Monthly Archives: April 2014

Baked Double Lemon Halloumi with Shoots & Baby Leaves | Vegetarian

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Fresh lemon juice and lemon thyme combine to create aromatic halloumi, baked for a perfect crisp and served on a fresh salad of shoots and baby leaves rounded off with a balsamic glaze. Serve with spicy sweet potato wedges.

Halloumi needs no introduction (I already did that here) but I will say once again what a dream lemon and halloumi are together. I took a bit of a risk for this dish combining fresh lemon juice with lemon thyme but it was a gamble that paid off. This is dish is pure spring/summer food and definitely going to become a regular of mine.

To really allow the flavours in the marinade to permeate and be caught by every slice, spreading the halloumi over the bottom of a wide dish works well. Don’t be afraid to get your hands a bit messy; rub the lemon thyme onto the cheese and in with the juice and garlic to release the flavour.

I served this with sweet potato chips according to this recipe with a sprinkling of smoked paprika and cayenne pepper added before baking to give them a kick. The balsamic glaze, I must confess, was lovingly shop-bought (from M&S). Whilst I’m sure it would be possible to make something similar, it’s very handy to have a bottle to pull from the back of the fridge now and then and put the effort elsewhere. Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the halloumi:

450g halloumi cheese (I went for ‘lighter’ halloumi), cut into thick slices

Juice of one lemon

1tbsp fresh lemon thyme, stems removed

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Black pepper to taste

For the salad:

1 carrot, sliced into ribbons (a veg peeler is best for this job)

100g mixed shoots (lentil, pea and bean shoots are used here, but any combination like this would work)

75g mixed baby leaves (again any combination works – here it is chard, lambs lettuce, green lettuce, red lettuce, frisée, spinach)

8 vine tomatoes, halved

Balsamic glaze/dressing of your choice

Mix the lemon juice, lemon thyme, garlic and black pepper together, ensuring the thyme leaves are well-bruised to release the flavour. Pour this over the halloumi and marinate for twenty to thirty minutes.
Preheat an oven to 200c / 180C fan / gas mark 6.
Spread the marinated halloumi over a baking tray, leaving the excess marinade in the original dish. Place in the oven and bake for fifteen minutes – turning halfway and covering with 2/3 of the remaining marinade.
In the meantime, mix the salad ingredients together.
When the halloumi is crisp and golden brown, remove from the oven and cover with the remaining liquid from the marinade.
Place atop the salad and drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Garnish with a spring of lemon thyme and serve with the seasoned sweet potato chips or your chosen side.

This recipe is my entry into Betta Living’s vegetarian recipe competition in celebration of National Vegetarian Week in May. Find out more and submit your entry here.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, South Korea

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Capital of the Gyeonggi Province, Suwon is a lively city with plenty to see and do making it easily worthy of a couple of day’s visit. Located just thirty kilometres south of Seoul, Suwon is also a great option for a day trip without too much travel time if you’re based in Seoul.

One of the biggest draws is Suwon’s Hawseong Fortress. An UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hwaseong encircles the city and boasts panoramic views of the city and surrounding area. Originally built in the later years of the Joseon Dynasty between 1794 and 1796, the fortress unfortunately suffered the same fate as much of the country during the Korean War. Once considered irreparable, thankfully substantial reconstruction work in the 1970s has saved Suwon from becoming another faceless city.The walls of the fortress are a touch over five and a half kilometres, with four major gates to mark each direction with several smaller ones straddling any waterways. Given the length of the walls, it pays to allow a good three or so hours. In summer, I’d give it a bit longer so you can take breaks to cool down… and in winter, so you can take breaks to warm up! As the fortress intertwines with the city (which has long since spilt out of its walls) you’ll come across markets, temples, and plenty of places to eat so allow yourself a little longer if you fancy hopping on and off as you go. It costs 1,000W to walk the city walls. They are open from 9am till 6pm (5pm in winter). Suwon city can be reached from Seoul in less than an hour by bus, train or subway – the nearest subway station being Suwon on line one. Buses also run from other cities across the country.

Keep an eye out for some more Suwon sights coming up soon! Where have you explored recently?

Sweet Potato & 3-Bean Slow Cooker Paprikash | Vegan

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This Hungarian dish brings the warm flavours of paprika & cayenne pepper and is packed full with seven different types of vegetable.

According to recent research an ideal diet is made up of seven portions of fruit and veg a day – two more than current UK government guidelines. This research suggests that adding this extra nutrition cuts down the likelihood of dying from cancer or heart disease. Vegetarian diets have frequently been linked to lower incidences of these sorts of illness and that could be due to the consumption of higher amounts of vegetables.

Even in a vegetable-rich vegetarian or vegan diet, it is always possible to pack in that bit more and today’s recipe is an ideal go-to when you really want to fill up on a variety of vegetables. The beans in this dish bring added protein, whilst the lentils provide extra fibre and heart-loving magnesium. Well, if that wasn’t enough there’s even a touch of marmite to add all-important B-vitamins. All of the ingredients in this dish are simply added to the slow cooker together negating the need for any added oil.

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes cut into 1 inch chunks

250g red lentils

2 red onions, each cut into 16

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can butter beans, drained

1 can black eyed beans, drained

2 cans/800g chopped tomatoes

150ml veg stock

1tsp marmite

4 cloves garlic

2tbsp Hungarian paprika

2tsp cayenne pepper

Plenty of black pepper

Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker. Mix well. Cook for five hours on high or ten hours on low.
Serve with an extra sprinkling of black pepper and crusty bread or rice.

This recipe is part of Farmersgirl Kitchen’s April slow cooker challenge to make a dish in your slow cooker that contains seven portions of fruit and/or veg. Find out more and how to get involved here.

Do you think seven portions of fruit and veg a day is realistic? Share your thoughts below or over on !

Black Garlic Rigatoni | Vegan

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Thick rigatoni tubes in a rich tomato pasta sauce full of the dark sweetness of black garlic and roasted squash with earthy chestnut mushrooms and aubergine.

I’ll readily admit that black garlic was an ingredient I didn’t even know existed until the day I made this. Whilst browsing ingredients in the supermarket one weekend and trying to decide what would go well with the rigatoni pasta I already had, my boyfriend announced he wanted something ‘exotic.’ The pouch of black garlic caught my eye and we agreed that seemed exotic enough. Black garlic has an almost jelly-like texture so chopping it roughly works fine. It adds an unexpected sweetness to the dish with its molasses-esque flavour.

Speaking of “exotic” ingredients, this dish also uses a coquina squash – a squash very similar to the butternut squash but cooks slightly softer and it almost became one with this sauce instead of holding in chunks. Either would work a treat in this recipe but if you can hunt down a coquina it is worth it.

Ingredients:

400g rigatoni tubes

1 Coquina squash, cut into small cubes and roasted for 20 minutes

1 aubergine, cut into thick strips

2 onions, finely chopped

400g chestnut mushrooms, cut into thick slices

2 cans chopped tomatoes

3 cloves black garlic, chopped

1tsp thyme

Plenty of black pepper

Preheat an oven to 200c / 180C fan / gas mark 6. Pour 2tbsp olive oil onto a baking tray. Place in the oven for around 4-5 minutes until the oil has heated up, then add the squash cubes onto the baking tray, covering well with the hot oil. Roast for twenty minutes or until browned, turning halfway.
Whilst the squash is roasting, add the rigatoni pasta to a pan of boiling water and cook for around eight minutes or as directed on the packet. Once cooked al dente, drain well.
Whilst the squash is roasting and the pasta is cooking, heat the remaining 2tbsp olive oil in a deep frying pan or large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions, cook for around five minutes until they have softened.
Add the mushrooms and aubergine to the pan. Stirring well, cook for around five minutes until they have begun to brown.
Pour the tomatoes into the pan, along with the black garlic. Once the squash has roasted, add this to the pan.
Simmer for around fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the thyme and stir for a further two minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
Mix the drained rigatoni pasta together with the sauce until it is well coated and serve.

Have you cooked with any new ingredients lately? Share your recipes below or over on !