All Simple Vegetable RecipesBlogs about simple vegetable recipes

A quick pizza, made with a shop bought pizza base, for days when there is very little time to cook.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 2 to 3

• 3 large onions, very finely sliced
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 prepared 25 cm (10 in) pizza base
• 1 red and 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into rings
• Salt and black pepper
• 175 g (6 oz) mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
• 12 black olives

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
2. Cook two-thirds of the onions in the oil for 5 minutes over high heat.
3. Place the pizza base on a baking sheet and top with the cooked onions. Arrange the peppers on top then finish with the remaining onion slices. Season well with salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the mozzarella over the vegetables and top with the olives. Drizzle with a little more olive oil if you wish.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese is just beginning to melt, bubble and brown. Serve immediately with a green or tomato salad.

How To Select Cauliflower

Baked onions make a marvelously comforting food when you are feeling under the weather. I have kept the filling simple, so this is an ideal dish for delicate days.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

• 4 large onions
• 85 g (3 oz) bulgur wheat
• Salt and black pepper
• 125 ml (4 fl oz) boiling vegetable stock
• 1 Tbsp butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Peel the onions but leave their roots intact. Bring them to the boil in a pan of water and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until just tender.
2. Meanwhile, measure the bulgur wheat into a jug, transfer it to a bowl and add the same volume of water. Allow to stand until required.
3. Take the onions out of the pan and run them under cold water until cool enough to handle. Carefully cut around the tops with a very sharp knife, then scoop out the pulp with a teaspoon, leaving a secure shell. The root helps the onions to keep their shape while you are doing this.
4. Chop the onion pieces. Drain the bulgur wheat, then mix it with the chopped onion and a little seasoning. Pack the mixture back into the onions, and place them a small, buttered ovenproof pan.
5. Add the boiling stock, top each onion with a little butter then hake them in the oven, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Spoon a little of the stock over the onions once or twice during cooking.

Garlic  Saffron Risotto

Shallots work well in this recipe, providing lots of very good onion flavor without altering the consistency of the fondue too much. I puree the shallots, so they blend better into the melted cheese.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4

• 2 shallots
• 2 mild red chilies, seeded
• 300ml (10 fl oz) cide
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 450g (1 lb) Swiss cheese, finely sliced or grated
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 Tbsp corn flour
• 2-3 Tbsp Calvados (optional)
• French bread and cucumber for dipping

1. Roughly chop the shallots and chilies, then blend them to a smooth puree, adding a little of the cider, if necessary.
2. Bring the cider and lemon juice to boil, then add the cheese and seasonings. Stir constantly, over a low heat, until the cheese melts and starts to bubble.
3. Blend the corn flour with the Calvados or a little more cider, then stir it into the fondue. Cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes, until thickened.
4. Pour the fondue into a warmed dish and set over a table burner to keep warm and melted. Dip chunks of bread and cucumber into the pan to scoop up the cheese.

Shallot Caesar salad

• Lentil stew stores very well in the refrigerator and freezer.
• If you have leftovers, or perhaps made this recipe before you received an invitation to the hot new restaurant you’ve been dying to go to, scoop it into plastic containers and pop in the freezer.
• Simply thaw and heat in the microwave for a quick supper.

Festive Tomato Spaghetti

A really fun bread to create and shape, and one that children will enjoy helping to make

Preparation time: 2 hours.

Cooking time: 20 minutes.

Makes 18

• 1 tbsp butter
• 250ml (9 fl oz) milk
• 100ml (3.5 fl oz) water
• 500g (1 lb) white bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant dry yeast
• 1 tsp onion seeds
• 1 egg, beaten
• Coarse salt and onion seeds to decorate

1. Warm the butter in the milk and water until just melted.
2. Mix the flour, salt, yeast and onion seeds in a large bowl, then gradually add the liquid, mixing to slightly sticky dough. Knead thoroughly in the bowl, until the mixtures leaves the sides cleanly. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with a damp cloth or clear film and leave in a warm place for about an hour, until doubled in size.
3. Preheat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas mark 9. Knead the dough gently on a lightly floured surface, then divide it into 18 pieces. Roll each one into a thin pencil shaped log about 30 cm (12 in) long. Lay the roll in front of you in the shape of a horseshoe, then fold the ends up and across, pressing them into the traditional pretzel shape. Arrange on baking sheets and leave for 10 minutes.
4. Brush the pretzels with egg, then sprinkle with coarse salt and onion seeds. Place in the hot oven, immediately lower the temperature to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6 and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Cool on a wire rack and serve on their own or with dips.

Quick tomato and onion bread

Make this on the stove top if you’re going to be around, or let it simmer in a slow cooker all day if you’re not. It’s astonishingly easy, and the result is an elaborately delicious and filling stew, packed with protein and nutrients and a lot of fiber to boot.

Serve it with sourdough bread to pick up the hint of tanginess from the lemon juice that you squeeze in just before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

• 2 onions
• 2 ribs celery
• 2 large carrots
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic
• 3 cups brown lentils
• One 16-ounce can chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lemon

1. Peel as necessary and coarsely chop the onions, celery, carrots and garlic.
2. Combine all ingredients except the lemon in a large stew pot and cover with 2 quarts of cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover loosely, and simmer gently over a very low heat for 3 to 4 hours. (If you use a slow cooker, place all of the ingredients except the lemon in the cooker, add 2 quarts of water, and leave on high for 8 to 10 hours.)
3. When the stew is thick, and the lentils and vegetables are tender (the vegetables will cook down to a sort of mush), half the lemon and squeeze the juice into the stew (use a strainer or squeeze the juice through your fingers to catch the seeds). Stir and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Add more lemon juice if desired.

Pasta Salad

If you’ve got flour tortillas, bottled salsa, and a can of beans, you’re halfway to dinner. Burritos are amazingly forgiving.
You can make them out of practically anything, from scrambled eggs, to chili, to fried potato and onion. This recipe is for a more traditional version.

Serves 2

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• One 16-ounce can black beans or pinto beans
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 ripe avocado
• Cheese
• Lettuce
• Four 8-inch flour tortillas
• Salsa

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Drain the beans, dump into the skillet, and stir, mashing half the beans with the back of a spoon. Stir in the cumin and continue to heat gently.
2. Peel and dice the avocado. Grate some cheese. Thinly slice some lettuce.
3. Wrap the flour tortillas in a clean kitchen towel or in plastic wrap. Lay the wrapped tortillas on a plate and heat them in the microwave on high for 45 seconds.
4. Spoon a quarter of the beans down the middle of a heated tortilla. Sprinkle cheese over the hot beans, add some shredded lettuce and diced avocado, and spoon on salsa to taste. Roll up the burritos and eat them right away.

Venison Onion Pie

Jacket potatoes are really special when the centers are scooped out, mashed and seasoned — it’s worth the extra effort!

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 11/2 hours
Serves 2

• 2 large baking potatoes, weighing about 225 g (8 oz) each
• 2 red onions, halved
• Olive oil
• 115 g (4 oz) Cheddar cheese, grated
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 Tbsp butter or 1-2 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Scrub and score the potatoes, then place them in a small roasting pan with the onions. Drizzle the onions with olive oil then bake for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are done.
2. Slice the potatoes in half and scoop the soft centers out into a food processor.
3. Add the baked onion, most of the cheese, seasonings and butter or milk and process until smooth in consistency.
4. Pile the filling back into the potatoes, top with the remaining cheese, and return to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or brown lightly under a hot grill.

Spanish-style cod with onion

I love risottos made with cracked wheat – they have more crunch than those made with rice. Here the onions and chicken really star for flavor, along with the peanuts.

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

• 2 large onions, finely sliced
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 chicken breast fillets, sliced
• 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
• 300 g (101/2 oz) cracked wheat
• 500 ml (18 fl oz) vegetable or chicken stock
• 3 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• 2 handfuls bean sprouts
• 115 g (4 oz) dry-roasted, unsalted peanuts
• Salt and black pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

1. Cook the onions in the oil in a large frying pan until soft and just starting to brown; add the chicken and stir-fry until it is white all over.
2. Add the pepper and cracked wheat, and toss them in the pan juices, then add the stock. Season with the tamari or soy sauce, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes, until most of the stock has been absorbed.
3. Add the bean sprouts and peanuts. Season with salt and pepper if necessary, then continue cooking for a further I to 2 minutes to heat everything through.
4. Garnish with plenty of chopped parsley and serve with a side salad.

Champ

When you make potato salad, whether it’s French or Italian vinaigrette style or American-style with mayonnaise, the potatoes have to be cooked with the skin on to keep them from getting mushy. I usually make the former, because the American style is so labor-intensive, what with boiling, cooling, peeling, slicing, etc.
Gourmets believe in getting the dressing—or at least the vinegar—onto the potatoes while they’re still as hot as can be, which means peeling the steaming hot spuds by hand while they’re still scalding. There was a day when I would attempt such a thing, rubber gloves and all, but gradually I came to realize that life just might be too short for such things. Now, not only do I not cut them into tempting little bite-size pieces, I don’t even peel the potatoes at all, and I’m sure I’m the better for it. (Ail the vitamins are in the skin, you know.)
This whole-spud approach can only be done, of course, if you have tiny potatoes, so buy the littlest new potatoes you can find. The red-skinned ones look nice in the following salad. You may want to double this recipe because it’s great to have leftovers. The dressing here is the standard vinaigrette that I throw together for any green salad, with or without garlic, but don’t skimp on the Dijon, which holds the whole thing together and makes the texture creamy.
Serves 4

• 11/2 pounds new potatoes
• 1/2 pound fresh green beans
• Dressing
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Scrub any dirt off the potatoes and put them in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and add a couple of teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until tender and the skins just start to crack, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, snap the ends off the green beans and break them into bite-size lengths. Before the end of the potato-cooking time, add the green beans and cook them until they’re bright green but still crunchy, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. While the beans and potatoes finish cooking, make the dressing. Push the garlic through a press into a small jar with a tightly fitted lid. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and shake hard until the dressing is thick and creamy.
4. Drain the beans and potatoes, and place them in a large serving bowl. Pour dressing over all and toss well to coat. Eat right away or let cool for several hours. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Lamb and onion curry