Want something healthy(ish) for the new year after the excesses of Christmas? Why not try one of Noreen’s specialities: Vegetable Crumble. It is simple, although the preparation is a bit labour intensive. And because it is unusual it seems to wow! most vegetarians.

Earlier today we mentioned to one of our friends (who has been a chef!) that we were going to have veggie crumble tonight. He was incredulous. You would have thought we were going to cook Martian Squid or something. Even when we explained it …

“You know what apple crumble is?”
“Yes”
“Well then you know what vegetable crumble is. Just add sauce.”

… our friend still wasn’t wholly convinced.

So for all the unbelievers out there, this is how it goes. (As usual I’ll leave you to work out the quantities and ratios to suit you.)

Vegetable Crumble

You will need:

• Enough potatoes for however many you’re feeding
• A selection of vegetables. Almost anything is OK but root veg, beans (especially butter beans), cauliflower, fennel, mushrooms, onions work well. Leafy veg, peppers, tomatoes aren’t so good but will still work as long as they aren’t the main veg.
• Some sauce: choose from cheese (especially good), mushroom, onion, tomato; or even herb or garlic
• Crumble topping
• Grated cheese (optional)
• Salt & pepper

This is what you do:

1. Decide what sauce you’re going to do and leave any veg for that aside. If you’re using canned beans hold these back as well.
2. You need to prepare and pre-cook the veg in bite-sized-ish pieces. Steam (preferably) or boil the veg until only just done. As the veggies will cook at different rates, this ensures that all the veg is properly cooked, with none over- or under-done.
3. While the veg cooks make the crumble topping, just as you would for apple crumble only with no added sugar.
4. Also make the sauce. Just a standard cheese, mushroom, onion, herb or garlic white sauce. Or a tomato sauce (as for pasta or pizza); chunky is good. The choice is yours.
5. Put the hot cooked veg in a large casserole together with the drained, canned beans. Season and cover with the sauce; ensure everything is mixed up a bit.
6. Add the crumble topping, and (optionally) some grated cheese on top.
7. Cook in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes to ensure the crumble is done and everything is hot through.
8. Serve on its own as a rib-sticking veggie main course, or as the vegetable to accompany roast meat.

Notes:

1. We often do this with whatever vegetables we happen to have left in the fridge; it’s a good “use it up rather than throw it out” dish.
2. Do NOT over cook the veg. Remember it will get a bit more cooking in the oven.
3. If you (choose to) make too much crumble topping, it freezes well, can be cooked almost from frozen, and as it’s unsweetened it can easily be quickly adapted for fruit crumble.
4. This reheats well the next day (with a bit more grated cheese) for a quick lunch.
5. An alternative is to use roasted vegetables, but that needs a bit more thought and preparation.

For those of you still struggling under mountains of leftover turkey (or indeed any meat) I bring salvation. Yesterday I used all our remaining meat to make a large meat loaf (or maybe it’s terrine). You can put almost anything in this as long as it is cookable; so maybe not lettuce, cucumber, salted peanuts or pickles, but pretty much everything else is fair game including olives and cranberry sauce. This is roughly what I did …

Christmas Leftover Meat Loaf
(aka Kitchen Sink Terrine)

You will need:
A quantity of cooked meat; it can be turkey, beef, sausage, bacon, ham — whatever mix you have. Scraps are fine; just remove the bones and gristle.
Some butter and/or olive oil
An egg or two
Some stock and/or a glass of port or brandy
Some garlic
Some mushrooms if available
A good couple of pinches of dried herbs
Salt & pepper
Any other cooked veg, including potatoes
A couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs
Cooked stuffing is fine too

What you do:
Pre-heat the over to about 180C, with the fan if it has one.
Reduce the bread to breadcrumbs (quickest in the food processor)
Finely chop the onion, garlic, mushrooms (and any other raw veg) and sweat it in a frying pan with some butter/oil until the onion is soft and translucent.
Finely chop all the meat, stuffing and cooked veg and mix it together with the herbs, onion mix and breadcrumbs.
Lightly beat the egg(s) and add them along with the stock/liquor and a drizzle of oil. Mix well. It needs to be wetish so it binds together but not soggy.
Tip the mix into a large casserole or cake tin which has been well buttered. Firm it down well.
Put on the lid, or cover with foil, and put in the oven until done (probably 45-75 minutes; raw meat may take a bit longer). If you can be bothered (I never can) you may get a better result using a bain marie.
You can test if it is done by inserting a knife in the middle, leave it there for 5 seconds and if it is scalding when removed the loaf should be done. Do not over cook it or it gets dry.
Remove from the oven and, unless eating it hot, if possible press the loaf with a heavy weight while it cools.
Eat either hot or cold with crusty bread and salad.

Notes:
You can also use raw meat but you’ll probably want to either mince it, or pre-cook it.
If you want to make it look pretty you can put a layer of meat slices or hard-boiled egg in the middle, or line the tin with bacon rashers, or decorate the top with juniper berries and bay leaves.