Pea and Mint soup

Hi all

Today I have made my very yummy Pea and mint soup..
so easy so tasty great hot or even cold
Unfortunately everything is in estimates as I rarely measure
so here goes

need 500g fresh peas (now as I shucked them last night i needed to top up with about 1/2 cup frozen petite pois)
3/4 litre of vegetable stock
good handful of fresh mint chopped up
1 nice sized salad onion diced up( this is a larger version of spring or green onion..if you can't get one use 3-5 spring onion depending on size and thickness)

Now put this all into your saucepan and cook for about 20-25 minutes then blitz in your blitzer whatever machine or way you blend things
serve in nice cups with crusty bread...with a little mint for garnish

this serves two good serves or three smaller serves

so easy so tasty and so fresh what more could you want

Michelle's Yummy Vegetarian Mushroom pasta for one

Hi all been while since posted but here we go here's a recipe I made tonight as I was feeling peckish... It's quick and easy and uses a few short cuts to make it quick

 one pouch pre cooked pasta
1/2 herb and garlic stock cube
1/4 tub of cathedral city cream cheese
1/4 cup water or as much as needed to get sauce consistency
1/2 medium sized onion finely sliced
4-5 medium sized portabello mushrooms thinly sliced
1 cube of herb and garlic butter pre made

put your butter in the frying pan and melt

you can put your pasta in the microwave to heat a little at this point check your pack or cook some pasta at this point...

add your onion and mushroom and fry for good 10 minutes to cook the mushroom and onion

once onion and mushroom mix is cooked out add your stock cube and a little of the water
mix through your stock and water in the onion and mushroom mix then add your cream cheese
mix this through your mushroom and onion mix adding your water a little at a time until you get a sauce constancy your happy with..

stir through your pasta making sure it's all covered with your sauce and heated through thoroughly adding a little more water if gets too thick...

check your seasoning
serve immediately and enjoy

Sorry no pic tonight was just too hungry lol...
but really is quick and simple recipe with a few cheats to make it just that bit quicker

Vegetarian Bungalow Pie

Made this dish tonight as a take on the cottage or shepherds pie...

so why bungalow pie? Because we live in a bungalow 

Ingredients

350g Quorn Mince 

1 small to medium onion finely chopped

2 small or 1 medium red capsicum (peppers) diced 

1 small yellow capsicum (pepper)diced

1 clove garlic crushed

6 portabello mushroom (sometimes called cremini mushrooms)

1/2 cup of peas frozen

1/2 cup of sweetcorn frozen

1 pint boiling water

carmalised onion gravy powder ( used bisto best)

11/2 teaspoon italian herbs 

few dashes tabasco sauce (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

3 medium to larger potatoes roughly diced

little milk and butter to make the mash 

salt and pepper to taste

Filling a saucepan with water and salt and dicing your potatoes to make mash potatoes 

put the potatoes on to boil and then start on you bungalow mix

Dice up all your vegetables.

While dicing your veggies have your frying pan on to heat your frying pan and add your oil, then add your diced onion and garlic cook for few minutes until softened. 

add you mushroom and capsicums and continue to fry gently also until softened

add a little salt and pepper, italian herbs and tabasco if using.

Now add your peas and corn and continue cooking for five minutes or so until everything is well combined.

Now add your pint of boiling water and add your onion gravy mix and gently stir continuously until its of a lovely thick sauce. You can add as much or little gravy as you like...if you like a very thick sauce add more gravy if you like a thin sauce you can add less gravy.. I made my gravy mix pretty much to packet instructions adding one extra scoop of gravy to get the constancy I like.. 

Taste to check for seasoning and add any extra salt and pepper to your taste

by this point your potatoes should be just about ready so check those and drain and mash in your favourite way. Add any flavourings you like or just some salt and pepper to taste..

Spoon your mash potatoes onto your plate and spoon on your veggie mince topping 

This is enough to serve 3 - 4 may need to add extra potato for the mash as the mash is really only enough to serve two or thee on a stretch...

Enjoy...

Well I hope you enjoy this recipe.. 

there are many variations you could make to to this recipe.. 

Basically have fun and try something new... 

Vegetarian Moussaka

HI all
Have tonight made a vegetarian Moussaka using vegemince as meat replacement.

Ingredients I have used are

1 medium eggplant (Aubergine) finely sliced and grilled
1 medium onion diced fairly finely
1 large clove garlic
some smoked paprika about 1/8 teaspoon (aprox)
11/2 Tbsp tomato paste (aprox)
a little cayenne pepper for heat (optional)
some salt and pepper
1 tin chopped tomato
1/4 cup water
2 medium potato par boiled and sliced
2 tsp italian mixed herbs
1 jar of of white sauce
and small bag of grated cheese
some oil

first slice and grill the eggplant
then in separate frying pan add some oil and the onion and garlic and gently fried to soft and slightly golden then add tomato paste and cook out for further 1minute or so
then add canned tomatoes with the water, herbs and spices some salt and pepper cook for 5 minutes to develop flavours and let them meld
add your vegemince and cook for further 10 minutes until nice thick sauce check your seasoning

slice your potatoes I left the skin on..

Now it's just time to assemble your moussaka
Layer it up with your potato, eggplant, tomato/vegemince sauce and white sauce and some cheese as if layering a lasagne in whatever order you like it's your meal have some fun
finish with the white sauce though and add some cheese to the top.
Bake in over for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly and all cooked through

enjoy

Cowboy hotpot Michelle Style

Hi all created another dish today
It's a lovely vegetarian dish and can easily be changed to vegan or even meat lovers delight..

so here's the basic recipe and then I will follow with how I changed it My way...

ingredients

1 Onion sliced

1 Red pepper sliced

2 Carrots chopped

Oil

115g Green Beans Chopped

1 Can Baked Beans

1 Can Sweet Corn

1 Tbsp Tomato puree

1 tsp Barbecue spice seasoning

115g Cheese (smoked if possible) cubeed

450g potatoes thinly sliced

25g Butter melted

salt and pepper

directions

1. Fry the onion, pepper and carrots in oil until softened not browned

2. Add green beans, baked bean, sweetcorn (and liquor if using canned), tomato puree and barbecue spice seasoning. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes.  

3. Transfer vegetables to oven proff baking dish and scatter with cheese

4. Cover vegetables and cheese mixture with sliced potato, brush with butter, season with salt and pepper and bake at 190 degreee for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top and potato is cooked. 

Ok how did I change this basic recipe... 

I didn't have green beans so I used peas instead... I didn't have tinned corn so used frozen instead and added 3/4 cup of water with one tomato and herb stock cube

I used 1 fresh green chilli very finely chopped and smoked paprika for extra flavouring

I used 5 vegetarian hotdogs for that yummy meat taste these were absolutely delicious addition

I used a smoked applewood cheese

and I used a grated cheese over the potato instead of butter 

This is a great recipe to adapt in so many ways... you could use your favourite bbq sauce instead 

you could add meat if your a meat eater.. 

you could omit the cheese if you like 

you could use mixed frozen veggies for convenience sake

you could change the veggies add more spice or take away some of the spice... 

Well that's the basic recipe with my changes have fun.. enjoy your veggies 

hugs Michelle

Potato and Squash Pancakes

Hi all
Here's another Veggie based dish I've tried today.
It's quite delicious and very easy to make
I got this off a vegetarian post and I have slightly adapted Michelle style again


so here are the ingredients and directions

ingredients

250g potato, cooked and mashed

250g pumpkin, cooked and mashed

30g butter or vegan spread

3 spring onions

2 eggs, lightly beaten or egg substitute

1/4C plain flour

2 Tblsp self raising flour

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

extra butter or spread to grease pan

directions

1. Puree the pumpkin and potato in a food processor with the butter until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add eggs and spring onions.

2. Sift in flours, spices and salt and combine.

3. Heat extra butter/spread in a pan and cook heaped tablespoons of the mixture for 2-3 mins on each side. Repeat until all batter has been used.

4. Serve with salad and your choice of topping eg butter/spread, chutney, sour cream, yoghurt etc.

5. This recipe was from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook. Enjoy.

Ok so how did I change this.. I used spelt flour instead and 1/12 teaspoon baking powder. 

I also used butternut squash not pumpkin as it's not easy to get pumpkin here

I used 4 spring onion and 2 Tbsp of finely chopped chives

I used 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to give it a bit more bite... 

I will be serving this with a basic garden salad and bit of sour cream... 

In future recipes I will add peas or corn or both to create more of a vegetable pancake

I will also be trying with some fresh chilli through it 

This recipe really is quite versatile so have a bit of a play with it and give it a try 

Hope you enjoy

Here's a pic of what they looked like

Rice Salad

Hi All it's been awhile but I'm back with a new recipe. 

It's a new year and this year my aim is to eat more vegetables and vegetarian dishes 

so here is the first recipe I have made. I have made it to just add to salad plate or like tonight it's my dinner

This recipe is great for just a salad on it's own or as a side dish or as part of a buffet table to share with friends or family

I got the basic recipe from Mary Berry's complete cookbook but as usual have adapted slightly Michelle style.. 

so here we go

You will need 

1 cup uncooked long grain rice

Salt 

1/2 cup of frozen peas

1/2 cup of frozen Corn

1/2 red capsicum (pepper) diced

1/2 red chilli (optional) finely diced

small bunch of coriander (cilantro) chopped

1/2 small red onion finely diced

for the dressing 

4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 clove garlic crushed ( I used a smoked garlic)

Direction 

Cook your rice in boiling salted water for as long as your packet instructions say about 12-15 minutes until tender adding your peas and corn for the last three minutes of cooking time. 

In the meantime dice up your red capsicum into pieces about the same size as your peas and corn and put in you mixing bowl. 

Finely dice your red onion and chilli (as this is going to be fairly raw you don't want it too large unless you love the taste of raw onion or chilli)

Chop up your coriander and also add to the bowl 

Finally crush your garlic and add to your mixing bowl and mix well. 

Once your rice, peas and corn is cooked drain and then rinse with hot water, drain again and then add to your mixing bowl with the rest of your prepared ingredients and mix. 

Finally add your olive oil, white wine vinegar and dijon mustard mix well make sure all the rice and veg is coated. Serve immediate as very delicious as is or leave in the fridge over night to develop more flavour... 

Notes/Variations

There are many ways in which to vary this recipe..

use pasta or cous cous instead of rice

use parsley instead of coriander

omit the onion or the chilli

use spring onions (green onions) instead of red onion

Use different capsicums (peppers) instead of just red or even a mixture instead of just one. 

Anyway hope you enjoy this recipe and give it a try 

Hugs Michelle