Meatfree January is now a big thing. It’s actually a habit we’ve had for several years. We don’t have any major ethical motivations, it’s just that we eat so much meat in December and it feels right to rebalance. And we find that the habits of midweek non-meat-eating stay with us through much of the rest of the year.
This year we started in mid January and cooked a lot of new dishes, especially midweek. Many were from the Guardian, in the Saturday magazine or Cook supplement and then in the new-look Feast when that launched in later January.
I thought I would review the new Guardian veggie and vegan recipes we cooked – from Meera Sodha, Thomasina Miers and others, seven in total. I haven’t reproduced the recipes – there are links to them, through the date in each heading – but simply reviewed how they turned out. There wasn’t one dud.
You need to be a little disciplined to cook new recipes soon after they are published but the major benefit is that the ingredients are still in season. Too often in the past, I have turned back to a recipe, only to realise it’s too late. As a result, we have now tripled the ways in which we eat swede. It seems it really is the case that a swede is not just for Christmas.
Sweet Potato and Aubergine Massaman Curry – Meera Sodha (Guardian Magazine, 13 January 2018)
Meera has simplified the technique of making a Massaman while pretty successfully retaining the depth and the flavour. This makes it perfectly do-able as a midweek supper – the only real effort is in whizzing the paste ingredients in a food processor. She also uses peanut butter rather than peanuts, so that it becomes even more a store-cupboard curry, although I would usually find it easier to lay my hands on peanuts than peanut butter.
The curry works well: that thick nutty coconut sauce with a little sweet note and the zing of lemongrass. Even with meat, there is often potato involved in Massaman, so sweet potato and aubergine is an obvious vegan variation. My photo doesn’t look nearly as attractive as the Guardian’s because I had a greater sauce to veg ratio – I was cooking for two not four – and I used desiccated coconut rather than coconut flakes to garnish. Oh, and the Guardian’s photo credit reveals not only a top food photographer but also both a food stylist and a props stylist…
Verdict: 7/10
Soba Noodle Salad with Crisp Rainbow Vegetables and Sesame Seed Dressing – Thomasina Miers (Guardian Magazine, 6 January 2018)
This is a riot of colours. It was Thomasina’s first recipe of the new year, so intended as an antidote to the richness of festive eating. There’s a fair bit of prepping vegetables, but it’s all completely straightforward and so, despite the longish list of ingredients, this is perfectly manageable on a weeknight. The hardest thing was mixing up my separated tahini without bending another spoon…
With so many vegetables, plus the noodles, a strong dressing is essential, and the dish gets it: spicy-sweet-tahini flavours that seem to reference pretty much everywhere east of the Mediterranean. There’s also a nice crunchy topping from a toasted sunflower/sesame seed mix. Our dish had a couple of variations. I couldn’t find soya beans, but made use of a mysterious glut of frozen sweetcorn instead. The kernels added to the colour, although there would have been deeper and more complex flavours with soya beans. And, while this makes a huge portion (enough for six, I’m sure) I added a fried egg. It seemed a good idea. And it was.
Verdict: 6.5-7/10
Swede Laksa – Meera Sodha (Guardian Feast, 27 January 2018)
An elementary mistake meant this laksa was even more fiery than normal laksa fiery-ness. I bubbled the soup too vigorously or for too long or both, and it went beyond Meera’s description of ‘rich and flavourful’ to a heat that made our eyes water and skin prickle. You can see that in the deeper colour of mine compared to the Guardian photo.
Nevertheless, this was a revelation – it was my first time using swede in this way. I thought the hefty slices would be too big, but they roasted very well and kept their bite. The swede worked a treat with the laksa soup. I am not convinced that roasting the shallot petals at the same time was the best way to caramelise rather than incinerating them but I guess I can work on that next time. This is another straightforward recipe for midweek, and I am keen to try it again to get the flavour right.
Verdict: 6.5/10
Brussels Sprouts Nasi Goreng – Meera Sodha, (Guardian Feast, 20 January 2018)
This was the star of the batch. Meera describes this as delivering the sort of ‘filthy and delicious’ flavours you expect from takeaway food. Delicious yes, but I am not sure I get filthy. It is most definitely comforting, with ketchup, kecap manis, soy and sesame oil bringing an umami-like quality to the rice. The only drawback is portion control: you want to keep scoffing it. We must, must, must make this again before sprouts disappear for the year. So must you. And it’ll be the dish to do when next winter’s sprouts arrive long before that mythical first frost.
Again, this is an easy dish for a weeknight. The recipe suggests 10 minutes’ preparation, but that relies on an ingredient list that includes ‘sprouts, very finely-chopped’ (the sort of ingredient list that renders prep times pointless unless you have a sous-chef). Meera suggests you could slice the spouts in a food processor but prefers to slice hers by hand. I’m with her – our processor tends to shred sprouts rather than slice, and it’s the texture of the slices you want here. I’m quite pleased at how this one looks like the Guardian photo even without a stylist!
Verdict: 9/10
One-pot Pasta with Lentil, Tomato and Kale Sauce – Thomasina Miers (The Guardian Magazine, 13 January 2018)
I am generally a bit dubious about pasta and lentils together. This dish proved me wrong. The recipe was ample for four – or, rather, it did us twice – although I am sure I used more kale than 150g. (There’s another recipe ambiguity for you: ‘150g kale, shredded’ = 150g of shredded kale, or 150g of kale leaves, stalks removed and shredded? I tend to use whatever size bunch I have bought and that’s just fine.)
Other than a bit of veg chopping, this is unbelievably straightforward and really is a one-pot dish. It was another very comforting supper – good flavours and somehow heathy tasting despite there being both pasta and lentils. As ever, the combination of kale and lentils gave a base earthiness.
Verdict: 8/10
Swede Carbonara – Anna Jones (Guardian Feast, 3 February 2018)
Who knew? Just as the swede surprised us with noodles in the laksa, so it works as well with spaghetti. As long as you can be bothered to chop up a swede, you could do this in your sleep. It really is that easy: cook swede, cook pasta, throw together, make it carbonara with eggs and parmesan. Of course, it’s not bacon or ham, but there’s an earthy sweetness to the swede, together with a silky texture, that makes it work brilliantly with the pasta and lightly emulsified carbonara sauce. I didn’t have the suggested smoked salt, which would have added a little smoky dimension.
Anna Jones’s tips on the carbonara element are helpful too, particularly using a little pasta cooking water not only to emulsify but also to cool the pasta and swede so that the eggs don’t scramble. One obvious observation will stay with me for all future carbonaras: wait till the pasta has stopped sizzling. Don’t tell anyone, but my cheese (it only needs three tablespoons) was a mix of pecorino and parmesan because there was some pecorino to use up, and the two were just lovely together.
Verdict: 8/10
Smokin’ (Vegan) Burgers – Rita Serano (Guardian Cook, 6 January 2018)
There was something about the mix of ingredients in this recipe that made it seem different from a run-of-the-mill vegan burger – kidney beans, miso, red rice, caramelised onions. And they did work together well.
The burgers seem to set around the miso, and the red rice gave real depth and bite. I was worried that the grains might be chewy, but they were more subtle in combination with the other ingredients than I expected
This recipe made six ample burgers that held together beautifully (a visit to the pub undoubtedly helped – the shaped burgers could sit in the fridge for an hour or so). They then took only a few minutes on each side to cook. We served the burgers in a soft multigrain bun with some avocado, and a red cabbage slaw on the side that was an ideal way to use up some cabbage, carrots and beetroot that were lurking in the fridge (recipe in the Good Housekeeping Vegetarian Cookbook).
Verdict: 7/10
In Summary…
Top of the tree: Sprout nasi goreng
Biggest surprise: Swede carbonara
One to have another go at: Swede laksa, to try to achieve a fiery but slightly mellower flavour
One not to repeat: None. I can honestly say we want them all again. Tonight.