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A friend sent me a recipe from another blog, agoodcarrot.com, for Turkish rice. The recipe looked good and it occurred to me that I hadn't made any stuffed grape leaves in a while, and that I had the necessary ingredients on hand. Tomorrow's lunch planned! Massive caveat to doing this in the late morning with a teething 1 year old: it takes a while to fold grape leaves! The rice, slightly modified to suit my pantry and tastes, took no time to cook what so ever, but then folding was another story. Moral of this: plan a little further ahead and give yourself more time than I did! They were tasty enough to make up for the delay in lunch though, so no worries. Ingredients: for the rice: 1 onion, chopped 1/2 c raisins, chopped 2 1/2 tbsp dried mint, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 c walnuts, chopped 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 2 c rice 3 c water salt and pepper to taste 1 packet grape leaves, washed 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 egg, beaten 1) Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions until they are translucent. Add the nuts and toast lightly. Add the raisins, spices and rice and cook for a further couple of minutes on medium heat, until the rice becomes translucent. 2) Add the mint and water and stir, and bring to the boil. At this point, put a tight lid on the pot and then you can either do what I did and put it in a Wonderbag slow cooker, or you can lower the heat and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). 3) Cool the rice! Then fold into the grape leaves: cut the stem off a leaf and place it stem-stump down on your palm. Place a small amount of rice filling (approx. 2 tsp) in the centre and fold in the sides then roll it up to the top. Place seam side down in a heavy bottomed pot. Use torn or small leaves to line the pot. 4) Pour 1 1/2 c water and 1 tbsp olive oil over the top and place a plate on the stuffed bundles to keep them from floating. Heat the pot over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes. 5) Beat the egg and lemon juice together and pour evenly over the stuffed leaves and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. 6) Serve! These were really tasty! I highly recommend them, provided you have enough time. The rice is very tasty on its own too, so if you don't have time to fold them, just serve it as a side for something else. With some of the left over rice, I made rice balls stuffed with orange peel and raisins with cloves and fenugreek, a couple of days later and served them with a very simple minty tzatziki and lentil sliders.

This year, I accidentally planted lemon mint on my balcony instead of a variety I might be more familiar with and like more, like, say, peppermint or spearmint. Ironically, the lemon mint is one of the few of my plants to have flourished this year. I planted more things too early, then we had late snow and frost which wiped a lot of my plants out. I replanted and hoped for the best. Then the spring was very rainy and drowned a number of them. Then we had hail. Twice. A lot of plants were flattened. In and amongst weather catastrophes, was Little Bit, who delights in tearing up my plants by the roots, or picking the leaves off of them to make mud soup in his paddling pool. Through all this, the mint survived. I was delighted until I made tea with it and discovered that the flavour was not quite what I was expecting. I wondered if there had been black tea left in the bottom of the pot? No. I tried again. It still tasted odd: at once muddier than regular mint and more acidic, but without mint's typical freshness. I left the plant alone for a bit and wondered what to do with it. And then I hit on the idea of a pesto. It took a little tweaking, but it worked out well in the end. I had to add a little water to get the blender to work properly, and then it was too wet as well as needing a grounding note, so I added some stale bread to the blender. If your consistency is ok without it though, skip the bread. I also gradually increased the amount of garlic. As the pesto is raw, I was worried that too much garlic would be overpowering, but the pesto really did need it. Here it is. Ingredients: 3-4 c fresh lemon mint leaves 3-4 tbsp olive oil 1/4 c pine nuts 1/2 head garlic 1/4 c water 1/4 c bread crumbs Juice of 1/2 lemon 1/2 c grated parmesan Salt and pepper to taste 1) Blend all ingredients until smooth. Taste test. I am happy with how this came out. It doesn't taste overpoweringly minty (but then, neither does the parent plant) but has a nice balance to it. We had this first with sandwiches. The minty pesto worked very well on wholegrain seedy bread with cheese and sausage for lunch. We have also tried it with spinach and ricotta tortellini, and it was delicious. Little Bit refused to try it, but then he doesn't like any sauce on his tortellini.

I heard that watermelon rind is edible and that it makes nice jam or chutney so I wanted to give it a try. I celebrated our first watermelon of the season by saving the rind until the melon was all gone and then having a go at chutney. Here is the recipe I came up with. The rind has a mild, but pleasant flavour which I combined with some apple and red onion for a chutney. I did have to blend it a little, which I don't generally do with jams or chutneys as the rind didn't break down much even after considerable simmering. It just stayed in the little cubes I had cut, so blitzing it briefly gave the chutney a more even consistency. Ingredients: Rind of 1 small watermelon, diced 3 red onion, diced 1 apple, diced 3/4 c herb vinegar 1 tsp salt 3/4 c sugar 1 red chilli, diced 2 tsp (or more) red chili flakes - I used pul biber 1) Place watermelon rind in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until almost tender. Add other ingredients and cook for a further 30 minutes or so. 2) Blitz briefly until chunky-smooth (chutney consistency) and taste test. Place in hot, sterile jars while chutney is still hot and seal, allowing to cool. I am really pleased with how this came out. I wasn't sure what to expect nor really what direction to go with it, so proceeded by taste testing and adjusting. The apple went in both for taste and to add pectin to help it all come together. We've tried it with crackers and cheese and a couple of sun dried tomatoes and it held up well! With the next watermelon, I think I am going to try watermelon jam....

I love yogurt. Until relatively recently, though, aside from Tzatziki, it was a sweet food, usually for breakfast. Even plain yogurt, which is more sour than sweet, I considered a food to be had with oats and raisins, or with syrup on a crêpe. For lunch though? Maybe muesli, but even then, I consider that more sweet than savoury, loaded up as it is with fruit. Imagine my delight, therefore, when I discovered borani, a savoury Persian yogurt dish. The yogurt is flavoured with herbs and spices, salt and pepper and served with vegetables. I started out following recipes for it, but have since gone my own way. I've enjoyed playing around with different veggie toppings and herb or spice combos too. It is no longer what you might call "authentic" but it is tasty! I also love that it is tasty eaten at room temperature, and within reason, it doesn't need to be refrigerated. I found that it worked well as a packed lunch when working in a refugee camp, for example, where we had no microwave and no fridge. Here's our most recent one. Ingredients: 3 c yogurt 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp herbes de Provence 1 tsp Thyme 2 c spinach 1 tbsp butter 2 onions, sliced 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted Salt and pepper 1) Strain yogurt through a cheese cloth until thickened to the desired consistency. Mix with herbes de Provence, thyme and sumac, salt and pepper to taste. 2) Wilt spinach and sauté briefly with butter. 3) Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry onions over medium high heat until crispy. 4) Assemble bowls, first a dollop of yogurt, then some spinach, some onions and a sprinkling of pine nuts. Incredibly quick to assemble and at once refreshing and filling without being heavy, this was the perfect lunch last week after a morning bike ride with Little Bit. It was a lot of steep uphill (and then a much quicker descent) so I was happy to be able to plate up something quick when we got home. I made this using home-made yogurt which we'd left out a little too long, so the flavour had ripened a little. For breakfast, the flavour was a bit much, but mixed with herbs and spices for a lunch borani, it was perfect.

Ingredients: 1.5 l milk (I use whole fat, but feel free to use skimmed or semi-skimmed if necessary,

As mentioned in Day 46 of The Challenge Soup season continues! (Does it ever really stop?) A friend recently gave us quite a large bag full of sage, so needs must... This was a first try at this soup, but it will be sticking around now. Very tasty, quick to pull together and a good twist on the various other carrot-based soups we make. Many thanks to my hubby for putting it together! Ingredients: 1 kg carrots, chopped 2 onions, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 1 l of veggie stock 1/2 c dried sage 2 tsp honey 1/2 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a soup pot and sauté onions. Add carrots and potatoes and allow to char briefly on the bottom of the pan. 2) Add stock and sage and bring to a simmer. Add honey and cook for about a half hour. 3) Blitz til smooth, taste test and serve. This has got to be one of the simplest of soups, but it was warming and satisfying on a cold October lunch. We had it with crusty bread, local cheese and home made Green Tomato Chutney.

I've recently gotten into having Golden Milk in the evenings - that is, warm milk with turmeric and other spices. The first time I looked up a couple of recipes to get ideas of spice outlines, as it were, and then from there on out I started playing with the spicing. Some days it would be more golden, with warm spice notes behind it, another much milder, milk with a tinge of yellow and a hint of spices. Some days I include orange peel, sometime almond extract. Sometimes it is simple, just turmeric and one or two other notes, sometimes much more complex, a layering of tones and spices to achieve a rich flavour profile. Here are two of my favourites. Let me know what you think! Ingredients: For variation 1: 3 c milk 1-2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp honey 1 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp ginger 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cloves 1-2 tsp dried orange peel 1/4 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao (original or chilli) For variation 2: 3 c milk 1 tsp turmeric 3/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp cloves 1 tsp honey 1/2 - 3/4 tsp almond extract 1/2 tsp grapefruit or orange peel (I've used both, but the grapefruit works better and is more powerful) 1/4 tsp Aloha Spiced Cacao 1) Pour milk into a saucepan and place over gentle heat. Add other ingredients and stir gently to distribute evenly. Bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Taste test, tweak and serve. I find this drink perfect before bedtime. It is warm and comforting and hot milk has a soporific effect. I am a bit disappointed not to have tried this earlier, but I guess now is better than later or never. Let me know what you think of my variants, and what you do for yours!

Since first trying to candy and then chocolate cover orange peels last spring, I have branched out to ginger and other citrus fruit peels. Ingredients: Citrus peel or ginger strips - generally about 1 c worth 1/2 c sugar plus extra for candying 100 g Chocolate Optional: Cinnamon, cloves spices etc. 1) Place the (clean) orange peel in a saucepan with enough water to cover it and add sugar. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about half an hour to an hour until the orange peel is tender but still retains its integrity and a little bite. 2) Remove and drain, spreading out on a drying rack to dry overnight. 3) Place the ones you want to candy in a jar with the sugar, seal and shake, coating them evenly. 4) For the chocolate coated peels, place chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to create a Bain Marie. Stir regularly as the chocolate begins to melt. Dip strips of orange peel into the chocolate and lay on a cooling rack. (TIP: I find chopsticks very helpful in the dipping process!) The principles hold generally to the orange peels I did last year, but I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences. I have generally omitted the extra sugar shaken over the candied peels at the end, finding it unnecessary. I find that lime peel and lime slices work very well and have an excellent balance of sweetness and tartness to them when candied. I have also tried coating them in white chocolate, which worked excellently. Ginger, of course, works wonderfully. As with the others, I have not added extra sugar on top, but I have coated in dark chocolate, which is very tasty. Dark chocolate with a little orange oil added to it is especially delectable. On one occasion, I simmered ginger, orange and lime together. It worked nicely, but the citrus peel was done before the ginger, which had to go back in the pan for another go. Also, they shared flavours a little, the ginger imparting a little bite to the lime and orange peels. Not a bad experience by any means, but one to be aware of, depending on your intentions for the candy. Grapefruit peel was tremendously bitter. I tried adding a pinch of salt to the simmering syrup as salt counteracts bitterness a lot of the time, but it made for a weird bitter salty candied peel rather than anything else. I set it aside, therefore, and covered it in dark chocolate at a later date, some with a sprinkling of cloves over the top too, and the grapefruit peel was transformed! I highly recommend this form of candy! Orange peel with a little cinnamon over the chocolate works too. Candied lemon works very nicely coated in white chocolate with a little black pepper. It seems a little counterintuitive perhaps, but that is a combo I discovered when playing around with my chocolate tempering and flavouring. The black pepper's sharpness is mitigated by the lemon and the lemon's bitterness is evened out by the black pepper. I faffed about a little with tempering the chocolate properly before coating my orange and grapefruit peels, but I am not convinced of the necessity of this, and so have not included it in the description above. A caveat to bear in mind is that these keep extremely well in an airtight jar IF, and only if, you dry them long enough. If after the candying process there is any moisture left on the peels, it will go mouldy, which would be a shame... When they do keep, I am discovering that having candied peels around for use as ingredients in other things can be very handy, like in my updated Ginger Snaps. I really enjoyed making these (and eating them too) and prepped a whole bunch last week as Christmas presents for my parents. I didn't faff about with tempering all of the chocolate, and I have to say it is an incredibly sticky medium to work with, but it was certainly fun to play around with the different flavours and try different things out.

Skip the toast and it's gluten free. Play around with it! This one came out beautifully.

As mentioned in Day 41 of The Challenge Vegetables stewed with prunes and warm (rather than hot) spices served over couscous. What better for a rainy autumn afternoon? Especially not knowing how well the friend coming to lunch tolerates spice... Ingredients: 3 red onions, chopped 2 tomatoes , diced 3 carrots, chopped Half a head of garlic, sliced 6 celery sticks, chopped 400g chickpeas 400ml vegetable broth 1/2 c tomato passata 100 g prunes, pitted and chopped (or apricots could work) 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp tandoori powder (I like the light heat and the warmth of this spice, but you can use paprika if you'd rather) 1 tsp of Aloha Spiced Cacao (or cocoa powder) 3 tsp urfa biber or chilli flakes Salt and pepper to taste 1) Put a heavy oven proof dish in the oven without its lid, and heat to 180°C. 2) Chop your veg and add to the preheated dish. Add spices and stock, replace in the oven and allow to cook 1 - 1 1/4 hours until vegetables are almost tender (I like the carrots and celery to have a little bite left) and flavours have blended. Taste test and serve over couscous. Super simple, tasty and easily adapted to different veg, chicken or different levels of spice. It diffuses a lovely smell through the house, and on a cold afternoon warms you from the inside.