Strawberry Cheescake Pots

To make 4 you will need:

• 225g of strawberries (this is a whole tub) cooked with 2tbsp caster sugar until the sugar’s dissolved, then for 2-3 mins longer.
• 5 digestive biscuits whizzed in a processor with 25g melted butter, then pressed into the bottom of four glass pots and chilled.
• 250g tub of mascarpone
• 4tbsp double cream
• 4tbsp icing sugar
• 1 lemon; scrubbed, zested and juiced (put in the microwave for approx 20 seconds until soft and then the juicing is easier)
  

Mix the mascarpone, double cream, icing sugar, lemon juice and zest together.

Make alternate layers of cheesecake and strawberry mix in each glass and serve.

Blueberries work well with this recipe too - again use the whole tub; approx 225g.

Chinese Quorn sizzle with stir-fried vegetables and sweet and sour chilli sauce

• A generous helping of "Chicken Style" Quorn pieces

For the Sauce

• 2tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2tsp light soy sauce
• 1tbsp malt vinegar
• 2tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2tsp chilli powder
• 2 dessertspoons cornflour
• 1/2pt vegetable stock

For the Stir-fried Vegetables

• 4oz Courgettes
• 4oz green peppers
• 4oz red peppers
• 2oz water chesnuts
• 2oz baby sweetcorn cobs
• 4oz beansprouts
• 1tbsp oil

Fry the Quorn until cooked through.

Put the stock, along with the ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and chilli into a saucepan and bring to the boil.

Mix the cornflour to a thin paste with a little water, stir into the pan and cook until the mixture boils and thickens. Adjust the seaasoning at this point.

Top, tail and slice the courgettes lengthwise thinly. Core, de-seed and cut the peppers into strips.

Stir fry all the vegetables in hot oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the beansprouts last. Keep hot.

Fry the quorn in hot oil until golden.

Serve with the quorn covered in the sauce and the vegetables separately.

The Quorn can be substituted with tofu or chicken for non-veggies.

Stuffed Marrow.....

.....One of my personal favourites <3

This recipe serves 4 people generously with a little left over for your lunch the next day.

• 2oz+1tbsp butter
• 1x3lb marrow
• 2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 1lb vegetarian mince
• 2 small carrots, scraped, cooked and diced
• 1 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2tsp pepper
• 1tsp paprika
• 2oz breadcrumbs
• 2 egg yolks, well beaten with 2fl oz single cream
• 4oz vegetarian parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 large green pepper, chopped
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 vegetable stock cube

Preheat the oven to 180C and then grease a large, oblong baking dish.

Cut the marrow in half and scoop out the seeds.

Melt 1oz of butter in a frying pan. Add the onions and green pepper and fry until the onions brown.

Add the vegetarian mince, tomatoes, stock cube and a splash of water (add more if necessary, veggie mince can be quite dry and often needs extra moisture added) and leave to simmer until it begins to swell.

Next you need to add the carrots, salt, pepper, and paprika. (Make sure that you dic

e the carrots reasonably small rather than chunky.) Mix well, then take the mixture off of the heat.

Combine the breadcrumbs with the egg yolk and the cream. Then, stir this mix into the mince-mix and combine them together

thoroughly.

Pile the stuffing into the marrow, sprinkle the parmesan over the stuffing and then cut the remaining butter into small squares and dot over the cheese. (If you are using vegetarian cheddar instead of parmesan (as I did here) then bake the marrow for about 20-30 minutes before adding the cheese and returning to the oven for the remaining time. Also if you are using cheddar, there's no need to add extra butter because the cheddar is more fatty than the parmesan.)

Cook until the marrow is tender and the stuffing is browned - which takes approximately 1 hour. Then you can serve with saute potatoes and green beans for a delicious delectable dinner.

Rice Salad

Put Rice on to boil - Brown rice is best.

Chop 1 courgette, 2 carrots, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper and a stick of celery quite small. Think colourful, a tin of sweetcorn works well too.

Put a mixture of nuts and seeds on a baking tray (sunflower seeds, peanuts and pine nuts work well) and bake in a medium oven for 5 to 10 minutes - watch to make sure that they don't burn. Then let them cool.

When the rice is cooked, put in the sieve or colander and rinse it through with cold water. Let it drain well.

Mix the rice into the vegetables.

Add the nuts.

If you like a salad with a dressing add it at this point. I usually use a fench dressing with a splash of soy sauce.

It will keep in the fridge for a couple of days if you don't dress it. At the dressing at the last moment, just before serving.

Vegetarian Lasagne

Fry 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, 1 large courgette, 1 onion, 1 aubergine (slice the aubergine and sprinkle with a little salt, then press down and leave for ten minutes. Rinse well and pat dry with kitchen towel - otherwise it will be tough and too much moisture will come out of it) and 2-3 cloves of garlic (depending on your tastes).

Add a 400g can of chopped tomatoes and 1-2 tbsp tomato puree, or a special tomatoey sauce that you know makes a good sauce (passata maybe), then simmer for 20 minutes. Simmering is vital with this recipe, it does improve it. Simmer for longer if necessary to thicken it up and get all of the flavours out of the vegetables.

Whilst the vegetables are simmering you need to make your cheese sauce…

Cheese Sauce - Melt a generous spoonful of butter or margarine in a saucepan. Add 1 tbsp at a time of plain flour and mix with a wooden spoon until it all comes together in a tight ball. Then, add dribbles of milk whilst mixing with a whisk (about 1/2 pint but mix it in dribble by dribble rather than all in one go). Let this heat through until thick, then add vegetarian cheddar cheese to taste.

Drizzle a little oil in the bottom of a lasagne dish then spoon half of the tomato mixture on. Make a layer of lasagne sheets on top of this, followed by the rest of the tomato mixture. Follow this with more lasagne sheets and onto this, pour the cheese sauce. Sprinkle vegetarian cheddar cheese on top, and a little vegetarian parmesan or mozzarella if you fancy.

Cook in a preheated oven (180) for 40-45 mins.

Shepherdess Pie

Chop finely; one onion, one large or two small courgettes, 2 large or 3 small carrots, and a large quantity of mushrooms. Fry them until soft.

Add a tin of lentils - if you can’t find tinned lentils, you can buy packets but make sure they are cooked according to the packet instructions before adding - and a tin of beans. Any beans work deliciously well (borlotti, haricot, black eyed etc.) but my personal fave are baked beans. The tomato sauce really adds something to the final flavour. Sometimes I add a few mixed beans aswell as the baked beans (again cooked to the pack instructions before adding). Leave to simmer. Meanwhile, make up 1/3 pint of vegetable stock.

Stir the stock in as it is simmering. Sprinkle on a tablespoon or two of plain flour to thicken the mixture - this will look horrible and lumpy, but keep stirring as it will be ok! Then simmer until everything is nice and soft and hot.

Put it into a casserole/lasagne dish. Mash up enough potatoes to cover the top with a generous helping of butter or margarine, and layer this on top. At this point you can scratch a pretty pattern onto the potato with a fork if you wish.

Bake in a hot oven for about 30/40 minutes.

Delicious with all green vegetables and vegetarian gravy.

A Simple Pasta Bake

Fry one onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a red and 1/2 a yellow pepper, 1/2 a courgette (all chopped) and a good handful of closed cup mushrooms (sliced) for about 15 minutes.
Boil some pasta for about ten minutes.

Add a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes to the vegetable mixture and simmer for ten minutes. Add 1tbsp tomato puree, 1/2-2tsp chilli powder (depending on your preferance), 1tsp each or oregano and basil, then stir in and simmer for a furthur 10 minutes.

Combine the pasta and sauce into an ovenproof dish. Add grated cheddar on top and a sliced ball of mozzarella.

Bake in a hot oven for about 10 minutes or under the grill, just to brown the top until the cheese has melted and is bubbling.

Mummy G’s Special Tip - Add nuts and seeds to the cheese for the topping - healthy and delicious!
Serve with a Green Salad and some crusty bread