The Efx3 Recipe Collection

I don’t have a picture for you, because I ate half the soup and put the other half in the freezer for later, rest assured it was good. This is a vegetarian soup that can be made vegan if you wish, it’s chock full of veggies and great flavor without a lot of salt or fat.

2 small yellow onions

2 large celery stalks

2 Tablespoons butter(30 ml) use olive oil if you are making it vegan

2 large carrots

1 large(or 2 small) potato

1/2 cup(125 ml) frozen peas

1 can(250 ml) tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes

1 tsp(5 ml) salt

pinch of pepper

1 tsp basil(5 ml)

1 Tblsp parsley(15 ml)

2 cups vegetable stock/broth(I use “better than bullion”)

2 1/2 cups(625 ml) milk, omit the milk or use soy/rice milk if making it vegan

1 sliced scallion/green onion

Prep time: about 45 minutes

Cooking time: about 1 hour

peel the onion and wash the celery, chop them into small pieces.

Melt the butter in a large stock pot(olive oil if making it vegan) and then saute the onion and celery for 7 to 10 minutes, just until they get soft.

While that is cooking chop the carrot and potatoes into small pieces, also measure out the peas and set these veggies aside.

Now place the tomatoes(fresh or canned) in a bowl and add the spices, smash them about a bit with a spoon so the flavors start to mingle.

Once the onion and celery are soft add the veggie stock and all the veggies except the peas to the pan, bring it to a boil and simmer for 3o minutes, then add the peas and simmer for another 10 minutes. Test to see if the root veggies are soft(potatoes/carrots) if they are soft place the soup in a large bowl to cool a bit.

Once it’s cool enough to handle “wizz” it (small ammount at a time) in a food processor or blender until it’s  smooth as you want it(I left mine just a bit lumpy but you can make it 100% smooth or chunky) return it to the pot and add the milk(soy/rice if making vegan), cook for another 15 minutes just to warm it back up, be careful not to let it boil and scald it. This tasted great before adding the milk so if you don’t want to you can just eat it as is, no milk at all.

Top each bowl with the sliced green onion(I didn’t seeing as I don’t like onion) and eat with some hearty whole grain bread, Mmmm so good.

1. 700g fresh peas, podded and blanched in boiling water for 5 mins.
2. 1 lge leek, cleaned and chopped
3. 1 lge onion, peeled and chopped
4. 4 lge eggs
5. 50ml milk
6. 50g butter
seasoning

Takes about 30 mins to prepare, including podding the peas, and around 40-50 mins to cook
Serves 2.
1. melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan and when sizzling add all the veg and stir well
2. turn the heat right down and sweat gently for 30 mins so the the veg softens but doesn’t brown
3. beat the eggs with the milk and season to taste, then pour over the veg in the pan
4. leave on the low heat for around 15 mins untill begining to set around the edges and underneath
5. put the pan under a hot grill to brown and set the top.

Straight from the pan!

Ingredients:

8  large vine tomatoes
2  large red peppers
2  red onions
1  stick celery
1 bunch of fresh thyme or rosemary
1 clove of garlic
1 large dash of olive oil
700ml veg stock
creme fraiche-optional
seasoning

Preparation time: around 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour roasting on 200c/400f plus 20 mins simmering time

Method:

1 Cut the tomatoes into halves and remove the center stalk
2 Deeseed the peppers and cut into quarters
3 Peel and chop the onions and garlic
4 Chop the celery
5 Put all the ingredients except the stock into a heavy ovenproof pan and roast for 1 hour
6 Remove from the oven and peel the skin off the tomatoes [it should come off easily after being in the oven]
7 Blitz in a food processor or push through a sieve
8 Put back in the pan with the stock and simmer for 20 mins, adjust the seasoning if needed
9 Stir in some creme fraiche if required

A yummy, scrummy, Chinese-inspired chicken stir fry! Made with packet noodles I’m afraid, because that’s all we ever have. If you have fresh or dried noodles instead, adjust the cooking times to suit your ingredients. This recipe normally feeds about 3 people in my house.

Ingredients:
500g diced chicken breast
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 large yellow pepper, chopped
2 tsp chinese five spice
1/2 small glass of sweet white wine (I like Liebfraumilch)
2 level tsp lemon juice
3 level tsp soy sauce
4 knobs of butter
1 heaped tbsp plain flour, sieved
2 packets of Amoy straight-to-wok noodles (or whichever noodles you prefer to use)

Preparation time: 5-10 minutes (or 10-12 if you can’t get pre-diced chicken)

Cooking time: roughly 25-30 minutes on a medium heat

Method:
1. Heat about 100ml water in a wok until it’s almost boiling. You can do this on a high heat, and then turn it down before adding your ingredients.
2. Add the chicken and fry it in the water until it’s white all over. If you don’t think you have enough water, add more! Water has no calories and is being used here as both a sauce base and an alternative to cooking oils.
3. Slowly add the five-spice, lemon juice, soy sauce, wine, and half the butter, stirring after each ingredient is added (and until the butter is entirely melted).
4. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the onion, garlic and peppers. Cook just enough to retain some crispiness. This also helps to keep a lot of the flavour.
6. Add the rest of the butter, and the flour, to thicken your sauce.
7. A few minutes before you serve, add the straight-to-wok noodles and stir through the sauce until cooked.

Notes:
*Sauce looking a little on the dry/thick/gloopy side? Add more water! To prevent slowing your cooking time, use hot water.
*Teetotal? Try using non-alcoholic wine, or a sweet grape juice. Even just using water instead works, although you might want to use less lemon juice as it may be overpowering without the wine’s sweetness to compliment it.

This is a pretty experimental dish that I threw together one evening, so it’s not 100% up to par yet, but I’ve never had any complaints so far! Please let me know if you try it, and if you can suggest any variations/improvements!