Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille with Chickpeas

I always think you can tell quite a lot about someone by noticing what they have in their shopping trolley!  Whether it's piled high with ready-made dishes, fast-food snacks or filled with a colourful selection of fresh raw ingredients, their choice of foods can reveal much about their attitude to health and well-being.

Because Eric and I don't eat any meat, eggs or dairy produce,  many of the products lining the supermarket shelves are simply "off limits" to me so I just pass them by.  I have spent years studying the contents labels on new products and generally know what I can and cannot eat. This is some of the shopping I brought home one day last week. It looked so colourful and appetising, I couldn't resist taking a photo! 

Other weekly basics include soya milk, dairy free margarine, multi grain bread, pasta and rice plus extras such as sun-dried tomatoes, olives and hummus, ready to eat apricots, dairy free yogurts and some dairy-free dark chocolate!

Living on a mostly plant-based diet, we do eat a lot of fresh vegetables and here's a lovely way to prepare them that's good either served hot with rice, pasta or potatoes or cold for lunch another day.  The chickpeas are an optional extra, the recipe works just as well without them.   In the summer and autumn, I use fresh tomatoes and courgettes from the garden but tinned tomatoes are a good substitute at other times.

Ingredients          Serves four

1 large onion
1 aubergine
2 red peppers
2 courgettes
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic
40g sundried tomatoes in oil
400g tin good quality tomatoes
 (or 500g fresh tomatoes, skinned)
400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Extra-virgin olive oil
A handful of fresh basil leaves


Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas Mark 7.  

Put the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar and grind into pieces.

Wash and then cut the peppers, aubergine and courgettes into pieces approximately 2.5cm or 1” square.  Mix the peppers in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. 

Transfer to a roasting tray and spread out neatly. Repeat with the courgettes and aubergine, using two trays if necessary rather than squashing all the vegetables on one tray.  Scatter the crushed coriander seeds over the vegetables.

Place the trays in the preheated oven and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes. Check the vegetables once or twice, turning them over so they become evenly cooked.

Meanwhile, chop the onion and crush the garlic cloves and place in a large pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.  Stir, then cover with a lid and cook gently for about 10 minutes until tender, without browning.  

Now cut up your tomatoes roughly in the tin with a sharp knife and add to the pan together with the chopped sundried tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

When the roasted vegetables are ready, add them to your tomato sauce with the drained chickpeas.

Stir well and taste to check the seasoning.  Cover and continue to simmer on the hob for about 15 minutes. Alternatively place in the oven for 30 minutes at 180C.   

Garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve with rice, pasta or potatoes and a green vegetable.

Aubergine with Spicy Red Lentils

  

I've been interested in healthy eating for so long now, it's hard to imagine a time when I wasn't!  I do remember when Eric and I decided to stop eating meat. It was soon after I moved back to the south-east, close to London, in 1978.  We started eating at vegetarian restaurants and going to Health Shows like the Festival for Mind and Body which were just beginning at Olympia then. 

I remember there was a lovely vegetarian restaurant close to where I lived in Wimbledon Village and, after a particularly enjoyable evening there, we both agreed that giving up meat wouldn't be difficult if we could eat as well as that all the time.  So we did and never looked back!

At the time, vegetarian cookbooks were pretty thin on the ground. Some of the first recipes I used were by Rose Elliott from books such as The Bean Book and Not Just a Load of Old Lentils. They may seem overly simple nowadays but, at the time, they offered a wide range of meat-free alternatives designed to fill the gap left by cutting out meat. 

These days, vegetarian food has been transformed thanks to the influence of many world cuisines, such as Indian, Thai, Chinese and Lebanese, which are often high on vegetables and low on animal fats.   Eating out has never been easier and lentils are no longer the preserve of cranky vegetarians!  Here's a very cheap and tasty recipe using red lentils which can be ready in half an hour.  With the addition of delicious fried aubergines, this makes a great supper dish.

By the way, many recipes suggest salting aubergines and then rinsing to remove bitterness. Unless they are very overgrown and full of dark seeds, I've never found this necessary.

Ingredients               Serves Four

1 large aubergine

1 large onion, peeled 
2 garlic cloves, peeled 
Small piece of root ginger (about 1" or 2.5cm) peeled
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chilli powder 
125g red split lentils
400g tin of good quality tomatoes
1 tbsp sundried tomato puree
Olive oil
Small handful of fresh coriander leaves


Wash the aubergine and cut into large chunks.  Peel if the skin looks old or tough.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan (preferably one with a lid).   Fry the aubergine chunks until dark and golden, about 5 minutes on a highish heat.  Turn often so they cook evenly and drizzle over a little more oil if they look dry. 

Remove from the pan and place on a plate till later.


Put the lentils in a sieve and wash under running cold water. Drain.

Chop the onions, crush the garlic cloves and finely grate the root ginger.

Reusing the same saute pan,  heat a tbsp of olive oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes.   Then stir in the ground cumin and chilli powder. 

Add the tinned tomatoes, sundried tomato puree, washed lentils and about 480ml water.  Bring to a simmer and cover with a lid.    Cook for about 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked and the mixture has thickened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now stir in the aubergine pieces and the chopped coriander.

Serve with fluffy basmati rice and a green vegetable, such as green beans or curly kale.

Olive Polenta with Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables

In this recipe, each of these lovely vegetables retain their individual identity yet combine to create the flavour of the Mediterranean.   The polenta is made in advance, then quickly fried to give a crispy outside and soft middle.

Serve with a tomato and olive sauce - I'll be posting that recipe next time!

Ingredients                                                                         
Serves 4 people

Polenta:

110g (4oz) maizemeal (polenta)

20 fl.oz (1 pt) boiling water

1 vegetable stock cube (Kallo Organic)

28g (1oz) dairyfree margarine

28g (1oz) black olives, stoned and chopped

Salt and Pepper

2 red onions

1 red pepper

1 orange or yellow pepper

1 aubergine

1 or 2 courgettes

Extra-virgin Olive Oil

Polenta is a traditional Italian ingredient made from ground maize and is a wonderful golden-yellow colour.  It’s so easy to cook in the microwave and can be made with water or vegetable stock for extra flavour.

First make your polenta.  Put the maizemeal into a bowl.

Dissolve the stock cube in a jug of boiling water and add to the maizemeal. Stir well to make a smooth liquid. 

Add the margarine and mix well.

Microwave for 10 minutes, removing the bowl every 2 or 3 minutes to give the mixture a really good stir as it thickens.

Finally add the chopped olives.

Now you need to spread out the polenta to set.  I either use a baking tin (approx 18cm x 28cm) or a large dinner plate,  greased with a little olive oil.  Pour in the polenta and level neatly with a knife.

.

Cool, then leave to set in the fridge.  This can be made well in advance and stored in the fridge until needed.


When you’re ready to eat, preheat the oven to 220C. 

Prepare the vegetables.  Cut the red onions into about eight segments and place in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Mix together then transfer to a large roasting tray.

Then cut the peppers, aubergine and courgettes into pieces about 1” square.  Mix in a bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Transfer to the roasting tray and spread out neatly.

Place in your preheated oven and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes. Check the vegetables once or twice, turning them over so they become evenly browned.

Meanwhile cut the polenta into four oblong slices  (or 8 equal segments, if using a circular plate) 

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the polenta slices for about 5 minutes on each side until brown and crispy.

(Alternatively, brush the polenta slices with olive oil and grill on both sides until brown and crispy)

Transfer to the oven to keep warm whilst you fry the remaining slices.

Serve the polenta slices with the roasted vegetables and a
generous spoonful of homemade tomato and olive sauce.  

Sprinkle some chopped fresh basil leaves on top.