Roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes with Caper Vinaigrette

This year it is a long cold start to Summer. As I write, I sit here in a jumper in January, thinking of putting a rug over my legs rather than turn the heater on. So, needing something to warm the kitchen, I popped some roast veg in the oven.

Not any roast vegetables – this is an Ottolenghi dish, one that takes a common dish and makes it extraordinary. It is a favourite, and I don’t know why I haven’t posted it before. My note in the cookbook is “Magnificent” pencilled in the margin.

It takes sweet potatoes and parsnips and roasts them with garlic and (later) some cherry tomatoes, before dressing them with a tangy vinaigrette that is both sweet and sour, full of capers for a saltiness. It’s the perfect dish for any festival, celebration, Sunday lunch or any day of the week is born.

Ottolenghi says “The addition of a vinaigrette to freshly roasted vegetables gives them a freshness and juiciness they don’t normally have; the acidity brings out new shades of flavour, too.”

You might also like Roasted Beetroot with Cumin Seeds, Perfect Roast Potatoes, or Hot Roasted Carrot Salad.

Try some Parsnip recipes too: Roughly Mashed Parsnip with Parmesan and Olive Oil, and Parsnip and Carrot Mash.

Take some time to explore the Ottolenghi recipes we have tried. Our Sweet Potato recipes are here and our Parsnip recipes here. Or browse our Mid Summer collection of easy recipes. (You might prefer our Mid Winter recipes!)

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Schiacciata with Cheese Topping

If Focaccia is half way between pizza and bread, then Schiacciata is half way between Focaccia and Pizza. It is flat and usually infused beautifully with olive oil.

Originally cooked in the ashes of the hearth, schiacciata, meaning squashed, is flat and 2 – 3 cm thick (but can be thinner). Variations of the bread are made throughout Italy. In Tuscany, it is simply brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Herbs such as rosemary can be added. A sweet version with grapes and sugar is also made.

This recipe with onion and cheese is great weekday lunch-at-home fare, even for Sunday night supper. It is great with a hearty soup. Maybe Onion Soup would be fabulous. In late Summer, pair it with ripe, bursting figs and celebrate the end of summer.

You might also liked our Focaccia recipes. Our pizza recipes are here. If you need pizza dough, the recipes are here. Feel free to browse other recipes from our Retro Recipes series. Or explore our Late Spring dishes.

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 Baked Ziti with Feta, Baked Pasta with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, 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.

Green Bean and Carrot Poriyal with Mung Dal and Coconut

Poriyals, from Tamil Nadu, and Thorans, from Kerala in India, are quick dishes where vegetables are stirfried with spices and coconut, turning ordinary vegetables into something amazing. They can form part of a meal, or can be eaten alone with roti or chapatti.

Similar recipes include Green Beans with Freekeh, Walnuts and Tahini, Sweet Potato Poriyal, Spinach and Sweetcorn Bhurji, and Carrot Thengai Poriyal.

Browse our Thoran and Poriyal recipes, our Beans recipes, and our other Fry recipes.  Our Indian recipes are here and our Indian Essentials here. Or explore all of the Early Autumn recipes.

Eggplant Makhani | Slow Cooked

A slow cooker recipe with Eggplant and a buttery tomato sauce.

We have some more slow cooker recipes, and please browse our collection of delicious eggplant recipes here and here. Find inspiration in our Autumn recipes here and here.

Ma Ki Dal | Slow Braised Lentils

Urad dal is a lentil that suits long slow cooking and a smoky flavour. With a little work, a covered BBQ will cope with cooking a dish like Slow Braised Lentils slowly for several hours.

This recipe will work in an oven too, no worries. But the joys of cooking outside are enormous so on sunny days, take your lentils outside. This dish is also called Ma di Dal, or Mah di Dal.

You might also like to try the other Mah ki Dal recipes and some  Dal Makhani recipes.

Other Urad Dal recipes include Urad and Red Rice Kitchari, Amritsari Dal, and Urad Dal with Tomatoes.

Try other Dals as well – Masoor Dal with Green Chillies, ISKON Mung Dal, and Simple Indian Dal Soup.

Browse all of our Dal recipes and all of our dishes using Urad Dal. Our Indian recipes are here. Or find inspiration in our Late Spring recipes.

Cooking Focaccia on the BBQ

There is something so special about the scent of bread cooking – and when it is cooked in the BBQ the aroma floats from our balcony over to  our neighbour’s. I am sure they wonder what we were up to.

Cooking bread in the BBQ does produce a different texture than when you cook it in the oven, but it is gorgeous and so good and easy. Cook the focaccia first, and when you take it out, cook your other dishes in the BBQ as the bread cools.

Similar recipes include Schiacciata with Cheese Topping.

You might also like to try other BBQ dishes, including Baked Pears on the BBQ and Bananas on the BBQ. You can also make Stuffed Mushrooms on the BBQ, Fennel with Lemon and Parmesan, and Grilled Cheese on Sourdough Toast, all on the BBQ.

And find inspiration in our Late Winter recipes too.

BBQ Roasted Pears, Strawberries, and Grapes

A BBQ is tremendous, even in winter, even in the cold. We use it more than in non-summer months than in the heat.

If you haven’t see it already, take a look at Part 1 of this BBQ series to see Grilled Fennel with Lemon and Parmesan and Grilled Broccoli with Preserved Lemon and Part 2 of this BBQ Series to see Roasted Carrots with Pomegranate Molasses, Melty Cheese and Baked Bananas. You can also browse the complete BBQ Series of recipes, including Baked Garlicky Eggplant, Baked Apricots, and Hot Tomato Salad. Find inspiration in our Winter recipes here and here.

You might like to browse these – Pear recipes are here and here, Strawberry recipes are here and here, and Grape recipes are here and here.

BBQ’d Carrots with Pomegranate, BBQ Melty Cheese Toast and BBQ’d Baked Bananas

Beautiful wintery days continue, clear skies, sunshine, happy moods. And it is perfect for weekend cooking on the BBQ in a no-fuss, not too much washing up, sort of a way.

Use baby carrots or normal carrots for this dish. Best cooked in a foil tray to minimise dishes and washing up, you could also cook it directly on a BBQ hot plate.

If you haven’t see it already, take a look at Part 1 of this BBQ series to see Grilled Fennel with Lemon and Parmesan and Grilled Broccoli with Preserved Lemon. You can also browse the complete BBQ Series of recipes. Find inspiration in our Winter recipes here and here.

Spiced Quinces

Autumn of course is a time of change. It takes me a while to get into the swing of Autumn but beautiful foods like pomegranates and quinces help. I get a few buckets of quinces from a friend’s farm each year. Not a great lover of quince tarts, pies, etc, I generally bake them all and use the beautiful results for jams, fresh chutneys, syrups, sauces and to feed my freezer (so that I can continue to have jams, chutneys, syrups, sauces throughout the year). This is how I bake them.

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

Or browse all of our Quince recipes, and you might like to read about Autumn Preserving. Chris Manfield’s recipes are here. Also, explore our Mid Autumn collection of dishes.

Turtle Bean Soup | Black Bean Soup

A great Soup provides such great joie d’vivre on a cold night.

This  recipe for Turtle Beans can be slow cooked in the Rice Cooker on the slow-cook setting, in a slow cooker or on the st. Turtle Beans have a dense, earthy texture and flavor, slightly salty and reminiscent of mushrooms. This dish can be used as a thick soup, or served over rice.

The recipe is for a slow cooked version, but it can be adapted for the stove top. I have also made this soup with whole masoor – whole red lentils – with great success.

Similar recipes include Thai Red Lentil Soup.

You might like to see the du Puy Lentil recipes. Or browse our Soup recipes. Be inspired by our Mid-Winter recipes.

Potato and Sweet Potato Spicy Curry | A British “Vindaloo”

This dish is perfect for the peace of Autumn and it’s fantastic light. It originates from Yotam Ottolenghi‘s book Plenty. A present, it is my one of most loved cookbooks. This man is a wizard with food, both the visual and the flavour combinations. It’s not difficult or pretentious food, simply a delight to cook and to eat.

Just for the celebration of Autumn is Two-Potato “Vindaloo”, a spicy dish of potatoes and sweet potatoes. There are some adjustments from the original recipe because by habit I use some of the spices slightly differently. Best made during a slow afternoon, it takes 2 — 2.5 hours to make. But they are not difficult hours — you could delve into your favourite book in the Autumn sun while this bubbles away on the stove-top. Oh and by the way, your house will be headily scented with the most magnificent spicy aroma.

Are you looking for Sweet Potato recipes? Why not try Creamy Baked Sweet Potato, Madras Curry of Sweet Potato, Eggplant and Spinach, Caramelised Sweet Potato, and Sweet Potato Wedges.

Potato dishes include Saag Aloo.

We have some other recipes from Goa for you. Try Crispy Fried Okra, Sweet Surnoli Dosa, and Coconut Rice Roti.

You might like to browse other Ottolenghi recipes. Or explore other recipes from Goa. Other Potato recipes are here and other Sweet Potato recipes here. Or be inspired by our Mid Autumn recipes.

Haloumi Pizza with Oven Dried Tomatoes

Trawling the Farmer’s markets, the result was a full shopping bag topped with some sweet autumn cherry tomatoes, some rapé (rapini), and my favourite organic pizza dough. They came together in a pizza.

Take a look at our other pizzas here and here, and a collection of tomato recipes here and here. Check out our oven dried tomatoes here and here. Find inspiration in our Autumn recipes here and here.

Bengali Rice Kheer

This beautiful Indian dessert is a favourite dish made at Diwali, but it can be made at any time. It is quite wonderful, an Indian take on a rice pudding. One of the beautiful traditions of Diwali is the making and sharing of sweet things.

Similar recipes include Pandan Rice Pudding with Lime Syrup, Sago Payasam, and Greek Rice Pudding.

You might like to browse our dessert recipes here, or our Indian recipes too. Find inspiration in our Mid-Spring recipes.

Green Olive, Walnut, Pistachio and Pomegranate Salad

In the past it has been difficult to get pomegranates that were as tasty as those in Tamil Nadu and Kerala in India. There, they are so flavoursome, sweet, served by the bowlful for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here, early in the season, there were only wild pomegranates in the shop. Small, tart, hard, inedible. It was only later, much much later, some became available that approach the deliciousness of the fruit of India.

Are you after Pomegranate recipes? Why not make your own Pomegranate Molasses, Pomegranate Vinegar  and Pomegranate Honey. Or try Pomegranate and Banana Salad, Pomegranate Salsa, and Burghul Salad with Pomegranates.

You can browse all of our Pomegranate recipes here. And browse all of our Salad recipes here. Or be inspired by our Mid Winter recipes.