Vegan/Vegan Option

by katedh September 26, 2014

Lemon Chard Aloo

"The unfortunate thing about working for yourself is that you have the worst boss in the world" - David Eddings When I started this blog I had this rather grand expectation that I would post two or three times a week. That's what they tell you, the internet people. It's what they say you need to do to get anybody to read it. Something about search engine optimisation. It's what you need to do so that you ...

by katedh August 28, 2014

Autumn , Breakfast , Dairy Free , Featured , Gluten Free , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

4 Ingredient Fig & Blueberry Maple Compote

Jump straight to the recipe → Tediously enough, I can't eat most fruits unless they are cooked or meticulously peeled. This is a relatively new development in my life and while I don't expect any sympathy (as medical conditions go it isn't exactly that terrible, is it?), it is still really bloody annoying. Especially so for somebody who is trying to hit their 7 a day target but who is also pathologically lazy. Peeling an ...

by katedh August 6, 2014

Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Fish , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Year-Round

Spicy Sichuan Stir-Fry

"China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese" - Charles de Gaulle I have always been skeptical of those introductory sections in cookbooks on how to stock one's 'larder' (although I like the implication that we all live in Downton Abbey). The ones that pretend that if you maintain a decent supply of pulses, anchovies, soy sauce and jarred sun-dried tomatoes, you will always be able to rustle up something utterly delicious with whatever decaying ...

by katedh July 17, 2014

7 a Day Series , Eat More Veg , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Winter

What to do with Beetroot

Jump straight to the recipe ideas → "The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip" - Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume So here's a Thursday factoid for you. The biggest beetroot ever grown weighed 71kg. It was grown by a man in the Netherlands in 2005. This beetroot therefore weighed just slightly more than Tom Cruise (so the internet tells me. I haven't ...

by katedh June 16, 2014

Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

Vignarola (Roman Spring Vegetable Stew)

"Let’s leave to the English the taste for eating boiled vegetables without any seasonings or at the most with a little butter; we southern types need our food to be a little more exciting" - Pellegrino Artusi (1891) I am suffering from possibly the most middle class complaint of all time. Farmers market envy. Yes, I actually said that out loud. I keep stumbling upon blog posts with photos from US farmers ...

by katedh June 12, 2014

7 a Day Series , Eat More Veg , Featured , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

What to do with Artichokes

Jump straight to the recipe ideas → "These things are just plain annoying. After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual food out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps. Have the shrimp cocktail instead" - Miss Piggy So that 7 a day series I mentioned. A new vegetable each week and all that. Not really happened, has it? I ...

by katedh June 2, 2014

Baking , Breakfast , Dairy Free , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wholegrains , Year-Round

Incredible No-Knead Bread

"A lot of people don't eat gluten because somebody in their yoga class told them not to" - Jimmy Kimmel You should make this bread. You really should. Really. That is, of course, if you haven't done so already. Because you probably have. Because, unlike me, you probably don't live in a cave and you found out about this amazing no-work bread technique around 150 years ago. Or at least at some point since 2006 ...

by katedh May 19, 2014

Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

Neon Pickles

“He looks as though he’s been weaned on a pickle” - Alice Roosevelt Longworth (on Calvin Coolidge)* Hello! It’s been a while. Sorry. I won’t pretend I’ve been terribly busy - I mean, some of you actually know me – but you know those weeks when you look up and suddenly it’s Friday and WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL WEEK? Well, it’s been a bit like that. And it hasn’t been greatly assisted by my son ...

by katedh May 12, 2014

7 a Day Series , Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Spring , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

A is for Asparagus

"Marriage? It's like asparagus eaten with vinaigrette or hollandaise, a matter of taste but of no importance" - Francoise Sagan So first up in the 7 a day series is asparagus. Not because it is alphabetically expedient but because it's brilliant and because it has an extremely short season and will be gone again by the end of June. Asparagus basically screams Spring. Arriving after the UK "hungry gap" of March/April where there is ...

by katedh May 5, 2014

Dairy Free , Drinks , Fish , Gluten Free , Meat , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Weekend , Wheat Free

Cinco de Mayo – Tequila & Tacos

"Why did the Mexican push his wife off the cliff? Tequila!" Yes, I do write my own material and yes, I am here all week (try the veal) etc. Anyway, it's 5 May! And because 90% of you reading this are European, that will mean absolutely nothing whatsoever! It's just the day after Star Wars Day, right? But those of you in the US, or unbashed Americophiles like me, will know ...

by katedh April 7, 2014

Cookbooks , Dairy Free , Gluten Free , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian

Gwyneth’s Carrot & Ginger Dressing

"I'd rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can" - Gwyneth Paltrow (2011) It occurred to me today, while queuing in the Post Office for the fourth time, that I wouldn't have the first clue where to buy crack or cheese in a can. Is this what it means to be truly middle class? Seriously, what even is cheese in a can? Is it an American thing? If we are talking about this ...

by katedh April 2, 2014

Breakfast , Dairy Free , Drinks , Gluten Free , Vegan/Vegan Option , Year-Round

Malted “Milk” Shake

"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they're like, it's better than yours" - Kelis (Milkshake, 2003) I had intended to do a proper post today about smoothies and how to make green ones that don't taste like dirt but then somebody pointed out that Elle McPherson turned 50 this week (FIFTY FFS!) and so I am going to go back to bed and weep for a while instead. But before ...