SmarterFitter Daily

Maybe a little too warm. But it was decent. Also in the salad: romaine lettuce, carrots, red onion, tomato, sunflower seeds, argan oil, lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper.

A variation of my Vegan Breakfast Tacos (no jalapeno or green pepper, alas, but Trader Joe's Corn Salsa made up for it). Side of cabbage salad (shredded cabbage, fresh lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, salt and pepper).

Nettle and mushroom risotto. This was my second time ever cooking with foraged nettles, and my first time making risotto! I adapted the recipe for nettle risotto from the Vegetarian Cookery School which recommends a garnish of fried morels - I wish.

Instead, I did chestnut mushrooms in the risotto, plus a trickle of white truffle oil and some Cornish yarg to finish. I was pretty happy with this and would definitely try it again. The only thing I might to differently next time is blanch and chop the nettles before adding them to the risotto. Also felt it could use a squeeze of lemon juice, but is that wrong in risotto? I just don't know!

I will say this might be the start of a risotto kick. I've got loads of risotto rice around and it would help my mission to "use up the larder". I can also see risotto working well as a stuffing for other veggies, or as a quick breakfast from leftovers. 

A worthwhile use of the first asparagus of the season.

I have a stash of various veggie burger incarnations in the freezer, many of which come from recipes in Lukas Volger's Veggie Burgers Every Which Way book. I love this stash because they make lunches sooo easy. And I'm all about using veggie burgers in non-sandwich motifs, treating them as more of a "steak" rather than a bread filler. To that end, I love using veggie burgers to turn raw kale salads into a complete meal. 

Here, it's Lukas Volgers tempeh burgers to the rescue, a good match for this Asian-esque raw kale salad with curly kale, orange wedges, spring onion, grated carrot, toasted almonds, lemon juice, olive oil, and the magic: Sriracha sauce. A little requisite avocado and this was a total win.

Handy tip: frozen veggie burgers heat up pretty well in the toaster, giving them a crisp outer crunch that makes them also crouton like in the salad. I dig it.

Just when I was feeling in a food rut, this came along and rocked my world. 

Recipes:

Yellow Pea Dahl
The Art of Chapattis

One of my favourite easy lunches: take leftover grains (today it was bulgur) and mix it up with some pesto and any other veg you fancy: I really like red pepper and sweetcorn. Stuff it in an oiled portobello and bake til the top starts getting a little crispy. I really like it with rocket and avocado on the side. Something about the flavour of the pesto with the texture of the grain is so nice with the avocado. 

P.S. The mushrooms were found in the hedgerows near my house. Not sure of the variety, but they haven't killed me yet.

Beetroot hummus courtesy of Roz Golding, a little treat she brought for our working lunch last Thursday. Seriously freakin' delicious. Apparently from the River Cottage Veg book. The lentil croquettes are from a Rose Elliot recipe. Served with raw kale salad. Pretty much the ideal lunch.