Garlic, chilli and rice soup

I've bought A LOT of new cookbooks recently so have decided that I really must start making some new recipes. This is adapted from Easy Vegan - I didn't quite have all the ingredients and I made less of it. This makes two portions for normal people... or one dinner for me!!!

2 cloves garlic, crushed
4-5 scallions (spring onions), chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped, add more or less depending on your heat preference
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
1 tbsp of shoyu or soy sauce
100g long grain white rice
500-600ml veg stock
Half a bag of spinach (or other greens, I only had spinach)

Fry the garlic, scallions, chilli and ginger in some oil or spray oil then add the shoyu, rice and stock. Simmer for 15 mins until the rice is cooked then stir in the greens until wilted. You will love it, I promise!

Slow-cooked aubergine and lentils

I do love my slow cooker, the best £15 I've ever spent! I reckon it's one of the best ways to cook aubergine - I make a lot of ratatouille in mine and also the aubergine and chickpea stew as blogged below.

Having an aubergine to use up, I decided to try something a bit different with a tin of green lentils and it turned out really well :-)

1 red onion
1 red pepper
1 aubergine, all diced
1 tin of green lentils, drained
1 carton of passata
1 tsp of dried oregano

Put all in slow cooker and cook on high for 2.5 to 3 hours. Even better the next day!

A breakfast and a supper

I had some lovely meals during the week but these have been two of my favourites. I'll start with the brekkie:

This is a sliced small banana, a pot of raspberry soya yogurt and a handful of M&S prebiotic 3-grain granola. The granola is really tasty and is sweetened with agave instead of the usual honey. I'd highly recommend it!

The supper is a recipe called 'lentil supper' passed on to me by my generous friend Etretia, via her mum and possibly a very old cookery magazine. I added a chopped pepper when cooking the onions and I served it with some steamed veg, but it's so adaptable that you could pretty much make any substitutions or serve it with anything. The recipe makes three good portions and I have to say it tasted even better the next day!

4oz Green Lentils
8oz Potatoes
1 Onion
Garlic
3/4 pint stock
1 tsp mixed herbs
Tin chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato puree

Fry onion and garlic, add all the rest, bring to boil, simmer, cook for 40 mins

A curry without a picture!

I cooked such a good curry for my friend and I tonight... we ate it all before I remembered to take a photo! This was all of my own invention and tasted really good!

1 onion, diced
12-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
2-3 tsp curry paste of your choice
100g red lentils
1/2 a butternut squash, peeled and diced
250g potato, diced
600ml stock

Fry onion and tomato in a little oil or fry spray then add curry paste and mix. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 30 mins. Enjoy!

Birds birds birds!

Sorry I've not been about - had PC problems last week which OH kindly fixed for me by popping my drive in the freezer overnight! Seriously!

Anyway I've not been doing much cooking, although I plan to remedy that this week, but I have been doing a lot of birdwatching. I took part in Big Garden Birdwatch last week and recorded 2 blackbirds, 2 robins, 1 starling, 1 blackcap, 1 house sparrow, 4 chaffinches, 4 great tits and 2 long-tailed tits. I was a bit disappointed as I've had plenty of days when I've seen many more birds than that and also because my greenfinch didn't show. I've been watching out the window this morning and had at least 5 great tits and 6 long-tailed tits. They look so cute and fluffy in the rain. Have had a pigeon and two magpies too but not as exciting! Betty Blackcap comes every day and spends ages but she is very shy and easily bullied by the bigger great tits. Keep trying to get a decent picture of her!

Lentil and sweet potato stew (I call it curry)

This recipe is adapted from The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone - a great book with some lovely recipes. Her website is also great - www.thekindlife.com

1 onion, chopped
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp grated ginger
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1.5 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
200g green or brown lentils
300g sweet potato, peeled and diced
About 500ml stock

Fry the onion in the oil then add the ginger and toms. Add the spices and stir to form a paste coating the onion and toms. Add more or less cayenne at this stage, depending on how hot you like it, or you could add a chopped chilli with the ginger. Then add the sweet potato, lentils and stock and simmer for about 30 mins, until the lentils are cooked and the potato is breaking up. I like this with rice or crusty bread but it's just as good on its own.

As you can see from the picture, I was already getting stuck in when I remembered to take a photo!

'Granny soup'

Not feeling terribly well and this calls for a big bowl of 'Granny soup'. I call it this because, surprise surprise, it reminds me of the soup that my nanny made every week when I was a kid. She was lucky enough to have all the veg fresh from her own garden, courtesy of my papa! Hers I'm sure was made with a non-veggie stock, at least it was til I turned veggie at age 12 and made her change it when she was making it for me!

I make it with three carrots, three leeks and three sticks of celery, all diced. Cook in a litre of veg stock with 100g barley for about 40-45 mins. You can add more water if you like it thinner. You can also add a couple of diced spuds if you like. I usually put in plenty of chopped parsley near the end of cooking but I didn't have any today.