Vegetarian cauliflower, spinach and chickpea balti

I cooked something! From a proper recipe and everything!

OK, I haven't spent the whole of the last three months or so living off frozen meals I cooked months ago and takeaway, but I haven't cooked anything that felt recipe worthy. It was mainly stuff I found in the fridge, combined in a randon, non recipe related way. There were some interesting soups (parsnip and apple worked, as did a celeriac concoction, and plenty of roast veg served with veggie sausages and the like, but nothing with the complexity of

THIS

Not only would copying it out in full no doubt be a copyright infringement, it would also take several days, but it's been quite therapeutic to not just make a curry, but to make my own balti sauce from scratch. Actually, the list of ingredients probably makes it look more complicated than it is, at the moment I'm at the cooking the veg in the sauce before adding the spinach phase, and it's all gone to plan so far. Famous last words?

Anyway, I'll try to come up with another recipe before April...

Vegetable Tagine

Another one from the trusty BBC Good Food website (always useful when I'm planning my cooking at work without any recipe books handy.

Recipe here

Lemony Rice and Peas

A good standby, this one - I had everything in the cupboard except some spring onions which can easily be obtained on the way home from work. I didn't bother with the coriander because I didn't have any fresh, but it was still lovely. I also used small tins of lentils and chickpeas and made a half portion, as there blatantly aren't 10 of me!

Recipe link

Store Cupboard Cous Cous

60g wholewheat cous cous
110ml vegetable stock
10g flaked almonds
25g raisins
1 small tin chickpeas
1 red onion, chopped
olive oil
coriander
cinnamon

Pour the stock over the cous cous and cover.

Dry fry the almonds to toast them. Heat the oil and cook the onion and spices for a couple of minutes. Add the chickpeas. The cous cous should be ready by now, so add that, the almonds and the raisin. Stir it all together and serve.

Chick Pea and Aubergine Casserole

2 onions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons ground coriander
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 aubergines, chopped into chunks
1 red chilli, chopped
1 tsp saffron
1 tsp salt
2 x cans chickpeas
175g basmati rice
115g green olives
1 lemon, sliced
400ml vegetable stock
fresh coriander

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 minutes, add the cumin, coriander, garlic, aubergine, chilli, saffron and salt. cook for a couple of minutes. Add the chickpeas, rice, olives, lemon slices and stock. Bring the the boil, cover and cook gently for 20 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes then stir through the coriander and serve.

Peppers stuffed with cous cous

Serves 4

4 small red peppers
4 small yellow peppers
200g cous cous
400ml boiling water
4 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp harissa
zest and juice of 1 lemon
400g can chickpeas
4 tbsp chopped mint
4 tbsp chopped parsley

Cut the tops off the peppers and remove core and seeds.

Pour the water over the cous cous, cover and soak for 10 minutes.

Cook the onions in half the oil for 5 minutes, add the garlic, cumin and cinnamon and fry for another 2 minutes.

Mix the onion mixture, cous cous, chickpeas, harissa, herbs and lemon together and spoon into the peppers. Put the lids back on, brush with oil and grill for 10 - 15 minutes, turning occasionally.

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.

Pasta, Bean and Vegetable Soup

75g green/brown lentils
15g sundried tomatoes, chopped
15ml olive oil (I used spray)
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1 onion or 3-4 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
parsley
dried crushed chillis
1.5l vegetable stock
1 small can red kidney beans
1 small can cannellini beans
1 small can chickpeas
115g wholemeal pasta

1. Cook the lentils in 475ml water. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, soak the sundried tomatoes in 175ml warm water.

2. Drain and rinse the lentils.

3. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan and add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, parsley and chillies. Cook over a low heat for 5 - 7 minutes and stir. Add the stock, the tomatoes and the water they were in.

4. Bring to the boil and add the drained beans, chickpeas and lentils. Season, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add the pasta, bring back to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Makes 6.