Super Beetroot Veggie Burgers

Photo: © childsdesign

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If you’re growing your own veg, you’re probably experiencing a glut right now and we think we have just the recipe to use up some of that bountiful produce. If you’re not green-fingered it is perfectly acceptable to buy things in.

For vegetarians and observers of ‘Meat-Free Monday’, these burgers are delicious and satisfying plus they look good too with their purply-pink hue.
And why do we call them ‘super’? Well, they’re decently packed with healthy ingredients, so they have to be good for you.

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Photo: © childsd

Roasted Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes

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Tomatoes are the very essence of summer. We grow them every year outside in a sunny spot and cross our fingers for a bumper crop. Our tomatoes are promising little green marbles at the moment which will soon swell and ripen after regular watering and feeding.

This recipe is a good way to enjoy the full juicy flavour of a good vine-ripened tomato and is simple to prepare. The dish can even be assembled up to 24 hours in advance.
As well as celebrating the tomato, the filling uses an abundance of fresh herbs, so if you are a herb growing enthusiast, like us, what better way to show off their wonderful flavours.

The stuffed tomatoes can be served as a starter or light meal with a green salad and maybe some bread to mop up the juices.

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Photo: © childsdesign

Muesli Cake

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Muesli doesn't just have to be for breakfast, it also works well as an ingredient in baking too.
This muesli cake is sticky, moist, fruity and wonderfully malty. It could be best described as being something like bread pudding and malt loaf.
Could it be considered healthy? Well there's lots of fibre and a generous amount of linseed meal added for omega 3 oomph.
The cake does not contain any dairy products, so no eggs or butter, in fact no fat at all, just the oil used to grease the tin, so it would be suitable for vegans.

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Photo: © childsdesign

Pumpkin Risotto

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What do you do with your Halloween pumpkin once the candle’s gone out? Stop! Don’t throw it away! You could actually eat it by making a delicious meal rather than just binning the once scary, but now sad squash.

Not that we want to come over all ‘preachy’, but think of the time and effort the farmer put into growing it. If your pumpkin really is inedible then make sure it goes into the compost.

This recipe can be made with a number of different types of squash – butternut squash is ideal – so once the frightening festivities are over, it makes a meal suitable for any time.

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Spiced Lentil Soup with Lime and Mint

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Spring is supposed to be well and truly sprung and the clocks have gone forward, but this cold weather hasn't made us want to switch to salads just yet.
Warming food is definitely still on the menu and this is a healthy meal, full of flavour and simple to make. The addition of lime juice, lime zest and mint really brighten the soup making it exciting on the palate.

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Turkish Style Brown Rice Salad and Labneh

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This mildly spiced rice dish takes its flavour cues from Turkish cuisine. It is nutty in taste and texture, infused with the earthy warmth of cumin and allspice and a pleasing sweetness from currants and cinnamon.
Freshness is delivered by parsley and mint which add a brightness to the finished dish. It really is totally delicious proving that brown rice need not be boring.
Labneh is a type of curd cheese which can be easily made at home. Just plan ahead as it needs to prepared the day before in readiness for its overnight draining.

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New Book: Eat Your Veg by Arthur Potts Dawson Plus Win 1 of 5 signed copies!

We are very pleased to have teamed up with Octopus Publishing who have kindly given us five copies of Arthur Potts Dawson's new book, Eat Your Veg, to give away. Not only will you get the chance to own the book soon after its release but it will be signed by the author himself. This is the start of some very exciting competitions and we hope to bring you more great book prizes over the coming year.

With many people consciously deciding to reduce their intake of meat, whether it is to save money, reduce environmental impact on the planet or just to lead a healthier lifestyle, vegetables are returning to take centre stage on the table.

However this isn't a book about being a vegetarian. Arthur Potts Dawson says,

“We all know we should eat more veg. 

We all know we should eat less meat. This book isn’t a preach or a rant about why cooking and eating fresh, seasonal, local, organic food matters, though of course, it does. Eat Your Veg is simply a storehouse of my favourite recipes encouraging you to do just that – eat more vegetables.”

Arthur Potts Dawson is passionate about good food, eating well and making the most of what’s fresh, local and seasonal. Most people will know him from his appearances on Market Kitchen and also as the founder of The People's Supermarket.

In this new book, vegetables are very much put at the forefront of cooking that celebrates all that is tasty and good about fresh produce.
Eat Your Veg presents a mix of classics, basics, simple food and show-off dishes that make the most of what’s in season. Whether you receive organic food box deliveries, go to farmers' markets or raid what's on special offer at the supermarket – you can enjoy more veg, every day.

There are recipes for beetroot soup with cumin and coriander; butternut ravioli with brown butter; radish salad with pomegranate & cannellini beans; leeks on toast with cheese and Worcestershire sauce; and raw porcini salad with parmesan & parsley – all arranged in an easy-to-use format by vegetable type. As well as individual recipes, there are also four gorgeous Feasts that can be pulled together for entertaining family and friends. Arange of sharing dishes (some which contain a bit of meat or fish) which together will create a fantastic spread centred on vegetables.

Alongside an essential seasonal guide to what’s best when, Arthur also provides key skills that will help you get the most out of vegetables – whether it’s mashing, roasting, pickling, etc. In Eat Your Veg Arthur provides a refreshing range of delicious recipes and adaptable ideas that will provide inspiration for everyone – even a die-hard meat freak.

To whet your appetite here is a recipe from the forthcoming book.

Braised chickpeas with chard, fennel & tomato

This dish is the type of cooking I do every day at home. All the ingredients complement each other brilliantly, are super-nutritious and can be eaten as a complete meal.

Serves 4–6
Ingredients

• 400g dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight and drained
• 400g red chard, cut into 2cm pieces
• 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and tough outer leaves discarded
• 75ml olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• 2 red onions, finely diced
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp herb vinegar

Method
Put the chickpeas into a large saucepan and cover well with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, skimming off any white foam that rises to the surface, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until just tender but still with some bite. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the chard in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside. Cut each fennel bulb into eighths and cook in a separate saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, until the garlic starts to turn golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, again stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and cook for another 5 minutes before adding the cooked chard and fennel and the vinegar. Stir through, season with salt and pepper and serve.

For your chance to win a signed copy of Eat Your Veg by Arthur Potts Dawson visit our competition page here (Sorry – this competition has now closed)

Eat Your Veg
By Arthur Potts Dawson
Published: 7th May 2012 by Octopus Publishing
Price: £25.00


If you missed out on the competition or didn't win you can buy a copy of the book here:

Watercress Soup

Photo: © childsdesign

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To extract all the gorgeous green goodness, a watercress soup is refreshing and an ideal lunchtime treat, but it is also elegant enough to serve as a dinner party starter.
Take care not to overcook the soup once the watercress is added as this will destroy the flavour and the colour may not be so appealing.

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Spicy Cheese Logs

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Want to try something simple yet very tasty? Then this quick idea will have your taste buds tingling in a few minutes.
There have been some experiments going on in The Artisan Food Trail Kitchen using a new range of smoked seasonings from The Artisan Smokehouse. The Smoked Black Peppercorns and Smoked Chilli Flakes have already been put to good use to make coatings for some soft goats cheese.

They are very easy to make but produce exciting results. You will need two soft goats cheese logs weighing 125g each.
For the first log, measure out a tablespoon of Smoked Black Peppercorns and crush using a pestle and mortar (see picture to see how the texture should be). Tip the crushed peppercorns on to a plate and roll the goats cheese in them until completely coated, pressing them on – they will stick easily enough.

For the second log measure out two teaspoons of chilli flakes on to a plate and grate over the zest of one lemon and make sure they are evenly mixed. Take the second goats cheese and again, roll in the mixture until well coated.

Done.

There are two other smoked seasonings available; Smoked Paprika and Smoked Coarse Sea Salt so look out for more ideas coming from the AFT Kitchen soon.

PS: The Smoked Sea Salt is rather good on vanilla ice cream – sounds wrong, but tastes so right!

Roasted Smoked Garlic

When it comes to food, often the simplest things are the best. If you love garlic, you'll love this – simply roasted and then squashed on to a good piece of bread, which is perfectly toasted, it is pretty indulgent.

You could use any garlic but the smoked garlic from The Artisan Smokehouse makes it just that bit more extra special and the garlic bulbs are huge with big fat cloves, so there's plenty to go around. The subtle maple smoke adds a faint but noticeable flavour of smouldering wood, in fact before we used them they filled most of our house with a smell reminiscent of a distant and agreeable bonfire.

Roasting the garlic results in a creamy texture with a sweet taste and if you do have any left you can store, covered, in the fridge for a couple of days, ready to be used in sauces for pasta too.

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Photos: ©childsdesign 2011

Smoked Mushroom Risotto with Smoked Parmesan Crisps

Tim Matthews from The Artisan Smokehouse is constantly experimenting with different foods, often smoking some quite unusual ingredients at the request of chefs and foodies, for them to try. We've never had smoked mushrooms before, so we were excited when Tim gave us a pack to test. He also gave us a slim wedge of smoked Parmesan too and making a risotto immediately sprang to mind.
Usually wine is used when making a risotto, but in honour of The Artisan Smokehouse's location, we chose a dry Suffolk cider which worked perfectly with the subtle smokiness in the creamy rice.

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Photo: ©childsdesign 2011