I had a pile of winter root vegetables on hand and a mother-in-law coming to dinner at short notice. Just roasting them didn't seem quite fancy enough, soup didn't seem substantial enough so I googled sweet potato and parsnip and found my solution - gratin. I found a recipe which inspired me - then I made one up with what we had on hand.
Everybody (including me) loved it, and most had seconds (not including me).
Here's how I made it.
Ingredients
4 small Sweet Potatoes
2 Parsnips
3 Small Potatoes
1 large Carrot
2 brown onions
100ml cream
400ml milk
Salt & Pepper
Few sprigs of Thyme
a long stalk of Rosemary
a little butter for greasing pan
150g gruyere cheese
Method
1. Finely slice all 5 vegetables (a mandolin makes this much easier if you have one.)
2. Combine Cream, Milk, a good grind of salt and pepper and the leaves from the thyme in a jug and stir well.
3. Start layering into a large baking dish. I went sweet potato, onion, a little cream, parsnip, onion, cream, potato, onion, cream, carrot, onion, cream and then repeated til I ran out of things.
4. Top it all with gruyere and sprinkle the rosemary leaves over the top.
5. Bake in a moderate oven (180C or 350F) for about 50 min. - I needed to cover in foil for the last 15 min to stop the browning.
I served this with a salad of cos lettuce, cucumber slices and avacado dice with a lemon mustard salad dressing. (lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey and extra virgin olive oil). They were good together as the lemon and freshness of the salad balanced the richness of the gratin.
I used Heirloom Purple Carrots in my gratin. They looked beautiful when I sliced them (like little tie-dye splotches) but the colour permeated the whole gratin in a slightly odd way. I think I would use orange carrots next time.
Enjoy
Nicola
Namaste!
This week we'll be stopping in India for an (if I do say so myself) incredible potato curry!
It's based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and it's vegan (unless served with a large amount of raita. In that case it's most definitely NOT vegan)!
In my defence, it was a little hotter than expected, so the yogurt was necessary! The original recipe has 4 teaspoons curry powder, but I cut that to 3. It was delicious, and not unbearably hot, but if you're not so fond on chilli I'd recommend cutting it even more or using a really mild curry powder.
You've been warned!
I also added cauliflower, which was great, but if you're not so keen I'm sure it'd be just as nice without.
Or, if you happen to have excess of some other vegetable, why not add that?
We ALWAYS have excess potatoes, which is why this recipe is so good!
But if you don't belong to a fruit co-op who give you insane amounts of potatoes each week, I still say try it. Potatoes aren't exactly hard to come-by!
Indian Potato Curry
Based on: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-vegan-potato-curry/
Ingredients
- 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 3 teaspoons curry powder
- 4 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 of a large cauliflower (1/2 a small one)
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
Directions
- Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garam masala, ginger, and salt; cook for 2 minutes more.
- Add the tomatoes, garbanzo beans, peas, cauliflower and potatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with rice, pappadams, raita (unless you're vegan!) and mango chutney.
Mia :)
This week I tried something completely new- I've never eaten Russian food til now, let alone cooked it!
But so far, I'm liking it!
This dish is called 'Slovanka' and it's a sort of cabbage and potato casserole.
It's pretty yummy, and full of veggies!
Plus I served it with an amazing beetroot salad that's also Russian!
But if you're making the salad, I'd reccomend going easy on the garlic- 3 raw cloves is enough to have your breath stinking for days!
Both the recipes are from 'Moosewood Cookbook' by Mollie Katzen, which has sat accumulating dust on a shelf for far too long.
It's an amazing book- we were leant it by a friend a few years ago and fell in love, then by some incredible coincidence we found it at a second hand shop for, like $5!
Sometimes I wonder how these things happen!
But if you're ever stuck for yummy vegetarian recipes, I'd highly recommend it.
And I doubt this'll be the last you hear of it round here!
Solyanka with Odessa Beetroots
Based on: The Moosewood Cookbook By Mollie Katzen
4 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup firm yoghurt
1 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups chopped onion
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 small head green cabbage, shredded
2 medium carrots, grated
4 to 5 medium cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp dill
Black pepper, to taste
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
Sprinkling of Paprika
For Salad:
5-6 medium beets
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
8-10 prunes, pitted and thinly sliced
2-3 medium cloves garlic, minced (I'd actually recommend either cooking this slightly or using a bit less- you've been warned!)
1/2 tsp salt
Black Pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pineapple (tinned or fresh)
1. Set the oven to 200˚c (400˚f). Lightly grease a large casserole. Put the beets, wrapped in foil, in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until tender. Remove and turn oven down to 180˚c (350˚f).
2. Cut up the potatoes and boil from cold until mashable. (You can do steps 4 & 5 while they boil) Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Mash the potatoes while still hot, adding cottage cheese and yoghurt.
4. Melt the butter or margarine in a large, deep pan. Add onions and salt, and saute for about five minutes. Add caraway and cabbage, and saute about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally and covering in between.
5. When the cabbage is tender, add carrots garlic and dill. Cook about 5 more minutes, and remove from heat.
6. Add the sauteed vegetables, the mashed potatoes, pepper and cider vinegar to the casserole. Mix until well combine, then sprinkle with sunflower seeds and paprika.
7. Bake uncovered 35-45 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned on top.
8. Meanwhile, to prepare the salad, rinse the beetrootsunder cold water and remove their skins. Trim the ends and coarsely grate. Transfer to a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well.
9. Serve and enjoy!
Mia :)
4 small Sweet Potatoes
I served this with a salad of cos lettuce, cucumber slices and avacado dice with a lemon mustard salad dressing. (lemon juice, dijon mustard, honey and extra virgin olive oil). They were good together as the lemon and freshness of the salad balanced the richness of the gratin.
