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...

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.

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...

Spicy Potato and Cauliflour Stew

375g lentils
1.8 vegetable stock
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into wedges
1kg potatoes, cut into chunks
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
3 - 4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 - 2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped
1 tsp saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp warm water
125g coconut cream
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Soak the lentils for 15 minutes, then rinse, drain and cook with half the stock for 30 minutes until the water has been absorbed.

Meanwhile... fry the onion in the oil for about 8 minutes, add the potatoes, cauliflower and garlic and cook for a further minute. Stir in the turmeric, mustard seeds, fennel seeds and chillies.

Add the rest of the stock and the saffron and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the vegetables are almost cooked.

Coarsely mash the cooked lentils, stir in the coconut cream and coriander and mix well. Add to the vegetables and cook gently until the vegetables are tender and the flavours combined.

Serves 6

This was very nice, and quite filling. Not actually too spicy, and quite runny, but one to try again.

Herbed Cauliflower Bake

Another one from Abel & Cole. I modified it by using carrots instead of mushrooms, and I added some grated cheese on top.

Cauliflower, Potato and Cheddar Soup

Another one courtesy of Abel & Cole, the recipe is here.

I modified it by leaving out the cream. It didn't seem to be necessary, so I just made it without and it was still lovely. I even bought some whole nutmegs to grate into it!

It did seem a shame to blend my cauliflower though, it wasn't a normal one, it was one of these.

But I have pancakes to make later, so I didn't want much more than soup as a savoury dish...