Courgette, Chickpea & Pasta Salad

Keeping on top of the courgette glut at the allotment with this Courgette, Chickpea, & Pasta Salad.

Serves 4

200g macaroni
1 can chickpeas, drained 
2 large courgettes, grated (I used green & yellow courgettes)
200g Feta, crumbled 

Zest & juice of one lemon 
30g broad leaf parsley, finely chopped

2 tbsp pumpkin or mixed seeds

Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain, toss in a little olive oil, and leave to cool.

Fry the courgette in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat, stirring regularly, until soft and lightly golden in colour. This takes about 20 minutes.

When the pasta has cooled to room temperature, mix all the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I didn't have feta or parsley when I made this, so used a couple of heaped tablespoons of pesto instead.

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Mushroom Chilli

I had a delicious Mushroom Chilli Tacos at Overdraft in Winchester recently, and thought I'd try to recreate it at home. 

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced

300g mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

1-2 tsp chipotle paste (optional)

500g passata 

1 can black or pinto beans

Season to taste 

Fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium high heat, stirring regularly, until they start to develop a golden colour.

Add the mushrooms and continue to stir and fry until they stop looking raw.  

Stir in the garlic and the spices.  Once you can smell them cooking add the passata and beans, including the liquid in the can.

Simmer for 20 minutes, reducing the sauce as much as desired.  A thicker sauce works best in tacos and burritos, and a looser sauce works better for a chilli over rice.

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Jollof Rice & Beans

Jollof Rice & Beans is an easy, cheap, nutritious plant based one pan dish.

Jollof Rice is a spicy West African dish of rice, tomatoes, chillis, onions, spices, often served with a meat stew.  To add more protein and fibre to the rice I had the idea to add beans, similar to Caribbean Rice & Peas.

All recipes online use Scotch Bonnet chillis, so use one or two if you want a more genuine flavour, but beware these are very hot!

And I highly recommend Afrizi, an African restaurant in Festival Place in Basingstoke to try 'proper' Jollof rice and other West African dishes.  

Here is my take...

Serves a greedy 4

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 tbsp rosemary, dried or fresh

1 tbsp thyme, dried or fresh

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder 

1/2 carton passata

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 mug basmati rice

2 cans of mixed beans in water (or kidney, pinto, black beans)

Recently boiled water

1 vegetable stock cube 

2 bay leaves

Liquidise the onion, garlic, peppers, rosemary, thyme, coriander, chilli powder, and passata.

Heat the oil in a shallow casserole dish.

Carefully pour in the blended sauce, bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 5 minutes, stir in the rice into the sauce and drain the liquid into the mug.  Top the mug up with recently boiled water, pour over the rice plus another 1/2 mug of hot water, the crumbled stock cube and bay leaves.  

Stir everything in, sprinkle over the beans, cover, and bring to the boil. 

Turn down to the lowest heat and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the beans and sauce that will have risen to the top during cooking and serve.

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High Fibre Brown Rice

Everyone's talking about the benefits of eating more fibre.  It's good for your digestive health, heart health (lowering cholesterol and blood pressure), blood sugar control, weight management (increased fullness), reduces the risk of certain cancers, promotes a healthy gut microbiome, and reduces inflammation. 

Brown rice has more fibre than white rice, and I've added to this with lentils and quinoa.  The quantities below make about 8 150g servings.  This week I've been eating with vegetable curry, oily fish, and in soup.

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup puy lentils

1/4 cup quinoa

Simmer everything for 25-30 minutes in a pan with at least double the volume of boiling water in a pan that seals well.  

Season after cooking otherwise the lentils don't go tender.

Divide into portions and freeze until needed.

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Mexican Roast Potatoes & Beans

We seem to be alternating between pasta and rice for carbs recently, so I googled 'potato main meals' and turned up this Mexican Bean & Potato Bake.  It is a pretty versatile bake - the original recipe says to use kidney beans, but I was going to use pinto beans until I discovered I had leftover Chilli con Veggie.  You could also use Chilli con Carne if not vegetarian.  

Serves 4

1kg potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

1 pepper, cut into bite sized pieces (optional)

400g drained kidney, pinto, black beans, or leftover chilli

400 g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tsp smoked paprika (if not using using leftover chilli)

1 tsp ground cumin (if not using using leftover chilli)

1 tsp hot chilli powder (if not using using leftover chilli)

Salt & pepper

100g cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 200C/190C Fan.

Toss the potatoes in the oil in a lasagne dish and roast for 45 minutes, stirring around half way through the roasting time, until lightly browned and nearly cooked through.

After 45 minutes, stir through the beans/chilli, tinned tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper. Sprinkle cover the cheese, and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes until bubbling hot, the potatoes are cooked through.  

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Birria Beef Tacos

My son came back from a meal with friends at a taco restaurant, raving about the Birria Tacos he had.  So I had to try to re-create it at home.  I based my recipe on BBC Good Food's Birria Tacos, without the range of chillies in their ingredients list, added pinto beans to stretch the meat a little further, and cooked in a slow cooker rather than the oven.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 kg braising steak cut into large bite sized pieces

400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp chipotle hot sauce

1 tsp white wine vinegar

2 cloves

3 black peppercorns

A large pinch of salt

2 bay leaves

16 soft mini tortilla wraps

Topping ideas

Lettuce

Pickled red cabbage

Chopped coriander

Finely sliced onion

Grated mozzarella

Guacamole or avocado

Jalapeños 

Refried beans or drained pinto beans, warmed

Fresh lime to squeeze over

Soured cream, useful to cool the chilli if you find it too much

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat.  If cooking in the oven, heat the oil in a lidded ovenproof casserole dish.

Dot the beef pieces around the pan, without overcrowding it, and brown on all sides.  You may have to brown the beef in several batches.  Once browned place in the warming slow cooker, or set aside if cooking in the oven. 

If cooking in the oven turn it on to heat to 140C/120C fan/gas 1.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan and brown the onion.  Add the chopped tomatoes and garlic.  Heat to boiling, then turn off the heat and leave to cool enough to liquidise.

Liquidise the tomato mixture together with all the remaining ingredients apart from the bay leaves

If cooking in a slow cooker, pour the liquidised tomato sauce, add the bay leaves, and add recently boiled water to just cover the meat if required. Cook on High for 6-8 hours until the meat is tender and falling apart.

If cooking in the oven, return the beef to the casserole dish, add the bay leaves, and add 400ml recently boiled water to just cover the meat if required. Cover and cook in the oven for 3 hrs until the meat is tender and falling apart.  Check the beef every hour to ensure it is not drying out, and add recently boiled water to just cover the meat if required. 

When cooked, remove the meat with a slotted spoon and shred using two forks. 

To serve, put some shredded beef onto a mini wrap together with the toppings of your choice, and dip into a small cup of the sauce.  Do not build tacos in advance, as they will go soggy and fall apart.  For the same reason don't use larger tortilla wraps as I did - they fall apart before you get to the end of them!  But even with small wraps this is messy, but delicious.

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Bean Quesadillas

Bean Quesadillas are a surprisingly simple but filling snack or lunch.

Serves 2 

2 wheat flour tortilla wraps

1 can black or pinto beans 

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced 

1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tsp cumin

1tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp olive oil

200g grated cheddar

Olive oil for frying

First make the refried beans. 

Heat 2 tbsp oil over a medium high heat in a frying pan.

Gently fry the onion until translucent (about 5 minutes).

Stir in the garlic and spices, then the beans and their liquid.

Bring the beans to the boil and simmer, stirring from time to time and mashing them with a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, until they are a double cream-like consistency.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil over a medium heat in a non stick frying pan large enough to fit one open tortilla.

Lay one tortilla into the frying pan and sprinkle 50g of cheddar on one half almost up to the edge.

Divide the beans into two portions in the pan and spoon one portion onto the cheddar cheese on the wrap in the frying pan. Sprinkle another 50g of cheddar on top of the beans, and fold the wrap in half covering the beans.  

Fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown underneath, then carefully turn over and fry the other side for 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

Repeat with the other tortilla and remaining ingredients.

Serve with sour cream with a little chipotle sauce stirred through.

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Feijoada, Brazilian Pork & Bean Stew

Last night was the first slow cooker meal of the autumn/winter, prompted by a glut of beans.

It was such a treat to come home from tidying the allotment during the tail end of Storm Amy in southern England to dinner already cooked.

Serves a hearty 4

8 pork belly strips (I had 4, as my butcher cut me 4 massive one!)
4 cooking chorizo (I used 8 mini chorizo, or use 200g cured chorizo cut into 8)
1 large onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
A pinch of hot chilli flakes
2 cans beans (black, borlotti, pinto, cannellini), or 250g dried beans, soaked and cooked

If using dried beans, soak and cook these before hand.  Keep the cooking water.

Brown the pork belly and the whole chorizo in the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat, and place in the slow cooker in a single layer on the bottom of the slow cooker that is warming up.

Turn the heat down under the frying pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft and translucent.  You can brown the chorizo now if it didn’t fit in the frying pan with the pork belly. Add a little more olive oil if required. Spread over the pork belly in the slow cooker when soft.

Heat the liquid from the cans of beans or the equivalent of two cans of cooking water (about 400ml) in the frying pan, together with the vinegar, chilli flakes, and bay leaves.  When boiling pour over the pork belly and onion mixture. The liquid should just cover the pork belly at the bottom of the slow cooker (don’t worry about covering the odd piece of chorizo or onions).  If it doesn’t cover the pork, add little more boiling water from the kettle but go easy.  Slow cooker dishes can be quite watery as they do not reduce like casseroles in the oven or on the hob.

After 5 hours on High, stir in the canned/cooked beans.  Leave for another hour on High to heat the beans through.

Serve with white rice and a Kale Chimichurri.

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Courgette & Cannellini Beans

The courgettes on my allotment are finally coming.  

One of the ways I store a glut of courgettes is to grate and shallow fry them until golden, as fried courgettes reduce down to less than half their original size, and freeze. Once grated and cooked down they find their way into pasta sauces and curries over the winter

Today I mixed a serving (2 courgettes grated & fried) with a can of cannellini beans. For other courgette recipes click here

Serves a greedy 2

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 courgettes, coarsely grated

1 can cannellini beans, drained but reserve the liquid

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

In a non stick frying pan, fry the courgettes in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat.  Stir every couple of minutes so the top layer of grated courgettes get a turn on the bottom of the hot pan.  It takes about 20 minutes to lightly brown this quantity of courgettes.

When the courgette is golden and reduced down, tip in the drained beans, 2 more tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the rest of the ingredients. 

Mix well and add a little of the bean liquid if you want a looser mixture.  Season to taste.

Serve hot or cold with crusty/toasted bread.

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Chicken, Lamb, or Vegan Pasanda Curry

We have lured our eldest daughter home for the evening to watch the Lionesses play in the Euros, and have a homemade Lamb Pasanda. 

I mostly followed BBC Good Food's Chicken Pasanda recipe, using cashews as I had no almonds, adding cumin seeds and more ground coriander as one of the reviews said the curry was a little bland, and omitting the cream.  Our Lamb Pasanda was tasty and with a medium kick of chilli.

This curry can be 'veganised' but substituting the meat with chickpeas/white beans and firm tofu, and using plant based yoghurt and milk.

Serves 4

500g diced lamb or chicken, or 200g black of firm tofu and a can of white beans/chickpeas

200g plain dairy or plant based yoghurt

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated

2½ cm root ginger, finely grated

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp chilli powder

½ tsp salt

Curry sauce

50g blanched almonds or cashews

100ml whole or plant based milk

4 tbsp sunflower oil

4 onions, peeled and thinly sliced 

4 garlic cloves, peeled & finely crushed

2½ root ginger, finely grated

4 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 red chilli, thinly sliced or ½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

Marinade the meat in the yoghurt, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, and salt for 30 minutes or more whilst you make the curry sauce. I tip the yoghurt and flavourings into the plastic tray or bag it comes in to save on washing up. 

To make the curry sauce, warm the milk for 1 minute in a mug in the microwave, add the almonds or cashews, and leave to the side to soften.

In a large pan, fry the onions in the oil over a medium high heat for about 5 minutes until golden brown.  Stir in the whole spices (cardamon pods, cinnamon stick, cumin, and chilli), followed by the garlic and ginger, and then the ground spices (turmeric, coriander, and garam masala).

Liquidise the almonds/cashews with 300ml water and add to the pan with the onions.  Add the marinated meat, making sure you scrape out as much of the yoghurt mixture as you can.

Stir well, bring to the boil, then cover and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.

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Spicy Chana Masala

Chana Masala is surprisingly easy to make.  You could even get away with just garam masala (and chill obvs) if you don't have all the dried spices.

Serves 4-6

2 cans chickpeas including liquid (or 200g dried, soaked overnight then cooked in fresh water until tender)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 
1 tbsp grated root ginger
30g fresh coriander, finely chopped
2-4 green chillies, finely chopped, seeds and all
1-2 tsp chilli powder to taste
500g passata 

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Fry the onion in the vegetable oil in a saucepan over a medium low heat until they start to turn golden brown.

Stir in the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala, grated ginger, and garlic. When you can smell the warm spices, add the rest of the ingredients including the liquid from the canned chickpeas or enough of the cooking water to cover the chickpeas with about 1cm of liquid.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with basmati rice or naan.

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One Pan Chicken & Rice

An Iraqi recipe for T'Beet on my Instagram reels reminded me of a simple one pan chicken & rice I used to make, as well as Egyptian Rice & Lentils (Mujaddara).  As I didn't have the requisite Iraqi spices for T'Beet I freestyled sit, based on my earlier recipe.

Serves 4

4 large or 8 small chicken thighs 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced in half moons

4 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

1 large mug basmati rice

200g cooked puy lentils, drained, or bag of baby spinach 

1 tbsp ras el hanout (optional)

1 lemon ( I used a homemade preserved lemon)

In a lidded pan, large enough for the chicken to be in a single layer, brown the chicken thighs skin side down in the olive oil over a medium high heat.  Remove to a plate when brown.

Turn the heat down to medium and caramelise the onion the same pan
after you have removed the chicken.

When the onion is as brown as you dare, stir in the garlic and ras el hanout, and fry for a minute or so before adding the rice and drained lentils.  Measure out a mug and a half of boiling water and pour into the pan.  The water needs to be 1 cm above the level of rice and lentils, so top up with boiling water if required.

If using spinach rather than lentils, stir it into the hot water and rice until it is wilted and mixed through well.

Halve the lemon and juice, then cut the halves in half again.  Pour the lemon juice over the rice.  Arrange the browned chicken, skin side up now, on top of the rice and nestle the juiced lemon quarters between them.

Cover and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, turn the heat down to it's lowest heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

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Easy Marry Me Chickpeas

Marry Me Chickpeas, or Marry Me Chicken, have been appearing frequently on my social media feeds.  When Marry Me Chickpeas appeared just after I had cooked some chickpeas I thought I'd give it a go.  These make a very tasty change to chickpeas in curry or Middle Eastern dishes.

Serves 4

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 leek, cleaned and finely sliced
1 pot red pesto*

2x 400g tin chickpeas

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½–1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
500ml vegetable stock

grated parmesan to serve (optional)

*if making a vegan version, substitute the pesto for 100g sun-dried tomato and 50g cashews or almonds whizzed into a paste with some of the oil from the tomatoes and little water to make a paste.

In a saucepan, fry the sliced leek, chopped onions, and crushed garlic in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the leeks and onions have start to soften.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes.

I served ours over brown rice, and the children's with pasta.  Some recipes suggested serving with a green salad and crusty bread.

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Ghanaian Red Red Bean Stew

To complement the Ghanaian Very Hot Shito Sauce we bought our son at Christmas, I made a Red Red Bean Stew last night.  Red Red is a Ghanaian dish, make with black eyed beans, tomatoes, red peppers, scotch bonnet chilli, and red palm oil - hence it's name.  Given the strength of the Shito Sauce I decided substitute scotch bonnet chilli for sweet red pepper.

Although a plant based dish in itself, Red Red is often served with tinned mackerel or pilchards. I added chicken, as my teens are less keen on vegan/vegetarian dishes that we are.

Serves 4

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 chicken thighs (optional)

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped

1 cm root ginger, roughly chopped

400g carton of passata

2 tins cooked black-eyed beans and their liquid

2 vegetable stock cubes

1 tsp Caribbean curry powder (or 1 tsp Indian curry powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, & 1/2 tsp ground allspice)

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Brown the chicken thighs, if using, in the olive oil in a pan big enough to make the stew, and remove from the hot oil.

Liquidise the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and root ginger with some of the bean water to make a loose paste.

Fry the liquidised onion and pepper mixture in the hot oil for a few minutes.

Stir the curry powder and chilli into the onion paste, then stir in the tomatoes, beans, and crumbled stock cubes.

Add the chicken back to the stew if using.  There should be enough liquid to cover all the ingredients in the pan with about 1cm of water.  Add more tap water if there isn't.  If too much liquid, you can reduce this whilst the stew cooks.  Cover (leave the lid off it too much liquid), and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Red Red could be cooked in a slow cooker. After frying the onion paste and dry spices,  pour into a slow cooker together with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Serve with rice, or plantain.

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Zoe.com Aubergine Parmigiana

Being gifted some aubergines seemed the ideal opportunity to make an Aubergine Parmigiana, which I had wanted to try for a long time.  This recipe could also be made with courgettes.

I looked at several recipes, including traditional Italian recipes, but settled on @zoe's recipe because I liked the idea of adding lentils to the tomato sauce to make it more filling as a main meal.

@Zoe's recipe is copied below, with my notes in italics

Serves: 4 (with leftovers)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Plant Count: 7
Diet: Vegetarian (Vegan with swaps)
Fibre: 10–15g per serving

3 aubergines, sliced lengthways into 1cm-thick slices (or 5-6 courgettes)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (14 oz)
1 x 400g tin black or green lentils, drained (14 oz)
30g basil leaves, torn, plus a few extra for garnish 
125g ball of mozzarella, torn (4.4 oz)
20g finely grated Parmesan cheese (0.7 oz)
Salt and black pepper

Top-ups: Kimchi, Extra basil
Swaps: Black-eyed beans for lentils, Vegan cheese alternative

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and lay out the aubergine slices in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil all over. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and soft. I took the more traditional Italian route and shallow fried my aubergine slices in olive oil until golden brown, but it does use a lot of olive oil.

Meanwhile, place a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion in the remaining oil for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chilli, and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and lentils, then half-fill the tomato tin with water and add this to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the torn basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper.
Spoon a third of the ragu mixture into the base of a 20–23cm (8–9 inch) square ovenproof dish (or similar) and top with a layer of aubergine. Repeat this twice more, then finish with the torn mozzarella and grated Parmesan. I used a 200g ball of mozzarella which covered the top layer of aubergine really well once melted.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Serve with some steamed greens or salad on the side.

Tips and Techniques

Cheese alternatives: For a vegan version, swap the mozzarella and parmesan for vegan alternatives.

Meal prep: This dish works great as leftovers. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheat in the oven or airfryer (180C for 10-15 minutes) to regain the crispy texture.

Customise your veg: Feel free to add more vegetables like spinach, bell peppers, carrots or celery to the ragu to up the plant count.

FAQs

Can I use other types of beans instead of lentils? Absolutely! You can swap lentils for black-eyed beans, chickpeas, or even cannellini beans.

Can I prepare this dish ahead of time? Yes, you can assemble the dish and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake

Can I freeze the leftovers? Yes, you can freeze portions of the cooked aubergine parmigiana in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven for best results.

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Chilli Bean Salad

A very quick healthy canned bean salad, inspired by a reduced to clear pack of coriander.

Serves 2

340g tin of sweetcorn, drained
390g tin of black beans, drained

400g tin of kidney beans, drained

1 small onion, peeled and finely diced

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a large lemon

30g coriander, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin 

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Salt & pepper 

Simply mix all the ingredients together.  Ideally this salad should be left for 20 minutes to overnight for the flavours develop.  But it is still great even if eaten straight after mixing.

I ate mine as lunch with nothing else.  It is surprisingly filling, thanks to all the fibre.  But you could add 200g cooked pearl barley to bulk it out for a more filling lunch.

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Spicy Aubergine & Bean Soup

I was gifted several large aubergines that needed eating.  The one that didn't find it's way into an Aubergine Parmigiana or Babaganoush has been made into a warming hearty soup on this frosty day.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large aubergine, cut into 2 cm cubes

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

400g tin of borlotti beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

100g roasted red peppers, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp hot chilli flakes

1 tsp red wine vinegar

500ml recently boiled water

2 vegetable stock cubes, crumbled

Chopped flat leaf parsley or coriander to garnish (optional)

In a soup pan, fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften.

Add in the aubergine and fry for another 10 minutes until lightly browned.  The aubergine will absorb the olive oil.  You can add more olive oil if you wish, or keep moving it around the pan to brown.

When the aubergine is browned, stir in the garlic and cumin seeds, and then the rest of the ingredients apart from the parsley/coriander if using.

Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped herbs if you have any.  The herbs not only add a nice contrast of colour, but another layer of Middle Eastern flavour.

This soup can be thickened into a stew by adding 100g red lentils or 50g soup pasta with the wet ingredients, or simply reducing the water by half.  Serve over couscous or rice if serving as a stew.

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Zoe Science & Nutrition Baked Root Vegetable Medley

With beetroot and half a butternut squash to use up on New Year's Eve, and a vegetarian to cater for, I tried this recipe I saw on @Zoe instagram account.  In spite forgetting to set an oven timer due to the jollity of board games and sparkling wine, it turned out well.  I had the last serving today on homemade wholegrain sourdough toast drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side 

1 sweet potato

1 small squash

1 beetroot

5 Jerusalem artichokes (didn't use - used several small beetroot and large sweet potato instead)

1 handful cashews, soaked in boiling water for at least 10 minutes

400g tin of white beans (recipe said drained, but I didn't) 

1 tsp miso paste

a few sprigs of thyme

2 cloves of garlic

100ml milk of choice (used the bean liquid instead)

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Thinly slice your vegetables using a knife or mandolin and layer into an ovenproof dish with fresh thyme.

In a blender, combine the beans, soaked cashews, garlic, milk and miso paste into a pourable sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Cover the vegetables with the sauce and push down to ensure they are submerged. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and place in the oven for around an hour until the vegetables are soft and the top is golden and crispy.

My tips; brush some additional olive oil over the bottom and sides of your baking dish.  Also, my vegetables were not submerged by the sauce so I covered the dish with some aluminium foil.

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Air Fryer or Oven Roasted Vegetable Salad

Now it is Sunday Roast season, I am putting a tray of mixed vegetables in the oven whilst the roast is cooking if there is space, or after.  These vegetables are then a potted up with some pulses, seeds/nuts, and a dressing as a grab and go midweek packed lunch.

Last Sunday I roasted half a cauliflower and half a squash, and mixed in a can of drained chickpeas after roasting the dish.  As the spice mix (leftover from my son making southern fried chicken) I tossed the veg in before cooking was really quite spicy, I made a cooling tahini dressing with a few spinach leaves whizzed in just for colour. It filled three takeaway containers.  A few weeks before I roasted 500g beetroot and 750g sweet potato

Firm vegetables roast well; squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, beetroot, carrot, parsnips, celeriac, fennel. But softer vegetables (aubergine, courgette, onion, peppers, cabbage) work well too, just with less cooking.

Toss the vegetables in a few tablespoons of olive oil and roast for around 45 minutes at 200C in a fan oven, or 20 minutes in an air fryer at 180C. You can add a little salt, paprika, cumin, or harissa as you wish. Toss/stir around halfway through the cooking time. 

Add a tin of drained green lentils, beans, or chickpeas, sprinkle over some mixed seeds, add some cheese (feta, goats cheese, cottage cheese) if you like, and a dressing like tahini dressing, vinaigrette, chermoula, chimichurri, zhoug, or salsa verde.

If feeling the need for some more carbs, adding some cooked quinoa, pearl barley, pasta, couscous etc

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Easy Aloo Gobi, Indian Potato & Cauliflower with Green Lentils

Most Indian recipes call for a long list of spices.  We do have these, but I thought I'd make an easy Aloo Gobi with a ready mixed spice blend. I used a spice mix called Chaat Masala as it needed using up (and goes well with potatoes - see Yotam Ottolenghi's Chaat Masala Potatoes), but Garam Masala, or even curry powder would work well.

I also added a tin of green lentils, and some ground flax seeds, for more fibre and to thicken the dish a little.

500g salad or all round potatoes

2 tbsp light olive oil

1 small cauliflower

1 small onion

1 large clove of garlic

1 tbsp chaat masala or garam masala, or 1 tsp hot curry powder

1 can green lentils, including liquid 

1 mug frozen peas

3 tbsp ground flax seeds

Turn the a medium heat on under the olive oil in a large sauté pan and start chopping the potatoes into bite sized piece.  Place the potatoes cut size down in the pan as you cut them.

Once potatoes are all cut and frying gently, cut the cauliflower into similar sized pieces to the potato.  

When you can smell fried potatoes, turn the potatoes over with a slice, make a clearing in the middle of the pan and add the cauliflower.  Cover with a lid whilst you peel and thinly slice the onion.

Flip over the cauliflower and potatoes when you have sliced the onion. Mix the cauliflower into the potatoes and make a clearing in the middle of the pan for the sliced onion. Put the lid back on until the garlic is peeled, sliced and ready to go into the middle of the pan.

Whilst the onion is frying (don't worry if there not much oil left in the pan - browning adds flavour!), sprinkle over your chosen spice and stir every thing together.

Pour in the cooked lentils and their liquid, and another can of water from the tap.  Cover and bring to the boil.

Once boiling add the frozen peas and the ground flax seeds.  Bring to the boil again, this time without the lid.  Once boiling, set a timer for 5 minutes to make sure the potato is cooked (You should be able to push a for into a piece without it feeling hard like uncooked potato. If it crumbles it is definitely cooked!), to cook the peas, and dry the dish out a little.

Serve with chutney and/or extra chilli if wanted.

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