A note on carrot and fennel soup

I've just made the yummiest soup - didn't take a pic as it doesn't look like anything much. I chopped a small onion, a large carrot, two Jerusalem artichokes and a bulb of fennel, cooked in stock and blended. Super tasty!

Black beans in adobo sauce

When I was in London last year I bought a couple of tins of chipotles in adobo sauce - had wanted to try them for years after seeing them in so many American recipes. I found them in The Spice Shop, by Portobello Market. And then I put them away and forgot about them!
When I found them again I had to make something with them and my lovely Veganomicon had the perfect recipe - black beans in adobo sauce. What I did differently was to cook about 400g of sweet potato along with just one tin of beans. Otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe. They turned out really well!

Jerusalem stew

How happy was I to find Jerusalem artichokes at Ballylagan Farm Shop last week?! Then I had to figure out what to make with them. I peeled and diced them (about six) and cooked off in just enough stock to cover, along with some diced onion and garlic. When they were nearly cooked I added a few chopped mushrooms and chard leaves, along with half a tsp each of smoked paprika and thyme. When all was ready I stirred in some cooked brown rice. The only thing that would've made it tastier was to add the juice of the lemon half that was sitting in my fridge!

Winter vegetable paella

I do love Paella but only ever make it in the spring/summer when all the best veg are around. Well that didn't stop me from trying a wintery version last week and it turned out delish!

I cooked paella rice with onion, garlic and two small kolhrabi in stock and saffron. Meanwhile I fried chopped mushrooms, peppers and chard in the pan. When everything was cooked I mixed it all together with the juice of half a large lemon. It would have been nice with some chopped parsley but I didn't have any!