Rose Elliot - Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Meals In Minutes

Add the beans to the pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes, until heated through, mashing the beans to make a rough puree. Stir in the chutney or pickle and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the grill. Cut the burger roll in half and warm it through under the grill, then pile the bean mixture on one half, top with the other half, press down and serve immediately.

SERVES 1

An indulgent breakfast, brunch or pudding.

1 individual brioche

125g / 4oz Vacherin cheese

1–2 tbls best-quality apricot conserve

Warm the brioche in the oven or under the grill, then serve with the Vacherin cheese and apricot conserve.

SERVES 1

125g / 4oz cream cheese, full fat or low fat

2 pieces of preserved stem ginger

6 walnut halves

a little milk (optional)

2 bagels

Put the cream cheese into a bowl. Chop the ginger and walnuts and heat into the cream cheese, adding a little milk it necessary to soften it.

Cut the bagels in half, spread with the filling

and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

This filling is a piquant and intriguing relish from New Food For All Palates by Sally and Lucian Berg. It also makes a good topping for crostini or bruschetta.

25g / 1oz white bread, crusts removed

7 tsp white wine vinegar

2 eggs, hard-boiled

40g / 1 1/ 2oz mild onion

25g / 1oz green pepper

25g / 1oz peeled sharp apple

1 rounded tsp sea salt

4 tsp olive oil

white pepper

2 bagels

Tear the bread into pieces, put these into a bowl and sprinkle with the vinegar.

Shell the eggs, chop them roughly and put them into a food processor with the onion, green pepper and apple, also in rough chunks. Add the bread, salt and oil and whizz to a chunky puree. Season, adding some while pepper to taste.

Cut the bagels in half, spread the filling over them and sandwich together.

SERVES 2

This makes a good quick festive pudding. Other fruits such as Clementines, peeled and sliced, could be substituted for the figs, or instead of the fresh fruit you could use fruits preserved in alcohol.

6–8 fresh figs

4 slices of panettone

1 tub of thick Creek yogurt

a few flaked almonds

Wash and slice the figs, then arrange them on individual plates with a slice of panettone, a good dollop of Greek yogurt and a few flaked almonds.

SERVES 4

Rather like an apple charlotte, this is a pleasant combination of crisp, sugary cinnamon toast and buttery apple slices. The recipe also works well with pears instead of apples, and white bread rather than brown. Some chilled thick yogurt or pouring cream makes a good accompaniment.

2 sweet, mellow eating apples, such as Cox’s

butter

2 tbls honey

2–4 slices of white bread

2–4 tbls demerara sugar

ground cinnamon

Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each quarter into thin slices.

Heat a little butter in a saucepan and add the apples and honey. Cook, uncovered, over a gentle heat, until the apple slices have softened, about 3–4 minutes, stirring gently from time to time.

Meanwhile, make the cinnamon toast: toast the bread on both sides – don’t get it too brown and crisp. Remove the crusts if you like, then butter the toast. Cover each slice evenly with demerara sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Put the toast under the grill for 1–2 minutes until the sugar has melted a hit to make a crisp coating. Cut into fingers or triangles.

Spoon the apple slices on to a small plate and arrange the cinnamon toast around them.

SERVES 2

Unless a croissant is superb in flavour and texture, I think that halving and grilling it is by far the nicest way to serve it – either with butter or with a sweet or savoury filling. Here, a combination of three of my favourite foods makes an indulgent occasional treat.

1 croissant

1–2 tbls black cherry conserve

1–2 tbls thick double cream, crème fraîche or soured cream

a little icing sugar (optional)

Slice the croissant in half horizontally. Grill on both sides until crisp and lightly browned.

Spread the bottom half with black cherry conserve, cover with the cream, then replace the top half of the croissant.

Sift a little icing sugar over, if you like.

SERVES 1

(left) Panettone with Fresh Figs, (top) Croissant with Cream and Black Cherry Conserve, (right) Cinnamon Toast with Honeyed Apples

These foods are easy to turn into a quick feast, with dishes such as Tortilla, Spinach and Stilton Creêpes, Haloumi with Spiced Leeks or Chocolate Amaretti Pudding. Cheese is perfect for simple instant meals – see No-Cook Cheese Feastsfor ideas – and yogurt, soft cheeses and cream form the basis of quick and easy desserts. Dairy products do contain fat, but used in moderation and balanced with vegetables, fruit and cereals they definitely have a place in a healthy, fast-food diet.

2 eggs

4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

2 tbls chopped fresh herbs, such as chervil, chives and parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

15g / 1/ 2oz butter

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly until just combined. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and add to the eggs, together with the herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

Put a 15cm/6 inch frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot add the butter, turn the heat up and swirl the butter around – don’t let it brown.

Pour in the eggs, tilting the pan to distribute them evenly, then, using a fork, draw the set edges towards the centre and let the liquid egg run to the edges. Repeat until the omelette is almost set.

Tilt the pan over a warmed plate, then fold the edge of the omelette over to the centre and let it fold over again on to the plate. Serve immediately.