Vegetarian Dishes

It actually pains me to write up this recipe as I am currently fasting (well, for a few hours anyway - I consider any period longer than an hour without food to be a fast), for the annoying blood glucose test that is being forced upon me to due to my doctor's diplomatic classification of my pregnancy as "AMA" (advanced maternal age). Anyway.... eggplant miso is one of my favourite dishes which I used to order at Tsunami restaurant when I lived in Clapham. I have tried it a few times unsuccessfully at home but this time think I nailed it so here goes (although I would love to hear if you think you know the ultimate recipe - always room for improvement!)

This would definitely be on my menu if I ever had a restaurant! Caramelise the squash first by roasting it, be generous with the butter, Parmesan and cream, and feel free to spice it up at the end with a pinch of cayenne. It's one of the few meat-free meals my husband will accept (admittedly made with a rich chicken stock but you can use vegetable....)

This is a vegan and gluten-free curry making good use of the seasonal veggies in my bag from Eat FRESH. The okra, while starting purple, turn green later on...

This is an adaptation of  Mapo Dofu, THE first dish I ever ordered in HK, hours after landing on August 1st 2010, and slightly perplexed why we weren't eating lunch outside on such a sunny day, until I went there...  The classic combination is tofu & pork, but I frequently exclude the meat and add aubergine for a veggie finish, retaining the tofu for protein. This recipe is also inspired by the yu xiang qiezi in Ching's Fast Food, my go-to recipe book for quick HK style dishes.

I tend to avoid meat if my husband is out so last night marked an ideal opportunity for some veggie indulgence since he, along with most of Hong Kong's male Scottish population, were plying themselves with scotch and haggis at the city's largest, men-only, Burns night supper. I, meanwhile, retired to the spare room to await the whisky fumigation unit before reentering the master bedroom... This pasta is made entirely from red lentils, so gluten-free, high in protein, and available at SpiceBox Organics(made by Tolerant Foods HK). The kids loved it and I jazzed up mine a little with a drizzle of organic, heady olive oil from Green Vitamin and a pinch of cayenne.