Cabbage and Kohlrabi Gratin

I didn't have enough cabbage to make this, so I decided to make up the veg by chucking some kohlrabi in, as I didn't have any other ideas of what to do with it anyway. It turned out pretty well, and that's another veg on the list of things I've tried.

(In a day for new things, I bought a whole pineapple for the first time ever. I've got myself eating it out of cans, and in pre-chopped packs, but it was the first time I've ever attempted to tackle one. Let's just say, I'll be buying another. Wow)

At the moment I'm experimenting with recipes for rhubarb compote. I remember eating rhubarb at my grandparents house, just dipped into sugar, and the first compote recipe I tried wasn't much more sophisticated than that. Lovely, but with far too much sugar for my liking. I've got another batch of rhubarb and a different recipe to try tomorrow though, so I'll report back.

Spring Greens Soup

250g savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
runner beans (however much they gave me...), chopped
50g butter
150g peeled potatoes, dived
1 onion, chopped
2 pints vegetable stock

Melt the butter. Add the potatoes and coat. Sprinkle with pepper. Cover with a lid and allow to sweat over agentle heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid, add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cabbage and beans and cook for 5 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 4

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.

Curries

I have to plug this, because it looks fab.

Rose Elliot's Low-GI Vegetarian Cookbook (Amazon link).

Today I decided on a big curry cooking session. I ended up making spinach curry (p60), cabbage thoran (p61) and lentil dal (p109), having a bit of each and freezing the rest. That means nothing if you don't have the book, but as I do, this works as a reference to me without infringing too much copyright...

Cabbage and Onion Rice

25g pine nuts
15g butter
15ml olive oil
500g onions, sliced
500g cabbage/spring greens/kale etc, shredded
250g brown basmati rice
25g parmesan (plus extra to serve)
1 - 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Toast the pine nuts and set aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a large pan. Stir in the onions, cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the rice according to the packet instructions.

Uncover the pan and continue to cook gently until the onions have turned golden. Add the balsamic vinegar and season well, then cook for a further 1 - 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Blanch the cabbage in a pan of lightly salted boiling water for about 3 minutes. Drain well, add to the onions and cook over a low heat for 3 - 4 minutes.

Drain the rice and add it to the onions and cabbage. Toss thoroughly to mix.

Season and stir in the parmesan. Serve, scatter the pine nuts over the top and parmesan if you like.

Serves 4.

Greens Casserole with Tofu Topping

This recipe comes from Abel & Cole.

I messed around a bit with the veg, based on what I had and what I wanted to use in other recipes, so I used a whole cabbage, about 200g baby spinach, 1 huge carrot (about 125g), about 130g broccoli florets, and I used 250g tofu in the topping rather than 200g because that was the size of the pack.

It actually turned out pretty good, and quite versatile I guess for using up whatever green stuff arrives in the box.

Quick broccoli and cabbage Stir Fry

1 broccoli
1/2 cabbage
1 carrot
1 onion
sesame oil
ginger
5 spice paste
soy sauce
sesame seeds

Slice the broccoli, cabbage and carrot. Heat the oil, add the ginger and 5 spice paste. Add the veg, stir fry, adding soy sauce as it cooks. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.