Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Meals In Minutes

Cover the tomatoes with boiling water for a few seconds, then drain and slip off the skins. Chop and add to the pan with the kidney beans. Cook gently for 5 minutes or until heated through, mashing the beans to make a rough puree. Add the coriander and season with salt and pepper.

Warm the tortillas one at a time in a frying pan over a moderate heat, or heat them under the grill. Spread the bean mixture on the warm tortillas, roll them up and serve with soured cream.

SERVES 2

CROISSANTS, ROLLS & SWEET IDEAS

SPEEDY GARLIC BREAD

Although garlic bread is usually made in the oven, you can speed things up by using the grill instead.

Cheese and Garlic Bread makes a nice variation: simply put slivers of cheese (such as Gruyère) on the garlic bread before grilling it; or try herb bread, using 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and chives instead of, or as well as, the garlic.

1/2 French stick or 2 crusty rolls, white or wholewheat

2 garlic cloves, crushed

50g / 2oz butter, softened

Heat the grill. Cut the French stick on the diagonal into slices about 2.5cm/1 inch thick, or cut the rolls in half.

Mix together the garlic and butter then spread this over the cut surfaces of the bread.

Grill the bread until hot and sizzling on one side, then turn it over to heat the other side. Serve immediately, or cover with foil and keep warm.

SERVES 2

CREAMY ASPARAGUS CROISSANTS

This delicious snack for one is rather like a cheat’s version of feuilleté of asparagus in cream.

125–225g / 4–8oz asparagus spears

15g / 1/2 oz butter

11/2 tsp cornflour

150ml / 5fl oz single cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

2 croissants

Trim the asparagus as necessary and cut it into 2.5cm/1 inch lengths. Keep the tips separate from the stems.

Cook the chopped stems in 2.5cm/1 inch of boiling water for 2 minutes, then add the tips and cook for a further 2 minutes, until they are beginning to get tender but are still crunchy. Drain.

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the cornflour. Add the cream and stir over a moderate heat until it comes to the boil and thickens. Cook for 1–2 minutes then remove from the heat and stir in the asparagus. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Slice the croissant horizontally in half. Grill on both sides until crisp and lightly browned.

Serve the croissant halves with the asparagus, sandwiching them together with the mixture if you like, and letting the excess run on to the plate.

SERVES 2

GARLIC MUSHROOM ROLL

175g / 6oz button mushrooms

15g / 1/2 oz butter

1 tsp olive oil

1–2 garlic cloves, crushed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 high, rounded, crusty roll, white or granary

Wash and roughly chop the mushrooms, then fry them in the butter and olive oil for 5 minutes or until they are tender. If they give off a lot of liquid, go on cooking them until this has evaporated; this may take as long as 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the grill. Slice the top off the roll to make a lid; scoop out and discard most of the crumb. Warm through the roll and lid under the grill, turning it.

Spoon the mushrooms into the roll and replace the lid. Serve at once.

SERVES 1

CHUTNEY BEAN BURGER

Use whatever chutney or pickle you like in this; you could also add extras such as grated cheese, mustard, mayonnaise, sliced tomato and lettuce to make a kind of burger with everything.

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 tbls olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 × 225g / 8oz can butter beans, drained

1–2 tbls chutney or pickle

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 soft burger roll

Fry the onion in the olive oil, with a lid on the pan, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 1–2 minutes longer.

Add the beans to the pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes, until heated through, mashing the beans to make a rough puree. Stir in the chutney or pickle and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the grill. Cut the burger roll in half and warm it through under the grill, then pile the bean mixture on one half, top with the other half, press down and serve immediately.

SERVES 1

BRIOCHE WITH VACHERIN AND APRICOT CONSERVE

An indulgent breakfast, brunch or pudding.

1 individual brioche

125g / 4oz Vacherin cheese

1–2 tbls best-quality apricot conserve

Warm the brioche in the oven or under the grill, then serve with the Vacherin cheese and apricot conserve.

SERVES 1

GINGER AND CREAM CHEESE BAGELS

125g / 4oz cream cheese, full fat or low fat

2 pieces of preserved stem ginger

6 walnut halves

a little milk (optional)

2 bagels

Put the cream cheese into a bowl. Chop the ginger and walnuts and heat into the cream cheese, adding a little milk it necessary to soften it.

Cut the bagels in half, spread with the filling

and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

BAGELS WITH CHOPPED-HERRING-WITHOUT-HERRING

This filling is a piquant and intriguing relish from New Food For All Palates by Sally and Lucian Berg. It also makes a good topping for crostini or bruschetta.

25g / 1oz white bread, crusts removed

7 tsp white wine vinegar

2 eggs, hard-boiled

40g / 11/2oz mild onion

25g / 1oz green pepper

25g / 1oz peeled sharp apple

1 rounded tsp sea salt

4 tsp olive oil

white pepper

2 bagels

Tear the bread into pieces, put these into a bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar.

Shell the eggs, chop them roughly and put them into a food processor with the onion, green pepper and apple, also in rough chunks. Add the bread, salt and oil and whizz to a chunky puree. Season, adding some while pepper to taste.

Cut the bagels in half, spread the filling over them and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

PANETTONE WITH FRESH FIGS

This makes a good quick festive pudding. Other fruits such as Clementines, peeled and sliced, could be substituted for the figs, or instead of the fresh fruit you could use fruits preserved in alcohol.

6–8 fresh figs

4 slices of panettone

1 tub of thick Creek yogurt

a few flaked almonds

Wash and slice the figs, then arrange them on individual plates with a slice of panettone, a good dollop of Greek yogurt and a few flaked almonds.

SERVES 4

CINNAMON TOAST WITH HONEYED APPLES

Rather like an apple charlotte, this is a pleasant combination of crisp, sugary cinnamon toast and buttery apple slices. The recipe also works well with pears instead of apples, and white bread rather than brown. Some chilled thick yogurt or pouring cream makes a good accompaniment.

2 sweet, mellow eating apples, such as Cox’s

butter

2 tbls honey

2–4 slices of white bread

2–4 tbls demerara sugar

ground cinnamon

Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each quarter into thin slices.

Heat a little butter in a saucepan and add the apples and honey. Cook, uncovered, over a gentle heat, until the apple slices have softened, about 3–4 minutes, stirring gently from time to time.

Meanwhile, make the cinnamon toast: toast the bread on both sides – don’t get it too brown and crisp. Remove the crusts if you like, then butter the toast. Cover each slice evenly with demerara sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Put the toast under the grill for 1–2 minutes until the sugar has melted a hit to make a crisp coating. Cut into fingers or triangles.

Spoon the apple slices on to a small plate and arrange the cinnamon toast around them.

SERVES 2

CROISSANT WITH CREAM AND BLACK CHERRY CONSERVE

Unless a croissant is superb in flavour and texture, I think that halving and grilling it is by far the nicest way to serve it – either with butter or with a sweet or savoury filling. Here, a combination of three of my favourite foods makes an indulgent occasional treat.

1 croissant

1–2 tbls black cherry conserve

1–2 tbls thick double cream, crème fraîche or soured cream

a little icing sugar (optional)

Slice the croissant in half horizontally. Grill on both sides until crisp and lightly browned.

Spread the bottom half with black cherry conserve, cover with the cream, then replace the top half of the croissant.

Sift a little icing sugar over, if you like.

SERVES 1

(left) Panettone with Fresh Figs, (top) Croissant with Cream and Black Cherry Conserve, (right) Cinnamon Toast with Honeyed Apples

EGGS, CHEESE & DAIRY FOODS

These foods are easy to turn into a quick feast, with dishes such as Tortilla, Spinach and Stilton Creêpes, Haloumi with Spiced Leeks or Chocolate Amaretti Pudding. Cheese is perfect for simple instant meals – see No-Cook Cheese Feasts for ideas – and yogurt, soft cheeses and cream form the basis of quick and easy desserts. Dairy products do contain fat, but used in moderation and balanced with vegetables, fruit and cereals they definitely have a place in a healthy, fast-food diet.

OMELETTES

SUN-DRIED TOMATO AND HERB OMELETTE

2 eggs

4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

2 tbls chopped fresh herbs, such as chervil, chives and parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

15g / 1/2 oz butter

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly until just combined. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and add to the eggs, together with the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

Put a 15cm/6 inch frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot add the butter, turn the heat up and swirl the butter around – don’t let it brown.

Pour in the eggs, tilting the pan to distribute them evenly, then, using a fork, draw the set edges towards the centre and let the liquid egg run to the edges. Repeat until the omelette is almost set.

Tilt the pan over a warmed plate, then fold the edge of the omelette over to the centre and let it fold over again on to the plate. Serve immediately.

SERVES I

VARIATIONS

1 CHEESE AND HERB

Grate 40g/l1/2 oz Gruyère cheese and add half to the beaten eggs instead of the tomatoes. When the omelette is almost set, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the centre.

2 FRESH TOMATO

Skin, de-seed and chop 1 large tomato, warm it through in a little butter in a small pan and season. When the omelette is almost set, spoon the tomato over the centre. You could add some slivers of spring onion, or some fresh basil or other herbs, too, if you like. Turn out the omelette and serve dusted with finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese.

SOUFFLE OMELETTE

Halfway between a soufflé and an omelette (though far quicker to cook than a soufflé) a soufflé omelette makes a pleasant change and can be served with sweet or savoury fillings.

If you are making a sweet soufflé omelette, for a flashy finish fill the omelette with your chosen mixture, fold it in half, then sift 2 tablespoons of icing sugar over the top and caramelize the sugar by laying a red-hot skewer on top for a moment or two in a criss-cross pattern.

2 eggs, separated

salt and freshly ground black pepper (for a savoury omelette)

15g / 1/2oz butter

Heat the grill. Put the egg yolks into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water, and some seasoning if you’re making a savoury omelette, and mix well.

Whisk the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks, but don’t let them get too dry. Stir a spoonful of beaten egg white into the yolks, then gently fold in the rest with a metal spoon.

Heat a 15cm/6 inch frying pan over a moderate heat then put in the butter and tilt the pan so that the butter coats the sides. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook over a moderate heat for 1–2 minutes, until golden brown underneath. Put the pan under the grill for 1–2 minutes to brown the top of the omelette.

Cut across the centre of the omelette (don’t cut right through it), spoon your chosen filling (see below) over one half, then fold over the other half. Lift the omelette out of the pan and serve.

SERVES 1

SAVOURY FILLINGS

1 ASPARAGUS

Boil or steam 2–4 asparagus spears until just tender then cut them into 2.5cm/1 inch lengths.

2 PEPPER

Grill 1/2 red or yellow pepper, or a combination, until charred then peel off the skin and slice thinly.

3 MUSHROOM

Wash, dry and slice 50g/2oz mushrooms – any type, or a mixture – then sauté them in 15g/1/2 oz butter until they are tender and any liquid they produce has boiled away (this may take up to 15 minutes). Season with salt and pepper.

4 CHEESE

Mix 2 tablespoons of grated cheese with the egg yolks, then sprinkle another 2 tablespoons on top of the omelette just before you fold it. Gruyère or Parmesan, or a mixture, are good.

5 RATATOUILLE

Leftover ratatouille (see here) makes a very good filling; reheat gently, allowing 2 heaped tablespoons per omelette.

6 TRUFFLE

For a luxurious treat, put a few truffle shavings on top of the omelette before folding it.

7 PETITS POIS AND MINT

Cook 50g/2oz fresh or frozen petits pois in a little boiling water for 2 minutes Drain, add a knob of butter and 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh mint.

SWEET FILLINGS

1 FRESH FRUIT

Any sweet, soft-textured fruit is good, such as blackberries or blueberries, sliced sweet ripe mango, or sliced banana with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Or use 50g/2oz strawberries or other red berries, sliced and sprinkled with sugar and 1 tablespoon of liqueur: try Cointreau with strawberries or kirsch with cherries.

2 JAM

Melt 1 tablespoon of jam in a small pan over a gentle heat – apricot or black cherry are especially good. You could also add a dash of liqueur.

3 PRESERVED FRUIT

Use 2 tablespoons of fruits preserved in liqueur, or coarsely chopped stem ginger.

TORTILLA

This simple Spanish omelette is wonderfully tasty and filling, and like all flat omelettes it can be eaten hot, warm or cold. Any that’s left over is delicious the next day, reheated and served with a fresh tomato sauce or served hot or cold with salad.

Tortilla makes a good appetizer, cut into small squares and accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce.

900g / 2lb potatoes

1 large onion or 1 bunch of spring onions

3 tbls olive oil

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