Lime and Coriander Quorn Kebabs

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This is another old recipe which I have veganised/vegetarianised...the original recipe used sardines. Use Quorn or any other meat-free alternative such as firm tofu or paneer, depending on which you prefer. This dish went down particularly well with the chicken-eating Mr O!

Serves 8 as a starter/4 as a main course

• 1 pack of Quorn fillets/vegetarian or vegan chicken-style fillets, defrosted if frozen
• 2 limes (or 1 lemon), juice and zest 
• 1 tsp ground sweet paprika
• ½ red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped or ½ tsp hot chilli sauce
• 2 tsbp olive oil
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp chopped coriander or parsley

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.
Cut the vegetarian fillets into large chunks (about 1"/2½cm square)  - I cut each Quorn fillet into 6 pieces.
Add the Quorn pieces to the bowl and turn to coat.
Marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge.
Thread the pieces onto skewers, retaining any marinade (if using wooden skewers, soak them first in water...I forgot to do this, hence the charred ends in the photo!)
Grill or bbq for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally and basting with the remaining marinade, until cooked through and lightly browned.

Serve with a side salad and a wedge of lemon/lime as a starter, or with rice or a wrap for a more substantial dish.

Not suitable for freezing.

Alternatives: Add whole button mushrooms, sliced courgette, bell peppers and onion to the kebabs.

Grow organic, eat organic - a review and giveaway

Grow Organic, Eat Organic (by Lone Morton, b small publishing) is a lovely little book for budding gardeners. It includes instructions and tips on cultivating easy-to-grow food crops like potatoes, tomatoes and strawberries (plus herbs and flowers) in even the smallest outside spaces. It also has a child-friendly recipe section (almost all vegetarian) which shows children how they can use their home-grown produce in the kitchen.

What I particularly like about this book, is it's introduction to organic gardening methods, the tips on what equipment to use and how important it is to attract 'garden friends' like birds and frogs into the garden to eat pests like slugs and snails, rather than to poison them.

I would say the book is aimed at a KS2 aged children (7-11), although it would also be a nice book for parents to share with younger children, as it has attractive pages beautifully illustrated by Martin Ursell. The book would also be a great resource for primary schools.

Grow Organic, Eat Organic retails at £5.99 (affiliate link).

Integrity Statement
I received a copy of Grow Organic, Eat Organic to review and 1 copy to give away on my blog. I did not receive payment, and the views expressed are genuinely those of myself and my family.

If you would like to win a copy of the book, just use the Rafflecopter entry form below and leave a comment (UK only).
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pasta with Spicy Pepper, Aubergine and Tomato Sauce

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This is my recipe for this month's Pasta Please challenge...do link up your pasta posts before the end of the month.

The rich pasta sauce for this dish is a cross between a ratatouille and a pepperonata (does that make it peppertouille or maybe ratonata?). I've gone slightly over the top with the pepper theme and have included bell peppers, chilli pepper, paprika and black pepper in the recipe!

Serves 4.

• 3 bell peppers (pref 1 red, 1 orange/yellow,1 green), sliced
• 1 aubergine/eggplant, cut in quarters lengthwise and then sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp sugar, optional
• 1 tbsp balsamic or wine vinegar (or a glug of red wine)
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• ½ chilli, deesed and finely chopped 
• A handful of basil leaves, chopped
• Black pepper to taste
• Dried pasta of your choice

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan.
Add the aubergine and cook on a fairly high heat for about 10 minutes until soft and golden brown. Remove from the pan and keep to one side.
Heat a further 1 tbsp of olive oil in the pan. Add the peppers, onion and garlic and sauté gently for about 5 minutes. Add the aubergines back to the pan.
Add all of the remaining ingredients and stir well. 
Put a lid on the pan and allow the sauce to simmer on a low heat for about 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers are soft and you have a thick sauce.

Meanwhile boil your pasta ( I use about 250g/8oz of dried pasta to feed 4), drain and top with the sauce.

Alternative: If you're not a fan of aubergine, swap it for sliced mushrooms or a drained tin of chickpeas.
Add an additional 250ml/1 cup of passata to the sauce and use as a filling for a vegetarian lasagne.

Sauce suitable for freezing.

Marinated Olives with Garlic, Chilli & Parsley

I generally buy a pot of marinated olives each week. This works out to be quite expensive, as my favourite marinated Queen green olives are generally £2-£3 a tub. So, I thought I'd have a go at marinating plain olives (at about £1 per jar) to see if they would taste as good and save money...they do!

• 1 jar of your preferred plain or stuffed olives in brine (about 200g/8oz drained weight)
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp fresh, chopped parsley
• 1 pinch of dried crushed chilli

Drain the olives, blot dry on some kitchen roll.

Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over the olives.

Allow to marinate over night in an airtight tub.
Will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Top tip: After you've eaten the olives, don't through the marinade away...pour over chopped Mediterranean or root vegetables and roast them.

Other marinade suggestions: Just add the chopped ingredients to olive oil as above - lemon zest and chopped coriander leaves, sun-dried tomatoes and feta (use the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes), chopped basil and garlic, garlic and chopped fresh chilli etc.

Any other marinade ideas? Do let me know in a comment below.

Chocolate Microwave Mug Cake (Vegan)

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it... perfect an easy recipe for a vegan microwave mug cake that is! Of course, this took many attempts and I inflicted the varying results on my poor children, not that they complained at the prospect of eating yet another chocolate dessert. 

This is a very economical pudding to make and takes literally 5 minutes to prepare and cook, so it's a great one for kids to make. You can mix the ingredients together in the mug, but I find it easier to mix them in a jug and pour into a mug before cooking.

I adapted this recipe from the standard 4 tbsp non-vegan version (available in various forms on the inter-web) which makes a larger cake. Unfortunately, none of my mugs were big enough to hold the cooked mixture and I ended up with a Vesuvius type eruption in my microwave on one occasion! Half of the standard mixture gave a small cake, which only ¾ filled the mug and looked a little feeble.

This version fits an average 250ml/½ pint mug and serves one teenager/adult or can be split between 2 children.  As you can see, the cooked cake sinks a bit after cooking, but this doesn't affect the flavour. 

• 3 tbsp self raising flour
• 3 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
• 1 level tsp Orgran No Egg (or similar egg replacer) - add this dry to the flour  
• 3 tbsp/45 ml dairy-free milk (water would probably work too)
• 2 tbsp vegetable/sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp peanut butter, vegan chocolate/hazelnut spread (or an extra tbsp of oil)
• 1 tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips
• ½ tsp vanilla or coffee extract or a good pinch of ground cinnamon.

Mix all of the dried ingredients together in a jug.

Add all of the liquid ingredients and mix well, making sure there are no pockets of dried ingredients.
Pour batter into a standard mug (it should be no more than half full). 
Microwave on high/full power for 2-2½ minutes or until until firm to the touch - I found that 2 minutes gave a moist, brownie texture and 2½ minutes gave a more traditional sponge cake texture...both tasted good! Watch as it cooks, as it will rise a lot, but don't open the microwave until it has finished rising.
Carefully remove the mug from the microwave using oven gloves...the mug will be HOT!!!
Allow to cool in the mug for about 5 minutes before eating.

Top tips: This cake needs to be eaten warm and does not keep. 
You can easily double the ingredients to make two cakes, but only cook one at a time.

Pasta Please: Peppers

I'm very excited to be hosting the 2nd round of Pasta Please as I do like food-related alliteration! This month's theme is peppers, as they're readily available all year round, fairly cheap and really brighten up a pasta dish. You can, of course, choose which type/s of pepper you want to use...that could be bell peppers, pointed peppers, a red pepper pesto or even chilli peppers. The choice is yours!

...Want to join in the challenge?

• Simply post a pasta dish on your blog by the 28th of the month and:
• Link to the current host (this page please!) and Tinned Tomatoes: e.g. I'm linking this post into the 2nd Pasta Please challenge hosted by Lisa at We Don't Eat Anything with a Face and Jac at Tinned Tomatoes.
• Use the Pasta Please image in your post.
• If you use twitter, please tweet your post to @facelessfood and @tinnedtoms with the #PastaPlease hashtag and we will re-tweet it. 
• Selected entries will be pinned to the Pasta Please Pinterest board.

Here are the rules:

• Follow the current theme (that's peppers this month!) when creating your recipe.
• All entries must be suitable for vegetarians.
• Other hosts will accept all pasta dishes, unless they specify only vegetarian/vegan etc.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.
• If you would like to host Pasta Please, email Jacqueline at tinnedtomatoes@googlemail.com

The February 2013 theme is peppers.

All dishes must be suitable for vegetarians