Take a Bag of Veg - Vegetable Burgers

This is the final recipe for my 'take a bag of veg' posts. A 1kg bag of frozen mixed vegetables has been used in 3 recipes, the other 2 being a ham & vegetable pie which used leftover Christmas ham and cheese, and vegetable pancakes. At only £1 for the 1kg bag it's great to have in the freezer to use in easy recipes such as these when all the fresh veg has been eaten up and the weather is too nasty to get to the shops.

Vegetable Burgers - makes 6

2 slices of wholemeal bread, toasted
400g Frozen vegetables, defrosted (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)
400g can of Baked beans, excess sauce drained
2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp plain flour (approx)
Olive oil for frying

• Whizz the bread in a food processor to make breadcrumbs
• Mix the vegetables, beans, breadcrumbs, spices & coriander together and mash with a potato masher to get rid of any large pieces of vegetable
• Mix in the egg and enough flour for the mixture to hold together as a thick batter, don't add too much or it will become dry and the burgers will fall apart
• Add a small amount of olive oil to a frying pan and drop a large ball (tennis ball size) of batter into the pan and flatten out
• Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned
• Place on a baking tray & bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes to finish off the cooking

Delicious served between a wedge of home made Focaccia and salsa...

These were a massive hit with the kids and at only around 25p for each burger they are incredibly frugal too! The Focaccia is very cheap to make too at only around 60p for 2 loaves which slices into 4 good sized buns.

As there is paprika in the burgers it's another recipe that I can link up to The Spice Trail on Bangers & Mash.

 

I have also linked this up to Laura & Nazima's One Ingredient Challenge, which for January is all about Healthy Eating,

as well as Michelle's Less Than a £1 per portion challenge as this recipe comes in at well under £1 per portion.

Take a Bag of Veg - Vegetable Pancakes

In the second of my 'take a bag of veg' recipes I've made some tasty vegetable pancakes. They are really easy to make as well as being quick, and are perfect for a lunch with salad or as a main meal to accompany meat or even a fried egg. If I was making them just for myself I would've added some chilli flakes but I didn't want to make them too spicy for the children so instead added Paprika, which also gives them a great colour. Adding the paprika also makes this recipe eligible to be entered into this month's The Spice Trail on Bangers & Mash.

Vegetable Pancakes - makes 6-8

250g Frozen mixed vegetables (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)

1 egg

100ml milk

100g plain flour

1 tsp Paprika

salt & pepper

oil for frying

• Defrost the vegetables fully - I do this by covering them in boiling water, in fact this is how I cook my frozen peas & corn to avoid over cooking.
• Whisk the egg, milk, flour, paprika and salt & pepper together until smooth
• Stir in the vegetables
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan or skillet
• Pour some of the vegetable mixture into the pan & allow to spread - I have a large skillet & cook 3 at a time.
• Cook for a few minutes until browned on one side and flip over & cook on the other side
• Repeat until all the mixture has been used up
• Serve warm with yoghurt and mango chutney or reheat later in the oven

If you're watching the pennies this month then this is a great one to make - the whole recipe came in at under 60p!

 

Take a Bag of Veg : Ham & Vegetable Pie

Take a Bag of Veg - Ham & Vegetable Pie

Following all the Christmas festivities I found that we had some of the delicious 'ham in coke' left over. Instead of eating more sandwiches filled with leftover meats and stuffing I decided to make it into a quick pie for the family.

It was a nice easy pie made using ready made puff pastry. I've made my own puff pastry previously but always try and keep a block or two of shop bought in the fridge or freezer ready for quick meals like this. Frozen veg is also something that I always try and keep in the freezer as the fresh fruit & veg in this house gets eaten in a flash, so having the frozen variety always means we have some kind of vegetable available for dinner.

This pie is the first of a few recipes that I have coming up that use frozen vegetables, and the low cost (£1 for a 1kg bag) makes the meals incredibly frugal as well as convenient - and unlike frozen ready meals you have control over exactly what ingredients go into your meals.

Ham & Vegetable Pie - serves 4/5

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

150ml milk

2 tsp cornflour

300g frozen mixed vegetables, defrosted (mine included sweetcorn, peas, cut green beans & mini carrots)

300g cooked ham, diced

100g cheese (I used a mixture of soft goats cheese and grated Red Leicester leftover from the Christmas cheese board)

500g ready made puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion to soften
• Mix the cornflour with a little of the milk and add to the pan with the remainder of the milk
• Stir in the vegetables and ham
• Bring gently to the boil for the sauce to thicken
• Meanwhile roll the pastry out to form a base and a lid for your pie (I used just over half for the base and the rest for the lid)
• Line your pie dish with pastry, prick all over with a fork & bake for approx 6-7 minutes in a preheated 200C oven
• Stir the cheese into the ham & vegetables
• Fill your part baked pastry base with the filling
• Brush around the edge of the pastry with the beaten egg & lay the pastry lid on top (doesn't matter about being neat!)
• Press the edges together with a fork to seal
• Brush with more beaten egg
• Bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden

I need to get into the habit of doing my cooking earlier in the day until the Spring comes as I hate those night time food photos!