Category Archives: Main Course Vegetables

Oat Groat Risotto

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This dish is like a normal risotto but with a fuller, nuttier flavour as I use oat groats instead of rice. If you don’t cook with oat groats already then it is time to try it out!

Groats are the hulled kernel of the grain which is rich in fibre and protein. It will keep you fuller for a longer time, has less carbs than rice and is also, supposedly, helpful against high cholesterol. But first and foremost, it has lots of wonderful flavour!

Serves 6

400 ml oat groats
800 ml chicken broth or water and vegetable stock cube
100 g Parmesan, grated (or some crumbled feta cheese)
600 g brown button mushrooms, sliced
100 ml sundried tomatoes
100 g fresh spinach leaves
1 red onion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Zucchini, thin slices, for decorations

• Sauté the mushrooms over medium heat until all liquid has evaporated. Add the onion and sauté until soft. Stir in the sundried tomatoes and the spinach during the last few minutes.
• Boil the oat groats in bullion over medium heat (this has a tendency to overflow while boiling so keep a close watch) until done (15-45 minutes, please see the manufacturers recommendation – some will tell you to soak the groats before cooking).
• Add the mushroom mix into the ready oats.
• Take off heat and stir the Parmesan cheese (or feta cheese) into the mix.
• Season.

Serve with a fresh salad or, as I’ve done here, on a braided Zucchini/Courgette mat.

Crispy Veggie Balls

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These small veggie balls are really tasty and beautiful! Don’t try to make them into a whole meal though, they are far too cumbersome to make, but rather make them as a colorful, decorative garnish to go with any other dish.

You will need 1-2 round tea strainers (see photo), thongs and oven mitts.

Makes about 10 balls

1 red skin potato
1/3rd daikon
½ carrot
1/5th leek
¼ zucchini/courgette
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil for frying

1. Cut fine julienne slices (thin batons) of the vegetables. (First slice thinly, then cut into batons)
2. Place in colander and add the salt. Let sit for 10 minutes (in order to remove some moisture before frying).
3. Rinse the vegetables and pat them dry with kitchen towels.
4. Heat the oil in a deep pan. Make sure the oil will cover the tea strainer but use a deep pan so that the oil does not reach higher than halfway up the side.
5. Take a small amount of veggies and place in a tea strainer, dip into the oil and let cook for a 30 seconds. Do not overstuff.
6. They should be served warm. I like to make them before hand and then, just before serving, reheat them in the oven.

160921-crispy-veggie-balls-9880160921-crispy-veggie-balls-9866Some tips for frying:
• Dip a small piece of vegetable in the hot oil, if it sizzles then the oil is hot enough.
• Don’t worry if some pieces stick out of the tea strainer, it will just make a more interesting looking ball.
• 30 seconds is usually a good amount of time but check to make sure that they are not still soft or too burnt and adjust you time accordingly.
• Don’t expect them all to come perfectly the first time. It takes some practicing to get the cooking just right and to remove them from the tea strainer without breaking. You will probably start by throwing out every 4th ball…
• If you have two tea strainers going, one can be dropped into the oil while you empty and re-stuff the next.
• Have a small spoon handy to empty out the vegetables if they stick a bit to the net.
• Use a thong and oven mitts so you don’t burn yourself.

Sweet Potato Crunch with Vegetables

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Sweet Potato Crunch with Noodles, Pickled Onion and Salsa

A beautiful vegan dish, served on its own or as a side dish.
This recipe is quite similar to another sweet potato dish I have previously posted. The accompanying vegetables makes it into a new dish though. The potato crunch can be used as a base in many different recipes, even for desserts! An absolute favorite of mine. This is also one of the recipes I have developed under the guidance of Matthew Kenney Culinary School.

If you do not have a dehydrator, you can use a normal oven and bake the Crunch at 175C for 30-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of your Crunch).

Serves 6

Sweet Potato Crunch:
1 large sweet potato
2 carrots
1 red apple
¼ cup lemon juice
2/3rd cup of cashews
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Zucchini Spaghetti:
3 medium sized zucchini
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp agave
2 tsp fresh thyme

Pickled Red Onion:
2 red onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp agave
¼ tsp salt

Tomato Corn Salsa:
1 cup diced tomato, seeds removed
1 cup sweetcorn
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
3 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Avocado Puree:
2 avocado
3 tbsp lime juice
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp agave

Garnish:
1 cup rocket salad (drizzled with a little bit of olive oil for shine)
Pea sprouts
3 colors of cherry tomatoes
Chili flakes

1. Clean the vegetables to be used for the crunch mix and cut up in chunks.
2. Process the vegetables and nuts in a mixer.
3. Make 18 (3 per person) small rounds (use a mold to shape them) or rectangular sticks if you prefer (see photos).
4. Dehydrate over night (or longer, depending on the thickness of your rounds), or bake in a 175 C oven for 30-40 minutes depending on the thickness.
5. Spiralize the zucchini and marinate in the oil, vinegar, salt, agave and thyme mixture for about 30 minutes.
6. Slice the red onion thinly, using a mandolin. Marinate in the vinegar, oil, salt and agave for 30 minutes.
7. Combine the ingredients for the salsa. Set aside for the flavors to blend and mature, 30 minutes.
8. Serve the colorful dish on individual plates. Garnish.

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Cod Cake with Yuzu Veggies

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If you haven’t tried Yuzu yet you’re missing out on something! Yuzu is a wonderful citrus fruit from Japan. Can usually be found as a bottled juice in Asian food markets. Or, a possible substitute could be an equal mix of fresh orange-, lime- and lemon juice.

Serves 4

Cod Cake:
600 g cod fillets
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 large red chili, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp dried coriander
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 lime, zest

Japanese soy sauce

Veggies:
12 Sugar snaps
1 Orange bell pepper
1 Yellow bell pepper
6 Cherry tomatoes
1 Avocado
1 Red onion

Dressing:
6 tbsp Yuzu juice
3 tbsp Olive oil

1. Mix the fish, juice, chili, garlic, coriander, egg, salt and lime zest in a food processor.
2. Spoon into hot, oiled frying pan and fry 5-6 minutes on each side. Take care when turning so they don’t fall apart. Serve with soy sauce.
3. Cut all veggies in small pieces. Mix the dressing and drizzle over the vegetables.

Marinated Haricots Verts in a Salad

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Sometimes cooking is all about letting the ingredients speak for itself without too many alterations. Pure, simple and delicious! This is a classic green bean salad.

350 g haricots verts
80 g parmesan shavings
Chopped walnuts
1 small pear, sliced
Rocket salad (or fresh baby spinach leaves)

Vinaigrette:
3 tbsp olive oil
1,5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Dash of salt
Black pepper

1. Whisk/shake the vinaigrette.
2. Blanch the haricot verts 1-2 minutes in boiling water (with some salt added to it).
3. Marinate the beans in the vinaigrette for 20 minutes.
4. Distribute the salad items on a large plate. Add the haricots verts and drizzle any remaining vinaigrette on top.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

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A quick and refreshing addition to the summer buffet.

Serves 6

400 ml red quinoa
1 cube vegetable stock
4 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, finely diced
2 green bell peppers, finely diced
1 cucumber, seeds removed, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
100 ml chopped parsley
25 g chopped fresh mint leaves
Juice from 2 lemons
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

1. Boil the quinoa with a stock cube according to the instructions on the package.
2. Combine all ingredients.
3. Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours.
4. Enjoy!

Veggie Bake with Mango Dip

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I love the indian veggie bakes. These are often made with just onions but, inspired by a recipe I found in a newspaper, here I also include cauliflower and turned out absolutely delicious! Also, they are baked, not deep fried, which I think is a lot tastier for this recipe. The sweet dip is the perfect match for the veggie bake with all its spices/flavours. Serve as a pre-dinner snack with a bowl of the sauce to dip in, as a starter or as part of a main course.

400 g cauliflower, finely chopped (no large chunks)
2 medium leeks, finely chopped
Olive oil

Coating:
200 ml quinoa- or buckwheat flour
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground turmeric
Pinch of salt
150 ml water
2 tbsp hot mango chutney
1,5 tbsp tomato puree
olive oil

Sauce:
150 g Greek yoghurt
½ large ripe mango
1,5 tbsp mango chutney, hot
6-8 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
Dash of salt

Oven at 200 C
1. Sauce: Mix the ingredients together with a hand held blender. Chill in refrigerator.
2. Chop and fry the cauliflower and leeks until soft.
3. Mix the coating until smooth.
4. Combine the coating and veggies well.
5. Drizzle oil on baking tray. Drop the mix from a spoon and flatten each pile slightly. Drizzle some more oil on top.
6. Bake for 25 minutes turning once. Please note that if the veggie piles are difficult to turn you need to leave them a bit longer.

Crushed Potatoes with Greens and Beans

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A delicious way of preparing potato. Use yellow tomatoes for the dressing, the taste will be the same with red tomatoes but the colour so much more beautiful when it is all just yellow.

Serves 4

12 boiled new potatoes
Fresh thyme
Coarse salt
Olive oil

100 g fresh spinach
1 avocado, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced (best to use a mandolin)
Mixed beans (kidney-, butter-, chickpeas…)

Dressing:
2 large, yellow tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
A dash of salt

1. Set the oven at 215C
2. Take each boiled potato and, with a spoon, slightly press down the middle crushing the potato slightly. Put some thyme and salt on top.
3. Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil and place the potatoes on top. Pour some additional oil over the potatoes. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Cut up the avocado and fennel and place in a bowl together with the beans and the spinach.
5. Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a blender. Save some dressing for decorating the plate with and toss the rest with the greens in the bowl.

Zaatar Quinoa with Dijon Bean Salad

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160615 Zaatar Quinoa

Zaatar is a wonderful spice mix often used in Middle Eastern cooking. It is based on Sumak (citrus/sour flavoured ground berries) and herbs.

Quinoa dressing:
3 tbsp zaatar
50 ml olive oil

200 ml uncooked quinoa
Parsley, chopped

Dijon dressing:
100 ml olive oil
50 ml white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

12 sugar snaps, cut in 3rds
½ onion, finely chopped
200 g cherry tomatoes, halved (or, if large, quartered)
250 g canned kidney beans (drained weight)
250 g canned butter beans

1. Slowly whisk the Zaatar into the olive oil until well blended. Set aside.
2. Cook the quinoa according to the instructions on the package. When cooked, stir in half of the Zaatar dressing.
3. Whisk the ingredients for the Dijon dressing.
4. Combine the beans, onion and tomatoes. Add half of the Dijon dressing.
5. When serving, play with drops of the remainders of the two dressings.

Veggie Rolls

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Such a great appetizer! Healthy, fresh and very tasty. Perfect finger food. Just make sure the stuffing is cut into small pieces and won’t poke holes into the rice paper. I do not deep fry my rolls but eat them fresh or bake them in the oven.

Makes about 12 rolls.

1 carrot
1/3 fennel bulb
1 small red pepper
½ courgette (zucchini)
1 stalk lemon grass
½ red chili, seeds removed
1-2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce

Bean sprouts
Rice paper for spring rolls
Sweet chili sauce (either make you own – see this link, a great sauce but NOT low food map – or buy the Go-Tan brand which IS low fodmap)

1. Remove the outer layers of the lemon grass and cut the inside finely
2. Finely chop the red chili
3. Cut all remaining vegetables (except for the bean sprouts) into fine sticks and gently fry in a little oil.
4. Season with ginger and soy sauce and taste.
5. Add the bean sprouts and quickly stir fry for another minute.
6. Soak the rice paper in hot water for a maximum of 10 seconds. Take out and place flat on a plastic cutting board or ceramic plate (the rice paper might stick if using a wood cutting board)
7. Place a line of vegetables on the rice paper and into a roll. Start them roll by folding a small piece over the ingredients, then fold in the sides to lock the filling in, lastly, roll the remainder of the paper.
8. The rolls are ready to eat as they are, or you may want to brush (or spray) them with oil and bake them slightly in the oven (about 10 minutes on 180C)
9. Serve with the sweet chili sauce

Preppy Salad (Avocado Puree, Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad)

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160419 Preppy Salad-2700

A “Preppy Salad” in pink and green – beautiful, fresh and tasty. Perfect for lunch or as a starter. Of course, the Serrano ham can be exchanged for something else, preferably something a bit salty.

Raspberry vinaigrette:
150 ml fresh raspberries
50 ml red wine vinegar
50 ml water
Salt and black pepper
100 ml olive oil

In a blender, combine all ingredients except for the olive oil. When the mix is smooth, slowly pour in the oil while mixing. This will make sure that the oil blends well into the dressing.

Salad:
Selected green leaves, shredded
Radishes, finely sliced or spiraled (using a spiralizer)
Cucumber, sliced or spiraled
Serrano ham
Red onion, finely chopped
Whole toasted walnuts and a few raspberries for decoration

Toss the mixed salad leaves with some of the vinaigrette.

Avocado Puree:
½ a large avocado PER PERSON
1 tbsp lemon juice per avocado
Salt and pepper

In a mixer, process the avocado with the juice

Assembly
1. On a serving plate, splash some vinaigrette
2. Place a large spoonful of puree on the plate and spread it out with the back of a spoon until about 0.5 cm thick
3. Place the salad leaves on top of the puree and then the remaining salad ingredients. Decorate with raspberries and the toasted walnuts.

Tomato Rice Cubes with Almond Tomato Sauce and Courgette Spaghetti

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1602 Tomato Rice Cubes-1493

Tic Tac Toe Dinner!

This is a fun dish that can be served together with many different foods.
Go easy on the smoked paprika powder since it can be quite over powering.
Any vegetable you’d like to chop up and include is fine.
I’ve chosen red and white rice since they present themselves so nicely but you may also use quinoa or other grains.
Can be prepared ahead of time and heated in the oven just before serving.

Serves 8

200 ml red rice
Water to boil the rice in
200 ml white rice
Water to boil the rice in
Onion, finely chopped
Salt
Black pepper
½ tsp smoked paprika
50 g Parmesan cheese
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
4 medium sized tomato

1. Cut the tomatoes into fine strips and then chop them into a tomato concasse. Set aside.
2. Boil the rice according the manufacturers specification. Add some salt, when almost done, add some pepper and smoked paprika powder.
3. Fry the onion in a pan, when done, add to the rice.
4. When the rice is ready, remove from the heat and add cheese and lemon juice.
5. Let cool slightly.
6. Stir in the tomato concasse.
7. Using a mold (I use Japanese rice molds) create small rice cubes.
If you save for later, then please refrigerate at this point. If not, then place the cubes on a baking sheet and bake in oven for 5-6 minutes, until piping hot.
Serve the rice cubes with Courgette Spaghetti and Tomato Almond sauce (see below). Chorizo sausage also goes very well with this dish.

Tomato Almond Sauce
Super quick and very rich and tasty tomato sauce.

1 can of chopped tomatoes – 400 g
50 g ground almonds
1 small red chili
1 small garlic clove
300 g (including the oil) marinated roasted red pepper
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt

1. Combine all ingredients except the almonds in a blender. Blend well.
2. Pour into a saucepan and simmer a few minutes.
3. Remove from heat and add the ground almonds.

Fruity Quinoa Rice with Grilled Mackerel

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1602 Fruity Rice Quinoa w Grilled Mackerel-1463
The Fruity Quinoa Rice is really the most important part of this dish. Instead of serving mackerel with it, you can choose chicken or some smoked fish if you prefer.
Any leftover rice will be delicious the next day, refreshed with some sautéed portobello mushrooms, some pieces of chorizo and, maybe, some paprika powder too.

Serves 6

100g pistachio nuts (including shells)
50 g pecan nuts, cut into pieces
70 g dried apricots
300 ml quinoa
300 ml red rice
Vegetable bouillon (to cook the rice in)
1 leek, finely chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A handful of peppery rocket salad, finely chopped
3 medium sized mackerels, whole (but cleaned)
Salt
Olive oil

  1. Shell the pistachio nuts and dry fry all the nuts in a pan.
  2. Cut the apricots into smaller pieces.
  3. Cut the rocket salad finely.
  4. Cook the quinoa a few minutes less than the instructions on package indicate.
  5. Cook the rice in vegetable bouillon a few minutes less than the package instructions indicate.
  6. In a large pan, fry the leek and garlic in some oil.
  7. Add the cooked quinoa and rice. Sautee a few minutes.
  8. Drizzle some olive oil on top. Add the vinegar and salt and pepper. Taste. Season some more.
  9. Mix in the nuts and apricots.
  10. Stir in the rocket salad.
  11. Score the back of the mackerel in 3-4 places and the coat the fish with olive oil and salt.
  12. Place the mackerels in the oven under a hot grill and grill for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through. (If you have a combination steam oven, use 30% steam during the grilling.)

 

Glorious Gazpacho

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Many are not aware, but Gazpacho normally contains breadcrumbs which are blended with the tomatoes to create a slightly thicker soup. This version does does not need any breadcrumbs.

Choose your tomatoes with care, they are your main ingredient!

Serves 4 as a main course

1 kilo ripe tomatoes, cut into pieces
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
25 ml white vinegar
25 ml olive oil
A pinch of salt
Garnish; a small chopped cucumber, chopped red pepper or chopped green pepper

1. Place all vegetable pieces in a blender.
2. Add vinegar, oil and salt.
3. Blend until smooth.
4. Add water until desired thickness (about 50 ml)
5. Add more for oil for a creamier soup.

Chill in refrigerator several hours.
Garnish with cut up vegetables on top and a few drops of olive oil.
Serve with some gluten free potato bread.

Roasted Vegetables

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160127 Roasted Vegetables-1125Anything goes here. I’ve put together a meal consisting of my favourite vegetables. The most important is to cut the vegetables in appropriate sizes so that they will be done at the same time. With this dish, I think that the Chevre Dip and the Apple Mustard Sauce goes really well.

1 red onion
1 large courgette
Chestnut mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 large parsnip
3 Jerusalem artichokes
1 large carrot

Oven at 210 C

  1. Place all cut up vegetables on a large baking tray.
  2. Drizzel with oil, add some salt and pepper
  3. Roast in oven for 45-55 minutes (depending on the size of your vegetables).