Tag: vegetarian

Tangy squashy tomato relish

This relish virtually makes itself and is a vibrant alternative to ketchup.

Ingredients
8 tasty tomatoes, cut in half horizontally
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 red chilli, sliced in half lengthways or 1 tsp of paprika
1 tbs red wine or red wine vinegar
1 tbs olive oil
Salt

Equipment
Barbeque/campfire
Tin foil
Bowl
Sharp knife

Method
Once you have the barbeque going, wrap all the tomatoes, garlic, chilli and vinegar or wine in a double layer of tin foil and place on the grill.
After ten to twenty minutes of cooking, carefully tip the contents of the foil into a bowl -watch the steam doesn’t burn you as you open your parcel. Bash the garlic and if you want extra spice then scrape out the flesh of the chilli with a sharp knife. Mix all ingredients together, add the oil, season and taste. Serve with your burgers instead of ketchup.

Fennel coleslaw

Serves 4

My daughter and her little friends dare one another to eat the school coleslaw, so ingrained is the revulsion toward this traditional side salad. But a freshly made coleslaw with fennel is delicious with barbequed chicken or fish.

Ingredients
1 bulb of fennel, outer layer and stem removed and finely sliced, save any soft fronds
1 tsb flat leaf parsley (optional)
1 large carrot, cut into batons
¼ to ½ onion, white salad one if possible, finely sliced
1 pickled gherkin or 6 cornichon, chopped small
2 tsps mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Equipment
Bowl
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Mixing spoon

Method
Mix all the ingredients together at least ten minutes before needed to allow the flavours to mingle. Add the fennel fronds if you have them, chopped parsley if you don’t.

Feta and mint salad

Serves 4

If you can get fresh peas in their pod and a decent crumbly feta cheese, then this is great for lunch served with hearty chunks of brown bread.

Ingredients
1 x 200g packet of feta cheese
100-150g (about one bag) tasty leaves like watercress, lamb’s lettuce, rocket or a mixture
100g fresh peas, shelled (if they are quite big peas, then boil for a couple of minutes and drain)
1 courgette, cut into batons or sliced thinly using a vegetable peeler
4 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 clove of garlic, crushed with salt using a knife
A couple of sprigs worth of fresh mint leaves, sliced finely
Salt and pepper

Equipment
Chopping board
Large bowl
Sharp knife
Fork
Vegetable peeler (optional)
Pan and stove (optional)

Method
Make the dressing in the bowl with the garlic, oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Whisk it in the bowl until it emulsifies, then season and taste. Add the leaves courgettes and mint, then toss the salad. Crumble the feta on top and the peas last as otherwise they will sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Minestrone

Serves 4

Tinned soup is the first food you associate with camping. Instead of opening a tin of Heinz Big Soup, get chopping fresh, seasonal vegetables, supplemented with a can of borlotti beans. If you are feeling adventurous, source fresh borlotti beans as they are around at the height of summer, but they do need preparation, requiring 40-45 minutes cooking, which is a fair amount of faffing for a camper. If you do persist with fresh beans, pod them, discarding brown and mouldy ones and cook them in unsalted water for about 40 minutes until soft, drain and then add to the recipe as follows.

Ingredients

1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed with salt against the chopping board with the blade of a sharp knife
4 tomatoes, quartered
2 tbs parsley, chopped, also other herbs, like chives or rosemary
1 x 250g tin of borlotti beans, drained, mash half with a spoon, leaving the other half whole
400g seasonal mixed green vegetables like fresh peas, green beans and broad beans in the summer
¼ seasonal cabbage, finely sliced
100g pasta, small shapes or spaghetti broken up into small lengths if possible, but any will do, larger shapes may need a bit more cooking though
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 litre of water or vegetable stock, made with a cube, concentrate or fresh from the supermarket fridge

Equipment

1 large pan
Single ring stove
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Spoon for stirring
Bowl
Sieve or colander

Method

Heat the oil and add the red pepper, onion and garlic. Fry very gently until soft. Add 1 litre of water or stock if you have it. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer, add the mashed borlotti beans and stir thoroughly. After five minutes, add the pasta and green beans, whole borlotti beans, tomatoes and other green vegetables, except the cabbage. Cook for five to ten minutes and check the pasta and the whole borlotti beans, cook for another few minutes if necessary until the pasta and beans are done. Then add the cabbage and parsley, stir it round until it has wilted over the heat. Season and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh bread.

For a variation: At the beginning of cooking you could add bacon or pancetta cut into small chunks and fry with the onion, garlic and red pepper, if you are feeling carnivorous.

Pesto

Serves 4 with pasta

The pesto revolution arrived in my world (or more accurately Math’s world) in the early 1990s when we were both at university. When I visited him in his scabby house, he used to cook it for me with mushrooms. It was either that or the other pasta dish he invented – fusilli and frozen sweet-corn, the wonder of this dish being the way the kernels would hide in the twists of fusilli. Obviously there would be a mound of cheddar on top to serve as the protein.

Homemade pesto is fresher and less tacky than the stuff sold in jars. Not just good for pasta, but a teaspoon of pesto served on a bowl of minestrone or on top of some barbequed field mushrooms adds flavour. When I make it I omit the salt and pepper until serving, so our two toddlers can enjoy it as well.

Ingredients
75g pine nuts
25g fresh basil, finely chopped (a mezzaluna is perfect for this job)
6 tbs olive oil
Salt and black pepper
75g pecorino or parmesan, grated
1 garlic clove, skinned
Juice of a ½ lemon

Method
Dry-fry the pine nuts and garlic in a frying pan over a medium heat. Shake the pan every minute or two, it is far too easy to burn the nuts. Once the pine nuts start to brown, remove them and the garlic from the heat. Crush the pine nuts, the garlic and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the basil, the lemon juice and cheese, season and mix well. Taste and cover with oil. You can keep it in an airtight jar for a week.

Add to just cooked hot pasta, stir well and serve straightaway, even eat it cold as a salad.

Spicy minted peas

Serves 4 as a side dish

Mint and peas are a great match, to which I add chilli and coconut for a veggie curry.

Ingredients
500g fresh peas in their pod, shelled
1 red chilli, split lengthways
Half a small onion, very finely sliced
1 tbs fresh mint, chopped (or ½ tsp dried mint)
Half a tin of coconut milk
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt

Equipment
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Saucepan
1 ring stove

Method
Gently cook the peas, chilli and onion in the coconut milk for a few minutes until the peas are cooked and the onions softened. Add the mint, lemon and salt to taste.

Tomato and onion salad

Very simple but effective side dish.

Ingredients
2 tomatoes, deseeded and sliced
½ onion, finely sliced
½ cucumber, sliced in half lengthways, middle scooped out and sliced into half moons
A pinch of sugar
3 tbs fresh mint, chopped
A squeeze of lime (or lemon)
½ tsp fresh red chilli, very finely chopped (optional)
Salt

Equipment
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Bowl

Method
Mix the cucumber, tomato, onion, chilli (if using), salt and sugar together, leave for ten minutes. Add the lime and mint.
Ready to serve.

Saag halloumi

Modelled on the classic Sag paneer spinach-and-cheese curry, but with some local halloumi from High Weald instead of the paneer. Halloumi is a great camping standby.

Ingredients
500g spinach, washed
1 x 200g packet halloumi , wiped dry with kitchen towel and cubed into small pieces
1 tbs flour
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ to 1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
3 tbs fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbs garam masala
2 tbs single cream or plain yogurt (optional)
1 tbs garlic and ginger paste
Vegetable oil for frying

Equipment
Lidded saucepan
Sieve
Bowl
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Spoon for stirring
1 ring stove

Method
First cook the spinach with a little water in the lidded saucepan. As soon as the spinach wilts, which only takes a few minutes, take it off the heat and leave to drain completely in the sieve, squashing it to remove all the water. Wipe out the pan and heat up a tablespoon of oil. Coat the cheese in flour and fry until browned on all sides. Set aside. Wipe out the pan with kitchen towel and heat up another tablespoon of oil and gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger paste. Once the onion is soft, but before it is browned, add the chilli, garam masala and tomato. While they cook, chop the drained spinach, add this to the pan along with the cheese, a squeeze of lemon, coriander and cream or yogurt. Taste, you probably won’t need salt as halloumi is salty enough.

Chana masala

This chickpea curry will serve four people if other curries are on the table.

Ingredients

1 jar or tin of chickpeas, drained (my favourites are El Navarrico)
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped
3 tbs plain yogurt
1 onion, chopped
1 tbs garlic and ginger paste
1 tbs garam masala
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbs fresh coriander, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Salt
Vegetable oil for frying

Equipment

Chopping board
Sharp knife
Lidded saucepan
Spoon for stirring
1 ring cooker

Method

Heat the oil in the pan, add the onion, garlic and ginger paste and fry until soft. Add the chilli, garam masala and fry for a minute or two. Add the chickpeas, tomato and a little water. Simmer for ten minutes or until the chickpeas are nice and soft. Stir in the yogurt, squeeze in the lemon and turn in the coriander. Add the salt at the last minute, taste and serve with bread and another veggie curry dish.

Garlic and ginger paste

Make this at home and use in curries, Moroccan and Chinese dishes.

Ingredients

Equal quantities of garlic and ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
Water
1 tbs vegetable oil

Method

Finely chop the garlic and ginger, use a mezzaluna or a food processor, add a splash of water. Store in a jar for a week or two, covered with oil.