Recently I’ve been posting a few recipes that are like my ‘staples’ – I’ve been cooking them since I first turned vegetarian at 13, so they’re really quick and simple, and I eat them on a regular basis (like the tofu balls I did a few days ago, and hopefully a veggie lasagne my Dad passed down to me will come soon, I’m planning to make it for my friends on Friday). I haven’t posted many yet, because I eat them so much, and I cooked them when I was a young teenager, so they don’t feel quite as creative as I like my recipes to be, but I was eating this for dinner tonight, and I felt strange not posting it, because it tastes so nice!

This is another recipe from a cookbook I had absolutely ages ago, and it’s really lovely, and so easy. I’ve tweaked with it a little, and I add a lot more spice, but this kind of food is really the stuff I’ve learned to make myself as a teenage veggie, so even now, it feels quite studenty and nostalgic. The original recipe felt quite Summery because of the pineapple and fresh vegetables in it, but the added spice gives it a warmth that’s really nice for colder evenings as well.

I’m really sorry about the poor picture quality as well; the house I’m in at the moment is really dark whatever I do, because it’s winter and we have energy-saving lightbulbs fitted – I’ve tried to edit the photo to be a little brighter, but it’s not really worked as well as I’d hoped. I’m going to ask my best friend (very good photographer) for some advice at some point!

Pineapple Salad

Ingredients

50g of brown rice

Half a tin of chopped pineapple

30g of raisins

Half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and cayenne pepper

A large handful of sugar snaps

Six florettes of broccoli

Method

1. Cook the rice for 25 minutes in slightly salted water. In the meantime, mix the pineapple, spices and raisins in a bowl so that the raisins plump up and the pineapple absorbs all the lovely spice.
2. Cook the broccoli in boiling water for the last 5 minutes, then add the sugar snaps for around 3 minutes. Drain everything and mix together.

Serves one