Noodles with Tofu, Mushrooms and Watercress in Blackbean Sauce (v)

I love watercress and think it's highly underused as a cooked vegetable. Use it like spinach but appreciate the peppery bite of it more than metallic spinach. This was very quick to throw together and tasted lovely.

For one hungry person you need:
1 bundle noodles
1/2 packet watercress
1 onion, sliced
3-4 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 jar waitrose cooks ingredients blackbean sauce
1 marinated tofu steak, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp vegetable oil

Cook/soak the noodles and leave to drain. Fry the onion and mushrooms in the oil for 4-5 mins. Add the tofu pieces and cook for a further 5 mins till lightly browned. Add the blackbean sauce (and a little extra water to get it all out of the jar). Heat through. Turn off the heat and add the watercress. Allow to wilt. Serve on top of the noodles and scoff. Yummy.

Sort of Tom Yum Soup with Coconut (v)

This was supposed to be just Tom Yum Soup, in honour of the delicious bowl my sister made for me over Xmas. But the Tom Yum paste I brought was mouldy :( (yes I know serves me right for cheating). So I had to rummage through the cupboards and find an alternative instead, hence the name. It worked, thankfully!

For 3-4 people you need:
6 tbsp thai red curry paste (check it's one suitable for veggies with no hidden fish sauce or shrimp paste...)
2 tbsp oil
1 litre boiling water
2/3 can coconut milk (or more if you want it milder)
1/2 pack baby sweetcorn cut in half
1/2 pack green beans, topped and tailed and cut in half
1/2 pack muchrooms, cut into quarter (or left whole if button ones)
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
4-5 kaffir lime leaves
1 stick lemongrass, cut into quarters
1 pack marinated tofu chunks
1 red chilli, sliced
handful fresh corriander, roughly chopped
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp soya sauce
2 tsp brown sugar

Heat the oil and fry out the paste for 2-3 mins. Add everything else apart from the chilli, corriander, lime juice and soya sauce. Cook for 2-3 mins till hot. Add the lime juice and soya sauce and serve garnished with the corriander and chillies.

Rarebit Topped Field Mushrooms with Thyme

A quick, easy and tasty lunch or starter dish. Serve with lots of crusty bread to soak up the juices.

For 2 people you need:
4 large field mushrooms
100g grated cheddar
1 tsp english mustard powder
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 red onion, finely diced
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
freshly ground black pepper

Begin by peeling the mushrooms and trimming the stalks. Lay in a baking dish. Mix together everything else and place a 1/4 on to each mushroom. Bake in a hot oven for about 20 mins till the mushrooms are tender and the filling is hot.

Quorn and Mushroom Pot Pie

Oh my. Oh my indeed. Yes I know it's not modest but I *am* an utter culinary genius if this pie is anything to go by (and I am also blogging this rather pissed...!). I had been hankering after a lovely, creamy, rich fake chicken and mushroom pie all xmas so this is what I made for dinner last night. It was lovely.

For a pie that will serve 3-4 people depending on greed you need:
1 packet quorn chunks
1 onion, diced
125g mushrooms, sliced
150ml white wine
75ml double cream
250ml vegetable stock
1 pack all butter puff pastry
2 tbsp fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg

Begin by frying the onion in the oil for about 5 mins. Add the mushrooms, and taking note from Julia Child DO NOT CROWD THE PAN ;-). Cook for a further 5-10 mins until the mushrooms are lightly browned.

Add the quorn and sprinkle over the flour and cook for 2-3 mins. Add the wine and boil briefly. Add the stock and the cream and parsley and cook for another 2-3 mins until the sauce is thickened and lovely. Check the seasoning.

Place the filling in a pie dish and top with the pastry. Decorate as you wish, not forgetting the steam holes, and brush with egg glaze.

Bake in a hot oven for about 30 mins until the filling is piping hot and the pastry is risen and golden. Serve with mash and veggies.

Chestnut and Cranberry Loaf

This is our stuffing/vegetarian centrepiece for this year.

For 10 or so slices you need:
200g fresh breadcrumbs
250g mushrooms
2 onions
1 tbsp each dried oregano and thyme
1/2 pack fresh parsley
200g chestnuts, roughly chopped
150g cranberries
1 egg
50g butter
1 clementine

Pulverise the mushrooms and onion in a food processor till a smooth puree. Melt the butter in a pan and cook the mushroom and onion mixture. After about 4 mins add the cranberries, herbs, seasoning and chestnuts. Mix in to the breadcrumbs and egg and then turn into a lined laof tin. Cut the skin off the celmentine and cut into 3-4 slices. Lay the slices on the top of the loaf and bake in the oven for about 50 mins. You can do this the day before and then just reheat on the big day.

Spinach, Mushroom and Tomato Brunch Eggs

This was a perfect way to start the seasonal festivities i.e. 3 of your 5 a day ;-)

For 4 people you need:
1/2 punnet mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced
50g butter
1 pack baby spinach
8 eggs
1 punnet baby plum tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Begin by melting the butter in a large non stick pan. Add the onions and mushrooms and sweat for about 5 mins. Add the spinach and cover with a lid to wilt. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a separate pan and add the halved tomatoes. Season both pans with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the spinach pan and scramble. Serve with the tomatoes on the side and lots of toast. Yum.

The Perfect Veggie Fry Up

Saturday is fry up day in our household. We have a lazy lie in (well we stay in bed and bribe Lex to stay upstairs for as long as possible...) and the come down to a large pot of coffee and a fry up for brunch.

For 3 people you need:
2 medium tomatoes, sliced in half
4-5 small mushrooms, destalked
2 knobs butter
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 hash browns
5 potato croquettes
3 rashers veggie bacon
3 veggie sausages
1 can beans
2 slices toast with butter and good quality marmalade
copious fresh orange juice
3 eggs

Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and season. Drizzle over the oil and bake for 15 mins in a hot oven.

Place the mushrooms in a pan, with some butter, seasoning and the sunflower oil. Cook covered for 10 mins before removing the lid and allowing to brown slightly.

Cook the croquettes and hash browns as per instructions on the packet (i.e. bung them into a hot oven for about 20 mins). Do the same with the sausages.

Heat the beans in a pan.

Fry the eggs. Toast the bread. Cook the bacon in the oven for 2 mins each side.

Serve, scoff and then run away and hide from the washing up...!

Spinach/chard/kale, mushroom, tomato and egg 'mess' (can be vegan)

What do you do when your veg box delivers too much spinach? Make this of course! It's a great brunch or light supper dish and nauseatingly healthy too with three of your five a day on one plate. Omit the egg for a vegan version

For two people you need:
1 bag spinach/chard/soft kale, washed and roughly shredded
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 punnet mushrooms, thickly sliced
salt and pepper
splash veggie worcester sauce
splash tabasco
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup small tomatoes, halved
4 eggs

Begin by sauteeing the onion in the oil for 2-3 mins. Add the spinach and mushrooms and cover to allow the spinach to wilt. Don't cook for too long as you want the mushrooms firm and not soggy.

Season with salt, pepper, tabasco and worcester sauce. If you want it vegan serve as is with bread/toast. If you want to add the eggs, make four hollows in the vegetables and crack the eggs in to them. Cover again and cook for 3-5 mins till the eggs are set.

Pepper, Mushroom, Onion and Tomato Galette (v)

This is a vegan filling for your lovingly prepared galettes.

For one person you need:
1/2 a sliced onion
2-3 sliced mushrooms
2-3 sliced cherry tomatoes
1/2 a pepper, sliced

Start by flash griddling the veggies to tenderise them a little. Once done, wipe the pan clean and lay a galette on to it. Scatter over the cooked veggies and then fold the galette into thirds before flipping over quickly and then scoffing. Bon apetit!

Mushrooms with Blue Cheese

This was supposed to be a baked mushroom recipe, following a discussion on twitter yesterday with @francesbell and her great suggestion for baked blue cheese shrooms with walnut bread, but when Ocado delivered the mushrooms they weren't really suitable for baking so I sauteed them instead and served them on toast. Oh my. They were delicious!

For one hungry person you need:
3-4 portabellini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp blue cheese
1 tbsp oil
pepper

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 mins or so and then add the mushrooms. Cover with a lid and sautee for 5 mins or so until lightly golden and slightly softened. Add the cheese and let it melt into the mushrooms. Serve on toast amazed at yourself.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Spinach & Ricotta

I adore baked mushrooms, and these were thrown together during the week to use up a glut of spinach that arrived in the veg box. Very tasty they were too :)

For 2 people (as a starter) you need:
4-6 portabello mushrooms
250g spinach, washed and finely shredded
25g butter
1 clove garlic
1/2 tub ricotta cheese
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup finely grated gruyere

Begin by peeling the mushrooms and trimming the stalks. Place them stalk side up on a baking sheet and top with a little garlic and butter and seasoning. Bake in a moderate oven for 5-10 mins. Meanwhile wilt the spinach in a bowl in the microwave. Season and add some grated nutmeg. Mix in the ricotta. Take the mushrooms out of the oven and place the spinach filling on them. Top with a sprinkling of cheese and bake for a further 20 mins or so until hot and bubbling. Serve with lots of crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Brunch in one Pan

I love a good fry up, but this usually means lots of mess. My better half does not like this. I got a new sautee pan yesterday and was dying to try it out, so created this this morning to test out the reduced mess option. It worked.

For 3 hungry people you need:
1 punnet mushrooms, thickly sliced
handful cherry tomatoes, halved
3 eggs
1/2 tbsp oil
small knob of butter
salt and pepper
toast to serve

Begin by sauteeing the mushrooms in the oil and butter for 4-5 mins. Then add the tomatoes and cook for a further 1-2 mins. Clear 3 spaces and crack in the eggs. Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 mins till the eggs are lightly set. I should mention here that you need a non stick pan...

Serve with toast and scoff. A perfect way to start the day.

Moroccan Spiced Vegetables with Bulghar Wheat and Haloumi (v)

This is another endless variation on the same theme, but tasty none the less. Today's dish was a bit dry if truth be told so I am open for suggestions as to a sauce to combine with it. I was thinking either yogurt and harissa or maybe some runny tahini sauce...

Serves 4 people

For the baharat beetroot and squash you need 2-3 beetroot, scrubbed and peeled and cut into 6ths and 1 squash, cut into chunks. Toss in a little olive oil, season with salt and sprinkle over 1-2 tbsp baharat. Roast in a medium oven for 20-30 mins.

For the ras-el-halout mixed vegetables you need handful mushrooms, 1 courgette, 2 carrots, 2 red onions, 1/2 cauliflower broken into florets. Begin by roughly chopping the onion, courgettes and carrots. Toss in some olive oil and 1-2 tbsp ras-el-halout with the mushrooms and cauliflower. Roast in a medium oven for 20-30 mins.

For the haloumi chop a packet into chunks and roast in a hot oven for about 10 mins.

For the bulghar wheat place 1/2 cup bulghar wheat in a bowl with 1/2 tsp stock powder and pour over 1 cup boiling water. Leave to mingle for 20-30 mins. If you are vegan, omit the haloumi and add a can drained chickpeas to the bulghar wheat.

Serve, scoff and enjoy :)

Baked Mushrooms with Stilton

I used to make these a lot but haven't made them recently. But our veg box contained three beautiful mushrooms and I created this to show them off :)

For 2 as a side dish you need:
4 portabello mushrooms, cleaned
75g stilton, crumbled
salt and pepper

Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and season. Scatter over the cheese and bake in a moderate oven for about 10-15 mins till the cheese has melted and the mushrooms are cooked. Enjoy with a green salad and some bread to mop up the juices.

Spanish Omelette

There are endless variations on the plain and humble omelette and this is about as authentically Spanish as, well I'm not sure. Nothing Spanish that's for sure.. But it's tasty and a good way to use up leftovers/frozen veg.

For 3-4 people you need:
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 onion, diced
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, diced
1 courgette, diced
1 tin sweetcorn/1/4 cup frozen corn
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper
oil

Begin by sauteeing the onion in the oil for a few mins, then add everything else aside from the eggs, cheese and tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 mins. Season the eggs, then add the cheese to the eggs and put this into the pan. and move everything about a bit to ensure even distribution. Cook on a low heat till the bottom is done. At this point you have a choice. You can either put it under the grill to cook the top (add the sliced toms at this point and maybe a touch more cheese) or you can put it in the oven to finish it or you can be brave and invert it on a plate and slide it back into the pan or you can transfer it to a glass dish and nuke it in the microwave. Whatever you decide to do, the omelette needs to be fully cooked. You can then either eat it hot or room temp or cold.

Japanese Omelette

This is perfect at any time of the day, but I particularly like it for breakfast...

For one greedy person you need:
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
3 spring onions, sliced
large handful coriander, chopped
3 mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp mirin
1 tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Begin by sauteeing the mushrooms in a non stick omelette pan for 4-5 mins till lightly golden. Remove and leave on a plate. Pour the eggs into the pan and cook. Flip over and cook the other side. Turn the omelette out on to a plate, scatter over the mushrooms, spring onions, coriander and drizzle over the soya sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Finish with a scattering of toasted sesame seeds.

Marinated Mushrooms (v)

I fancied tapas so tapas was what we had. The following recipes are a selection of what we forged on, the remainder of the groaning table comprised of various marinated olives, and some manchego and giant beans in chilli and tomato sauce.

For 4-6 people you need:
1 onion, very finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato purée
1/2 cup sherry
1/4 cup water
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Salt and pepper
225g mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Olive oil

Begin by sautéing the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for about 10 mins till soft. Add everything else, aside from the mushrooms, and bring to the boll. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 mins. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 mins before transferring to a serving dish and leaving to cool. Eat at room temperature with list of bread.

Haloumi and Vegetable Kebabs

I get so frustrated and fed up with the usual veggie fare on a BBQ. If you're lucky you might get a veggie sausage or burger. If you're unlucky you might get a tired, soggy selection of overcooked and bland vegetables. This recipe however shows how veggie kebabs *should* taste like.

For 4 portions you need
1 pack haloumi, cut into chunks
1 red and 1 orange pepper, cut into chunks
1-2 red onions, cut into chunks (what else...)
1/2 punnet button mushrooms
1-2 courgettes
olive oil
moroccan seasoning
Bamboo skewers, soaked in water or metal skewers

Begin by placing all the ingredients into a bowl and adding 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Toss gently to coat. Then thread onto the skewers, using a good mix of everything. Lay the loaded skewers on the BBQ (towards the edge where it's a bit cooler) and BBQ till done. This should take between 5-10 mins depending on the heat. Turn carefully to ensure everything is evenly cooked.

Creamy, Garlicky Mushroom Pasta

An odds and sods meal using up the last of the veg box on a Friday...

For 2 portions you need:
200g pasta
250g mushrooms, thickly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 pack boursin cheese
100ml white wine
2 leeks, finely shredded
Olive oil
Parmesan to serve

Saute the leeks and garlic and mushrooms in the oil for about 15 mins till tender. Deglaze the pan with the wine and then add the boursin. Heat through to melt. Meanwhile cook the pasta. Drain the pasta, and toss through the sauce. Serve topped with some fresh parmesan.

Garlic Mushrooms (v)

A quick and easy recipe this one that can be adapted into other things, served as a starter or just as a quick snack. Use all oil or vegan marge to make it vegan.

For 2 portions you need:
250g mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
handful chopped chives and parsley
salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a pan. Add the mushrooms and cook, gently, for about 10 mins till the juices have run out. Add the garlic and seasoning and cook for a further 5-10 mins. Serve with lashings of crusty bread, topped with the chives and parsley.