Ray McVinnie hearty vegetarian
No one can dispute the benefits of a vegetablerich diet. I have always liked the lightness of well- cooked vegetarian food and I eat quite a lot of it, but with colder weather I want heartier food. I still eat meat and lots of fish but I have veered away from a traditional Kiwi diet where the meat is the big excitement on the plate. This may be just a phase, as cooks get obsessed by ingredients and certain foods and tend to cook them compulsively until they have learned all they can about them. I do a lot of cooking, so it is good to try a variety of foods. I find vegetarian cooking an interesting challenge in that I want to produce vegetarian food that makes meat irrelevant and unnecessary — or not, as most of my vegetarian food goes quite well with a meat or fish side. What one must remember to do when cooking vegetarian is to make sure you are eating well and getting all you need for good health. This is done easily by eating the widest variety of foods you can. As my granny would have said, make sure every meal contains protein, carbohydrate and a green vegetable, in whatever form.
Berlin potato and lentil soup
This a thick soup of lentils, carrot, onion, garlic, dried mushrooms, celery, potatoes, vegetable stock, parsley, served with sour cream, spring onions and lemon zest. I cooked with some home cooks a few years ago in Berlin and they made a soup like this. It is a meal.
Serves 6
200g brown or green
lentils, rinsed and drained 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1.5 litres vegetable stock 1 large onion, finely
chopped 600g agria potatoes,
peeled, cut in 3cm chunks 300g carrots, peeled,
diced in 2cm chunks 1 stick celery, thinly sliced 20g French or Italian dried mushrooms, cut into smaller pieces 3 Tbsp tomato paste 200g sour cream, beaten
smooth 2 spring onions, thinly
sliced Zest of a large lemon 1 Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. 2 Add the lentils and boil for 20 minutes or until tender. 3 Drain well, place in a heatproof bowl, add the oil and mix well. Reserve. 4 Place the stock, onion, potatoes, carrots, celery and mushrooms into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer, skimming occasionally, for 15 minutes or until everything is tender. 5 Add the lentils and tomato paste and mix well. Simmer a further 5 minutes, taste and season. 6 Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of spring onions and lemon zest.
Protein, carbohydrate and greens come together to form hearty vegetarian meals for winter