Uist Wholefoods Co-operative

I have lots on lots of broad beans at the moment. We used some to make this salad, which was perfect with barbequed food: we had shish kebabs, nan bread, yoghurt and cucumber salad, humus, lots of things. I got the idea from a Jamie Oliver Recipe, but he had added some other ingredients at the end. I stopped short of the full thing, as the salad was delicious enough without the extras. I made it at the last minute, as it is good slightly warm.

Ingredients:

Method:

This works really well served with sour cream or greek-style yoghurt.

For some reason, I got the surplus order of soya beans, which I have been thinking of researching for a while. I didn’t fancy making tofu or any of the other bean products, so I have been trying out some other options. Tonight I had Soya loaf, sort of like meat loaf. The remaining mixture I made into small burgers, which I preferred. I got the basic idea from ‘The Bean Book’ by Rose Elliot. I’ve had this book for 25 years and it is a bit stained, so I was impressed to see that it is back in print. Many of the recipes are useful, but I often change them a bit to spice them up, or use the ingredients to prepare something slightly different. In this case, I think the vegeburgers I made were better than the loaf that is suggested in the book.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz soy beans
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 4 sticks of celery, finely chopped (I used 2 shoots of lovage)
• 2oz butter
• 1/2 can organic chopped tomatoes (wholefood co-op)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree (wholefood co-op)
• 4 oz wholewheat breadcrumbs (wholefood co-op)
• 4 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp thyme (dried from wholefood co-op)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• salt and pepper

Method

• Soak the soy beans overnight in plenty of water, and drain the following day. Cook for 4 hours in plenty of boiling water, until soft. Drain the beans and mash them roughly.
• In a large pan, fry the garlic, onions and celery in the butter over a low heat, for at least ten minutes.
• Add the tomato, tomato puree and the herbs and cook another five minutes more.
• Mash and mix the tomato mixture with the soy beans and the beaten egg: a food processor might help here
• Then add the breadcrumbs and seasoning to make a firm mixture. I did this bit by hand, and got a good texture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• For the loaf, grease a 1lb loaf tin with butter and coat with wholemeal flour. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth overand cover with greased tin foil.  Bake at 190C/375F Mark 5 for 1 hour. Serve hot or warm with a spicy tomato sauce and a side salad.
• For burgers, shape the mixture into burgers and fry or grill. Serve with a spicy tomato sauce, fried mushrooms and a green salad.

I have had a packet of soya beans on the shelf for a while, wondering what to do with them. This is one of the recipes that work well. Truth be told, soy beans are not easy: most of the delicious things I have had made from them have been based on tofu. I have a few more to try, however. I began with a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Eastern Vegetarian Cooking’, a book that I have had for more than twenty years. It is old and scorched, and full of recipes I like.Ingredients:

• Soy beans (from the wholefood co-op)
• Sesame oil (from the wholefood co-op)
• Soy sauce (from the wholefood co-op)
• Sesame seeds (from the wholefood co-op), toasted.
• Stock (from the wholefood co-op) (or water)

Method:

• I started by sprouting the soy beans for several days, rinsing them at least twice a day in fresh water, and keeping them in a cool shaded area of the kitchen. Once the roots were about two inches long, and the beans were beginning to colour green, I put them in the fridge until I was ready.
• Next I simmered the sprouts in stock for about seven minutes, and drained them.
• When they were almost cool, I sprinkled the sprouts with sesame oil and a little soy sauce, and garnished with a teaspoonful of toasted sesame seeds.

Apparently you can add mung bean sprouts for the last couple of minutes of cooking. I served this slightly warm, and it was excellent.

This recipe can be adapted to take in any herbs that you like, and was first posted on the bbc website. .  The courgette can also be replaced with carrot which makes a striking colour addition too.

Ingredients

Method:

This works really well with lamb stock as well, if you are not vegetarian.

Quinoa is a South American grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. Wheat and gluten-free, and packed with protein and vitamins, it can be served in much the same way as couscous.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 butternut squash
2 tbsp olive oil (organic, from wholefood co-op)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
300g quinoa (from wholefood co-op)

Spicy Tomato Sauce:
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil (organic, from wholefood co-op)
2 small red onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp ground cumin (from wholefood co-op)
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 red chilli, finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes (organic, from local shops and from wholefood co-op)
100ml red wine (optional)
150g cashew nuts (from wholefood co-op)
225ml water
2 tbsp tamari (from wholefood co-op)
1 tbsp maple syrup (organic, from wholefood co-op)
½ x 80g pack fresh coriander, chopped

Method

I have lots of turnips still standing in the garden, the last of the winter vegetables. They are a fantastic thing, yellow and spicy and fresh after a long winter. My only gripe about turnips is finding ways tyo cook them. Usually I mash them with potatoes, or, more recently, I have been dicing them to 1cm cubed, and roasting them for 20 minutes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Tonight I discovered why I had found so little in the way of recipes in my books and on the web: the English think they are swedes, and the French and the Americans seem to think they are called Rutabagas. Anyway, no matter what they are called, tonight I tried out this soup. It is from Lindsey Bareham’s incomparable recipe book, ‘A Celebration of Soup’.

 Ingredients:

Method:

I served it with brown toast. However, you could make croutons, and the book suggests polenta chips: small slivers of cooked polenta, coated in oil and grilled to create a crunchy exterior. Very good indeed.

This recipe is dedicated to my friend Anna. The soup is much better than she led me to believe, a delicate pale green with a smooth consistency. The dominant flavour is of celery. It is very useful for using up all the celery that we end up with after recipes that ask for just one or two stems. This version is from Delia Smith’s Vegetarian Collection.

Ingredients

• 350g Celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
• 25g butter (organic available in some local shops)
• 110g potatoes, peeled and finely chopped (locally grown if possible)
• White sections of 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced (locally grown)
• 1 pint stock (marigold stock from wholefood co-op and local shops)
• 1/4 tsp celery seeds (organic, from the whole food co-op)
• 150ml single cream
• 150ml milk (organic from local shops)
• salt and pepper

Method

• Melt the butter in a large pan over low heat.
• Add the chopped celery, potatoes and leeks, and stir. Cover and cook on low for 15 minutes
• Add the stock and celery seeds, and a little salt, and simmer very gently for a further 20 minutes.
• Puree the soup by blending it, then add the cream and milk, and season to taste.

If you have a few celery leaves, chop them finely as a garnish, before serving with hot buttered brown toast.

For some reason, we got a spare 3kg bag of polenta. I think someone ordered it in error through the co-op, so I volunteered to make a start on it. Ideal, as I love polenta, but only know one recipe that uses it. We tried this recipe tonight; it is from Elzabeth David’s Italian Food. We had leeks and goose with it. This recipe produces a very large amount of food, probably enough for 6 people.

Ingredients

1/2 lb organic polenta (wholefood co-op)
1 1/2 pints water
salt and pepper
2 oz organic butter (local shops)
2tbsp organic white flour (wholefood co-op)
1 1/4 pints warm milk (available as organic in local shops)
a grate of nutmeg (available from the wholefood co-op)
2x 1 1/2 oz parmesan or gruyere
1/2 lb mushrooms

method

Clapshot is a traditional dish of boiled and mashed potatoes and turnips, and it is very fine. It could be regarded as Orkeny’s national dish, although there are many versions from all over the British isles. It is best made with winter turnip (known in England as Swede) and with dry, floury potatoes.

Ingredients:

700g potatoes, peeled and diced (local)
700g turnips, peeled and diced (local)
50g butter (organic from local shops)
1 tbsp double cream
salt and pepper

Method

All done.

This is a classic red cabbage dish, versions of which appear in my mother’s recipe book, in Delia, and in Elizabeth David’s ‘French Provincial Cooking’. The latter is my current favourite recipe book.

Ingredients marked * are available organically from the Wholefoods Co-op, and items marked ^ are available as organic, fairly traded, or locally produced from local shops and food producers. ” indicates produce that can be grown locally.

Ingredients

A small red cabbage (about 2lb)
2 medium-sized onions ”
2 cooking apples ”
2 tbsp sugar ^*
2 tbsp port
2 tbsp wine vinegar *
small bunch of parsley, thyme and bayleaf
salt and pepper

Method

This dish is best prepared the day before use, the flavours develop well overnight. It goes really well with pork, vegge burgers, sausages, goose, and apparently, hare.