The Knobbly Plate

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Archives for July 2017

GREEN KITCHEN AT HOME

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The second cookbook recommendation I have is Green Kitchen at Home. This book is a collection of recipes from their very successful blog Green Kitchen Stories.

There are over 100 vegetarian recipes in this book from quick, delicious weekday breakfasts to more elaborate weekend celebrations. This is food to make you look and feel great. Recipes are easy to make and all have prep and cook times as well as handy hints along the way.  The weekend recipes take a little longer to make but are as uncomplicated as the weekday recipes; from cauliflower fish an chips, their fun take on classic fish and chips to a wonderful lemon ricotta lasagne which we at Knobbly Plate can vouch for is delicious.

The book is packed full of stunning food photography and styling as well as charming anecdotes Green Kitchen at Home will quicly become one of your favourite go to cookbooks.

EVERYDAY & SUNDAY

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So this is my first recommendation for a cookbook to start you off on your vegetarian journey. Everyday & Sunday from Riverford Organic Farms. The book on the whole is vegetarian but there are some meat recipes in there for you meat lovers and they are mainly centered around a good old fashioned Sunday roast.

The book takes you through the growing year by presenting vegetables that are in season depending on the month of the year and provides you with at least 3 vegetables to try for every month of the year. As you have seen from my last two blog posts I have picked out 2 recipes that fit well with the Knobbly Plates ethos of affordable eating. Though to be honest when food is in season it is invariably affordable due to the abundance of that vegetable and the fact that it has not had to travel so many food miles to get to your plate.

In summary the book is a sensible look at simple meals using only British vegetables, and all set in tasty seasonal recipes. There are many recipes in here also with an international influence. The cost of the book is £18.99 from a regular bookshop but if you bought it from Amazon I have seen it for as little as £3.03 if you bought it second hand.

So there you go celeriac and cabbage will never be mundane again.

QUICK ROASTED CAULIFLOWER CHEESE

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In the second of my articles on “Everyday & Sunday” I am going to look at that perennial favourite, cauliflower cheese. For some reason since time began there always seems to be a version of cauliflower cheese in every vegetarian based cookbook. I should point out though that Everyday and Sunday is not strictly a veggie cookbook but it does contain mostly vegetarian dishes.


So what did we here at Knobbly Plate like about this recipe. Well first of all it definitely fits in with the affordable bit. The whole dish cost just £6.32 to make and there was easily enough for 4 people. That’s just £1.58 a portion for this classic comfort food. The most expensive ingredient was the gruyere cheese at £2.87 so it’s possible to make the dish even cheaper by substituting that for a mild cheddar which would probably halve the cost of the cheese.

The dish was simple enough to prepare but we found that the roasting part of ths cauliflower took double the amount of time it said on the recipe. Next and this is a personal preference I like my mustard so I doubled the amount to give it a bit more zing.
Taking all this into account it was a passable version of cauliflower cheese. I think however the one big change I would make in future would be to par boil the cauliflower first as we found the roasted version just a tad chewy. I would however say that if you have had a long day at work and can’t really face cooking then this version is definitely quick and easy to get from cupboard to plate.

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QUICK ROASTED CAULIFLOWER CHEESE
Author: 
Recipe type: Main Course
Cuisine: british
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Cauliflower, Cut Into Florets
  • 1 tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Caster Sugar
  • 250g Creme Fraiche
  • 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 100g Gruyere Cheese
Instructions
  1. Toss the cauliflower in the oil and sugar and roast for 20 mins at gas mark 6
  2. Mix all the other ingredients into a bowl with the grated gruyere.
  3. Toss the roasted cauliflower in the mixture.
  4. Place in an oven proof dish and scatter some grated gruyere over the top and roast in a hot oven until golden and bubbling.

 

ROASTED CARROT & LENTIL SALAD WITH GOATS CHEESE DRESSING

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Today I start a new article. I have been buying cookbooks for so long now that I have lost count of just how many books I have. Some books have been brilliant. Some okay and some quite frankly awful. My plan over the course of the month is to bring you recipes from one particular book then review the book as a whole at the end of each month. I will look at how easy it is to recreate the recipes and more importantly sticking with the theme of affordability with this blog, just how expensive my sample recipes cost me to make.


I am starting off this one with a roasted carrot and lentil salad with a goats cheese dressing. First of all what drew me to the recipe was the fact that there are only a few ingredients in the dish as a whole. Always a bonus here at Knobbly Plate. Next I looked at which meal it would fit into nicely and it seemed to me to be the perfect lunch dish. I also looked at how adaptable to the ingredients I had in the house at the time as to whether or not it would be possible to recreate the dish on a whim.

So what did I change about the recipe? first of all I did not have honey for the carrots so I made do without it. I did however drizzle some balsamic vinegar over them. Secondly instead of flatbread I had just made a loaf of honey and seed bread so I ripped up some of that. Other than those two things I pretty much followed the instructions.

How did it taste you ask? Well rather nice actually. I love lentils at the best of times and coupled with fresh organic carrots it made a wonderfully filling salad. So here is the salad with a big thank you toRiverford Organics  not just for the veg but for the recipe from their book. Everyday & Sunday.


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ROASTED CARROT & LENTIL SALAD WITH GOATS CHEESE DRESSING
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: British
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • ½ Red Onion
  • 1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  • 2 tsp Brown Sugar
  • 1 Bunch of New Season Carrots
  • 2 tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Honey
  • 3 tbs Cooked Puy Lentils
  • 1 Garlic Clove Crushed
  • 2 Pitta Breads
  • Bunch Watercress
  • 100g Goats Cheese
  • 50ml Milk
  • ½ Lemon Squeezed
Instructions
  1. For the Salad
  2. Soak the red onion in the red wine vinegar and toss the carrots in olive oil and honey. Roast the carrots in a hot oven until soft.
  3. Toss the carrots with the cooked lentils, chopped red onion and crushed garlic.
  4. Rip the bread into small peices and toast in the oven for 5 mins..
  5. In a large bowl toss all the ingredients together along with the dressing and serve.
  6. For the Goats Cheese Dressing
  7. Gently heat the cheese with the milk until combined. Season with salt and pepper.

 

AFFORDABLE PESTO BUTTERBEAN SALAD

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First of all, many thanks to Deliciously Ella for the inspiration for this recipe. She has an amazing food blog. I liked the look of her pesto butter bean salad right from the start but I also knew that with my tight family budget it was probably just a little out of the reach of my pocket so I set about making a few changes that would mean I would get to try this dish.

I think one of the main elements of her dish, the pesto was probably just too expensive for me to make fresh. Pine nuts and Parmesan cheese are quite expensive items to purchase. I know the cheese goes a long way but when you only have so much to spend in one week then you have to stick to that. I decided therefore that the first change to her recipe should be that I buy a jar of pesto. Now you can buy very cheap pesto which has little extra virgin olive oil in it or spend a little bit more on a jar that has better ingredients in it. Either way it will still be cheaper than making your own fresh pesto, though we would all love to have the fresh variety.

My second change to her recipe was to buy a packet of dried butter beans rather than tins of butter beans. I know they are a faff to prepare having to soak them overnight and boil them for what seems like forever but you rally do get so much more for your money. One 500g packet of butter beans will produce at least 10 portions for the same price as a single tin of ready made beans. I also bought a snack pack of pomegranate seeds for half the price of a single whole fruit and found it was enough to make the same dish again with or to use in another dish.

Finally I still had some organic carrots left over from my veg box scheme that I use from Riverford Organics so I decided to roast them and add them to the dish for two reasons really. First I felt they would add a sweetness to the dish that would contrast well with the other Mediterranean flavours and also if I’m honest I’m a hungry eater so I wanted more to eat for my evening meal.

All in all I think with these simple changes I have not compromised on the flavours of the dish and I reckon I have cut the cost of making the dish by at least half.


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AFFORDABLE PESTO BUTTERBEAN SALAD
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: British
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Jar of Green Pesto
  • 100g Dried Butter Beans
  • ½ Bag of Rocket
  • 1 Lemon
  • Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Pomegranate Seeds
  • 2 tsp Pumpkin Seeds
  • 1 Lemon
  • 6 small Carrots
Instructions
  1. Soak the butter beans overnight and then cook according to packet instructions. Usually Boil for 10 mins and then Simmer for 30mins.
  2. Toss the butter beans in half the jar of pesto and set aside for 30 mins to let the beans take on the flavour of the pesto.
  3. Meanwhile quarter the carrots length ways and drizzle over some olive oil and roast in a hot oven until slightly charred.
  4. Mix up all the other salad ingredients and arrange on a plate.
  5. Top with the butter bean mixture and scatter the roasted carrots on top.
  6. Squeeze a lemon over the salad to dress and season with salt and pepper.

 

 

ASPARAGUS, SAMPHIRE, MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC TART

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Yesterday was a good day. I got lots of cooking done from making bread to soup for lunch which I told you about yesterday and last night following inspiration from Malibu Kitchen’s recipe for a similar tart I decided to make a tart from ingredients in the fridge that were starting to get towards the end of their shelf life. There are quite a few ingredients in my tart which could make it a bit on the expensive side if you were to buy all the ingredients fresh. I think the point of this tart is to start with a basic pastry base a few eggs some cream and milk and then look at what you have in the fridge or in your veg basket and design your own tart from there.


I pretty much followed Malibu Kitchen’s recipe because I had most of what she has in her recipe in the fridge. I just had less of it. I did however have the remains of some wonderful samphire that I had bought form Julies Hut, my local crab and fresh fish shack here in Selsey. Can I just say at this point I absolutely love the salty taste of fresh samphire!

I decided I was not going to buy in puff pastry that the recipe originally required but make my own wholemeal pastry. Pastry is not that healthy at the best of times so making it wholemeal at least makes me feel better and I think it has a better taste to it also. I also made my tart slightly smaller so that it meant I would need one less egg and considerably less cream. I have not in the end priced this recipe up as I feel it is irrelevant as like you it is made up of odds and ends that have all been used in previous recipes. I guess though as a rough estimate for a tart that would feed 6 people the basic recipe works out at around £0.82 then you add your fillings.


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ASPARAGUS, SAMPHIRE, MUSHROOM & ROASTED GARLIC TART
Author: 
Recipe type: Tart
Cuisine: British
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • For the Pastry
  • 150g Wholemeal Flour
  • 150g Plain Flour
  • 125g Butter
  • 1 Egg
  • For the Tart
  • 6 Eggs
  • 100ml Double Cream
  • 50ml Milk
  • 8 Roasted Garlic Cloves
  • 6 Asparagus Spears
  • Handful of Chestnut Mushrooms
  • Handful of Samphire
  • Bunch Snipped Chives
  • 25g Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
  1. To make the pastry
  2. Rub the butter into the mixed flours until you reach that breadcrumb stage.
  3. Add the beaten egg to bind it together.
  4. Place in the fridge for 15 mins then roll out into your tart tin and chill for a further hour.
  5. Place a piece of greaseproof paper in the tart tin and fill with baking beans. Blind bake foe 12 mins at gas mark 5. Take the beans out and bake for a further 5 mins until the base is crisp and golden.
  6. To make the roasted garlic.
  7. Place a whole garlic bulb in a oven proof container.
  8. Drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven at gas mark 4 for 1 hour.
  9. To assemble the tart
  10. Whisk the eggs with the cream and milk.
  11. Add the cheese and snipped chives.
  12. Burst the cooled garlic cloves and spread over the bottom of the tart.
  13. Add the chopped mushrooms, samphire and asparagus spears.
  14. Pour over the egg mixture and place in a pre heated oven at gas mark 6 for 40 mins until golden and set.
  15. Allow the tart to chill to room temperature before serving.

 

 

EVERYBODY LOVES PIZZA, DON’T THEY?

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It says it all in the title really. But there are those out there who simply do not like pizza. I suspect it’s because they have never made their own pizza but have always bought those horrible massed produced frozen ones from the supermarket. Even when you are just buying the base to put your own topping on your not getting that real pizza taste. Here at Knobbly Plate we absolutely love our pizza’s. They are a brilliant way to use up leftover vegetables and so so simple to make as you will see. They can also be as affordable as you like from costing just a few pence to those of you who like to add those special ingredients such as fresh anchovies and capers where the cost goes up to maybe a whole £1 for a 12 inch pizza.

Some historical  facts for you now….. Here at Knobbly Plate we think facts 6 & 7 fit in with our philosophy perfectly.

  1. The word “Pizza” was first documented in the Italian city of Gaeta in 997 AD.
  2. The ancestors of modern-day pizzas were simple flat breads, known asfoccasia in Italy that were sprinkled with different toppings.
  3. Foods similar to pizza can be traced back to the New Stone Age Period.
  4. Early pizzas were often sweet dishes, not savoury!
  5. Many historical records show that people have been adding different ingredients to bread to make it more appetizing.
  6. Most would never guess it, but pizza originally started off as a dish for poor people, sold in the streets and not a food for upper class people.
  7. It was in the 18th century that the poor around the area of Naples got accustomed to adding tomatoes to their yeast-based flat bread, and that’s how the modern pizza began!
  8. Today’s pizzas are characterized by a soft flatbread base, tomatoes and cheese.
  9. Pizza was introduced to the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the 19th century.
  10. The first pizzeria in the United States was opened by Vincent Bruno in Chicago, in the year 1903.


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EVERYBODY LOVES PIZZA, DON’T THEY?
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • For the Base
  • 10g Instant Yeast
  • 10g Salt
  • 300g Strong White Flour
  • 200ml Warm Water
  • For the Topping
  • 400g Tinned Tomatoes
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 Ball Mozzarella
  • Few courgette ribbons( I used 6 on a 12 inch pizza)
  • ½ Red Pepper
  • ½ Red Onion
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Handful Torn Basil Leaves
Instructions
  1. In a bowl mix together the flour salt and yeast.
  2. Add the water and mix into a dough. Knead the dough until silky smooth and it forms a ball.
  3. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place until doubles in size.
  4. Roll out to 12 inches on a floured surface and place on your pizza try.
  5. Whilst the dough is proving make your tomato sauce by heating the tomatoes and crushed garlic until the tomatoes have thickened.
  6. Spread on to the pizza base.
  7. Scatter your toppings on top and bake in a very hot oven Gas Mark 9 for around 10mins until the pizza has puffed up and is bubbling.

 

BEAN BULGUR SALAD WITH PESTO

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Here we go again. Great tasting, healthy food at an affordable price. Today it’s a vegan dish. I know all you meat lovers are groaning in horror now but trust me this tasts fresh and amazing with all it’s different nuggets of juiciness. The inspiration for this dish came from Holy Cow’s Blog. With a few simple changes to her wonderful recipe idea I have brought this into the realms of affordable vegetarian eating.


The main thing I changed was that instead of making the pesto with all those expensive ingredients I simply bought a jar of good quality pesto. Not only did this do me for the recipe but it also meant that there was enough for a spaghetti lunch the next day as well. The next change I made was I bought a tin of mango pieces in natural juice. The difference was nearly a £1 for that item alone and meant that I also had enough mango left over to put on my breakfast cereal the very next morning for a treat. lastly and I do this every time. 500g of dried borlotti beans will cost you the same as a tin of ready made ones. Form the tin you will get one portion. From the bag of dried beans you will get at least half a dozen. You just have to soak them overnight then boil them for 40 mins until soft and plump. No real hardship there.


So what did the whole dish cost. Here is a full breakdown of the ingredients and what they cost me

  • Borlotti beans 52p
  • Pesto 25p
  • Baby Spinach 25p
  • Tinned Mango 40p
  • Red Onion 18p
  • Feta 22p
  • Bulgur Wheat 66p

Now I know that those prices are per portion used but there is nothing on that list that will perish in a day or so. So you can utilise the leftovers in plenty of other dishes. I would suggest a nice wrap with lots of the salad and a spicy dressing. I used a wasabi and ginger dressing to make the wraps the next day. So adding all those ingredients up the salad will cost you £2.48 for 4 people. Thats’s an amazing 62p per plate with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.


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BEAN BULGUR SALAD WITH PESTO
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 480g cooked borlotti beans
  • 200g Bulgur Wheat
  • 1 Red Onion Diced Finely
  • Handful of Baby Spinach
  • ½ Can Mango Slices Diced
  • 2 Tomatoes Diced
  • ¼ Jar Pesto Sauce
  • 100g Crumbled Feta Cheese
Instructions
  1. Cook the bulgur wheat as per packet instructions.
  2. Mix all the other ingredients together.
  3. When the bulgar wheat has cooled add it to the mixture.
  4. Stir in the pesto sauce and serve.

 

Chargrilled Halloumi & Summer Vegetable Salad

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Iv’e said this before but there is no harm in saying it again. “I love creating salads” It’s such a summery pastime for me and I shall be sad when the growing season for salads has moved on to more in the way of root vegetables. For now however I shall just keep on indulging myself. This chargrilled summer vegetable & halloumi salad I feel is one of my better creations and very substantial to boot.

I haven’t really been using alot of halloumi in my cooking until recently. I don’t know why that is because I have grown to absolutely love this “squeeky” cheese. For those of you that love your meat from a bbq this makes a brilliant substitute.  Halloumi cheese originated in Cyprus, and has been traditionally prepared with cow, goat or sheep milk. This cheese is very versatile and has the unusual feature of not melting when heated. For this reason, it can be grilled or fried, in addition to being eaten fresh with fruits or vegetables, or grated on pasta. I have used it in so many dishes from salads to kebabs to part of a stack for vegetarian burgers.


Once again when constructing this salad I have paid particular attention to The Knobbly Plates ethos of affordable healthy vegetarian dishes. So when breaking the cost of this salad down it came to a total of £3.80 for 4 people which works out at an amazing price of just 95p a portion. We had it for dinner and it was quite substantial with plenty left over for lunch for the two of us the very next day.

There were a few nuts and seeds included in the salad to help with proteins but also to add the extra textures to the dish as well. I think when you make this salad you will agree that it made for a very satisfying meal indeed.


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CHARGRILLED SUMMER VEGETABLE & HALLOUMI SALAD
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Main course
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 Persons
 
Ingredients
  • 2 Handfuls of Baby Spinach
  • 50g Cooked Cous Cous
  • 100g Halloumi Sliced Lengthways
  • 2 Tomatoes Chopped
  • ½ Cucumber Chopped
  • 50g Pumpkin Seeds
  • 50g Pistachio Nuts
  • 50g Walnut pieces
  • 1 Orange Segmented
  • 1 Red Pepper Sliced Thickly
  • 1 Courgette Sliced
Instructions
  1. On a chargrill cook the peppers, courgette and halloumi
  2. Meanwhile in a salad bowl mix together all the other ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
  3. top with the chargrilled vegetables and halloumi and dress with your favourite dressing.

 

Quinoa Salad with Beans, Peaches & Tofu

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I came across this recipe when I was looking through Food Gawker. It’s an amazing resource for deciding what to cook each day by just searching with the ingredient you have. That is if I haven’t got an idea of my own to use which can be surprisingly often. The recipe I found was  Super Grains Salad with Peaches, Tofu and a Fresh Mint Vinaigrette from Petit World Citizen and with a few tweaks I managed to turn it into a Knobbly Plate idea.

Now being a man as you know when it comes to salads I like mine to be quite substantial so adding bits on top for me has always been a good idea. In this case as I had some green beans I decided to blanche and add them to the salad. I also added some of my own cherry tomatoes from the garden but I will price those up as if I bought them for the final reckoning. To make it as affordable as possible I also switched the mint vinaigrette for a splash of French dressing that came out of a bottle that was lurking in my fridge. I know fresh tastes better but like you I absolutely have to watch the pennies and every penny saved is a blessing.

For the grains I used a mix that I bought from Tesco’s of red and white quinoa with bulgur wheat thrown in and it seemed to work very well. So what did the dish cost me to make? Well all in all and buying tinned peaches instead of fresh ones I managed to make this dish for a total of £4.59 which is a bit expensive by Knobbly plate standards but it will feed 4 people so that’s £1.14 per person. I think this dish illustrates very well the fact that if you eat seasonal produce then you can keep the price down. Salad vegetables are on the way out now and so they are starting to rise in price. As autumn approaches we are coming into the roots season so I shall need to be thinking more about what I can make with them. It was nice however to have just one more salad. Thank you summer for a wonderful season.

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QUINOA SALAD WITH PEACHES, BEANS & TOFU
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Main course
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 100g Quinoa Cooked According to Instructions
  • 200g Marinated Tofu Sliced
  • Handful of Green Beans Blanched
  • 1 Red Onion Finely Sliced
  • Handful of Seasonal Salad Leaves
  • 480g Tin Sliced Peaches
  • 12 Cherry Tomatoes
  • ½ Cucumber Sliced
  • 4 tbs French Dressing
Instructions
  1. Mix all the ingredients together and drizzle over the salad dressing.
  2. Season with salt and pepper.