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It’s been horrible weather here and as it’s my last day at home for a few days I thought I’d make a cauliflower cheese using up bits and pieces I had, so we had something filling and hot for tea. It’s not a great favourite of mine but my husband really loves it and the cats look forward to any leftover cheese sauce they can get their paws on…

I managed to pick up some cauliflower and broccoli going cheap at Tesco on Saturday so I bought two lots to freeze – I dug those out along with some different portions of cheese I’d frozen when they’d also been going cheap a few weeks before. The cheese was caramelized onion Cheddar and I mixed it through a home made white sauce to which I’d added black pepper and a pinch of mixed spice.The sauce and veg went into an ovenproof dish and then into a hot-ish oven for about 40 minutes. It came out looking all brown and bubbly like this:

Like I said, I’m not a fan but this was so lovely I ended up ending two huge portions…I’ll definitely be making it again.

I’m a big fan of veggie sausages as they are so versatile and this recipe is one of my favourites as it’s easy, filling and tastes really fantastic.

Take 6 – 8 veggie sausages (I really like the Cauldron ones) and brown in a little oil. Meanwhile, slice up 2 leeks, about 12 mushrooms and about 8 new potatoes. Add the sausages and veg to the slow cooker along with a pint and a half of veggie stock, a glug of red wine and some seasoning. Cook on a low setting for 6-7 hours.

After cooking for a few hours it’ll start to look like the above. Now for the dumplings, my favourite part Using the recipe from the back of the Atora Veggie Suet pack I made up the dumplings and then raided my spice box for lots of lovely extras……

To the flour, veg suet & salt mix I added a pinch of paprika, mixed spice, black pepper, dried sage & dried rosemary and give it a good old stir before adding the water.

This doughy mixture made about 7 medium dumplings and I popped them on top of the casserole for the last 40 minutes. Apart from about 20 minutes prep, the whole thing took no time at all and the house was filled with lovely wintery smells all day We sat down an hour ago to two huge bowlfuls with plenty left for lunch tomorrow.

Still a lot of cake in the house from yesterday but I had some natural yoghurt and ground almonds to use up so I made some mini yoghurt cakes – and very nice they were too. Not too sweet and perfect with a cup of tea.

Preheat oven to 200c – butter a 12 hole muffin tin

Dry ingredients:
2oz ground almonds
7oz plain flour
5oz sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb of soda
pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:
5oz melted butter
11oz natural yoghurt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp poppyseeds

Combine wet and dry ingredients – but do not overmix (same principle as making muffins I guess). Cook for approximately 20 minutes until cakes are nicely browned.

When I first became a vegetarian in 1983 (gasp) there really wasn’t an alternative to meat products on the market. I vaguely remember that you could buy nut roasts if you looked hard enough but going without meat literally did mean that in the 1980’s. Chicken and chips became chips, meat and two veg became two veg, a hotdog became ketchup in a bun. As I explained below, I didn’t give up meat because I didn’t like the taste of it, so I was delighted when non-meat products began to be slowly introduced onto the UK market. Nowadays you cannot move for veggie alternatives which I think is a wonderful thing – and it at least gives people more of a choice than I had when I made that huge decision to give up meat almost 24 years ago. Most of it’s processed of course so probably little better in terms of salt & fat content than the ‘normal’ varities but used sparingly it makes a fantastic addition to a meal. Here are my current absolute favorites:

1. Cauldron Foods Lincolnshire Vegetarian Sausages – chunky, hold their taste and shape superbly in stews & casseroles. Equally tasty with scrambled egg for breakfast or a baked potato for dinner.

2. Quorn Swedish Style Balls - fantastically versatile but I love them best with a homemade tomato and creme fraiche pasta sauce and linguine.

3. Quorn Lamb Style Grills - amazing with new potatoes, green beans and a dollop of mint sauce.

4. Cauldron Foods Organic Falafel – a mid week favourite stuffed inside pitta bread and served with hummus and a green salad.

5. Tesco Meat Free Beef Style Strips – these are totally BRILLIANT in stir fries, pies & stews.

6. Realeat Vege Mince – we use this all the time for chillies and ragu sauces.

If you haven’t tried any of the above I urge you to have a go – they are all available in Holland & Barratt and the bigger UK supermarkets.