pearl barley risotto.

i do love me a good risotto, namely with lots of garlic, sweet softened onion and an abundance of seafood. lately i've gotten into risotto with a twist, switching out the infamous arborio rice for some wholesome pearl barley. 

i've seen it in a few restaurants so thought i'd have a go myself, treating the pulses exactly as i would when making risotto. italians would probably shake their heads at this interpretation of a risotto but it really is super tasty with a little extra bite, plus it keeps you fuller for longer.

courgette spaghetti with homemade pesto.

when i finally got hold of a julienne peeler the other weekend, i couldn't wait to get started on making carb free spaghetti with vegetables. along with some homemade pesto, i tossed together some roasted red peppers and aubergines with some courgette pseudo-pasta to make a pretty healthy midweek meal. 

matar paneer curry.

having really enjoyed matar paneer in a few indian vegetarian restaurants - including bobby's and shivali in leicester - i was keen to have a go myself. this fairly mild north indian dish is made up of matar or mattar (peas) and paneer (indian cheese) in a lightly spiced tomato based sauce. i'm starting to build up a little spice collection lately and this recipe over at padhu's kitchen looked like the perfect place to start...

vegetable won tons.

move over pasta machine, i've found a new foodie toy in my bamboo steamer. having recently tried out vietnamese summer rolls with king prawns and steamed pork dumplings i thought i'd set about finding a vegetarian dim sum recipe with the won ton wrappers i'd just bought. to my surprise, there were hardly any veggie won ton recipes out there. so i don't profess to this being authentic by any stretch but i hope you enjoy my recipe of oriental infused vegetables :) oh and do you like my new bowl and dipping bowl?

mushrooms en croute.

shopping list
♥ 375g pack ready rolled puff pastry
♥ 4 large white flat mushrooms
♥ 4 tbsp fresh pesto sauce
♥ 8 sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
♥ 1 mozzarella cheese ball, sliced
♥ milk to glaze





i was recently contacted by the lovely people from more to mushrooms asking if i'd like to try out one of their mushroom recipes for national vegetarian week - starting today 20th may! this one really jumped out at me and i had to try it! it was so, so simple with minimal ingredients so thanks again for the recipe inspiration :) 

i also learnt that mushrooms are such an underrated vegetable. as well as being high in protein and low in fat and calories, they are a natural source of antioxidants, b vitamins and minerals, and full of fibre to aid digestion. perfecto!

homemade haloumi burgers.

as a massive fan of haloumi, i've always wanted to make my own veggie burgers including the heavenly ingredient. these vegetarian delights are made up of chopped haloumi, mushrooms and spring onions - bound together with egg and breadcrumbs.

homemade ravioli filled with sun dried tomatoes and boursin.

 

as you may have noticed - i'm really getting into pasta making lately. my pasta machine really has been one of the best christmas gifts i've ever received! i've been getting my friends into it making it with me too - which is really fun even if it does test their patience a little :)

so my boyfriend and i decided to have a go at making homemade ravioli - i have to give credit to him that he thought of the sun dried tomato and boursin cheese filling which worked really well.

begin by making the homemade pasta dough as in this post - we used 200g pasta flour and 2 eggs which i find makes 2 portions. then fill with your favourite ingredients like so...

 

homemade vegan pasta.

wow well this was yummy... and i have to give credit to my friend amelia for her amazing vegan pesto, veg and potato pasta recipe :) i've done homemade pasta before since my lovely granny bought me a pasta machine for christmas. however, this was my first go at "vegan pasta" too which involved using water and olive oil instead of egg.

simple tofu stir fry.

first off, this is most definitely a real cheat dish, taking me no more than 5 minutes to throw together. however, i just wanted to share with you how much i really rated the cauldron marinated tofu pieces i recently tried. 

five-a-day vegetable lasagne.

just wanted to share this yummy and healthy (ish) vegetable lasagne i made for my friends at the weekend. one of my friends is a veggie so i decided to plonk as many vegetables as i thought would go together into a pan, add tomato sauce and layer up in a lasagne. 

i was pretty pleased with the results and they even went back for seconds... yay! i like to think this would be almost all your five a day in one go. though the cheese probably cancels that out. let me know if you try it! :)

this was also the first thing i've made in my new kitchen. if you follow me on twitter you'll know i've been super busy moving house lately - still got lots of posts to write up even from my old kitchen!

south indian style potato curry.

shopping list

♥ 500g new potatoes
♥ one tomato, chopped
♥ one onion, chopped
♥ 200ml coconut milk
♥ 15 fresh basil leaves
♥ 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds♥ 2 teaspoons of garam masala
♥ 2 chillies, or two teaspoons of lazy chilli ♥ 2 teaspoons ground coriander
♥ 1/2 teaspoon of cayanne pepper♥ handful of fresh coriander, chopped♥ 500ml boiling water at the ready

so next challenge... a meat free curry that still feels like a proper wholesome meal. this potato curry is a winner - all the flavours marry together whilst not being too hot. i'm told this is characteristic of south indian dishes as they tend to use lots of coconut milk.

begin by pouring a little oil into a pan and throwing in the mustard seeds on a medium heat, shortly followed by the chillis. i used the very lazy variety - just can't get enough of the stuff at the moment.

as the seeds begin to pop, stir in the basil leaves and onion as in picture 3 and 4. lower the heat a little and stir for around 5 minutes.

next, add in the tomato, ground coriander, garam masala and cayenne pepper. once combined, add in the potatoes and half of the water, like in picture 6.

allow to boil for around 30 minutes to let the potatoes soften. add more water if they begin to dry up.

lastly add the coconut milk, fresh coriander and rest of the water. cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are a good softness. enjoy!

if you liked this but prefer meat and seafood, maybe have a go at this haddock korma. :)

mozzarella and refried bean tortillas.

shopping list
♥ four tortillas
♥ 435g can of refried beans
♥ one mozzarella ball, sliced 

makes four large tortillas or six lighter ones.









this is a really simple, mexican inspired vegetarian dish which takes minutes to make! you can might them spicier with hot refried beans, but if you regularly read my blog you'll know i'm a total wimp when it comes to heat.




mash up the refried beans and cook for a minute or so in the microwave or in a pan. 



next, arrange a couple of tablespoons of the beans with a slice of mozzarella and wrap up into a trusty triangle.



i used my housemate's lean mean grill machine which was nice as it had the grill lines on it. i suppose you could also use a frying pan or toastie maker!

and that's it really - yummy, veggie friendly wraps full of mexican beans and gooey cheese. delish!