Thanksgiving aka Happy Nut Roast day.

Last weekend the American Vegetarian and I celebrated our 4th annual Thanksgiving feast with friends. Every year on the last Saturday in November we invite friends over and cook a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner.

When the American Vegetarian first moved over, Thanksgiving was one tradition that I definitely wanted to incorporate in our lives, and we're so glad we did.  I absolutely love it. We try and invite different people over each year so all of our friends can experience our Thanksgiving. If we had a table big enough we'd invite everyone we know.

Now never having gone too, or eaten a Thanksgiving dinner myself it was up to the American Vegetarian to tell me what the dinner consisted of. Obviously turkey was out of the question so we substitute that with nut roast. The rest of the menu goes as follows; Sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn on the cob, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. We start the evening with cheese and biscuits and end with the classic pumpkin pie. In between all the food, copious amounts of wine and champagne are drunk.

The one dish which I had no idea how to cook, or even heard of before was green bean casserole. The American Vegetarian described it as green beans with mushroom sauce and fried onions. It didn't sound particularly appetising and when I looked on line to get some recipe ideas, the ones I found seemed even more unappetising (have a google yourself and you'll see what I mean). Recipes that entailed mixing canned cooked green beans with fried onions and milk before baking in the oven for 30 minutes!!! Why bake cooked green beans? I imagine they would be soft and pretty tasteless after that.

So I thought I would create my own version of the classic American dish of green bean casserole. I think my version is good, and all who have tasted it have always asked for seconds.

Ingredients (Serves 8)

600 grams of fresh green beans.
300 grams chestnut mushrooms.
1 can of condensed mushroom soup.
400 grams of crispy fried onions.
a good handful of fresh parsley; chopped.
a knob of butter.
salt & pepper.

Wash, trim and cut the green beans in thirds, set aside. Next wipe the mushrooms clean with a cloth. Because mushrooms soak up water it is best not to wash them. Just wipe the mushrooms and then slice them. In a pan melt the butter and then add the mushrooms, and saute for about 5-10 minutes, until the mushrooms have released their juices and cooked. Instead of letting the water cook off, I just pour it away. Next add about 3/4 of the can of condensed mushroom soup, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the parsley and the uncooked green beans. Season and mix well. Add the mixture to an oven dish. I use one which is just under 2 inches deep. Cover with foil. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes at 180 Celsius. Thirty minutes into the cooking time take the dish out and add the fried onions to the dish, recover with the foil and place back in the oven for the final 10 minutes. You don't want to add the onions at the beginning as they will burn. So adding them to the final 10 minutes of cooking is just fine.

I always prepare the dish early in the day and then when the guests arrive cover with foil and bake.

Serve with a thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is always a feast in our home. A feast of food, friends and fun times.

Masterchef Live

So last week I went to Masterchef Live at Olympia. I was so excited and just had the most wonderful day. The American Vegetarian and I decided to cycle their, which I didn't mind as we cycled to Olympia when we went to the yoga show and I quite enjoyed the journey. The journey this time however was windy and so the resistance I felt from the wind made a 45 minute journey turn into over an hour.

Windswept and excited we headed straight away to a cook off between Lisa Faulkner and Dhruv Baker. I love Dhruv, I love the way he has fusioned his upbringing into his food I feel a certain pull towards his food. Dhruv made some green beans with mustard seeds and coconut and Lisa made a fish pie.

After that we went to check out the Invention Test. Which is where around 20 or so non professional people pay £60 to make a dish from ingredients given to them and then these are tasted by Michel Roux and Greg Wallace They all had the same ingredients, which consisted of some fish, lemon, goats cheese and chestnut mushrooms. They also had free range of everyday store cupboard essentials, like pasta, rice herbs etc. The dishes that were made ranged from, risottos and pasta. All of them were judged by the 3 finalists of the professional masterchef's and then 3 were chosen for Michel and Greg to taste. On paper I was interested in doing the invention test but given the ingredients they got I'm not sure what I would have made, seeing as I don't cook any non-veg food. A fish pie won, which was remarkable seeing as they didn't have an oven.

Next on the agenda was lunch!! Now they had this 'restaurant expirience' section, where you could buy lunch from restaurants like Cafe Spice Namaste, Luxe, Malaysia Kitchen and some others as well. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of vegetarian options available. We bought all the vegetarian options available that day, which consisted of 3 dishes out of a possible mmm I suppose around 20. Some restaurants didn't have a vegetarian option available, which I think is a bit poor. So we had some amazing Roti Canai from Malaysia kitchen, a lovely Indian tapas of pani puri, bhel puri, beetroot samosa and a spring roll, with tamarind sauce from Cafe Spice Namste, and some penne pasta with mushrooms from Theo Randell. The tapas, and roti canai were just amazing, light, fragrant and very tasty. The pasta, was well pasta. For dessert we had the most amazing blueberry cheesecake with lemon curd from Luxe. OMG, is all I can say. Pure utter heavenly delight.

So after lunch we made our way through all the different stalls, and tried as many things as our stomachs would allow, dips, chocolate wine, soup, crisps, liquor, cheese, toffee vodka, beer, more dips. It got to the point that we were turning down free food as we were so full, however the liquor kept flowing!. There was so much to try and so much to buy. I bought some amazing aubergine chutney from Purity Trading. It is so tasty its practically gone. We also bought some amazing liquor from Wales. One thing I was wanting to buy myself was a good knife. And I did I went to about 4 different knife stalls and decided on the Ziganof. Oh how I love it, it has changed the way I chop. Everything cuts like soft butter. The tops of my fingers however are a little worse for wear.

Also attached to Masterchef was The Wine show, where we tried a lot of rioja! My highlight though was winning a Masterchef mug from Andy Peters. How? By being the first to get the answer right. If only I did that at school!

I *heart* Jamie

I am lovin Jamie's 30 minute meals. I think he has some fantastic simple ideas and I can't praise him enough. I haven't tried an entire Jamie's 30 minute meals yet, as they usually contain a meat/fish main course, but I have made four sides. The sweet potato mash, baked mushrooms, beetroot salad and the french peas. So here are the recipes for the last two. I made them both last night, and found it very quick and easy, and something that you can so easily put together even if you're totally knackered after a days work.

Beetroot salad

Ingredients

1 bag of cooked vacuum packed Beetroot ( I chose ones which were not in vinegar)
1/4 of a block of feta cheese
a good handful of flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon of olive oil (Jamie uses two tablespoons)
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon juice.

Method

In a food processor coarsely grate the beetroot, then add the salt and pepper. Beetroot are like tomatoes, they love salt it really brings out the flavour in them. Then add the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice. Give it a stir or as Jamie says 'move it around a bit'. Then cut the parsley and add that. Check and adjust the seasoning. Spoon it all on a plate and crumble some feta cheese on top.

Jamie's French peas

OK so this is Jamies' version of a French classic. All I know is that it is really tasty and another quick and easy side dish to make.

Ingredients.

1 bag of frozen peas
2 bunches of gem lettuce
6-8 leaves of mint
1 tablespoon of flour
a knob of butter
300ml of vegetable stock (Jamie uses chicken stock)
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Method

Wash and chop the lettuce. Add the butter and the flour to a pan and then add the vegetable stock. Whisk this so there are no lumpy bits left, and it becomes a smooth bubbling sauce. Then add the mint leaves and the bag of peas. Next add the chopped lettuce and put the lid on for 5 minutes. Finally add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

I will make an entire 30 minute meal and blog on it, but for now I hope you enjoy these sides as much as I have. These recipes are from Jamie's 30 minute meals. 

Figs, mozzarella and basil salad.

Earlier this year my lovely friends and neighbours Pat & Viv got me the River Cafe Cook Book Green for my birthday. And on Friday night we finally managed to get together so I could cook them dinner with recipes from the book.

I love Italian food. It's so different from Indian food, and I love them both equally. Indian food is full of many different spices and done well, you can taste the layers of spices in the food. The earthy cumin, to the spicy chilli powder, to the fragrant coriander. Italian food I feel is the opposite, no spices but simple and good quality ingredients.

Now because the quality of the ingredients is vital in Italian cooking, instead of popping down my local supermarket to pick up my groceries I went to Whole Foods.

For starters I made a figs, mozzarella and basil salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing. It was simple and glorious. Usually when I cook from a recipe, I sometimes adapt it and make it my own, but I felt I had to commit to the recipes in this book because they are quite precise. And I (and my guests) were glad I did. Now I know there isn't much to adapt in this particular recipe, but I'm just saying that committing to a recipe is worth it.

This is a great starter. Light, tasty, and oh so delicious. I highly recommend buying good quality ingredients for this, it really pays off. So here it is for you to try.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

8 figs. (They should be slightly soft, so they give to pressure)
A big ball of good Mozzarella
A big handful of fresh basil
Maldon sea salt and pepper
Juice of 2 lemons
Extra virgin olive oil

Method

Wash the figs and cut the top of the stem. Cut each fig through its stem in half and then into quarters. Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and then wash and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Tear the mozzarella into halves and then quarters.

Place the figs and mozzarella pieces on to individual serving plates. Scatter the basil leaves over and season with salt and pepper.

Mix the lemon juice with three times its volume of extra virgin olive oil. Season. Pour over each plate and serve immediately.

Seriously good stuff.

This recipe is taken from River Cafe Cook Book Green, by Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers.

Curly Kale Risotto

The season's are changing and I'm beginning to make hearty warm autumnal food. Food that warms you up from the inside. Risotto is one of these dishes. I absolutely love a good risotto with a large glass of red wine. Magnifique!

Now I first learned how to make risotto form Giuseppe. An Italian who knows his food (mind you what Italian doesn't?). He owns this fantastic little gem of a wine bar in Notting Hill called Negozia Classica. It serves all things Italian and is the best place to go for a good glass of wine. You can sit by the fireplace or in the window seat and watch the streets of Notting Hill go by whilst consuming some delicious wine. I highly recommend you give it a visit.

Anyway one year on his wife's birthday (my very good friend Goldy) he showed me how to make mushroom risotto like the Italians do. It was so good, I had never tasted risotto quite like it. It was so creamy and heavenly, every mouthful took me directly to the streets of Rome.

Now this isn't Giuseppe's recipe but I have stuck to his structure.

Ingredients

300 grams Arborio rice.
2-3 shallots, peeled and sliced
200 grams of curly kale (sliced, or buy already sliced)
1 litre of vegetable stock
some olive oil
a knob of butter
some Parmesan
black pepper.
a glass of white wine (optional)

Method

First prepare your curly kale. Wash the kale and heat some butter in a large frying pan, then add the kale and saute it for about 5 mins until it has all wilted. Set aside. Then make your vegetable stock according to the packet instructions. I use Marigolds Swiss Vegetable Bouillon. Its the best vegetable stock out there. I heat a litre of stock on the hob and have it ready for the risotto.

Then in a big pan heat some olive oil and saute the onions until they become translucent (approximately 5-8 minutes), then add the rice. Its very important that the rice becomes covered by the oil. So mix this up really well for a few minutes until you see the rice become slightly translucent. Now if you're using white wine, this is when to add it in. So add the wine and cook until all the wine has been absorbed by the rice.

Now add the vegetable stock, one ladle at a time. Turn the heat down to a simmer and keep adding the stock one ladle at a time and continuously stir the risotto. Its very important that you keep stirring the rice as this is what brings out the creamy starchiness of the rice and why risotto looks creamy. Only add the next ladle once the previous ladle of stock has been absorbed by the rice. Keep adding the stock and stirring the rice for approximately 20-25 minutes until the rice is cooked. The rice should be soft with a slight bite.

Now at around 18 minutes into the stirring add the wilted curly kale, leave a handful aside to garnish the finished product. Keep stirring the rice and if you find that you run out of stock before the rice is cooked then just add some boiling water.

Once the rice is cooked take off the heat, and let it sit for 2 minutes with the lid on before serving. Once on the plate season with some black pepper, some grated Parmesan and garnish with some extra wilted curly kale.

Added extras: If you want to give your risotto a creamy buttery taste, then once you take it off the heat stir in some grated Parmesan and some butter. This is completely personal preference but I guarantee you will love it!!!

Buon appetito.

Pizza and a Movie?

Home made pizza is such a joy. I really enjoy making pizza. I find it quite therapeutic. Making the dough, preparing all the toppings and then placing them on the pizza to your own taste.

I usually make roasted vegetable pizza, and I use passata to make the pizza sauce. I find passata makes a lovely thick sauce as it has very little water in it, as opposed to a can of tomatoes. I have to say the last one I made was really tasty. Now in this recipe I haven't made the pizza dough from scratch. I used a 'just add water' mix. I think that is fine and I still categorise this has being home made.

So here is my recipe for you to try:

Ingredients

3/4 carton of Passata
1 clove of garlic (made into a paste)
Good handful of basil leaves (torn)
1 pack of pizza base
some water

Toppings

1 large aubergine
2 courgette
2 red or green peppers
1/2 red onion (sauteed)
Sweetcorn kernels (boiled if cut from cob)
Pineapple chunks (optional..American Vegetarian loves pineapple on pizza)
Jalapeno peppers (chopped)
Mozzarella
Some olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste.

Method

Pre heat oven to 190 C. Cut the aubergine into discs, the courgettes in half and then sliced length ways, and the peppers deseeded and cut into quarters. Put them in a bowl and season with salt and pepper and olive oil. Then layer them on a baking try and roast for about 30-40 minutes, turning half way.

While this is happening, you can make your pizza sauce. Peel and chop the garlic then with the back of a knife just keep crushing the garlic so it becomes paste like. Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the garlic and the torn basil leaves and fry for about 1 minute then add the passata sauce. Cook on a medium heat for about 20 minutes until the sauce has become the consistency you require. In another pan heat some olive oil and fry off the onion for about 8 minutes until they become soft and translucent, then set aside.

Now make the pizza base according to the packet instructions. Usually you just add 4fl oz of water, and make into a soft dough then need for about 5 minutes. Then roll out the pizza base in either a traditional circle or as I did a rectangle. You get a bigger pizza plus it fits my baking tray perfectly.

Once you have all your other toppings prepared. Spread the pizza sauce on the pizza base and then get the aubergine, courgette and peppers and tear them and place evenly on the pizza, then add the sweetcorn, onions, jalapenos, pineapple (optional), and finally tear the mozzarella and dot around the pizza. Cook in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the pizza is cooked.

Some handy tips; if you find the pizza base not as crispy as you would like, then before you put the toppings on just bake the base for about 5 min's beforehand. I didn't have to do this, as the baking tray I used had holes in it, so the base was nice and crispy.

Grab a mate or partner, a DVD and bottle of wine and enjoy a great Friday night in!

What to do with Swiss Chard?

Is what I always think when I get Swiss chard in my veg box. I love receiving my veg box, because I get to cook food I normally wouldn't buy. Swiss Chard is a green I'm just not really sure what to do with. Once I just curried it, the same way I would make spinach curry. It was lovely and had a slightly denser taste than spinach.

I didn't want to boil, steam or stir fry it, so I decided to make Swiss chard quesadilla.

These are a fab fun meal to have. I've never made quesadilla before but I knew in my head exactly what I wanted, so I made it come true. And it got the thumbs up from the American Vegetarian as well.

Ingredients (makes 3 quesadilla)

A bag of Swiss chard
1/2 red onion; sliced
1 clove of garlic; chopped and crushed into a paste
1 can of black beans (drained)
Any cheese of your choice ( I used Red Leicester) grated
2 fresh tomatoes (de-seeded and chopped)
6 soft flour tortilla
some olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Some spray oil.

Method

First prepare your Swiss chard. Wash and chop the chard. Now the way I wash my chard is by giving it a bath in the sink as opposed to rinsing it under water. This way all of the mud from the veg box has defiantly been washed away. I do this twice. You can see from the colour of the water when the Swiss chard is clean. Chop the stems and roughly chop the leaves. Set aside.

Make the garlic paste. To do this just peel a garlic clove and chop quite finely, then add a little bit of salt and with the back of your knife crush it. The salt prevents the garlic from slipping away. Keep crushing it with the back of your knife until the garlic is paste like.

Now heat some oil in a pan and fry the sliced onion and garlic paste then add the Swiss chard and season with salt & pepper. Cook until wilted for about 5-7 minutes. Set aside.

Now prepare your other ingredients. Chop and de-seed two fresh tomatoes, so you have some nice small squares, drain and rinse one can of black beans and grate your cheese.

Then prepare the tortillas. I should point out that when you add the ingredients to your tortilla make sure you leave about an inch space between the edge of the tortilla and the filling.

Now get one tortilla and sprinkle some cheese on it, then add the Swiss chard, then the black beans, then some tomatoes, then some more cheese. Season with salt and pepper and top with another tortilla.

In a big frying pan (big enough for your tortilla to sit) spray some spay oil and add the entire tortilla to the pan. Let it cook for about 3-4 mins until browned to your liking then before you turn it over spay some oil on the tortilla and then very carefully turn it over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. You might find some of the filling fall out but it doesn't matter.

Then slip it on to a plate, cut in quarters and enjoy!

If you have any ideas what else to do with Swiss chard then please let me know. Your opinion on this recipe and my new look blog is very much appreciated.

All hail Chipotle

Chipotle is in TOWN!!!!!

OK so most of you should have noticed the surge of Burrito bar's that have cropped up around town lately. We have Tortilla (too salty), Chilango (I love the Totopos here), Benito's Hat, Daddy Donkey (unsampled...yet) and for me the mother of them all CHIPOTLE.

I first discovered the amazing Chipotle back in 2006 when I was spending a lot of time in New York. The American Vegetarian introduced it to me on a cold February day. It was no big deal, we were walking down 34th Street in Manhattan and we were both freezing and hungry and she suggested Chipotle. I didn't really think much of it when I walked in. It seemed a bit too fast food. Ordering your food at the bar while they make it in front if you, then finding somewhere to sit. But little did I know what was about to happen. I had two revelations here.

1) Black Beans.

2) Mexican food is AMAZING.

Up until this moment I had never eaten black beans, but black beans in the States is as popular as baked beans are over here. I was astounded that I had never come across black beans before. Especially since growing up in an Indian home I was surrounded by a lot of beans and pulses that were not in the supermarkets and have only entered the mainstream in the last 5 - 8 years. So I thought I had tried, or at least knew of them all.

Black beans are fab. You can find them in the Caribbean section, in cans which works for me, or I sometimes buy them dried and pressure cook them for about 7 whistles; (see pressure cooking post in April). You can curry them (in fact what can't you curry?) add them to salads or mix with sweetcorn, tomatoes and coriander to make a fab salsa.

Now before Chipotle, Mexican food to me was, re fried beans (not my favourite in any country), and sizzling fajitas from Old Orleans or Navajo Joes (Urgh). Now before I continue I am very aware that Chipotle and the other burrito bars are probably not classic authentic Mexican food. But it'll do me. On my first visit I opted for the tacos. Three soft flour tacos filled with Mexican rice, black beans, sauteed green and red peppers, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and salsa. All these flavours squished together to give me a mouthful of glory. The American Vegetarian did not realise just how much I loved it. In fact she was a bit shocked, after all its only a burrito. But to me it was a food revelation.

So you can imagine my dismay whenever I came back to the UK to not find an eating establishment like Chipotle. Until that is, two years later I saw Tortilla in Upper Street in 2007. At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me, is it a Starbucks, is it a Gregg's, no it's a burrito bar!!!

I was so excited, I really didn't know what to do, who should I call, when shall I go? are there any vacancies? Anyway soon after, the American Vegetarian and I had a burrito there. We were happy, they served black beans and all the trimmings, and they had two sizes; a small and a USA large. We knew that we can handle the large so that's what we had. Tortilla was the only place to go for a burrito, but after a while we both admitted that it was quite salty. So we then found Chilangos. Here we tried the Totopos. Which consists of a layer of tortilla chips topped with beans or meat and guacamole, lettuce, salsa, etc.. This was like nachos meets burritos and I highly recommend taking a trip to Chilangos and ordering this. Its a nice change from a burrito.

So lets fast forward to the day I found out Chipotle had arrived in the UK. The American Vegetarian alerted me to the breaking news one day saying "Guess what's in town"? The parameters were too wide for me to actually guess so I just asked what. "Chipotle". Now if I could play Carmina Burana here I would, so please use your own imagination and hear it in your head. I ventured down to Chipolte which is on Charing Cross Road, one sunny evening with my mate Viv. She had never experienced Chipotle and didn't really understand the fuss, but was happy not to spend more than £6 on dinner. As we approached I looked through the window and was happy just at the fact that they had the same red baskets that are used in the States.

The menu was the same and I decided to opt for a vegetarian burrito bowl. I was offered a choice of rice (Mexican or coriander) a choice of beans; black or pinto. Now this is where a big red flashing light should appear with WARNING for all vegetarians. Chipotle offer black beans and pinto beans. Their pinto beans come with bacon in them. When you order a vegetarian burrito/taco/bowl, you shouldn't really be offered beans with bacon in them. As I was in a good mood, (and on a certain time scale) I didn't pull the person up on this. However if it happens again I will. But just so you know, the pinto beans are NOT vegetarian.

I sat down at a counter with my order and ate my bowl. I enjoyed it. Viv was very happy with hers as well. It wasn't too salty and mixing everything up together was nice. The warm black beans mixed with the cool guacamole and the crunchy lettuce tasted lovely. Eating from a red basket reminded me of a time I commuted from London to New York and as I looked out the window I didn't see the streets of New York, but the bustling streets of London instead.

Oh Chipotle is on 114-116 Charing Cross Road, London.

Bi Bim Bap time

I like nothing better than finding a new cheap eat in London. Tired of venturing to the usual cheap eat haunts on a weekday night (GBK, Sagar, Fire & Stone, a Thai place or Burrito Bar), I googled 'cheap eats London' to see if anything new came up. And it did!! Time Out had a good review of a Korean restaurant called Bi Bim Bap.

The name alone intrigued me and after reading the review I knew I wanted to eat their. However I had to make sure that they had good veggie options. So I checked out their website and menu and was over the moon when I discovered what a Bi Bim Bap is.

At Bi Bim Bap, they serve Bi Bim Bap's. Bi Bim Baps is a Korean dish served in a very hot stone bowl. It consists of vegetables like cucumber, beansprouts, spinach, carrots, daikon and mushrooms, and these sit on top of a bed of sticky white rice (you can swap this for brown rice for an additional cost). On top of this is the vegetable or meat of your choice. The traditional one comes with a fried egg on top. I had this one and the American Vegetarian chose the tofu. They advise you that the best way to eat a Bi Bim Bap, is to mix everything up really well. That way all the well balanced flavours infuse really well together giving you a fantastic meal.

The thing I loved most was that the food cooked and stayed piping hot as you ate it. In fact I would say the food became more hot because it actually was cooking while we ate. They also give you chilli paste and miso paste to add as you wish. I loved the Bi Bim Bap. It was tasty, healthy, warming and something completely different. Oh and at £5.95 a bowl, you really can't go wrong.

Now we went on a Tuesday night, and there was a regular stream of customers coming in but it wasn't overly busy. Our service was fine but could have been better. There was a couple next to us who had been waiting a while for their order. They kept looking at their watch, and asked more than once where their food was. Our starter came within 15 minutes. I then had to remind the waiter of our drinks, which he swiftly brought immediately, but then our Bi Bim Bap's were brought before we had a chance to finish our starter. Usually I would have said something, but seeing as the table next to us had waited far longer for their mains then we had, I let this one go.  Also I think I was still experiencing an endorphin rush from the spin class I took before going to dinner. My work out schedule hasn't been very healthy lately due to a star jump that went wrong (my lower back decided to have a spasm mid jump).

I needed some no impact hard core exercise. So spin it was. It was a great class, and is made all the better as it is taught by a guy I went to infant school with. (Elementary for my US readers..I think I have some!).

So I highly recommend Bi Bim Bap for all vegetarians and non vegetarians out there. They have five options of each and some very nice Korean beer. The service could be better but I'm puting this down to teething problems and not going to hold this against them. I will definatley be going back, with friends in tow.

http://www.bibimbapuk.com/ for the food.
http://www.jubileehalltrust.org/ for the spin class (Simon; Tuesday @ 6pm).

Sweetcorn Salsa

I went to an impromptu barbecue on Sunday at my brother's house. My cousin from Canada visited the UK with his family. His wife Carol, is French Canadian, and therefore their three children are a beautiful mix of Gujarati, French, Canadian-ness. So that means they eat onion soup with their fingers! Only kidding!! So while my brother was making his infamous kebabs my cousin (a different one; Raj from North London) and I made a sweetcorn salsa. Now he makes it slightly differently to me but the essence is the same. This salsa is great at barbecues as a side with vegetable kebabs, on some lightly toasted sourdough bread or just with some tortilla crisps and a beer. 

So here is our sweetcorn salsa.

Ingredients

Sweetcorn (Either kernels cut from a cob, or straight from a can; drained)

2 vine ripened tomatoes

1 small red onion diced
1 green chilli de-seeded and finely chopped

Big handful of fresh coriander
Fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

1 clove of garlic (Raj's option)

Sourdough bread
Olive Oil

Method

If using kernels form a cob, then after you have cut them off, spread them on a baking tray and dry roast for about 20 minutes. You can prepare the rest of the salsa whilst they are roasting. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and de-seed them and then cut the flesh of the tomatoes into cubes. Peel the onion and dice. Wash and chop the fresh coriander and de-seed and chop the green chilli. Once the sweetcorn has roasted mix them with the tomatoes, onion, green chilli, coriander, and lemon juice and garlic (if using) together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Toast the bread and drizzle some Olive oil on it and serve with the salsa. Delicious!!

Scene & Heard Summer Time Shakes

Sorry!!! I know I haven't been updating my blog as much as I'd like to but I hope to try and change that. Meanwhile let me tell you about a project I have been involved with called Scene & Heard.

Scene & Heard is a fantastic mentoring project for children who live in the Somers Town area of London. Its a play making and play writing course for children aged between 9 - 15. Over a period of about 8 weeks the children have a mentor in the shape of a theatre professional and they are taught basic drama and playwright skills. They then over a weekend wright a 8 minute play which is then put on by 2 professional actors and a director. Its then performed over a  4 nights at Theatro Technis. I've volunteered for them as an actor on 3 occasions, and I've played a skittle and rose.

The plays are totally out of this world. They are so imaginative and contain everything from comedy, tragedy, love, hate, revenge, envy, and loss. You really have to see it to believe it. So if you haven't seen a Scene & Heard play, go check out their website to see when the next event is on. You'll have the best night out at the theatre you've ever had.

So in honor if my time at Scene & Heard I thought I'd whizz up some Scene & Heard summertime shakes. There's nothing better, then grabbing some juice, fruit, yoghurt and ice. Whizzing it up in a blender and making yourself a little smoothie. I love them, and its a fab way of getting some of your 5 a day. Below you will find the base of my summertime shakes and then a list of ingredients that you can play with to make your own shake depending on what you fancy!


Base Ingredients

1 banana
yoghurt
OJ
Crushed ice

Extra ingredients that makes smoothie fab;

 Any fruit possible; apple, plums, grapes, oats, nuts, berries, honey, granola, melon, ginger, peanut butter, frozen grapes, frozen bananas, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, mango's, pomegranate, pineapple, kiwi, nectarine, peaches..the list can go on. But I think you get the idea.

Method

Cut up the fruit into chunks and place all the ingredients that you want into a blender then whizz away!!

Grab a friend make a smoothie and enjoy the summertime.

Vegan Banana Bread

I know I've been slack with updating my posts and my fellow blogger at angloyankophile always pulls me up on it, which I like. But recently I've been pulled away from the computer by World Cup/Wimbledon and general warm sun.

But I'm back with a recipe that I actually have never made, but is an American Vegetarian special. Its the Vegan Banana Bread.

This is gorgeous. There really is nothing better then home made bread. The smell it creates, and the joy it brings is just delightful! So here is the American Vegetarian's Vegan Banana Bread.


Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of whole wheat self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of mashed banana (approx 3)
6 tbsp apple juice
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped nuts (walnuts)
1/3 cup of raisins
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 Celsius.

In a bowl mix the whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda together. In another bowl mash up the banana and add the apple juice, vegetable oil vanilla extract, chopped nuts, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Then add this mixture with the flour mixture and mix well.

Pour entire mixture into a loaf tin and bake for 50 mins. (I line the loaf tin with some baking paper.)

Eat warm or at room temperature with a spread of your choice!

My Chilli Jalapeno plant

I have absolutely no luck when it comes to growing things. Every time someone gives me a plant or I buy one thinking "that would brighten up my place". Once I get it home I try and look after it, but no matter how much I try they always die within a few weeks. So I made a decision to never buy a plant again, because I'm just not destined to grow plants or herbs or anything really.  So you can imagine my horror when on my birthday I was given a chilli jalapeno plant from my best friends 3 year old daughter, who I had been told had grown the seedling HERSELF!!

There was no way I could let this plant die, I had to give it a chance, if only for Sana's sake (the 3yr old gardener). That's the least I can do. How would I be able to face a 3 year old and tell her that the beautiful gift she gave me lasted only a few days. So operation 'chilli jalapeno plant' came in to force.

The first thing I did in order to give this plant a fair chance in life was to re-pot the thing. I already had a big pot which had soil in it taking up space in my store cupboard. This had been given to me (on my request) by my sister-in-law two years ago when I had the foolish idea of wanting to grow herbs. (I still do, but just accepted my lack of green fingers and never did). So I re-potted the seedling and placed it on my very sunny window sill.

Nafisa, (Sana's mother), advised me to give it 3 sips of water a day. I watered it everyday, but because the pot was bigger then what I had received it in, I gave it more than three sips. More like three quarters of a cup. Then I received some advice that actually chilli plants are used to quite hot arid conditions so maybe I shouldn't water it as much. So now I only ever water it when all the water from the drip tray has disappeared.

Now when I was in Rome some magic happened, because when I returned after four days of gloriousness, the plant had grown. A LOT. I felt like Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk I was amazed, I mean seriously taken back. I couldn't believe that something had grown, and better still, keeps on growing. I measure it every day, its now standing at 23cm. I love my chilli plant, even though there are no chilli's growing on it at the moment, I still love my chilli plant. I don't know what I'll do when I see my first chilli growing on it. I think I might drive all the way to West London and show Sana. I never realised how much joy you can get from making something grow. So thank you Sana.

World Cup Nachos

If you're as disappointed in England's performance as I am, then hopefully these world cup nachos will cheer you up! The American Vegetarian introduced me to the joy of homemade nachos. Its perfect 'in front of the tv' food, and goes down well with a nice cold beer.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

Two ripe avocados

1 red onion; diced

2 ripe tomatoes

Half the juice of a lime
1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Handful of fresh coriander; chopped

Splash of lemon juice

1 can of re fried beans

1 bag of lightly salted tortilla chips (Must be lightly salted for nachos. Any other flavour will ruin it.)
Good handful of jalapeno peppers (I use the ones you get in bottles. Drain from bottle and chopped)
Some grated cheese of your choice (cheddar, red leicester)

Lettuce; chopped

salt & pepper to taste

Method

Take the first five ingredients and make the guacamole. Here's how; Cut the avocado in half and with a spoon scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl. Mush it up with a fork until it gets quite smooth. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and de-seed them. Then dice the flesh of the tomato and add to the bowl, along with half of the chopped red onion, the juice of half a lime, chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix until all ingredients are mixed well. Now make the salsa. Open the can of tomatoes and transfer to a bowl. Add the rest of the chopped red onion, fresh coriander, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of lemon juice. Stir and set aside.

Heat the re fried beans according to the cans instructions. Now on a plate place as many tortilla chips as you want. On top of this put some of the heated re fried beans, then scatter some jalapeno peppers, add some guacamole and some salsa, and then sprinkle on some cheese. Now stick the plate in the microwave or place under a grill, until the cheese has melted. Once this is done, add some lettuce and more guacamole and salsa. Nachos done! Oh and don't be afraid to pile it high!

Enjoy whilst sitting in front of the TV with a cold beer! Come on England!!!

I *heart* Rome part 2

Dining in Rome is a relaxed affair. You arrive, and ten minutes later a waiter gives you bread and a menu. Twenty minutes after that the waiter takes your order. Thankfully the wine usually arrives promptly after you've ordered it. They then give you a good thirty minutes to drink the wine and finish the bread off before giving you your starter. By this time you're starving and a bit tipsy, so finish the starter off in record time. Which is unfortunate as you now have another twenty five minutes to wait until you get your main course.

Dinner in Rome can take a good three hours, but this is no complaint when you are sitting outside on a cobbled street, watching Rome go by.

This is certainly the case when we went to the best vegetarian restaurant this side of the Colosseum;  Il Marguetta. Situated in between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del popolo, in a nice local upmarket area of Rome away from the touristy side of things and off an off street. I read about this place before going to Rome, and a friend who had been to Rome recently said that "its a must". Both my friend and the articles I read, said that it has an all 'you can eat' buffet. So I went there expecting a buffet style eatery. What I got was a very nice swanky restaurant, with a menu to match. What a delight to come to a lovely upmarket restaurant that serves vegetarian food only.

The menu was a very well thought out imaginative mix with no shortage of options. They have an extensive a la carte menu as well as five set menus that range from Gourmet (60 euros) to Light (29 euros) to vegan (32 euros). The a la carte had delights like saffron, courgette flower and courgette risotto, to seitan lemon escalope with lemon dressed kale. After studying the menu for a while the American Vegetarian and I opted for the Spinach salad with strawberries and a balsamic dressing, to share, and as our main I opted for the Aubergine platter and the American Vegetarian had Breaded seitan with golden potatoes and a sweet and sour sauce. When the friendly and polite waiter took our order, he asked if we were sharing and we said yes. As each order arrived, he placed the plate with the food, on one side and the spare plate on the other. And as each dish arrived one by one, after we had finished the dish we were eating, he alternated who got the dish with food and who got the spare plate. This was just fantastic. The food was so good, inventive and most importantly tasty that we both got to enjoy it all.

What amazed and delighted us both was the care that had gone into the presentation of the food as well. I don't think either of us expected what we were served. When our salad arrived we were presented with a beautiful plate of spinach leaves  with a mound of mini strawberries upon them. It was fresh and mouthwatering. The balsamic dressing had a lovely zingy-ness. All in all it was one of the best salads I've had in a long time.

Next was the aubergine platter. I love aubergine, its one of my favourite vegetables and this dish did not disappoint. As you can see, it came made four ways. In the glass bowl the aubergine was roasted and then mashed up with a soft texture, but with some lumps of aubergine. The breaded ball at the top of the photo was lightly fried, warm and soft and just melted in your mouth. If I had to pick a favourite from this selection it would be the one in the middle. It was like soft cheese, but with a slightly smokey flavour to it, and it had a rough creamy consistency. It was absolutely divine. The final piece of magic on the plate reminded me of eggplant parmesan, a warm cheesy aubergine fest. I could have ordered this whole plate again and again.

Then came the breaded seitan with golden potatoes and a sweet and sour sauce. The sauce was very familiar, in fact quite like tomato ketchup, but I love tomato ketchup, so va bene! Now I've only ever had seitan in New York, and so it was a lovely surprise seeing it on the menu. This dish was great as well. Seitan is a protein with a 'meaty' texture. The potatoes were cooked to perfection, and after the soft aubergine platter it was nice to have a dish you can get your teeth into.

After this amazing dinner, it would have been rude of us not to have dessert. Unfortunately I haven't got any good pictures of dessert because by the time dessert arrived it was dark and I was unable to get a good picture of the food without using the flash, and then it had too much glare on it.  As for dessert,  you are just going to have to imagine what the triple layer chocolate looked like. It tasted; ooohhhhh, aaaaahhhh, mmmmmm! I highly recommend anyone, vegetarian or not to visit this restaurant when in Rome.

Il Margutta have a day time all you can eat brunch: 12.30 -3.30pm. Restaurant in the evening: 7.30 - 11.30pm.

I *heart* Rome part 1

This past weekend the American Vegetarian and I went to Rome. What an amazing city. The history that surrounds Rome is mind blowing, and the food...aahhh, the food is delicioso.

So where to begin my food journey with Roma. Well on the first night, after we walked to the Trevi Fountain, and sat amongst the throng of other tourists who had the same idea as we did, we then walked towards the Spanish Steps and along Via Mario dei Fiori (a very nice area of Rome, swanky shops, little boutiques and most importantly nice restaurants) where we found, recommended to us by our guide book , Al 34. The reviews were good, and so we sat outside and ordered a carafe of wine. I don't know why, but pouring yourself wine from a carafe than a bottle seems so much more sophisticated. To eat, the American Vegetarian had a Mozzarella salad, with sun dried tomatoes, sweetcorn, rocket, and other delights that you can see from the picture. I had seafood risotto, which I have to say did not take me to another level. It was ok, but I've had better risotto from an Italian man in Notting Hill!

The following day, we ventured to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. OMG WOW!!! The history contained here just blew me away. I seriously recommend seeing these historic sights before you die. Back to the food, for lunch we found a wonderful local pizza place called Il Forna (the oven). The pizza was lined up and sold by weight. They had a really good selection of vegetariano pizza, so we had one with courgette flowers, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella, a sliced potato and rosemary, and a classic pomodoro mozzarella (margaritas). You just sit by the counter and eat, while you watch them make more pizza in front of your very eyes. I'm so glad we found this local eatery, as there's nothing better then good pizza. As well as pizza, it had a vast selection of other vegetarian dishes. This place was so good that we returned there on our last day in Rome.

That same evening we lucked out again with food, and found a very good, family run restaurant just off Piazza Novano called Terra di Siena. The menu had a simple yet inviting options, we both opted for Linguine Pesto and a lettuce, gorgonzola and apple salad. It was mouthwatering. Freshly made and just so heavenly. The salad, pictured, was particularly tasty. The creaminess of the gorgonzola and the crunchiness of the apple contrasted well against each other.

I have to say every meal we had in Rome was fabuloso. Our next meal consisted of flavours I would not normally put together, but most probably will now. The salad we had was; goats cheese covered in sesame seeds, with grapefruit and beansprouts. I thought this was magical, it came with a slightly spicy tomato salsa as well. You really did have a taste sensation in your mouth; the creamy goats cheese, with the bitterness of the grapefruit, combined with crunch of the beansprouts, and the slightly spicy salsa. Wow, my mouth was literally going crazy. So many flavours, and they all worked well together. For the main I had ricotta filled tortellini with a yoghurt and mint sauce. Never had this mix before and it was very appetizing. It was a warm dish, and the yoghurt and mint came as a sauce on top of the tortellini. The mint gave the dish a lovely freshness, which was tasteful against the creamy ricotta.

The vegetarian options were not difficult to find in Rome, and each restaurant we went to did have a nice selection of dishes. Unlike some other places we've visited, Rome had fantatstic food, wherever we ate, and no difficulty in finding good vegetarian options. Buon appetito.

Afternoon Tea

One of many things this country does do well, when it comes to food, is afternoon tea.

Carrying on from my previous post, even though I think diners in America are better than an American diner in the UK, I have to admit no-one does afternoon tea quite like the British.

I had my first experience of afternoon tea last year, funnily enough on my birthday. The American vegetarian and I decided to go to the New Forest and get away from London. We love our bike rides, and so on my birthday we hired two bikes and rode through the beautiful countryside in the New Forest. After petting the ponies, and watching the deer and wild horses we stumbled across a very fine hotel. It was a glorious sunny day, and we sat outside in the garden, where a wedding was occurring. We lucked out and had the pleasure of listening to a string quartet that was actually for the wedding party.

Afternoon tea was on the menu, and we ordered tea for two! When it arrived we saw two of everything; two mini chocolate eclairs, two mini cherry tarts, two mini gorgeous scrumptious sweet delights and scones with clotted cream. I was in mini cake heaven. Eating the cakes and sipping tasteful tea on a sunny day in the New Forest was amazing. I have a habit of eating fast, I don't know why, but I think it has something to do with making sure I get the food down me before I get full. I'm sure this isn't a good thing, but anyway on this particular day my eating habit didn't change and before I knew it I had eaten two tiers worth of mini cakes and the scone with jam and experiencing a sugar rush like never before.

The bike ride back was very speedy indeed. Afternoon tea is a wonderful thing!

An American Diner Versus A Diner in America

I love big brunchy type breakfasts..well who doesn't? So seeing as it was my birthday on Monday the American Vegetarian treated me to an American style breakfast at The Diner (at my request). Now The Diner prides itself by serving "Classic American Dining", which is why I wanted to go there. Looking at the menu, I have to say my mouth was watering, and it reminded me of my days spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I used to always get breakfast at this fantastic diner called Daisy's Diner. I would sit at the counter with my Harry Potter book and order two eggs (my way), side of home fries and coffee. Being in America the cup was obviously bottomless, so was re-filled regularly; and all for $5. I was in breakfast heaven. 

So treating me to an American breakfast is a sure way to make me happy. Having studied the menu, for at least a week (or two) beforehand I knew the menu looked good and most importantly I knew exactly what I wanted. Eggs Benedict with home fries.

When we got there I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have any outdoor seating especially as we were experiencing tropical heat in London, but anyways, we sat near the open window so it wasn't too bad. The Diner is decked out like you would expect; booth type seating arrangements, with an assortment of condiments at your disposal. I saw that they had root beer on the menu, which immediately put a big smile on the American Vegetarians face,  now I can't stand root bear, to me it tastes like medicine, but the American Vegetarian loves it, so we wanted to order that. "Sorry, we've run out, we can't even order any from stock" came the reply from the slightly 'over eager to take our order' waitress. So we had some fresh OJ instead. Now the home fries were stated as being "spicy" home fries, I thought that this was unusual, as home fries that I've had in the states are just not spicy, but hey I ordered them anyway. Now the American Vegetarian ordered a Belgian waffle and home fries. We wanted some fresh fruit to go on top of the waffle, as that's quite usual too, but they said that they didn't have any fresh fruit!!! What? No fresh fruit anywhere in the building??? Not even a banana? an apple? or a grape? "No sorry, we've got some blueberries". "Fantastic, we'll have some blueberries" I said, "They are in syrup though...from a tin". "Oh well, we'll just have the waffle. Au natural then".

And so the food came, my Eggs Benedict was nice, but I've had better hollandaise sauce at other places, and the spicy home fries, were not spicy at all. They were just seasoned with rosemary. So that made the home fries even more bizarre. In the beginning I wanted just your everyday American style home fries, then after seeing the menu I got used to the idea that they were going to be spicy, and once they arrived I ended up with seasoned potatoes with onions!!

The Belgian waffle was just too sweet and too small to be classical American, and the fact they didn't have any fresh fruit...well what American diner doesn't have fresh fruit?

So all in all it wasn't the ideal American breakfast I had fantasied about in my head. The menu looks much better then the product they serve. If you want to eat at an American diner, than I whole heartedly suggest you buy an airplane ticket to the states and go to any diner you want. The food will be big, filling and will leave you with a slightly comatose smile on your face.

The picture above on the top is my breakfast from The Diner and the picture on the bottom and below is taken from a fantastic diner called The Broken Egg Bistro in Virginia Beach. The servings are big, the fruit fresh, and you get what you ask for...satisfaction.

Dips and Salsa or nothing for a whole week and then 3 come along at once!!!

What's a barbecue without dips and salsa? We all need something to dip into, some more than others, and these three dips are easy, quick and simple to make. You can then add these dips onto your burger, or just use them as a dip with crisps, chips, or chopped carrots and celery etc.

Auro (Roasted Aubergine dip)

Ingredients

2 Aubergines
2-3 tbsp of natural yoghurt
3/4 tsp of freshly ground cumin powder
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
3/4 tsp of salt
A good handful of fresh coriander; chopped
Some oil

Method

Preheat oven to 200 Celsius
Pierce the aubergine and brush some oil on to them. Then roast them in the oven for approximately 40 minutes, turning them halfway. Once they are done (the skin will look slightly wrinkly and burned and you should be able to pierce a knife through the aubergine very easily), cut the top off and place in a bowl and chop and mash the aubergines up with a knife and fork. Then add the yoghurt, spices, salt and coriander. Mix well, taste, adjust seasoning and serve.

Cucumber Raitu (Cucumber yoghurt dip)

1 cucumber
2-3 cups of natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp freshly ground cumin powder
Mint (optional)
Fresh coriander (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Coarsely grate the cucumber then squeeze the water out of it. Cucumber retains a lot of water, so you really have to do this step, so the dip doesn't become too watery. After you have grated the cucumber, get a handful of the stuff, and squeeze until no more water comes out. Repeat until you've done the whole cucumber.

Then in a bowl, mix all the ingredients together, and garnish with fresh coriander.

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

1 can of chopped tomatoes
Handful of fresh coriander; chopped
1/2 onion; chopped
Juice of half a lemon

Red chilli flakes or ground black pepper (you don't need both as they both give the dish heat)

Salt for seasoning

Method

Combine all the above ingredients together, and serve immediately.

Hope you like recipe number 7, 8 & 9 in my quest to give you 21 brilliant vegetarian barbecue recipes.

Sweetcorn and Potatoes

I know the weather hasn't exactly been barbecue friendly, in fact it just hasn't been friendly full stop, but I still want to continue with my quest to give you 21 brilliant vegetarian barbecue recipes. So here is 'recipe' number 5 & 6. Well when I say recipe I mean, more simple things you can just add on to the barbecue, while everything else is cooking. Sweetcorn and potatoes.

Sweetcorn Cob

This is sooooooo good barbecued. Now there are two ways of doing this, so no meat juices get on the sweet corn. Either wrap each cob in foil, and then just place on the grill. OR make sure whoever is in charge of the barbecue, has left a space on the grill for the veggie food to go. The latter would be the better option, as having sweetcorn cooked by the smoke of the coal is delicious.

Ingredients

Sweet corn cobs
butter (optional)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

Place the cobs on the barbecue, (wrapped or unwrapped). Once cooked, add butter and season to taste.

Sit back and enjoy.

Hot Potatoes

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
butter
salt and pepper

Method

Wash the potatoes, wrap in foil, and add to the barbecue, from the beginning. Once cooked, unwrap and season with butter, and salt and pepper.