I’m not exactly reinventing the wheel here but lately I’ve been stuck in something of a cooking rut partly determined by a drive to make sure we don’t waste food thus reducing our grocery bill and partly due to the boy becoming more and more about routine and vocalising his disgust very loudly when I try and put something new in front of him.  After repeated attempts frittata has now firmly met with his approval and it is a great vehicle for using up vegetables.  An added bonus is that it’s cheap to make, hearty and filling.  Also he currently likes broccoli but only the tender stem variety.  As a parent this makes me a) very smug and b) very poor as it costs double the amount of regular broccoli and I really shouldn’t be indulging his inclination towards fancy vegetables.

For me the key ingredient for a successful frittata is good hard goat cheese that has plenty of flavour. Choose your own combination of vegetables if kale and sweet potato aren’t your thing.  Personally I like the earthy and sweet mix.  I imagine asparagus would be pretty great at the moment and of course you could try tender stem broccoli.

Any attempt to style food photos these days goes out the window, especially when I have a small boy standing at the kitchen gate jumping up and down for his lunch.  I’m all about realism although I did make an attempt to avoid the bits of dried food stuck to our hob.

Sweet Potato and Kale Frittata

Serves 2 very generously but will stretch to 3.

I used an 8 inch skillet.

1 small sweet potato peeled and cut in to dice

2 large cavolo nero or kale leaves

1 shallot finely chopped

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

4 large eggs beaten

50g (2oz) hard goat’s cheese, grated

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat oven Gas Mark 7, 220°C, 425°F.  *I have a truely rubbish oven so you may want to keep an eye on your frittata to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Toss the diced sweet potato in the olive oil, thyme and paprika.  Place the diced sweet potato on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the potato is tender and starting to turn golden.  Meanwhile add a splash of olive oil to your skillet and gently cook the shallot for about 5 minutes.  Add the cooked sweet potato and kale and continue to cook until the kale has started to wilt, about 2 minutes.  Add the egg mixture and cook on the hob until the egg is almost set but the top is still a bit runny, about 5-10 minutes.  Sprinkle liberally with goat’s cheese and place skillet in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the frittata is golden brown and cooked through.  

Crayons, Cake and Pasta etc.

A few photos from this month.  February is always a month I look forward to waving adieu to.  It hints at spring around the corner but keeps you firmly in the midst of winter.  We started the month recovering from another virus.  We’re ending the month with a broken down car but in between there has been this cake, fun at the playground, visits to our favourite local cafe, a trip to the farmers market, messing with crayons but also teaching the smallest member of the household about his favourite vegetable, streams of sunlight across my cup of tea, daffodils because spring soon please and Rachel Roddy’s Tomato Pasta with roasted aubergine chucked in because see above.

Courgette, Aubergine and Tomato Pasta and Feeding The Boy

Around the time that I last managed to do anything for this blog I started weaning the boy on to solids and found I was never going to have time to do anything blog worthy ever again!  So, today I was determined to get something down.  This is a really simple pasta lunch which the boy seems to like and which I happen to enjoy too.  A win, win situation. 

I’m not going to pretend to be any sort of expert on feeding little people. They can be stubborn little critters.  I say whatever works for you.  We try to feed him what we are eating and we do our best to eat meals as a family.  This has turned us into early bird diners.  Like so many other areas of parenthood, it’s all too easy to get wrapped up worrying what your child is or isn’t supposed to be eating.  I had high hopes of trying baby-led weaning (in a nutshell, letting him feed himself) but this boy wasn’t into it.  He likes to be spoon fed like a little lord.  His favourite food in the world is plain yoghurt.  His favourite beverage next to milk is water, he goes nuts for the stuff.  I’m happy to say he will eat this pasta dish without complaint and sometimes with something close to enthusiasm.  Little mouth open for the next mouthful is always a heartening sign.  

Recipe makes one serving plus a little extra for those who have a mini mouth to feed.

1 large courgette sliced in to discs

½ an aubergine sliced in to discs and quartered

5 small tomatoes such as cherry or pomodoro, halved

Teaspoon lemon zest

Hard goats cheese for grating or other strong flavoured cheese such as parmesan

Extra virgin olive oil

2 handfuls about 75g of gluten free pasta

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7

Toss the vegetables and tomatoes in olive oil and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until vegetables are beginning to brown.  Meanwhile cook your pasta according to the pack instructions.  When the vegetables are ready and the pasta has been drained return everything to the pasta pan and add the lemon zest, some grated cheese and a glug of olive oil.  Mix everything together.  A splash of water from the kettle can loosen everything up.  Serve with extra cheese on top.  For the baby version just mash everything with a fork and slice up any stubborn bits until you have made the most unappealing consistency you can manage.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

I wasn’t planning on such a long blog break but life has been busy with a 4 month old keeping me on my toes.  He has no interest in pretty napkins and taking photos, unless of course they are of him or perhaps a bottle of milk.  I didn’t manage to blog much last year and I’ve missed it so blogging more is a New Year resolution of sorts.  If anyone is still reading this blog then thanks for sticking around!

This roasted butternut squash risotto is a regular meal through winter.  I love the vibrant orange of the squash to warm up a grey day.  It’s easy to throw together and comforting to eat.  I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how to make risotto but I do mine a little differently by adding quinoa for a healthier and lighter meal.  If that isn’t your thing just make your favourite risotto recipe, roast the squash and add both the squash and kale to your risotto at the end.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

Serves 2

½ butternut squash, peeled and diced

2-3 cavolo nero leaves finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon olive oil

Knob of butter

1oz quinoa rinsed

2-3oz Arborio rice

500ml stock (I use chicken stock)

Hard goats cheese or parmesan, grated

For the roasted squash: line a baking sheet with parchment.  Spread out the butternut squash, sprinkle with thyme and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast in the oven for approx 35 minutes at Gas mark 7.

For the risotto: Heat the oil in a sauté pan and add the shallot or onion.  Sauté over a low heat until translucent.  Add the garlic and continue to sauté for a further minute.  Add the butter followed by quinoa and Arborio rice.  Sauté for a two minutes until the rice becomes translucent and the quinoa is slightly toasty.  Deglaze the pan with a ladle full of stock or white wine if you prefer.  Once the stock is absorbed by the rice add another ladle full and continue with this method until the rice is cooked, about 25 minutes, stirring between each addition of stock.  Add the roasted butternut squash and chopped kale.  Cook for a further minute then turn off the heat, add the grated cheese and cover with a lid.  Leave the risotto to rest for two minutes then serve with more grated cheese on top if you like.

Novelty Vegetables

I seem to have found my way back to the kitchen lately.  I’ve dusted off my camera and found a little inspiration again.  It helps that there is so much crazy good food to be eaten at this time of year.  I’m literally coming back from the market sinking under the weight of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Ok, my husband is sinking under the weight.  I pretty much carry nothing apart from the small human I’m overcooking.  41 weeks, come on!

I was instantly charmed and intrigued by the purple cauliflower I saw at the market last week.  Obviously I had to buy one immediately and take pictures of it with my phone because that’s the kind of weird stuff that amuses me.  Purple cauliflower tastes much the same as regular cauliflower but I was pleased that it retains its colour while cooking.  A little research revealed that it also has added health benefits containing extra levels of antioxidants.

I was roasting some new potatoes for lunch so I decided to throw some cauliflower in with those.  It made a great side dish.  I’ll definitely be having my husband schlep one home from the market again.

Spicy Roasted New Potatoes and Purple Cauliflower

Serves 2 as a side dish.

New potatoes chopped in to bite size pieces

½ head cauliflower broken down in to bite size florets

For the spice mix: I tend not to measure so add or subtract amounts according to your taste.

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon of cumin,

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat the oven to gas mark 7.  Line a baking tray with parchment.

Place the new potatoes and cauliflower in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil.  As soon as the water boils remove from the heat, drain and allow the vegetables to steam dry for a couple of minutes.

Mix the spices, thyme, olive oil and honey together in a bowl and add the vegetables.  Combine until the vegetables are well coated.  Pour the vegetables into your prepared baking tray.  Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes turning occasionally until golden brown.

Roasted Summer Vegetables and a Rosy View

There is a rose in our garden coming out in full bloom.  If you knew what bad gardeners we are you would be impressed.  A few weeks ago my husband cleared an over grown and mostly dead flower bed which had been doing a good deal of looking very ugly for the past year.  We took ourselves off to the garden centre and set about buying plants having no clue what we were doing except that we wanted a few hardy shrubs and a rose bush.  We returned home somewhat out of pocket but with a car boot full of promise.  My husband dutifully planted everything while I idled with a book in a chair offering up helpful and sometimes not so helpful directions.  He planted, we watched, we waited.  The centrepiece of our new flower bed is an English rose bush and I’m happy to report this morning there are two lovely heads in bloom.  The rosemary we bought is thriving, the fuscia is doing well.  As for the others, the less said about those the better.  You can’t win them all.  The tenuous link to this salad being that we can now sit outside and enjoy our lunch with a decent view.

I’ve been enjoying roasted vegetables in various incarnations so far this summer.  I buy whatever is in season but the main players have been fennel, courgettes, carrots, tomatoes and of course kale.  In this version I used up some potatoes and threw in an avocado but I’ve also mixed roasted veg with pasta, quinoa and even millet.  The flavour comes from the roasted veg as they caremelise in the oven, the lemon zest adds a bright note to the whole affair, toasted nuts or seeds add crunch and of course goats cheese for tang.

Serves 2

1 large potato peeled and cut in to chunks

2 carrots peeled and sliced to your liking

½ large fennel bulb or whole bulb if smaller, cut in to wedges.

8 or so small plum tomatoes cut in half or quarters if larger

1 bunch of kale or other greens

1 avocado peeled and sliced

Handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted

Goats cheese

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Zest of half a lemon

Teaspoon rosemary

Preheat oven Gas Mark 7, line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Parboil the potatoes, drain and set aside to steam.  Prepare the other vegetables.  Add the potatoes, carrots and fennel to the first baking sheet.  Sprinkle with rosemary and olive oil.  Place on the shelf of the oven.

Lay the tomatoes cut side up on the other baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil and roast in the bottom shelf of the oven.  Keep an eye on the vegetables, turning occasionally.  Everything should be done after about 40 minutes.  The vegetables should be golden and the tomatoes should be beginning to caremelise.

Once the vegetables are ready add the kale to the baking tray to allow it to slightly wilt for about one minute.  Remove from the oven and grate over the lemon zest.  Serve up the roasted vegetables and kale in bowls, top with the tomatoes, avocado, goats cheese and pumpkin seeds.  Season to your liking.

Everything in a Bowl

Well this has been a sorry state of affairs, no blog post for nearly a month and then all I have to show you is soup, and more butternut squash at that.  I’ve also caught myself in an awkward time zone.  It’s far too late to be mentioning Christmas, New Year or any of those resolution things so let’s just skip it all, talk about soup and pretend I didn’t fail to blog about any of that stuff. 

Soup has featured heavily around here lately.  Since the UK has been battered with storms and relentless rain we’ve gone in to hibernation mode, abandoning our usual routines in favour of reading books and eating anything out of a bowl, which usually means soup or stew but can also stretch to a jacket potato and baked beans.  The civility of the dining table has been abandoned for the comfort of the sofa and the odd film.  Meal times have really gone to pot around here. 

I made this soup for my Dad when he visited for a few days recently and he said it was “wizard” which I choose to take as a compliment.  It requires very little effort to pull together and lets the flavour of the roasted squash take centre stage. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Serves 2-3

600g butternut squash peeled and chopped in to chunks *you can make them smaller than the ones in the photo for speedier cooking time.

Approx 600ml stock

1 -2 tablespoons olive oil

Sprinkling of dried rosemary

1 garlic clove finely chopped

2 shallots finely sliced.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

Line a baking tray with parchment.  Place the chopped up butternut squash on the tray, toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with dried rosemary.  Roast for 40 minutes until the squash is nicely caramelised. 

About 5 minutes before the squash is ready place a splash of olive oil in a large pan and sauté the shallots for 5 minutes until soft.  Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute.  Remove the squash from the oven and tip in to the pan.  Next add the stock and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Leave the soup in the pan to cool for a few minutes then blend until smooth.  Return the soup to the pan and heat through.  Serve with crusty toast and toasted almonds if you like.

Butternut Squash, Pecan, Goat’s Cheese and Honey Toasts

I suppose I have to admit that winter is upon us.  The leaves are dropping from the trees in rapid succession, some of them are already bare, others are hanging on to their golden nuggets until those blustery winter winds finally win the battle and send them heading to the ground.  Soon we’ll be hanging Christmas decorations (most of you probably already have) and before we know it welcoming in a new year.  I’m not quite ready to let go of autumn yet so I’ve been taking quite a few photos of our weekend walks before winter is well and truly here and I forget all about those sometimes golden, sometimes grey skies.

I am also enjoying all things butternut squash.  You have been warned.  Last weekend when I was hunting around for something to eat for lunch I reached for the River Cottage Veg book which always seems to yield something tasty and easy that I can throw together.  The recipe uses sourdough as the bread of choice, which I am sure would be the way to go, however since I’ve yet to try making gluten free sourdough, sub whatever gluten free bread you have.  It will still taste fantastic, I promise.  Here the slightly sweet, caramelized flavour of the roasted squash is balanced out by melted goat’s cheese, toasted pecans and it’s all finished off with a drizzle of honey.  I threw in some kale too, but you should expect that of me by now.

Recipe adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday! by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Serves 2

A handful of toasted pecans (or nut of choice)

1 tablespoon olive oil

200-250g butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite size cubes

2 leaves of cavolo nero kale (optional) stems removed and chopped

1 teaspoon dried rosemary or thyme

50g goat’s cheese (I used hard goat’s cheese, you could also use cheddar)

2 thick slices of gluten free bread, toasted

A trickle of clear honey

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

Line a baking sheet with parchment.  Lay the squash out in a single layer, sprinkle with rosemary and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast for about 30 – 40 minutes until the squash is tender and beginning to caramelize around the edges.  If you are using the kale I add this to the pan five minutes before the squash is ready.  You just want the kale wilted in the heat of the oven.

When the squash is nearly ready light the grill and lightly toast the bread.  Remove from the grill and top with the squash, kale, goat’s cheese, pecans and finish with a drizzle of honey.  Return to the grill and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

The Dining Room, The Cauliflower and The Grain Free Pizza.

I’m sitting in my dining room, which has just been painted white by our landlord after years of peeling paint and strange patches on the walls.  I feel like I have a blank canvas to play with, full of potential.  Our living room on the other hand is packed full of our dining room furniture and pretty much resembles Steptoe’s Yard.  But I get to start again in this room.  This weekend we’ll start to drag stuff back.  I’ll put my vintage plates lovingly away in the dresser.  My husband will enjoy reorganising our music collection far more than a person should.  We’ll argue over how the books should be arranged and in what order.  Pretty soon it will look much as it ever did, a thoroughly lived in room with all the tapestry of our lives strewn about.  But for now it’s a blank canvas and how often do we get one of those?

I was going to make a tenuous link about pizza bases being a blank canvas but I won’t do that (except I just did). This is a pizza base with a difference since it is made from cauliflower.  I’d seen quite a few recipes for grain free pizza bases made from cauliflower around the internet and the idea intrigued me.  When I saw this recipe on Green Kitchen Stories the simplicity of the recipe appealed to my sometimes lazy attitude towards cooking and so I took the plunge and gave it a try.  It was a great success and my husband declared it the best “gluten free” pizza he’d had.  Notice he said “gluten free” because quite frankly if you are looking for this base to taste like real pizza you will be disappointed.  Personally I’ve forgotten what pizza tastes like but I know this isn’t going to replicate.  It does stand out on its own as a delicious alternative with a slightly nutty, sweet taste and softer texture. 

Since my husband can’t eat tomatoes these days I went for a goat’s cheese topping with roasted fennel and pear.  The result was delicious.  The sweetness from the caramelised fennel and pears complimented the tang of the goat’s cheese perfectly.  We’ll definitely be making this again many times in the future.

Pizza base recipe adapted from Green Kitchen Stories:  Serves 2-3

1 cauliflower (how much you use will depend on the size of the cauliflower)

80g ground almonds

1 tablespoon of dried rosemary (or whatever dried herb you like)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large eggs beaten

Preheat the oven Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside.

Chop the cauliflower in to florets and process in a food processor to make a fine, rice like texture.  You should end up with about 700ml of cauliflower rice.  I started off in batches and stopped once I had reached 700ml.

Add the ground almonds, rosemary, seasoning and mix together with your hands.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs.  Mix together until a dough is formed, you will probably need to use your hands for this so be prepared to get messy.  Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.  It will be quite loose and sticky.  Push the dough out towards the edges of the baking sheet and flatten with your hands until a flat base is formed.  Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until golden.

Topping:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 fennel bulb finely sliced using a mandolin

1 pear finely sliced.

Hard goat’s cheese sliced

While the pizza is baking in the oven, place the fennel on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast for about 15-20 minutes until the edges are beginning to caramelise and the fennel is slightly softer. 

When the pizza base is ready remove from the oven and top with the fennel, sliced pear and finally the goat’s cheese.  Return to the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.

Roasted Butternut Squash Rice Bowl

I’m making an early appearance this week due to a hectic weekend ahead.  I’ve a free evening, home alone with too loud Bon Jovi to keep me company (sorry neighbours).  Rather than stare at the walls I thought I’d talk to you lovely people instead.

I feel like I should almost apologise for posting yet another of my rice bowls but I can’t seem to stop making them.  Once I discovered the magic that some toasted nuts, dried fruits and a bit of goat cheese can bring to a bowl of brown rice and vegetables it seems to be an unstoppable express train headed for my mouth.  You can totally make it your own and just throw in whatever combination of roasted vegetables, nuts and dried fruit you want.  I’m having a thing for butternut squash at the moment so here I used it to add a vibrant touch of orange to my bowl of rice.  There is no end in sight to my love affair with pistachios and for a little festive seasonal colour I used cranberries as my dried fruit of choice.  Kale or some sort of green always makes an appearance.  I made a quick dressing out of olive oil and maple syrup.  Honey would be a good sub.  I think roasting the butternut with a little maple syrup would also be a good plan.  I don’t think I need to write this one up.  Here’s the bones of the recipe, mix it up to suit your own style and tastes.  I roasted the butternut for 35 minutes at Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F on a parchment lined baking sheet.