Christmas Fritata

Roast root vegetables with a bit of kale made for a bright red and green fritata.

Roasted Root Vegetables

I used 2 carrots, 3 beets, 2 sweet potatoes, 4 potatoes and 2 red onions in this mix. It was seasoned with 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon dried rosemary; 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme; 3 toes minced garlic; 3 blanched, peeled and chopped tomatoes; and 1/2 teaspoon mild Hungarian paprika powder (quantities estimated). I cooked it covered for 45 minutes in a moderate oven, then removed the foil and let it cook an additional half hour.

This is nice as a side dish, or you can add some protein to make a full meal.

 

Roasted Yams with Chickpeas and Yoghurt

I tried this recipe for roasted yams with chickpeas and yoghurt but used purple yams and added some yellow beets. It occurred to me that I might have gotten a similar colour effect with orange sweet potatoes and red beets.

I wanted to like this dish because I like all the components independently, but somehow the combination and the seasoning didn’t work for me. I’d rather make sweet potato wedges and serve them with a wrap of roasted chickpeas and tzatziki, or with chickpeas with yoghurt.

Rating: So-so – I’m unlikely to make this again

Hummus Wraps with Roast Vegetables

I made wraps with hummus again, again using a dürüm which I filled with hummus, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber and mixed roast vegetables. The vegetables were roasted with a little olive oil, minced garlic and salt. I included red onions, broccoli, kale, purple yam, zucchini/courgette, butternut squash, beet, carrot, sweet pepper and chard/mangold stems.

Vendhaya Keerai Mor Kozhambu

I served vendhaya keerai mor kozhambu (fenugreek/methi leaves with daal/lentils and yoghurt) with methi/fenugreek roti and carrot-beet fry.

Winter Greens in Coconut Milk

I made winter greens in coconut milk again, this time using Savoy cabbage, oxheart cabbage, bok choy and beet greens. The latter turned the coconut milk slightly pinkish but the flavour was still good.

 

Vegetable Beer Stew

Beer gives a rich flavour to this vegetable stew. I have listed the vegetables I used, but of course you can use any vegetables you like, so long as they all hold their shape. I just used the vegetables I had on hand. I used a German ‘landbier’. The colour of the stew comes from the beet; avoid this vegetable if you’d like a more traditional colour.

Origin

I had half a bottle of beer left from making pizza crust, so I decided to use it in a stew.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 70 grams tomato paste
• 250 ml beer
• 2 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 2 potatoes
• 1 purple yam
• 1 beet
• 6 mu-err mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon vegetarian Worchestershire sauce
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 2 tablespoons flour

Process

Set the mushrooms to soak in water for at least a half hour. Rinse them well and set aside.

Cook the onion in the oil in a medium pot over medium-low heat until soft, about 10 minutes. While the onion is cooking, peel the root vegetables and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Tear the mushroom into pieces. Chop the celery into pieces.

Add the tomato paste to the onions and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Pour the beer over the tomato paste and stir well. Add all the vegetables and enough water to barely cover them. Bring to a simmer. Keep the heat low and simmer for an hour, until all the vegetables are cooked.

Remove the lid. Add the salt, thyme and Worchester sauce. Mix the flour with a little water and add the paste to the stew. Turn up the heat and cook on medium for about 10 minutes or until thickened.

Serves 4.