Pappardelle with runner beans and roasted vine tomatoes

I've been really lazy at cooking lately. I think it's this time of the year that I start feeling pressure like I should be doing loads of things for Christmas, but am also very tired from work. Therefore the cooking has suffered a bit and there have been ready meals, eating out and easy solutions. I really want to shape up now, as I want to post more in November and not be all quiet. I also don't constantly want to come back here just for moaning. There is something positive as well: it's the weekend! I hope you'll all have a great time!

I made this weekday pasta surprisingly with runner beans, not really my standard vegetable. They were nice and earthy in this and tasted just great with the sweet roasted vine tomatoes and the garlic. I can really recommend this as an easy weekday pasta that's still something a bit more special and really comforting.

Pappardelle with runner beans and roasted vine tomatoes

Ingredients

300 g runner beans

270 g cherry vine tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

Olive oil

50 ml dry white wine

Fresh basil leaves

Sea salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Pappardelle pasta

Grated vegetarian parmesan

Method

Trim the runner beans and cut at an angle into small pieces. Steam the beans until they are almost tender. They will be finished later in the pan.

Put the tomatoes and sliced garlic into a baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil and roast them in the oven.

Combine the beans and tomatoes in a pan, followed by the wine. Cook for a while and season.

Cook the pasta until al dente, mix with the vegetables and serve with the grated cheese and maybe some lambs lettuce on the side.

Enjoy!

I want to share this recipe with this month's Eat Your Greens event hosted by Shaheen from Allotment 2 Kitchen.

Your VegHog

Rice and beans

I will start The VegHog's Cheap Eats Week that I announced yesterday with this tasty recipe of rice and beans. It's very cheap to make and very nutritous. It was even more convenient for me to make, as I had some left over rice from the previous day that I didn't want to go to waste. This dish is vegan and can be had in several different variations, the bean sort can vary, sweetcorn is optional and dried beans are also okay to use. This is also an excellent dish when you want to loose a little bit weight without compromising on nutrition: the combination of pulses and grain provides all the essential amino acids, just like dairy. It's also so filling that you don't have to eat huge amounts at a time. This recipe should make fairly proud portions for four people.

Ingredients

200 g rice

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 can black beans

1 can sweetcorn

All seasoning to taste:

Salt

Ground black pepper

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Smoked paprika

Chilli flakes

Tomato purée

Method

Cook the rice separately.

Chop the onions and garlic and cook them in vegetable oil until soft.

Add the beans and sweetcorn and the seasoning.

Let simmer for a while together and serve.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Bean and lentil burgers

My weekly cooking plan didn't go exactly as planned. I was keeping up pretty well during the week, but on the weekend I started slipping. I want to thank everyone for the comments throughout the week how organised I am, but now I have to admit that I didn't quite keep to the plan. On Friday I had a lovely pub meal as planned. I had a wonderful char-grilled pepper and halloumi ciabatta with thin chips and coleslaw on the side washed down with local ciders. On Saturday however I didn't make the veggie burgers, as originally planned. We decided to go to New Forest for a relaxing stroll and I didn't have any time for cooking. I will post photos from this walk later as well, but I'm making the veggie burgers today. This means the vegetarian Sunday roast won't be made at this occasion, but I don't mind that much, as it's quite warm today and I don't want to spend all day roasting vegetables and having the hot oven on. 

I was contemplating long and hard what kind of burger patties I would make this time and decided for a mix of different beans and lentils. That kind of veggie burgers tend to work always. Here is my recipe for today's burgers.

Ingredients

½ cup dried bean mix (Black eyed beans, black turtle beans, butter beans, haricot beans, lima beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, rose cocoa beans, alubia beans, mung beans)

½ cup red lentils

¼ cup puy lentils

1 large shallot

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp chilli flakes

Ground black pepper

Salt

Ground cumin

Smoked paprika

2 eggs

1 cup breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Served with: homemade spelt and carrot rolls, char-grilled bell peppers, fried red onions, smoked cheese, pea shoots, fresh peas and plum tomatoes.

Method

Soak the dried beans overnight. Then boil them for about one hour until done. Also boil the lentils until done. Actually I cooked the lentils extra mushy so that they are better binding agents for the burger batter. Drain well and let them cool down.

Chop the shallot and garlic finely and mix them with the lentils and beans. Season the mix with chilli flakes, ground black pepper, salt, ground cumin and smoked paprika.

Add the eggs and breadcrumbs (monitor the amount of the breadcrumbs while adding, as you might need less or slightly more than given in the ingredients) and mix into an even batter.

Heat vegetable oil in a pan, shape burgers from the batter and fry them on both sides until golden brown.

Serve with your favourite veggie burger fittings and enjoy!

Your VegHog