From Falafels to BBQ Feasts!

This week has been a bit of a tale of two kitchens! From healthy, colourful plant-based dishes on my Leiths course to an enormous meat-filled BBQ feast in our outdoor kitchen. Quite the contrast, but lots of delicious food along the way!

Another Week of Plant-Based Cooking

This week’s Leiths Plant-Based Cooking course was all about fresh flavours, colourful ingredients and some lovely new skills.

On the menu were:

• Falafels with homemade flatbreads and lemon and dill mayonnaise

• Spiced tofu and burnt corn tacos

• Vietnamese summer rolls with chilli and lime dipping sauce

All three dishes were delicious, and I really enjoyed making them.

The falafels were served with homemade flatbreads and a lovely fresh lemon and dill mayo. Such a simple combination, but one that worked beautifully.

The spiced tofu and burnt corn tacos were another success. Packed with colour, texture and fresh flavours, they were a really lovely dish. My one complaint? The vegan cheese!

I’ve mentioned before that, despite being vegetarian my entire life, cheese is the one thing I really struggle to replace. I just can’t get used to the flavour of vegan alternatives. I managed one taco before admitting defeat and swapping back to good old dairy cheese!

I’m determined to keep an open mind, though, so if anyone has discovered a genuinely good vegan cheese, please do let me know. I’m still searching!

Finally, the Vietnamese summer rolls were lovely . Fresh, light and full of colourful ingredients, served with a chilli and lime dipping sauce. Another great dish to add to the repertoire, and something I’d happily make again.

A New Food Photographer in the Family!

One particularly lovely addition to my food journey this week has been some help from my eldest son.

He’s currently studying GCSE Photography at school and decided to contribute to my growing collection of food photographs.

He took the brilliant close-up photograph of the falafels, flatbreads and lemon and dill mayo, and I have to say, I think he’s rather shown me up!

It’s not an angle I’d naturally think to photograph food from, as I usually like to capture the whole dish. But his photograph really highlights the textures and details, and I absolutely love it.

I think I may have found myself a new food photographer! It’s also really nice to have him involved in documenting this little cooking adventure of mine.

From Vegan Cooking to a Full-On BBQ Feast!

And then, just to completely contradict the healthy plant-based theme of the week, we moved on to a weekend of serious meat cooking!

Our youngest son had a birthday party, so we decided to make the most of the outdoor kitchen and put together a proper feast.

On the menu were mini beef short rib sliders, filled with slow-cooked beef, horseradish and Dijon mayonnaise, pickles and crispy onions.

Alongside those, I made four enormous trays of baked mac and cheese. Four! I think I may have slightly underestimated quite how much macaroni and cheese that actually is.

For the adults, we also made a slightly more indulgent version of the sliders, using croissants instead of buns, with the same delicious fillings and the addition of Emmental cheese.

As if that wasn’t enough, we served burnt ends with nachos as a picky starter. Definitely not a weekend of light eating!

Everything went down an absolute treat, and there’s something so lovely about cooking for a crowd and seeing everyone enjoying the food.

Credit Where Credit’s Due!

Now, before anyone thinks I’ve suddenly become an expert in smoking beef and producing BBQ masterpieces, I need to give credit where it’s due.

My husband is absolutely the king of the BBQ in our house.

The short ribs, burnt ends and all things meat-related were very much his creations. I’m claiming the mac and cheese, but the rest of the meat feast belongs to him!

We make quite a good team when it comes to feeding a crowd, although our cooking styles couldn’t be more different at times.

Finding My Table, One Dish at a Time

Looking back, it’s been another really enjoyable week of cooking, learning and experimenting.

I love that cooking has become something the whole family gets involved in, whether that’s learning new techniques, photographing the finished dishes or taking charge of the BBQ.

And while I might not be completely converted to vegan cheese just yet, I’m thoroughly enjoying discovering just how varied and exciting plant-based cooking can be.

Another week, plenty of new skills, some lovely family moments and lots of good food.

Exactly what Finding My Table is all about!