Summer vegetable pasta

All the BBC Good Food recipes seem to make loads, and this pasta dish was no exception.

I had fresh broad beans for the first time, so wanted something nice to eat them in. As I actually like broad beans I decided not to hide them in a soup recipe. It felt very summery eating it outside in the garden. I made half the recipe and am going to eat the other half as a salad.

Moroccan Tagine

This is another BBC Good Food recipe. I modified it a bit, and used cauliflower instead of parsnips, because that's what I had in the box. By the looks of the recipe it's the chermoula paste rather than the actual veg you use that makes the recipe, so fingers crossed it will work out OK.

Veggie Burgers

For a change I decided to make some veggie burgers. When I have burgers I tend to eat them with a salad rather than on a bun. Burgers aren't really something I crave that often, I was never a real fast food junkie, but sometimes I just fancy something burger shaped. I modified this recipe a bit by leaving the mushrooms out (still a bit of a mental block), but they still look fairly successful. I haven't eaten them yet, as I wanted to prepare them before going to the cinema, so I can have something quick when I get back in, but they look pretty good.

Fennel, red pepper and chickpea salad

I'm on a roll with Good Food recipes. For lunch I had this warm(ish) salad, and really enjoyed it. Fennel is one of those things that I've only been introduced to via the veg box, and this is probably one of the nicest things I've made it with so far. You can never beat chickpeas, red pepper and red onion either, to be fair.

Vegetable Biryani

Tonight I'm trying this baked veg biryani. I've modified the recipe a bit, I'm using carrot instead of sweet potato because that's what I have, I'm using a mix of sugar snap peas and green beans, and I've chucked some broccoli in because I can't think of anything else to use it in this week. I'm also using plain cashews rather than salted ones. But fingers crossed it should still turn out OK.

Update - it was good, but HOT. A medium or mild curry paste probably wouldn't do any harm...

Grilled Halloumi with Cous Cous

One from the BBC Good Food website today.

I'm still searching for new ways to eat broccoli, and I love love love halloumi, so I decided to try this. The calories are a bit on the high side, but I've done a 20 mile run this morning so I guess that I've burned them off. I used half the cheese and cous cous, with all the veg, and it made loads.

I do love halloumi...

Cabbage, bean and tomato soup

Serves 5

1/2 savoy cabbage, shredded
2 onions, chopped
2 tins tomatoes
water
2 small tins beans, drained
herbs (I used dried rosemary)

Put the onion, tomatoes, herbs and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the cabbage and heat for about 15 minutes. Add the beans and heat through. Season and serve.

Carrot and Leek Bake

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 leek, sliced
150ml orange juice
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp lazy garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

Cook the carrot and leek in boiling water for 5 - 7 minutes. Drain and put into an oven dish.

Mix the orange juice, honey, garlic and cumin, pour over the vegetables and cover.

Cook in the oven at 180 for 30 minutes, sprinkle over the poppy seeds and serve.

Serves 2.

Fennel and Carrot Salad

1/2 fennel, thinly sliced
1 carrot, coarsely grated
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp poppy seeds

Mix the grated fennel, carrot and lemon juice. Heat the oil and add the poppy seeds til they start to pop, then pour over the salad.

I added some chunks of goats cheese to add a bit of protein as I was having this on its own rather than as a side dish.