Vegan Haggis

From Cerys Matthews' recipe. So simple and so good. 
Serve with swede and carrot, mashed potato and gravy.
Those that weren't eaten have been frozen for veggie alternative to a roast.

Cook 125g Puy lentils according to packet to give 250g cooked lentils.

Gently fry 1 finely chopped onion in tbsp of oil until just about to turn transparent. Add a finely chopped medium carrot and 100g finely chopped mushrooms and fry for further 5 minutes.
Take off the heat and leave to cool whilst assembling other ingredients and heating the oven.

In a food blender put 100g rolled oats (jumbo if you have them), 1 tsp ground cumin, 1tsp ground nutmeg, 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, pinch of salt and 3 tbsp  pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds).

Mix 1 tbsp miso paste into 200ml vegetable stock (I made my own stock from carrot, potato peelings and leek trimmings).

Add stock and vegetables to the blender and pulse. You want a rough mixture, as in not too smooth.

Stir in the lentils.

Grease a 12 hole muffin tin and fill with the mixture. Press down lightly.

Cover tightly with baking parchment and then foil. Bake in 180C oven for 20 minutes. Take off parchment and foil, brush with oil and bake for a further 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Roast Pork Loin - no crackling

For when the bit of pork is skinless

Dry rub: Mix together equal quantities of dried thyme, paprika and garlic salt (I used large tsp of each for 2lb pork loin)

Rub all over the meat. Sear on all sides.
Put in foil lined roasting tray (not too big)


Mix Honey, soy sauce, dijon mustard, crushed garlic, olive oil. Use some to toss parsnips in (or other vegetables). Brush the rest on the top of the meat.

Cook meat in 180C. 30 minutes prior to the end of cooking time, take out. Put the parsnips under the meat and cook for 30 minutes. (Roast potatoes with rosemary go in at this time as well)
Remove the meat and leave to rest whilst the parsnips (and potatoes) finish cooking.

Turkey and Spinach Curry

Another good one for left over turkey.

Gently fry in a couple of tablespoons of oil :
6 whole cloves
10 green cardamom pods (bashed)
1 cinnamon stick broken in half
2 green chillis quartered lengthways
Then add 2 finely chopped medium onions, four crushed cloves of garlic and 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger and cook until the onions are just turning golden.

Mix together 1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric and garam masala. Add to the pan with half tsp of salt and 1 tbsp tomato puree. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes.

Stir in 200g Greek yogurt, 100g baby spinach and a handful of chopped coriander leaves. Gently cook until the spinach has wilted.

Pick out the whole spices (as many as you can find).
Season with a dash of lemon juice and serve with rice, toasted flaked almonds and extra coriander leaves.

Chickpea, sweet potato and kale curry

Kale could be replaced with spinach - we had lots of kale!

Mix together:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
0.5 tsp fenugreek seeds
0.5 tsp cayenne pepper
0.5 tsp sea salt

In a pan cook 1 small onion finely chopped until transparent in 1tsp oil (coconut if available). Add 1 medium sized sweet potato diced and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the spice mix and cook for 30 seconds. Add 1.5 tbsp minced garlic and fresh ginger mix and cook for a further 30 seconds.
Stir in a 400ml can of chopped tomatoes, 400 ml full fat coconut milk and 300g can of chickpeas including the liquid. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the sweet potato is tender. Stir in 100g of chopped fresh kale (if not all stems removed then add 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time).
Remove from heat.

Serve with rice or naan bread

Turkey Stroganoff and Garlic Mushroom Pasta

Two separate recipes which work well together when one has mixture of meat eaters and vegetarians (or someone doesn't like turkey nor creamy sauces) etc. 

Garlic mushroom recipe is one that I cooked when at Uni when entertaining friends.

Serve each with tagliatelle - the Stroganoff on top of a pile and the rest mixed in with the Garlic Mushrooms.

Turkey Stroganoff - serves 4

300g sliced mushrooms (combination of button and chestnut mushrooms)

Dry fry over a medium heat, tossing frequently

Add 2 tbsp butter (I used the butter from the top of the turkey) and two finely chopped medium onions and sauté until onions are transparent.

Add: 

- 350g cooked turkey chopped into bite sized peieces

- 125ml turkey stock or, even better, left over turkey gravy

- 1tbsp fresh thyme or 1tsp dried thyme

- Large pinch grated nutmeg

- salt and pepper

Combine and heat through. 

Take off the heat and add 250ml greek yoghurt (or sour cream or creme fraiche). Add small amount of pasta cooking water to thin if required.

Taste and season further if required (it does need more salt than you think).

Garlic Mushroom sauce for pasta - serves 2

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Add 300g sliced mushrooms (at least combination of button and chestnut mushrooms) and fry for about 10 minutes until excess liquid has evaporated. Tip onto a plate.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan and add 2 finely sliced garlic cloves and fry gently until just turning golden. Tip the mushrooms back into the pan, add zest of half a lemon, handful of grated Parmesan and toss together with pasta for two (150g uncooked weight if making this by itself) and 3 tbsp of the pasta cooking water to heat through. 

Season with salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Serve sprinkled with handful of chopped parsley and more grated parmesan.