Pease Pudding Please

Who said that the traditional cuisine of Great Britain lacks tasty or vegetarian dishes? This Split Pea (Pease) Pudding recipe from Rose Elliot’s Vegetarian Dishes from Around the World is both yummy and veggie. In fact, it would be a great dish to bring to a pot luck gathering, make as a main dish to serve with roasted root veggies and sauteed brussel sprouts, or to use as a filling in a crepe.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
1 cup of dried yellow split peas, rinsed (soaking for several hours or overnight is optional)
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
2oz frozen spinach, diced (optional)
dry thyme or dill

Directions:

In a saucepan with a lid cook the yellow split peas until soft but not mushy. This step may take 30-60 minutes.
While the split peas are cooking, on medium heat saute onion until golden and soft in butter or olive oil.
When the onions are golden, add frozen spinach, sea salt, ground black pepper and thyme. Mix well.
When the split peas are finished cooking, drain and add to the onions. Mix well and enjoy hot or at room temperature.

Simple and Amazing Fig Jam

I have a very prolific fig tree and, during this time of the year, can not keep up with the daily fig production. In the Roth household, we eat figs fresh with goat cheese, freeze them to use in smoothies throughout the rest of the year, dry in the dehydrator, and give away to family, neighbors, coworkers and friends. Despite all these efforts, there are still a ton of figs on the tree. So I am making fig jam that pairs nicely with plain greek yogurt, spread over french baguette or the russian way with my morning tea:)

Ideally I would love to find a way to preserve figs without using sugar. But my freezer is at capacity. While comparing recipes, I found that this particular version uses the least amount amount of sugar. It would make my home grown figs unhappy to share a jar with Splenda or gelatin:)

Ingredients:

3lbs of ripe washed figs, stems removed, and cut in halves or quarters
2 cups of sugar
juice and grated zest of 1 large lemon

3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large stainless steel pot, combine all four ingredients.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Consider using a kitchen timer to avoid scorching the bottom of the pan.
Remove cover, turn the heat to medium high and continue simmering while stirring constantly until the jam thickens.
Let cool and keep refrigerated in tightly covered glass jars.
Enjoy!