A Winter warmer for you to try

Slowly I have been increasing our vegetarian meals each week to where we now have three meat meals and three vegetable meals each week.  I really love eating more vegetarian meals and I feel like we have a more balanced diet now. It isn't always well received by everyone but I feel quite strongly about limiting our meat intake in light of recent health issues that my father is experiencing.  Then on Friday I take out of the freezer any leftovers we have and use those giving me the night off through the week and it also means we don't resort to takeaway.

So on Monday night I tried out a new recipe which was very tasty, my oldest also loved it and went back for seconds.  It's a good recipe for using up different vegetables you may have left in the crisper and it was also forgiving of the little altering I did too.  This recipe comes out of the book Martha Goes Green.

Sorta Shepherd's Pie
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 small carrot, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 teaspoons thyme leaves, chopped
½ head of broccoli, cut into small florets
5 swiss brown mushrooms, diced
1½ cups cooked beans
1½ cooked brown lentils
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 glass red wine (approx. ½ cup)
1½ cups vegetable stock
5 medium potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
½ cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat.  Add onion, garlic and chilli flakes and cook until onion becomes translucent.  Add carrot, celery and thyme and cook for 5 minutes.  Add broccoli and mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.  Add beans, lentils, red wine, tomato paste and stock and stir through.  Season with salt and pepper and cook uncovered for a further 15-20 minutes until liquid has reduced and sauce has thickened.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

Meanwhile place potatoes in a pot and just cover with cold salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes fall from a knife inserted in the centre.  Drain and mash with butter or margarine until smooth.

Pour bean mixture into a large casserole dish and top with mashed potato.  Sprinkle with cheese (if using) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy♥

Vegetable Soup

I recently bought a new vegetarian cookbook,  martha goes green - a vegetarian cookbook, as a way of achieving my goal of cooking more vegetarian meals this year.  The more I eat vegetarian the more I enjoy my nights without eating meat so this week I've sneaked in two vegetarian meals on the menu plan;)  On the menu tonight was Vegetable Soup. (Serves 6-8 * Vegan)


1 small leek
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups diced pumpkin
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 cup green split peas, rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste


Remove ends and outer leaves from leek, half length ways, wash and slice.  Set aside.


Heat oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook onion and garlic until clear.  Add celery and salt and cook until celery becomes soft.  Add leek and cook for 5 minutes.  Add remaining vegetables, herbs, barley, split peas, stock and water and season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over a medium heat for 45-60 minutes or until vegetables are tender.


Serve chunky, or give a rough blend or mash if a smoother consistency is desired.


Note: If soup is too thick add extra water until a desired consistency is reached.


This recipe results in quite a large yield, however, the recipe can be halved, or the remaining soup can be frozen and reheated at a later date.


It was a really yummy soup, lovely flavours and perfect for the cooler months, plenty of vegetables to help with those nasty colds too.  I hope you enjoy it too.


xo