Bristol cafe says it's easy to cook vegetarian for under a fiver
Mark Evans, the owner and chef at the Easton venue, cooked up a version of a popular dish on their menu at the moment – a sweet potato and rhubarb bake with sauteed chestnut mushrooms and a hazelnut butter.
He said: "This is a really good dish to cook now, because forced rhubarb is in season."
Although Mark, 41, is not a vegetarian himself, he decided to set up the restaurant seven years ago because he thought it was an interesting venture and a bit of a challenge.
Before opening Cafe Maitreya, which was named the UK's top vegetarian restaurant in The Observer Food Magazine Awards in 2007, he had worked at Anthem on St Michael's Hill and Jamesons on Upper Maudlin Street.
Mark, who lives in Bedminster, said: "Although vegetable prices are on the rise, it might save you a bit of money to eat more veggie dishes in a week.
"And what some people do not realise is that it is possible to cook tasty vegetarian meals.
"If you are eating a lot of vegetarian stuff you just need to make sure you are getting plenty of protein, from ingredients such as brazil nuts, a grain called quinoa and other seeds and nuts. Tahini is also very good."
He says at the restaurant they try to have an English and French approach to vegetarian cooking, rather than attempting to provide a worldwide range of dishes.
They try to get as much produce as possible from local suppliers and even have their own rather large vegetable patch.
The have a garden in Hartcliffe which Mark says is about the size of two tennis courts, where they grow as much of their own vegetables as possible, and all of the salad they need in the summer.
"That's another good money- saving tip," said Mark. "Try growing your own veg. And look out for English ingredients – forget expensive, out of season things like peppers. Try carrots and parsnips at the moment."
There are some good credit crunch-busting deals on offer at Cafe Maitreya. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, you can get three courses for the price of two, and at lunchtime on Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can get two courses for £10.
Recipe for sweet potato and rhubarb bake with sauteed chestnut mushrooms and a hazelnut butter
Ingredients:
Two large sweet potatoes
1lb rhubarb
Six medium-sized shallots
1/2 lb chestnut mushrooms
Two garlic cloves, chopped
A coffee cup of shelled hazelnuts
2oz butter
Method:
1. Roughly chop the rhubarb.
2. In a small pan, cook the rhubarb with a dash of sugar on a medium heat until it's almost a puree.
3. Peel and slice the shallots, and sautee them in a separate pan.
4. Peel and thinly slice the sweet potato into slices about 1/2 cm thick.
5. Layer the ingredients in a baking dish – a layer of potato, then a layer of rhubarb and finally a layer of shallots. Repeat.
6. Cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper.
7. Put the dish into a preheated oven at 150°C and cook for 45 minutes.
8. Slice the mushrooms into thick chunks and sautee in a hot pan with the garlic and some butter. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Crush the hazelnuts with a heavy object.
10. Add the hazelnuts to the mushrooms with a bit more butter.
11. Serve and enjoy.
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