aubergine pasta

ok - probably not "perfect" diet food - but very lovely, adapted from paul gayler's pure vegetarian book

it's adapted first by reducing his oil count from 5 tablespoons to 2 !!... and to avoid the aubergine soaking all that up I baked it first, I baked garlic too - much more than he suggests
all baked where he fries ..

then I threw in some extra liquid (rice wine and soy sauce) to add juice instead of oiliness .. but otherwise it's the same - and really good range of flavours and textures!

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aubergine
sesame oil
veg oil
garlic
ginger

chinese black beans (or kideny beans)
chilli

hoisin sauce
peanut butter
soy sauce
rice wine

spring onion
coriander


bake one large aubergine with 5 BIG clovesof garlic (still in skin) about 40 mins gas 6-7

when that's nearly ready put 5 oz of pasta to boil, and a side dish of green beans to steam ..

when aubergine is ready assemble the sauce:

fry 2 inches of finely chopped ginger in 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1 tbs veg oil
squeeze baked garlic cloves out and mash
cut baked aubergine in to small dice
add these two to the sizzling ginger
stir and fry for a minute

add two tbsp chopped beans - he says dried chinese black beans, I used kidney beans!
1 finely chopped red chilli
stir and fry for a couple of minutes

add 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
two tbs hoisin sauce
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp soy sauce

(if it is too thick, it'll take a drop of water at this point)

when it's all blended and gorgeous dress it with a few finely chopped spring onions and soem chopped coriander (or red onions and parsley)

add the drained pasta to it then eat it with the green beans and great pleasure!

hill cycling

This was a big weekend for me .. I decided it was time to try out some of the local routes from here and have a go with a few inclines. It was great.

We peddled down to the canal to start with, so no hills there, and then we took off from Endon up and down the hills from there to Rudyard Lake. We then did a bit more flat along the side of the lake and came back the same way. It's a round trip of a little over 20 miles (don't know exactly how far cos my odometer has gone missing). The lake looked beautiful with quite a few sailing on it, and despite the dreary weather forecast the sky was blue and sunny.

It is a sentimental route cos we first used to do it 17 /18 years ago before we were a "couple" and used to cycle together after work. Since B got her job in Cheshire we've literally never done it, so it has been a few years "off" and it was fun to go again.

In the olden days we used to call in on J and R, a couple we know, who used to live in Endon. We'd often stop there for a chat with J, my friend, and her hubbie R was sometimes there. We'd have a cup of tea on their veranda and then finish our journey to our separate homes from there.
When B and I announced ourselves as a couple, J told me she wasn't a bit surprised, because R had once said that it was obvious to him that B and I were in love with each other. Obvious to him, before it was obvious to us. Clever guy!

Then things moved on, J and R split up, she went to live on the south coast, and I heard recently that he was terminally ill with lung cancer.

So what is the dynamic that suddenly brought all four of us together again this weekend, literally yards from where they used to live. There was Brigid and I out on our bikes together on that route for the first time in years, and there was J back up here to drive her ex-husband around in his final weeks on trips to places they used to go.

It was amazing.

It was good for me to meet him and hear how he feels about being terminally ill, and it was good or me to tell him he hadn't been wrong about B and I. We must have been in love then, and we still are.

And the hills still enchant us.

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risotto

this is a bit bland, but sort of creamy and comforting for a winter supper, it's based on a Nigel Slater recipe, but he's not writing diet food, so he has butter and frying of the garlic, rice and leeks, which I cut out
and much more cheese, like 4 oz of camembert

.. for extra flavour I've added saffron and used a little parmesan

boil two or three finely chopped leeks in a little stock (I use organic chicken but veggies wouldn't care for it!)
at the same time- start cooking 4-6 ounces of arborio (risotto) rice in a wok with three ladles of (more) stock
add three cloves finely chopped garlic and a good glug of white wine to the rice
stir occasionally as the stock incorporates
meanwhile put a generous pinch of saffron strands in an egg cup of hot water to release the aromas

when the leeks are tender fish them out of its stock and add to the rice
reserve the stock and use it to add to the rice
contiune to add the stock to the rice, as it absorbs the moisture ..

the finished dish should be slightly moist, but not at all soupy

takes up to 45 mins to cook the rice properly, keep testing it, and don't over-add stock towards the end.

Stir in the saffron and grate in an ounce of two of parmesan

serve with dark green salad (spinach, waercress, rocket) or tomato-based salad.

snacks

Good snack for on-toast with soup:

fry couple or more cloves of chopped garlic
add bag of spinach and wilt
squeeze in a tablespoon of tomatoe puree and blend well - cook for couple of minutes
stir in bag of rocket - wilt

Load the lush green mass onto nutty-bread-toast and enjoy ...

more seasonal soup

I used about 1/2 a squash to three or four peppers

put peeled chunks of the butternut squash in a roasting tin and sprinkle with a bit of walnut oil -- roast until tender and slightly caught at the edges .. about 40 mins on gas 6..

drain the brine off some bottled red peppers and rinse thoroughly (you could roast and peel fresh ones, but this is a bit tedious compared to the ease of using the bottled ones - and they work out quite cheap if you get them in Aldi!)

blend the roasted squash and peppers with some stock - add more stock till you get a thickness / taste you like, and reheat ..

this might also be nice with a few leaves of rosemary in it ..

very nice if served with B's walnut bread ...