All Veggie Dinner

Last week, I decided to serve an all vegetable dinner - I was simply tired of carbs like rice and roti at every meal and needed a break. Luckily we had fabulous organic vegetables from the weekly farmer's market. Though there was dal and rice in case anyone was still hungry, it went untouched!

I'm not a big mushroom fan, I don't like their texture and watery taste. But one of the very few mushroom dishes I like is stuffed mushroom caps. It works best with large sized button mushrooms and is super easy to prepare. Plus well roasted, it avoids that watery taste that I abhor.

Leeks are a winter favourite and I always buy heaps. I love them simply roasted and slightly burnt at the ends, hot out of the oven, with nothing but a tiny pinch of salt. But for a more filling dish, a cheese, cream and leek bake hits the spot and tastes delicious to boot.

The salad portion was a simple Insalata Caprese, with cherry tomatoes. I think it could have used a touch of garlic or pesto and shall experiment with that next time.

Stuffed Mushrooms:

Ingredients
10 large button mushrooms
1 onion, chopped very fine
Handful of parsley leaves, chopped fine
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 slices of bread, turned into crumbs
2 glugs of oil

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees C.

Remove the stems of the mushrooms and chop the stems very fine. Pour 1 glug of oil into a pan and heat. Toss in the garlic and onions and cook until soft. Add the mushroom pieces and cook. Mix the parsley and add salt and pepper to taste. Mix with the bread crumbs.

Coat the top of the mushroom cap with what's left of the oil and place onto the roasting tray. Fill the hollow on the upper side ( from where you took out the stems) with the mixture of breadcrumbs, mushroom stems etc.

Roast for 25 minutes. Serve hot - serves 5.

Baked Leeks:

Ingredients:
5 leeks - fat ones! Chop off the extreme end of the leafy side and then split vertically down the middle, after washing them thoroughly
200 grams cream
100 grams cheddar cheese, grated
2 slices of bread, crumbed

Heat oven to 150 degrees C.

Heat salted water to a boil. Toss in the leeks and cook for about 5-7 minutes until just soft. Remove and drain. Layer the leeks in a shallow, lightly greased baking pan. Mix the cream and cheese and add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the leeks. Cover with breadcrumbs. Bake for 35 minutes or till brown on top. Serves 5

Insalata caprese:

Ingredients:
Cherry mozzarella - 10 small balls
Firm, ripe tomatoes  - 5, sliced
Handful of basil leaves, chiffonaded
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the cherry mozzarella on a plate. Sandwich between slices of tomatoes. Top with the basil leaves. pour over the olive oil, add salt and pepper. Leave for a couple of hours for the flavours to develop. Serve at room temperature. serves 5. You can add sliced olives, or dress with pesto sauce instead of plain olive oil, add a touch of garlic to the oil for a fancier touch.