Manchego omelette with patatas bravas and olive and feta salad

This is a recipe cooked with the other half for guests, can you tell? He is far more adventurous when it comes to cooking, probably because he doesn't limit himself to a predominantly vegan diet. I don't call myself vegan though, so a bit of cheese and egg isn't completely off my menu. Also, when I cook with him my portion sizes treble in size.

We decided to make a tapas style Spanish meal. I absolutely love the punchy flavours of Spanish food, and this meal didn't disappoint. Patatas bravas are Spanish roasted potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce on top. Manchego is a firm cheese made using sheep milk in the origin of La Mancha in Spain.

We had friends around so I took the photo quickly in bad light. It is much more colourful in real life, and packed full of flavour as Spanish food should be.

Manchego omelette with patatas bravas and olive and feta salad

Serves 4
Omelette
8 free range eggs
Knob of butter
50g Manchego cheese, sliced
Oregano
Salt and freshly

Patatas bravas
A good drizzle of olive oil
New potatoes (I kept the little ones whole and a few bigger ones I chopped into about 1inch chunks)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely diced. 
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tsp hot chilli powder (or to taste)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar

Olive and feta salad
Spinach
1 red pepper
4 tomatoes
Half a cucumber
Half block of feta, crumbled in chunks
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Green olives

Garlic bread
1 half baked baguette
50g lightly salted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely diced
Dried oregano

1. Heat the oven to about 220 degrees and preheat a roasting tray
2. Par boil the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes.
3.  Drain the potatoes and add to the roasting tray with plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 25 minutes, turning very occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and garlic and add to a saucepan on a medium heat with a glug of olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions have become translucent.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli, paprika, stock cube and sugar, cover, turn the heat to low  and let simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes
   
6. Make the garlic butter for the garlic bread by beating the butter, garlic clove and oregano together. 
7. Make slits in the the garlic bread, not cutting all the way through, so it can be teared once cooked. 
8. Stuff the garlic butter into the slits and place in the oven on a tray for about 10 minutes
9. Chop and combine all the solid ingredients for the salad, and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice
   
10. Beat the eggs and herbs along with some salt and pepper
11. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, melt a good knob of butter and add the egg mixture
12. Break the sliced manchego into chunks and scatter over the omelette whilst it is cooking
13. Flip the omelette after 4-5 minutes to ensure it is cooked all the way through
14. Cut the omelette into 4 pieces and serve with a tearing of the garlic bread and a big portion of the salad.
15. Take the potatoes out of the oven, and serve with the sauce on top
    

Butterbean and beetroot bulgur wheat salad

I love beetroot, but I don't cook with it enough. I really want to make beetroot brownies sometime, I love the idea of earthy red beetroot with dark gooey chocolate, mmmm. Look out for this recipe, I might make some for my birthday to take into work. They already think I'm a little mad, so it probably won't help my reputation, but as Hugh says in the recipe link above, if carrot cake works so well, why not beetroot brownies?

This is a slightly healthier beetroot recipe. VERY quick and easy with few ingredients, and excellent the next day once the flavours have infused to take into work. If you don't have bulgur wheat then you could use quinoa or couscous, or even rice. It is very adaptable.

I made this recipe a little while ago so I'm not 100% sure I have included all the ingredients. As with all my recipes, experiment with flavors and see what works for you.

Butterbean and beetroot bulgur wheat salad

Serves 2
1 cooked beetroot, chopped (I buy the vacuum packed beetroot, NOT in vinegar)
Half a 400g can butterbeans, drained and rinsed
1 large tomato, chopped
3 blocks of thawed frozen spinach, or 2 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
100g bulgar wheat
1 good quality vegetable stock cube (I use Kallo organic)
Salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
Handful sunflower seeds 

1. In a saucepan on a low heat, add the bulgar wheat and stock cube, cover with about double the amount of boiling water and let simmer.  
2.  Chop the beetroot, tomatoes and spinach, and drain and rinse the butterbeans
3. Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice together, add a little salt and lots of black pepper
4. Once the bulgar wheat is cooked (the water should have completely evaporated by the time the bulgar wheat is ready, about 4-5 minutes), place in a bowl and let cool
5. Meanwhile, toast some sunflower seeds in a dry panover a medium heat until they begin to take colour, about 3-4 minutes
6. Combine all the ingredients, add the dressing, toss, check seasoning and serve with the toasted sunflower seeds sprinkled on top

TST (tofu, spinach and tomato) sandwich

There is nothing better than a hot breakfast sandwich on a Sunday morning. I came up with this recipe whilst I was a student in Leeds, so it is uncomplicated and cheap to make. I have seen many different recipes for vegetarian "bacon", but this recipe is the simplest with only 3 ingredients. I think it saves a lot of faffing around and still produces a yummy result.

If you're expecting it to taste anything like bacon you are sorely mistaken, but it does give you the smokey, salty goodness that a good breakfast sandwich should. I load it up with spinach and tomato, and maybe even some brown sauce if I'm feeling a little daring.

TST sandwich

Serves 1
Olive oil
Extra firm tofu, sliced thinly into 4-5 slices
Dark soy sauce (better for colour but light is fine if you have that)
Half tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 slices wholemeal bread (or a roll)
Handful spinach, washed
1 beef tomato or 3 cherry tomatoes, sliced thinly
Brown sauce (optional)

1. Heat a griddle pan on a high heat and add a splash of olive oil
2. Add the sliced tofu, and sprinkle on the soy sauce and half of the smoked paprika on top
3. With the back of a spoon, spread the smoked paprika over the tofu to cover the top side
4. After 3-4 minutes, flip the tofu. It should be nicely browned on one side
5. Add some more soy sauce and the rest of the paprika, covering the tofu again
6. Meanwhile, toast your bread or warm your roll
7. After another 3-4 minutes, flip the tofu and cook on each side for around 1 minute to ensure it has taken on enough colour
8. Add a squeeze of brown sauce (if using) to your toast and layer your tofu up on top
9. Add your tomato and spinach, cut in half and serve with a lovely mug of Earl Grey

Super green mango smoothie

I have amazingly kept up my new years resolutions and have been going to the gym. When I get home from work I'm usually pretty hungry, so I have started making smoothies to have before going to a class later in the evening. Now some of you may think a green smoothie is taking the health thing a little too far, but I love the colour and it makes me feel good to know I'm packing in a hell of a nutritional punch into that little glass of green joy.

Another new years resolution was to start this blog. I have slowed my posting down in the past few weeks so sorry I haven't been updating it more. I will try to get back to a steady flow of a couple of posts a week.

Super green mango smoothie

 Serves 2
1/2 ripe mango, cubed into 1cm chunks
1 banana
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 large handful spinach
75ml soya milk (or alternative)
150ml water (or until you have the right consistency)
1 tbsp Agave nectar (or honey)

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend
2. Check consistency of smoothie and add more water/milk until you have the right consistency for you.

 NOTE: I did not measure the amount of milk/water I put into the blender, so these are only estimates. Use your own initiative when adding the liquids to get the consistency you wish for.

Spicy tofu peanut stew

A few weeks ago I took my other half away for a long weekend in North Wales. We stayed at an amazing retreat called Trigonos, which serves incredibly imaginative and tasty vegetarian and vegan food. On the first night we stayed there we were served a really good tofu tomato and peanut stew. As I didn't write down the ingredients I could taste at the time and my other half has swanned off to Indonesia, I had to try to guess what was in it. I am pretty pleased with the outcome, and will happily attempt it again.

The peanut butter really thickens up the sauce and gives it a very luxurious texture. I used 100% peanut butter with no added oil/sugar/salt as I find the normal sugary peanut butters too sweet. I did however add sugar to the recipe to sweeten the tomatoes, so you can use whatever peanut butter you have in your cupboard. If you have decent quality tinned tomatoes or sugary peanut butter you could completely miss out the sugar.

Spicy tofu peanut stew

Serves 2
Olive oil
Half a block of tofu (I used Cauldron firm tofu), chopped into 2cm pieces
1/4 aubergine, chopped into 2cm pieces
 1 large handful kale
2 chestnut mushrooms
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter (I used no Meridian no added sugar/salt)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 vegetable stock cube
40ml soya milk (or alternative)
1tsp sugar (optional, depending on your peanut butter and quality of chopped tomatoes)
1tsp chilli flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
a few dashes of soy sauce

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium/high heat and add the tofu
2. Cook for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tofu has begun to brown
3. Add a few splashes of soy sauce to add colour to the tofu
4. Add the aubergines and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. Add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, stock cube, peanut butter, sugar, paprika and chilli flakes
6. Turn the heat down to low/medium and cover the pan
7. After 5 minutes, add the kale and soya milk, and taste to check seasoning and adjust if necessary
8. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until the kale is cooked with a little bite
9. Serve with rice or bulghar wheat (as above)

Spicy sweetcorn chowder

Hi all, sorry I haven't posted anything recently, life has got in the way and stopped me having time to blog. I have been cooking though and taking photos when I can, so hopefully I'll find time to post about the recipes before I forget how I made them.

I made this recipe this evening, and only just finished eating. It was really good and took less than 15 minutes to make from start to finish. Sorry about the photo, I wasn't going to write about it so I started eating, then decided it was nice so took a quick picture.

Spicy sweetcorn chowder

Serves 2-3
Olive oil
1 medium white onion
1 garlic clove
1 vegetable stock cube
1 mild red chilli (or to taste)
half a red bell pepper
1 340g tin sweetcorn (or frozen sweetcorn)
100ml milk (I used soya milk)
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
half tsp ground cumin
half tsp ground coriander
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1. Add a dash of olive oil to a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Finely chop the onion and garlic and cook, stirring until turning translucent and taking on colour, about 7-8 minutes.
2. Finely chop the red chilli and add to the onion garlic mix whilst it is cooking.
3. Meanwhile, chop the red bell pepper into about 1.5cm chunks
4. Throw in the stock cube, cumin and ground coriander and add some water until the onions are covered.
5. Whizz up the cooked onions, garlic and spices with a hand blender (you can miss this part out, but I chopped my onions a little big. This stage also thickens the sauce nicely).
6. Throw in the red pepper, sweetcorn and fresh coriander.
7. Add the milk and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, so the pepper still has crunch but has softened.
8. Taste for seasoning, and add black pepper (optional)
9. Serve with bread, could be good with cheesy toast (just a random idea).

Most recipes call for potato, so you could add 1or 2 in when you are cooking the onions. Increase the cooking time by 5 minutes. Chop the potato into 1-2cm chunks. I didn't have any to hand, but still found it lovely without.