Vegetarian – Page 42 – The Food Wife

My Ultimate Rocky Road

25th July 201820th August 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 15 generous pieces

This is chocolate overload, but in a good way. Iâ€™ve done away with some of the usual gems in a rocky road and replaced them with the next level of deliciousness, hence the â€˜ultimateâ€™ in the title. Maltesers, mini Kitkats and honeycomb (homemade or shop-bought) are present along with the obligatory soft marshmallows (although if youâ€™re going vegetarian leave these out or use a vegetarian alternative).

Iâ€™ve topped it with drizzled white chocolate, just in case there wasnâ€™t enough chocolate in the first place.

I probably would have bought pieces of honeycomb, but I couldnâ€™t find any in the shops at the moment, and didnâ€™t want to use crunchie bars as I feared they would just dissolve when the melted chocolate was poured on top. Instead I made my own using this Good Food recipe and put roughly a third into the mix.

This recipe has been taste-tested by Mr Food Wife, plus lots of my yoga-mummies at our get together this week, and it gets their seal of approval.

Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate
100g unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
100g mini marshmallows
100g maltesers
100g kitkat bite-size pieces (or regular ones broken into one-inch pieces)
100g honeycomb, broken in to bite-size pieces
100g white chocolate

Step 1: Melt the dark chocolate, butter and syrup in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (ensure the base of the bowl is not in contact with the water).

Step 2: Once melted, remove the bowl and leave to cool for a couple of minutes.

Step 3: In a separate, large bowl, measure out the Maltesers, Kitkats, marshmallows and honeycomb.

Step 4: Pour the molten chocolate mix over the Maltesers and co and stir gently.

Step 5: Pour into a traybake-sized tin and place in the fridge whilst you melt your white chocolate.

Step 6: Place the white chocolate in a clean bowl over simmering water and gently melt.

Step 7: Remove the rocky road from the fridge and use a metal spoon to drizzle the white chocolate over the top.

Step 8: Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge until set.

Step 9: Cut into 15 pieces and try not to eat all at once!

Harissa Hummus

23rd July 201828th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Weâ€™ve always got a tub of hummus in our fridge at the moment because itâ€™s one of the Food Babyâ€™s favourite things to eat.

This weekend I decided to make my own, and I took the opportunity to make it, as youâ€™ll spy from the ingredients list, without any added olive oil, so as to be diet-friendly for me. You can, of course, add olive oil to your own, but try adding a tablespoon at a time and tasting as you go.

Likewise, I decided a kick of spice was in order so added harissa paste; again, this is optional and could be left out or replaced with a flavour of your choosing (why not try a spoonful of pesto, a roasted red pepper, a few sun dried tomatoes or some toasted cumin).

Once made this will last a few days in the fridge.

Ingredients:
1 heaped tbsp tahini
Juice of one lemon
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 tin of chickpeas, drained
2 tsp harissa paste
1 pinch of salt (leave out if this is for baby)
40-100ml cold water

Step 1: Blend the tahini, lemon juice and garlic in a food processor (or with a stick blender).

Step 2: Add the drained chickpeas and blend again until smooth (to make it extra smooth you could skin the chickpeas, but I think life is too short for such things!)

Step 3: Add the harissa paste (or flavourings of your choice) and salt and blend again, and add the water as you do so (add gradually to get your desired consistency). Add any oil at this stage if you so wish.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge.

Rhubarb Gin Fizz

20th July 201820th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 1 cocktail

So today I finished work as a teacher, not just for the summer holidays but for the foreseeable future. After ten years at the same establishment, itâ€™s feels a bit odd but Iâ€™ve known for a while that Iâ€™ve needed a break from teaching and with the arrival of The Food Baby it seemed like the best time to make the break.

To celebrate, I have decided to crack in to my newly brewed Rhubarb Gin and have decided a cocktail is in order. So here is a recipe for a Rhubarb Gin Fizz.

Ingredients:
50ml rhubarb gin
125ml chilled sparkling wine

Step 1: Pour the measure of rhubarb gin into a fluted glass and top up with a sparkling wine of your choice.

Step 2: Drink.

Rhubarb Gin

20th July 201820th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes approx 900ml

Rhubarb is one of my favourite flavours. Iâ€™m also rather partial to gin. Marry the two together? Sign me up!

This takes four weeks to brew (boo!) but the good news is it is quick to put together. You need only four things: a good quality gin, raw rhubarb, caster sugar and a large, sealable vessel (I used a 2l mason jar). Also, donâ€™t forget to keep your empty gin bottle to decant back in to afterwards.

If you use forced rhubarb the result will be beautifully bright pink, or use regular rhubarb, as I did, and you are left with a more subtle shade, but either way the flavour is all there!

Ingredients:
240g white caster sugar
600g rhubarb, cut in to 2-3 inch pieces
70cl good quality gin

Step 1: Combine the three ingredients in your container and seal.

Step 2: Leave for four weeks, shaking every few days to mix everything up.

Step 3: After four weeks, strain the liquid and decant into your gin bottle (you will make slightly more than the original amount of gin so make sure youâ€™ve got an extra bottle to decant the last little bit into).

Halloumi Wrap

18th July 201818th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 1

This is a simple wrap which is easy to put together and makes a lovely light meal in the summer. Scale up as necessary…

For each wrap you will need:
1 wrap
75g halloumi cheese, cut in to 4-5 slices
1 heaped tsp of hummus
Grated carrot
1 tbsp pickled red cabbage
Sliced tomato
Sliced cucumber
Lettuce

To make this, cook the halloumi under a hot grill for a couple of minutes each side, until golden brown. Heat the wrap (20 seconds in a microwave should do it) and then spread the hummus in the centre, top with the grilled halloumi, followed by the salad. Tuck each end in and then tightly wrap and roll.