I once wrote a book entitled "Voyaging on a Small Income" and the parts about provisioning and cooking proved very popular. "The Voyaging Vegetarian" would have followed, but so few people were then vegetarians that I thought no-one would publish it. Now many more people realise that eating dead animals is unkind and bad for the planet. I hope a blog, which I can update with new recipes, will work better than a book for liveaboards and aspiring voyagers, and those living simply in small spaces.
Back in the 80s, I wrote a book called "Voyaging on a Small Income", which was published and sold astonishingly well. It’s become almost a “classic” and is probably why you’ve found this site!
I’ve been living aboard and sailing since the 70s. Nine different boats have been home, sometimes for several months, sometimes for many years. I love the way of life, the small footprint and being close to Nature. I’m a great fan of junk rig and having extensive experience with both gaff and bermudian rig, I wouldn’t have any other sail on my boat. It’s ideal as a voyaging rig, but also perfect for the coastal sailing that I now do. I’d rather stay in New Zealand, not having to keep saying goodbye to friends, than go voyaging, these days.
Between 2015 and 2021, I built the 26ft "FanShi", the boat I now call home. For the last 45 years or so, my diet of choice has been vegetarian and is now almost vegan. I love cooking and particularly enjoy having only myself to please. I am combining all these interests (apart, perhaps, from junk rig!) in this blog. I hope you enjoy it. I also have other blogs: www.anniehill.blogspot.com and http://fanshiwanderingandwondering.wordpress.com
I invented this
dish in Trinidad, where one of the shops had a very limited supply of
fresh vegetables, but they nearly always included wonderful
aubergines and beautiful, local spinach. You had to buy large
quantities of both, so I would cook half the spinach in a recipe one
day, followed by spinach andaubergine the next day, finishing up
with aubergine alone on the third. This is the recipe I invented for
day two!
I can’t really
give a measurement for spinach. So often you have to buy it as is:
by the bunch, already tied up, or by the bag, which frequently
doesn’t mention the weight. If it includes the roots, there will
be more wastage than, say, baby spinach. Put it this way: a huge
amount of spinach disappears into very little. For two people you
would probably want as much as would fit in a 3 litre (3 quart) bowl,
before it’s washed and chopped. If the spinach still has its roots
on, it will want very thorough washing. Sea water is fine for this,
as long as it’s clean. Give the spinach a really good shake and
wait until the meal is just about cooked before adding any more salt.
Serves
2
Ingredients
1
onion
2
garlic cloves
2
tbsp olive oil
1
aubergine
1
tsp oregano
6
juniper berries
400
g/14 oz can tomatoes
spinach,
well washed
grated
cheese
Chop the onion,
dice the garlic
and fry them in the olive oil
for five minutes.
Meanwhile, chop
the aubergine
into chunky pieces.
When the onion
is softened, add the aubergine and stir it round until most of it is
coated in oil. (Aubergine is like blotting paper, so don’t worry
too much about getting it evenly distributed.) Turn down the heat,
cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the aubergine is soft.
Add the oregano;
crush or chop the juniper
berries and add these. Pour in the tomatoes,
roughly chopping them with your spoon. Roughly chop the spinach and
add this. Cover and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Take the lid off
and stir everything around so that it’s all mixed together. Smooth
the top and sprinkle with the grated cheese.
Turn the heat right down, insert a flame tamer and cook gently until
the cheese has melted.
Serve with pasta
or potatoes.
Notes:
If
you can lay hands on it, vegan cheese is fine for this. It’s also
good with my 'Parmegan
cheese',
even though that doesn’t melt. Either put it on before serving,
or add it at the table. Or both!
A green such as chard would substitute for the spinach, but kale and cabbage would take too much cooking. If you don’t have soft greens, serve a vegetable on the side.
Blender
Alert (but there is a possible suggestion in the Notes if
you don’t have one).
I
really love scrambled eggs for breakfast, and since I became vegan,
they are something I miss. However, there are many reasons for
the ethical vegetarian not to eat eggs, so I rarely buy them.
I have been working on this recipe for scramblers for some time.
What I wanted to achieve is something with a similar appearance,
colour and texture as the Real Thing, which to my mind is soft and
barely set. All the vegan recipes I’ve tried produce a very
dry, rather rubbery result. I’ve never tried making it with
silky tofu – I can’t buy it locally, and when I get to a larger
town where it’s available, it comes in packs that are too big for
me to use. I’m prepared to eat a lot of failed experiments
in search of the Ideal Recipe, but I’m not prepared to waste food! Besides, how many voyagers are going easily to be able to buy silky
tofu or are likely to have it on board? This recipe comes from
ingredients that you are likely to have in your lockers.
Veganism
is still a fringe way of living, especially away from the Western
world (although of course many people are vegan without even thinking
about it!), so in all these recipes, I am trying to avoid branded or
really weird ingredients, which might well be expensive and/or
unavailable to the average voyager. If you’re interested,
see the notes below for a discussion as to how and why I’ve chosen
these particular ingredients and some substitutes. I am sure
this recipe can be improved, so please leave a comment if you have a
suggestion.
I can see an argument for mixing all the dry ingredients together in quantity and keeping a supply in a jar, so that you can make this more quickly: just add water!
Serves 2
1/2
cup blanched peanuts
1
cup water, divided
4
tsp tapioca flour
2
tsp nutritional yeast
1/4
tsp black salt
1/4
tsp turmeric
1/4
tsp garlic granules OR 1 large clove, roughly chopped
2
tbsp olive oil
salt
and pepper
Put
the peanuts into the blender and whizz them into a coarse meal.
Now
add 1/2 cup water, the flour,
nutritional yeast,
black salt,
turmeric,
garlic
and olive oil.
Blend
quickly - you don’t want to pulverise the peanuts: this gives the
scramblers some texture.
Scrape
the contents into a small saucepan and rinse out the blender with
another 1/2 cup of water (put it back together and give it a good
shake) and pour this into the pan. This is the easiest way to make
sure everything goes in the pan!
Heat
the mixture over a moderate flame and stir regularly until the mix
is hot and starting to thicken. Turn the heat right down, continue
stirring occasionally, taste and season with a generous amount of
black pepper and more salt if you think it needs it. Add some
more water if it is getting too thick.
Serve
hot on fried bread or toast, or with fried tomatoes, mushrooms, etc
as part of a cooked breakfast.
Notes:
Blanched
peanuts are cheap; they are also better for both workers and
the planet than cashews, which would be most people’s choice. Peanuts require much less water than most nuts, they are
nitrogen-fixing and their preparation doesn’t generally exploit
low wage-people working in poor conditions. I don’t
understand why they aren’t used more often. However, use cashews
if you prefer them or can’t get peanuts.
Tapioca
flour doesn’t seem to need cooking the same way as cornflour, once
it starts to thicken, which is why I suggest it. Uncooked
cornflour has a definite taste and sensation to it. Using a
little flour creates a more convincing texture as does the slight
‘stretchiness’ of the tapioca flour.
The
small amount of nutritionalyeast does, I think,
improve the flavour, but you could leave it out if you don’t have
any.
The blacksalt is to give the sulphur scent
that eggs have. Don’t use it with a heavy hand and if you
like your scramblers more salty than the recipe, add some more normal salt.
Again, you could leave it out, but the result will be a less
convincing substitute for eggs.
The
turmeric is necessary for colour: again, use a light touch –
it’s a powerful dye! This amount makes the scramblers a light
yellow.
I
love a little bit of garlic in my scramblers. Leave it out
or substitute 1/2 tsp onion
powder if you can’t face garlic at breakfast. Neither is crucial.
If
you don’t have a blender, this might work with 1/2 cup
ground almonds, but they have a much stronger flavour than
peanuts.
This
recipe is very freely adapted
from one of Jamie Oliver’s. Firstly I tweaked it so that it just
made one serving, then I tweaked it again for this blog to serve two,
and then I adapted it for a voyaging locker, which probably doesn’t
include fresh basil, but might and, I now believe should, include a
jar of pesto.
Before
going any further, not all jars of pesto are created equal. Some
contain a ghastly green puree, while others look like something you’d
be quite proud to make yourself and have a delightful texture, just
like the Real Thing. When I first
came across jars of pesto, I was inclined to believe what it said on
the label about having to be kept refrigerated. However, my local
supermarket sells small jars at a very reasonable price and as I
wanted to try out different recipes for calzone,
I thought I’d probably get through the jar quite quickly, anyway.
I used most of it and then out of curiosity, left the near-empty jar
in my locker. it kept for months.
I
was also surprised how good it tasted: the one that looked the best
value, “Pam’s” is not an expensive brand, so therefore there
wasn’t much chance of it being made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil,
pine nuts or Pecorino cheese - all of which would be found in a
traditional pesto. In fact the ingredients were canola oil, 35%
basil, sunflower seeds, cheese (unspecified), garlic, sugar :-(, salt
and natural flavours, so it’s rather surprising that it does
taste so good, which implies that the best part of the pesto is the
basil. My “Pam’s” Pesto also included three e-numbers in the
ingredient list: E202 - potassium sorbate, E270 - lactic acid and
E300 - ascorbic acid, and I thought that before suggesting that
others put it in their lockers, I should see what these were. I had
a look online and even the most hysterical of ‘health-food’ sites
seemed pretty chilled about lactic and ascorbic acid. There was a
bit more tooth sucking about potassium sorbate, although it is
derived from sorbic acid, which occurs naturally in rowan berries.
It is very commonly used in all sorts of food production and the
worst that anyone had to say about it was that if it is consumed in
high doses during pregnancy, it might effect the DNA. Personally, I
feel quite happy about my jar of pesto: my only genuine reservation
is that it contains cheese, and I prefer to eat a vegan diet. The
reason I’m rabbiting on about this is because fresh basil doesn’t
keep well at all - even if you have a fridge and for something like
this recipe, you wouldn’t want more than a quarter of a cup, which
wouldn’t use up a whole bunch. However, by all means make your own
pesto if you prefer!
Cut
the aubergine in half. Rub it – particularly the flesh, with oil
and put it on a well-oiled baking sheet. Roast it at 180° for 35
mins. Or cook it in the pressure cooker until it’s tender,
cut it in half and briefly fry it in a little oil so that the flesh
is lightly browned.
While
it’s cooking, cut the tomatoes in half. The original recipe says
to remove the seeds, but I don’t bother. Then cut them into fine
dice.
When
the aubergine is thoroughly soft, let it cool and scoop out the
flesh. Chop it all up, put it into a bowl and keep warm.
Pour
the pesto over the aubergine and mix it all up. Add olive oil for
taste and texture.
Now
add a little bit of cheese.
As
soon as the pasta is ready, add some of the water to the aubergines
so that you have a saucy consistency.
Mix
in the tomatoes. Grind plenty of black pepper over it.
Tip
in the drained pasta and serve.
Pass
round extra cheese, and maybe pine
nuts, chopped almonds - or sunflower seeds at the table.
Notes:
If
you have fresh basil, some leaves would be a lovely addition
when the pasta is served.
I
like aubergine skin, so I generally just dice the aubergine and mix
it with the pesto.
This
isn’t particularly filling, so you might want to increase the
pasta from what you normally would cook, or serve it with bread, or
maybe even add some cooked white beans or chickpeas to
the aubergine sauce.
I find it hard to get excited about courgettes. Baby ones, fried in good olive oil and garlic are delicious, but that’s largely because of the olive oil and the garlic. They sop up the flavours well. They are also good in ratatouille, especially with cannellini beans, for the same reason and indeed, can be used in all sorts of soups and stews; however when there’s a glut of them, it isn’t usually the time of year that you want to eat soup and stew. Now I realise, that to many people, curry is not only similar to a stew, but because of the chilli and warming spices, might seem even less appealing in hot weather, but I adore curry and can eat it any time and in any weather. so to me it is a perfect way of using a bounty of courgettes. I already have a recipe for courgette with chana dal, however this recipe is is quite different and more of a side dish than a main one, althoughI have some suggestions for using it as a main course. This is a pretty straightforward recipe and I think most people would be happy to tackle it, but because it uses non-standard ingredients, I'll call it a Curry for Cooks.
This recipe is based on one of Swasthi's recipes and I think it’s a great way to cook courgettes. The coconut milk makes it rich and substantial and all it needs is some rice to go with it, but of course a pan of dal would turn it into a generous meal. Alternatively, you can serve it with quinoa, whose protein will turn this into a fully-nutritious meal. I confess to finding quinoa worthy, but dull, particularly compared to brown basmati rice. However, if you're concerned about your protein intake, it's a good choice.
Even though this is made with Kashmiri chilli powder, rather than chilli flakes or cayenne, it packs quite a zing. If you don’t like too much heat in your curry, reduce the amount of chilli powder.
Serves 2 for a main course, 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 green chilli pepper, minced
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp salted lime or lemon, finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
3/4 tsp garam masala
3/4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 large courgette or equivalent, chopped into chunky pieces
2 tomatoes, finely diced
1/4 cup freeze-dried peas*
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and when it’s hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds
When the mustard starts to sputter, add the green chilli and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the chopped onions and ginger and cook for several minutes until the onions start to turn gold. If you are using salted lime, (or lemon) add this now.
Lower the heat and add the garam masala, chilli powder, salt and turmeric.
Now add the tomato and courgette and fry for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add the peas and the coconut milk and bring to the boil. Mix well and turn the heat low.
Cook the courgette until its soft enough to suit your taste.
Just before the curry is ready, add the fenugreek leaves and mix them in.
Taste and add more salt or garam masala if required.
Serve with rice, quinoa or flatbread.
Notes:
*Freeze-dried ‟Surprise” peas are very useful to have on a boat. Substitute with fresh or frozen if you have such a thing. Or perhaps 1/2 cup cooked dried, green peas, which would make this recipe much more substantial. Or maybe some diced carrot.
If you don’t have a green chilli leave it out (try to buy pickled ones, if you think you'll be making a lot of curry).
Substitute 1/4 tsp cayenne or chilli flakes for the Kashmiri chilli powder.
Substitute 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds if you don’t have the leaves; add them with the other spices.
Use less coconut milk, or leave it out for a dryer curry.
Put the chanadal in
the pressure cooker, together with the water and
turmeric, bring up to pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Reduce
pressure naturally.
Once you can take the lid off, add
the courgette and salt. If the dal is very dry, add a
couple of tablespoons of water.
Put the
cooker over a low flame and gently simmer the dal and courgette
until the latter starts to soften. Keep an eye on it so that it
doesn’t overcook – you still want a bit of texture in it. Add
more water, if you think it needs it, but usually the courgette lets
out a lot of moisture.
Now
make the tempering. Put a small frying pan over a medium heat and
add a glug of oil,
or a scoop of coconut oil.
When the oil is hot, add the cumin
seeds and let them sizzle for a few seconds. (If you’re not sure
the oil is sufficiently hot, just put a few in the pan first.)
Now add the asafoetida and
the onion - don’t let the
asafoetida burn.
Cook for about a minute and then
add the ginger, garlic and greenchilli.
Cook until the onion becomes translucent.
Now add the chopped tomato
and cook for a further couple of minutes.
By
now the courgette should have softened. Check the texture, taste to
see there is sufficient salt and then pour in the tempering.
Mix it in and cook of a further 5
minutes.
Traditionally, this curry is served
with roti or naan, but you can serve it with rice if you’d
rather.
Notes:
If you can’t
get chana dal, then yellowsplitpeas will work
fine. They may cook a little more quickly, so it’s probably worth
letting the pressure off after 5 minutes and checking them.
Use 1
clove garlic, finelychopped instead of the paste
Use 1/2
tsp ginger, grated instead of paste.
Use a few
cherry tomatoes, halved, instead of the chopped tomato.
This
is a really good, hearty soup and completely different from its
cousin Vichyssoise,
which is served chilled. See in Variations. I think it needs plenty
of potato
to give it body. Some people like it puréed to a velouté,
some people prefer it hearty and chunky. I prefer it half way
between the two, but unless you go for totally puréed, you really to
have to be sure that the potatoes are of a floury variety. Chunks of
potato really don’t complement the smoothness of the leeks. I
don’t peel the potatoes, but again that’s a personal choice. You
can add milk of any type. Some people like to swirl in cream, at the
end, but I would only want to do tat when having the soup as a
starter. Sour cream is better – otherwise the result can be a bit
cloying.
Use
1/3 seawater to 2/3 fresh, if the sea is clean, and leave out the
salt.
Serves
4 for a starter, 2 for a main course
Ingredients
1
large or 3 small leeks
2 large tbsp
butter or olive oil
salt
2
large, floury potatoes
4 cups mushroom
stock, or water
1 cup milk
coarsely ground
black pepper
Method:
Trim
the discoloured top off the leek(s).
If the leeks are very dirty, slit them in half or quarters from the
top down towards to root end, and swirl around in plenty of water
until clean. Otherwise, you will probably find the dirt is only in
the lower part of the green leaves and the upper part of the white,
in which case you can just slice that part out and wash it
separately.
If
you want to garnish the soup with crispy, fried leek tops (see
Variations) cut off about 30 mm/1 inch of the green top, slice very
thinly and set aside.
Now,
take your clean leek and chop it.
Heat
the butter/oilin
your pressure cooker and add the leek. Sprinkle with about 1/4 tsp
salt
to help it soften and fry until the pieces are soft and silky in
texture. If you wish, you can remove a couple of
spoonfuls and set aside, to add at the end for additional texture.
Cut the potato
into cubes, skin and all. Add to the pan and sauté for another
couple of minutes, then add the stock or water. Bring up to pressure
and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Let the pressure reduce at room
temperature.
Allow to cool slightly
and then add the milk. Mash, or purée to the required consistency. Season to
taste: the saltiness will depend on whether you have used seawater and/or stock, and then grind over lots of black pepper and stir in the reserved
leeks, if you’re using them. Reheat until piping hot and serve.
For a full meal, serve with fresh bread.
Variations:
garnish
with 4 tbsp sour cream
garnish
with 4 tbsp chopped chives
garnish
with crisp green leek tops, heat a frying pan, with a good glug of
oil over a medium-high heat. Drop in a piece of leek, and when it
bubbles and floats to the surface, add the rest and fry for a couple
of minutes, until they go crisp but still maintain some of their
colour. Remove with a slotted spoon
For Vichyssoise,
which really needs to be served chilled, use half the
potatoes and equal amounts of milk and water. When the soup is
cooked, mash it or blend it smoothly – it’s supposed to be a
velvety purée – and then chill it on ice or in a fridge, if you
have such a thing. Serve with cream. This looks particularly
attractive if it’s swirled on top of the soup.