Vegan – Page 16 – The Food Wife

Love Your Leftovers

25th June 201925th June 2019
by thefoodwife

This week Iâ€™m focusing on transforming leftovers into something delicious. One of the key lessons I learnt from my grandparents was â€˜waste not want notâ€™. Nothing would be wasted from a meal. Anything that wasnâ€™t eaten would be used the next day. Iâ€™m a big fan of leftovers, less so when they are termed as â€˜scrapsâ€™ which is my parents word of choice; â€œwhatâ€™s for dinner, mum?â€ â€œBaked potato and scraps!â€ Hmmmm…

Anyway, on Sunday we had a roast chicken. I was going out for the day and prepared the potatoes in the morning, peeling them and leaving them in cold salted water ready to be par-boiled that afternoon. I was left with a large pile of potato peelings. I left them too, in a large bowl of cold water and went out for the day. Waste not want not. When I got home I drained them and then dried them in a clean tea towel, tossed them in a drizzle of garlic infused rapeseed oil, salt, pepper and smoked paprika and then spread on a lined baking sheet. I popped them in the oven for 30 minutes. I started at 200c for the first 15 minutes and then jammed it up to 220c for the final 15 (just check them every now and again to check how theyâ€™re getting on). The result? Potato peelings transformed into a pre-dinner crispy snack!Â

Now what to do with the leftover chicken? Well Iâ€™ve revisited a couple of my recipes; starting with my Thai-style Chicken and Mango Noodle Salad. So refreshing now the weather is heating up! And to finish up the remaining chicken I will be using my Instant Pot to make a Mexican Rice Bowl and will incorporate the shredded chicken breast at the end.

And finally donâ€™t forget to use the carcass of the chicken to make a wonderful stock, perfect for soups. Boil up the bones in water with an onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and peppercorns for a couple of hours. Drain the liquid off and allow to cool before storing in the fridge for a few days (or once cool pop it in the freezer for another day). So love your leftovers and remember to waste not want not!

Chicken Versus Chickpea

5th June 201910th June 2019
by thefoodwife

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to Bradford-on-Avonâ€™s first food and drink festival. What a success. The weather was glorious and we spent the entire day visiting a range of food and drink producers, tasting their wares (The Food Baby was in snack heaven!) and making purchases of cheese, salami and peanut butter.Â Â There were also live demonstrations from chefs including Jane Devonshire and Ping Coombes, both Masterchef winners. They showcased recipes from their cookbooks which looked mouth-wateringly delicious and Iâ€™ll definitely be giving them a go. Janeâ€™s book, Hassle Free Gluten Free, is endorsed by Coeliac UK and her demonstration of the Peanut Butter Cheesecake (you can find the recipe here) just ticked all the boxes, particularly as its gluten-free status means The Food Husband can eat it (and contains his favourite ingredients!)

So I decided that this week I would revisit some of my gluten-free recipes starting with my Sticky Chilli Chicken

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1kg chicken pieces (a mix of thighs and drumsticks)

1 red onion cut into thin wedges

2 carrots cut into batons

1 red pepper cut in to one inch pieces

1/2 orange cut into eight pieces

Juice of half an orange

1 inch ginger peeled and diced

1 heaped tbsp chilli jam

2 heaped tbsp apricot jam

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

Step 1: Add all ingredients into a large sealable bag (I like using the large ones from IKEA â€“ Iâ€™m sure you know the ones I mean, they are frequently listed as a must-have purchase when paying the big blue box a visit). Squish everything together so the meat and vegetables are pleasingly coated in the sticky mixture. Leave (preferably overnight) in the fridge to marinate.

Step 2: Spread the contents of the bag in a baking tin and put in a 190c oven for 50 minutes.

Serve with rice, and if you fancy some extra veg, some steamed greens.

And for those looking for a meat-free meal then give my Chickpea and Preserved Lemon Tagine a go.

(Serves 6)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 onion, large dice

2 heaped tsp ras al hanout

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 pepper, large dice

2 pieces of cassia bark/cinnamon sticks

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

2 tins of chickpeas

10 prunes, quartered

2-3 preserved lemons, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Step 1: Soften the onion in the oil for five minutes on a medium heat.

Step 2: Add the ras al hanout and stir for one minute.

Step 3: Add the garlic and diced pepper and stir for another minute.

Step 4: Add the tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, cassia/cinnamon, prunes and preserved lemons. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste. If you wanted to make this in a proper tagine in the oven then you can of course, itâ€™ll just take a lot longer! At this point transfer it to your tagine and cook at 150c for an hour or two.

We had this with quinoa and a fat-free yogurt, spiced up with some garam masala (simply stir a teaspoon of the spice mix through a few tablespoons of the yogurt). You could also have some salad or vegetables on the side.

Whatâ€™s Cooking?

21st May 201923rd May 2019
by thefoodwife

If youâ€™re looking for some culinary inspiration hereâ€™s a round up of some of the recipes from The Food Wife that weâ€™re having this week.

Pizza, The Food Husbandâ€™s favourite, has been off the menu for a while as he’s eliminating gluten from his diet, but I made up a batch of sourdough pizza bases with the addition of two teaspoons each of garlic powder and dried oregano to the dough. I had a go at a potato base for a gluten-free version, which was a big hit (think giant gnocchi base). Watch this space for the recipe as I try to recreate it next time pizza is on the menu.Â Â

Weâ€™re still working our way through the jars of wild garlic pesto I made recently, and tomorrow weâ€™ll be enjoying it simply with pasta and green beans for a light and summery meal.Â Â Iâ€™ll also be adding it as a topping to a salmon fillet before roasting it in the oven another evening this week.

The Food Baby has not been forgotten either. Still in the quest to smuggle more vegetables into his diet (he can spot a pea from the other side of the room) Iâ€™ve batch-cooked a tomato and carrot pasta sauce and a three bean chilli along with a double batch of cheese and vegetable scones for the freezer. This time using grated parsnip, carrot and broccoli along with chopped spinach and sundried tomatoes, he devours them without the knowledge that Iâ€™m getting sneaky veg inside him!

And finally if, like me, you love rhubarb, then youâ€™ll be loving the abundance of it at the moment. Why not give my rhubarb crumble traybake a go, or if you can wait a while, have a go at my rhubarb gin. Itâ€™s worth the wait!

Lychee Cocktail

19th May 2019
by thefoodwife

Makes 1

A recent Vietnamese meal with the girls led me to come up with this as our first drink of the night. It went down well and looked pretty with its borage flower accompaniment. The purÃ©ed lychees left some residue on the glass, but you could avoid this by passing the purÃ©e through a sieve before using, but sometimes life is too short.

The quantities below are for a large champagne flute, but if using smaller ones then halve the quantity of liqueur and purÃ©e.

Ingredients:

40 ml lychee liqueur (I used a lychee infused white rum)

Chilled sparkling wine (I used Prosecco)

To serve: an edible flower frozen in an ice cube (optional) (I used borage)

Step 1: Measure the liqueur and purÃ©e into a glass, add the flower ice cube (if using) and carefully top up the glass with sparkling wine. Serve immediately.

Oat Milk

3rd May 201919th May 2019
by thefoodwife

Makes 750ml

The Food Husband is currently eliminating dairy from his diet so here is a homemade oat milk (far cheaper than any you can buy from the shops), which can be made in 30 minutes or left over night, with very little to do from you (just make sure your blender is big enough!).

â€˜Specialistâ€™ equipment needed is a blender and a muslin cloth, otherwise itâ€™s just oats and water. You can also use the blended oats afterwards; I made a porridge (of sorts) for The Food Baby, but I could have also used them in his Baby Oaty Cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup/100g of oats (gluten-free if required)
3 cups/750ml cold (filtered) water

Step 1: Begin by soaking the oats in water for at least half an hour (you can always leave them over night to have fresh â€˜milkâ€™ in the morning).

Step 2: Drain the soaked oats, discarding the water.

Step 3: Add 750ml of fresh water to the drained oats and then blend.

Step 4: Pour the blended oat milk through a piece of muslin cloth, collecting the liquid in a jug or bowl which can then be decanted into a bottle and stored in the fridge for up to five days. Sweeten as required.

Remember to shake the oat milk before serving as sediment will rest at the bottom.

For a richer, creamier milk, try blending a tablespoon of coconut oil with the milk.