Page 11 - Simply Veg 3.21

Easy Aubergine Curry
Serves 2
1 large aubergine cut into bite sized chunks 1 red onion finely sliced
2 garlic cloves crushed
250 gms chopped tomatoes, or 200mls slow roasted tomato puree
200 ml coconut milk
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp ground coriander Olive oil for frying.
Put the aubergines in a bowl, season with salt and black pepper, drizzle over olive oil, about 2 tablespoons, toss and spread out on a roasting tray.
Put in the oven 180C for 20 mins until soft
Heat a little oil in a frying pan, fry onion until starting to colour.
Stir in garlic and spices fry for a few minutes.
Add tomatoes, aubergines and coconut milk, simmer for 15 minutes with lid on. If it doesn’t look thick enough take the lid off and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
Taste, add seasoning if needed. You could add some chopped coriander leaves if you have them.
I often do roasted vegetables for pasta etc and only use half the aubergine I roast the remaining half and freeze to use in this recipe.
Courgette Risotto
Serves 2
6 medium sized courgettes, grated 60g butter
1 large leek, sliced
110g risotto rice
A small glass of white wine 560ml hot chicken stock Approx. 60g Parmesan Cheese Salt and pepper
Chopped Parsley
Toss the courgettes in a colander with a sprinkle of salt and leave to drain.
Heat 30g of butter in a pan and sauté the leek until it is soft, but don’t let it brown.
Add the rice and mix, add the wine stirring constantly until the wine has almost gone and then add a ladle of stock, keep stirring until it thickens and continue to add a ladle of stock at a time, stirring all the time until all the stock has been added.
Strain the courgettes in a clean
tea towel and squeeze all the juice into the pan. Stir well and check
to see if the rice is cooked. (Most
of the liquid will be now have been absorbed. Add the grated courgettes along with seasoning. Stir until the courgettes has warmed through, stir in the Parmesan and serve with the chopped parsley sprinkled on top.
Carrot Cake
by Fiona Shenfield
This is my recipe for carrot cake, I’ve made it loads of times and it never fails. It’s great comfort food and uses up a few more carrots if you have a glut of them. I’ve used it for birthday cakes and wedding cakes too. It’s a lovely moist cake even without the frosting, but the frosting just makes it I think.
Cake Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable, rapeseed or sunflower oil 4 eggs
2 cups plain flour
2 cups coarsely grated carrot
1⁄2 cup chopped Pecan Nuts
1⁄2 cup chopped Walnuts
1⁄2 cup Sultanas
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting Ingredients
4 ounces Philadelphia full fat cream cheese 2 ounces butter (softened)
8 ounces icing sugar
1⁄2 lemon zest finely grated Lemon juice (enough to mix)
Cake
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease and line an 8” square tin (3” high) (or two
8” tins if sandwiching with frosting). In one bowl, mix well the sugar, eggs and oil. (with a fork or electric mixer). In a 2nd bowl, mix all the other ingredients. Gradually add the sugar/egg/oil mix to the other ingredients. (with a fork or electric mixer). Put the mixture in the tin (or split between two tins
if using two) and bake for approximately 1 hour (or until a cocktail stick comes out clean/no crumbs attached). Allow to cool in the tin so that it firms up a bit
Frosting
Mix together the cream cheese and softened butter until smooth with a fork or electric mixer (make sure the butter is really soft or you get buttery lumps that are difficult to get rid of). Add in the lemon zest. Start to add in the sieved icing sugar and mix in with a fork. Gradually add a little lemon juice as required (one teaspoon at a time). (Note; when you
start to add in the icing sugar to the cheese and butter mixture, it will start to become slack... if you add too much lemon juice it might get a bit too runny, but if that happens, just add more icing sugar until you are happy with it... I always seem to have to add a lot more icing, but it’s so yummy, I don’t mind). Make sure your cake is cold before you add the frosting. You can ether just put one thick layer of the frosting on the top and sides of the cake or sandwich it first with frosting too. (Note; if you are planning to sandwich it, then it’s easier to use two tins rather than
try to cut the cake in half as cutting through nuts can sometimes be a bit messy).
Simply Vegetables 11