Food at 52 Cookery School- Meat Free Mondays

Food at 52, a cookery school that I have attended many times over the last three years or so, have a new course to add to their repertoire - Meat Free Mondays!

We are all being encouraged to eat less meat which for many starts a panic. If no meat what will I eat, what will I feed my family - they don't like nut roast!  Well do not fear - Meat Free Mondays is here!

At Food at 52 the menu is written on the huge mirror on the wall and you work through the recipes one at a time stopping for a snack of one of the recipes as you cook to keep you going.

I had Little Miss Lizzie visiting for the weekend so she came with me and took loads of photos - she wants to have her own YouTube channel and post videos of her cooking - only one thing she is only 7 years old!!

Working in groups we started with the Thai Beetroot Soup: first of all make a quick and easy paste which you can vary the amount of chili to taste.

Ginger, lime, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and chilli are the basis of our paste to make the soup.

Adding in the beetroot to the spice paste.

Busy working in small teams.

Lots of colourful ingredients for the filo pie.

Playing with a new toy - a spiraliser which cuts the courgette into fine ribbons resembling spaghetti

Courgetti with Green Olive and Burnt Lemon Dressing

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Pomegranate dressing.

The filling for the Two Green and Feta Filo Pie - a great supper dish warm or cold for lunches and pic-nics.

A lined cast iron pan filled and ready to go into the oven.

All baked and read to serve.

The pudding - Parsnip, Pear and Walnut Cake - tasted as good as it looked!

A quick clear away and the table is set for us to eat and enjoy all our hard work and not a nut burger in sight!

Here is the recipe for the Thai Beetroot Soup to make at home.

Makes 4-6 servings For the spice paste 2 lemongrass stalks, white parts chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled 3 red chillies, deseeded if you don't want too much heat 5cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 4 kaffir lime leaves 1 lime, juice only For the soup 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 banana shallots (or 4 round shallots), finely chopped 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 500g cooked beetroot, chopped 500-850ml vegetable stock 400ml can coconut milk sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

For the herby yoghurt

5 tablespoons plain yoghurt
handful of fresh mint, leaves chopped
handful of fresh coriander, leaves chopped
5cm cucumber, deseeded, finely chopped

Flatbread, to serve

Prepare the ingredients as described above.

For the spice paste, prepare all the paste ingredients as above and put them into a food processor and blend until smooth (the smoother the paste the better the soup).

For the soup, heat the vegetable oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots, salt and cumin seeds and fry gently for a few minutes until the shallots have softened. Add the spice paste and cook for about five minutes to release the fragrance. Add the beetroot and cook for two minutes. Add 500ml of the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

For the herby yoghurt, mix the yoghurt with the fresh mint, coriander and cucumber.

Just before serving, put the soup and coconut milk into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add more stock if the soup is too thick. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, reheat the soup gently for a few minutes. Pour into bowls and swirl in some of the herby yoghurt. Serve with warm flatbread.

If you would like the recipe for the Parsnip, Pear & Walnut cake leave me a comment below with your email address.

I was a guest of Foodat52. The recipe above is one of their Meat Free Monday recipes.  All opinions and photos are my own.