Simple and in Season: December’s Round-up and January/February Shout-Out

A belated Happy New Year from me! It’s January at last, time to shrug off that festive fug, stop grazing on rubbish and turn to a lighter and healthier approach. Are you making any changes this month? I’m going to give my liver a well-deserved holiday *gulp* by cutting out alcohol for a while and I’ll endeavour to include more fruit and vegetables in my meals. A fruit bowl and a big jug of water will be joining me at my desk, I’ll be sipping on peppermint tea in the evenings and getting out for even more of my long walks with those lush doggies of mine.

I’ve been impressed with the amount of vegan and vegetarian recipes that have been sent in to Simple and in Season over December. From inspiring ways with pumpkin to some fabulous ideas for veggie roast dinners there are plenty of ideas to keep you on the straight and narrow this month. Make sure you bookmark your faves for the weeks ahead.

If you’ve not heard of Simple and in Season before, it’s a link-up for food bloggers to celebrate cooking with seasonal ingredients. It’s a great way to discover what’s perfect to eat right now and for getting ideas for new things to try. If you’re stuck in a recipe rut, it’s fantastic for a spot of inspiration.

Let’s kick off with a gorgeously Vegan way to pimp up your pasta from Tin & Thyme with her Easy Romanesco Pasta with Lemon & Garlic. The romanesco is first steamed, then fried with lemon and garlic. This tops the pasta and tomato sauce and is finished with a sprinkling of toasted flaked almonds – delish!

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If you’re vegetarian or vegan, or simply cutting out meat and dairy this month then you’ll be glad of this wonderful mushroom gravy from Yumsome. It’s just the thing to perk up some veggie sausages and mash on a cold January evening.

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I didn’t actually get around to making any mulled wine in December, I was truly in the cocktail zone, but Yumsome showed us how to make both mulled wine and cider in this lovely post.

Check it out here

It’s the perfect time to enjoy a veggie stew, so why not make this Seitan and Prune Tagine with Cashews from Yumsome. It sounds super simple to make and is the kind of thing you could make a big batch of and freeze in portions for quick and healthy microwavable lunches to make a change from soup.

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If you’re a vegan than cream liquors like Baileys are off limits, but clever Yumsome, my Simple and in Season star poster this month, has created this amazing Vegan Nutella Cream Liquor. I’ll have to wait for wet February to try this one…

Find the recipe here

How adorable are these Jack Be Little Mini Pumpkins with Raclette Cheese from A hedgehog In The Kitchen – they look and sound amazing, and I think would be perfect for serving up for a weekend lunch for friends.

Grab the recipe here

And A Hedgehog in the Kitchen is back with another incredible pumpkin recipe with her Pumpkin Mushroom Bowls & Brown Rice. I think this sounds heavenly and just the kind of food I want to be tucking into this month as I endeavour to clean up my diet after the Christmas indulgences.

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This Pumpkin Goat Cheese Quiche from A Hedgehog in the Kitchen is made with puff pastry and looks totally sumptuous! You really cannot beat a home-made quiche to warm up with at this time of year. I like slicing it up and freezing off portions for lunch boxes that can defrost over the course of the morning keeping everything else chilled.

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If you need a dessert idea this month, then look no further than this Cinnamon Streusel Cheesecake from The Baking Explorer. It’s a baked vanilla cheesecake with a crunchy cinnamon base, whipped cream topping with a final flourish of streusel – how incredible?!!!

Find the recipe here

Yumsome is back with her Luxury Home-Made Mincemeat, light and fruity, with just a hint of tropical coconut and packed with ingredients from her past five years of living all over the world. Sounds great to us!

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Roast Stuffed Seitan Roulade from Yumsome sounds simple to make, economical, and perfect for a vegan roast dinner.

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And we finish this month’s round-up with this stunning Vegan Red Cabbage and Mushroom Stuffing from Yumsome which I think would make a brilliant veggie burger. Definitely one to add to my list for January’s new recipes to try.

The recipe’s here

Thanks so much to everyone for joining in this month and linking up all their wonderful seasonal recipes. Make sure you hook up with us for the next round when there are bound to be some fabulously healthy recipes to try…

Join in with Simple and in Season for January & February!

GUIDELINES

Simple and in Season is a monthly food blogging event where you are invited to link up any of your seasonal recipe posts – anywhere in the world! Join a thriving community of home cooks who love to share their seasonal creations. Each month, there will be a round-up of all the entries.

• All you have to do is come up with a dish using any seasonal produce you like (savoury or sweet) post it on your blog, add a link to this post mentioning Simple and in Season and linking to www.feedingboys.co.uk and then manually add the link to your post in the box on each month’s launch page (click the badge on my Blog sidebar to find the current host)
• The linky will close on the 27th and a round up post featuring all the recipes entered will be posted at the beginning of each new month.
• You can take inspiration from anywhere – adapt a recipe from your favourite cookbook, try something from a magazine, make up your own creation or share a family favourite. The usual rules apply when using someone else’s recipe, please either get permission from the author to post it or adapt it in some way stating how/why you’ve changed it.
• Include any seasonal produce you fancy including fruit, veg, herbs, meat or fish.
• Link as many recipes as you like. You can link posts entered into other blog events or carnivals as long as it involves a seasonal food item (and fits in with their rules).
• The linky-up is open to anyone, anywhere, and although it will be nice to feature as much British produce as possible, it will be interesting to see what’s in season elsewhere.
• By entering your link, you are giving me permission to add your photograph to the round-up. I will link back directly to your post when I include you.
• If you have questions or problems, email me or leave me a comment in the comment box at the bottom of the post.
• If you are on Twitter or Instagram, tweet your link/photo adding the hashtag #simpleandinseason or add me @cookingkt and I will re-tweet it.