoa powder (I used 1/3 as the vegan chocolate* was very dark)

¼ cup/ 30 gs dairy free chocolate* – melted and slightly cooled

2tsps vanilla extract

Optional around ¼ cup unsweetened soya/almond milk**
(**NB you don't need to use this - I used coconut milk last time as I had a carton open and have had success with other things such as soya single cream)

I’ve tweaked this recipe slightly after trying it out myself. While cooling the cake, prepare the frosting by beating together all ingredients (except the icing sugar) using an electric hand whisk if possible, until light and fluffy. Add the sieved sugar in small amounts until you reach your desired consistency and sweetness - I prefer a little less icing sugar than recommended in the above recipe. If it becomes too thick, add more vegan milk. If it's too thin, add more cocoa powder or sugar.

Once the cake is cooled, frost generously with butter cream frosting, adding a thick layer between the top and bottom layers (if doing a 2-layer cake). Alternatively, omit the frosting and dust with cocoa powder. 

FILLINGS  
Although the above recipe is good for a filling I've had some success using different fillings and my most recent version had a filling of cooked prunes which is very easy to make and relies less heavily on sugar. You will need:

75gms pitted prunes (stones prunes can also be used but make sure to take the stones out once cooked)

enough orange juice to cover

Place the prunes in a small bowl and cover with orange juice – leave to soak overnight if possible or for several hours. Place the prunes and juice in a small saucepan and add enough water to cover the fruit. Place on a low heat, cover and allow the fruit to come to the boil slowly – leave to simmer until the fruit is cooked. Check from time to time that there is enough liquid. Once cooked strain any remaining juice and blitz the fruit or mash till soft with a fork. Allow to cool completely - you can use the remaining juice to drizzle over the cake after pricking each layer a few times with a toothpick or skewer. Before icing the cake spread some apricot jam over the bottom layer of the cake -then  spread the cooked prunes over the entire surface. Leave the prunes to sink into the cake for a while before placing the upper layer on top.

 

Eco Friendly Breakfast Cereal

One of my bugbears is the amount of packaging that comes with shop bought products. Along with this I noticed that many of the prepackaged breakfast cereals that I had bought in the past were staying the same price but the pack sizes were shrinking - and an increasing number were using wheat to bulk out the product (thereby making it cheaper to produce). Although I don't have a problem with wheat I learned many years ago to limit the amount I eat and instead to include as many other grains as possible. Besides being very much in keeping with Macrobiotic principles this also ensures a more varied diet.
About a year ago I stated to explore making my own breakfast cereal and it wasn't that difficult to find this recipe more or less verbatim on Google. I've made a few changes to the original method and varied the ingredients slightly so  feel justified in posting this in my blog.
Although I keep meaning to work out the costings on the contents, so I can see if I am saving money, I haven't as yet done so. For me it the reward is knowing that I'm getting a delicious breakfast cereal (with no wheat added) and there is no pesky packing to sort and recycle.
This takes about 45 minutes to prepare and cook and it's a great way to use up any nuts and seeds that are knocking about in your store cupboard approaching their sell by date.

Eco Warriors Breakfast Cereal (vegan and sugar free version)

400 g porridge oats (I prefer the large type) - you can use any grain you like: barley, rice or millet or a mixture of all.
100g oatbran

50 g sunflower seeds

100g mixed copped nuts

75g desiccated coconut (if you like coconut the larger flakes make an interesting change)

25g sesame seeds

100ml of carob syrup

150ml of any unsweetened fruit juice of your choice (or you can use water)

150ml good cooking oil (I use grape seed or rice bran oil)

2.5ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla essence

2.5ml salt

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together juice and oil, vanilla essence, carob syrup and salt – stir into dry ingredients and mix well to combine. Spread approximately half to one third  the mixture onto a large shallow baking tray and bake at 190c Gas mark 5 for 20-30 mins or till crisp and golden. Set the timer for 4 mins. Repeat 3 or 4 times or until the cereal looks golden brown (not burnt).
NB be sure to remove from oven to turn the mixture thoroughly to prevent the edges burning and to check the temperature of the oven throughout as it may need lowering if the cereal seems to be browning too fast. Repeat with the remainder.

You can do 2 trays together on separate shelves if you have the space and enough trays – be sure to stir or the edges will catch and burn. Once golden and toasted remove from tray and leave spread out in a cool place, a plate or another cold baking tray are ideal places to cool the cereal. Once cooled store in an airtight container. It keeps for at least 6 months.

You could use any grain that you like in this cereal - barley, buckwheat, millet or rye or a combination. I used roughly double the amount of seeds called for as I love them and sesame seeds are a great way to get calcium if you are vegan. I've used other seeds such as pumpkin and poppy seeds - just use what is in your cupboard - it will be yummy. Serve with your favourite topping but especially good with natural yoghourt and fresh fruit for added sweetness.

A Hearty Meal and a New Friend

About 3 weeks ago I decided to join a lunch club that was started by one of the Friends at Redland Quaker Meeting. This is a completely new experience for me but the idea appealed as it meant I would meet some new people and have a good meal once a week. Unfortunately I've not been able to attend any of the lunches to date but this week it was my turn to cook.
As the weather has been so chilly and unpredictable I thought about cooking something hearty such as Shepherds Beany Pie (Rose Elliot's recipe) which I made last week while cooking at the Ashram in Wales as it went down very well and it is certainly very hearty and warming. By Wednesday evening I realised that only one person was going to attend the meal and she mentioned that she was recovering from a virus so wasn't feeling too wonderful. Reconsidering my options I did a quick mental check. I knew I had about 1/4 of a pumpkin in the fridge, some butternut squash and a tin of aduki beans so made a complete U-turn and decided to cook an old favourite of mine:

Pumpkin and Aduki Mash with short grain brown rice.

This recipe was taught to me by an old friend, Andy Harrop, who had lived in Japan and studied the Macrobiotic approach to eating. What appealed to me is that the dish is very good for people recuperating from illness or anyone who is struggling with energy levels (to be honest that is me at the moment). According to the Macrobiotic principals the aduki bean's nourish the kidneys which are the source of our fundamental energy and the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and squash are very satisfying for the spleen and stomach energy (our fundamental ability to stand up comes from here - the Upright Energy).
Now the decision was made the cooking was easy as there is very little preparation. You can serve this with any type of rice but the Macrobiotics prefer to use short grain as it is thought to contain more fundamental energy (to be honest I just prefer the taste of it).
It was the first time I had spent any time with Hemmy so I had no idea what to expect but we had the most fascinating conversation over our aduki bean mash and she loved the meal.

 1 Softening the vegetables by sweating

Turn the heat down to a low setting and cover - leave to sweat for around ten minutes checking every 4 or 5 minutes to stir and ensure there is enough liquid to stop the contents catching.

2 Vegetables are softened but not mushy

3 The aduki mash prior to cooking through

The vegetables  breakdown and soften - keep an eye on the pan because just at the point when it is starting to cook through you need to add the drained aduki beans and mix well.



Ingredients (Serves 3/4)
1/4 of a large pumpkin and around the same amount of any kind of squash (use one or the other or both)
1 med onion
1-2 tblsns cooking oil (I use Grape Seed)
Around 250 mls of vegetable stock (I used some of the juice from the tin of bean to make mine with)
1 tin of aduki beans (drain and save the juice) or soak around 1/2 cup dried beans the night before and cook until al dente - strain and save the cooking liquid
1 teaspoon of dried mint or peppermint / 1 tablespoon fresh mint chopped
Soya Sauce - 1 tblspn
Miso past (optional) 1/2 to 1 tspn
Approx 1 cup of rice

Method
Peel and remove the seeds from the pumpkin and or squash. Cut into medium sized cubes. Peel and chop the onion roughly. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan to a moderate heat then gently fry the onions - you can let them brown a little but don't let them burn. Although I like to cook with garlic I never add it to this dish. Once the onions have a good colour add the pumpkin and or squash and mix well with the onions so they are coated with the oil. Add a little more if needed. Turn the heat down to a low setting and cover - leave to sweat for around ten minutes checking every 4 or 5 minutes to stir and ensure there is enough liquid to stop the contents catching. The vegetable will start to breakdown and soften so keep an eye on the pan because just at the point when it is starting to cook through you need to add the drained aduki beans and mix well.
You can add the mint/peppermint now if you like but if you are using fresh add it at near the end of cooking as it will maintain it's flavour more. You can also add pepper and salt at this point but be very sparing with the salt as you are going to add the soya sauce near the end. Add the stock (made with some of the juice from the can of beans) - you can leave the mash at this stage and continue to cook it later but this is probably a good point to start cooking the rice. I will hopefully blog on cooking rice at some point but for now just follow the method you normally use to cook it. You can let the aduki mash simmer on a very low heat while the rice is cooking - keep checking the liquid levels and add more if the mash is getting too dry - you can add the soya sauce about 10 minutes before the end of cooking. 
Once cooked add the miso paste* diluted with a little water or stock to encourage it to mix well serve the beans with the rice and a green salad.

* Miso - do not cook the miso but add at the end of cooking (cooking it destroys the natural enzymes in the paste).