Hello again!

Hello, long time no posts but rest assured I have been cooking and creating.  Big changes are afoot here in the soup kitchen but it's all good.  To kickstart my food blogging here's a fab veggie burger recipe I've adapted. 

 

Aduki and sweet potato burgers

 

100g dried aduki beans, soaked overnight and cooked according to the packet instructions
OR
1 can ready cooked aduki beans, drained
1 large baked sweet potato
50g oats
3 tbsp of chopped parsley
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp each of cayenne pepper, ground coriander and ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp salt

Sesame rolls, salad, mayo and relish to serve

Take half of the beans and mash them in a bowl. Add rest of beans
Scoop out the flesh of the sweet potato and mash it.  Add to bowl

Add all other ingredients to the bowl and mix well.
Take a small handful of mixture at a time and form into burger shapes.
Fry in a heated frying pan with a little oil until both sides are starting to crisp.
Finish cooking by popping burgers in a hot oven for 10 mins until heated through

Meanwhile split the sesame rolls and toast the insides (I did this on the Aga plate)

Serve the cooked burgers on the roll with salad, mayo and relish.

I've made these twice and discovered that they work better if they're really crispy on the outside but not burnt hence finishing them off in an oven.

Be brave with the seasoning as they need quite a lot.  The secret is the smoked paprika but any combination of your favourite spices will work with it.

And I've realised they are vegan friendly if you watch the rolls and mayo ingredients :-)

Enjoy!

Turnberry Soup

This is a quick cream of veg soup.  And the only thing I learned to cook at school in home economics that I remember. It's called Turnberry Soup in our family because I made a flask of it for a trip to see the Open when it was at the Turnberry course in the 80s. Good way of getting veg into the kids.

Turnberry Soup

25g butter

25g flour

1/2 litre milk

1/2 litre vegetable stock

about 400g of grated root veggies (I used 1 carrot, 1 potato, 1 onion and a piece of turnip)

Add butter, flour and milk to a pan and whisk.

Heat until thickened to look like a white sauce. 

Add vegetable stock slowly and stir.

Add grated veggies.

Simmer for 10 mins and stir regularly to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan.

It doesn't really re heat well so best made in small batches and eaten fresh.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog about one of my favourite things.  Food!!  I love to cook and I love to eat!  I've been feeding an active sporty family for many years and know how to cater for vegetarians and food intolerances.  And in the current economic climate, food needs to be cheap, filling and packed with goodness.  So for my first offering I give you 2 different types of soup.  Leek and Potato (2 versions) and Roast Tomato and Lentil.  Both made this morning to use up bits of veg lurking in the bottom of the fridge.

Leek and Potato Soup (chunky)

2 large leeks, washed and sliced

3 large potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large onion, diced

2 litres vegetable stock

Add vegetables and stock to a large pan and bring to the boil. 

Simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potato is soft (depends on size of potato chunks)

Serves 4 to 6

Suitable for vegetarians/vegans but could also be made with chicken stock.  Add some chunks of cooked chicken at the end of cooking.

Leek and Potato Soup (smooth)

Following the above recipe, once the potatoes are soft use a stick blender to blitz the soup until it's smooth.  Don't over process as the potatoes can make the soup gluey!  Serve with a dollop of yoghurt/creme freche/cream.

Roast Tomato and Lentil

300g tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 tbsp olive oil

pinch of dried Italian herbs

2 medium carrots, diced

50g red lentils

1 litre vegetable stock

Put tomatoes, oil and herbs in a small roasting dish and roast for 20-30  minutes or until the edges of the tomatoes are starting to crisp.

Add all the ingredients to a pan and simmer until carrots and lentils are soft (usually about 15 mins)

Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth.

Serves 2

Suitable for vegetarians/vegans

The above recipe also works well with a can of chopped tomatoes.  Just skip the roasting stage and put everything straight into a pan.

Enjoy!