Vegetarian Delight

I know I said that last night would be the last blog till our return from the Islands but tonight’s dinner was divine and I have to share it.

Alton Brown from Good Eats did a programme on Broccoli and I was very taken with this Broccoli “Coleslaw”
The dressing is wonderful and we just loved this salad.
I had forgotten to buy any protein for dinner so it was eat the vege in the fridge night.
So we had an appetizer

The Coleslaw.
1 head Broccoli
Remove any stray stems from the broccoli stalk and peel the hard bits off
Finely slice on mandolin

Make the Dressing

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix everything, except the oil with a whisk
to make an emulsion
Slowly add the oil and whisk
Voila the dressing

Toss the broccoli in the dressing and pop into the fridge for least
1 hour.

Add 6 ozs cherry tomatoes sliced
3 oz toasted nuts I used walnuts
2 tablespoons basil chiffonade toss to combine
I didn’t have any basil but there you go

Sit about 15 minutes then serve

Fresh, clean, pretty and it tasted sensational

On the side some Balsamic Glazed Beetroot
This is so simple but divine
I saw this on Britain’s Best Dish
It accompanied a Trout Mousse but I didn’t have trout but I did have beetroot.

So peel the beetroot and cut into thin strips.
Place in a pot of cold salted water
Bring to the boil
Simmer till knife tender about 10 minutes
Drain and return to pot.
Good slurp of Balsamic vinegar
Same size slurp of Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toss around
That deep colour, so shiny and appealing.
There were leeks in the fridge and I had a kumara so I devised

Leek and Kumara/Sweet Potato Bake

I love braised leeks
Just slice the leeks finely
Sauté gently in a little olive oil
Season with salt and pepper
Add a little water bring to gentle simmer.
Cover and leave for about 6 minutes.
The leeks are a wonderful colour.


Served just like that with a knob of butter. Superb.
BUT I wanted a meal so

I drained the leeks
Into the pan 2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and white pepper
1 teaspoon mustard
1 cup milk

Make a roux.
Add the leeks and prepare to layer the dish
Check your seasoning and adjust if necessary

I sliced a peeled kumara on the mandolin.
Greased a casserole dish
Layer of kumara
Grate some cheese over that I used Gruyere.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepperThen leek mixture
More kumara, season
Grated cheese
More leeks
Pour about 3 tablespoons milk over the dish for some extra moisture
Lots of grated cheese on top
Cover and bake 180C 50 minutes till kumara is tender
Remove lid
Another 10 minutes to brown the cheese
This was just beautiful.
We ate it alone but it would make a great accompaniment for any meat dish. The sweetness of the leeks, and the kumara, with the lovely nutty flavour of the gruyere.

Stunning.

Also Stunning another shot of where we will be in a couple of days. Tahiti here we come!