Cherry and ricotta crepes

Brunch: Cherry and ricotta crepes and ricotta and home-made blackberry jam crepes

Dinner: Soba noodle stir fry with hoisin vegetables

Snacks: Pomegranate, oranges and too much cake

After staying at Aktief in the Czech Republic, we decided to pop over into Poland for breakfast - an action that was deemed "very decadent" by our hosts. Having found a restaurant that would open for us to eat, attempted to communicate in about 4 different languages with the owner and quite frankly shocked the lovely man by demanding that 'nechni maso" (we don't want meat) we feasted on cheese perogies, ricotta crepes and apple crepes with the most wicked coffee. The owner was also keen to tell us that his daughter lived in England:

"London?"
"England."

I spiced things up a little bit when I tried to remake his brunch banquet by adding cherries to the crepes and it was a great addition. For the batter, make sure it's very thin, and you'll want to use about a ladle-full for each crepe.

You'll need
(feeds 2)

300ml milk
1 large egg
100g plain flour
a big handful of cherries, sliced
1 tbsp butter, melted
about 100-150g light ricotta

Method:

Beat the egg in a jug
Whisk in the flour and milk a bit at a time, making sure there are no flour lumps
Add the melted butter and whisk thoroughly. It should be thin but still hold a little
Put the frying pan onto a medium heat for a few minutes
Add a knob of butter and keep it on about 3/4 full heat
With some kitchen towel, make sure the whole pan is coated in the melted butter
Take the pan off the heat and pour about a ladel full of batter into it. Swirl it around the pan so the batter coats the bottom
Put it back onto the heat and flip with it moves around freely and bubbles are forming
Cook for about the same amount of time on this side
Slide the crepe onto a plate and start again with the next crepe
While the next one is cooking, lay some slices cherries on half of the crepe, and then a layer of ricotta - as thick as you like!
Fold the other half over this layered part, and then fold the whole thing is half again. It should look like the photo above.
Keep the crepes going in the hot pan til all the batter is gone / your friends are full

These are quite filling so are great for a brunch, especially served with some fruit iced tea and some actual fruit.

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The Cupboard is Bare Omelette

(from an excellent day in the Czech Republic)

Breakfast: Yet more yogurt

Lunch: Manatee bread with a whole load of cheese and unclassified salads

Dinner: The absolute Cupboard is Bare Omelette (with sun-dried tomatoes and green olives) with some fantastic local beer.

Having visited the beautiful Teplice Rocks in East Bohemia, Claire, Zoe and I had driven north and were looking for a place to stay the night. We were underwhelmed with the choice of relatively expensive, musty hotels full of 70s decor and were incredibly lucky to stumble on Aktief, a campsite and converted barnhouse run by the lovely Albert and his wife - and Albert himself turned out to be the former flying instructor to the Dutch royal family!

Despite being bewildered as to how we'd found them (sitting, as they did, 400m from the Polish border and hidden apart from a small sign) Albert and Mrs Albert were incredibly nice to us, giving us a whole apartment to ourselves for hardly any money, and bringing us local beers for free. The only problem was that we'd got no food, and apparently in the Czech countryside everything closes at 5pm.

Using some eggs bought from Albert and the remnants of our lunch in the car, we threw together this surprisingly tasty omelette - which I hope goes to show that no matter how bare the cupboard is, there is always something to be made if you get inventive!

You'll need
(feeds 2)

4 eggs
as many sun-dried tomatoes as you can muster
as many green olives as you can muster
black pepper

Method:

Chop the olives and tomatoes roughly and throw them into a frying pan for a minute or so - with a little oil if you have any
Beat the eggs together
Pour the eggs into the frying pan
Keep the pan on a low heat until the top of the omelette is becoming firm
Cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes to cook the top
Serve folded with any extra olives on the side, and season with black pepper

Enjoy this with local, micro-brewed beer overlooking the sunset over the hills, and you'll feel like you just had a Roman banquet. We could not have been happier.

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Spätzle with avocado and feta

Breakfast: The classic home-made granola with yogurt

Lunch: Spätzle with avocado and feta, along with a mushroom, rocket and red pepper salad

Dinner: Lentil chili

Having spent a few gorgeous days traversing the unspeakably beautiful Czech areas of East and North Bohemia, Claire, Zoe and I found ourselves in Pilsner, home of the famous beer. We'd spent much of the day driving in every single wrong way possible, so I was more than ready to sample some of the local beverages, but I knew, with my non-tolerance to anything served in pint form, that we'd need some decent food first.

As one of only 2 vegetarian things on the menu at our chosen eatery, these were an obvious choice - and they turned out to be delicious. They're technically a form of egg noodle, but are much more like egg gnocchi, or perogies without the filling. The Germans / Hungarians have them with meat dishes or with a sauce / roasted veggies, but as this was brunch and it was hot I threw some freshness in instead.

If you don't have a "spätzle hex" to make these the restaurant way (and who does these days?) you can make them the surprisingly simple old school way as outlined below. It can all be done in under 15 minutes.

You'll need:
(feeds 2 with a side)

125g plain / all-purpose flour
100ml milk
1 egg
a pinch of salt
a little oil for the spoon
2 tbsp of feta
1 avocado
black pepper

Method:

Stir together the flour and the salt
In a different bowl, mix together the milk and egg, then combine everything
Heat a large pan full of water until it's boiling
Take a teaspoon, dip it in some oil (to stop the mixture sticking to the spoon) and get about 1/4 of a teaspoon of the mixture on the spoon
Drop the mixture from the spoon into the boiling water
Repeat until the bowl is full or the mixture is done
Make sure the spätzle aren't stuck to the bottom; when they float to the top, after about 3 minutes, they're done!
Use a slotted spoon to remove them and put them into a dry bowl
Cube the avocado and add it to the spätzle, and crumble feta on top
Add some black pepper and serve

These are a nice alternative to eggs for brunch, can be served with grated cheese and fried onions and would go beautifully with a veggie stew. You can also have them sweet with apples or any other fruit, but I have yet to try this!

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Chickpea balls with yogurt and mint dip

(another day in good ol' Yorkshire)

Breakfast: A massive tub of greek yogurt

Lunch: A fantastic hummus and sundried tomato sandwich with a humongous pot of English Breakfast tea at the wonderful Hairy Fig in York - "purveyors of fine fodder"

Dinner: Chickpea balls with yogurt and mint dip, potatoes and other veggies, followed by home-made rice pudding - thanks Mum! (Truth be told, I did follow the family tradition of having 2 different desserts. Ahem.)

So you go out for the day and you tell your mum that you'll definitely be back for the big family goodbye meal she's got planned. You also tell her you'll sort out some veggie option for yourself.

You go off and have a fantastic day with your mate Sarah in York, find a great little cafe, do some shopping and turn up 10 minutes before dinner is served, having forgotten all about your promise. The household is not usually filled with vegetarian-friendly food stuffs but you've got to make something. What do you do?

Well, you come up with the recipe for these chickpea balls on the spot. They're not quite falafel as the consistency is much different and they don't contain garlic or flour. They're also a bit more plain but are ridiculously easy and quick to make.

You'll need:
(Feeds 2)

1 tin chickpeas, cooked
3 spring onions, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 slices brown bread, in crumbs
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
handful fresh coriander, chopped
oil

Method:

Blend everything together and shape into balls
Shallow fry in a pan with a bit of oil
Turn to ensure even cooking on all sides and throughout. This takes 10-15 minutes.
Serve with yogurt and mint dip

These also go really well with a tomato and red wine sauce with roasted vegetable couscous on the side. I made these to say thanks to the lovely Jo, Sam and David who put me up in Streatham and they were pretty delightful....as were the chickpea balls (ha!).

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Grilled halloumi pitta pockets

(from a day in Yorkshire)

Breakfast: Wilton wholefoods orchard mueseli - bought from a market in Salisbury and enjoyed for weeks!

Lunch: A few awesome salads from Marks & Spencer

Dinner: Grilled halloumi pitta pockets with salad

I had the fabulous luck to go to the Glastonbury Festival for the first time this year, and though I could gush for days about how amazing it is, I'll restrain myself to saying this: go.

I will rave, however, about their food: best festival food ever, hands down. As a rough guess I'd say that half the food on sale is vegetarian, and in the Green Fields areas they only sell meat-free dishes. You could get full vegan breakfasts for 6 pounds and the best veggie burger I've tasted in a long time. You could also get these fantastic pitta pockets, which are great to eat while you're concentrating on pulling your wellies out of the mud with every step.

You'll need
(Feeds 2)

1 small packet of halloumi (see note below)
1 large red pepper
hummus
2 wholemeal pitta pockets
a handful of spinach
1/2 a red onion
balsamic vinegar
a handful of lettuce leaves
a handful of cherry tomatoes
a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Slice the red pepper and the red onions thinly
Thrown these into a frying pan with the oil and fry until soft
Add in a splash of balsamic vinegar and keep frying until browned around the edges and very soft
Add more balsamic vinegar to your taste!
Cut the halloumi into half-inch slices and place on a hot grill pan
Grill for 2-3 minutes on each side
Optional: Place the pitta breads in the microwave for 30 seconds each
Slice the pitta pockets along one of the long sides to make a pocket
Coat the insides with hummus
Stuff the spinach right into the pockets
Add the onions and peppers when they're done, being sure to push these veggies as far in as you can - we're looking for a fully stuffed pocket!
Top these pockets with the grilled halloumi
Toss the lettuce and tomatoes together with a little black pepper
Serve the pocket on top of the salad, as shown above

Cheeses such as halloumi are a good source of calcium, and halloumi isn't too heavy in fats and contains lots of protein. Plus it's super delicious.

If you don't have a grill pan you can do these under the grill for the same amount of time - but make sure the grill isn't turned up fully or the cheese will melt through the rack (as happened to me at Sarah's house!).

N.B. It's important to make sure that your halloumi is set with vegetable rennet rather than animal rennet. Rennet is a mix of enzymes taken from the stomach of a mammal and as such, isn't vegetarian. There are veggie alternatives though, such as thistle and fig enzymes. A hell of a lot of cheeses with contain rennet and may not obviously state this on the label so if you are a strict vegetarian, be very careful...or make your own!

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...and she's back!

Well hello! It's been much too long. How have you been?

So yesterday I got back from my Europe trip and I have to make huge apologies for the lack of content while I've been away. I was much too busy enjoying curries on Brick Lane in London, fantastic veggie festival fare at Glastonbury and cheese-based goodies in Prague. And almost getting arrested in Litomerice, but that's another story altogether.

The good news is that I am back with a vengeance and in the next week or so will be featuring recipes inspired by these gastronomic adventures: expect grilled halloumi pitta pockets, ricotta pancakes and chickpea balls with dipping sauce among many others.

As ever, please comment with any requests and I'll do my best to give you something great in return.

Vive la veggie!