 |
| Cranberries and Raisins in the Cous Cous, if you were wondering |
Rating
Taste - 18/20
Cost - 8/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 2/10
Overall 68%
Thursday, 5 February 2015
Week 38 - Moroccan Tagine
I love a good Moroccan....their food is lovely too. Da dum cshhhh.
Rating
Taste - 18/20
Cost - 8/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 2/10
Overall 68%
Rating
Taste - 18/20
Cost - 8/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 2/10
Overall 68%
Week 37 - Pumpkin Biryani
The point of this blog was to find the best vegetarian meal, when rating it against Taste, Cost, Difficulty and Time to Prepare. While looking for the best; I have, without doubt, found the worst! Pumpkin Biryani.
We basically had a few too many pumpkins for Halloween, so I found a recipe to use the leftovers up.
This meal had it all to make it terrible: it was a pain to make, it took forever, cost quite a bit and was disgusting! I could taste it for days afterwards. Maybe it was my shoddy cooking. Whatever the cause, this is one meal I would like to forget.
Rating
Taste - 3/20
Cost - 3/10
Difficulty - 2/10
Prep Time - 3/10
Overall 22%
We basically had a few too many pumpkins for Halloween, so I found a recipe to use the leftovers up.
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| This picture brings the taste back, yuck! |
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| All our pumpkins didn't turn out bad! |
This meal had it all to make it terrible: it was a pain to make, it took forever, cost quite a bit and was disgusting! I could taste it for days afterwards. Maybe it was my shoddy cooking. Whatever the cause, this is one meal I would like to forget.
Rating
Taste - 3/20
Cost - 3/10
Difficulty - 2/10
Prep Time - 3/10
Overall 22%
Week 36 - Paella Primavera
Vegetarian Paella?
It's about at this point in this blog that you may be thinking I'm running out of ideas.....and you'd be right. Vegetarian Paella was good, but it got me thinking 'what is the difference between Paella and Risotto?'. If you're wondering the same, here is a summary:
Rich, what can you tell us about the difference between Risotto and Paella?
Paella is a rice dish from Spain that originated in Valencia. The origins of Paella lie in the fields of Valencia where it was made for the peasants making use of whatever ingredients they could lay their hands upon. Paella can be all seafood in rice, or it can be all meat in rice. Even vegetarians have their own paella. Tomatoes and peas are common ingredients in all paella. Interestingly, the pan in which all the vegetables and meats are thrown along with rice to be cooked is also called paella. The meats and vegetables are not fried but sautéed in oil. Water and rice are added later, and all of them are heated, stirring the ingredients occasionally for some time.
Risotto is a creamy rice dish from Italy. Risotto originated in northern Italy that had an abundance of short grained rice varieties. To make risotto, rice has to be fried along with herbs and spices and onions until the ingredients have all mixed up and covered with a coating. Wine is added and then broth is added every few minutes while continuing to stir the ingredients. Once rice has cooked, it is taken off the heat, and grated cheese is added to it. Sometimes, butter is added to make risotto even creamier.
In a nutshell:
• Paella is of Spanish origin, whereas Risotto is of Italian origin.
• Risotto is creamier than Paella.
• You need to stay close to the cooking pot when making Risotto to prevent sticking to the pot.
• Paella has a bottom coat called soccarat that is allowed to stick to the pot and treasured by people.
• Risotto has a uniform texture from top to bottom, whereas Paella is soft from inside but dry at the top.
• Paella is drier than Risotto that is sticky.
Rich, can you tell us more about the Rice?
A grain of rice consists of a starchy wrapping around a core of protein. Risotto rice releases most of the starch quite readily, which is what gives risotto its creaminess (along with all the butter and parmesan). Each rice grain in risotto is thus relatively soft.
Paella rice holds onto its starch more, so generally is a bit more al dente - the protein core remains firm and the grains themselves remain relatively separate when compared to risotto.
Rating
Taste - 15/20
Cost - 7/10
Difficulty - 5/10
Prep Time - 5/10
Overall 64%
It's about at this point in this blog that you may be thinking I'm running out of ideas.....and you'd be right. Vegetarian Paella was good, but it got me thinking 'what is the difference between Paella and Risotto?'. If you're wondering the same, here is a summary:
Rich, what can you tell us about the difference between Risotto and Paella?
Paella is a rice dish from Spain that originated in Valencia. The origins of Paella lie in the fields of Valencia where it was made for the peasants making use of whatever ingredients they could lay their hands upon. Paella can be all seafood in rice, or it can be all meat in rice. Even vegetarians have their own paella. Tomatoes and peas are common ingredients in all paella. Interestingly, the pan in which all the vegetables and meats are thrown along with rice to be cooked is also called paella. The meats and vegetables are not fried but sautéed in oil. Water and rice are added later, and all of them are heated, stirring the ingredients occasionally for some time.
Risotto is a creamy rice dish from Italy. Risotto originated in northern Italy that had an abundance of short grained rice varieties. To make risotto, rice has to be fried along with herbs and spices and onions until the ingredients have all mixed up and covered with a coating. Wine is added and then broth is added every few minutes while continuing to stir the ingredients. Once rice has cooked, it is taken off the heat, and grated cheese is added to it. Sometimes, butter is added to make risotto even creamier.
In a nutshell:
• Paella is of Spanish origin, whereas Risotto is of Italian origin.
• Risotto is creamier than Paella.
• You need to stay close to the cooking pot when making Risotto to prevent sticking to the pot.
• Paella has a bottom coat called soccarat that is allowed to stick to the pot and treasured by people.
• Risotto has a uniform texture from top to bottom, whereas Paella is soft from inside but dry at the top.
• Paella is drier than Risotto that is sticky.
Rich, can you tell us more about the Rice?
A grain of rice consists of a starchy wrapping around a core of protein. Risotto rice releases most of the starch quite readily, which is what gives risotto its creaminess (along with all the butter and parmesan). Each rice grain in risotto is thus relatively soft.
Paella rice holds onto its starch more, so generally is a bit more al dente - the protein core remains firm and the grains themselves remain relatively separate when compared to risotto.
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| Nobody will read this far, so I'm not going to bother writing a caption! |
Rating
Taste - 15/20
Cost - 7/10
Difficulty - 5/10
Prep Time - 5/10
Overall 64%
Sunday, 11 January 2015
Week 34 -35 - Falafel
The amount of time it has taken me to feature falafel in this blog is not a reflection of how much I like it, I love it. It was one of the veggie foods I had discovered long before doing my year meat free; I would almost live off falafel at the Glastonbury Festival every time I went!
But I've never had too much success making my own falafel. It tasted fine, but I could never get a good firm falafel ball or patty. So when I found this recipe, I was intrigued.
I had previously always tried making falafel with chickpeas; by mashing, processing, blending them etc. So when I saw a recipe using Chickpea flour (or Garbanzo Bean Flour in the US), I had to give it a go.
I continued reading the same website, when a couple of minutes later I discovered this, a falafel pie!! Now, I love a pie and I live falafel......I had struck gold here.
I'm pleased to report the chickpea flour made the recipe simple to make and texture and taste were good, however I found the falafel a bit dry.
The pie was a bit disappointing. On a global scale it was good, really good; I had just hoped for so much more........
So my Rating (for the falafel pie):
Taste - 17/20
Cost - 6/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 4/10
Overall 66%
But I've never had too much success making my own falafel. It tasted fine, but I could never get a good firm falafel ball or patty. So when I found this recipe, I was intrigued.
 |
| Balls |
I had previously always tried making falafel with chickpeas; by mashing, processing, blending them etc. So when I saw a recipe using Chickpea flour (or Garbanzo Bean Flour in the US), I had to give it a go.
I continued reading the same website, when a couple of minutes later I discovered this, a falafel pie!! Now, I love a pie and I live falafel......I had struck gold here.
I'm pleased to report the chickpea flour made the recipe simple to make and texture and taste were good, however I found the falafel a bit dry.
 |
| Falafel Pie. If it was as good as it sounded there would be a global Chickpea shortage! (it's still really good though) |
So my Rating (for the falafel pie):
Taste - 17/20
Cost - 6/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 4/10
Overall 66%
Week 33 - Nut Loaf 2
So, roast dinners as a vegetarian just aren't the same. As I found in my previous attempt at a Nut Loaf.
But undeterred, I decided to have another crack at the Nut Loaf (geddit!?!?).
I found this recipe via the Guardian website. It claims to be the perfect Nut Roast. It was tasty, but if this was the perfect nut roast. It seems a roast dinner is one of the few areas veggie food just just can't compete (I am happy to be proven wrong!).
Rating
Taste - 16/20
Cost - 4/10
Difficulty - 4/10
Prep Time - 4/10
Overall 56%
But undeterred, I decided to have another crack at the Nut Loaf (geddit!?!?).
 |
| Cabbage as wrapping paper? Less mess at Christmas AND a healthy treat for the kids......I could be onto something here! |
I found this recipe via the Guardian website. It claims to be the perfect Nut Roast. It was tasty, but if this was the perfect nut roast. It seems a roast dinner is one of the few areas veggie food just just can't compete (I am happy to be proven wrong!).
Rating
Taste - 16/20
Cost - 4/10
Difficulty - 4/10
Prep Time - 4/10
Overall 56%
Saturday, 3 January 2015
Week 32 - Vegetarian Pizza
Pizza in our house is a fun night. I make a (fresh) pizza base, put out a load of ingredients and let the diners build their own.
So you can do the same, the ingredients are:
Tomato Sauce
Mozarella Cheese
Basil
I use this recipe for my pizza dough.
Rating
Taste - 15/20
Cost - 5/10
Difficulty - 3/10
Prep Time - 3/10
Overall 52%
So you can do the same, the ingredients are:
Tomato Sauce
Mozarella Cheese
Basil
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| This is how your pizza may look! |
I use this recipe for my pizza dough.
Rating
Taste - 15/20
Cost - 5/10
Difficulty - 3/10
Prep Time - 3/10
Overall 52%
Week 31 - Roasted Asparagus and Tomato Penne Salad with Goat Cheese
The wife had another go ........but this one was actually pretty good!
Recipe here
Rating
Taste - 17/20
Cost - 3/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 6/10
Overall 64%
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| More Pasta with Cheese than salad! |
Recipe here
Rating
Taste - 17/20
Cost - 3/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Prep Time - 6/10
Overall 64%
Week 30 - Vegetarian Moussaka
Moussaka is a dish from the Balkans. It (typically) contains layered aubergine and potato with a meat layer thrown in. Think Lasagne with potato and aubergine instead of pasta. But then I'm sure you already knew that; but I didn't! I knew I liked Moussaka, but it wasn't until I made this recipe I realized how it was made.
So a veggie Moussaka? It's a winner, but be prepared for a shift in the kitchen to make this. Well worth the effort though if you have the time.
Note: The use of this recipe in no way condones the work of Jamie Oliver.
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| Plan View |
Taste - 18/20
Cost - 6/10
Difficulty - 5/10
Prep Time - 5/10
Overall 68%
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