As time goes by, my palate seems to be becoming more and more vegetarian by desire rather than design. My daughter gets excellent 3 course school lunches, often involving meat (although she chooses vegetarian options sometimes too) so I figure that it's OK to eat largely vegetarian food for our evening meal. (This changes when my husband is at home, when I eat later with him and he is still a pretty determined carnivore, although he will put up with fresh pesto 'where's the bacon' pasta on occasion.)
Last night, I felt like something warming and spicey, so I fed Georgia earlier and made myself the easiest, most delicious couscous steeped in Belazu Rose Harissa (I am addicted to this stuff) and vegetable stock, cooled and served with chopped cucumber, tomatoes, olives and roasted butternut squash. Yum.
This weekend, I spotted some wonderful vegetarian recipes in the
Telegraph Magazine from the gorgeous looking
Potager Glasshouse Cafe in Cornwall. I am getting stacks of courgettes in my veggie box at the moment, so the first I shall be trying is this delicious looking soup ...
Cumin, lemon and courgette soup with lemon oil
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp caraway
½ tsp fenugreek
7 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
4 courgettes, diced
200g peas (fresh or frozen)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
the grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 small bunch of parsley, chopped
600ml vegetable stock
a little hone
In a dry pan toast the cumin, caraway and fenugreek seeds, then grind them in
a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar. Heat four tablespoons of the oil in
a medium-size pan, add the onions, celery and the ground spices, and fry
over a low heat until soft. Add the courgettes, peas, garlic and some black
pepper, cook for a further five minutes, stir in half of the lemon zest and juice, half of the parsley and all the stock. Simmer for 15
minutes or until cooked, add the rest of the parsley, blend the soup and
season to taste.
Lemon oil Mix the rest of the lemon zest and juice with a little honey
add a little salt and stir in the rest of the olive oil. Swirl on to the
soup.
