Vegetarian Sausage, Orange & Root Veg One Pot

Ingredients:

6 vegetarian sausages (I used Linda McCartney's)

2 oranges

1 red onion, chopped into chunks

1/2 a swede, peeled & chopped

1 small turnip, peeled & chopped

1 sweet potato, peeled & chopped

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp dried thyme

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Place the sausages and chopped root vegetables into an oven proof dish.
3. Sprinkle the thyme and grind some black pepper over the sausages and vegetables.
4. Halve and squeeze the juice of the oranges into a jug. Add the remains of the oranges to the dish with the sausages and vegetables.
5. Add the olive oil and maple syrup to the orange juice, mix well.
6. Pour the orange juice mix over the ingredients in the oven proof dish and stir well, so that all the ingredients are coated.
7. Place in the oven for 45-50 mins, turn over in the middle of the cooking and remove from the oven when golden brown.

Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes.

NB Could probably be also made with meat sausages.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 leek, sliced

2 carrots, chopped

150g mushrooms, chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

3 tbsp dried sage (or 3 fresh leaves if available)

3 tbsp dried thyme (or 3 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves only if available)

250g dried green lentils

750ml vegetable stock (made with 1 vegetable OXO cube)

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

200ml red wine

1 tbsp (vegetarian) Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

tbsp olive oil

Topping:

2 large sweet potatoes

2 large potatoes

1 small/medium cauliflower, heads only

large knob of butter

handful of grated cheese

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the leeks, until they begin to soften.
3. Add carrots, mushrooms and garlic, continuing to cook for 4-5 mins, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the herbs, lentils, tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock, red wine, soy sauce & Worcestershire sauce and stir together well.
5. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer on a low heat for 30-40 minutes to thicken slightly.
6. Whilst the filling is simmering, boil the potatoes, sweet potatoes & cauliflower in a pan together for 15 mins until all is soft.
7. Drain the vegetables and add the butter to mash until smooth.
8. Transfer the filling to an oven proof dish and top with the mashed vegetables. Sprinkle the grated cheese on the top.
9. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Carrot & Sweet Potato Mash

I was planning on cooking sausage and mash for my family tonight but wanted to make it with a difference, so we had sausage, homemade potato wedges and vegetable mash with onion gravy. It was delicious.

Ingredients:

5 medium carrots, peeled & sliced

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

25g butter

black pepper

Method:

1. Place the carrots, sweet potatoes and garlic cloves into a pan of water and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer until the vegetables are nice and tender (easy to mash).
3. Drain the vegetables and add the cumin, butter and other seasoning if required and mash.

Serve as an alternative vegetable side dish to many amazing meals or as I did an alternative to sausage and mash!

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Olive oil

1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cubed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 tsp turmeric

800ml vegetable stock (I made with 2 vegetable OXO cubes)

Method:

1. Heat the oil slightly in a large pan, adding the onions and garlic to gently saute until soft.
2. Add the butternut squash, sweet potato and turmeric heating for another few minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables cubes are tender.
4. Allow to cool a little to puree in a blender, before re-heating slightly to serve.

Serve with some fresh bread and butter, will warm up any winters day.

Slow Cooked Cauliflower Curry

I have been looking for creative ways to cook cauliflower and make it more interesting, as neither my partner or little boy seem to want to eat it steamed or as cauliflower cheese, so what could be more interesting than an self-invented cauliflower curry!

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Curry ready to slow cook

Cauliflower, chopped into florets

2 large potatoes, chopped into inch cubes

sweet potato, chopped into inch cubes

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

onion, chopped finely

tin of chick peas

2 tomatoes, chopped

100g red lentils

2 tsps ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tbsp mango chutney

1 tbsp dried coriander

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of coconut milk

1/2 cup of water

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker, mix together well.
2. Cook on low heat in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours.

Serve with rice or couscous.

Thai-style Butternut Squash Soup

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe has to be one of my favourite soup recipes of all time :) and this is the perfect time of year to warm yourself up with a nice hearty soup.

Ingredients:

1 onion

~500g butternut squash, chopped into inch cubes

1 sweet potato, chopped into inch cubes

~100g carrot

2-3 tbsp Thai curry paste

400ml coconut milk

300ml vegetable stock

oil

Method:

1. Fry the onion in a little oil until soft.
2. Add the thai curry paste and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add the butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, vegetable stock and coconut milk.
4. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
5. Blend to smooth and serve with some nice chunky bread.