Cauliflower Mash

Take a large head of cauliflower steamed soft.

Mash with 1 ounce low-fat cream cheese, 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream,1/4 cup parmesan cheese and 1 to 2 tablespoons of Smart Balance margarine. Salt and pepper to taste.

I haven't made it but thought it looked good and it gets the thumbs up from a nutritionist.

Ooooooooo, sounds very nice, I'll try that... can't we use ICBINB instead though?

I used to make cauliflower mash when I was on Atkins as a sub for mashed potatoes or rice - but it was a much more basic recipe - just cauliflower, mashed up or run through a potato ricer then stir in a little good quality olive oil or butter and seasoning. It was never going to fool anyone that it was really mashed potatoes but it was an acceptable sub for when you can't have or don't want carbs.

Sarah here's Delia's pumpkin pie recipe

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/p...e,1828,RC.html

And here's one from the joy of cooking

http://www.joyofbaking.com/pumpkinpie.html

They are easy to make that second one is a bit fancy I usually buy my pastry and add the filling.

Here's the easy one

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipe....aspx?ID=18470

Ooohhhh THAT sounds nice! I don't think I've ever seen pumpkin in a can, though. I've just checked Sainsbury on-line and Tesco on-line and they haven't got any so I shall ask in the local health food store. Thanks for the links. I Delia

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
500g pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and diced (I used carnival squash because that's what Tesco had, and a whole one, which was more than 500g but I threw it all in)
500g parsnips, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 x 425g cans mixed beans, drained
780g can tomatoes (have to admit I've never seen a can that big so I used two normal size ones)
225ml red wine
300ml vegetable stock
2 large sprigs fresh thyme (I used dried)
1 tbsp sugar
75g fresh breadcrumbs
25g parmesan, grated

1. Heat oven to 180c. Heat the oil in a large pan or wok, addonions, then fry for 5 minutes until golden. Add pumpkin, parsnips and garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes. Stir in beans, tomatoes, wine, stock, thyme, sugar and plenty of seasoning. Bring to the boil, then transfer to a large casserole dish, pressing the beans and vegetables beneath the liquid (I actually did everything in the same pan, I've got a casseroley thing that's also OK on the hob).

2. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Cover, then cook for 40 minutes. Uncover, stir well (not sure how you do this without disturbing the topping?) and cook for a further 40 minutes.

Nutrition info - serves 6, per serving 368 cal, 16g protein, 53g carbs, 9g fat, 2g saturated fat, 14g fibre, 3g sugar, 2.16g salt.

Yum yum! I'm going to cook this tonight but I haven't got a parsnip so I'm going to use celeriac instead.

Thanks for the recipe, Helen.

The cassoulet was delicious - and the recipe makes loads. I'll definitely be making this again. Yum!

I reckon you could make it will various combinations of veg, I'm planning to experiment

Corned Beef Pie
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin chick peas
Other veg if wanted e.g. sweetcorn/peas/cauli/broc etc.
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin corned beef
Onion
Smash
Cheese

cook corned beef, onion, chick peas, kidney beans and tomatoes in a pan add herbs and seasoning to taste, when corned beef has brocken down and mixture is hot throughout put in caserole dish top with smash or mashed potato and top with grated cheese. Cook in ovan until crispy golden brown.

This is really quick and easy and really filling- also cheap if on a budget.

At last I can post some recipes. Ones which I have tasted but not cooked myself! If you are on a 'more fibre mission', a veggie or cooking with one in mind - these are for you. Those who are not sure what yeast extract is - marmite (veggie) Bovril (meaty) or similar like the Aussie vegemite or similar from a health food store. Gives a good flavour. Don't miss out on the cheese in the lazy lentil dish unless someone is vegan of course.

One of my book club friends made these. SHe made the lazy lentils for another friend's after Christmas get together and brought the lasagne one to a New year's Eve bash. Both went down really well. I particularly love the lazy lentil one. I had it hot but people that came later had it cold and really enjoyed it also. The comments in brackets are her's).




Lazy Lentils from Bean Feast by Rose Elliot

Serves 4 to 6, calories 200 to 300

Ingredients
4 large onions peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
I garlic clove, crushed
250 ml (half pint) water
2 teaspoons yeast extract
176 g (6 oz) split red lentils
1 teaspoon mixed herbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
125 g (4 oz) grated cheese
breadcrumbs

Method
Set oven to 150C, 300 F or gas mark 3.
If possible use a flameproof casserole that can go on hob and into oven.

Fry the onions in the oil for 5 to 7 minutes, browning lightly.
Then add the garlic, water and yeast extract and stir until yeast extract dissolved.
Take off the heat and add lentils, herbs, seasoning and most of the cheese.
Sprinkle the rest of cheese on top together with some crumbs.
Bake for 2 hours.
Serve with vegetables and gravy or a parsley sauce.
The protein in the lentils and the cheese is complimentary.



Lasagne with leeks and lentils from Sarah Browns Vegetarian Cookbook

Serves 4 (? Mine came out a bit bigger than that)

Ingredients
100 g (4 oz) brown lentils, washed
15 ml (1 tablespoon) olive oil
450 g (1 lb) leeks, finely diced
225 g (8 oz) mushrooms, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
450 g (1 lb) tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
15 ml (1 teaspoon) shoyu (soya sauce)
salt and pepper
350 to 450 ml (half pint) béchamel sauce (I used shop bought White Lasagne sauce)
50g (2 oz) Parmesan, grated

Method
Put the lentils in a pan with plenty of water to cover.
Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, for 25 mins. Drain reserving the stock.

Heat the oil and gently fry the leeks, carrot, mushrooms and garlic for 5 to 6 mins or until fairly soft (I used a wok, too much veg for my frying pan).

Add the cooked lentils, tomatoes, herbs and shoyu, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the lentil stock if the mixture is too dry. Season to taste.

Preheat oven to gas mark 4, 180 C, 359 F.

Cook the lasagne by boiling them in a large pan of salted water for 8 to 10mins or until tender. As soon as they are cooked, drain them, run cold water over them and spread them out on a damp cloth.
(I used shop bought fresh lasagne that you can use straight from the bag.)

Put a layer of lasagne in a lightly greased baking dish, cut to fit. Cover with a layer of lentil mixture and one of béchamel sauce. Continue in this order until you have used up your ingredients. Finish with a layer of pasta and then béchamel sauce. Sprinkle over the grated cheese.
Bake for 30 mins.

The illustration has a line of sliced tomatoes along the top which looks very attrtactive.

Yum! I love lentils - I shall really enjoy trying these out.

Those lazy lentils look good. Might have to try that one.

Made the pumpkin and parsnip cassoulet on the weekend, have taken it to work in a flask today and am currently eating it - delicious! Used butternut squash instead of pumpkin, also omitted the sugar as it's quite sweet anyway. Also I halved the recipe but it still makes loads! Highly recommended!!

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)
115g/4oz/quarter cup of red lentils
50g/2oz/quarter cup of green lentils
600ml/1 pint/2 and a half cups water
5ml/ 1 tsp ginger pulp
5ml/ 1 tsp crushed garlic
1.5ml / quarter tsp ground turmeric
2 fresh green chillies, chopped
salt to taste.

For the 'Tarka' (Optional)
30ml/2tbsp oil
1 onion, sliced
1.5ml / quarter tsp mustard or onion seeds
4 dried red chillies
1 tomato sliced

Garnish with chopped fresh coriander or mint

1. Put everything in the top list in to a saucepan and bring to the boil - simmer until lentils are tender. This depends on the freshness of your lentils - ours took 30 mins.

2. Mash the lentil mixture with a fork or end of a rolling pin until the consistency of mushy peas. If it looks too dry add in more water, if its too wet then simmer some more.

And thats it! Very easy.

If you want you can make the optional Tarka topping - just heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan and fry the onion with the seeds, chillies and tomatoes together for a couple of minutes and pour over the lentils.

Garnish and serve.

Nutritional info per portion (including the tarka topping)

Energy: 162 cals (without the oil in the topping it is 102 cals per portion)
Fat 6.60g
Saturated fat: 0.74g
Carb: 18.70g
Fibre: 3.20g