Wholesome and tasty

Then first accomplishment of the day was to finish what I'd started on Monday night. In the end the planned sausages became burger patties as the mix was definitely more of a burger consistency. I was surprised by how well these turned out I must admit. Here is the recipe:

400g sweet potato, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
50g halloumi, grated
1/2 leek, finely sliced
1 egg
1/2 tbsp dried parsley
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
seasoning
flour to coat
olive oil

Method: boil, drain and mash both the sweet potato and carrot. Fry the leek until golden. Mix all ingredients together except the flour (although if the mix looks wet flour can be added to thicken it). Chill for 30mins. Shape into patties and coat with flour, shallow fry in olive oil.


The second accomplishment was a large pan of sopa de maize (sweetcorn soup). I attended a Mexican themed supperclub at the Vegetarian Cookery School in the autumn and this was one of my favourite dishes. Low-fat and tasty this recipe has only been published via the VegCS Facebook and Twitter feeds. I served a portion of this piping hot garnished with a small amount of cream and coriander as well as a side portion of homemade corn tortilla chips. Without the cream this is entirely wheat free and vegan.

Celeriac velouté - sexy soup for the soul

I'd never considered making celeriac soup before this winter. I'd grown up with boiled celeriac and that was it. A trip to Demuths vegetarian restaurant in Bath was all it took for me to class this is as the best thing to do with celeriac. Not having made a velouté before I've adapted this recipe from another one online, I don't think it's a bad attempt at what the wonderful people at Demuths have made.

It tastes and sounds like a rich and sinful dish but the celeriac velouté is only (roughly) 180 calories per portion! Unbelievable ! Surprisingly simple to make too, definitely top of my favourites list. Sure it won't be winning any prizes for being low fat - far from it - but as an occasional winter treat no harm can come to you with a dish of warming velouté.

Here's the recipe:

Serves 4
400grams celeriac, diced into small cubes
50g shallots (or one medium onion), finely chopped
750ml vegetable stock (if using a cube ensure it doesn't have small pieces of veg in it)
30grams butter
1tbsp olive oil
3tbsp double cream (if liked)

Put the butter, oil and onion into a pan over a low heat and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the celeriac and cook until soft. This can take some time - so worth it! When the celeriac is soft add the boiling hot stock and cook for a further 10minutes. At this point it looks like greasy water but it's about to improve drastically!

Turn off the heat and put all of the contents of the pan into a blender. Ensure there are no bits left in the pan - wipe it clean if you need to. Whizz the mixture to within an inch of its life - you don't want any lumpy bits! Pour the mixture back into the pan (preferably through a sieve to ensure the lump-free texture we want here). Reheat the mixture. Stir in the cream now if you feel the need and serving up the whole lot or, if freezing, stir a spoon of cream into each bowlful when served.

I decided to do away with the cream today and topped the dish with rosemary and chopped cashews.