What do you do when all you have in the fridge is a fennel bulb and a can of lentils?

Lentil and Fennel Soup

1 can brown lentils
1 onion
Half a lemon juice
Teaspoon oregano
3 cloves garlic
vege stock
splash Tabasco
1 shallot

Fry onion in olive oil til softened. Add sliced fennel and sliced garlic and stir fry for a while. Squeeze in lemon juice. Add Tabasco and oregano then just cover with vege stock. Add lentils and serve.

Serve topped with sliced shallot.

more wasabi: Kale, Kumera and Tempeh with wasabi mayo

I'm trying to shop almost exclusively "in season" which means I am repeating a lot of ingredients here as they are what I can buy at Alfalfa House. Still it's nice to have options when you buy something in bulk, so here's my latest wasabi / sweet potato excursion.

Ingredients:

1 kumera / sweet potato

half a bunch or so of kale

2 carrots

1 packet tempeh (Alfalfa House sells amazing fresh tempeh, in a clear packet. If you live nearby GET SOME)

thumb-length nob of ginger, finely sliced julienne

3 large cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 spring onions, inc green parts

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 a lemon, juiced

1/2 lime, juiced (you could just use 1 lemon)

sesame oil for frying / roasting

water

wasabi mayo (which can easily be made by mixing wasabi paste and mayo - or vegan mayo - together to taste)

1. Cube the sweet potato and lay out on a sesame oiled baking tray. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, and toss around the tray to coat a little with the oil. Roast in the oven on medium heat.

2. Meanwhile, cube the tempeh (about 1.5cm square) and fry in sesame oil, chilli flakes and soy sauce til crispy and just starting to burn.

3. Add the tempeh to the oven tray and turn the oven down, leaving the tray in the oven to keep it warm.

4. Rip the kale into pieces and cube the carrot small.

5. Fry the julienned ginger and garlic in sesame oil for a couple of minutes, then add 1 tbsp water, stopping them from browning.

6. Add the kale, carrot, lemon and lime juice (plus a little splash more soy) to the pan and stir fry, further cooking the garlic and ginger and softening the kale and carrot. (I like my carrot really crunchy so I actually didn't add it til a few minutes in).

7. Slice the spring onion

8. Place some kale & carrot on a plate, then top with tempeh and sweet potato. Garnish with spring onions and pop a dollop of wasabi mayo on the side.

Eat!

Summer Lentil Salad

Ingredients:
1 can brown lentils (or brown lentils you have soaked and stuff)
half a bulb of fennel, finely sliced
handful or two of sugar snap peas, blanched in boiling water then quickly run under a cold tap
half a red capsicum, roughly chopped
a cucumber, chopped into chunks
a handful or two of tiny cheery tomatoes or grape tomatoes
4 radishes, finely sliced
small handful of parsley, chopped
tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
small handful mint, chopped

half a lemon, squeezed
half a lime, squeezed
a good splash of olive oil
1 small chilli, desseded and chopped
1 small garlic clove, very finely chopped

slices of fried haloumi (optional. is still delicious without it for vegany joy! avocado slices would work too. or a dollop of humous)
or feta

You could also add baby spinach to bulk it up! or chick peas if that's your thing.

Chuck everything in a bowl and mix!
Serve topped with fried haloumi slices or feta or avocado or humous.

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lemony veges with feta salsa

I made this delicious fresh dinner tonight when the people I sent to the shops for pepper forgot to take their phones and so I couldn't call them and tell them to get butter for the lemon / butter / pepper sauce I was hoping to make. I wanted dairy in the dinner so came up with this:

Ingredients (serves 2):
3 cloves garlic
1 small white onion
1 large fennel bulb
1 bunch asparagus
a handful of mushrooms (swiss brown best or field)
handful spinach leaves
juice of 1 lemon
lots of cracked black pepper

for the salsa:
crumbled bulgarian sheep's milk feta*
a tomato, diced
a handful of mint leaves chopped

1. Dice the onion very small and fry gently in olive oil to soften

2. Add sliced mushrooms, fennel & garlic and fry til vegetabled soften and the mushrooms start to brown a little

3. Pour in lemon juice and add spinach and asparagus

4. Stir Fry for a while, but ensure vegetables are al dente - have a bit of crunch

5. Stir together salsa ingredients and serve salsa on top of the veges.

* A Note on Feta:
The kind of feta you use is important and if a recipe just calls for feta, it is stupid (unless I have done that in previous recipes...I am not stupid...) Seriously though there is such a difference in flavour and texture and fetas respond differently to heat. I like danish feta for cooking (especially sauces) as it melts well, bulgarian feta is beautiful as it is crumbly AND creamy, whereas Greek feta is great in salads as it is firm and salty.

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