Homemade coleslaw that comes with a warning

Homemade coleslaw is a doddle, the only effort required is chopping and grating. You can use whatever raw root vegetables you fancy  - swede and celeriac work well - so long as you include some form of cabbage and a little onion. The pear goes well with blue cheese, but grated apple is also good.

Coleslaw ingredients

• 1/8 red or white cabbage
• 1 very small red onion or 1/2  tennis ball sized red onion
• 1/2 raw grated parsnip
• 1/2 raw grated courgette
• 1/2 raw grated carrot
• 1 tablespoon mayo
• 1 tablespoon yoghurt
• 1/2 very ripe pear, grated
• about 1 tablespoon blue cheese, crumbled
• 1 teaspoon English mustard
• About a dessertspoon poppy seeds 

How to make coleslaw

1. Lightly toast the poppy seeds in a small frying pan then leave to cool.
2. Mix together the yoghurt, mayonaise and mustard in a large bowl.
3. Discard the outer leaves of the cabbage.
4. Cut down either side of the tough stem and discard this too.
5. Shred the remaining cabbage leaves finely. 
6. Finely chop the onion
7. Add to the dressing along with the other raw vegetables and the pear.
8. Gently mix together so that everything is coated with the dressing.
9. Scatter over the poppy seeds and crumbled cheese and fold gently to combine.

Homemade coleslaw: a warning

Do not make too much! You will not eat it. Then you will feel guilty about throwing it away.

A vegetarian pie with winter salads

OK, so a cheese-filled pie is probably not the healthiest start to the New Year, but this was for a special occasion when my brother- and sister-in-law and nephew came round for an after Christmas dinner.

However, I'm a great one for winter salads, and the 2 below are a nice way of using raw winter veg. I felt a little smug about the amount of vegetables I'd bought so thought I'd take a picture. 

 Before

Thanks to Nigella we all know that a messaluna means 'half moon' in Italian and is a semi-circular double blade for chopping herbs.

 Messaluna pie ingredients

• 1 pack filo pastry (approx 300g)
• 5 eggs
• A 200g pack spinach
• 2 leeks
• 1 stick celery
• 2 small handfuls rocket
• 1 large red onion
• 1 bunch dill
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 3 spring onions
• 150g ricotta
• 100g feta
• 75g cheddar
• Oil, for frying and brushing

2 things I forgot to put in this pie but should be added:

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 small bunch chives or 1 tablespoon freeze-dried chives

  How to make vegetable pie

1. Chop the red onion and celery finely and fry gently in some oil for about 5 minutes till beginning to soften without browning.
2. Meanwhile rinse the spinach in water.
3. Heat a large pan and add the spinach. Keep moving the spinach round till it is wilted down to almost nothing. 
4. Tip out of the pan into a colander and allow to cool.
5. Put the spinach into a clean cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then chop finely.
6. Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat.
7. Crumble in the feta and ricotta into the eggs and grate in the cheddar.
8. Grate the lemon zest into the mixture. 
9. Add the chopped spinach and the rocket.
10. Finely chop the spring onions and add to to the egg and cheese mixture. 
11. If using, add the finely chopped chives and the dried oregano.
12. Chop the herbs and add these to the egg mixture.
13. Season well with salt and pepper.
14. Brush a baking tin which is slightly smaller than the sheets of filo pastry lighly with oil. I used a 30x20cm tin.
15. Lay a sheet of pastry in the dish so that the ends hang over the outside of the dish then brush lightly with oil. It doesn't matter if the pastry breaks; just patch it up so that the dish is covered.
16. Repeat till half the sheets of pastry have been used.
17. Pour the filling mixture into the pastry.
18. Fold the overhanging pastry from the pie bottom on top of the filling.
19. Top with the remaining filo sheets, brushing each with oil before laying the next on top. Brush the final layer of pastry with oil too.
20. Bake at 190 degrees C for 30-40 minutes or till golden. 

Serve with chilli jam.

After

Red cabbage salad

Do not be tempted to make a larger quantity of this salad as it takes a lot of chewing, so you will probably get bored halfway through your leftovers.

• 1/8 red cabbage
• 1 pear
• 1 small handful walnuts
• A few pieces blue cheese
• Walnut oil
• Lemon juice
• Chopped parsley
• 1 dessertspoon mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon yoghurt

To assemble the red cabbage salad:

1. Mix the mayonaise, yoghurt, lemon juice, walnut oil and chopped parsley in a bowl.
2. Shred the red cabbage finely and add to the mayo mixture.
3. Lightly toast the walnuts in a small frying pan over a low heat for about a minute.
4. Add the toasted walnuts to the cabbage.
5. Peel the pear and cut into thin slithers.
6. Add to the slaw and mix gently so the pears do not break but so everything is coated in the yoghurt mixture.

Leaf and root salad ingredients

• The rest of the rocket left over from the pie
• A handful watercress
• 1/4 grated raw parsnip
• 1/4 raw grated courgette
• A tablespoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice

How to make leaf and root salad

1. In a bowl, dress the rocket and watercress with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.
2. Arrange on a plate, and top with the grated courgette and parsnip.
3. Sprinkle the toaste sesame seeds over the top. 

Roasted vegetable salad

Roasted vegaletable salad with balsamic dressing and yoghurt on the side

A couple of weeks ago salad club was roasted vegetables. This was the list of ingredients:

• Roasted aubergines
• Roasted mixed peppers and onions
• Roasted squash or pumpkin
• Roasted sweet potato
• Roasted potato
• Sundried tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Pineuts
• Balsamic dressing
• Yoghurt 

For some reason, the person who was allocated squash/pumkin was unable to find any so brought aubergine instead. (Really? Two weeks before Hallowe'en?? Where was he looking? An aubergine shop?) This means we had 2 lots of aubergine, but no squash.

I invited everyone to tell me how they prepared their vegetables but only received four replies. I love the different styles so have copied them verbatim below.

For the sweet potato (as described by Yuki)

Peeled and chopped sweet potato into bite size chunks.
Place in baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle cinnamon on top.
Put in oven at 180C and roast for 25mins. 

Paula's comment:  as expected from Yuki, practical, no nonesense, easy to follow instructions. 

For the potatoes (as described by Kate)

1lb of new potatoes
handful of chopped fresh dill
enough olive oil to cover the potatoes
Salt for taste

Paula's comment: I think these were then roasted in the oven, though at what temperature and for how long I don't know. I would also suggest that you simply drizzle olive oil over the potatoes, then toss to coat, rather than submerging them in oil.  

For (one of thee ) aubergines (as described by Amber)

we washed the aubergine, then chopped into cubes, put it in a colander and salted them for 30minutes, then rinsed, then tossed with olive oil, salt, chilli flakes, pepper and  italian mixed herbs. we baked it spread flat on a baking tray and placed in the oven at 180 for around 1 hr, checking and turning occasionally. 

Paula's comment: aw, how cute - love how Amber always says 'we' . Rehan (the other half of the 'we') is welcome at Salad Club any time.

For the balsamic salad dressing (as described by Gina)

Leave a couple minutes earlier so you have time to stop at Tesco
Check email to remember what ingredient assignment is
Locate salad dressing isle at Tesco
Spend a few minutes browsing for the best looking bottle of balsamic
Select and remove from shelf
Continue to check out and pay for your item
Store in fridge until salad club begins
Shake well and serve. 


Paula's comment: Top marks Gina, especially given that you subsequently had to miss Salad Club. Again. 

For the yoghurt side dish

This was my ingredient - it's something my Polish sister-in-law often serves with roast vegetables. 

• About half a large tub (200-250ml) natural or Greek yoghurt
• 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed in their skins
• A handful chopped parsley
• A handful chopped dill
• A small lug of olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

1. Mix all the ingredients together at least an hour before you want to serve to let the yoghurt take up the flavours.
2. Remove the pieces of garlic before serving.

This was a tasty and filling salad, despite the lack of squash and only half the amount of feta since the other half was mouldy. Cheap too.

Salad Club III: Who is him? Greek salad

Today's salad is in honour of our former Greek colleague. We miss you, Nikki Papadaki.

Authentic Greek salad does not contain lettuce or chicken. For some reason, our version included cooked chicken, but I did draw the line at lettuce.

Greek salad ingredients

• 2 packs feta cheese (400g in total)
• 1 large cucumber, cut into cubes
• black olives, a large tub
• 1  red and 1 yellow pepper, cut into cubes
• 2 punnets cherry tomatoes
• 1 small red onion, very finely sliced
• 1bunch mint
• 1 bunch basil
• Cooked chicken

 
 
 
 

Greek salad dressing ingredients

• Olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Thyme
• Salt & pepper

 

Greek salad accompaniments to serve

Hummus, tzatziki, pitta bread. 


This week's salad club got a little out of hand. There were too many members (9) and too many slackers. We almost ran out of food and I had to send out rules. 

This week's star Tosser was Amber, who brought in home made tzatziki. Kate also deserves a special commendation for the salad dressing.




 

Macaroni cheese

Believe it or not, macaroni cheese is O’s desert island meal. I normally refuse to make it at weekends when I have time to cook something that takes more than 20 minutes. Today, however, I have relented. The addition of cauliflower and broccoli bumps up your vegetable intake for the day, but you can leave these out if you want.

This version is perfect for a quick weekday supper, and if you make a little extra you have tomorrow’s lunch for free sorted too. It is lower fat than most versions as it uses 0% fat Greek yoghurt for the sauce. To stop the macaroni cheese from drying out when you reheat it in the microwave add a little more olive oil and a couple more cherry tomatoes before reheating.

Macaroni cheese ingredients

I have no idea about precise quantities but the rough quantities given below will work as is or scaled up.

Serves 2 generously, with enough left over for a free lunch at work the next day.

• Dried macaroni – measure about one third dried pasta of the bowl you want to fill. Penne works too but not as well as short pasta such as macaroni. 
• About half a cauliflower and the same quantity broccoli
• A 170g tub 0% Greek yoghurt
• A handful grated mature cheddar
• About 1/3 teaspoon English mustard
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 or 3 rasher streaky bacon, cut into small pieces (omit for a veggie version)
• A small handful breadcrumbs
• Linseeds, a scattering
• Parmesan
• Cherry or pomodorino tomatoes – a small punnet

How to make macaroni cheese

1. Boil the kettle, then empty into a large saucepan. I don’t understand people who boil water for pasta in the saucepan; it takes forever and I am convinced a kettle is more energy-efficient.
2. Add a pinch of salt to the water then add the pasta. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.
3. Dry-fry the bacon in a frying pan till crisp.
4. Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets.
5. Tip the Greek yoghurt into a shallow dish. Add the mustard and stir to mix.
   Mustard enhances the flavour of cheese, so you don’t need to use quite as much.
6. Add the grated cheese to the dish and mix with the yoghurt.
7. About 8 minutes before the pasta is ready, put a bamboo steamer over the pan and add the cauliflower to the steamer. Cover with the steamer lid.
8. About 5 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the broccoli to the steamer.
9. Put the kettle on to boil.
10. Heat the grill to high (about 230C)
11. About 3 minutes before the pasta is ready according to the packet instructions, remove the pan from the heat.
12. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid in a cup.
13. Pour boiling water over the pasta and shake any excess off.
14. Mix the pasta with the yoghurt and cheese.
15. Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid to give a loose sauce.
16. Add the fried bacon, chopped spring onions and black pepper.
17. Place the cauliflower, broccoli and tomatoes over the pasta.
18. Grate over a little Parmesan, then sprinkle with the linseeds and breadcrumbs. This will make a crunchy topping.
19. Whack under the grill for about 5 minutes, till the top is golden brown and the tomatoes have burst.