Lentil Love

I recently purchased some courgettes. I love having them on their own, steamed with a blob of soya butter, all soft and mushy. Eating them really brings back memories of my mum's cooking, when our garden used to yield copious amounts of this vegetable, along with many larger marrows! To me, a courgette is, along with butternut squash, one of my ultimate comfort foods.

















Not really knowing what to do with all the courgettes I bought (apart from the obvious but rather boring Ratatouille), I googled "courgette recipes" and was also recommended another by a friend. I don't use lentils enough either, and they are usually sitting in the cupboard for months, so both recipes enabled me to use up my leftover pulses and veg.

The first recipe is for Courgette & Lentil Stew. This garlicy, tomatoey, nourishing stew is perfect for a snuggly Autumn night in. I've been feeling a little poorly lately, so soft, comforting food is very welcome. The recipe I googled wasn't very informative, merely stating to throw in, bring to the boil and then simmer :

- 2 cups of cooked lentils
- 1 can of stewed tomatoes
- Half a can of vegetable broth
- 4 small courgettes (diced)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Pinch of salt & pepper

I played around with the amounts of the ingredients a bit, and tossed in some paprika for a bit of extra taste.

The second recipe was for Lentil Spaghetti Bolognaise. I used the left overs from the recipe above, then added some stirfried onions and mushrooms, cooked carrots, extra tomato purée, and some marjoram. I served it over some wholewheat spaghetti and will be taking it into work tomorrow for my lunch. Gorgeous :)

I should have added the secret ingredient that I add to all my bolognaise dishes: CELERY! Alas I didn't have any in the fridge. Celery, grated into a bolognaise, really adds to the flavour. I know a lot of people who hate celery, but sneak it into a bolognaise and they're raving about it!

Remember, if you are cooking dried lentils it is advisable to soak them overnight (or for at least 6 hours), rinse them well, and then cook them for 30 minutes before eating.

Spaghetti Bolognaise

I haven't had this for a while and I wanted to actually sit down with my boy and eat the same thing as him for a change. He's a meat eater, and even though he does like a lot of vegan food that I make, he'd always rather have his meat and dairy... so I decided I'd make a Spaghetti Bolognaise for us both, using TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), also known as Soya Mince. You can buy it dry in most health food shops, in minced or chunky format, and all you need to do is soak it for a while prior to cooking. It's very spongey so when you drain it you have to squeeze the water out quite well. The advantage to this however, is that it soaks sauces up really nicely. We came in from a long day's galavanting, so it was an ideal quick meal.

All I did was fry up some onions and garlic, add some low fat pasta sauce, basil and sweetcorn, then add the pre-soaked TVP and served it over wholewheat brown spaghetti. I dislike normal 'white' spaghetti, I don't think there's much to it, but wholewheat spaghetti is lovely! It tastes different to brown pasta and I think it really adds flavour to a dish. It's quite nutty and it also goes well with vegan pesto. My mother used to make Spaghetti Bolognaise with this type of spaghetti, so it really brings back childhood memories when I eat it.

 Sorry about the bad photo, it was very steamy and kept fuzzing up my lens! I only had a small portion (this is a side plate) as the boy needs a lot of food and I also wanted to save some for my dinner tomorrow as it's SO yummy! :)

Next week I plan on making some Burritos with this soya protein mince, some Old El Paso spice mix, sweetcorn, onions, peppers, guacamole & salsa - another dish the boyfriend loves!