Category: Do-ahead

Do-ahead · Vegetable-related

Mexican layered bean casserole

Belinda

This is such an easy vegetarian meal to throw together and full of flavor. Fun for all ages to make, and you can become quite inventive.

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Serves 4

2 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces), thinly sliced on the diagonal
Kosher salt
One 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup prepared pico de gallo or home-style fresh salsa
1 tbsp fresh whole oregano leaves
Six 6-inch corn tortillas, halved
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Chihuahua cheese
2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

Sprinkle the zucchini slices all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside. Stir together the beans, pico de gallo and oregano in a medium bowl.

Arrange the following in layers in a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. 4 of the tortilla halves, one-third of the bean mixture, one-third of the zucchini and 1/4 cup of the cheese. Repeat twice, while packing down the layers. Sprinkle with additional salt and the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and cook until heated through and the cheese is melted, 20-25 minutes

Sprinkle with the cilantro, slice into 4 wedges and serve.

Do-ahead · Vegetable sides · Vegetable-related

Sweet potato and peanut gratin

Belinda

Nothing like a creamy and comforting gratin, and this one is really super as it contains grated lime zest and red chili.
This recipe comes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s wonderful and adventurous recipe book, “Veg Everyday”

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Serves 4

2 lb. sweet potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 fresh red chile, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (or you can used raw, unsalted, crunchy almond butter)
finely grated zest of 1 lime, plus about 2 tsp. juice

Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly oil a large gratin dish.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into slices a bit thinner than 1/8 inch. In a large bowl, toss the potato slices with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the chili, garlic, cream, and some salt & pepper.
Arrange half the sweet potato slices evenly in the gratin dish. You do not have to layer them piece by piece, but try to ensure that the slices are mostly lying flat.
Beat the peanut butter with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, the lime zest, and the lime juice.
Spread this mixture in dollops over the sweet potatoes in the dish. Cover evenly with the remaining sweet potato slices. Pour over any cream remaining in the bowl.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake for a further 30 minutes or so, until the sweet potatoes are completely tender and the top is browned and crisp.
For extra crispness, you can finish under the broiler for a couple of minutes, but watch carefully.
Serve hot, with a crisp, leafy salad to balance the sweet richness of the gratin.

Accompaniments · Baking · Breakfast · Do-ahead

Joanna Gaine’s buttermilk biscuits

Belinda

We are “Fixer Upper” fanatics in this household, so when Joanna Gaines mentioned her buttermilk biscuit recipe, I had to share it. They look so good!

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Makes 12 biscuits.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup butter or 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
Milk for brushing (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add the buttermilk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until mixture is moistened.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough by folding and gently pressing it just until dough holds together. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Pat the dough into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle. Cut into 12 squares or rectangles with a knife or pizza cutter.

If desired, brush with milk. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

 

Do-ahead · Fish · Gluten Free · Sauces

Fabulous French sauce for fish

Belinda

This to me is the best possible sauce for any sort of fish. Due to the reducing, it’s very intense, creamy and utterly out of this world. (When I made this for my step-daughter several years ago, she literally was brought to tears)

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This amount serves 2 – 4, depending on how much sauce you want!
* Sometimes I use 4 fl oz of Noilly Prat instead of white wine, which makes it more intense)

8 fl oz good fish stock
4 fl oz dry white wine
3 tbsp Noilly Prat
2 small shallots, finely chopped
1/2 pint heavy cream
1 1/2 oz butter, chilled & cut into small cubes
2 tbsp fresh chives, finely cut
Salt and pepper

Put the fish stock, wine, Noilly Prat and chopped shallot in a pan and boil rapidly, reducing until 1/4 of the volume is left.

Add the cream and boil gently, stirring constantly, to reduce to the required consistency and taste. (The consistency is right when it thickly coats the back of a spoon and tastes intense)
When it’s to your liking, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter cubes one by one.
Strain through a fine sieve and season.

You can also liquidize the sauce before adding the chives to make it extra light and fluffy, or if you prefer it as is, add the chives just before you serve it.

Dairy-free · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Holiday Food · Vegetable sides

Slow-cooked spiced red cabbage

Belinda

This is wonderful with roast turkey or beef and divine with a crown roast of pork. The aromas and flavors are so Christmassy and it literally cooks itself for 2 hours in the oven.

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Serves 6 – 8

1 good sized red cabbage
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
2 large red onions, halved and sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
a good glass of Ruby port
3 tbsp dark Muscovado sugar. (or as dark a sugar as possible)
2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
1 cinnamon stick, split in 2
4 oz butter, cut into cubes
finely grated zest and the juice of 1 large orange

Heat the oven to 250 F
Put all the ingredients in a Dutch oven with a lid.
Put over medium heat, stir well then cook everything for 5 minutes until the butter is melted and everything is well mixed together.

Transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours. Season before serving.

Beverage · Breakfast · Dairy-free · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Vegan · Whole30 compliant

Carrot cake smoothie

Belinda1 Comment

I happen to be married to someone who adores carrot cake, so when I found this recipe recently, there was no way I wasn’t going to include it. I mean, a healthy smoothie tasting like carrot cake??

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1 cup carrots, peeled and then grated (if you have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, you could probably just roughly chop them)
1 organic banana, frozen
1 1/2 cups coconut/almond milk(or other non-dairy milk of your choice)
1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked for two hours (or 1/4 cup homemade cashew nut butter)
1 tsp good vanilla extract
1 good sized Medjool date
1 tbsp organic raw shelled hemp seeds, or protein powder.
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger or 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Optional – instead of the hemp seeds, for additional nutritional support, you could also opt for a scoop of Protein Powder, either the Vanilla Chai or straight Vanilla would be great.

Directions: Add all of the ingredients to your high speed blender and process until smooth and creamy. Top with a little cinnamon and a pinch of grated carrots. Enjoy immediately.

Appetizer Vegetarian · Do-ahead

Easy foil-baked feta cheese

Belinda

It hadn’t occurred to me to bake feta cheese before but this is absolutely delicious served with crusty bread. It still holds it’s shape and the juices are a beautiful red and green color. You will think you are in the Greek Islands as you eat this.
Recipe c/o Vicky Bhogal.

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Serves 4-6

4x 7oz (roughly) blocks of Greek feta cheese. (Don’t use French, as it’s too mild)
Extra virgin olive oil, a generous glug for each foil parcel
2 large garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 tsp dried red chili flakes
a handful fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
4 fresh plum tomatoes chopped
2 tsp tomato puree
a handful capers
half a red onion, thinly sliced
aluminum foil

Preheat the oven to 400F
Create 4 individual foil pouches by tearing off 4 large large strips of foil and placing a block of feta on each with enough foil to wrap over.

Divide the rest of the ingredients between the 4 feta blocks, fold up the foil on each, and bake for 10 mins.

Serve hot with lots of good crusty bread

Asian flavors · Dairy-free · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Vegan · Vegetable sides · Whole30 compliant

Coconut creamed spinach

Belinda

This is a terrific recipe from the blog, “Pure Wow”. Coconut milk replaces the cream in this gorgeous, silky spinach dish and the fresh ginger and dash of curry powder make it more fragrant.
I served it with “Rosemary rack of lamb” from The Barefoot Contessa’s book “Make it ahead”.
This is a delicious side dish to lamb, chicken or beef.

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INGREDIENTS
2 – 3 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion–peeled, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
One ½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
8 cups fresh spinach, rinsed and dry
1 cup coconut milk

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp curry powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
Kosher salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.

Add the spinach a few handfuls at a time, stirring until it wilts before adding more. Continue until all the spinach is added.

Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the mixture thickens, about four to five minutes.
Mix together the cayenne pepper, curry powder, smoked paprika and salt in a small bowl and start by seasoning the dish with half of it, stirring to combine. Taste, and if you would like more heat and spices, add some more.
I only used 1/2 of mine

Accompaniments · Baking · Do-ahead · Uncategorized

Easy, cheesy soda bread

Belinda

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This is a really delicious and easy Irish soda bread recipe and you’ll want to make it weekly once you try it.

Serves 4 


Oil, for greasing
500g (1lb 1oz) plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
75g (3oz) Mature cheddar cheese, grated. *Please grate your own, the pre-packaged stuff is gross!
350ml(1 1/2 cups)buttermilk
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Heat the oven to 200°C , 400 F or gas mark 6. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Put the flour in a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and ½ tsp salt. Stir in the cheese.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk. Quickly stir together with a wooden spoon, then tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly to bring together – don’t over-knead, and it doesn’t matter if the dough looks rather craggy.


Put the dough on the baking sheet and shape into a round about 8 inches, then flatten slightly. Sprinkle with the seeds. Make a deep cross in the centre with the handle of a wooden spoon or knife. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped. The cheese soda bread is best eaten on the day of baking.

Accompaniments · Appetizer Vegetarian · Dairy-free · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Nuts · Sauces · Vegan · Whole30 compliant

Romesco Sauce

Belinda

This flavorsome Spanish sauce (or dip) is tremendously versatile. It’s wonderful served with boiled baby potatoes served warm or at room temp, that you dip into the sauce and eat. It’s great with grilled prawns or chicken too.
Whole 30 compliant, vegan, non dairy and grain free, it’s a winner. It also lasts for up to 1 week in the fridge and the whole thing is done in the food processor.

 

MAKES 3 CUPS

1 x 16oz jar of roasted bell peppers
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted lightly
1/3 cup tomato purée
4 heaped tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tbsp Sherry vinegar
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pulse the first 8 ingredients in a food processor until very finely chopped. With the motor running, slowly add the oil; process until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper.

DO AHEAD: Romesco can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill.