Cabbage and Pineapple Salad

Rose Elliot

• 350g white cabbage (half a cabbage)
• 425g pineapple (a whole pineapple)
• chopped mint (optional)

1. Chop both finely
2. Mix together
3. Add mint
4. Serve

Good combination, handy if you have a pineapple and a cabbage. I had it with black eyed bean dal.

Courgette and carrot layer

• 450g carrots,cooked mashed and seasoned
• 1 medium onion
• 450g courgettes, finely chopped
• 100g almonds, finely chopped or ground
• 75g wholemeal breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp stock in a little boiling water
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• 1 tbsp tom puree
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Black pepper

1. Grease 450g loaf tin
2. Fry onion and courgette, add everything except the carrot
3. Place half courgette mixture in the tin and press down
4. Put the carrot in
5. Put the rest of the courgette mixture in
6. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at gas mk 4 / 175 deg c
7. Allow to cool for ten mins before serving

Turned out a bit wet, probably I put too much stock in. Would survive leaving the foil out. Losing the almonds would reduce the calories, they're something like 600cal on their own.

Chirashizuchi - Japanese rice salad

Stolen from - World of Salads, page 144

• 225g long grain rice
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 225g garden peas
• 225g carrots
• 1 portion Scrambled tofu

1. Soak the ginger in 1tbsp vinegar with the soy sauce and the sugar for one hour
2. Cook the rice. Add 1 tbsp vinegar & stir well
3. Slice the carrots and cook them and cook the peas
4. Mix everything together & leave it to stand for an hour - or just eat it

Mac and Bean Florentine

Stolen from : Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

Serves 4

• 4.5L slow cooker
• 250g macaroni
• 300g cooked spinach
• 1 onion, chopped
• 100g raw unsalted cashews
• 300g cooked white beans or 1 tin of same (I used Cannellini)
• 1 tblspoon miso (optional)
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• pinch ground nutmeg
• salt
• water

1. Cook the macaroni to al dente
2. Cook the onions (I boil mine, you can fry if you like)
3. Grind cashews, add 200ml water and make a paste so it doesn't lump later
4. Put everything in the slow cooker, give it a right good stir
5. Cook on low for 3+ hours

I wasn't expecting much once I'd mixed it all together but the flavours come alive in the cooking. While eating it, I wanted a side salad, that would have been perfect. Only 3 stars because it didn't wow but might have done with bread, balsamic & salad.
Surprisingly unfilling

Sweet Potato (or Yam) Keema

Stolen from Kaush N. Bhatia's "Vegetarian Indian Cookbook" p. 103

250g sweet potato or yam
2 onions - diced
2 tomatoes - minced
2 green chillies - minced
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1" piece ginger
1/2 cup water
2 tsps coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt & chilli powder to taste
coriander leaf garnish

Peel and grate the sweet potato / yam. Parboil & drain
Fry the onions, ginger & green chillies to golden.
Add the sweet potato / yam and fry for 5 mins.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients except garnish.
Cover and cook on low flame until the sweet potato / yam is as cooked as you want it.
Garnish & serve.

This was ok, I didn't chilli it up. It's a good use for a spare sweet potato. Might try it without the onion.

Tomato Curry

Stolen from : Harvey Day "The Best of Vegetarian Cooking: Indian Curries" [1984] p. 84

12 large tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 dessertspoonful garam masala
3 onions
1 dessertspoonful coriander leaves
1" stick cinnamon
1/2 coconut
1/2 in piece of green ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp vegetable fat
seeds 3 cardamoms
salt to taste

1. chop the ginger, onions, coriander leaves, garlic and garam masala
2. heat the fat and stir in the coconut flesh with the tomatoes (whole if fresh)
3. add remaining ingredients and stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens

I'm not sure why Harvey took the trouble to chop his onions first, there's *plenty* of time to do it while you're waiting for the tomatoes to lose their skins.
What's a dessertspoonful, I used 1 tbsp but perhaps it's more like 2 tbsp.
I used 18 salad toms because Lidls had them half price.
Harvey also doesn't mention any prep for the coconut, I figured half a coconut in 3 pieces just wasn't going to be nice so I put it through the grinder. When I say half I mean 1 coconut. The last recipe I used coconut in said 1/2 coconut or 200g and I found that 1 puny coconut was about 200g. I hope Harvey didn't get his coconuts from Pak foods like I did.
The toms took *ages* to get going, I thought it was never going to go watery so I smushed a few of them with the spatula. It's bubbling away on the stove now, so it's going ok. It's been 45 mins since I started, the rice was ready 10 mins ago. I cracked at an hour and served myself a portion. The flavour is very good, though the tomatoes were a bit thin in flavour; probably GM ones bred for looks - they were Lidl own brand. The coconut bits were getting hard going at the end of the portion, just needs longer in the grinder, or less of it and add some reduced coconut milk.
What I didn't eat first serving I left on the low heat to see how it went. Looks much the same.

Could use onion paste instead of onions, they don't get cooked so well, you could do the ginger, cinnamon and garlic and onions in the grinder together to a paste.

Sago Milk Pudding

Stolen from : Sago seeds packet

3 cups fresh milk (or rancid if you prefer !)
1/2 cup sago seeds
1/2 cup sugar
6-7 cardamoms
1 1/2 tsp blanched almonds
1 1/2 tsp pistachio kernels (halved) [get your butler to do it]
1 1/2 tsp raisins (or 6 in old money)

1. get the milk boiling then add the sago
2. boil until it starts to thicken
   
3. add rest of stuff
4. keep boiling until you feel you've had enough (says 30 mins on packet)
   

I used seed milk (sunflower, pumpkin & linseed) and it goes thick quite soon so I added extra water. I also just added dried mangos and some sultanas and some whole cashews. These extra bits were a waste really, the sago & seed combo was quite nice. Good experiment :)

Dal Banjari

Stolen from "Dals" - Tarla Dalal p.51

Serves 6 (true)

1 cup urad dal
1/2 cup chana dal
1/4 tsp haldi
1 onion, sliced
2 laung (cloves)
1 stick cinnamon
2 dry whole chillies, chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste

1. Pressure cook dals with haldi with 3 cups water for 4-5 whistles or until dal is cooked (because you can see through the pressure cooker right!)
2. Fry the onions, cloves, cinnamon and red chillies in some oil until the onions are done in a saucepan big enough to hold the dal in 4.
   
3. Add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and chilli powder and saute for 2 mins.
   
4. Add the dal and boil for 4-5 mins or until you want to eat it.

None of the dals I have cooked seem watery enough to me. Even so, this one was good if not exceptional and it was very easy to make. I liberated the pressure cooker for stage 4 so I could cook something else and finish the dal off so they were cooked at the same moment.
Next day I added some more water and gave it a boil, much better.