Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts

Tis the season for pumpkin and spice and all things nice. In the UK we have never really got into pumpkin based desserts like they have in America and most of the pumpkins sold in UK supermarkets around Halloween are grown purely for the purpose of carving into lanterns and are far too bland and watery for eating. Luckily it is now possible to buy tins of densely packed pumpkin puree which is rich in both colour and flavour and perfect for baking.

With that in mind, I decided to try my hand at making baked pumpkin doughnuts. Seeing as it’s been National Chocolate Week this last week (how did I miss that?!) I also included a few dark chocolate chips in the batter.

Pumpkin loves spices and so I used a mix of freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice in the pumpkin batter as well as generously coating my still warm doughnuts in cinnamon sugar. The raw batter had the taste and aroma of a spiced gingerbread, only slightly more earthy. The pumpkin lent its own special mysterious sweet earthy flavour which was only enhanced by the spices.

Baked doughnuts are sturdier and a little more cakey than their yeasted, fried counterparts but when eaten warm, with their spiced sugar coating and little pockets of gooey melted chocolate chips they were fabulous. I loved the bright golden glow from the pumpkin and they were light and moist, reminiscent of a good carrot cake.

I discovered, like scones, they are best eaten on the day of baking or else freezing. I kept a few overnight and the next day they were denser and the cinnamon sugar has dissolved into the doughnut. They were still very moist and tasty, but needed a short blast in the microwave to refresh them. So I’d recommend either freezing them or else eat them all on the day you bake them – what a hardship!

What’s your favourite way to eat pumpkin? Oh and if you can’t find tinned pumpkin puree, a cooked and mashed sweet potato would be just as good, just don’t mash it with butter or milk!

Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts with Cinnamon Sugar

(Recipe adapted from The BiteSized Baker blog)

Pumpkin Doughnuts

150g brown rice flour

25g tapioca starch

15g potato starch or white cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

75ml sunflower oil

100g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g (½ can) canned pumpkin puree (or mashed sweet potato)

110ml milk

40g dark chocolate chips

Cinnamon Sugar

50g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 175C. Grease two 6 holed doughnut pans and set aside.

For the cinnamon topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon together on a plate and set aside for use later.

For the doughnuts, in a medium bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, do not over mix the batter.

Using a piping bag, fill each doughnut ring with the batter, until it reaches nearly to the rim.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the doughnuts are lightly golden and look set. They should have a little spring when pressed. Leave to cool for 2 minutes before running a small knife around the edge and carefully lifting out of the pan. They will be a little fragile when still warm so be careful.

Toss the still hot doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar and place on a cooling rack. Alternatively leave until cool before topping with the glaze of your choice.

Delicious eaten when still warm. For best results, eat or freeze on day of baking.

Makes 10-11 doughnuts

Spicy Sweetcorn Soup

Autumn has definitely arrived. The leaves are turning red and golden, falling from the trees to be crunched underfoot. The nights are drawing in and the weather is turning cold and blustery. This weekend (so far) it has rained constantly and an icy wind is whistling past my windows. In weather like this it is the perfect time to stay snugly indoors and lock yourself away in the kitchen. I normally resort to baking but in such wet and windy weather I was craving a big bowlful of soup. There is no other food that is so comforting and warming on a cold day than soup. It seems to warm you from the inside out.

Root vegetable soups are one of my favourites, but it’s not quite cold enough yet for parsnips and other winter veg, so I decided to make use of a big bag of frozen sweetcorn and make sweetcorn soup. I’ve seen this on a few blogs in the past but ever attempted one myself. To give my soup an extra warming kick I spiced it up with a couple of green chillies, which lent a slow warming heat that lingered pleasantly rather than being a fiery heat.

I like my soups to be thick and smooth, but I also wanted a little texture and hit upon the idea of reserving some of the sweetcorn, chilli and red pepper to use as a topping. I fried it until it became toasted and bronzed and sprinkled it on the soup when serving. This worked well and I loved the look of the red, green and yellow colours together.

The soup was thick, creamy and comforting. The sweetcorn added a wonderful natural sweetness, while still being savoury. It’s so creamy you would almost suspect it had some cream stirred in at the end. Why not hug a big bowlful of this and snuggle up on the sofa for a lazy weekend? There are some perks to the rain.

Spicy Sweetcorn Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp oil

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

1 small potato

2 green chillies

1 red pepper

1½ pints vegetable stock

600g frozen sweetcorn

Salt and pepper

Method

Start by reserving ½ green chilli, ¼ red pepper and 100g sweetcorn and set aside for toppings later.

Heat the 1 tbsp oil in a large pan. Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic and add to the pan. Place the lid on and leave to sweat gently for a few minutes.

Peel and dice the potato. Cut the remaining 1½ green chillies into chunks (you can remove the seeds or leave them in for an extra kick). Add to the pan, stirring to ensure nothing is sticking to the base and cover with the lid once more.

Roughly chop the remaining ¾ red pepper and add to the pan and leave everything to cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil, before reducing to a simmer and then leaving to cook for 15-20 minutes, with the lid only slightly on the pan, until all the veg is softened.

Stir in the remaining 500g of sweetcorn and leave to cook for 5 minutes more.

Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender or in a liquidizer until smooth.

Return the soup to the pan over a low heat to keep warm while you make the topping.

Very finely dice the reserved green chilli and red pepper. Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan and add the chilli, red pepper and reserved 100g sweetcorn. Fry over a high heat until the sweetcorn is lightly bronzed and going golden at the edges. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls and top each bowl with 1-2 tbsp of the toasted sweetcorn mix. Eat and enjoy.

Serves 4 generously

Courgette Fritters with Griddled Halloumi

The weekends are my favourite time to allow myself to relax, take a little time and prepare something different and tasty for at least one of the meals during the day. Looking for lunch inspiration my fridge revealed a block of halloumi cheese and a courgette. A short while later courgette fritters with griddled lemon & chili halloumi was created.

For the fritters I used gram/chickpea flour which has a very savoury beany flavour that I think always works well in savoury fritters. It can be a little bland on its own, so I added some lemon zest and oregano to pep it up a bit. I decided not to add salt to the mix, as halloumi cheese is incredibly salty, and as I planned to eat them together I thought this would be enough seasoning.

 

Halloumi cheese is very firm and salty. You have to eat it fried or heated in some way otherwise it’s tough and squeaky. As I was planning ahead, I added some lemon, oregano and chili flakes to my halloumi and left it to marinate for 2 hours before cooking it. This added an extra flavour dimension, but you could probably get away with griddling it straight away. I don’t have a griddle pan so instead used my panini press and just didn’t close the lid, which worked really well and, even if I do say so myself, was quite a genius idea.

 

Halloumi cheese is best eaten straight after cooking, so make sure you cook the fritters first and leave them warming in the oven while you quickly cook the halloumi. Then it’s all hot and ready to go at once.

While the fritters were keeping warm in the oven I also added a few halved tomatoes. They didn’t really cook, as the heat was only low, but they warmed though enough to help enhance their natural juicy sweetness.

 

A little drizzle of sweet chili sauce and lunch was served. The pancakes were lightly crisp on the outside and still soft and tender in the centre. The courgette adds more of a colour and texture than any actual flavour, but everything eaten together produced a lovely combination of tastes and texture. Soft fritters, firm salty cheese, juicy tomatoes and a little heat from the chili. I wish Saturdays came round more than once a week!

 

And now for something completely different…

I’m off to a tiny Greek island with my sister next week so it may be quiet on here for a while. I hope to return having experiences some of the tastes and delights Greece has to offer. I’m longing to try the thick Greek yoghurt, honey, nuts, fresh fruit, feta cheese etc. Anyone got any gluten free Greek dishes they could recommend?

Courgette Fritters with Griddled Halloumi

Fritters

150g (1 large) courgette

30g gram/chickpea flour

1 egg

1 tsp lemon zest

¼ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp baking powder

½ tbsp oil

Halloumi

Zest of ½ lemon

½ tsp dried chili flakes

¼ tsp dried oregano

Halloumi cheese

To Serve

Cherry tomatoes

Sweet chili sauce

Method

Cut the halloumi into ½cm slices and lay on a plate in a single layer.

Sprinkle over the lemon, chili and oregano. Cover in cling film and leave to marinate for as long as possible – up to 24 hours.

For the fritters, wash and coarsely grate the courgette. Place onto some sheets of sturdy kitchen roll or a tea towel and wring most of the liquid out. It can be damp, but you don’t want it soggy.

Place into a large bowl and add the chickpea flour, lemon, oregano and baking powder. Toss until all the courgette is coated in the flour. Add the egg and mix until combined into a batter. It should be quite soft but still hold its shape when spooned into the pan. The more you stir, the more liquid will come out of the courgettes.

Add a little milk if your batter is too thick, or another 1-2 tsp of chickpea flour if too runny.

Warm your oven to around 100C. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a baking tray and leave to warm in the oven. Also place a plate with a sheet of kitchen roll on into the oven to warm gently.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and drop tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan. Allow to cook for 1 minute before flipping over the cooking for a further 30 seconds. They should be lightly golden.

Remove the fritters from the pan and transfer to the warm plate with kitchen roll to keep warm while you cook the rest.

Repeat until all the batter is used up. Leave the fritters to keep warm in the oven while you cook the halloumi

Heat a dry griddle or frying pan (I used my Panini press!) and place the slices of marinated halloumi onto the grills. Allow to cook for 30 seconds without touching them, then flip over and cook for further 30 seconds. They will release some oil as they cook. They should be softened and nicely griddled when done.

To serve, remove the fritters and tomatoes from the oven. Arrange 3-4 fritters in a stack in the middle of the warmed plate. Place 2-3 slices of halloumi on top and arrange some of the warmed tomatoes around the edge. Drizzle with a little sweet chili sauce.

Eat immediately. Makes 7-8 fritters

Baba Ghanoush

What do you do when you’ve been tempted by some offers in the reduced section of the supermarket and come home with a bag of 4 aubergines that you snaffled for 80p? I ate half of one in a stir fry and used the rest to make baba ghanoush.

I’ve only tasted baba ghanoush once before, but loved its smoky mysterious flavour and have often considered making it myself. As I suddenly had a big bag of aubergines at my disposal, now seemed the ideal time to try it out.

There is a minefield of recipes and variations out there, but after a quick hunt I went with a recipe by Nigel Slater, whose recipes I trust. The only substitution I made was to use sesame seed oil in place of the tahini and olive oil called for, as I didn’t have any tahini. The recipe instructs you to char the aubergines over a lit gas ring, but I decided to roast my aubergines in a really hot oven until the skins were blackened. I live in a flat with a very sensitive smoke alarm and I don’t think the neighbours would have been too happy if I’d set them off from attempting to roast veg over the flames. I think roasting is a better idea anyway, as my aubergines released some liquid during their roasting, which otherwise would have spilled out over the oven top creating a terrible mess.

Once roasted and withered the aubergines smelt lovely. Slightly earthy yet also surprisingly sweet and slightly smoky. Aubergines can be a bit spongy and slimy if not cooked well, but after roasting I slit the skins and the flesh inside was so soft and silky I could scoop it out with a spoon!

I made a slight mistake of blitzing the aubergine with the garlic and oil rather than chopping it, meaning my baba ghanoush was more of a dip/paste than chunky but this didn’t stop it being delicious. It also meant it was far easier to dip crudités into and as a tasty and different sandwich filling.

The flavour of the aubergine was surprisingly good. Sweet with a slight roasted flavour from the blackened aubergine skin, not used in the dip but it did impart some flavour. It was also surprisingly creamy with a good strong kick of garlic, tangy fresh lemon and then a mellow nuttiness from the sesame oil. I loved eating it with falafel. I’ve often said I’m not a fan of aubergine, but this has changed my mind. A long roast until the aubergines are soft and yielding is clearly the way to eat them.

Baba Ghanoush

Recipe adapted from Nigel Slater

Ingredients

3-4 large aubergines

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sesame oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Small handful fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to season

Method

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Wash the aubgergines and prick their skins all over with a sharp knife. Place onto a baking tray and roasted for 45 minutes until they are beginning to whither and soften. Remove from the oven, flip the aubergines over and roasted for a further 15 minutes. They should be soft and collapsed. Leave to cool slightly.

Roughly chop the garlic and add to a small food processor. Add the oils and lemon juice and blitz until the garlic is in small pieces.

Scoop out the flesh from the aubergines, discarding the skins. Add to the food processor along with the parsley and pulse until combined but still a little chunky. (I did mine too long and got a smoother paste).

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spinach, Feta & Paprika Savoury Muffins

Last weekend the weather was rather cold, wet and blustery. The perfect weather for staying indoors and baking. As I’ve been baking rather a lot of sweet things recently I decided instead to bake something savoury.

I had a look through my fridge at what needed using up and came across a block of feta and a half used jar of sun dried tomato paste and decided to combined them together in a savoury muffin. I wanted another colour and so fished out a couple of blocks of spinach from the freezer, which I think always goes well with feta. Hunting through my spice cupboard (yes I have a whole cupboard full of herbs and spices) I settled on some smoky paprika from Schwartz, which I think goes wonderfully with tomato.

I used a combination of self raising flour and then some nuttier brown rice flour to add a little grainy wholesomeness to the muffins. You could use fine ground cornmeal or polenta to achieve the same effect.

Mixing the batter together produced a wonderful smoky earthiness from the paprika, which also lent the batter a great subtle red-orange hue. All the colours together looked so pretty, green spinach, pure white feta and dusky red paprika/tomato.

During baking the muffins smelt so inviting, a mix of savoury smoky aromas that had me peeking through the oven door impatiently. After baking the muffins had a pale golden outer crust that was slightly crisp and scone-like, but breaking into one revealed a soft and tender crumb. These aren’t as light and fluffy as sweet muffins, being savoury they are more wholesome but they are by no means dense or heavy.

The chunks of feta became soft and creamy while the strands of spinach were scattered throughout giving a very attractive appearance. The muffins were slightly sweet to taste, but just as salt adds flavour to sweet things, I found the sweetness seemed to enhance the savoury elements of the muffins. I found the subtle smoky earthiness of the paprika added a slight tongue tingling warmth in a similar way that chili does.

They were delicious eaten on their own but I discovered they were even better with a little houmous or chutney. I took a few to work and warmed them in the microwave before dipping pieces into my soup and it was a lovely alternative to bread.

This was my first foray into savoury muffins, but I doubt it will be my last.

Spinach, Feta & Paprika Savoury Muffins

Ingredients

250g gluten free self raising flour*

50g brown rice flour or fine cornmeal*

40g caster sugar

1½ tsp gluten free baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp salt

180ml milk

2 eggs

100g (2 blocks) frozen spinach

1 tbsp sun dried tomato paste or tomato pesto

100g feta cheese

6 cherry tomatoes

6 extra cherry tomatoes for decoration (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease the 12 wells of a muffin tin thoroughly with oil.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave and squeeze out any excess liquid. It’s fine to still be damp, but not swimming in liquid. Chop roughly and set aside.

Chop the feta into 5mm x 1cm pieces and half the cherry tomatoes and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, bicarb and paprika.

In a jug, measure out the milk and then beat in the eggs and sun dried tomato paste/pesto.

Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and stir briefly until some of the liquid is starting to be absorbed. Add the spinach, half the tomatoes and feta and fold together gently until just combined. (The batter should still be soft and lumpy, you don’t want a smooth mix).

Use a large spoon or ice cream scoop to generously fill the wells of the muffin tin with the muffin mix. They don’t rise much so you can pile them up quite high and leave them looking rustic. You’ll get between 10-12 muffins.

Place a halved cherry tomato on the top of each muffin if desired and bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before running a round bladed knife around the rim and removing them from the tin. Place on a rack to cool slightly.

Serve warm with houmous, chutney or cheese. Also taste great dipped into soup.

Eat or freeze on day of baking. On defrosting, warm slightly in the oven or microwave before serving.

Makes 10-12 muffins

Note: If you don’t want to make them gluten free then replace the gluten free flour with normal self raising flour and use fine ground cornmeal/polenta in place of the brown rice flour.

Summer Veg & Bean Salad in a Smoky Tomato Dressing

Now that we have had a couple of weeks of glorious warm and sunny weather it means things like summer salads, wedges of cold quiche and crunchy coleslaw are finally back on the menu. Last weekend I decided to prepare a huge veg and bean salad to have on hand for either work lunches or as part of a quick evening dinner for when it was just too hot to cook.

I’ve discovered that I absolutely love the combination of using both roasted and raw veg in a salad. They add such a wonderful texture and flavour contrast to each other. The roasted veg is sweet, soft and often slightly smokey or charred, while the raw veg is fresh, crisp and crunchy. That together with a mix of creamy starchy beans and a nice dressing makes for a delicious salad. It’s also the perfect tasty way to getting your 5 a day – did you know that beans (baked beans too) count as one of your 5 a day – its true! So think how healthy and delicious a tasty veg and bean salad it.

I’ve also discovered that making a dressing on the baking tray the veg has previously been roasted on, not only helps get those sticky stuck on pieces off the tray, but also adds a wonderful flavour base to the sauce. The sticky juices, edges of stuck on veg and scraps of roasted garlic are a delicious addition to the dressing. For this sauce I did a mix of tomato puree, paprika and chipotle chili powder for a smoky, only faintly spicy warmth.

This salad kept me going for 4 days. It makes a great meal in itself, but is also a lovely accompaniment to a wedge of quiche or on the side of a BBQ meal.

Summer Veg & Bean Salad in a Smoky Tomato Dressing

For Roasting

¼ head cauliflower

2 carrots

¼ fennel bulb

1 large onion

1 yellow pepper

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp dried oregano

For Salad

1 x 400g can mixed beans

¼ head broccoli

2 spring onion

50g mange tout

4 tbsp sweetcorn

2 tbsp broad beans

10 basil leaves

Dressing

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

½ tsp balsamic vinegar

100ml water

1 tsp cornflour

Salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 220C. Have a large baking tray ready, but don’t line it with foil.

Divide the cauliflower into small florets. Peel and slice the carrots into thin batons and chop the fennel, onion and yellow pepper into squares. Place all the veg onto the baking tray.

Finely chop the garlic and sprinkle it over the veg along with the oregano, oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix everything together until all the veg is coated. Spread into a even layer.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes before giving everything a mix and roasting for a further 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your veg.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets. Either blanch them in a pan of boiling water or in the microwave until they are slightly softened, but still firm and crisp. Cool under cold water, pat dry and add to a large bowl.

Slice the mange tout on a diagonal, so you get thin long strips. Thinly slice the spring onions. Add them to the bowl along with the sweetcorn and broad beans (you can pod them if you want, but mine were young and sweet so it wasn’t necessary).

Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the bowl along with the cooled roasted veg.

Shred the basil and sprinkle it over the top. Give everything a good mix together.

Your baking tray will probably have some sticky veg juices from roasting, which will form the base of the dressing. Add the tomato puree, paprika and chili powder onto the baking tray. Stir in the water and then place over the hob and heat gently, stirring constantly with a spoon or spatula. Rub the spatula over the base of the pan, scraping up any sticky bits of stuck on veg. Stir in the balsamic vinegar.

If the dressing looks a little thin, dissolve the cornflour in a little cold water and then stir into the dressing. Heat until slightly thickened.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the smokey tomato dressing from the heat and pour over the salad. Toss everything together so that it all gets coated in the dressing.

You can eat ti straight away but it tastes even better is allowed to sit in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight. This allows the veg and beans to absorb some of flavour from the dressing.

Serve as a meal or as an accompaniment to other summery food.

Roasted Butternut Squash Houmous

I love houmous and its one of my household staples that appear in my fridge at least 2-3 times a month. You can get some really tasty and interesting houmous varieties in the shops these days, but recently I have found I also enjoy making it myself.

Having recently bought some of the new Warburtons gluten free tortilla style wraps to try, I wanted some houmous to eat them with. As I had some butternut squash languishing in the fridge from making my butternut and ginger soup I decided to roast it and then blitz it into some homemade houmous to add a bit of interest.

Butternut squash is one of those fabulous vegetables – well tubers really, that go fabulously sweet and soft after a little roasting in the oven. You’d never think that something so tough and hard to slice could be transformed into something so soft and almost creamy, in just a few minutes. The vibrant golden orange colour helps add a little sunshine to whatever it’s served with too.

I had a jar of garlic chutney in the fridge too, so used some of that in place of the standard freshly grated garlic. This gave it more of a subtle sweet garlic flavour rather than the harsher raw garlic hit, but either works well. I also added a squeeze of lemon juice as I’ve found this really seems to enhance the flavours in houmous.

The resulting houmous was soft with an almost creamy mouthfeel from the velvety roasted squash, which also gave it a delicious natural sweetness. Although creamy in the mouth, the houmous itself was still a little on the coarse side which I like, as it adds texture and interest. I also left it quick thick so that it would be easier to spread on wraps and in sandwiches, but you can always make it thinner if you want to use it as a dip instead.

I loved the rich orange roasted colour it produced. Even though I usually associate roasted veg with winter, this seemed very fresh and summery. I served mine with an assortment of salads and olives, along with strips of the gluten free tortilla wrap. I then had fun making up little handheld wraps, almost soft taco style, using the houmous as the base. Delicious

Roasted Butternut Squash Houmous

Ingredients

300g butternut squash

400g tin chickpeas

1 tbsp roasted garlic puree/chutney (or 1 clove garlic grated)

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tbsp lemon juice

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with foil.

Cut the butternut squash into 1cm thick slices and lay them out on the baking tray, leaving the skin on. Brush with half a tablespoon of oil and roast for 25-30 minutes until softened and just starting to take on some colour.

Once roasted, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Place the chickpeas, 1 tbsp of water from their tin and the remaining 1½ tablespoons of olive oil into a food processor and blitz to create a chunky paste. Scrape down the sides once or twice during the process.

Add some roasted garlic puree/chutney, or grate in 1 clove of fresh garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Peel the skin off your roasted and cooled butternut squash using your fingers, it should come away easily.

Briefly mash the butternut into a mush and add to the blitzed chickpeas along with the lemon juice. Blitz again until well combined and the mixture is as smooth or chunky as you desire. (You can add a little more oil or a drop of water if it is too thick)

Spoon into an airtight container and store in the fridge until required.

Delicious served with crudités, on jacket potatoes, salads, wraps with crackers or in sandwiches etc.

Makes around 800g (you can freeze some in a Tupperware container if you don’t think you will eat it all straight away)

Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup

What a week it’s been, so busy and the next couple of weeks don’t look like being any different. The weather has also been pretty miserable, damp, windy and cold. Parts of the UK even had snow early this week – snow! It’s May for goodness sake!!

Hard work and cold weather make me crave warm comforting foods, rice puddings, stews and soups. Feeling a little careworn I decided to make soup to give my body an extra wholesome boost. I love making soup, I find the process almost as therapeutic and comforting as eating the soup itself. There is something calming about a gently simmering pan of savoury veg.

 

Having recently bought a large butternut squash I decided to use this as the base of the soup, replacing the usual potato as the starchy thickener. This not only gave the soup a wonderfully rich orange hue, but also an incredible smoothness and natural sweetness.

 

I considered adding some chili to the soup to make it extra warming, but decided instead to use the fresher warming kick of fresh ginger. I’ve never used fresh ginger in a soup before but the results were lovely. The ginger wasn’t immediately apparent, but it left a lingering tongue tingle and aromatic freshness after each spoonful.

 

I topped my soup with a swirl of buttermilk and used some crunchy roasted spiced chickpeas in place of croutons. They added a lovely contrast to the soup, much better than a bit of soggy bread. Wholesome, healthy and spirit lifting. A delicious soup for the soul.

Butternut Squash & Ginger Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots

400g butternut squash

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Small knob of butter

2 pints vegetable stock (check any stock or stock cubes are gluten free)

½ tsp dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

Method 

Peel the onion, carrots and garlic cloves. Roughly chop the onion into chunks, it doesn’t need to be that neat as you blitz everything later.

Heat a large saucepan with the oil and butter and add the onion. Stir, put the lid on the pan and leave to sweat.

Chop the carrot and butternut squash (leave the skin on) into chunks and stir into the onion and replace the lid again.

Finely chop the garlic and fresh ginger. Stir into the veg along with the thyme and replace the lid again. Leave to cook for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare you stock, ideally you want it hot so it doesn’t destroy the heat in the pan.

Once the veg is starting to soften and take on a bit of colour, pour over the vegetable stock, stir well and replace the lid, this time ajar so some of the steam can escape. Bring the mix to a boil then reduce it to a simmer and leave to cook for 25-30 minutes.

Check the butternut squash and carrots are cooked by fishing a bit out with a spoon and tasting it. If it is, remove the soup from the heat, if not, leave to cook for a further 5 minutes before testing again.

Ladle the soup into a liquidizer and blitz until smooth, you may need to do this in batches. Alternatively, use a hand blender to blitz it straight in the pan.

Return the soup to the pan and warm through if needed. Taste and add extra salt and pepper if desired.

Serve in warmed bowl and top with a swirl of buttermilk or cream. Add a few croutons or gluten free alternative. (I used roasted spiced chickpeas for a nice contrasting crunch)

Serves 4-6 depending if served as a starter or main

Crispy Kale Crisps

After doing a bit of research as to what foods work well when dehydrated I found a site selling kale crisps. I was intrigued by the idea. I love sheets of nori seaweed and could imagine they would taste similar. The site was charging a fortune for tiny tubs of kale crisps and I decided I could make some myself for much less cost.

 

I decided to keep things simple and start off with just a little oil and salt as a coating for my kale crisps. I was slightly dubious filling my dehydrator with layers of kale, I didn’t want o eat up with something that tasted of overcooked cabbage! After a few hours my kale was looking glossy and dried and I got my first taste.

The dehydrated kale crisps were fabulous! They were super thin and crisp, with a salty iodine flavour. Super light and crisp, they were a mix of salty savoury goodness. They were so addictive that I ate half of them in one sitting. My one disappointment was that I found them a little too salty for my tastes, but this can be easily modified and I will reduce the amount of salt I add next time (noted in recipe). It reminded me of the salty crispy seaweed you used to get in Chinese restaurants. It probably was kale and not seaweed to be honest.

 

I enjoyed the crispy kale so much that I also tried some with lime juice and a little curry powder, (in addition to the oil and salt) but I wasn’t keen on this one. It smelt heavenly when drying, a fragrant mix of warming spices filled the whole kitchen, but the curry powder ended up tasting bitter after being dehydrated and concentrated. I think something like a little smoky paprika would be a better idea.

Like potato crisps, only packed with extra vitamins! Anyone got any other flavours they can recommend?

Crispy Kale Crisps

Ingredients

100g sliced kale

3 tsp olive oil

½ tsp salt (I’d use ¼ tsp next time)

Additional Ingredients

2 tsp lemon or lime juice

½ tsp medium curry powder

Method

Place sliced, washed and dried kale into a large bowl. Discard any thicker stalks, as these are too chunky to dehydrate sufficiently.

Drizzle over the oil and salt and mix together using your hands until every piece of kale is lightly coated.

Place the kale in a single layer over the plates of a food dehydrator.

Set to 65C and allow to dehydrate for 4 hours, until crisp.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before storing in an airtight container.

Eat within 1 week.

I also tried some with lime juice and a little curry powder, (in addition to the oil and salt) but I wasn’t keen on this one. It smelt heavenly when drying, but the curry powder ended up tasting bitter after being dehydrated and concentrated.

Note: if you don’t have a dehydrator, simple place your kale on a cooling rack, placed over a baking tray and leave in a cool oven, around 65C for 3-4 hours until crisp.