This is a recipe for peppers, stuffed with rice, TVP mince and tomato sauce, and baked in the oven.
A few days ago, when discussing what to eat on the weekend, my husband mentioned that he would love to have some Stuffed Peppers- a dish he knows from meals at his grandfather’s. As with many dishes we both know from our families, there was of course a recipe for Stuffed Peppers in Linda’s cookbook. And one more reason to prepare Stuffed Peppers. My husband prepared the peppers and they were just delicious. Definitely a recipe we will ask him to use again 🙂 .
Another great basic recipe everybody should know. The garlic dressing has a well-balanced taste and is easy to make. I used a hand-held blender to blend all the ingredients (you don’t even have to crush the garlic when using a blender) and the consistency of the dressing was very creamy and smooth. Usually, I make up salad dressings as I go, but in this case it was worth sticking to the recipe to get the balance right. Or, as my brother-in-law would say “following a recipe gives you a better result” (a statement I normally disagree with as I tend to use whatever there is in the fridge or larder and create meals on the go).
Variations: You can add all different flavours to the dressing, such as fresh herbs, capers, chopped shallot, chopped olives or dried tomatoes or… Endless variations!
This is a recipe for steamed broccoli, served with toasted and seasoned breadcrumbs. Drizzling the broccoli with some lemon juice before serving adds another taste dimension to this dish ‒ something I would not have thought of in the first place. My husband thinks that green beans always need to be served with toasted breadcrumbs. It was something his grandfather would cook when the family visited for dinner. My grandmother also loved toasted breadcrumbs, usually combining them with steamed cauliflower.
This is another very easy recipe that uses only few ingredients but has a great flavour with a twist. I think the lemon rind really adds a fresh and special touch to this dish. Today, we had the Curried Lentils with Breaded Broccoli and potatoes, but it will also be great served with rice, steamed vegetables and naan bread.
This is the first dish I cooked in the New Year. And as it is “Veganuary“, I decided to cook only vegan recipes or recipes that can be adapted to be vegan this month. It is a great recipe for a tasty and easy Bolognaise Sauce. Both my children and husband agreed that this is a recipe that should be cooked VERY often ‒ and my son showed some interest in learning how to make this sauce by himself. I served the sauce with spaghetti and a spoonful of “vegan parmesan” ‒ just great!
Gluten-Free: Make sure the TVP mince you use is gluten-free and use gluten-free spaghetti.
This is a great basic recipe for vegetarian Chilli and can be adapted in many different ways. My husband made this for us and added 1 tsp. paprika powder and 2 cloves crushed garlic plus some sweetcorn. Other additions could be diced red or green peppers, fresh chillies, or smoked paprika powder. I find this is great served with a spoonful of sour cream or (plant-based) yoghurt alongside rice and a green salad.
This vegan corn bread is inspired by Linda McCartney’s Corn Bread from her book “Home Cooking”. Corn bread can be served hot or cold and is great with soups, salads or Chilli Non Carne.
Method: Pre-heat the oven to 180°C and grease a 20cm square baking tin or a round 20 cm baking tin. Mix the flour, corn meal, polenta, salt, sugar, baking powder, nutritional yeast and the chilli in a mixing bowl and set aside. Blend the silken tofu, milk and oil using a stick blender or blender, and add to the dry ingredients. Stir thoroughly. Pour into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, take out of the tin and serve or leave to cool on a rack.
This bread freezes well. Slice and separate the slices with pieces of greaseproof paper before putting in a freezer safe container. Now you can defrost as many slices as needed – just put them in the microwave for a few seconds and serve immediately.
After spending most of the weekend on the sofa trying to get rid of a cold, I felt up to some cooking on Sunday evening. The baked apples are easy to make and a great (and healty!) dessert for the whole family. I think that using less sugar (3 or 4 teaspoons in total) is still sweet enough. Adding 1/2 tsp cinnamon gives a lovely wintery flavour. Also great when served with custard or vanilla ice cream (dairy or plant-based).
My daughter asked for Sausage Rolls for her birthday party. The children loved them and nobody ever noticed that the sausages were vegatarian. I cut the pastry-covered sausages in rather small pieces so the children could just take them with their hands and put them right into their mouths.
Vegan: Make sure your sausages are vegan. Omit brushing with beaten egg (the colour of the Sausage Rolls will then be lighter) or brush with some plant-based milk instead.
Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free puff pastry and make sure that the sausages are gluten-free, too.
