Onion squash and lentil soup

Organic onion squash is back in my regular supermarket! That really is good news. I don't really mind if they don't get any other vegetables in for a while now... or maybe that goes a bit too far, but onion squashes are seriously tasty!

I grabbed a couple of squashes and as the first dish I decided to make the basic classic (at least my personal classic), a vegan soup with onion squash, onions and red lentils. This was really tasty flavoured with some fresh coriander, which turned the colour slightly weirdly into greenish, but that doesn't matter to me. I used my new herb pairing wheel for ideas when creating this recipe. Please have a look below how I made it.

Ingredients

1 medium onion squash

2 onions

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

500 ml vegetable stock

½ cup dried red lentils

A handful of fresh coriander

Allspice to taste

Salt to taste

Method

Chop the onions and garlic cloves finely.

Peel the squash and cut it into small cubes.

Start cooking the onions and garlic in a saucepan in olive oil, after a while add the squash cubes.

Stir for a few more minutes and then add the vegetable stock and lentils.

Let simmer until the squash and lentils are fully cooked.

Season the soup, purée it and enjoy!

Even though this is a very basic vegan soup, I want to share the recipe with the No Croutons Required soup and salad cooking challenge, as I'm happy that the soup season is here again and I can use my favourite squashes. The challenge is hosted this month by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes and the co-host for this event is Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen.

Your VegHog

Lately in my kitchen

I wanted to write a quick post about the new products that have recently entered my kitchen and what I have been cooking. I have been buying all sorts of lovely new foodie stuff again and would like to show you a few interesting items. I haven't added any links to the products, but I'm sure you'll find info online, if you want to.

Twin Peaks is in this case an Anglo American Pale Ale by Thornbridge microbrewery. As a long time fan of the TV series Twin Peaks by David Lynch, which probably is the best series ever, it was a no-brainer for me to buy this beer. I watched Twin Peaks as a teenager when it first came out and was so fascinated by it all. Still today it puzzles me very much. Good times waiting for the new season while drinking this beer!

I was very curious when I saw this product Tapped in my local health food shop, it's a refreshing drink made from Finnish birch sap. I'm very much a fan of the stuff and it's great to see that it's now available in the UK as well. It's an exciting one to harvest in the spring for a few weeks only. My family members tend to freeze large blocks of it to be able to melt them occasionally in the winter. Birch sap has many health benefits. Tapped also comes in a couple of flavoured versions, but surely the original has to be the best. I like the packaging that looks like a birch branch, I'm just not quite sure about including characters in the name that aren't Finnish, but maybe that's just the quirky and funny twist.

I liked the look and sound of this Pineapple Chipotle Salsa very much, so I bought it as well. I haven't tried it yet, but can't wait to sink my rye nachos into that one on one lazy Saturday film night.

This Herb and Spire Pairing Wheel will become really handy when developing new recipes. It's interesting to see in beforehand, if your planned creative combinations are actually going to fit well together.

I have been cooking many tasty dishes lately, unfortunately I have just been too busy to post them here. I'm sure that I will cook most of them at some point again. I have also been cooking my regular Weekday meals like pasta with tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket, or bean sprout and tofu stir fry. I have been eating a lot of vegan stuff, there are very good options for autumnal vegan dishes. Seasonal vegetables, for example pattypan squashes and kohlrabi have often been on the menu recently.

And do you recognise this seal of approval? Soon this wonderful product will be introduced here on the blog as well. I haven't actually tried it yet, so more about that very soon.

What lovely new food or cooking stuff have you obtained recently, please share! Have further a good week!

Your VegHog

Lebanese Spice Mix

I've had a favourite cookbook recently: A Lebanese Feast of Vegetables, Pulses, Herbs and Spices by Mona Hamadeh. I have been cooking a few recipes from that book and some of them several times, as they are so good. I will surely review this book at some point more closely, but I already have the feeling that this month could include quite a few predominantly vegan Middle Eastern recipes on this blog.

I'm going to start the posts with a typical Lebanese spice mix, which is in the book on pages 258-259 Lebanese Mixed Spices. It is a really good spice mix for rice dishes especially. It will feature later here in some “proper” recipes. It has a nice cinnamon taste and it's not too hot for my taste. Below is my slight variation of the original recipe.

To make a small jar of this spice mix, take these ingredients and grind them into fine powder:

8 bay leaves

15 g ground ginger

40 g cinnamon

½ ground nutmeg

15 g cloves

50 g allspice

25 g black pepper

10 g cardamom

As you can see, it doesn't take much effort to make this mix, and then you have it ready for a few dishes.

Your VegHog

Roasted potatoes and carrots with tofu cutlets

Sunday is the perfect day to enjoy a vegan half roast dish and half fresh dish. I combined some tofu cutlets with roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, steamed garden peas and fresh pea shoots and tomatoes. It was a good and colourful combination and went down well. Here is how I made it.

Ingredients

500 g potatoes

Olive oil

Smoked paprika

Salt

2 large carrots

Olive oil

Salt

2 spelt and hazelnut tofu cutlets

1 onion

1 garlic clove

Olive oil

Fresh garden peas

Pea shoots

Tomatoes

Method

Brush the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle smoked paprika and salt on the top. Roast in the oven until nicely roasted.

Peel and slice the carrots and roast them in the same fashion as the potatoes.

Pan fry the tofu cutlets (or an alternative vegan Schnitzel). Also fry onion rings and finely chopped garlic in the pan.

Remove the fresh garden peas from their pods and steam them.

Serve the components together with fresh pea shoots and tomatoes and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Macaroni cheese with pepper

I made this quick weekday mac 'n' cheese a bit more special by adding a little dry cider, which goes really well with cheesy dishes, and a romano pepper (hiding under the cheese on the photos!). My partner doesn't like creamy sauces, so that's one reason for making more creative macaroni cheese dishes. Luckily he is fine with hard cheeses. So here is my quick recipe that can truly save a weekday.

Ingredients

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 romano pepper

Olive oil

A dash of dry cider

Salt

Pepper

Basil

300 g Cheddar and Mozzarella mix

400 g macaroni

Breadcrumbs

Method

Cook the macaroni al dente in water.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cut the pepper into small cubes. Start cooking them in olive oil, then add a dash cider and the seasoning and let simmer a while.

Grate the cheese and add half of it into the cidery onion mix and stir until it's a smooth sauce with melted cheese. Keep stirring thoroughly or even use a whisk like I did to keep the sauce smooth.

Mix the cooked macaroni into the sauce and pour it all into an oven dish. Cover it with the other half of the cheese and some breadcrumbs and bake at 200 C for about 10 minutes until the surface is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Midweek lunch

Lebanese dirty rice has become a real favourite of mine, and I actually cook a batch almost once a week. Lately I've been cooking other Lebanese recipes as well, which I hope to post here soon.

This lunch contains Lebanese dirty rice with roasted onions, fresh mini plum tomatoes and a packet of punchy protein nuts by Graze. This lunch should be quite nutritious for a work day.

What has been in your lunch boxes lately?

Gnocchi with tomatoes and pine nuts

Here's just a very quick meal, gnocchi with tomatoes, pine nuts, basil and mozzarella quickly tossed together in a pan and served with garlic bread. I love this kind of quick meals when there isn't much time or strength to cook. I don't know why, but I'm extremely drained today. I could have fallen asleep while walking several times today. I'm not quite with it today, but let's hope it's only a severe case of Monday blues and I will be a bit more energetic tomorrow. I can't even write more right now, better luck tomorrow. I'll soon be off to bed.

Have a great week!

Your VegHog