This is a really quick and tasty recipe that I usually like to eat on toast for lunch but you can also serve it on grilled polenta or pasta for a classy vegetarian meal, or over steak as a sauce. As an interesting variation, you could mix up the variety of mushrooms and try Swiss or Oyster as well as the usual button mushroom.

I’ve adapted this recipe over the years, taking out a few ingredients and making it easier. As usual, I don’t normally measure, so I’ve tried to give approximate quantities.

Method

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan and fry mushrooms and rosemary for a couple of minutes.
2. Add wine and reduce slightly for one minute.
3. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until mushrooms are soft.

This dish is very tasty, inexpensive, healthy and easy to make although if you sauté all the vegies first, then it can take a little time to prepare.

Traditionally Ratatouille is made with eggplant so I’ve given the recipe below for eggplant. I don’t really like eggplant so I substitute with carrots instead. I also like to add mushrooms to give it a bit of meatiness, although for a non-vegetarian version, cooked chicken is another option. Also, this dish is traditionally made with fresh chopped tomatoes and fresh herbs, so if you have those at hand use those instead, but the recipe below is the easy tomatoes in a tin version.

The dish packs a punch as far as flavour goes and I love serving it with creamy polenta to balance out the flavours. Even so, the addition of a little chilli really gives it a nice little kick. 

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With all of the silver beet we have growing now, the obvious choice for me was to make scrummy spinach pie. I love this pie, but it’s been years since I have made it last. Until last week. The recipe comes from one of my commonsense cookbooks, but as usual, I adjust it to suit.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 210°C/415°F and grease a baking dish.
2. Wash spinach and shred. Cook as is over low heat until just wilted. Cool and squeeze out excess moisture.
3. Sauté onion over low heat until soft.
4. Mix together spinach, onion, cheeses, eggs and season to taste.
5. Lay pastry in the baking dish letting the edges hang over the sides of the dish, brush with oil and lay another pastry sheet over. Repeat with about 7 layers of pastry.
6. Spread the filling over the pastry layers and fold in edges
7. Place remaining pastry on top of the filling brushing with oil between each sheet. (My dish is small enough that I fold the sheets in half for the top, brushing with oil between each fold.)
8. Brush the top with egg or oil or milk, sprinkle with poppy seeds (or sesame seeds) and bake for around 30 –40 minutes or until golden on top.

Serve warm with bread and salad. Serves 6 – 8.

• I usually don’t use a kg of spinach, I just make the pie smaller and reduce everything else accordingly – except the feta .
• You could add some herbs, nutmeg or paprika, pine nuts or other nuts or chilli to the filling for a little extra kick.
• Add other vegies like mushrooms, grated zucchini, grated carrot etc.
• Add some cooked, shredded chicken for a non-vegetarian version.

These veggie patties are made with rice. The first time I made them, my meat loving husband wasn’t looking forward to them, but even he enjoyed them. A great summer dish with salad, bread and homemade mango chutney.

Method

1. Cook rice and drain
2. Combine all ingredient except for the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. Give it a good squish with your hands to mix well. If the mixture is too moist and doesn’t come together easily, I usually add some breadcrumbs to bind.
3. Form the patties into equal portions and coat in the breadcrumb sesame mix.
4. Leave to set in the fridge for 15 minutes before shallow frying in oil (or oil and butter) until golden brown on both sides. Drain and serve.

Makes up to 12 small patties, but it will depend on the size you like. I usually get 8 patties.

Don’t be put off by all the ingredients in this one. For us this is a pantry staple meal – most of the ingredients I have in our pantry all the time. Mix and match the vegies to whatever you have on hand. You can leave out the spinach, chillies (or use dried chillies or chilli powder), coconut milk and lime juice if they’re not on hand. I usually use chopped ginger in a jar.

Despite this being about lentils, it’s actually a really flavourful and aromatic with the spices. A bonus is that it’s very healthy and cheap. This makes a huge quantity so good for leftovers (lentil flan?) or just reduce the amounts.

I like my lentil stew really liquidy, but if you prefer a drier dhal like consistency, add less water. I had a hard time working out quantities for the ingredients list because I throw in whatever seems right, so adjust the quantities and ingredients to suit your own taste.

Method

1. In a large saucepan sauté onions in oil until translucent.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the lentils. Add the tinned tomatoes, vegetables and enough water to cover. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked through (soft and mushy). Add extra water as necessary to stop the lentils drying out or according to your preferred consistency.
4. When the lentils and vegies are cooked, stir in the spinach, enough coconut milk to make the consistency you like, lime juice, coriander and salt to taste. Warm until the spinach is just wilted.
5. Serve with white or brown rice, naan bread or cooked quinoa. Serves 4.

This recipe is kind of quiche like, but with mashed pumpkin. It has quite a lot of flavour with the garlic and the dried herbs. I usually add some mashed sweet potato too, for flavour and texture because mashed pumpkin usually comes out soggy, even when I steam it. If you don’t have any sweet potato, you could add one normal potato to the pumpkin to give it a bit of texture. Substitute fresh herbs for the dried and use a little more or try oregano or basil instead.

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