Celeriac and carrot soup recipe

Picked a bag of veg up from the farmers’ market for £1.50 and it made enough soup for a week. It’s easy to make and will keep in the freezer.

Ingredients

40g of unsalted butter (Recipe could easily be made vegan by substituting the butter for olive oil or vegan spread)

2 celeriac, peeled and chopped

4 large carrots, peeled and chopped

4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

1 litre of hot vegetable stock (I used 2 Knorr stock pots)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

In a large pan, melt the butter then add the onion, carrots and celeriac.

Stir to cover the veg in some butter, put a lid on the pan and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the potatoes and stock, make sure the stock covers all the veg.

Season with freshly ground pepper and a little salt, remember there’s probably already salt in the stock so don’t overdo it!

Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the veg is cooked.

With a stick blender, purée the soup leaving some lumpy veg.

Serve in hot bowls with a chunky wedge of bread!

Vegetable frittata recipe

A friend gave me a load of veg from her allotment, potatoes, courgette and spinach. So I threw it all together with a few other things that I had in the fridge…

Ingredients

Olive oil

2-3 potatoes, sliced

1 courgette, sliced

Some spinach, cut roughly

1 pointed sweet red pepper, de-seeded and sliced

A bunch of spring onions, chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

6 free range eggs, beaten

100g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Method

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the potatoes, boil for 6 minutes. Don’t let them cook too much or they’ll fall apart.

Whilst the potatoes are boiling add a splash of oil to a deep frying pan and add the courgette. Fry for a few minutes over a medium heat, turning occasionally so they brown on both sides.

Add the red pepper and spring onions, add a twist of freshly ground black pepper and give it all a stir.

A few minutes before the potatoes are done put a steamer over the potato pan and wilt the spinach.

Drain the potatoes and remove the spinach from the steamer.

Add the potatoes and spinach to the frying pan and give it a mix, being careful to not break up the potatoes.

Pour over the beaten egg and cook on a low heat for another 10-15 minutes, whilst that’s cooking preheat your grill.

Once the bottom of the frittata is cooked the top will probably need a few minutes under the grill to finish and brown.

When the top is cooked add the grated cheese and place back under the grill until it’s melty and delicious.

Serve with whatever you have handy, I had tomato sauce 😛

Butternut squash, new potato and spinach curry recipe

Turns out we had some butternut squash and new potatoes that needed using up so I grabbed some spinach and threw some other stuff in a pan. It turned out nice!

Ingredients – Makes enough for 3

1 tablespoon of good olive oil

1 organic butternut squash, peeled and diced

6 or so new potatoes, diced

1 onion, sliced

150g of organic spinach, roughly chopped

A tin of coconut milk, I used the “light” stuff

2-3 tablespoons of Madras curry paste

Method

The potatoes take a little bit of cooking so get a pan of water on the boil and add them to it. Parboil them for about 10 minutes.

Whilst the potatoes are boiling add the olive oil to a pan, add the onion and fry until soft, with any luck the potatoes will also be ready at this point.

Drain the potatoes and set aside.

Add the Madras paste to the onions and fry for a few minutes.

About now you might want to raid the freezer for some naan bread…

Add the coconut milk, give it all a good stir and add the potatoes and butternut squash. Give it about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep a lid on the pan so that it doesn’t get too thick.

When the potatoes are cooked and before the squash starts to fall apart add the chopped spinach, stir through until it’s wilted.

Serve in your favourite bowl!