Orange salad with poppy and basil vinaigrette

My summer salad series continues with this mixed salad with a fruity twist. This can be a lunch salad or a side dish and it's incredibly quick to make.

For the salad:

2 oranges

Mixed salad leaves

3 salad onions

Pumpkin seeds

For the vinaigrette:

Basil leaves

Poppy seeds

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt

Black pepper

Peel the oranges and cut out wedges without the skins. Chop the salad onions and place all salad ingredients into a bowl.

Mix the vinaigrette. I normally put mine into a small sealable container in order to be able to shake it properly. Pour the vinaigrette on the salad and serve fresh.

Your VegHog

Kölsch – Beer from Köln

Kölsch is the beer from Köln (Cologne) in Germany and there are around 26 Kölsch variations. If you are ever going to Köln you won't be able to avoid Kölsch as it's everywhere and a very big part of the local culture. It's also hard and in some places frowned upon, to order a different beer in a pub. The VegHog used to live in Köln, so it has had the opportunity to taste this beer plenty, and now it has returned for a visit to its one time home. 

 

Kölsch is a hoppy pale beer mostly served in 0,2 liter glasses. Even though it's a small glass, the beer lasts surprisingly long. Sometimes in various party scenarios you might be challenged to empty your glass at one go, but normally you would enjoy it slowly. All German beers are brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, also known as the German Beer Purity Law, which means that any German beer can only contain three ingredients, nothing more: water, barley and hops.

I probably like Früh and Gaffel the most, but any Kölsch is pretty good.

 

The local Kölsch waiters are called the Köbes and if you're not used to their communication style, they might strike you as rude. They might offer you some banter and jokes and speak in a strong local dialect.

Vegetarians have to be careful here as vegetarian food is not very popular in the traditional Brauhäuser and you might want to make other eating plans. The Germans like to add Speck into many dishes.

I can only recommend a visit to Köln, it's a lovely little ”village” as the locals call their city.

Spinach and yellow pepper pizza

I just noticed that I haven't posted a pizza recipe for a while, and that simply won't do! I have to be more active spreading my thin crust and double cheese pizza propaganda. So here it goes for a spinach and yellow pepper pizza.

For the crust:

Wheat flour

Rye flour

Dry yeast

Olive oil

Water

Salt

For the sauce:

300g tomatoes

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

Olive oil

Basil leaves

Pepper

Salt

For the topping:

1 red onion

1 yellow pepper

Handful of spinach leaves

Mozzarella cheese grated

I'm still not revealing my exact thin crust recipe but what if you took about 150 g of wheat flour and 150 g of rye flour, mixed them with dry yeast and salt, and then would add about 150-200 ml lukewarm water and a dash of olive oil? I think that's pretty close. My main secret is in the rye and wheat mix dough. The rye addition hopefully makes it a bit healthier. Add more flour or water if the texture of the dough isn't correct. Let this dough rise for about one hour in a warm place.

Start the sauce and the amounts I've given should make more than enough for one pizza. If you have too much, save the rest and use it for example as a pasta sauce the next day. Make an x-cut on the tomatoes and dip them into boiling water for about 40 seconds. Then scare them with ice cold water and remove the skins. Chop the tomatoes, onion and garlic and fry them in olive oil until they make a juicy sauce. Season with salt, pepper and basil and puree the sauce.

Chop the pepper into lenghty strings and slice the red onion into rings. Also grate the mozzarella and wash the spinach. You can trim off the hard stems of the spinach.

When the pizza dough is done, roll it out thinly and place the tomato sauce, the veg and the cheese on it. Bake at 200C for about 20 minutes until the crust is crispy and the cheese is melted and golden brown. This is how simple it is.

See you soon!

Your VegHog

Baked herb and lemon crust tomatoes

This is a very simple but tasty side dish. Using fresh herbs really pays off for this one.

Ingredients:

250g cherry tomatoes

1 garlic clove

Parsley

Thyme

Lemon zest

Bread crumbs

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Black pepper

Olive oil

Follow these easy steps:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Chop the garlic and herbs.

Grate the cheese and lemon zest.

Mix these ingredients with the bread crumbs and add some ground black pepper.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them into an oven dish.

Brush the tomatoes with olive oil.

Sprinkle the herb and bread crumb mix on the tomatoes.

Bake for about 25 minutes until the crust is crispy.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Mushroom and macaroni bake

I haven't made pasta bakes for a while, so here is a recipe for one. This is a very easy and quick bake to make and I like the mushroomy taste.

Ingredients

2 cups macaroni

250g chestnut mushrooms

1 onion

1 garlic

Mozzarella

200ml vegetable stock

Mushroom vegetable cube

Lemon and pepper bread crumbs

Parsley

Black pepper

Salt

Olive oil

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Boil the macaroni in salted water until they are al dente. Slice the chestnut mushrooms and chop the onion and garlic. Grate the mozzarella. Then prepare the vegetable stock and add parsley and mushroom vegetable cube in there.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and lightly fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Pour the vegetable stock into the pan and season with salt and ground black pepper. Mix the boiled macaroni with the pan contents and pour it all into an oven dish.

Add the mozzarella and mix some of it among the mushrooms and macaroni and cover the bake with it. Sprinkle lemon and pepper bread crumbs on the top. Never mind if you can't find the ready made lemon and pepper bread crumbs, you could just add some ground pepper and lemon zest to regular bread crumbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese has melted and is golden brown. Enjoy warm with a nice and fresh side salad.

Your VegHog

Harlequin squash risotto with lemon courgette and radish flower salad

A squash risotto makes a pretty much perfect meal for vegetarians. I can never resist a good vegetarian risotto and sometimes it's good to move on from the typical mushroom risotto. I previously told you how I detected harlequin squashes and have been a fan ever since. Today I'm making a risotto with them and I serve a fresh lemon courgette and radish flower salad made out of my own garden's produce with it.

The salad:

1 small courgette

Lemon juice

Radish flowers

Olive oil

Make the side salad first. Slice the courgette into very thin long slices. You can do this with a cheese slicer or a peeling knife. Heat some olive oil in a pan and quickly and lightly fry the courgette bands in there. Squeeze some lemon juice on them and sprinkle radish flowers on the top before serving. Radish flowers have a lovely peppery flavour, so sometimes it's nice to let them grow to flower, and edible flowers make a wonderful food decoration anyway.

The risotto:

2 cups arborio rice

1 harlequin squash

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1l vegetable stock

1 cup dry white wine

Vegetarian pasta cheese

50g butter

Olive oil

Parsley

Pepper

Salt

Then carry on with risotto making. Chop the squash into small cubes for the risotto. Also chop the onion and garlic and prepare the vegetable stock. You can make your own stock from scratch, which requires a bit more effort but also pays off, you can buy a ready made one or mix some with vegetable stock powder. I prefer the powder, because it's easy to always have around and make quickly, as I use large quantities of vegetable stock. I normally add fresh parsley to the stock that I use for a risotto.

Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic. When they are glossy add the butter, let it melt and add the arborio rice. Stir until the rice is translucent and then make the white wine addition. Let the wine evaporate and add some of the vegetable stock to the pan.

Let the risotto simmer under the lid and stir it often. After about 15 minutes add the squash and more vegetable stock and simmer until the rice is al dente and the squash is cooked. Season with salt and pepper and grate vegetarian pasta cheese (vegetarian parmesan) into the pan. At this stage add more parsley, wine or butter if needed.

Serve with more vegetarian pasta cheese on the top and with the side salad. Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Harvest time

Happy August dear Hoggers!

This summer I have posted quite many dishes where my homegrown produce has featured either in leading or supporting roles. It has been very rewarding to harvest my own fresh veg, even if it has been on a very small scale. Here is once again a small update how my plants are doing at the moment.

The French dwarf beans grew surprisingly well in a small balcony box and I was able to cook some nice dishes with them. Their taste was very intense.

The bush tomatoes are coming along very well. They are just starting to blush now, so it shouldn't be that long anymore. I can't wait to get my hands on them.

The capsicum was sown quite late, but it's getting stronger. I would love to get an own pepper.

A small chili

Red dazzle lettuce

Also the lettuce and chard are very late sowings but I hope that something will come of them.

I'm looking forward to more fresh produce from my garden and hope that the outdoor growing season will be long this year.

Lovely outdoor parsley

Have fun in your garden!

Your VegHog