Aubergine Larb - Vegan, DF and GF

There are two versions of this recipe this week - this vegan one and one with pork. There are a few components to this but each one is nicely finite and then can be left to its own devices while you work on the next bit.... Eggplant is halved, scored then baked slowly to achieve a silky tenderness. The rice comes next, then the crunchy herby topping (Allergen alert - this contains peanuts) then the sauce, then you compile the whole together for a stunning and delicious dinner. 

Paratha with lemon pickle - Vegan, DF and GF

First you make the lemon pickle, so it has time to pickle itself while you make the paratha... The paratha are potato griddle cakes flavoured up with ginger, red onion, coriander leaf, chilli and cumin seeds. The mix then has chickpea flour worked through it to create a smooth dough. This plus a green salad = dinner. Or you could have these as part of an Indian feast, with as many different dishes as there are people at the table...(i am told this is the correct number of curries to have...)

Kumara and Silverbeet soup - Vegan, DF and GF

This will take only half an hour to make, is silky and satisfying, full of flavour. This might seem like the wrong time of year for this kind of soup, but if you've been living in Dunedin for the past month you will realise this is a handy option to have available! It's super simple: saute some garlic, add cubed kumara and stock then simmer for a bit, add the silverbeet and simmer again til bright green and tender, then blitz to desired level of smooth. That is pretty much it. (there's also some onion in there and a grate of nutmeg sets it off nicely...)

Summer Pilau - Vegan, DF and GF

i am always interested in recipes that use different techniques  - even in small ways. Here you soak the rice while other things are going on - frying the aromatics of cinnamon sticks and curry leaves, then the garlic and chilli and cashews, then cherry tomatoes. THEN the rice is added with water and coconut milk, and you leave it on low heat with a lid on to contain the steam for about 15 minutes, and then you rest it off the heat for a further ten minutes while you prep a salad to go with. The resulting textures and depth of flavour are very worth trying!

Pork Larb - DF and GF

You can serve this with lettuce cups for a light and refreshing dinner (and fewer dishes to wash) or with sticky rice... In this version of the Larb the pork mince and crunchy herby topping and sauce are all melded into one delicious thing - it will only take you about 20 minutes to make - almost exactly the time it take the rice to cook, how handy is that?! This one does not have peanuts...

Courgette Roll-ups with ragu - can be vegetarian, and GF

This is one of my favourite recipes - it's such fun to make and eat! You can make it with pork mince or cannelini beans, but it does have cottage and grated cheese in it so not dairy free. You make super thin strips of courgette using a peeler, then roll them into tubes. Make a super flavourful ragu with either the pork mince or the beans, put some in the bottom of a baking dish then stand the tubes up in the ragu, then fill the tubes with remaining ragu, top with cheeses. The recipe for two will make a generous amount, but then it IS very tasty so...