Sunday 25 January - Vegetarian Burns Night

I love haggis, but it was just me and George for the evening, and there is no way he is going to eat anything made out of lungs and other offal and cooked in a sheeps stomach. (As it turned out he didn't eat the veggie version either and I ended up heating up a pizza for him.)

I have seen veggie versions on sale, and had a hunt round for a recipe so I could have a go myself. I found one on the River Cottage Forum that looked perfect (this means I had all the ingredients already)

Started off with sauteeing onions, carrot and chopped mushrooms.

Then in went lentils, and pearl barley with some vegetable stock

To this a tin of beans (I used black beans as that's what was in the cupboard, and these were mashed with some flavourings  - nutmeg, mixed spice, thyme, rosemary and then the liquids - soy, lemon juice, whisky and a spoonful of marmite.

This was added to the pan along with some oatmeal, and it was all simmered until thick and then poured into a loaf tin for baking.

Served, of course, with mashed neeps and tatties, and also a peppercorn and whisky cream sauce.
I thought it was a really good alternative to the proper thing.