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| March cookbook review and competition |
 This month, trainee journalist and budding 'Nigella' Natalie Hunt takes the free-from cookbook challenge reviewing Vegetarian Cooking Without by Barbara Cousins. Read how she got on, and find out how to win a copy for yourself!Natalie writes: WITH apron tied tight and wooden spoon at the ready I have taken up the Sensitive Foodies cookbook challenge. As I’ve been a veggie for the last two years I have been let loose with Vegetarian Cooking Without by Barbara Cousins... As the title so cleverly suggests, this is a cookbook for vegetarians who follow a diet that is free from added gluten, sugar, yeast and dairy. It is a diet that is great for controlling Candida, chronic fatigue and allergies. It might be a nice addition to the shelves of anyone on the Best Bet Diet, however, quite a few of the main dishes include lentils and pulses so these may involve a bit of inventive substitution. After the success of Cooking Without recipe book a new veggie version was born “because good vegetarian recipes are harder to find when avoiding the use of cream cheese and wheat etc.” It says: “Cutting out certain foods and becoming a vegetarian or vegan is not the answer to health problems. What is important is the quality of food we include, not what we cut out.” As much as I wish I was, I’m no Nigella, so I was pleased to find that the recipes in the book are clearly set out with most only involving five or six simple steps to complete a tasty dish. Vegetarian Cooking Without opens with a detailed but accessible discussion of how changing your diet can affect your physical and mental healt  h, along with some of the best ways to go about doing it. If you are anything like me you will be saving all that for later, unable to resist the urge to skip ahead and see what mouth-watering delicacies are waiting to be rustled up in your ready and waiting kitchen. The book includes separate chapters for soups, starters and mains and thankfully a section full of enough delicious desserts to set any sweet-tooth’s heart a flutter. On top of that there is even a chapter dedicated to baking. Some of the recipes that caught my eye were: Felafel with Sweet and Sour Sauce, Spinach, Pine Nut and Avocado Salad, Sweet Peppers, Stuffed with Mushrooms and Cashew Nuts and a Creamy Cashew Nut and Almond Roast. After much deliberation I decided to have a go at making the Vegetable Rogan Josh because it offered me the opportunity to act like a pro and throw a multitude of herbs and spices into a pan and see what happens. The Rogan Josh was also a nice choice because you make the sauce and then afterwards add whatever vegetables your heart desires. Great if you are cooking for people with different tastes or allergies. For my desert, pure intrigue led me to try out the Sweet Potato Pudding, although the Baked Banana and Coconut Cheesecake was a close runner up. My Rogan Josh began with sweating down onion, ginger and garlic in olive oil. This was quickly followed by a flurry of coriander, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric and chilli powder.  After a few minutes, two-thirds of this mixture was added to creamed coconut and boiling water and blended in a food processor. Once smooth, this was sent back into the original pan and topped up with passata (sieved tomatoes) and fresh coriander. Five minutes of simmering later and it was all done. My kitchen was brimming with the intoxicating scent of spices, like a side street in Delhi, minus the roaming holy cows. The sauce was rich, creamy and full of delicate flavours. The Sweet Potato Pudding was just as easy to make, if not easier. The food processor was back out again, this time whizzing the sweet potatoes together with creamed coconut, rice milk, vanilla extract, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom. In went some raisins in for good luck and then the mixture was baked it in the oven for an hour until it went golden brown on top. It was gobbled up as soon as it came out of the oven. It had a dense but soft texture and was a beautiful golden orange colour. Having gathered a selection of my most honest food-critic-wannabe friends I waited for their verdict with fingers and toes crossed for success. Most responses involved the words “yummy” and “so there’s no sugar, wheat or dairy in here. Oh, but it tastes great.” Good enough for me. I’m not sure if anyone has been converted to a free from diet but we have certainly realised that free from doesn’t have to mean without flavour (and deliciousness). It looks like tomorrow the wooden spoon might have to be back out ready to attempt the Baked Banana and Coconut Cheesecake. Competition! To enter the prize draw for your own copy of Vegetarian Cooking Without by Barbara Cousins, simply send us an email answering the following questions.
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