The months of summer are what we've all been waiting for after a dark and bitterly cold winter, spring has given us hope of warmer weather and finally the sun has come out! We need to celebrate, after all, the sun may not stay out for too long, it seems rather shy at the moment.
To me summer means salads, picnics, long walks over the fields and through the woods, strawberries and other fresh fruits and the lighter nights allow us to go wild and enjoy the fresh air for just that little longer. I mean who likes going to bed when its still light outside - not me! Summer is inviting family and friends around and enjoying each others company, eating great food and drinking sparkling drinks. Get out the bunting and start enjoying those summer garden parties.
I don't know about you but a picnic or garden party is just not the same without falafels. I know shop bought falafels are easy to purchase and some of them are pretty darn tasty but you really cant beat making your own can you? If you've got a food processor then you have no excuse, these can be made in a matter of minutes. The recipe is super easy, just throw your ingredients into a food processor, roll the mixture into balls and pop in the oven.
Ingredients - makes 10 falafels
1 Tin of chickpeas, drained, washed
and picked over and patted dry
½ Onion, chopped
3 Cloves of garlic
2 Tsp Ground cumin
1 Tsp Ground corriander
¼ Tsp Chilli powder
Salt & Pepper
1 Tbsp Parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Method
Place the first seven ingredients into a food processor and process until the mixture is coarse and it starts to stick together.
Turn the mixture into a bowl and add the chopped parsley. Stir to combine fully.
Add the tablespoon of olive oil and mix again.
Take a small amount of the mixture about a tablespoon and roll into balls in your hands. The mixture should easily come together.
Place each ball onto an oven proof tray and cook in a moderate oven for ten minutes. Turn each ball over and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy on their own, with a salad or pop into a pitta.
When I put my Monthly Menus together I have created recipes which help celebrate different food holidays or what fruit and vegetables I need to harvest from my small kitchen garden. I very rarely have a recipe waiting in the wings!
Even though I have had courgettes coming out of my ears I didn't get round to stuffing one until earlier this week. As usual it was a case of sitting in front of the fridge deciding on what needed eating up first to create the stuffing mixture.
I had a packet of Cauldron Falafels that were fast approaching their use by date, which I'd picked up with the intention of speedy work lunches but never got round to using them. So they needed to be the main ingredient in the stuffing. After scanning the fridge I also picked out a few ingredients that also needed eating up and this is what I came up with.
Ingredients - Serves 2 on their own or 4 as a side
2 Courgettes
1 red pepper
4 Celery sticks
1 large onion
6 mushrooms200g Falafels
1 Tsp Dried parsley
1 Tsp Garlic salt
1 Tsp Vegan Worcestershire sauce
To serve
Cooked spaghetti
Handfull Fresh basil, shredded
1 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Method
Finely dice the onion, red pepper and celery sticks.
Cut the courgettes length ways and scoop out the seeds. Put the two halves for each courgette back together and wrap in silver foil. Place in a moderate oven while you make the stuffing.
Fry the onion in a a little olive oil until translucent, add the red pepper and celery and saute for another 2 minutes.
Dice the mushrooms and add to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the mushrooms have released their liquid.
Crumble the falafels into the pan and give everything a good stir to combine all the ingredients.
Add the parsley, garlic salt and Worcestershire sauce and give everything another good stir.
Remove the courgettes from the oven and unwrap, careful they will be hot! Spoon the stuffing mixture into the courgette troughs and pat down so the mixture is compact. Return to the oven on a baking tray for another 15 minutes or until the courgettes are cooked.
To serve toss the spaghetti in the extra virgin olive oil and shredded basil and sit the courgette halves on top.
Today I helped celebrate a friends birthday and we went out for lunch. If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll already know that there is almost nowhere in my home town that caters for vegans! However, the more I ask and explore the more I uncover.
My friend chose the venue and had asked about vegan options when the table was booked. We were eating out at a place which largely cooked burgers, not your regular fast food type but advertised home cooked. The menu was extensive for meat eaters and there were 5 options for vegetarians. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that the vegetarian burgers were all vegan friendly and that the 'toppings' could be swapped to make the meal vegan friendly. To make sure, I emailed the manager and again he repeated what my friend had been told.
Now I've been bitten once to often before, by people who don't really know what vegans eat and have suggested menu options of omelettes, cheesy dishes and even fish before now! So I decided to make extra sure.
On arrival I asked the chef the same question and advised that the manager had told me that all 5 vegetarian burgers were vegan friendly. Its a good job I spoke to the chef, two of the vegetarian burgers contained egg!
However the falafel burger and sweet potato and bean burger were indeed vegan. I ordered the falafal burger topped with basil salsa and black olives instead of the feta cheese.
It was tasty, but the toppings were a little on the small side and they dressed the side salad of lettuce leaves with a vinaigrette which looked and smelt like it contained honey, so I left that. But overall it was nice to dine out somewhere different than the one other restaurant in town which caters for vegans. There's also another option I can try; sweet potato and bean burger, which I'll keep for the next birthday lunch outing. The meal filled me up so I won't be wanting much for tea!
As you all know, I think my Mum is Superwoman! Whilst Hubby and I were ill she did so much for us both. So as I was feeling a little better I decided to make her lunch yesterday. Because we still haven't been shopping though I had to make something out of nothing!
Once again, I raided my 'tardis like' store cupboards and came across a packet of falafel mix, which was way past its 'best before' date, but I figured it would be fine. I also came across a small tin of chick peas hiding at the back of the cupboard, so the protein side of lunch was sorted. Houmous and falafels, it was a shame I didn't have any parsley, because I could have made tabbouleh to go with it.
However, also hiding at the back was an old packet of Mediterranean couscous and after checking the ingredients were suitable, it soon became a part of the lunch. Plus, it was easy to rustle up.
I also had some wholewheat pasta and an avocado so I made Angela's avocado pasta again, but used chives again instead of basil.
To finish the lunch off I chopped up some beetroot and made a simple salad of chicory leaves, chopped spinach, cucumber and carrot ribbons and added a bowl of seeds to sprinkle over the top.
Mum really enjoyed the lunch, especially as it was her first all vegan lunch.
Today, all I fancied was a salad, although I was starving hungry, so it needed to pack some calories. I raided my fridge and through together some salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, beetroot, avocado, houmous and falafels. I then dressed the salad with a squirt of garlic vegan mayonnaise and salt and pepper. It was heavenly, sometimes the most simple things in life are the best.
1 Tin of chickpeas, drained, washed 
