friederike's Reviews
6 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 6Sort by: Title 
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Complete Vegetarian
By Nicola Graimes
Lorenz Books - 2006
Creamy Lemon Puy Lentils : page 236
Love this dish with its interesting flavours.
Ignore the poached egg and add rocket or watercress to make a lunch box salad.
useful (0)
Fresh Pea Soup : page 166
A very simple soup, but surprisingly nice! The soup was a little sweet (which is what you get naturally when you pair fresh peas with cream), which I liked a lot because of the contrast with the salted, crunchy croutons. DB had to add more salt.
Serving the soup with a few leaves of fresh mint not only makes for decoration but also adds a wonderful fresh accent. Serves two as a very light meal.
useful (1)
Red Pepper Risotto : page 287
Quite nice, actually. DB thought it was too sour and missed the sweetness that is typical for red peppers, would have liked to taste the garlic a bit more, and thought it lacked the rich creaminess the Pumpkin Risotto with Sage and Parmesan possessed. I'm a bit wary of the risotto being much sweeter, as there is little that could counteract it (like the parmesan does in the above mentioned recipe), but I guess using real tomatoes instead of canned ones would take away some of the sourness. And other than that, as I said, I thought it was quite nice for a normal weekday dinner.
We didn't use 1 1/2 cans of tomatoes (what a silly idea!) but only one, which worked perfectly, and 400g risotto rice instead of 450g (again, 400g was one package, why use more than that?), with 1,5 l stock. We didn't grill the peppers and didn't have any problems with the skin, though I could imagine that grilling them adds a desirable smokey flavour. I was considering adding a little sweet pepper (powder), or alternatively some herbs (thyme, maybe?).
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Spicy Red Lentil and Coconut Soup : page 182
This soup had just the right level of spicyness. DB enjoyed it a lot and would haven given 4 stars, but there was something about the taste (other than the spicyness) that I didn't like, that somehow tasted too undefinable and mushy. Hard to explain. And it's not a feast for the eyes either, which is why there is no photo today.
useful (2)
Tomato and Lentil Dhal with Toasted Almonds : page 247
I substituted the yellow mustard seeds with coriander seeds, and used only two tomatoes instead of five, and less juice than instructed (half a lime instead of two).
It was very delicious, although it wasn't quite what was described. It had a tendency to burn, and I had to stir it every 10-15 minutes to prevent it from going wrong, and I had to add extra liquid. It didn't really need 2 1/2 hrs. for cooking, so we ate it after 1 1/2 hours (read the cooking instructions on the lentil packaging), and although we served it with a warm naan bread p.p., it was rather a light meal instead of the 'filling supper' that was promised.
Nevertheless, it was very delicious, and I'll surely make it again, either as a light vegetarian meal, or as side dish for Indian food. The coriander seeds were a good substitute, although I would crush them first before adding.
Crosspost. Exactly the same recipe also appears in The Slow Cooker Cookbook, only that the title differs slightly, it's Coconut, Tomato and Lentil Dhal with Roasted Almonds.
useful (1)
Vegetable Pilau : page 286
Very delicious, very aromatic dish! Works just as well as a side dish and as a very simple main dish, if you serve it with some extra vegs.
Edited 30 March 2012 to add:
Very delicious. Contrary to what I thought I didn't have any sweetcorn in the cupboard, so I substituted it with more peas and carrot. I accidentally added 2 tsp whole cumin instead of 1/2 tsp, so I omitted the ground cumin at the end, but I added about a 1/8 tsp ground cardamom (which was a bad idea) and a 1/16 tsp cinnamon (which was good). The cashew nuts will be quite soft if you cook them along with the pilau - I would rather recommend roasting them in a seperate pan and adding them right at the very end.
Served 2 1/2 - 3 as a sole main course, so follow the advice above for an extra vegetable dish if it's supposed to be dinner.
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