Vegetarian Classics

A few years ago now - wow, okay 2009 - I decided to try do better myself through healthy eating and the environment by reducing meat. This was by introducing several vegetarian dishes into each week. A couple times in 2010 I managed to eat fully vegetarian for a few weeks (yeah I know it's not much but I came from a town where it wasn't considered food unless it meat and three veg). If anything, it's just a good way to think about new ways to cook. That and that's how I fell in love with mushrooms.

There were two favourite dishes that resulted out of this and in the last two weeks I've managed to revive them after long absences.

Bean Burgers

The only reason I haven't cooked my bean burgers in a while is that I always make quite the mess I make them. I always think I should cook double the recipe so I only get beans fragments on the floor and in my hair every few months. But I kept only having one lonely tin of Sainsburys Basic Kidney Beans in my flat and one day I just couldn't resist anymore.

1 Can Kidney Beans
Half an Onion
Olive Oil
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp of grated/cut ginger
Good splash of soy sauce
Handful of bread crumbs (blitz one slice of bread)

Heat the oil in a pan and toss in the onions until soft. Throw in the spices and mix around. Take off the heat.

Blitz your kidney beans in a food processor - this is the fun part. And is why it doesn't matter how cheap your kidney beans are. They're gonna end up mashy mushy beans anyway. You can also mash them like potatoes but I love my food processor. Keep them a bit chunky at this point.

Put the onions in the food processor along with the soy sauce, ginger and bread crumbs. You can add in chilli at this point if you like - fresh or flakes. I sometimes sprinkle flakes in if I'm feeling spicy. Blitz until it's a kinda disgusting looking mincey paste. I will not deny that this mix looks absolutely disgusting.

Roll out and separate into equal sized balls. Flatten with your hand. With a little more oil in the pan, fry on both sides until warmed through and cripsy on the outside. Again at this point, still not attractive.

I like to serve mine in a bun with the other half of the onion fried up with some mushrooms, rocket salad and garlic aioli and ketchup. Oh, and of course kumara chips.

These patties freeze really well. No, they still look very unappealing that way too. But trust me, these things are super tasty and will up any beef burgers (or is it horse...?)

Curried Parsnip Soup

Parsnips are one of my favourite smells. I could peel parsnips for hours just to have my hands fragrant with their sweetness. There's nothing that says autumn/winter more than parsnip. This is a great creamy and warming soup. The only drawback is that it will stain everything it touches that curry yellow.

2-4 large parsnips chopped in 2cm pieces
Half an onion
Teaspoon of chopped garlic
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
Half a medium potato sliced
200ml coconut milk

Fry the onion and garlic until soft. Put in the parsnip and fry briefly before adding the spices. Then add the potato and stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the parsnip and potato are soft. Take off the heat and blitz either in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth.

Return to the heat and stir in coconut milk. Season with crack black pepper. The best touch is to serve it with fresh coriander on top but I didn't have any. Also do I need to mention crusty bread with butter?

Both these recipes take minimal time really. Especially the parsnip soup. If you've got 25 minutes, you'll have a nice yellow soup to brighten those dark England winter evenings.