I picked up a couple of heads of celery on yellow sticker this week. I wanted to make something main coursey with at least one of them. I had a little google and looked at Pinterest and came up with this vegan vegetable bake using celery, swede and chickpeas.

Celery is great if you are trying to lose weight as it has very few calories, although, sadly, it is a myth that it burns more calories to digest it than it contains. It contains abundant fibre, something most of us need more of. 

In the U.K., swede can be called turnip or neeps, which can be confusing, as there is also a completely different vegetable also called turnip! 

How did I make the vegan vegetable bake

There was a lot about cooking celery in water for a long time on Pinterest, so I decided to start there. A swede was in the fridge, so I decided to use that with the celery. It was heading towards being vegan, so I didn’t use any cheese in the topping, which I otherwise might have done

After cooking for half an hour to make the vegetables really soft, they were drained, then I added a big dollop of miso and some creamed coconut. Add a little of the cooking water if the mix doesn’t look nicely moist. Then I topped it with a giant spring onion and parsley from the garden and some breadcrumbs. Mixed in some olive oil and baked until crispy.

It was gorgeous!

Love Your Leftovers

I had a portion for dinner, then another for lunch the next day, and there was still a portion leftover. So that got whizzed up into soup for lunch the following day

Variations for a vegetable bake

• Change either or both of the vegetables for something else firm, or use one firm one and shredded savoy cabbage. Got lots of runner beans in the garden? Slice them up and add those, but I wouldn’t cook those for a long time
• Courgettes are surprisingly amenable to long slow cooking, but in a pan not a saucepan of water. They would work well here
• Change the chickpeas to big brown or green lentils, butter beans, rinsed baked beans (or keep the sauce if you want to use it here) or other white beans
• Change the miso to tomato puree. Add fish sauce, soy sauce, sweet chilli, worcester sauce or brown sauce. Not all at once! Keep tasting until you like it. Don’t forget salt and pepper if you’re experimenting
• Add a dollop of curry paste or curry powder
• Keep the bread as chunky lumps so they are crouton like.
• Change the parsley for sage, thyme or rosemary, or a mixture. Got no fresh herbs? No problem. But do remember that dried ones are twice as strong as fresh, so use half the amount.
• Add the zest of a lemon for a zingy addition

Got some swede left?

You might like this hummus made using swede. It has a slightly bitter edge which I quite like

Another Trio of Vegetable Hummus – Beetroot, Parsnip and Swede

Still not used all the celery?

Celery would work beautifully in this very different vegan vegetable bake

Crispy Topped Miso Vegetables