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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.