Category Archives: General

Mexican Pasta Salad

2014-09-26 10.14.55

Mexican Pasta Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 large red capsicum
  • 1 medium green capsicum
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup kidney beans
  • 2 stick celery
  • 3 sliced spring onions
  • 350g wholewheat pasta - penne / conchiglie / fusilli
  • DRESSING:
  • 6 medium tomatoes
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 70ml white wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons cashew cream (cashews: soaked, drained blended with enough water to cover)
  • 1 heaped tsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp semi dried chillies (or chilli paste / fresh - to taste)
  • TOPPINGS:
  • lime zest
  • 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
  • Diced avocado - optional.
Instructions
  1. Put your pasta on to boil and meanwhile prepare the vegetables:
  2. Dice the capsicum, celery, finely slice the spring onions and place in a very large serving bowl along with the kidney beans and corn.
  3. Place the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.
  4. Once pasta is cooked, drain well and rinse under cold water, drain well.
  5. Tip into the bowl with the vegetables, pour over as much of the dressing as required, top with the lime zest and coriander and stir again. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Lovely with diced avocado on the top also.

 

Easy Mushroom Pasta with Chilli Lemon & Garlic

Sometimes you need dinner on the table in 20 mins, tops.  This is so easy to throw together as the only fresh things you need on hand are mushrooms and fresh parsley – and if you have that growing in your garden – or on your windowsill, even easier!  I always have pasta in the pantry, chilli, garlic, lemons and wine in my fridge, so just keep some cashew cream on hand and you’re all set to make this dish.

2014-09-19 11.03.59

Easy Mushroom Pasta with Chilli Lemon & Garlic
 
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Recipe type: Pasta
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 300g wholewheat pasta
  • 600 g small white mushrooms, washed and quartered
  • 2 largish cloves garlic, microplaned
  • Zest of an organic (unwaxed) lemon
  • 6 tablespoons chopped parsley (about half a bunch)
  • Large pinch of semi dried chillies (Gourmet Garden pots) – or use fresh if you prefer
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 1 tsp tamari
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons cashew cream (cashews soaked, blended with enough water to make a thick cream)
  • ½ cup soy milk
  • Salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Put your pasta on to boil.
  2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, add the mushrooms, stirring frequently until softened and liquid released and half-evaporated – about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Add the garlic and lemon zest, chillies and sauté for a further 5 minutes.
  4. Add wine, tamari, nutritional yeast, cashew cream and soy milk, turn down the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes, until the sauce comes together.
  5. Scatter with parsley, pour over your cooked pasta and mix well.
  6. Top with extra parsley if liked, and season well.

 

Easy Ratatouille (fatfree!)

I used this for a lunch for my PlantPot customers but it was so good I had to write it down for use as quickly as possible again, this time for the family!  It was amazingly easy to make without onions or garlic (have to make it that way for a customer) but what was surprising was it was BETTER that way!  The flavours of the capsicum, eggplant and zucchini really sing when they don’t have to try so hard!  I packaged it up all so quickly too I didn’t get time to take a photo so will have to add one next time!

Easy Ratatouille
 
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Recipe type: Stew
Cuisine: French
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 Red Capsicum
  • 1 Green Capsicum
  • 2 medium eggplants
  • 5 smallish zucchini
  • 3 medium tomatoes
  • 1 can tomatoes
  • 2 T balsamic vinegar
  • ½ tsp rosemary
  • ½ tsp thyme
  • Pinch of Herbs de Provence
  • Handful basil, shredded
  • Salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Core and deseed the capsicum, cut into large chunks – about 12 pieces for each one.
  2. Add to large casserole dish over a low heat with a splash of water or stock, place on the lid.
  3. Meanwhile, slice the eggplants into ½ cm thick – not too thin. Grill them on a sandwich press for a few minutes until softened. Cut each slice into 2-3 pieces and add as you go along to the pot.
  4. Slice the zucchini into large slices – about ¾ to 1cm and add to the pot.
  5. Core the tomatoes and cut each into 8 pieces, add to the pot along with any juices.
  6. Add the canned tomatoes, vinegar, dried herbs and place back on the lid and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally for an hour or so until soft and delicious. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat. Season well.
  7. Best served at room temperature.

 

Thai Pumpkin Soup

2014-09-01 19.27.06
One of the easiest soups for a winter’s night.  It’s all about the curry paste, so find a good one.  We used Ayam Thai Red Curry Paste.

Thai Pumpkin Soup
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Thai
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 medium Japanese or butternut squash, peeled and cut into large pieces.
  • 1 large carrot, sliced
  • 1-2 tablespoons red curry paste - or to taste (1 is mild, 2 is hot!)
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • ½ cup split red lentils
  • 1 cup soy milk, mixed with 1 tsp coconut essence
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • freshly chopped coriander, yogurt to serve - optional
Instructions
  1. Saute the pumpkin / squash and carrot with a splash of stock or water in a large heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the curry paste, stir in thoroughly then quickly add the stock and lentils.
  2. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the red lentils have broken down, around 20 minutes.
  3. Stir in the soy and coconut mixture, lime juice and heat through gently. Adjust seasoning, and serve, topped with coriander and / or yogurt if liked.

 

Sushi Brown Rice Salad

Sushi Brown RIce Salad

All the taste of a nori roll without the rolling!  Crunchy veg, marinated tofu, edamame beans and avocado, mixed with strips of nori, sesame seeds, dressed with a sushi seasoning and soy sauce.  If you love sushi you’ll love this.

Sushi Brown Rice Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Japanese
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 250 grams brown rice
  • 2 sticks celery, finely diced
  • 1 large cucumber, deseeded, finely diced
  • 1 red capsicum, finely diced
  • 2 carrots, finely diced
  • 1 cup blanched, podded edamame beans
  • 200g marinated Japanese flavour tofu, cut into small dice
  • nori seaweed sheets, cut into small squares or strips
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • sushi seasoning - vinegar, sugar, mirin blend (I use Obento brand, from the supermarket, or Asian supermarkets would stock a range)
  • soy sauce or tamari
  • radish - optional, finely diced
  • pickled ginger, wasabi, soy sauce - to serve as required
Instructions
  1. Whilst your rice is cooking, finely dice all the crunchy vegetables (and add whatever others you like) and put set aside. Blanch and pod your edamame beans, and dice the avocado. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry non stick pan, until golden brown.
  2. Once your rice is cooked, tip in to a large bowl and sprinkle generously with the sushi seasoning mix, stirring well to thoroughly incorporate. Taste and add more as required. I used about 8 tablespoons. Add tamari or soy sauce to taste. Once the rice is at room temperature, stir in as much of the vegetable mix as you like, portion out into your serving bowls and decorate the tops with the nori, avocado, edamame beans and sesame. Allow it to cool slightly
  3. Serve alongside pickled ginger, wasabi and extra tamari / soy sauce as desired.

Mexican Burrito Bowl

I do love a bowl – when you lay all your ingredients out in the bowl to look pretty, rather than just mix them all together.  This is a simplified chilli recipe which takes just 30 mins so you can put your rice on, chop the tomatoes for your salsa and mash some avocado whilst it simmers.  Some sweetcorn is also nice on the side if you  have some in the freezer or a can in the cupboard, to add some more colour to the plate.  Have hot sauce on the side so those chilli addicts can add their own, keeping this quite mild for little mouths. Leave the chilli out all together if you like.

2014-08-21 12.34.02

Mexican Burrito Bowl
 
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Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 160g long grain brown rice
  • 2 small/ medium brown onions (180g chopped weight)
  • 1 small green capsicum (180g " " )
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 medium stick celery (80g " " )
  • 1 slightly heaped tsp ground cumin
  • 1 slightly heaped tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes (can reduce to be really mild)
  • 1 tsp beef style stock powder
  • 2 cans chopped tomatoes
  • ½ cup water
  • 1.5 - 2 cans drained kidney beans (depends how thick you like it!)
  • 2 cups frozen corn
  • ½ tablespoon maple syrup
  • To Serve:
  • Salsa:
  • 300 g baby tomatoes
  • ½ bunch coriander
  • ½ a red onion,
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • Guacamole:
  • 1 large avocadoes: lime / lemon juice / salt.
  • Sweetcorn: -
  • Allow 75g per person: - defrost frozen corn / or pour boiling water over it or simmer for a minute.
  • Or alternatively, serve with corn on the cob.
Instructions
  1. Put your rice on to cook.
  2. Dice the onion, capsicum, celery and crush or grate the garlic.
  3. Add to a warmed large casserole dish or saucepan and stir for a few minutes until softening, adding a tiny splash of water to stop them sticking if necessary.
  4. Add the garlic and stir in for a minute or two, again to stop it sticking.
  5. Add the cumin and coriander, mix again to thoroughly distribute and toast the spices a little until you can smell them.
  6. Add tomato paste, canned tomatoes, water, stock powder, beans and corn and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the capsicum and onion are soft.
  7. Meanwhile: Make the salsa: chop the baby tomatoes into quarters, finely slice the red onion, shred the coriander, squeeze the lime juice and mix them all together in a small bowl
  8. Make the guacamole: Mash a large avocado, adding salt, lime and or lemon juice to taste.
  9. To serve: Let each person add each ingredient to their own bowl, or arrange them beautifully yourself!

 

Chinese Savoury Rice

I don’t know why but for years we called this plain old “Savoury Rice”.  No idea where we got that from but it’s not very descriptive so I’ve added “Chinese” so you get the idea.  This is a forgiving recipe in that it can be adapted to whatever veggies you have in the fridge so it’s always a bit different every time you make it.  It’s quite incredible how many veggies you can pack into this.  It used to be a great way of getting them into my kids when they were small and suspicious of new ones as they’re all chopped up quite fine so you don’t really know what they are. 🙂

Do add some toasted nuts if you  have them, they add a lovely crunch.  Other additions which work are some cubed tofu –  marinated preferably; or some toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Tip: To cut down on the chopping time, if you’re planning on making this during week, dice some of the required vegetable every time you use it, and pop it in to a box in the fridge.  By the end of the week all your veggies will be ready.

2014-08-18 18.50.22

Chinese Savoury Rice
 
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Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 800g cooked brown rice. It works much better if you cook rice much earlier or even the day before and refrigerate so it's cold and dry before you begin.
  • Vegetables you use are completely up to you, you need about 1kg - 1.2kg prepared weight (i.e. diced small) for 4 people. It's really a good idea to include the onions, of any variety. Last time we used:
  • Broccolini - 100g
  • Carrot - 100g
  • Green beans - 100g
  • Cauliflower - 100g
  • Red capsicum - 150g
  • Zucchini - 150g
  • Celery - 100g
  • Mushrooms - 100g
  • Spring onions - 100g
  • Sweetcorn - 100g
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 tablespoon grated / chopped fresh garlic
  • 40g toasted nuts - cashews / peanuts etc - optional
  • Peas - 100g
  • Sauce - mix together in a small jug:
  • 40 ml reduced salt soy sauce
  • 40 ml sweet chilli sauce
  • 10 ml chopped chillies
  • 20 ml unhulled (the dark one) tahini - has a roasted sesame flavour
  • 60 ml hot water
Instructions
  1. It's best to cook in 2 batches to not overcrowd the wok. That works out well also if you want to add more chilli or garlic etc for the adult portions.
  2. Heat a large wok, spray very lightly with oil or a dash of stock.
  3. When it's hot add your vegetables (half of them if you're doing this quantity)
  4. Stir around, place on the lid if you have one and steam the veg.
  5. Add the garlic and ginger and stir well and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Once your harder vegetables like carrots are tender add your rice, mix thoroughly, pour over half of the sauce / extra chilli etc if required. Heat through thoroughly then serve, garnished with coriander if liked and your toasted nuts if using.

 

Spicy Mexican Capsicum & Bean Soup with Potatoes

Here’s real winter warmer!  Perfect for a weeknight dinner with some crusty bread.  This is kid friendly with only a teaspoon of chillies, but you can ramp that up for more adult palates.

2014-08-02 14.06.56

Spicy Mexican Capsicum & Bean Soup with Potatoes
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 1 red capsicum, chopped
  • 1 green capsicum, chopped
  • 1 yellow capsicum, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 cups (750ml) good-quality vegetable stock
  • 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • ¼ cup (35g) semi sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chopped chillies in oil
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 x 400g can red kidney beans, rinsed, drained
  • 4 medium potatoes, diced
  • Frozen corn, 1 cup
Instructions
  1. Sauté the capsicum in a large casserole dish with the garlic and a splash of the stock until softening, then add the tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, all the spices, herbs, chillies etc, tomato paste and cook on medium whilst stirring for a minute or so. Add beans, potatoes and corn and the rest of the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.

 

Thai Curried Lentils

2014-06-29 19.16.51

Here is a really delicious, quick and easy curried lentils dish (particularly quick if you happen to have cooked lentils on hand – or use canned – you need about 3 cups cooked lentils).  Finding a good curry paste is essential for this, I used Ayam’s Thai Panang which doesn’t contain fish or shrimp – and 20g only contains 1.6g of fat.  This serves 6, or 4 really hungry adults. 🙂

Thai Curried Lentils
 
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Cuisine: Thai
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 large red capsicum
  • 250 grams green beans (unprepared weight)
  • 3 heaped teaspoons thai curry paste - about 20g
  • 2 lime leaves, scored
  • 280 grams dry regular green or brown lentils
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • to serve: fresh chopped coriander, yogurt
  • 1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 tsp coconut essence
Instructions
  1. Put the lentils into a medium saucepan, cover with boiling water, bring to boil and simmer until just tender - about 20 minutes.
  2. Put your rice (we like long grain brown rice with this dish) on to cook.
  3. Chop the onion, dice or slice the capsicum, top and tail the green beans.
  4. Heat a large casserole or saucepan (which has a close fitting lid) on a medium heat.
  5. Add the vegetables, and once softening, reduce the heat, and stir in the curry paste, and stir for a few minutes until all incorporated. If you have to wait a while for your lentils you can just switch off the heat at this point, place on the lid and continue once your lentils / rice are ready.
  6. Add the lentils once they're ready, stock, lime leaves and lime juice.
  7. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
  8. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until your green beans are cooked to your liking, then stir in the soy/coconut mixture, and heat through gently.
  9. Serve over your rice and top with coriander leaves and yogurt.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 244 Fat: 1.28 Carbohydrates: 18.6 Sodium: 70 Fiber: 16 Protein: 15.8

 

 

Broccoli & Corn Calzones

2014-06-22 19.13.51
This was adapted from a recipe on EatingWell.  I substituted homemade wholemeal pizza dough for their shop bought one, silken tofu for the ricotta and homemade mozzarella style cheese for the dairy version.  The “moxarella” is this one, and you will need about 1/2 to 2/3 of the amount that recipe makes (1 cup).

Broccoli & Corn Calzones
 
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Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cups chopped broccoli florets
  • 1 ½ cups frozen sweetcorn
  • 1 cup "moxarella cheese" (see link above in introduction)
  • ⅔ cup silken tofu
  • 4 spring onions, finely sliced
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • handful of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
  2. Place baking paper on two (or one large) baking trays.
  3. Prepare the pizza dough - as linked introduction. Roll out to about the size of side plate.
  4. Mix all the filling ingredients together, and scoop about ¾ cup onto one half of a round of dough and arrange into a crescent shape.
  5. Using a pastry brush - or your finger! - wet the dough around the edge next to the filling.
  6. Fold the other half over the top, stretching down onto the moistened edge.
  7. Crimp the edges together, making small overlapping folds working from right to left.
  8. Place on the baking trays and make 3 or 4 cuts in the top of each to allow the steam to escape.
  9. Bake for 12 minutes, re-pierce the holes in the tops, then swap the trays over and bake for a further 12 minutes or until golden and the filling is bubbling up out of the holes a little.
  10. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving (or be prepared to take the skin off the roof of your mouth..!)

 

2014-06-22 19.12.49