Roasted Root Vegetables with Quince

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My mum and I made some super easy roasted veg the other day. In a way they were just your standard roast vegetables, but my mum added a few slices of quince to the mix. Best idea ever. The tartness of the quince goes super well with the caramel undertones of the root vegetables. A perfect combination in my book.
In case you are interested in this non-recipe, here are the things we used for two:

1/2 Sweet Potato
2 Purple Carrots
2 Normal Carrots
1 Beetroot
1/2 Quince

Preheat your oven to 220˚C.
Cut everything in wedges, then toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Bake/roast until the wedges have the level of crispness you like. Personally I like sweet potatoes that are very close to burning but that is a personal preference.
By the way, mayonnaise goes incredibly well with these :)

Zucchini and Tomato Bake

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My friend Kathleen introduced me to this bake. We made the precursor to this recipe and it was based on a sauce we made from one of those semi-ready-meal pouches (which shall remain nameless) and I was horrified to discover that it was a) super yummy and b) actually a really good idea (I am normally slightly disturbed by the things you are supposed to be able to make with them).
Anyhow, so I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I went to my local supermarket and actually looked for that stuff, but I couldn't find it.
So today we will be making a home-made, non-MSG-filled, still-super-addictive version of the packet-amazingness.

Zucchini (Courgette) and Tomato Bake (per person)
1 medium Zucchini (about 200 g)
1 Tomato
Olive Oil
1 tbsp Cream Cheese
1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Oregano (and other herbs you like)
1 tbsp Tomato Puree (optional)
200 ml Stock (or water and about half a stock-cube) - if you are making this for more than 1 person, reduce the liquid to possibly close to 100 ml per person (I will tell you where to check how much you need in the recipe)
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 190˚C
Cut the zucchini into rounds about 0.5cm thick. Slice the Tomato (those slices will probably be a bit thicker, but try to stay well below 1cm).
Heat some olive oil in a pan and sauté the zucchini slices until they are slightly browned. All we are aiming for with this is some brown spots on the zucchini, nothing more really.
Mix some of the stock with the cream cheese, nutritional yeast, and tomato puree (if using) until you have a semi-smooth mixture and pour it over the zucchini. If there is pretty much no liquid around the zucchini, add some more now, but they don't need to be covered. Add the tomato slices and some herbs. I like oregano with this dish but the options are endless here, so experiment a bit! Add some salt and pepper if you feel the sauce needs it. Let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes.
Pour everything into an ovenproof dish (if it looks like the vegetables are drowning in the liquid, don't use all of it) and bake it for 15-20 minutes.
I tend to have this on its own but it's really nice with some bread or pasta as well.

Leeks with a Vinaigrette

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After all the deserts lately I was craving something at least slightly healthy so when I walked past some gorgeous looking leeks that were smiling at me in their light green, yellow, and white goodness I couldn't resist.
These are all lovely when you eat them warm but they are just as good if you cover them with the vinaigrette and leave them in the fridge. If you have them warm, make some salmon to go with them. It's one of my favourite combinations of flavours at the moment.

Leeks with a Vinaigrette
2 Leeks per person (or more if you want leftovers)
Salt
3 tbsp Vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
3 tbsp Oil (I like the flavour of olive oil but other people swear that plain vegetable gives you a nicer texture)
Some Water

Cook the leeks in a pan of salt water (no, the dark green stuff isn't nice, cut it off :) and you might want to wash of the sand...just saying...).
While the leeks are cooking away, make the vinaigrette. Traditionally you would go for a 3:1 ratio of oil and vinegar but I really don't like the taste so go for whatever ratio you like, the 1:1 one above is the one I like the best. If you are using quite a lot of vinegar you might want to add some water to tone down the acidity but again, go for whatever you like :) whatever you go for, mix the vinegar and mustard first, that way the emulsion will get thicker and will stay that way for longer. If you want to add some salt, add that before the oil as well, then whisk in the oil.
Once the leeks are done, which should take between 10 and 15 minutes, drain them and sit them onto a pretty plate.
Now you can either stare at them in adoration or you could just inhale them (guess which option I have been going for).

Grilled Vegetables

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Do you know the feeling - you go to your greengrocer's and there's soo much that looks amazing that you can't decide; and then a couple of days later you're wondering what to do with all that veg in your fridge. This is the perfect recipe for just that situation. Grilled vegetables are so quick and easy to make and I could eat them every day :)

Grilled Vegetables
Whatever veg you want to use up. I realy like using some courgette, peppers, onions, fennel, beetroot, and brocoli. Try to include some potatoes (nice and then you don't have to worry about being hungry again in like half an hour).
Olive oil
Some garlic cloves (peeled)
Salt, pepper and some herbs if you're feeling adventurous

Oven-wise you have tow options - either preheat it to 220 degrees (if you don't have a grill or would rather have them baked) or wait until you've chopped all your veg and then turn on the grill in your oven.
Chop your veg into relative large bitesize chunks.
Toss them in a bowl with a small amount of olive oil, add the garlic and season well.
Stick them into the oven until they're nice and grilled (keep coming back to turn them from time to time - so don't get too engrossed in that paper you're trying to finish or the trashy novel you're reading).
Serve with a generous helping of tzatziki or a goats' cheese sauce (recipe will come when I get back to St Andrews....hopefully).