Spicy Lentil and Parsnip Pie

50g butter
1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, diced
225g red lentils
2 tbsp medium curry paste
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
650g parsnips, sliced
1 leek, sliced
85g cheddar

Melt half the butter, add the onion and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the lentils, curry paste, tomatoes, tomato puree and 300ml water. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile boil the parsnips for 10 minutes, adding the leek for the final 2 minutes. Drain and mash with the remaining butter. Season.

Put the lentil mixture into a dish. Top with the mashed parsnips and cheese, grill until golden.

Serves 4

Celeriac and Apple Soup

450g celeriac, cubed
2 tbsp lemon juice
25g butter
1 leek, sliced
2 sticks celery, chopped
375g apples, peeled, cored and chopped
150ml dry cider
850ml vegetable stock

Put the celeriac and apple in a bowl with the lemon juice to stop it going brown. Melt the butter, add the leek and celery and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the celeriac and apples, cook for 10 minutes. Add the cider and increase the heat. Boil for 3 - 4 minutes to reduce the cider by half. Add the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 4

Lentil and vegetable soup

2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 leek, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500g red split lentils
250ml can sweetcorn
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice

Fry the onion, carrots, celery and leek in the oil in a covered pan for 10 minutes. When soft add the lentils and 2.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.

Blend, keeping some aside for texture. Put everything back in the pan with the sweetcorn, soy sauce, lemon juice and seasoning. Serve

Serves about 8.

Leek, carrot and ginger soup

4 small leeks, whites only, sliced
4 carrots, chopped
3 tsp lazy garlic
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp olive oil
900ml vegetable stock

Fry the leeks, carrot, garlic and ginger in the oil for about 3 minutes. Add the stock and boil for about 10 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves about 3.

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.

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 Leek Risotto

This is another Abel & Cole recipe. The one thing that annoys me about that website is that they rarely say how many it serves. I made roughly half of this, and it made two big portions, and was pretty good.

It also gave me an excuse to finish the bottle of wine...

Puy Lentil Casserole

Rose strikes again, with puy lentils, carrots, leeks, onions, tomatoes and herbs all cooked together into a lovely warming casserole.

I've made another batch of this with assorted lentils using up some packets, and it's just as good!

Delia-esque Slow Cooked Root Vegetable Soup

I was meant to be making this soup today but at some point between reading the recipe and chopping the vegetables I managed to convince myself that I needed carrot, parsnip, celeriac and swede rather than carrot, leek, celeriac and swede. Hopefully it will still be nice (and I needed to do something with the parsnip, so it may as well go in there), and it's an excuse to make the soup again using the proper ingredients!

Leek, broccoli and quinoa

1 small leek (100g)
80g broccoli florets
150 - 200ml water, with a pinch of bouillon powder
25ml olive oil
50g quinoa
20g sundried tomatoes, sliced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp lemon juice

Slice the leeks into rings and rinse. Put the water, oil, leeks and broccoli in a pan and simmer for five minutes.

Add the quinoa, tomatoes and coriander. Cook for 15 minutes, adding extra water if necessary. Stir in the lemon juice, season with black pepper.

Serves 1.

Leek, Potato and Stilton Soup

I still had some stilton left, so I modified my soup recipe a bit.

2 large leeks, chopped
3 largish potatoes, diced
3 small onions, chopped
1.5 litres vegetable stock
stilton (I didn't weigh it)
1 tbsp olive oil

Fry the leek and onions until softened, add the potatoes and stock and boil for 20 minutes. Blend, add the stilton, heat through until melted, season and serve.

Lemon and Leek Risotto

This may not be the most diet friendly recipe around, but boy is it good...

50g butter
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 leeks, trimmed, washed and sliced
200g green beans, trimmed and chopped
250g risotto rice
6 bay leaves
150ml white wine
1 litre hot vegetable stock
juice and rind of 1 large lemon
50g marscapone
50g parmesan, grated
pepper

Melt the butter in a large pan and cook the onion, garlic, leek and beans until soft but not brown. Stir in the rice and bay leaves until the grains are glossy, add the wine and reduce by half.

Add the stock a spoonful at a time until absorbed, cook for about 20 minutes or until creamy but still with a bit of bite.

Add the lemon juice, rind and pepper and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes. Then add the cheese, stir, take off the heat, cover and rest until all nicely melted together.

Serve and drool.

Serves 2.

Oven Baked Veg Soup

I apologise for the vagueness of this recipe in advance.

Some root veg - quantities and mix undefined
4 - 6 tomatoes
onions/leek/garlic - quantities and mix undefined
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
several bay leaves
1 litre stock (plus or minus a bit)
pepper
rosemary

Cube/chop the root veg, onions, leeks etc, coat with the oil and honey, toss with the herbs and bake in the oven for about 25 - 30 minutes. Quarter the tomatoes, add and bake for a further 25 - 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and squeeze out the garlic. Blend with stock (using enough to get it to the right consistency). Season. Heat through and serve.

Serves ? (well, it depends how much veg you use really...)

Celeriac, leek and white bean soup

This soup comes from here, via Dietgirl. It will be my first taste of celeriac, so I hope it's good!

Leek, pea and spinach soup

10g butter
2 leeks, chopped, washed and drained
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
900ml vegetable stock
275g frozen peas
100g baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon mint

Melt the butter in a pan and cook the leeks, thyme and garlic over a gentle heat until soft but not brown.

Add the stock, bring to the boil and add the peas and lettuce. Cook until the spinach has wilted down and the peas are tender.

Stir in the mint, then blend, reheat and season.

Serves 4.

Vegetable Bake

Serves 4

2 large potatoes, thinly sliced
cooking oil spray
3 small onions, chopped
1 leek, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, sliced
1 broccoli head, cut into florets
1 parsnip, sliced
1/2 swede, sliced
850ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp plain flour
1 apple, sliced
herbs
cayenne pepper
50g low fat cheddar, grated

Cook the potato slices in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve.

Heat the oil spray and saute the onion, leek and garlic for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and cook for a further 3 - 4 minutes, stirring.

Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute*. Gradually add the stock and bring the mixture to the boil. Add the apple, herbs and cayenne pepper and season well. Remove from the heat, transfer the veg to an ovenproof dish.

Arrange the potato slices on top of the vegetable mixture and sprinkle with the cheese. Cook in an oven (190C) for 30 - 35 minutes or until the potato is golden brown and beginning to crispen.

*Note - I thought there was too much liquid and too little cheese. The cheese can be remedied, but it was only when I sat down to type this out that I noticed I'd missed out the flour stage, which might explain the liquidity.

Leek and Potato Soup

2 large (and I mean large!) leeks, sliced
3 potatoes, chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
1 pint vegetable stock
1 pint milk

Put all ingredients in a pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Blend, season and serve.

Serves 4.