Roasted Cauliflower, Grape and Creamy Cheddar Salad

A lazy Sunday Lunch with my Father included this great Wintery salad with roasted cauliflower. Easy to make, this Ottolenghi salad can be partly prepared earlier, to mix and serve at the table. It is from Ottolenghi’s book Plenty.

You might like other Cauliflower recipes – Pasta with a Cauliflower Sauce, A Plate of Cauliflower, and Cauliflower Slow Cooked in Oil with Lime and Spices.

Browse all of the Cauliflower recipes, all of our Salads, and all of our Ottolenghi recipes. Or find inspiration in our easy Early Winter recipes.

Tomato Tarte Tatin | Tomato Upside Down Tart

This is an amazing little tart, layered with caramelised onions, oven dried tomatoes and feta. I make it as 4 individual tarts and serve with a green salad and a vegetable salad.

Not only does it taste sensational but it looks simply stunning and unusual.

The taste of the tomatoes is intense, due to the very slow drying of them beforehand. The pie is fragrant with fresh basil, sumac and parsley. Delicious!

Not a fast food, this one. It does take some time to prepare, due primarily to the slow baking of the tomatoes. Best to prepare the tomatoes, pastry and onions the night before and assemble and cook when you need it.

Also try Semi Dried Tomatoes with Pomegranate Molasses, and Halloumi Pizza with Semi Dried Tomatoes.

You might also like our French recipes and other Pies. All of our Tomato recipes are here. Or explore our collection of Late Winter dishes.

This recipe is one of the vegetarian recipes from our first blog which was in existence from 1995 – 2006.  Feel free to browse other recipes from our Retro Recipes series.

Caramelised Onion and Salad Greens

This salad is rather unusual but rather nice. It is a great salad for Autumn and early winter. Caramelised onions are mixed with bitter greens.

Take time to caramelise your onions. They will take between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on your stove, your pan, the onions and the heat that you used. These were cooked for 45 mins, but usually I cook them with a little more heat and they take 30 mins. Watch them carefully as they cook, stirring often.

Are you looking for other Onion Salads? Try Onion Salad with Sesame Oil, Onion Strings Pickled Salad, and Sweet Onion Salad.

Browse all of our many Salads and all of our Onion recipes. You can also check our recipes for Radicchio, Endive, and Escarole. Or simply explore our Late Autumn dishes.

South Indian Baby Corn Soup

Oh how cute – baby corn in a creamy base. It makes a great soup. Fresh baby corn is easy to find in Asian groceries if your local green grocer does not stock it.

This is another soup recipe from Vol 4 of Meenakshi Ammal’s Cook and See iconic books. All the soups in this section are simple, unspiced and almost 1970’s in style. This is not surprising, given the era that Meenakshi Ammal wrote the rest of the books. Soups like this are not common in South India, but not rare either. Baby corn is quite popular – going with the love of all things Indo-Chinese – and as I said, are really cute.

Are you after other South Indian Soups? Try South Indian Spring Onion Soup, Beetroot Soup, and Cauliflower Soup.

Would you like more Sweetcorn dishes? Try Sweetcorn Sundal, and Roast Tomato and Sweetcorn Soup.

All of our South Indian Soups are here and all of our Soups here. Browse our Sweetcorn dishes, and all of our Indian recipes. Or simply explore our Mid Winter dishes.

Strawberries with Lemon

Strawberries! It is Wimbledon time, and great strawberries are still available in our greengrocers, so we mix them up with some lemon or lime juice and munch while we watch replays.

We have some similar recipes. Try Strawberries with Mint and Raspberry Sauce, Strawberries with Sticky Balsamic, and Baked Strawberries.

Or browse all of our Strawberry recipes, and all of our Desserts. And explore all of our Mid Summer dishes for more inspiration.

Pasta Bake with Cabbage and Cheese

Cabbage and Carbs always go well together, right? And this dish of cabbage with pasta is divine. It is a great cold weather dish, and perfectly good for any time of the year as a Sunday Supper. It is a rustic dish, but don’t let that dissuade you.

Sometimes I cook this dish and the family aren’t home yet, and I pick at it in the kitchen until there is a definite hole in the side. It is so delicious with the nutty, slightly stretchy Emmental cheese. So easy to make just 3 ingredients – I cook the pasta and use the pasta water to blanch the cabbage. A few minutes assembly and into the oven it goes for about 20 mins – faster if you have a good fan forced oven. Take it bubbling to the table – your family will be begging for it again and again.

Truly, this dish almost needs a wood fire and a large glass of red. Eat on its own, with salads, or as an accompaniment to other dishes. Left overs are good fried up for breakfast! You could almost say that this comfort dish is NOT a Sydney dish. It is built for Melbourne and Adelaide, and all year round in Tassie. 🙂

Similar dishes include Potatoes and Cheddar Gratin, Baked Eggplant Steaks, and Gratin of Potatoes and Zucchini.

Are you looking for Pasta dishes? First, check out our home made eggless pasta. Then try Pasta with Zucchini and Parsley Pesto, Pasta Sauce with Aubergine, Red Pepper and Tomato, and Light Pasta Salad.

Or are you looking for Cabbage Recipes? Try Malaysian Lemak Style Vegetables, Nappa Cabbage Salad with Peanut Dressing, and Cabbage Thoran.

You might also like to browse all of our Cabbage recipes. All of our Pasta dishes are here. Or browse Baked recipes. Take some time to check out our easy Mid-Winter recipes.

Also browse recipes from our Retro Recipes series – vegetarian recipes from our first blog from 1995 – 2006.

Bamia b’Mishmosh | Okra in Tamarind Sauce with Apricots and Prunes

Okra and Orzo Rice go so well together. Some time ago, we made Orzo Pasta Rice, a version of Vermicelli Rice, and the mixture of the two (rice with either orzo pasta or vermicelli) is utterly delicious. Today, we are pairing it with some simply cooked but oh so delicious okra, cooked on the stove top.

The okra, with Middle Eastern Flavours, is cooked with tamarind, dried apricots, prunes and spices, for that special Middle Eastern sweet-sour taste.

Are you after more Okra dishes? Try Okra with Chilli Spice Paste, Sri Lankan Okra Curry, Warm Salad of Charred Okra, and Okra with Mustard Oil.

You can browse all of our Okra dishes, all Apricot recipes, and all of our Middle Eastern dishes. Or simply explore our Late Autumn dishes.

Orange and Walnut Salad

It so happens that both oranges, fresh from the tree, and fresh, whole walnuts, are far more delicious than their shop-bought counterparts. More amazingly, oranges and walnuts go very well together. Pair them in a salad for a gorgeous luncheon or light supper salad, even in Winter.

Are you after similar recipes? Try Roast Beetroot, Garlic and Walnut Salad, Olive, Walnut and Pomegranate Salad, and Orange and Olive Salad.

You can browse all of our Orange recipes and all of our Walnut dishes. Our vast collection of Salads are here. Or take some time to explore our Mid Winter collection.

Andhra Spinach Chutney | Palakoora Pachadi

Andhra Pradesh is well known for its chutneys, and for the love that Andhra people have for their chutneys. Called pachadi, the chutneys are not to be confused with the pachadi dishes from Tamil Nadu, which are generally yoghurt based like a raita. An Andhra Pachadi is more like a Tamil Thogayal. I hope that clears the confusion.

Andhra Pachadis are ground vegetables and spices, made to be eaten with rice and a dollop of ghee. But you can use them in sandwiches, stirred into yoghurt, or with snacks, chapatti, idli or dosa.

This is a Spinach Andhra Pachadi, and you have never tasted spinach so delicious. Spicy from red and green chillies, and cooling from the ground sesame seeds, it all comes together into an awesome dish.

Are you after similar recipes? Try Spinach Thogayal, Green Chutney, and Coriander and Coconut Chutney.

You can see our Tamil Pachadi dishes here and here, and our Andhra Pachadi dishes here. Or browse all of our Spinach recipes and our Indian dishes. You might also like to explore our Early Winter recipes.

White Beans with Tahina | White Bean Tahini Salad

This lovely salad is a play on hummus – white beans are mixed with tahini, garlic, and lemon juice for a gorgeous salad. Chickpeas could be used also, for a salad even more closely aligned to hummus.

Once the beans are cooked, it is quite easy to make. While the beans are cooking the pinenuts and spices are toasted and some chilli oil mixed. Once the cooked beans are mixed with the other ingredients, they are allowed to sit for an hour for the flavours to meld and be absorbed by the warm beans.

Verjuice, originally from the Middle East, has been popularised in the West by Australia’s Maggie Beer. Thank you Maggie! Our Verjuice is a little sweeter and more complex than the tradition variety. If you would like to try the Middle Eastern verjuice, seek out ab-ghooreh or hosrum in your Middle Eastern grocery.

Are you looking for similar recipes? Try Easy White Bean Salad, Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Salad, and Grilled Eggplant Salad with White Beans.

Browse all of our White Bean recipes and all of our many amazing Salads. Or explore our Mid Winter recipes for more inspiration.

Red Lentils and Mung Dal | Masoor Dal and Mung Dal from Assam

Red lentils, as they are called here, or Masoor Dal, have made a reappearance in this kitchen after we received a large bag of them as a gift. How wonderful to have friends and relatives that gift odd bits and pieces to our pantry – I love them all.

Truly, I had forgotten how wonderful red lentils are, even though we have some stunning dishes that feature them. Red Lentil Soup with Garlic, for example, and also the Turkish Red Lentil Soup with Thick Thick Yoghurt.

Today we are making a Dal from the Assam region in North East India that mixes both split red lentils and mung dal. It is tasty, substantial, healthy and nourishing. The recipe uses mustard oil for a wonderful tang, but ghee can be substituted if preferred.

Are you after Dal recipes? Try  Masoor Dal with Green Chillies, Dal Tadka, Monk’s Dal and Urad Dal with Tomatoes.

You can check all of our Red Lentil recipes, our Mung Dal dishes, and our Dals. Browse our Indian recipes here. Or take some time to explore our Mid Winter dishes.

Garam Chai | Chai Masala

What a wonderful, warming drink this is! Pure relaxation – a cup of Masala Chai and allowing your mind to empty and drift across the universe.

Chai is an Indian spiced milk tea that is generally made up of a rich black tea, full cream milk, various spices and jaggery or other sweetener. The spices used vary from region to region in India, and even amongst households. The most common are cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Because of the spices, Chai produces a warming, soothing effect and gives one a wonderful sense of well being. Chai must have a sweetner added or the spices can’t share their full robust flavours. The sweetness brings out an intensity of flavour.

Are you looking for similar Chai recipes?  Try Yogi Chai, Chai Masala for the Relief of Colds, Cutting Chai, and Peppery Chai. There are Chai Variations here.

All of our Chai recipes are here, and our general Tea recipes here. Please try our other Teas and Coffees, and explore our Indian Recipes. You might also enjoy our Mid Winter recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower and White Bean Puree | Dip, Sauce and Spread

Cauliflowers were so cheap and I bought a huge one, three times bigger than others. After making the Green Pea Soup (which has cauliflower in it), I estimated there were still 6 more dishes possible from this one cauliflower!

Today’s cauli dish is a beautiful puree of roasted cauliflower with cannellini beans. You can also use chickpeas.

Are you looking for other Cauliflower recipes? Try Aloo Gobi, A Plate of Cauliflower, and Cauliflower Slow Cooked with Lime and Spices.

What about some other Purees? Try Fava Bean Puree with Dill and Olive Oil, Spiced Tomato Puree, Georgian Coriander and Walnut Spread and Home Made Tomato Paste.

White Beans feature in White Bean and Tahini Salad, White Bean Soup, and Glorious Five Bean Salad.

Or browse all of our Cauliflower dishes and all of our Purees. Or take some time to explore our Early Winter dishes.

Quince Paste

Quince paste is as old as the hills, being made in the Middle East and slowly spreading across Europe and indeed into Australia, primarily through our foodie icon, Maggie Beer. It must be one of the best uses of quinces.

You will find quinces in the green grocers in Autumn and again in Spring. They are long-keeping, so the appearance in the shops in Spring is a bit of an artifice, I am afraid, as their fruiting time is Autumn. I have such a love of this fruit – perhaps they remind me of my Grandmother. Years ago, I knew of a wonderful, neglected quince tree in the Clare Valley in South Australia, and each Autumn I would spend a weekend in this delightful region and come home with a bucket of quinces. One year, the tree had been removed, and I was devastated.

Since then, I have found that one of my friends has a quince tree, and every Autumn I still get my bucket of quinces. I feel blessed at this time of year, there is such an abundance of produce. It is as though nature is also preparing for Winter.

There are many recipes for quince paste. I use this one. I like the way that the long cooking intensifies the flavour. Serve with the creamiest of cheeses, or eat on its own as a sweet – sneak some for your midnight snack.

We have other Quince recipes too. Try Quince Jam/Jelly, Indian Quince Pickles, and Slow Cooked Sweet Spiced Quinces.

Other recipes that use the dehydrator include Sweet Potato Crisps, Beautiful Dried Capsicum, and Dried Mango.

Or browse all of our Quince recipes, and you might like to read about Autumn Preserving. Also, explore our Mid Autumn collection of dishes.

This recipe is one of the vegetarian recipes from our first blog which was in existence from 1995 – 2005, and is part of our Retro Recipes series.

Sweet Potato Crisps

TV snacks are always needed, especially on those nights after long, hard days. The good news is, you can make your own crisps. We have begun making them from sweet potatoes. They are especially easy to make, and store well in airtight containers.

Are you after other dried snack recipes? Try Spicy Dried Okra, and Dried Capsicum Snacks. On the sweeter side, there is also Dried Mango and Quince Paste.

Why not browse all of our Snacks and all of our Sweet Potato recipes. Have a look at our Dehydrated recipes, or take some time to explore our Early Winter dishes.