Cooklyn Veg

Lentil soup with spiced onions

2011-12-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

It's supposed to be good luck to eat lentils for the new year, and by coincidence this soup is easy and nourishing if you happen to have over done it on new years eve. The spiced onion, yogurt and lemon topping, inspired by the flavors in Indian dhal, give a lovely spicy, tangy counterpoint to the soft, mellow flavors of the red lentil soup …. Happy New Year! Ingredients:For the soup:1

Christmas jammy dodgers

2011-12-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

Just a quick last minute Christmas one! My English mince pies are done, but in America it isn't Christmastime without a cookie. These have an English twist though, Jammy Dodgers are kids favorite in the UK, I've just changed the shape here to make them festive. These perfect little jam sandwiches do double duty too, the little star cutouts make perfect tree decorations (if they make it

Sort of Tom Yum soup - the ultimate cold cure

2011-12-15T21:45:00.000-05:00

My family and I have become the victims of the cold-that-won't-quit. It just keeps on going, and going ... and going. I'm on day eight and it's not showing any signs of leaving, so I figured it was time to bring out the big guns. I first discovered this miracle cure a few years ago: I had the most terrible cold in the middle of winter and was offered some freelance work, which I obviously

Easy Peasy Mini Mince Pies

2011-11-28T10:37:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was Stir up Sunday: The traditional day you make up your Christmas cake / pudding / mincemeat (any or all of the above). Supposedly all family members give the mixture a 'lucky stir' and make a wish while doing so.So last Sunday I decided I'd make my first ever Christmas cake from this recipe on the Guardian's word of mouth blog. left over from all the fruit cake fun was loads of

Day of the Dead Peppermint Creams

2011-10-24T19:51:00.000-04:00

Having a kid makes Halloween so much more fun. We already have three different costume options for the baby and multiple parties and events to take him to, so I wanted something suitably creepy to bring along. I intended to make peppermint creams last Christmas (in a non skull shape obviously), but I was pregnant and all the recipes I found were made with raw egg whites (major preggo no no!).

Cheese and Marmite Straws

2011-10-09T17:38:00.000-04:00

I have never raised the controversial topic of Marmite on this blog (if you don't know what that is, read about it here). I'll start by saying; I'm a lover, not a hater. If you're from Britain, you're usually one or the other, there's no middle ground to be had on this salty condiment.Condiment is the key word here, and it's the place where I think lots of people go wrong when first trying

Apple crumble and custard slices

2011-10-02T21:35:00.000-04:00

I am a sucker for all things autumn. The weather is finally behaving itself and we have been taking part in many cheesy fall activities: Harvest festivals, leaf peeping, hay rides and, best of all apple picking!So many apples; more than I know what to do with. On autopilot, I ended up making tons and tons of applesauce, hoping I'd do something useful with it, and in this case I did.And this is

Alternative Egg Salad

2011-09-15T21:14:00.000-04:00

I'm told by my husband that I eat tacos and pizza in a very un-American way - with a knife and fork. There are certain foods, supposedly 'fast', supposedly easy to eat with your hands, that you really don't want to observe being eaten. The 'shoveling' that's required by the taco and the revolting, and distinctly New Yorky, 'fold and devour' pizza technique are not pretty things to witness.

Eggplant Fritters with Honey

2011-09-08T21:22:00.000-04:00

Like many British families in the late 80's, we used to take summer holidays in the Costa Del Sol in Spain. The stereotypical British tourist was very well catered for, tons of pubs offered full English breakfasts for people who wanted foreign sunshine but not foreign food. I haven't been back in years, but apparently, not much has changed.Not that we were any better. My main food memories of

Summer Bubble & Squeak

2011-09-01T21:03:00.000-04:00

I associate this dish most strongly with Boxing day (what we in Britain call the day after Christmas). It's basically what you do with all your left over veggies from Christmas dinner, usually a mix of roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts and other root veggies. You mash them all up, fry them in a pan and top it with a fried egg. The name, by the way, is supposed to describe the sound it

Late Summer Glut

2011-08-25T22:31:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite time of year for food - isn't it for everyone? So many gorgeous fruits and veggies are at their best right now; I feel an obligation to cook and eat them all while they're in season. We got a massive haul from our CSA, Holton Farms, so rather than one recipe this week, here's a selection of what we've been eating this week: Pan Con Tomate: Writing it in Spanish doesn't

Homemade Mini Milks aka Frozen Custard Lollies (popsicles)

2011-08-18T16:20:00.000-04:00

If I still lived in the UK I probably wouldn't have random cravings for things like mini milks, and I certainly wouldn't go to the bother of trying to make my own at home. But then, that's the thing with being a foreigner, you miss home, and the little things that make it home, particularly the things that made it home when you were a child. Like milky ice lollies. They're a

Chilled zucchini soup

2011-08-11T22:11:00.001-04:00

My son has recently started eating solid foods (well ok, pureed solid foods). It's been a very exciting, if messy, development for both of us: watching him discover the world of food has been fascinating Today I made a new discovery when I cooked up more pureed zucchini (Courgette if you're British!) than my freezer tray had room for - much to my surprise, pureed zucchini rocks! I didn't have

veggie ricotta frittata

2011-03-15T14:18:00.002-04:00

My new son Evan very obligingly took a 30 min nap that allowed me just enough time to make this (then quickly scarf it down as he threatened to start waking up - oh well). This recipe fits the bill for my new life with a baby: quick to cook with minimal washing up and plenty of left overs for later. It's also extremely delicious, you could really use any combo of vegetables you fancy, but

Lentil Shepherds pie with Colcannon topping

2010-12-30T13:29:00.002-05:00

Add caption I'm 37 weeks pregnant, and I'm spending these final weeks cooking meals that freeze well so we've got plenty of quick easy food on hand to survive those first crazy weeks after the baby arrives. I doubled the lentil filling for this pie and froze half of it - it'll work great as another pie filling, or just reheated and served with rice. Before I became a vegetarian I actually

frozen fruit treats

2010-07-09T15:31:00.001-04:00

My update this week is inspired by two great blog updates I read this week. Firstly, the lovely Tea and Cookies tips to Beat The Heat. Like me, the author is not a happy bunny in the intense heat (when it reached 103f / 39C this week I was a mess). The one tip for beating the heat I liked best was frozen pineapple. It's a great idea I'd never thought of, I love frozen grapes, so I was keen

Vichyssoise

2010-07-04T12:00:00.001-04:00

I have been a very bad bad blogger - this is my first update for more than a month. I have a long list of good excuses for staying away so long that I won't bore you with them, but the main one is that I've moved house (take-out food has been our mainstay for the past couple of weeks - not really worth blogging out). Now, I'm finally getting the chance to enjoy my much bigger, much

lemon ginger barley water

2010-05-29T09:53:00.001-04:00

I just got back from a trip home to the UK this week, so It's been a week of eating British junk food that I brought back with me (Hula Hoops, Wine Gums, Flying Saucers). It's also been a week of trying to re-create my favorite meals - most notably, the perfect ploughman's lunch I had at the Sussex Ox pub in East Sussex. It's dependent on great cheddar cheese and a really good chutney, not

white bean and artichoke salad

2010-05-19T16:58:00.001-04:00

I'm usually lazy when it comes to beans, opting for canned instead of doing my own from scratch. When I do get around to preparing them from scratch, I'm always struck buy how different they are from canned, better flavored and with a more interesting, less mushy texture. I'm also struck by how much they expand ... I started with 1 cup of dried white beans here and ended up with 3 cups of

garibaldi biscuit stars

2010-05-13T16:39:00.002-04:00

Another foray in to baking today. I must admit, I've never been a fan of baking - too much precision is needed and too much can go wrong. So I effed and blinded my way through the making of these cookies/biscuits, but, unlike my other childhood fav, the jam tart (disaster!), the results were worth it.I realize, for Brits, there'll be some lovers and haters of this recipe, Garibaldis are not

lemon yogurt caesar salad

2010-05-11T21:18:00.003-04:00

I'm not much of a purist when it comes to caesar salad - I can't help myself from adding a bunch of non traditional ingredients (avocados for instance, I seem to find an excuse to add them to everything). But most importantly, I'm not a fan of the traditional dressing. I don't like egg based sauces (mayo? no thanks), but I do like the creaminess, so here is my answer.This yogurt based

tangy roasted almonds

2010-05-10T18:49:00.001-04:00

A tip of the hat to my mother in law, Nancy, in Grand Haven, Michigan for this one. When we go home to visit for Thanksgiving she always makes a big bowl of Chex mix for everyone to snack on - she roasts it with butter and worcesteshire sauce - and it's incredibly addictive.I was aiming for the same flavor with these almonds. I've replaced the butter with olive oil to make it a little more

welsh rarebit with spinach

2010-05-08T11:01:00.001-04:00

Ok, for those put off by the weird name, don't be afraid, it's basically just cheese on toast.This is a very traditional British dish which we frequently ate when I was growing up - it's a really quick, easy and delicious snack to rustle up in no time.I had never considered the meaning of the name before now. When I was small I thought it was called Welsh rabbit, and it turns out I wasn't far

super nutritious 'gazpacho'

2010-05-06T13:17:00.001-04:00

Summer has arrived in New York and it's only May!Crazily early summer weather calls for summer food like gazpacho - when it's hot and muggy like this I just can't do hot food, and neither can my tiny kitchen, having the oven on raises the temperature from hot to totally unbearable.A few years ago I spent a summer in Valencia, Spain and developed an addiction to gazpacho, it was available

spring vegetable pasta with lemon and artichoke

2010-05-05T14:13:00.001-04:00

This is one of a few standby weeknight meals in our house, it's endlessly adaptable to what's in season, but spring and summer vegetables work best. The flavors are bright and fresh with lemon, fresh parsley and garlic which pair perfectly with the artichoke and spinach. Recipe note: I used frozen artichoke hearts, of course, if you have time, you could prepare the artichokes from scratch,