oregano – Food That We Make

Porotos Granados

hannahnicklin — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:20:56 +0000

Super simple brilliant veg stew, this, one of those vegan meals that inexplicably tastes meaty, might be the beans and paprika. Simple so long as you have a knife sharp enough to do butternut squash. Careful when you chop it, slippery veg, that. Anyway, that’s what adds to the prep time on this one, peeling an’ chopping that there squash. I’d be generous with the paprika if you just have regular stuff, and with the seasoning, too. Stupidly nice dinner with a big hunk of bread, or full enough to be a lunch on its own. TASTY. Original recipe by that HFW bloke in his ‘River Cottage Veg Everyday’ book.

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 30 mins | Serves: 4-6
Nutritional info: Per 1/4 335kcal 51g carbs 10g fat 12g protein

Ingredients:

Soften the onions and garlic for 5-10 minutes

add 3/4 of the oregano and the paprika, stir for a minute

Add the bay leaf, drained tinned beans, squash, stock, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the squash is just getting tender

Then add the french beans and sweetcorn and simmer for 5 minutes more

Just as the green beans are ready, season very well (I used one and half tsp of salt and loads of pepper), add the last bit of oregano, and serve!

Very filling. Good stuff.

Mexican Tomato & Bean Soup

hannahnicklin — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 18:17:24 +0000

Something spicy to keep me perked up throughout the final weeks of the PhD, this. A very tasty, hearty vegan soup with a good kick to it. I used medium chillis, but adjust amount of chilli and strength of chilli to taste – a couple of medium hot as opposed to 3 medium ones would be pretty good. Quick recipe, too, easily cooked and eaten within a lunch break. Try it, it’s nice. Also, if you were to add some brown lentils to it, and remove the passata, it’d make a stonking vegan chilli.

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 15 mins | Serves: 4-6
Nutritional Info: (per 1/4 with 1 tbsp yoghurt): 211 kcal 27g carbs 8g fat 8g protein

Ingredients:

First off, gently soften the onion for 5 minutes or so

Then add the garlic, chillis, and cumin, stir for a minute or two

Then add the chopped tomatoes, oregano, beans (I used black eyed ones), passata, sugar, and season well. Simmer for 10 minutes

Just before serving, chuck in most of the chopped coriander, squeeze in the juice of 1 lime. Check seasoning.

And then serve with a dollop of yoghurt, and the last bits of coriander:

Close up!

Pizza!

alexanderkelly — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:10:12 +0000

Rather like the Chilli “recipe”, this is one of those things that I hadn’t thought of as something particularly worth sharing…but a couple of conversations with mates suggest that maybe it is. Improvisation around the theme is encouraged…

For pizza topping you can of course just use passata or tomato puree – this is a little more work, but much tastier – and makes enough to save for the following week.

For the sauce:

Gently heat 2 – 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the mustard seeds:

Peel and crush the garlic, add to the pan:

Warm for 3 or 4 minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn.

Add the tomatoes to the pan, plus the oregano (and dried basil if using).

Stir the herbs in.

Mash the tomatoes down in the pan – gently – with a potato masher, until the mixture is smooth:

Maybe add a couple of dashes of Henderson’s relish. Simmer for 20 minutes or longer, until the sauce is thick and oily. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

For the base…if you’ve got a bread maker then pizza dough is an absolute doddle, and the best option. If not, a bought base or a french stick cut down the middle is also very good.

Spread the sauce on the pizza base using a table spoon – don’t completely cover it or it will get too soggy – but you know how saucey you like your pizza. Scatter with basil leaves:

Chop up your other toppings. In this example it’s peppers all over and half mushroom, half jalapenos:

Grate or cube some cooking mozzarrella – you know how cheesey you like you pizza but probably about 150g per person. Maybe replace some of that with cheddar. Remember to photograph it before you put it in the oven:

Refer to cooking instructions for the base, but generally about 12-15 minutes at 200c / Gas Mark 6 ish. You know your oven, and how browned you like your pizza, etc. Check it after 5 – 8 minutes. If it is looking soggy, CAREFULLY pour off excess liquid. When it looks something like this…

…it’s done. Serve with green salad and shaved parmesan.

Goes very well with a medium-full bodied red wine, such as a Portuguese Alentejo.

Hannah’s heavily reworked mushroom moussaka.

hannahnicklin — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:10:08 +0000

I’ve spent 3 days reworking this to satisfaction. Based on the Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook which included potato and no herbs or spices, and some weird and not-quite-enough quantities (at least, when you scale it down to cook for 1, anyway). Tastes much more like moussaka now. Unfortunately the images are of my first attempt so you’re missing some of the ingredients (namely nutmeg, oregano, cinnamon, soya cream, wine) and you’ll see an egg and potato that I took out. Anyway, I’ll explain as I go. And promise you it’s worth it.

Prep Time: 20 mins | Cook Time: 30-35 mins | Servings: 2
Nutritional Info: 235 kcal 19g carbs 11g fat 9g protein

Preheat the oven to 220’c, brush oil very thinly on the sliced aubergine, season well with salt and pepper, and spreading out on the baking dish, bake for 20 min (ignore the potato).

Melt the butter in a large pan and soften the onion and garlic,

increase the heat, add the mushrooms and a pinch of oregano, and stir continuously for 2-3 mins until soft.

Splash in the wine, reduce, then add the tomato and a pinch of cinnamon, reduce the heat and simmer for 8 mins until reduced, set aside.

Then melt the sauce butter in a large pan over a low heat, add the flour and whisk for 1 min,

slowly add the milk and stir continuously, simmer unit thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream and parmesan, and a pinch of nutmeg.

When the aubergine is done, reduce the oven to 180’c, pop half the mushroom mix in the baking dish, cover with half the aubergine, then the rest of the mushroom, a layer of the rest of the aubergine, and pour the cheese sauce over the top.

Sprinkle the sauce with the remaining parmesan, bake for 30-35 mins. Stand for 10 mins before serving with an ace side salad.