Using up vegetables

**purplemoon**

I did have a look in the Mega index before posting this but couldn't find anything relavant to my question so apologies if I have repeated it

I have some vegetables in the fridge I want to use up today (to make room for my first ever organic box delivery today! ) but not quite sure what to do with them.

I've got:

onions
leeks
celery
courgettes
aubergines
carrots
parsnips
swede
potatoes

plus usual storecupboard stuff - herbs, spices, rice, pasta, couscous, tinned tomatoes etc.

I would have made a stew but don't have any beef (only mince in freezer) so thought maybe some sort of soup(s) ?? but I've never made soup before

Any suggestions or recipes please?

ps I do have a small slow cooker too (recent purchase after reading that everyone here has one ) so would like to try use that if possible!

Glad

Ratatouille would use up a lot of them and it could be frozen as well
chop the onions, courgettes, aubergines and celery
put in SC with tinned tomatos and herbs

Hinni

I agree with Glad re the ratatouille.
Making a hearty veg soup would work. Soup is easy. Dice your veg (leeks, potato, carrot, swede, celery etc), soften in a pan with a bit of oil. Add a bay leaf and some herbs, a couple of veg/chicken stock cubes and 2 pints of water. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, then simmer until the veg is cook thru.
You can either blend it or have it as it is. I sometimes add lentils or beans (not baked!).

newlywed

I agree, soup is easy, don't panic! I made my first batch of soup last week and was surprised how easy. Just follow Hinni's instructions, I usually bung in the chopped leeks first with a bit of worcester sauce for added flavour and then chuck in the rest with water, stock cubes and herbs.

I just leave it to simmer for about half an hour and then check the veg is soft and blitz it in the blender (hubby doesn't like soup you have to chew!!)

Edit: Leeks, carrot, parsnips and potato was my first soup i did - I don't have a slow cooker though so I did it on the hob.

ladymacbeth_uk

Oh the list is endless,
vegetable stew? Don't need meat, plus you get to use up more veggies!!

Veggie curry - basically use the tinned tomatoes & curry powder, can provide full recipe if required...

Roast veg - just chop all the veggies into chunks, drizzle with a tiny bit of oil & sprinkle with (well I'd use chilli flakes or powder) but you can use any herbs spices you like - serve with crusty bread...

veggie bake - basically layer the veggies in an oven proof dish with a dab of butter and a sprinkle of herbs between each layer. Cover with a (home-made or shop bought) cheese or tomato sauce...

veggie lasagne....

Good luck:beer:

cats_whiskers

Hi,
How about Tumbet, a Spanish style dish similar to ratatouille.
2 onions peeled and cut in chunks, 1 large aubergine cut in chunks, 2 large potatoes scrubbed and cubed, 2 peppers deseeded and cut into chunks, 3 courgettes cut into chunks, 3 garlic cloves chopped, 6tbsp olive oil, 425g can of chopped tomoatoes. Preheat oven to Gas 3/160C/325F. Put the veg and garlic into a large shallow casserole dish or roasting tin. Add the tomatoes and oil and season, stir well and spread out to make an even layer. Bake uncovered for 2 hours until the vegetables are tender. Give it a stir after an hour and cover with foil if it is browning to quick. Serve as it is or with grated cheese.

As the oven is going to be on for a while you may wish to make use of it and bake a cake for pudding as well. I don;t have a slow cooker but after reading all the threads on here it may be something to put on the Christmas list.

Cats.x

**purplemoon**

cats_whiskers wrote:

Hi,
How about Tumbet, a Spanish style dish similar to ratatouille.
2 onions peeled and cut in chunks, 1 large aubergine cut in chunks, 2 large potatoes scrubbed and cubed, 2 peppers deseeded and cut into chunks, 3 courgettes cut into chunks, 3 garlic cloves chopped, 6tbsp olive oil, 425g can of chopped tomoatoes. Preheat oven to Gas 3/160C/325F. Put the veg and garlic into a large shallow casserole dish or roasting tin. Add the tomatoes and oil and season, stir well and spread out to make an even layer. Bake uncovered for 2 hours until the vegetables are tender. Give it a stir after an hour and cover with foil if it is browning to quick. Serve as it is or with grated cheese.

As the oven is going to be on for a while you may wish to make use of it and bake a cake for pudding as well. I don;t have a slow cooker but after reading all the threads on here it may be something to put on the Christmas list.

Cats.x

That sounds absolutely delicious, thank you very much! I've saved this recipe for later as I don't have any peppers and I've already started a ratatouille (sp) type thing as suggested by glad

Thanks for all the suggestions, they're great, just need to find something to make with the root veggies now (got plenty of parsnips!) so soup sounds good. Just found a packet of pearl barley in the cupboard too, will that be ok to use in a soup rather than a stew?

Thanks again, I love this site :A

natlie

Hi
you can also use

onions
leeks
celery
courgettes
aubergines
carrots

to make a veggie lasagne or if you have already made you ratatouille you can use that to make the lasagne. YUM

you can use your root veggies to make a mash

goonlord

I keep tinned pulses in the cupboard and add to loads of things in place of meat (stews, casseroles etc)- great source of protein, carbs and fibre.

annie-c

Yes, pearl barley is fine for soups. If you want a smooth soup, then you might want to cook it until the veg are tender, whizz it with a blender, then add the pearl barley. Or cook the pearl barley separately and add to the blended soup.

For a thick chunky soup, I sometimes remove half the veg before blending, then mix it back together.

If you have no blender, then you can get a good effect by using a potato masher to crush the veg.

Aril

I posted a recipe for a vegetable bake in the index some time ago which may be suitable. It has eggs stirred in and a crumb and cheese topping. Can be adapted to suit different veg. Perhaps if I smile sweetly and do my dippy female bit someone would be kind enough to post the link as am clueless!!
Aril