Vegetarian tagine with couscous and hummus

Roasted vegetables are one of those unique ingredients in a meal I find - they drag even the most bland or plastic 'panini' or salad right up into the higher echelons in one move. So what happens when you take a holy combo of red pepper, parsnip, carrot and red onion, roast them until they're sweet and caramelized, put them in rich, heavily spiced tomato sauce and serve with couscous and hummus? Good things happen, that's what.
 So: technically it's a vegetarian tagine. Extremely straightforward and brilliant for leftovers, plus (of course) is a seriously tasty meal. It's also low-cal if you care about that sort of thing.  It's a very straightforward tagine, doable by anyone. Cheap too, so what's not to love? (Apart from the fact it isn't terribly beautiful.

Admittedly, this isn't exactly seasonal, but do you have any idea how many times I've been caught in a moody downpour this month on my way back from work? This is ideal grumpy-comfort food, simple to make, warming from the inside out without the guilt of a pizza binge. The opposite, even - the original recipe actually informs me that this gives you your entire five-a-day in one handy meal.
Perfect for rubbish rainy June evenings, Sunday nights or whenever you want something hot and comforting without lots of effort. This is also pretty great if you're trying to serve a large group of people, given it's basically a quick stew. And feel free to replace the veggies - sweet potato in place of peppers would be nice, or courgette (although do adjust roasting times.) This would also be a wonderful side-dish for any Moroccan spread a treat, so if you feel like being extra creative, serve with falafel, lamb, pitta, salad, mint yoghurt, chicken in harissa, coriander-spiced meatballs... the list is endless. 

Vegetarian tagine with couscous and hummus (serves 2 with leftovers)

• 2 carrots
• 2 small parsnips
• 2 small red onions or 1 big one
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 green pepper
• Handful of dried apricots (I chop mine, you can leave them whole if you prefer - you can see them in the bag in the photo)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp chilli powder/flakes
• 2 tsp honey

Plus 150g couscous and pot of hummus, to serve.

It's a very simple recipe. Chop up all your veg into even sized chunks, spread across two or three roasting tins. You can put them all in one, if you like, but crowded veg won't roast properly.  Leave the onion in about 8 wedges, though - not too small.Drizzle with a little olive oil, ensure evenly coated (try not to disturb the red onions from their wedge-shape, I find they dry out terribly when separated into thin strips.) Put into oven on a high heat, around 200C, for 20 to 30 minutes, taking it out to shake the veg and check on it occasionally. When the veg is roasted to your liking, remove from the oven.
Next, put a tablespoon of oil in a sauce pan, and add your spices. The amount I use is a lot higher than the recipe suggests, but I find it's far tastier this way - nothing worse than an under-seasoned meal! Stir the spices into a paste on a medium heat, until very fragrant, then add your apricots, honey and then your tomatoes. Refill half the tin with water, give a shake, and add to the tomatoes and spices mix on the stove. Turn  up to the boil, then reduce to a simmer until it thickens to your liking.

Adding the veg to the thickened spicy tomato sauce

Around this point, you can make some couscous. Everyone has their own recipe, but for me I like to fry a knob of butter in a pan, add two crushed cloves of garlic for a few moments, then add a shake of cumin or paprika. Then add 120g of couscous (for two) with 150ml of water, and crumble in half a vegetable stock cube. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and take off the heat. Fluff with a fork five minutes later, after the water has been absorbed. When the tomato sauce has thickened enough, add your roasted vegetables until heated through, then serve and enjoy! If you have a sprig of coriander floating about, it probably wouldn't go amiss, for garnishing purposes either. 


Credit where credit is due: BBC Good Food

Bulghar wheat and spinach pilaf

This is a perfectly gorgeous dinner - an onion-y, chilli tomato-ey delicious platter of grains you can scoop and scoop and scoop from. It's also brilliant for entertaining - just up the quantities. This would also work extremely well at a picnic or barbecue, is still delicious cold, and is easy to prepare in advance. It's also a very straightforward thing to make, it's almost a salad - almost, but SO much more fantastic. This is a brilliant one for summer, so if you've been enjoying the sunshine, bookmark this one as a nice warm weather lunch or dinner.

The only unusual ingredient in this, with the exception of Harissa used on the tomatoes (any Mediterranean shop - I get mine in Phoenicia in Kentish Town), is bulghar wheat. This is available from my local supermarket, and is a quick-cooking form of wheat which has been parboiled. It looks like Demerara sugar - don't put it in your coffee - and has a slightly nutty but wonderfully versatile flavour. It is an absolute doddle to make - simmer, then leave to soak, 25 minutes start to finish. And it's rich in fibre, low in fat, and a popular staple in Middle Eastern food. A little research also turned up that it's really rich in minerals, - iron, phosphorus and zinc (the most common nutritional deficiency) to name a few. 

I feel like many people my age really neglect the sheer amount of variety  on offer, especially when it comes to grains. Couscous was a massive discovery for me when I was a student, and most people I know have never heard of bulghar wheat.  That said, I'm fortunate enough to live in a place where I'm frequently baffled by the sheer expanse of ingredients on offer in my local supermarket, even, let alone if I was to take the bus into Soho. However,  you can substitute couscous for bulghar wheat, if you like, and still enjoy the deeply refreshing and satisfying pilaf. And healthy to boot, seriously. This is a dream food. My new aim for the summer is to make this and bring it to the park to be eaten with maximum joy.

Bulghar wheat and spinach pilaf (serves 4-ish)

To make things easier, and following the original recipe's lead, I've kept the ingredients separated into sections. 

Tomatoes

10 to 12 plum tomatoes (sliced into segments)

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1.5 tsp Harissa paste (or a sprinkle of chilli flakes if you don't have it.)

2 tsp Muscavado/soft, dark sugar 

Pilaf

170g bulghar wheat

295ml vegetable stock 

1 onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)

300g spinach

Decent handful of mint (chopped)

4 tbsp olive oil

Feta cheese 

Onions (which get scattered on top)

2 onions, (thinly sliced into semi-circles)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1.5 tsp Muscavado/soft, dark sugar 

1/2 lemon (juiced)

Pre-heat your oven to 200C and start with your tomatoes as they'll take around 30 minutes. I've already used this method in the breakfast recipe with soda farls - sometimes chilli tomatoes are just what the doctor ordered to perk your morning up. But slice the tomatoes, and in a small bowl, mix the olive oil, Harissa and balsamic. Put the tomatoes in a roasting tin and pour over the sauce, using your hands to ensure a nice even coverage, then sprinkle over the sugar to result in some delicious caramelised tomatoes.

Tomatoes roasted in Harissa, balsamic and olive oil 

These can be hot or cold when the pilaf is served - and they are DELICIOUS. Sweet and chewy with a fantastic chilli kick to offset the sugar. Cooks perks deem, in my view,  you definitely get to have a snack on one or two of these lovely tomatoes of them before dinner is served. 

Meanwhile, start on your pilaf. Put the chopped onion in 2tbsp of olive oil in a nice big pot (that you have a lid for) and fry for a few minutes until softened, then add the garlic and let that soften as well. With your 295ml (I'm sure 300ml would be fine...) stock at the ready, tip in the bulghar wheat on top of the onions, stir, and quickly pour over the stock. Bring to boiling, then turn the heat right down to a low simmer for around 15 minutes - I like to give it an occasional stir . After this time, you can turn off the heat completely, put the lid on and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. You can chop your mint now, if you haven't already. 

While this is happening, you can get on with your spinach. Probably do this in two goes, as I get spinach everywhere when I try to do 300g in one go.

Spinach prior to frying - this is about as soggy as I let it go. If you have a few unwilted leaves left, it's nice to have a mix. 

Rapidly rinse the spinach then use your hands to shake the water off it. Put it into a big pan on a high heat and let it wilt slightly then drain into the sink and let it sit for a few minutes until it's cool enough that you can squeeze out some of the excess water. I don't like the spinach to lose too much of its shape, and I think it tastes much nicer when its closer to raw than completely steamed and bitter. Roughly chop chop chop on a chopping board, then throw it into a frying pan, or the pot you used to wilt it if it's dry enough in 2tbsp of olive oil. Fry very briefly, then add to the pilaf. I usually don't wait for the pilaf to be fully done before adding. Put it in, give it a stir, replace the lid.

Now you just have to do your onions, which are rapidly fried until crispy. On a high heat, add the onions and stir frequently, and right when they are getting good and crispy, add the cinnamon (just a pinch!) and the sugar, then take off the heat.

Onions, crisping up

To assemble, on your nicest, biggest plate (if you have one), tip out the bulghar and spinach. Then scatter over the mint. Then add the tomatoes and finally the crispy onions. Take a good handful of feta and crumble over, then tip over your lemon juice.

Serve with whatever you like - I find hummus is a lovely thing to put with it, and if you want to make sure your guests are damn well fed, you can also make up some falafel and an olivey-Greek salad to go with it!

Falafel, Greek salad and the bulghar wheat pilaf on its way to the table.

Credit where credit is due: 101 Cookbooks

Shakshouka (eggs poached in spicy sauce)

Ah Shakshouka, how I love thee. So delicious, cheap and veggie, healthy and spicy and hot and warming on a damp, freezing cold night, shakshouka is one of our regular dinners. This is a fairly bastardised version of the probably much more traditional versions online, but I find this recipe does just the job for me. It also great for using up the bits and pieces out of the fridge, is high in protein and so immensely soothing to eat, like a big bowl of soup full of veg and spices and gloriously yolky-and-runny poached eggs. This is cobbled together from a few recipes and is kind of a vegetable-rich (and therefore better) version of Uova in Purgatorio, in my opinion. Again, Middle Eastern-inspired food makes great and flavoursome vegetarian food without skimping on the all-important protein.
Plus, look at ridiculously gorgeous it is. All that red and yellow! Mm. Makes enough for two very greedy people. 

Shakshouka 

• 4 tbsp (1/4 of a cup) olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 400g tin of plum or chopped tomatoes
• 2 peppers (green and yellow are nice)
• 1/2 a white onion, diced
• 1 red chilli pepper
• 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp ground cumin, chopped
• 1 tbsp paprika (use smoked if you have it) 
• Handful of chopped parsley
• Handful of crumbled feta (in the above picture, I've used a bit of goat's cheese as an experiment, as we had no feta.. it was nice!)
• Hummus to serve, if you have it, and some toasted pita to scoop up the last bits. 

You might cringe a bit at adding spoonful after spoonful of olive oil, but I urge you not to skimp on it, the veg need to soften and stew slightly, and the olive oil will help bring out the flavour so wonderfully. Heat the oil, and add the chilli pepper, the diced peppers, and the onion and stir over a medium-low heat until softening, around six minutes.
Add the garlic, cumin and paprika - feel free to chuck in more spices as you like, I like things stronger tasting than this recipe -and give it a quick stir for two minutes. By now the smell should be absolutely gorgeous.

 If you're using plum tomatoes, tip the tin's worth into a bowl and use your hand to crush them up, otherwise just into the bowl with 4 tbsp (1/4 of a cup) of water. Heat up to boiling point, then reduce the heat to medium and leave to thicken.
 Give it at least 5 minutes - the original recipe recommends about 15! But see how thick it's getting. You probably don't want it to reduce down to nothing, it's nice to have a bit of runny sloppiness in a dish like this. Add a good sprinkle of salt and use the back of a wooden spoon to make four indentations in four corners of the sauce and carefully break an egg into each indentation. 

Put the lid on and give it about three to five minutes, until the white has set and the yolk has juuuuust cooked. Again, you don't want anything over-cooked or thickened here. 
Right before it's time to eat, sprinkle over your parsley, and feta, and try to skilfully slop out of the pan with a wide spoon into a pasta bowl so it still looks pretty. Pita and hummus are lovely with this. 
Credit where credit is due: inspired/modified from Smitten Kitchen

Quick, easy falafel

I love falafel - it's tasty, substantial and technically counts as one of your five a day as it's made from chickpeas (which is like 60p a can) and a whole lot of spices. It also keeps great in the fridge, so any that you have left over can be thrown into a salad or eating with some pita and hummus the next day.
Although this doesn't have the fast-food appeal of something that's been deep fried (indeed, what does), it's really easy to throw a load of stuff you might have sitting in your fridge - a tomato, a bit of bagged salad, Greek yoghurt - and make a spread which is really impressive. And it takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, or even less.
The golden rule here I think is that in my opinion it's very hard to over season. The original recipe I got this from used a tablespoon of cumin, and that was all. You can probably double or triple this - I just throw a fair whack in. 

The only thing you might have trouble finding is Harissa spice, a Moroccan chilli-and-rose paste which goes great in Middle Eastern cooking. This recipe is fine without it as well, of course (I can't stand recipes that hinge on you being able to find pomegranate molasses, etc.) If you can find one though, or even one of those supermarket 'rubs' which you're supposed to smear over a chicken, throw it in by all means.
This makes enough for two people comfortably... 

Easy falafel 

• 400g can of chickpeas 
• 1/2 a red onion
• Three or four cloves of garlic
• Handful of fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp of smoked paprika (if you have it)
• 2 tbsp dried coriander 
• Pinch of chilli flakes (if you want a little heat)
• 1 tbp harissa paste
• 4 - 8 tbsp flour

Drain the chickpeas before you start anything else, and give them a rinse in the colander, then dry off a bit with some kitchen towel and leave to sit for a bit, to dry a bit more. Meanwhile, chop your red onion half fairly finely, chuck it in a bowl. Do the same with the parsley, and garlic, add to the bowl, along with the spices, and the harissa (not the flour yet.)

Use either a food processor or a hand-held blender (I got mine for £3.99 from Sainsburys and it does the job nicely) to mash it all into a fairly consistent paste. Don't worry about getting ALL the chickpeas mashed up, just most of them. 

Start adding your flour, mixing through with a wooden spoon - I find you need way more than you will think. Basically you want to add enough so that it's still sticky, but not so impossibly sticky that you can't pick it up. You want to mould them into burger-shapes (my boyfriend insists that round ones taste better - but this is because you have that shape when they're deep fried! Burger-shaped is the best way to go.)  You're going to want to dust your hands with flour when picking up little handfuls.Put them to one side, then fry, or just add straight to a medium-hot frying pan as you go, with a good glug of olive oil, fry until crispy and brown on both sides then serve with pita, hummus (sprinkled with smoked paprika like in the picture is lovely), and anything else you can find/be bothered with! Rocket salad, chopped tomato, feta, couscous, roasted vegetables, etc - it's all good. 

Addendum: I tried making this from 'real', untinned chickpeas once which needed to be soaked, boiled, etc, and the end result was so disappointing and the effort needed so much more that I really don't think I'll be trying that again... 


Credit where credit is due: inspired/modified from the BBC