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ANOTHER DAY OFF!

Just been in the garden to get some bay leaves and realised that Stan (yes, my bay tree has a name!) really needs a trim.  One big gust of wind and he might snap!


The hellebore is looking very pretty.



..... and it's  nice to see the nasturtiums are still hanging on.



As I'm home today, I thought I would get ahead with  some cooking. I also have stuff that needs using up and I hate wasting food.

I prepared one of my vegetarian (actually vegan this time as I used veggie stock cubes) curries.

Basically I chopped up one butternut squash (left skin on as it was homegrown), one summer squash, five carrots, one sweet potato, one large potato.  Roughly cut  into even sized  chunks.

Put a good glug of oil in a large, heavy based casserole on medium heat and added one teaspoon of  nigella seeds, cumin seeds, ground coriander, ground cumin, chilli flakes and half a teaspoon of turmeric and funugreek. Then add a large chopped onion and a good pinch of salt and saute for a few minutes. Then add all the veg, a chunk of creamed coconut, three large handfuls of red lentil and three to four tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce.  Add enough hot water to come just up to the vegetables but not covering them. Crumble in two chicken or vegetable stock cubes. Bring to the boil, stir and them pop in the oven at 180 for an hour.

Then I  added a large handful of frozen cut french beans and cooked for another 10 minutes.

These are just rough guidelines and you can use any combination of vegetables you like....whatever needs using up or whatever floats your boat!  I will look forward to eating this with basmati rice flavoured with bay leaves and cloves and a nice garlic naan bread!




This freezes well, but only cook it for about 25 minutes, then cool and freeze. Defrost and cook for a further 25 minutes.  You can keep this in the fridge for a couple of days and it will taste even better!





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