Category: Gluten-Free

Butternut Squash Soup

Posted on by Trish

IMG_0143 Trish's Butternut Squash Soup with Red Pepper

  1. Peel and chop 1 butternut squash and chop 1 red pepper roughly, discarding seeds
  2. Place in a bowl and drizzle on olive oil, use a wooden spoon to stir the veg around in the oil to coat it lightly
  3. Transfer to a roasting tin and place in oven preheated to Gas Mark 6 / 200° C
  4. Peel 4 garlic cloves and add them to the roasting tin when the squash and pepper have been cooking for 10 minutes
  5. When the squash is soft, remove tin from oven
  6. Blend cooked veg with enough vegetable stock to make soup consistency
  7. Add agave nectar and dried chilli flakes to taste

Stuffed Peppers

Posted on by Trish

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I can claim very little of this as my own recipe.  The basic stuffed peppers concept and how to cook them properly was told to me by a passing shopper in a supermarket in the South of France, the vegan cheese topping recipe is from the internet (recreated here by me because I can’t find the original), the puy lentils were pre-cooked and packaged by Merchant Gourmet (what, me, lazy?) and the rice is Sainsbury’s Boil-in-the-Bag.  I totally invented the salad, just so you know – for the record nobody thought of pairing lettuce and tomato until I showed up.

  • 3-4 peppers – whatever colour you like
  • 1 bag of boil-in-the-bag rice – ditto (for people who can actually cook rice, this is equivalent to about 125g)
  • About a quarter of a packet of ready-to-eat puy lentils
  • As much garlic as you can stand, crushed
  • Half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of olive oil
  • Pinch of dried, mixed herbs or teaspoon of fresh herbs of choice
  • Pinch of salt or stock powder

Vegan “cheese” topping

  • Half a cup of soya milk
  • Half a cup of olive oil
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1-2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons potato flakes (Supermarket’s own cheapo version of ‘Smash’, on no account attempt to make mashed potato with it); if your supermarket doesn’t have these, you can get just as good results by using potato flour
  • 1 teaspoon veggie stock powder (I use this one)
  • 1/2 teaspoon marmite
  1. Chop peppers in half lengthways, remove the seeds and the green stalk
  2. Boil for 5 minutes to soften then place to one side
  3. Cook rice according to instructions
  4. Mix rice, puy lentils and garlic together, add herbs and a very small amount of olive oil
  5. Place each half of pepper on a sheet of baking foil that will be enough to wrap completely around it when it is stuffed
  6. Put about a tablespoon and a half of rice and lentil mixture into each half of pepper and wrap them up
  7. Place your foil parcels on a baking tray in an oven set to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and leave them to bake while you make the ‘cheese’ topping – check them after about 20 minutes though
  8. Pour the soya milk into a small pan with about 1/4 of a teaspoon of the stock powder and heat gently
  9. Pour the olive oil into a suitable receptacle for mixing with a hand-held blender (don’t use a proper blender unless you really love dismantling it and washing it up) – add the lemon juice
  10. When the soya milk is threatening to bubble, pour it into the container with the oil and blend together – it will look like mayonnaise
  11. Add all the other ingredients and blend thoroughly – it should look like cheese dip
  12. When the peppers are ready (usually about 20 mins or just under) take them out and unwrap them.  Spread your ‘cheese’ mixture on top of each one and return to the oven until the topping is bubbling and just starting to brown.  Actual cheese from a cow can be used as a substitute if you’re someone who eats dairy – pick something that enjoys melting.

On this occasion, the salad was made up of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, spring onions (green onions) and toasted almond flakes.

Please do gather to applaud the excellent photographic skills of my lovely neighbour, who sent me a selection of photos to choose from – all of them awesome.

Mushroom soup

Posted on by Trish

Mushroom Soup

One of us being a person who used to eat dairy but who now doesn’t, the Tea House menu sometimes features dishes that are classic dairy feasts but which have been reinvented so as not to incorporate regular milk or cheese.  Tonight, mushroom soup was created; it’s for lunch tomorrow but we’ve had a teaspoon each to try it and it definitely ‘works’ despite being a little more like the mushroom soup you get served as a starter in Thai restaurants and a little less like the canned Heinz stuff.  The mushrooms in the picture above looked green by the way, until Peter undid the damage I’d done by trying to use Photoshop.  By request I’m attempting to include approximate amounts for all ingredients used.

  • Mushrooms of choice (about 200g)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • Up to 4 cloves garlic
  • Enough veggie stock to cover
  • Up to half a can of coconut milk (I’m practically crying that the brand I bought contains sulfites but have discovered that you can make your own)
  • Dried chilli flakes (amount to vary from none to loads according to preference – use fresh chillies if you can be bothered)
  1. Fry mushrooms in oil until they start releasing liquid, then throw chopped or crushed garlic in and fry for another half a minute
  2. Scatter in chilli flakes
  3. Pour on veggie stock and let simmer
  4. Add coconut milk
  5. Taste, add any other things you think will work – I threw a bay leaf in but not sure it did much to change the taste

Chocolate Banana Milkshake

Posted on by Trish

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Fancy something sweet but don’t want a sugar spike and subsequent crash?  Take one ripe banana, one teaspoon to one tablespoon of cocoa, a swirl of agave nectar and your plant milk of choice (soya, oat, rice etc), blend together and drink immediately.  This recipe has been given the thumbs up by my nutritional advisor.  Substituting some of the plant milk for vanilla vegan ice cream will result in a more US-style shake but, depending on the brand, you are likely to get more sugar and fat although likely still healthier than those Mickey D shakes you can practically sculpt with your straw.

Smokey Stew

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I know, Smokey Stew sounds like an expendable extra from a western (“dangnammit! you done shot Smokey Stu”) but this dish is well nice, much thanks to smoked paprika, which I haven’t researched yet to see if it’s bad for you because I’m not done liking it :)I made it to use up leftover veg so please feel free to follow suit and substitute whatever’s in danger of expiring instead of the veg I used.

I served it with roast sweet potato and kasha.

  • One onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • Few handfuls mushrooms
  • 1 carton organic tomatoes (yeah, I try to use all fresh veg but the tomatoes I currently have are all tiny, cherry ones and they’re too cute to pulverise plus they’ll look awesome in salad)
  • Cauliflower
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • 1 carton red kidney beans
  • Stock
  • Agave nectar
  • Coconut milk
  • Smoked paprika
  • Braggs Aminos
  • Balsamic vinegar
  1. Steam or boil any veg apart from the onion, garlic and mushrooms (use your noodle: if you think the veg will do better fried then fry it)
  2. Meanwhile fry chopped onion, garlic and mushrooms in a little oil till soft
  3. Add smoked paprika and tomatoes and let it bubble gently till other veg is ready
  4. Add rest of cooked veg and stock and simmer
  5. All the other ingredients are for flavouring so add them in whatever quantities you like, keeping tasting until you’re happy with it – or add your own favourite things

Cauliflower, mushroom and chickpea curry

Posted on by Trish

I was aiming for something like a korma here but without too much sugar and fat.  Serve with rice for bonus amino acid points 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 small cauliflower
  • some mushrooms (I used 2 of those giant mushrooms chopped into bits)
  • 1 can or packet of ready-to-eat chickpeas
  • Oil for frying
  • Curry powder mix (I used mild curry powder and added extra cumin)
  • Vegetable stock
  • Coconut milk
  • Agave nectar
  • Salt to taste
  1. Fry onion and garlic until the onion is kinda see-through
  2. Add cauliflower and mushrooms and fry some more
  3. Add spices (curry powder mix)
  4. Add chickpeas and give it a good stir
  5. Add vegetable stock, enough to almost cover, and boil for about 8 minutes (primarily to get the cauliflower softer)
  6. Add agave nectar then turn the heat down to a simmer
  7. Add coconut milk, not loads, just enough to get it tasting creamy
  8. Taste, then add salt and whatever else you like to get it tasting how you want

Lentil and tomato curry (because we can’t spell Dhaal …see?)

Posted on by Trish

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Back in my early 20’s I was a thrifty cook, mainly out of necessity and brokeness.  Thus there were some things I made often because they were economical and nourishing.  Some of them even tasted ok, although they wouldn’t have won any beauty competitions.  One such thing is the following lentil curry, which may look like someone has chucked into the pan but which caused my human guinea pig to wonder this evening just why we give so much money to the Indian takeaway place.  I even fried poppadoms to go with it (you need a LOAD of oil in the frying pan and it gets scary but it’s cheap so your fear is saving you money!).

You’ll need:

  • Some red lentils
  • Some tomatoes (either a tin of or some large, fresh tomatoes, which is what I prefer to use now that I earn money)
  • An onion
  • Some garlic
  • Curry powder (although am still using spice mix given to me by the lovely Danielle in 2008)
  • Soya margarine (yes, I know it’s actually called ‘spread’ but nobody calls it that, do they?)
  • Oil for frying
  • Stock powder and/or salt
  1. Wash the lentils and boil for 10 minutes, simmer for another 20-30 just till they’re soft and squidgy
  2. Meanwhile fry onion, garlic and tomatoes and simmer till mushy
  3. Add curry powder/spices to onion, garlic and tomato thing, also add stock powder or salt if wanted
  4. When lentils are done, drain and add to the onion, garlic and tomato thing
  5. Stir together with a knob of soya margarine

People who are allowed to eat dairy may want to use butter instead.  Go on then, just to spite me.  Serve with poppadoms or bread or rice or any combination of those and you too, my friend, may question your allegiance to your local curry house.

Green soup

Posted on by Trish

I had not deemed the following soup worthy of publication, until someone else tried some and said ‘put it on the blog’.  It’s a doddle to make and I think it will make several repeat appearances on the Tea House menu.

Take things that are green and white and boil them.  Not just any things, food things preferably.  Today I used a celeriac (white), some broccoli (green) and a courgette (a bonus both!).  Add some stock powder to the water or, if you live in the 18th century or are self-sufficient, boil in stock that you’ve made yourself by boiling vegetables to mush.

When your green and white things are cooked, blend them with some of the water or stock.  Then add cheese.  I’d love to say there’s a nice vegan option for this soup but if so then I have yet to discover it.  I used manchego (sheep cheese) and feta (sheep and goat) – enough so the soup tastes cheesy, not so much that you get cheese sauce instead of soup.  Just chop or grate and chuck it in then keep stirring over a low heat till it melts.

Add some more things to get the taste right – e.g. anything you like and think will taste nice.  I added agave nectar and a bit of salt (my stock powder is low salt) also a pinch of mustard.  A cooking secret – I never know why I add a pinch of mustard to anything, it just seems like a good idea when I’m cooking some things; I say “and a pinch of mustard” and in it goes like I know what I’m doing.

Soup was served with chopped spring onions floating on top.  Verdict on the soup?  “Scouped up the last of it after it was cold, that’s saying something!”

Pesto

Posted on by Trish

It’s been a long time since I ate any shop-bought pesto; there’s a jar of Florentino basil pesto in the cupboard but, I dunno, I just don’t trust it.  For pesto you need fresh basil leaves, good olive oil, flaked almonds* or whole almonds with their skins if you’re feeling worthy, plenty of garlic and a hand-held blender.  To make your pesto a bit cheesy you can add cheese of your choice; while hard cheeses like pecorino are traditional, soft goat cheese makes for a creamy pesto.  If, like me, you prefer no cheese at all, you can add some nutritional yeast to achieve a cheesier taste.

*you can use pine nuts if you prefer, but once I switched to almonds there was no turning back

How to make?

Rinse the basil leaves, chop the garlic, then everything in a blender (or use a hand-held blender)

Goes well with pasta or just about any other grain – alternatively use as topping for bruschetta