Box clever

Boozy Baked Onions

Serves 4/60-90 minutes (inc 10 minutes preparation time)
Simple, sweet and a nice side dish.

1 Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.
2 Drop whole onions into pan of boiling water for 5 minutes.
3 Drain and set aside.
4 Halve onions and rub with oil.
5 Mix breadcrumbs with sage, salt and pepper.
6 Place onions in oiled dish cut sides up, sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture and drizzle remaining oil over.
7 Bake for 45 minutes. If not tender, cook for a further 15-30 minutes.
8 Make glaze by mixing water, sherry, mixed herbs, soya sauce and cornflour in a small pan.
9 Bring to a gentle boil, adding more liquid if too thick. Whisk to remove lumps.
10 Spoon glaze on to a shallow serving dish – place onions on top and serve.

Warm Beetroot & Quinoa Tabbouleh

Serves 4 as a starter, 2 as a main course/30 minutes.

125g/4oz quinoa
300ml/1⁄2 pint water
2 tsp low-salt vegan bouillon powder or half a vegan stock cube
2 tsp olive oil
2 large red onions, finely sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 small raw beetroots, peeled and grated – about 200g/7oz
Handful flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
Salad leaves on which to serve tabbouleh
Orange and lemon slices to garnish

1 Rinse quinoa and place in saucepan with 300ml/½ pint of water and bring to the boil.
2 Cover and leave to cook slowly for 18 minutes.
3 Remove from heat and leave to stand, still lidded.
4 Warm olive oil in a largish saucepan, add and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until tender.
5 Stir the balsamic vinegar into the pan, let it bubble, then remove from the heat.
6 Add quinoa, lemon juice, beetroot, parsley and salt and pepper.
7 Serve on salad leaves with garnish.