Celebrate... St David's Day

This warming Leek and Soba Noodle Broth, is the perfect meal for the 1st of March St David's Day Celebrations (the leek, along with the daffodil being the symbol of Wales). It's also the perfect type of dish to signify the move into spring; hot, but a lot less stodgy than most winter staples. Also, due to it's small ingredient selection, it really doesn't take that long compared to other vegetable based soups.

Serves 4

Two Leeks, washed and chopped
Two bunches of Soba Noodles, broken up into small shards
1 red chilli pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 thumb sized piece of garlic, crushed or finely grated
1 stalk of lemongrass, finely chopped
2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
A few mixed pepper corns
1 pint of vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer)
75ml of dry white wine

Add the leeks, garlic, chilli, lemon grass and ginger to a pan with a little oil on a medium heat. Stir occasionally until the leeks begin to soften, then add the white wine, turn down the heat to it's lowest setting, cover and simmer for five minutes.

Then add your soy sauce and pepper corns, stirring well before adding your stock and bringing to the boil for five minutes. Cover and turn down the heat, leaving to simmer for approximately 20 minutes and adding the broken up soba noodles in the last 5 minutes.

Serve with rice or cream crackers.

Celebrate... Chinese New Year

I really love Chinese food, and making your own at home can be a great way to keep an eye on sodium and additive levels. The following are two ideas for popular family friendly Chinese dishes, and great way to get some fresh vegetables into the kids.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

With a heritage in both Chinese and Southern States cooking, there are loads of variations on sweet and sour sauce, but I'd say this definitely one from the Chinese camp. Obviously chicken and pork are the meats best associated with sweet and sour dishes, but if your not a meat eater this can make a great glaze for vegetable kebabs (perhaps add a dollop of honey for extra stickiness). Pineapple seems to be one of those love/hate ingredients; personally I love it, but if you're a hater, this recipe will do fine without. This will do enough sauce for four people.

100ml of soda water
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar or failing that, white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
2 tablespoons of sherry
1 tablespoon of corn flower 
Zest and juice of half a large, unwaxed lemon.

Optional Stir Fry ingredients
50g pinapple, cut into chunks
1 Green Pepper, sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped

In a bowl mix together the cornflower, lemon zest and soda water with a balloon whisk or fork until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth.

In a wok, stir fry the onion and any meat you are using until browned (extra crispiness can be achieved by tossing the meat in a little seasoned cornflower first). Add the peppers and pineapple and cook for an additional 5 minutes on medium heat. Finally add your sauce, stirring continuously until thick and shiny. This should only take a few minutes.

Spinach Fried Rice

A great accompaniment to Sweet and Sour dishes, and an excellent means of vegin' up the dish. Normal rice cooking instructions would say 50-75g per person and will have range of cooking times depending on what type of rice you use. Follow the packet's instructions and have the rice just cooked, drained and ready to go into this dish. When cooking your rice, in order to get a great flavour and fluffiness, I recommend covering in plenty of cold water, bringing to the boil, squeezing in the juice of half a lemon or lime, giving a rapid stir, leaving the lemon or lime in pan, putting the lid on and turning right down for the remainder of the cooking time.

Cooked rice for 4 people
Four handfuls of fresh spinach
Two cloves of garlic, crushed.
Four or five scallions, finely chopped
Generous amount of rape seed oil (aprox 4 tablespoons)

When cooking use a good quality non stick pan or wok. Fry your scallions and garlic on high heat in about half the oil until soft. Add the remainder of the oil and add your cooked rice. Immediately turn down the heat to a low setting, stir the rice continuously, making sure it is all being coated and absorbing the oil. If the pan and oil are hot enough this should only take a few minutes - any longer and you risk burning the rice. Finally remove from the heat and stir in the spinach. Put the lid on the pan, let rest for a minute or two before serving, breaking it up with a large fork before hand.


If you can, make an event of celebrating Chinese New Year. Use chopsticks, which the kids will love and is a great skill to pick up at a young age. There are many variations when it comes to using chopsticks, in terms of regional etiquette, dining location and chopstick design. Asia Recipe has a great 'how to guide' that is worth checking out. Put more than anything, enjoy the family event and maybe slip the kids a bit of lucky money if they've been good (perhaps as a reward for trying something new?).



Image: Carlos Porto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Celebrate... Burns Night

Well tonight is Burns Night, a night that celebrates the life and works of Scottish poet Robert Burns. I grew up not that far from the Scottish borders, and my family has Scottish heritage, so I guess that's why we often celebrated the night when I was younger - my sister and I even kept up the tradition ourselves after leaving home. There are a few variations on what is eaten for Burns Supper, but it almost always includes a Haggis, served with tatties and neeps. Here however, I'm sharing a traditional boarder region side dish that was a favourite of mine when I was younger. It has a great name and is also a great way of using up left overs. The below instructions are non portion specific, just a rough guide to preparation - you can play about with it to suit you.


Rumbledethumps: Mix cooked shredded onion and cabbage with mashed potato, and plenty of salt, pepper and butter. Place in an oven proof dish with a quality hard cheese (Mull of Kintyre Cheddar is excellent) on top and heat in the oven on 200C until cheese is golden and bubbly.

And that's it. Serve as a side, along with the best Scotch you can get your hands on (my tipple of choice, Glen Morangie). Failing that, go all Glasgow and hoof a bottle of Buckfast into you.

And for an added blend of Scottish Culture, here's a wee video from You Tube of the classic Still Game




Image: Darren Robertson / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Mushroom and Kale Grain combo.

This vegan recipe is very similar to risotto, but uses Soya milk instead of cows milk, cream or cheese. The key in bringing out the flavours is in the limited selection of ingredients and this needs very little seasoning other than salt and black pepper - so no onion, lemon or vinegar (soy milk tends to have a sharpness that doesn't need these additions). You can use rice, barley or almost any grain cooked to instruction, but for this quick version I've used bulgar wheat, which is generally lower in calories and relatively inexpensive too. You could also serve this as a side dish

Serves 4 as a starter or light lunch

150g of Bulgar Wheat
200g of woodland or chestnut mushrooms, whole or halved.
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped
300ml unsweetened soya milk
Half a courgette (medium) grated.
Aubergine pesto, two heaped tablespoons (if buying store bought pest, check that it is egg free)

Two large handfuls of kale, chopped
Toasted Sesame Seed or Ground Nut Oil
A sprinkling of mixed sesame and linseed to finish each plate.

In a large pan heat up your oil on moderate heat, add your mushrooms and garlic and stir gently until the mushrooms are soft and browning. At this point you may want to add a little more oil as most of it will have been soaked up.

Rinse your bulgar wheat in a sieve until the water runs clear then add it or partially cooked rice/grain to the pan and stir rapidly for a few minutes, making sure it is fully coated with oil and not sticking to the pan. Add your pesto, courgette and milk, gradually. At this point it will probably look a little greyish, but don't worry, it'll brighten up as the excess oil is combined.

Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, but continue to stir and add the Kale, making sure first that any tough stalks have been trimmed. Keep stirring until the kale is well mixed, shrunken and the mixture is soft and lighter, porridge-like colour. If it seems dry, you can add a little more water or soy milk. Cooking time will vary depending on grain used, but in this case it takes around 7-10 minutes.

Serve in bowls, drizzled with a little oil and sprinkled with the sesame and linseed. Season to taste.

Image: Graham Maddrell / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Festive Veg

So whether you're a veggie looking for something special for Christmas lunch, or simply want your side dishes to be as interesting as your meat, chances are you'll be looking beyond the bog standard boiled method when it comes to seasonal veg. So I've been having a think about some of the best vegetable dishes in my recipe collection and hopefully some of these will come in handy. Obviously you'll need to measure serving portions to accommodate how many guests you have, but most of these guidelines will suit dishes for 6-10 people. Oven temperatures may also vary depending on what else you have cooking on the day.

Butter steamed carrots with cardamom: Because carrots contain a lot of water, you can easily slow cook them on the hob with a little butter and not much else. If you are slicing your carrots, I'd give them around 45mins on the lowest heat, but if you're using them whole it will take a little longer.

Peel your carrots and chop if preferred. Place them in a non stick pan with a generous knob of butter (or oil if you want), with around 3 cardamom pods per carrot, on the lowest setting. Secure the lid and leave to cook. Every so often stir to ensure that the carrots are well coated and if you are noticing any burning or sticking, add a touch of cold water or more butter. After 40-45 minutes, prick with a knife to ensure they are tender (leave to cook a little longer if not), remove the pods and serve drizzled with the remaining butter.

Braised Red Cabbage with Medjool Dates: The addition of sweet dates to this oven cooked cabbage means that there is no need for any additional sugars. This normally requires slower cooking on a lower heat, but if you have your oven on for other things, you can cook this on the bottom for around 1hour/90 mins.

Thinly slice your red cabbage (around one small cabbage will do, or 3/4 of a large one), stone and slice around 12 dates. Add to a oven proof dish with the rind of one orange, a large cinnamon stick (or one heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon) and one teaspoon of allspice. Finally add around 50ml of apple juice, or if you prefer apple brandy and one or two knobs or unsalted butter. Mix with your hands to ensure everything is combined, cover and place in the oven. Check after 1 hour that cabbage is soft and fragrant, remove cinnamon stick and serve if done.

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cauliflower Bake: My sister often uses Macaroni to pad out her cauliflower cheese dish when there are a lot of people to cater for, so this can do as a side, or a main. You don't have to use four different cheeses though, so long as you have one soft and one hard cheese you'll be fine. You can also cook this on the hob if you don't have space in the oven.

Cook your cauliflower (one head's worth) and around 150g of macaroni, for ten minutes in salted boiling water. Remove from the heat and drain. Melt around 50g of butter or oil in a pan on medium heat and add 100g or ricotta cheese, 100g of cream cheese and beat quickly with a spoon for a couple of minutes until blended. You may have some lumps but this doesn't matter to much. Add a tablespoon of  cornflower until mixture stiffens, then slowly add some milk (500ml, gradually) to form a roux. Continue to stir until sauce starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and add 100g of crumbly cheese such as Caerphilly or Wensleydale and still. If you find your sauce too thick at this stage add a little more milk or even single cream. Place cauliflower and macaroni in an oven proof dish, poor over sauce, then top with grated cheddar. Cook for 20 mins to half an hour until thick, gooey and bubbling on top. Additional chopped leek added at the oven stage also tastes great.


In a couple of days I'll be posting my tips for some of the best potato dishes

<p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net">Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Quick Sausage Stew

It may be raining today, but there's been plenty of BBQs recently, and as such I've come up with a quick dish that uses left over sausages as well as a whole load of store cupboard ingredients that seem to be lying around. In this sample I've used Bulgar Wheat, but Barley, Buckwheat, even risotto rice could be used instead. This served two adults and one child for a fairly substantial lunch.

Allow 2-3 pre-cooked sausages (pork, beef, veggie or other) per person, cut up into small bite sized pieces
3 young small turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic glove, crushed
1 small red apple, diced
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
50g Bulgar Wheat
Glug of red wine vinegar
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
1 tsp of whole grain mustard
Pinch of dried sage
Pinch of dried basil
300ml of boiled water.
Olive Oil for frying

Gently fry the onion, garlic and turnip in some olive oil until soft and browning. Add the sausages, Bulgar Wheat and red wine vinegar, mustard, bouillon powder and herbs, stirring quickly to ensuring that all the wheat is coated, before adding the chopped tomatoes and around 100ml of water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat, cover and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little more water as and when required. After 10 minutes add the apple and remaining water, turn up the heat and allow to bubble for 5-7 minutes uncovered.

Stuffed Crustie: Opening Post

Well if you've come to this blog via Greensheen Blogger you'll no doubt have a good idea of what I'm about: Greener Living, Fair Trade, Healthy Lifestyle etc. This blog will be dedicated to much of the same, but with focus on all things foodie. As I've said many times in the past, I don't want to preach, rather show what I'm doing in my own home life and hope that this gives people a few ideas. Therefore I'll not be condemning anyone for the choices they make and I'll be leaving myself open to new things.

For the most part, posts will involve lots of healthy recipes filled with plenty of fruit and veg, but not without the occasional treat. There will be tips for children and families, for those living on a budget, product review, cooking skills/methods/techniques, in addition to discussions about the best ways to reduce waste and packaging.

So to get things started I'd like to champion my favourite home made snack, the mighty Houmous (or however you like to spell it), with a few of my personal twists:

Houmous Basic Recipe:

One 400g tin of chick peas or equivalent in soaked and cooked dried chick peas (drained and rinsed)
Juice of half a lemon
One small bulb of roast garlic (oven roast in foil for aprox 20min-30 mins on around 200C, then squeeze out)
If you haven't got time for roast garlic 2-3 medium sized crushed cloves will do.
Around 75ml-100ml of Tahini - measuring out Tahini can be a bit dodgy as it sticks to the measuring receptacle something rotten, and you have to scrape it out, loosing a wee bit in the process. Once you've done this a few times though you can pretty much estimate how much this is. Amount may vary depending on type of Tahini used. Again, this comes with practice and constant tasting is recommended.
Cumin, 1/2 to 1 whole teaspoon depending on taste.
Good dessertspoon of extra virgin olive oil. 
Optional paprika or cayenne pepper, to taste. 


Method: Blitz all ingredients in a food processor until desired texture reached. This will be chunkier than store bought Houmous, but can be smoothed further with more oil or some cold water.

Variations: Oven roast sliced onion and balsamic vinegar - Grated root ginger (about a thumbs worth) and extra lemon - olives and tomato puree - chopped tomato and pesto - extra herby or spicy, adding whatever you please, just be sure to taste every so often.

You can also garnish with loads of different things - pine nuts, spiced chick peas, pesto and infused oils. You can really use your culinary imagination in all aspects of this dish, including what you eat it with, from pitta bread to rye crackers and tortilla chips. I remember in one of my student post pub creations, throwing Houmous in with some tagliatelle and a couple of dashes of lime MiWadi.  I survived the night and remember it being quite good, though I've yet to work up the nerve to re-create it sober.

In my opinion the key factor for successful Houmous is the quality of the Tahini. I've tried a few different brands and the best I've come across is Bevelini Tahini, around £2.50 for 300g, it's subtle and makes for a nice smooth mix. Tahini will probably be the most expensive ingredient you buy initially, though the average jar will do for a  few batches. You also pretty much have to have a food processor to make this work.

If placed in a lidded container this will keep for a few days in the fridge, adding a little oil to the top will make it nicer to eat as it can dry out a little. Having said that we very rarely have any left over to refrigerate.


Nutritional Info:  High in iron and Vitamin C. Good source of fibre and when eaten with bread, provides a complete protein. Also good source of amino acid. This homemade version contains no added salt.