Other vegetable dishes
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Beetroot
Using fresh beetroot is wonderful if you have the time to prepare it. Take as many beetroot as you like, cut off the tops and bottoms and wash well.
Place in a saucepan and cover with water and the lid. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the beetroot are cooked so that a sharp knife will easily slide into them. Drain the beetroot and remove the skin – usually it will come off easily by scraping it with a knife, you won’t need a vegetable peeler. Then cut the beetroot into chunks of a size you like and place in a bowl. Add some extra virgin olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the beetroot, and a generous amount of cracked black pepper. Then place on an oven tray covered in baking paper and bake in a moderate oven until they are very slightly crispy. These are wonderful on their own or tossed through some rocket leaves dressed with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, cracked black pepper and salt. 
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Brussel sprouts
Even if you think that you don't like Brussel sprouts, we’d really encourage you to try these. We have given them to people who don’t like Brussel sprouts and they’ve loved them. We’ve not been specific with the quantities here because you should add as you prefer given that we’ve used pepper, soy sauce and chilli.
Take as many sprouts as you’d like. Cut the minimum of the remaining stem off the bottoms and save any healthy leaves which may fall off. Wash the sprouts and leaves and put in a metal colander, cover and place over a saucepan with water and steam until slightly soft, don’t overcook, they should still look bright green and be reasonably firm – you should be able to easily slide a sharp knife through them. When the sprouts are cooked, cut them in half and place in a frypan with a generous amount of Nuttlelex, enough to keep the sprouts from sticking to the pan, but not so that they are swimming in the Nuttlelex. Add some cracked black pepper and chilli flakes to your own taste. Fry for a few minutes and then add in some gluten free tamari sauce and stir fry them for a few more minutes until they are coated and look a little dark. Remove from the frypan and place on an oven tray covered in baking paper. Place in a moderate oven (about 175 degrees, fan forced) and bake until you’re happy with them. It usually takes about 15mins. Keep the loose outer leaves throughout. They can become crispy when baked, but are still delicious.
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Eggplant with fresh tomatoes
Wonderful oven-grilled eggplant with a fresh tomato sauce. We “grill” them in the oven because we usually do a big batch and it’s quicker, avoids the oil fumes from a frypan and cooks beautifully.
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Use as many eggplants as you like. Slice the pieces thinly, lengthwise. Place in a colander and salt lightly and let them sit for 30mins or so. Then wash them and pat dry with paper towel. Place the eggplant in a bowl and very lightly cover with extra virgin olive oil and mix through gently. We don’t like the eggplant too oily, but add more oil if you do. For one good-sized eggplant, we use one dessertspoon of oil. Lay the eggplant pieces out on baking trays covered with baking paper and bake in a moderate oven until they dry out slightly and may be slightly blackened where there is less flesh. But, really, just cook them until you’re happy with them. For the fresh tomato sauce, to go with one large eggplant cooked as above, take 3 good-sized ripe tomatoes and chop them into chunks and place in a saucepan with about 1 dessertspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the tomatoes have broken down and have become slightly saucy in consistency (see the picture), but still with pieces of tomato. Don't overcook the tomatoes, because there will be too much liquid. You could also add 2 cloves of crushed garlic to the sauce if you like garlic. The eggplant and sauce are served cold (or best at room temperature, but not warm). | ||
