Caramelised garlic, zucchini and butter beans.

This is another Meera Sodha masterpiece. I am cooking a LOT of her stuff it seems. Halved the recipe and served as a side-dish to kale/ricotta pastries. It was unbelievable. Of course I used more wine and miso and let it simmer down/thicken for longer. I don't usually cook with zucchini (it's fine, whatever) but THIS.

WOW.

Caramelised garlic, courgette and butter beans

They’re a fair bit more expensive than many other brands, but, if you can stretch to them, the Bold Bean Co’s queen butter beans are soft, heavenly and will take this dish to another level entirely.

Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4 as a light dinner

2 medium courgettes (500g)
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp fine sea salt
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
150ml white wine
2 tbsp white miso
800g (2 x 400g tins) tinned butter beans, undrained
1 lemon, zested and juiced to get 1 tbsp
15g parsley, finely chopped
15g mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
1 baguette, to serve

Top the courgettes, cut them in half lengthways, then cut each half into irregular, bite-sized pieces.

Put two tablespoons of oil in a wide frying pan on a medium-high heat and, when it’s very hot, add the courgettes (in batches, if need be), and fry, turning every three minutes or so, until golden and browned all over – this will take about eight minutes in all. Sprinkle over the salt, stir and tip out on to a lipped plate.

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Put the remaining four tablespoons of oil in the same frying pan, set it over a medium heat and, once it’s hot, stir-fry the garlic for a few minutes, until it’s sticky and golden.

Add the wine, then stir in the miso until the mix is lump-free. Leave the mixture to bubble for a couple of minutes, until it’s frothy, then add one of the tins of beans and its water. Spoon the beans from the other tin into the pan, leaving their water behind in the tin. Leave the beans to bubble for 10 minutes – add a little of the reserved bean juice to loosen, if need be – then stir in the fried courgettes and the lemon juice and zest.

Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the top and serve at once with a baguette.

Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince.

 A solid easy Monday night dinner. The sesame sauce was SO GOOD. Leftovers of this also delicious. x

Sesame noodles with spicy fried soya mince

Meera Sodha’s sesame noodles with spicy fried soy mince. Photograph: David Loftus/Penguin Random House. Food and prop styling: Emily Ezekiel.

I ate something similar at my friend Ben Adamo’s and loved it. You can make all the elements ahead of time without too much fuss (with the exception of boiling the noodles), making this a great cook-ahead meal for friends.

Note: both Chinkiang black rice vinegar and crispy chilli in oil (I like the Lao Gan Ma brand) can be bought in your nearest east Asian supermarket or online. You don’t need to soak the dried soya mince before using. You’ll need a pestle and mortar to grind the peppercorns.

Prep 5 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 4

For the sesame sauce
⅓ vegetable stock cube
150g tahini
3½ tbsp crispy chilli in oil
2½ tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp rice vinegar
4 tsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground in a mortar

For the spicy fried soya
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm x 2cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
100g dried soya mince
1½ tbsp light soy sauce
2½ tbsp hoisin sauce
1½ tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1 tbsp crispy chilli in oil

For the noodles
340g ramen noodles
250g baby spinach
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

First make the sesame sauce. Crumble the stock cube into a small saucepan, pour over 150ml freshly boiled water and stir to dissolve. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and put to one side.

To make the mince, put the oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium heat and, when hot, add the garlic and ginger, and fry for a minute. Add the dried mince, stir to mix, then cook, stirring frequently (it may catch otherwise), for four minutes, or until the mince turns a roasted almond colour. Add 200ml water, the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Chinkiang vinegar and crispy chilli in oil, then cook for a further five minutes, until the water has evaporated and the mince is dry. Take off the heat, cover with a lid and put to one side.

Just before serving, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the packet instructions. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked noodles to a colander. Add the spinach to the boiling water, stir to cover the leaves and wilt them, then drain into the colander with the noodles.

Put the pan of sesame sauce on a medium heat, stir, bring to a brief boil, then take off the heat.

To assemble, divide the noodles between four bowls (a fancy way to do this is to take a fork, twizzle the noodles around it to make a neat little nest, then gently place the nest in the bowl and pull out the fork). Top with a quarter of the spinach, the sauce and a few spoonfuls of the mince, and decorate with the spring onions.

Scallops with garlic butter.

Made these as a side dish cooking for my beautiful friend Rhys and they were stunning. Only a small amount from six king oysters, so don't expect it to feed an army. Instead of kelp granules I crumbled dried seaweed, and also some dried shiitakes. Marinated for 24 hours. Next level.

Vegan Scallops & Garlic Butter Sauce

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

32 mins

 

These vegan scallops are made of king oyster mushrooms with a garlic butter sauce! Marinate & cook for 15 mins for tasty vegan scallops!

Author: The Edgy Veg

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Vegan, Seafood

Serves: 2-4 servings

Ingredients

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• 6 large king oyster mushrooms, sliced 1-inch thick
• 1 cup vegetable broth, hot
• 2 tbsp white miso
• 1 tbsp soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
• 1-1/2 tsp seaweed or kelp granules
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Lemon Butter Sauce

• 3 tbsp vegan butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. With a vegetable brush, remove any dirt or debris from mushrooms and slice off the woody ends and mushrooms caps. Save the caps to use for another recipe like a stirfry.
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2. Slice the stems into 1 inch (2.5 cm) long pieces.
3. In a large mixing bowl or Tupperware, whisk together hot vegetable broth, white miso, soy sauce or gluten-free tamari, kelp, and olive oil. Whisk until the miso has dissolved in the hot broth.
4. Add the mushrooms and marinate for 15 mins to 2 hrs. Overnight is preferred.
5. After your mushrooms have marinated, melt 1 tbsp vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Working in batches, place marinated mushrooms, flat side down, and brown for 6-8 mins on each side. Set aside and keep warm.
7. You can save time by making the garlic butter sauce in a seperate pan at the same time as frying the mushrooms, or save on dishes by using the same pan once all your mushrooms have cooked and are set aside.
8. To make the garlic butter sauce, melt 2 tbsp vegan butter in the same skillet.
9. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
10. Stir in the lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
11. Serve mushroom scallops in a bowl or serving dish and pour the garlic butter sauce.
12. Garnish with parsley.
13. Enjoy as appetizer or add to a vegan creamy pasta dish

Fennel, artichoke, potato and kalamata olive stew.

Absolute perfection. Only change was putting stock in the water. I'm not going to defend my adoration of salt on here any longer. Will make this a million times more. x

Fennel, artichoke, potato and kalamata olive stew

Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4

7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large fennel bulb (400g), trimmed, fronds reserved, then cut lengthways into ½cm-thick slices
6 fat garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1½ tsp fine sea salt
150ml white wine
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
400g tin chopped tomatoes – I like Mutti’s polpa
350g new potatoes, halved (or quartered, if large)
400g tin chickpeas, drained
160g drained jarred artichokes, from a 280g jar, sliced
100g pitted kalamata olives
30g flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stalks, finely chopped
Good baguette, to serve

Put the oil in a large pot on a medium heat and, when hot, add the sliced fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until coloured and softening. Stir in the garlic and salt, cook for five minutes more, then add the wine and leave it to bubble away for a couple of minutes.

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Add the paprika, tomatoes, potatoes, chickpeas and 200ml water, then cover the pan and leave to cook for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the sliced artichokes, olives and 250ml water, cook for another five minutes, then take off the heat; add more water, if need be, to make it as stewy as you like it.

Stir through the chopped parsley, then serve in shallow bowls topped with the reserved fennel fronds, if you like, with a crusty baguette on the side.