January cookery bookclub: we're going veggie

[glorious]

Come and join the cookery bookclub! Each month we choose a couple of books/blogs/magazines and cook at least two new recipes of our choice from each.

This month we're reprising some favourites from last year with a veggie theme. The two books are Ottolenghi's Plenty and River Cottage Veg Every Day.

People will also be adding their own veggie favourites from other books and blogs.

Thank you for the heads up, Terrors I have Singapore noodles on my mind now, so would love a good recipe.
I have the Delia veggie book and it's pretty good - old style comfort veggie food. Love her recipe for Welsh Rabbit and chutney - it's a favourite.

The Singapore noodles in "save with Jamie" are v good and far nicer than the delia recipe

After all the recs I made the winter couscous for lunch, I didn't have any parsnips but had a bag of frozen carrot and swede, a couple of beets and carrots going over and a small butternut squash, probably a tad too much veg but it tastes delicious. If I used the same amount of veg again I'd double the couscous. Can't wait to try it cold now if DS2 leaves me any

sliverjohn this is the Singapore noodles recipe I use
www.food.com/recipe/singapore-noodles-462300

I haven't got save with Jamie so not sure how it compares.

I made hfw roast brussel sprouts with shallots today- they were lovely, took an extra ten minutes in the oven to caramelise but they were soft and crunchy at the same time which was very nice. Even sprout avoider dh liked them. The thyme is essential though- I think they'd be bland without it.

I also made the roast vegetable with caper dressing from plenty. Again very nice, though not ottolenghis usual wow. Just nice roast veg. Though the tomatoes added at the end were great- little flavour bombs mixed in, which kept their shape and some crunch as they weren't roasted for too long.

The stuffed onions are continuing to be postponed. I will have to bite the bullet and make them before the month is out.

Thank you twolittleterrors, I'm going to try that recipe tonight. It's a long shot, dh likes dirty Singapore noodles...he just doesn't get excited by the noodles from the nice chinese....I suspect my version will not contain enough chemically laden msg for his taste.

Couldhavebeen - I'll give Jamies version a go too....I have a feeling it's going to take a bit of fiddling with to get the perfect recipe.

Found this one silverjohn when looking at HB recipes, I've been really impressed with their curry book and am tempted by the Asian one, not jumped yet though :)

Thanks Pantah - I like the Hairy Bikers for curries too, might do a combination of recipes, the HB use less noodles, which might not be a bad thing!

TwoLittleTerrors glad you liked the leek/beetroot/walnut thing - I was amazed at how good it tasted

Next month sounds good :)
Whilst Anna Jones sounds good, I think I will see how you all get on with her and then maybe ask for it for my birthday at the end of the month...... my library is not forthcoming :(
I cant justify just going and buying it as I already have Just Bento which I really should use, as I bought it. I have Delia inherited from my parents, not too hopeful, but I'll give her a go. And that was the point of the cookbook club, after all, to use the cook books that we never got round to using

This week I'm doing the Plenty couscous and ratatouille based on your recommendations. I would never usually choose either of them, but as has been said before, this is the time to step out of my comfort zone!
Also going to do the aubergine/mango/soba from Plenty, if Ican get a mango, as every time I flick through the book, I remember how good it tasted! And Plenty stuffed onions for the same reason :)

Ooh huevos I have the aubergine mango soba on my list. Glad to hear it's good

There are loads of online sources for Anna jones if you wanted and if there's anything you fancy on the thread I'll type out the recipe for you

I have the Anna Jones book in kindle format. I can cut & paste the recipe you fancy. Probably will have to PM though. I'm guessing it would be against the rules of MN to paraphrase a recipe like this? Though tbh I have seen plenty of blogs just cut & paste from the original book. It doesn't seem to bring the blogger any trouble.

Thank you both for the offers of recipes :)

If anything grabs me I may well ask, or look up online, but I think I will try to focus on Bento and Delia. Maybe some of Delia's puddings, as they are usually good - not so hopeful about her veggie section, but I haven't had a proper look yet :)

I got a mango! Aubergine, soba and mango definitely worth making pregnant, just maybe not the right weather right now! I may serve the soba lukewarm rather than cold, must admit warming vegetable couscous holds more appeal on this cold gloomy day. But the flavours of the noodle dish are superb :)

Just had a look at the winter couscous, I used to make something similar many years ago and I topped it with cubed haloumi - it was so comforting...a few roasted peppers might lift it a bit too.
Have bought A change of appetite by Diana Henry, the was so many dishes I wanted to try and her approach to healthy eating is very close to my own.
I fancied the warm Roquefort cheesecake with pears in balsamic from Delia's - but the dc's are still a bit blue cheese iffy....if you haven't tried one, savoury cheesecakes are the bomb, Celia brooks brown has a great version with rocket and ricotta - need to make it again soon! Just a thought, Roquefort isn't veggie though is it?

A bit off topic, but...... I bought a kohlrabi after reading a recipe for it in Plenty. But it's a salad with raw cabbage, and I'm just not in the mood for that now!
Never eaten kohlrabi before, any suggestions? Eat Your Books throws up quite a lot of recipes, no idea what to make :)

Of course hmf, welcome. You may find people decamp to February quite soon but please join us there too if you like.

Huevos we tend to make nigella Mexican chicken salad with kohlrabi instead of the jicama. The avocado dressing is amazing. Not sure what I'd sub for chicken but there are beans and with the avocado I guess no more protein etc required really www.nigella.com/recipes/view/mexican-chicken-or-turkey-salad-with-tomato-and-black-bean-salsa-79

Can I be cheeky and just tag along for ideas? I have a teen who may be thinking about possibly dropping meat.

Please do AdoraBell, though not sure how many more posts there will be.

Made the hfw swede pasties at the weekend. I've done them before so they don't count but thought I'd write them up anyway. The flaky pastry is really good and very easy. The filling would definitely be improved by more beef and more carrot but it's one of my favourite ways of using up veg box swede anyway.

Have eggs and cardamom rice from Plenty on the plan for dinner today.

Glorious inspired by Delia's winter collection I did swede chips on Sunday to go with our Burns Supper. I boiled them till tender and then coated them with a mixture of butter and grated Parmesan before roasting for about 20mins. (delia's version included flour) I loved them and will definitely make again.

Thanks glorious, that nigella recipe looks lovely

I found a couple of other recipes last night - a seriously creamy one in Jerusalem, which doesn't seem nearly as virtuous as the Plenty one If I like kohlrabi, I'll maybe do the Plenty one in the summer. And there is a hot and sour one in EGOR which sounds right up my street. Think I'll try those two for now, just as a "do I actually like kohlrabi?" type experiment, and then maybe do a variation on the nigella chicken salad.

Soba, mango and aubergine from Plenty for lunch today, as it's quite quick and delicious :)

Welcome Adora - next month one of our books is veggie, and everything I make at least will be veggie, so stick with us :)

Mmmmm the aubergine mango soba is great, had forgotten about that one. Not veggie, but I usually chuck some prawns in with it as well which works

I add fried tofu, as he recommends - that gives it an extra texture dimension, as well as protein :)

Aubergine mango soba delicious again :)
My mango wasn't ripe :(, to be honest I think the dish would work perfectly well without it. Didn't bother with tofu as I didn't have time, it was still lovely

huevos I usually add fried tofu too. But I'm lazy and use the pre-fried ones from the chinese market. Sorry to hear the mango isn't ripe. Btw, what did you do with the kohlrabi. I still need to take the plunge and try to cook with it. I don't even know what it tastes like. The EYB hits are mostly Ottolenghi I'm guessing? He seems to love that veg.

There's a lovely and super easy recipe for braised kohlrabi with garlic and Parmesan on the Abel and cole pages which is my default kohlrabi recipe - or it is good in slaws.

For Feb, I have Anna's book and like it. I don't have that particular Delia but have others eg veggie, pork, chicken, Italian which probably have some overlap...

Plenty winter couscous for lunch today. Nice enough, but not wow for me. But good comforting food.

I did EGOR's hot and sour kohlrabi as an experiment. Kohlrabi itself tasted like radish to me, quite nice and crunchy. The hot and sour sauce kind of overwhelmed it, imo, made a nice pickle side dish, but you couldn't taste the kohlrabi, you just got the crunch. Shall try Jerusalem's offering tomorrow, and maybe the Abel and Cole one (thanks CantDo) to see what it's like cooked.