Vegetarians are able to enjoy healthy sushi as much as meat eaters with these fish-free sushi rolls. Vegetarian sushi rolls allow you to get creative with colour in the kitchen, while omitting fish, a characteristic of sushi rolls. They can be made from a combination of grated baby marrow with wasabi and sesame seeds, grated carrot and alfalfa sprouts, cream cheese and mixed peppers, cucumber with avocado pear and mayonnaise, tofu and rocket, omelette and water cress or whatever other filling you wish to experiment with. This recipe will serve six.

Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients for the fish-free sushi rolls: vegetable oil, 8 seaweed sheets (nori), wasabi paste, mayonnaise, toasted black and brown sesame seeds and a selection of sliced or grated vegetables of your choice. You will also require some cling film and a sushi mat.

The vinegar mix is made up of 50ml rice vinegar, 25ml castor sugar, 5ml salt, 5ml mirin and a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice. A cup of sushi rice and 1 1/2 cups of water are also required.

Prepare the sushi rice

Cook the sushi rice for 10 to 15 minutes on a low heat. Once cooked, put the rice aside and cover it. Allow it to rest for half an hour. Mix the vinegar ingredients together in the meantime.

Prepare the sushi rice by covering a tray with cling film. Spread the rice over the plastic and then drizzle the vinegar over the rice. Allow the ingredients to cool before preparing the vegetarian sushi rolls.

Prepare the fish-free sushi rolls

Cut the seaweed sheets in half if you want smaller rolls or leave them as they are for larger rolls. Place the vegetable oil in a small bowl in order to dip your fingers to prevent rice from sticking to them. Cover the sushi mat with cling film.

Place the shiny side of the nori onto the mat. Rub some oil onto your fingers and spread the rice over the sheet to create a thin layer. Leave a 1cm space from the edge at the top of the sheet.

Arrange your choice of topping in a line 3cm from the bottom of the nori. Lift and roll the sheet to cover the topping. Use the rolling mat to guide you and finally, pull the sheet towards you to seal the filling.

Roll, cut and serve

Roll the remaining sheet to create a tube shape. Slice the sausage shape with a sharp knife into equal sizes. Serve your vegetarian sushi rolls with soya sauce in small bowls (one for each person), together with pickled ginger slices and wasabi.

Prepare the table with a simple arrangement of plates and chop sticks before serving. For some extra colour and decor, place a zen flower arrangement on the table. All you need for this is a flower or two in a clean-lined vase. And there you go – tasty sushi minus the fish for vegetarians.

This butternut bake recipe does not require any pastry skills as the crust is made with breadcrumbs making it great for cooks who want to get a simple – if indirect – introduction into what goes into making pastries The breadcrumbs are blended with chopped tomato, sesame seeds, grated cheddar cheese and olive oil. The crust doesn’t require any rolling as it is simply sprinkled over the filling and baked until golden brown. Ingredients for the filling include butternut, onion, garlic, feta cheese, hyme, olive oil, mixed spice and seasoning. Replace the butternut with spinach for a spinach and feta cheese dish. Serve with couscous.

Prepare the breadcrumb topping

Measure out the following ingredients to make the breadcrumb topping: 2 cups of day old wholemeal breadcrumbs, 1 chopped tomato, 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese and 1/2 a cup of sesame seeds. You will also need some olive oil to bind the ingredients.

To make the breadcrumb topping, simply blend your bread in a food processor. Mix all the ingredients with some olive oil. Press the blended mixture into a ball. It should crumble easily and shouldn’t be too oily.

Prepare the butternut bake

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and prepare the following ingredients for the butternut bake: 1 1/2 kilograms of butternut (peeled and cut into cubes), 1 red onion (chopped), 2 cloves of garlic (chopped), 400 grams of feta cheese (cut into cubes), 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (chopped), 1/4 cup of olive oil, mixed spice and seasoning to taste.

Place the chopped butternut squash, onion, garlic, feta cheese and thyme into an ovenproof dish. Now season with mixed spice, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle some olive oil over the ingredients and gently mix everything together until the butternut is well coated. Place the crust mixture over the top of the mixture and sprinkle with some more sesame seeds if you wish.

Bake the dish for three quarters of an hour or until the breadcrumb topping or crust is golden.

Follow this up with the best part of the whole process – eat!

This eggplant lasagne recipe is great for vegetarians and can be prepared ahead of time. Ingredients include lasagne sheets, onion, tomatoes, eggplant (or brinjal), mozzarella cheese, olive oil, marjoram and olive oil. The white sauce requires butter, flour, milk and nutmeg. Any cooked seasonal vegetables can be used instead of eggplant for the filling. Oven roasted butternut or pumpkin slices or well drained cooked spinach make for a delicious alternative dish. Allow for one cup of filling for each layer.

Ingredients

Measure out the following ingredients to serve six generous portions: 15ml olive oil, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 sprig of marjoram, 1600 grams of good quality tinned tomatoes (chopped), 2kg of eggplant (sliced), 2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese and 12 to 15 slices of lasagne sheets. You will also need salt and pepper to taste.

The white sauce requires 125 grams of butter, 250ml of ordinary flour (sifted), 5 measuring cups of milk — as well as some nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the eggplant slices

Salt the eggplant (or brinjal) and allow the slices to stand for half an hour before rinsing and drying them (pat dry with a tea towel). Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and bake for approximately 40 minutes on 200 degrees Celsius. Turn the eggplaint slices halfway through the cooking — after 20 minutes.

Alternatively, fry the eggplant slices in oil until they are cooked and golden in colour. Drain them well with kitchen paper.

Prepare the sauce

Stir the onion in the olive oil on a medium heat until it is caramalised. This should take about a quarter of an hour to 20 minutes. Lower the heat and add the marjoram, stirring for another minute. Add the tomato and season to taste. Cover the pot and simmer the sauce for two hours until it is reduced to a thick sauce with a rich flavour.

Prepare the white sauce

Melt the butter on a low heat and gradually stir in the flour until it is well combined with the butter. Slowly add the milk, stirring with a balloon whisk to prevent lumps. Bring the sauce to a slow boil while stirring continuously — until the sauce is thick. Season with a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Press the sauce through a sieve to remove any lumps, should it be necessary.

Prepare eggplant lasagne

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce over the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Place a layer of lasagne sheets over the sauce and follow with a layer of eggplant/brinjal. Spread a layer of whites sauce over the eggplant and some cheese. Do the same for the next layer but leave out the cheese.

Repeat until you have three or four layers, finishing with white sauce and a topping of cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted and is light brown in colour. Once cooked, allow the dish to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

There’s nothing like making your own Thai curry with your own curry paste. It may take longer but using fresh ingredients will enhance the flavour. Besides, you can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. Start with fewer chillies and add more while you’re cooking if you want more fire. This vegetable curry uses six green chillies and serves six. Ingredients include green curry paste, onion, potatoes, green pepper, red pepper, baby sweetcorn, peas, broccoli and coconut cream. Substitute vegetables as required.

Green curry paste recipe

The following ingredients are required to make the green curry paste: 6 green chillies, 3 chopped lemon grass stalks, 6 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of lime leaves (dried), 1 small onion, 1/4 cup of chopped fresh ginger, 150 grams of chopped coriander, 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds and the juice of 1 lime. You will also need some vegetable oil and a teaspoon each of peppercorns, galangal powder and salt.

Blend all the ingredients together except for the fresh coriander and vegetable oil. When you have a thick paste, add one teaspoon of oil at a time until you have a good consistency. Add the fresh coriander and briefly blend until you have a green paste. Be sure not to over blend the paste. Store in an airtight container overnight or for four hours before you use it.

Thai curry recipe

Measure out the following ingredients: 1 chopped onion, 2 cubed potatoes (these should be par boiled until they are just soft), 1 cubed red pepper, 1 cubed green pepper, 1 cup of chopped baby sweetcorn, 1 cup of peas, 2 cups of broccoli florets, 1 tin of coconut cream and 15 ml of vegetable oil for frying. You will require four tablespoons of your green curry paste and some seasoning to taste.

Heat some of the oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan and stir fry the onion for a minute. Stir in the curry paste for another minute and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook until the broccoli is tender and season. Serve your dish with basmati rice and garnish with coriander.

The word curry comes from ‘kari’, the Indian word for sauce. But a curry need not be a hot and spicy Indian affair that brings tears to the eyes. It can be a combination of spices in many forms, from the mild to the numbingly hot. Compare cinnamon, saffron and clove blends with lemon grass and coriander, for example. Any savoury dish that uses spices can be referred to as a curry. Curries are typical in the cuisines of Southeast Asia and India.

Spices, curry powder and other flavourings

Spices are chiefly used for the flavouring of food. They were once an expensive luxury in Europe though they were used in everyday dishes in their native countries. They are produced from the dried seeds, roots, bark and leaves of aromatic plants. Curry dishes can be made by combining spices with vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, nuts, fruit or herbs.

It is interesting to note that curry powder is not a general blend as there are an infinite number of curry powder combinations. A basis for a curry can be a dry powder or paste, which comes from combining spices with moist ingredients like herbs. Different curries suit different tastes and all are open to experimentation. For example, more chilli can be added to a recipe if one prefers a ‘hot’ dish.

Curries from Thailand, Indochina and Burma use lemon grass and lime leaves and require less cooking time than slow-cooked Indian dishes. Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine make use of peanuts, coconut milk, tamarind, chillies and shrimp paste.

Enhancing flavour

Palm, white or brown sugar can be added to curries towards the end of cooking to enhance and balance flavour. Acidity in the form of vinegar, tomatoes, tamarind, lime or lemon juice can also enhance flavour, as can a little salt or fish sauce. Refrain from using pepper though, unless a recipe calls for it.

Accompaniments to curries

Rice, noodles and breads are popular accompaniments to curries as they absorb curry sauces well. Other accompaniments include pickles, chutneys and yoghurt.Yoghurt gives extra creaminess to an Indian curry as long as it is a natural, tart and thin yoghurt.

Making your own pasta takes time but you’ve got to try it at least once in your life! We share a simple recipe here which requires nothing more than egg yolks, whole eggs, flour, olive oil and a pinch of salt. The Napolitana sauce is a rich tomato based sauce which will suit meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. Ingredients include olive oil, garlic, ripe plum tomatoes, red wine, fresh parsley, salt and freshly ground pepper. Read on for the recipes.

Pasta dough

Measure out the following ingredients to make your own pasta dough: 6 egg yolks, 4 whole eggs, 550 grams of flour, 5 ml of olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Sift the flour onto your work surface and make a well in the centre so that the flour forms a ring. Place the eggs into the hollow area and then add the oil and the salt and use a fork to slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Work the rest of the flour into the dough and knead it for about 10 minutes until it is smooth. Wrap your pasta dough in cling film and refrigerate for an hour before turning it through a pasta machine.

Napolitana sauce

You’ll need the following ingredients for the Napolitana sauce: 50 ml of olive oil, 2 finely chopped onions, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 850 grams of chopped plum tomatoes (they should be ripe), 65 ml of red wine, 15 ml of finely chopped fresh parsley and 2 ml of salt. You’ll also need some freshly ground pepper to taste.

Place the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and cook it until it is transparent and soft (it shouldn’t be allowed to brown at all). Add half of the garlic and combine with the onions. Stir for a minute before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Bring the sauce to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes until it reduces and thickens. A rich sauce will require simmering the mixture on a low heat for up to two hours. Season to taste, adding a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes are very acidic.

Tip: Click here to find out how to make pasta without a machine.

Chicken Kiev is a classic Ukranian dish where chicken breasts are rolled around herb butter before being coated in crumbs and fried. Boned breasts can be successfully used in this recipe, although the whole of the breast is traditionally used, which would include the wing bone. Preparation time is three-quarters of an hour and chilling time is three hours. Final cooking time is half an hour. Besides chicken breasts and butter, you will need lemon, parsley, tarragon, chives, garlic and other ingredients for the coating.

Prepare the chicken

You will need four large boned and skinned chicken breasts for four servings, as well as sunflower oil for frying. Place the chicken portions between two sheets of greaseproof paper and beat them with a rolling pin until they are flat. There should be no punctures in the flesh and the chicken should be flat enough to hold a stick of herb butter.

Prepare the herb butter

Blend the following ingredients together: 120 grams of butter, the juice and rind of a lemon, 2 chopped garlic cloves and1 tablespoon each of parsley, tarragon and chives. Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Roll the chicken around the butter

Pat out a 6 cm square of butter on some greaseproof paper and freeze or refrigerate until it is hard. Cut the butter cake into 4 sticks and place one on the inside centre of each chicken piece.

Roll the flattened chicken around the herb butter stick. Tuck in the ends and neaten up each piece so that all the edges are sealed.

Finish the chicken Kiev

Sift the following ingredients together in a bowl: 50 grams of flour with salt and pepper to taste. Beat a large egg with a teaspoon of sunflower oil and a teaspoon of water in a wide, flat bowl. Measure out 75 grams of dry white breadcrumbs.

Roll the prepared chicken in the seasoned flour and then dip them in the beaten egg. Roll each piece in the dry breadcrumbs and then press the crumbs firmly into the flesh. Chill the chicken overnight or for three hours.

Fry in a deep fryer at 180 degrees Celsius.

This flaked almond trout recipe will easily serve six. The trout is washed and then sprinkled with salt and pepper before being coated in flour and fried or baked. Freshly roasted almonds are then scattered over the trout. The fish can then be served on a large platter with new potatoes, petit pois and lemon wedges. Preparation time for this traditional French dish is a quarter of an hour. Allow for a cooking time of half an hour, which includes roasting the almonds.

Ingredients for flaked almond trout

You will need the following ingredients for this dish: 6 trout (weighing 200 grams each), 120 grams of flaked almonds, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, 3/4 cup of clarified butter, the juice of 1 lemon (freshly squeezed) and some flour to coat the fish. You will also require salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the almonds

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place the almonds into an oven tray and pop them into the oven. Turn them occasionally while you roast them. They will be ready when they are golden brown in colour.

Prepare the trout

Wash the fish well, cleaning the gills while taking care not to damage the skin. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the trout and toss through a plate of flour. Shake off any excess flour and put the fish aside.

Place half of the clarified butter into a pan on a medium heat. Add half of the oil to the butter once it has melted. Fry two or three trout at a time depending on the size of your pan. Fry for five to six minutes on either side and then continue to fry the remaining fish.

Remove the fish from the pan and place into a heated dish. Scatter the remaining roasted almonds over the fried fish and finally sprinkle lemon juice over all six of the trout.

Optional baking

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius and bake the fish in a greased baking pan for a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes. Once cooked, baste the trout with lemon butter. Sprinkle the roasted almonds onto the fish before serving.

Vegetarian patties can be made with all sorts of ingredients including chickpeas, nuts and lentils. In this recipe we’ll show you how to make tofu burgers for six. You will need a food processor, a grater and a pan. Required ingredients include olive oil, red onion, hard tofu, garlic, basil, breadcrumbs, egg, balsamic vinegar, sweet chilli sauce and burger rolls. Also have some mayonnaise, tomatoes and salad leaves at hand. Allow for half an hour each of preparation time, resting time and cooking time.

Ingredients

Measure out the following ingredients for six basic burgers: 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 red onion, 200 grams of mushrooms, 350 grams of hard tofu, 2 garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of finely cut fresh basil, 350 grams of dry breadcrumbs (preferably wholewheat), 1 lightly beaten egg, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce and 6 burger rolls of your choice.

The following ingredients will make for much tastier burgers: 1/2 cup home-made mayonnaise and 80 grams of salad leaves. Sweet chilli sauce is optional.

You will also need some vegetable oil in order to fry the burgers. Prepare the onions by slicing them finely. Chop the mushrooms finely too.

Prepare the vegetarian patties

Cook the onion in some vegetable oil in a pan over a medium heat until tender. Stir in the chopped mushrooms and cook for two minutes. Remove the pot from the stove to cool the vegetables slightly.

Place the garlic, basil and 250 grams of tofu into a food processor. Blend until smooth and place into a large bowl. Stir into the onion mixture, balsamic vinegar, egg, 200 grams of breadcrumbs and the sweet chilli sauce.

Grate the rest of the tofu and gently incorporate it into the mixture. Rest in the fridge for half an hour and then divide into six portions. Press each portion into a ball and then flatten it out to form a patty. Coat the patties in the remaining breadcrumbs.

Prepare the burgers

Fry the vegetarian patties in 1 cm of heated olive oil. Turn over carefully when the patties are golden in colour. Drain and assemble your tofu burgers.

When you think of Chinese food images of oily, greasy noodles may come to mind. Chow mein is often considered to be anything but healthy but made right this wonderful Chinese dish can be a great addition to any diet. Get the crisp noodles and the delicious taste of chow mein with none of the fat with a few simple changes. Best of all, this dish is quick and easy to make and can be enjoyed by the entire family.

Simple changes

Substitute the egg noodles traditionally found in chow mein with some whole-wheat spaghetti for a healthier alternative. The wonderful thing about chow mein is that is traditionally includes a lot of vegetables so don’t be afraid to go wild adding onions, peppers, broccoli, bean sprouts, spinach, carrots, cabbage and whatever else you want. Avoid the oils and rice wine traditionally used in the cooking of chow mein and opt instead for garlic and ginger to give you some flavour.

Baked chow mein

If you are going to fry your chow mein make sure you use a wok with as little oil as possible. If you want to avoid oil altogether opt instead for a baked chow mein. First you need to blanch your noodles for around one minute in boiling water. Dry off the noodles and spread them out on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil. Cook the noodles in the oven for about 10 minutes until crisp, turning once. You can cook the chicken and vegetables in a microwave, steamer or in the oven. Mix it all together and you have a healthy chicken chow mein.

Things to remember

You don’t want to stray too far from traditional Chinese chow mein or your dish won’t taste the way it should. Always remember to marinade the chicken in soya sauce before cooking to bring out those Chinese flavours. Adding some chicken stock and other Chinese sauces will only add to the flavour. Chinese vegetables are always a great addition to a simple chow mein dish.