Saturday 27 November 2010

Quinoa, Herb & Pomegranate Salad, or Posh Food to Impress Your Friends


My boyfriend's Dad stayed a few weekends ago and left some pomegranates in our kitchen which I wasn't quite sure how to use up. After a quick search online I found this recipe and embarked upon making this rather posh salad. Well, posh by my standards anyway.

Ingredients
150g Quinoa
1/2 vegetable stock cube
75g pine nuts
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
small handful of mint, chopped
small handful of coriander, chopped
juice of 1 lime
extra virgin olive oil

Cook the Quinoa according to packet instructions, adding the vegetable stock cube to the cooking water. While the quinoa is cooking, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan until lightly golden. Mix the pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, herbs, lime juice and 4 tablespoons oil through the cooked and cooled quinoa.

Monday 22 November 2010

Butternut Squash & Lentil Stew



Before you make this recipe you should be aware that I was assaulted by this stew. I went for a taste straight from the pot (bad move) and a piece of leek fell out and stuck to my lip and burnt it. So folks, approach the pot with caution as this stew bites...

1 leek, sliced thinly
4 cups of peeled and cubed butternut squash
4 carrots, diced
5 stalks of celery, diced
4 parsnips, diced
10 cups vegetable stock
2 cups dried red lentils
1 teaspoon ground mace (if you can't find mace substitute with some cinnamon and nutmeg to taste)

Place all the vegetables in a large saucepan and saute for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Add the vegetable stock, lentils and mace and mix well. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. If you want a more soupy texture you can soupify (official term) it with a hand blender.

The original recipe calls for pumpkin, but it's not too easy to find pumpkin in the UK any other time except for halloween. Note that the recipe makes 12 servings, so you probably want to halve the recipe unless you want to be eating this stew every night for a week.