Category Archives: Mains

Mushroom Nasi Goreng

I’ve always loved this spicy Indonesian rice dish but until now I just couldn’t seem to infuse the flavours into the rice without using oil.  Finally I seem to have found a solution!  Hope you love this as much as my family did.


Mushroom Nasi Goreng
 
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Brown rice scented with garlic, ginger, citrus and chilli with plenty of mushrooms and finely shredded cabbage.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indonesian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 cups cooked long grain brown rice
  • - SAUCE:
  • 3 cloves garlic, micro-planed / finely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons lemon and or lime juice
  • 2cm piece ginger, finely chopped - a heaped tablespoon
  • 1 tsp lime zest
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon chopped chillies - from a jar (add more if you like it really spicy!)
  • 1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste
  • 4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
  • VEGETABLES:
  • ¼ green cabbage, cored and finely chopped
  • 400g grams diced mushrooms - about 3-4 cups
  • 2 medium carrots, finely diced
  • 1 cup frozen / canned sweetcorn
  • To serve:
  • Toasted peanuts
  • Chopped fresh coriander
  • Limes - quartered
Instructions
  1. Put on your rice to cook if not already available. (This may delay your serving time).
  2. Finely chop, crush or microplane the garlic, place in a small bowl and pour over the lemon and or lime juice and stir. Soak the garlic in the lemon juice for 5 mins.
  3. Add all other sauce ingredients then mix well and allow to sit whilst you prep the vegetables.
  4. Sauté the onion, cabbage, mushrooms and carrots in a large deep frying pan with a lid. Once softened - about 5-7 mins - add the paste, stir thoroughly and keep stirring for a few minutes to , thoroughly distributing the sauce through the veg.
  5. Add the cooked rice and mix well, then add a cup of water and the sweetcorn. Stir well and allow to heat through.
  6. Put on the lid, turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 5-7 mins until the carrots are tender and the sauce is absorbed into the rice.
  7. Turn off the heat and allow to sit whilst you get ready to serve.
  8. Serve each bowl with a quarter of lime, and scatter with coriander, peanuts and hot sauce.

 

Spinach & Tofu Cannelloni


Spinach & Tofu Cannelloni
 
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You might look at the name of this recipe, or the photo and think you haven't got time to make this, but you'd be wrong! With a food processor and using wholewheat square wraps instead of pasta this can be on the table inside an hour! This is in regular weeknight rotation in our house and everyone always wants seconds! 🙂
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 4 square wholewheat wraps, cut into ¼ to make 16 squares
  • 1 500g jar pasta tomato & basil style sauce
  • Topping:
  • 1 slice wholemeal bread, torn into pieces
  • ¼ cup walnut pieces
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Filling:
  • 350g baby spinach
  • 350g firm plain tofu, broken into pieces
  • 1 shallot / very small onion, chopped
  • 75g hummus
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp Italian herbs mix
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 C.
  2. Place the topping ingredients into your food processor and pulse until you have a regular crumb with no large pieces. Tip into a bowl and set aside.
  3. Place the baby spinach into a large bowl and cover with boiling water, pushing it down so all the leaves are submerged.
  4. Take your lasagne dish and pour about ⅓ of the jar of sauce over the bottom and tilt the dish so there is an even cover across the whole surface.
  5. Tip the spinach leaves and water into a colander over the sink, and run cold water over the spinach. Taking handfuls at a time, squeeze as much as the water out as you can, then roughly chop each handful into a few pieces, break up the clumps, and pop into the food processor (no need to clean out after breadcrumbs).
  6. Place all the other filling ingredients into the food processor with the spinach and pulse until it is well mixed and in tiny pieces, but not a puree.
  7. Take one square of wholewheat wrap, spoon 1 heaped tablespoon (about the size of a golf ball – around 35-40g in weight) of filling along one side. Roll up to create a sausage shape and place it in a corner of the dish. Keep going until you have used up all the filling and your dish is packed full.
  8. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the rolls and make sure all the bread is covered.
  9. Sprinkle the topping over the rolls and bake for 30 minutes. Cover with foil during the last 10
  10. minutes if your breadcrumb topping is starting to catch.

 

Pressure Cooker Savoury Lentils (with a no-PC option)


Pressure Cooker Savoury Lentils (with a no-PC option)
 
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A quick and easy version of shepherdess pie filling. If you do not have a pressure cooker, follow the same procedure in a casserole dish or large saucepan with a lid and either bake in the oven for 45 minutes or simmer on the cooktop for 30 minutes.
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: English
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 large onion - finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery - finel diced
  • 1 very large or 2 medium carrots - finely diced
  • ½ cup Puy (french) lentils
  • ½ cup red lentils
  • 2 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 heaped tsp chicken style stock powder
  • 1 cup passata or chopped tomatoes, blended
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp mixed herbs
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • ½ cup frozen corn
  • ½ cup frozen peas
Instructions
  1. Assemble and measure out all your ingredients first.
  2. Sauté the onion, celery and carrot in your pressure cooker, on the sauté or brown function for a few minutes.
  3. Then add the rest of the ingredients and set to cook on high pressure for 13 mins
  4. Release pressure
  5. Stir in the corn and peas.
  6. Close the lid and keep on warm function until potatoes or rice / pasta is ready

Sweet & Sour Tofu

I had a craving for this dish which I used to love as a child when we would very occasionally go to a Chinese restaurant.  Of course it wasn’t tofu back then, was probably chicken or pork but it was the way that sweet tangy sauce soaked into the rice that I loved so this satisfies that completely!  After trying a few recipes I found on the net, I combined the best of them plus a few variations to make this version.  We usually enjoy it with some steamed bok choi or broccoli on the side. You can also add other vegetables such as snow peas or bamboo shoots / beansprouts at the end if you like.


Sweet & Sour Tofu
 
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Cooking time may be extended depending on how long it takes to cook your rice. I use a rice cooker and ours takes around 30 minutes.
Author:
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 300g pack of firm tofu (we like to use smoked but plain is fine)
  • 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Juice from 1 400g can pineapple pieces
  • ½ cup water
  • Pineapple pieces from the can
  • 2 tablespoons brown unrefined sugar
  • 2 heaped teaspoons corn flour
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced / microplaned
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 large red capsicum cut into strips
  • 1 large green or yellow capsicum, cut into strips
  • 1 large red onion, sliced into strips
  • 1 small can water chestnuts, drained - optional
  • 4 tablespoons roasted cashews - optional
Instructions
  1. Put your brown ride on to cook
  2. Mix together the pineapple juice, vinegar, tomato ketchup, soy sauce and lime juice in a small bowl, whisk in the corn flour and water and mix thoroughly until smooth with no lumps. Put the tofu in to a shallow dish and pour the sauce over and leave to marinade.
  3. When then rice is almost ready heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat and saute the onion and peppers until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and stir around for 5 minutes, adding a tiny splash of water if any sticking is occurring. Put on the lid and allow to cook on a low heat for a further few minutes until peppers are tender.
  4. Add the tofu and sauce to the pan, along with the pineapple, water chestnuts and cashews. Stir consistently until the sauce thickens and becomes transparent. Add a splash more water as needed to create as much sauce as you'd like.
  5. Serve with the rice and accompanying vegetables as desired.

 

Spicy Spinach & Mushroom Rice Bowl

This is based on a thing I’d kind of throw together for myself for lunch when I was a stay-at-home-mum and one day when I was marvelling at the deliciousness of it I realised I was being selfish to keep it to myself so I made it into a proper family meal and everyone loved it. Better still this is a quick and easy weeknight dinner, whilst not skimping on plenty of veg.  It’s kind of like a risotto so should be soupy and not a dry pilaf-type thing. If you like it hot spicy feel free to add chopped chillies or chilli powder at the start.  Otherwise this is totally kid friendly. 🙂


Spicy Spinach & Mushroom Rice Bowl
 
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Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 red capsicum, diced
  • 4 field mushrooms, diced or a bag ready sliced
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp coriander
  • 2 tablespoons salt reduced soy sauce
  • 2 tsp smoked (or regular if you're' not a fan) paprika
  • 1 bag baby spinach, 2-300g, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen sweetcorn and / or peas
  • 3 cups ready cooked medium grain brown rice
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 2-3 tablespoons tahini (or ½ cup fat free hummus)
  • 1.5 cups tomato pasta sauce
  • Juice of a (juicy) lime
  • Freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
  1. Prep all your vegetables.
  2. Heat a large, deep non stick pan (which has a lid preferably)
  3. Saute the onion, capsicum and mushrooms with the spices and cook for 5 minutes until the capsicums are softened a little then add handfuls at a time of the chopped spinach, stirring until it wilts in to the mixture - should take around 5 minutes.
  4. Add in the cooked rice, frozen corn / peas, the stock, the tahini (or hummus) and pasta sauce and stir well. Once it starts to bubble put on the lid and turn down to gentle simmer. After 5 minutes check the vegetables are all done to your liking. Stir in the lime juice, scatter with the parsley and serve!

 

Potato, Chickpea & Veggie Cakes

These were a bit of an experiment which turned into a huge success!  We had them for dinner topped with hummus and salsa (or hot sauce or tomato sauce depending on your age!) with some steamed broccoli.  Also were a great breakfast the next day sandwiched into some sourdough with avocado and tomato.


Potato, Chickpea & Veggie Cakes
 
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Creamy mash and chickpeas blended together with gently sautéed veggies and spices, formed into patties and coated with breadcrumbs. A delicious light lunch with salad or for dinner with steamed vegetables.
Author:
Recipe type: Patties & Burgers
Serves: 14
Ingredients
  • 700g potatoes (peeled weight)
  • 1-2 cups dry breadcrumbs (I used a sourdough crust, pulsed in food processor, toasted in oven, then pulsed again into a fine crumb)
  • 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 T tahini
  • 1 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 1 leek, halved lengthways, washed and finely sliced
  • 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
  • 100g chopped mushrooms
  • 1 medium carrot grated
  • ½ cup frozen baby peas
  • ½ cup frozen sweet corn
  • 1 tsp mixed dried herbs
  • ½ t paprika
  • ½ t turmeric
  • ½ t coriander
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 5 cubes frozen spinach defrosted and squeezed dry
Instructions
  1. Peel your potatoes and put into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare your other vegetables (and breadcrumbs if necessary.)
  3. Blend the chickpeas with the tahini in a food processor until mostly smooth, a few chunks is ok.
  4. Put the onion, leek, cabbage, mushrooms, carrot into a large nonstick frying pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently until softened, adding a splash or two of water if starting to stick. Stir in the herbs and spices and soy sauce and cook until very soft and most moisture evaporated. Turn off the heat.
  5. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line a large baking tray with paper and place inside.
  6. When your potatoes are just tender, drain well and mash until smooth.
  7. In a large bowl combine the potato, chickpeas, the cooked veggies, frozen peas and corn, and the spinach. The mixture should be very thick and quite difficult to stir. Hands are easier if it's too hard! Can be refrigerated at this stage until you're ready to cook them.
  8. Take large spoonfuls and shape into patties, then coat in breadcrumbs.
  9. Cook a batch at a time in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat for a few minutes until crispy on both sides, then transfer to your baking sheet in the oven whilst you cook the rest. Bake them in the oven for a further 15 minutes. I managed to get 14 cakes.

Italian Cabbage & Beans

This recipe has been a surprising favourite for many years, having been adapted from a recipe in BBC Vegetarian Good Food magazine circa 1999! It’s a rustic Italian inspired dish.  More vegetables have been included, oil eliminated and wholewheat sourdough toast substituted.  Interestingly it features cumin which I thought was very unusual for in Italian cuisine, however after researching I find it used to be more popular and was even called Roman Caraway! 🙂

Even my kids love this dish; it’s both simple in terms of ingredients and yet complex in flavour. You WILL go back for a second bowl!

Italian Cabbage & Beans
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Casserole / Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 large leek, sliced
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 garlic clove, cut in half
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or try fennel or caraway for interesting variations)
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 small savoy cabbage, roughy shredded / and / or kale, shredded
  • 1 can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
  • wholewheat sourdough bread, toasted
  • flatleaf parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
  1. In a large deep casserole pot, saute the leek, onion, cumin seeds & crushed garlic for 3 minutes until softened, stirring occasionally and adding a small splash of the stock to stop it sticking
  2. Add all of the stock, and bring to the boil.
  3. Add the bay leaves, cabbage beans potatoes and return to the boil.
  4. Turn down to a simmer and put on the lid.
  5. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
  6. Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes whilst you toast the bread and rub them with the cut garlic cloves.
  7. Serve the cabbage and beans scattered with the parsley alongside the garlic toast

 

 

Easy Enchiladas

I have been trying to come up with really easy recipes for after work suppers which involve little in the way of chopping, measuring etc as after  hard day at work that’s all just too much sometimes.  There’s really nothing wrong with canned beans, tomatoes, and frozen vegetables etc so finding ways to use them to speed up your evening meal is a no-brainer.
Here I’ve used canned beans along with frozen kale, wraps and jarred tomato sauce to create a delicious enchilada bake.  I topped ours with my Quick Cheezy Sauce which only takes 5 minutes to make but if you really don’t feel like even slicing a leek you can omit and top with purchased breadcrumbs, homemade breadcrumbs with walnuts or just the tomato sauce itself. I hope you try it!  A possible variation, if you like a refried beans type of filling is to substitute the can of chilli beans and sauce for one of refried beans instead.  Either works well, it’s just your preference.  If you can’t get or don’t like frozen kale, you can use spinach instead.  :

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Easy Enchiladas
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 can black beans - rinsed & drained
  • 1 can lentils - rinsed & drained
  • 1 can kidney beans in chilli sauce - not drained
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon semi dried coriander (Gourmet Garden range)
  • 1 pack frozen kale defrosted and water squeezed out
  • 3 tablespoons salsa
  • 2 cups passata
  • Thin wraps - I used BeFree gf sweet potato ones or mountain bread ones are ok
  • ½ batch my quick cheezy sauce
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
  2. Mix the beans, seasonings, spices, coriander, kale, salsa together in a large bowl. Add some chilli if you like it spicy!
  3. Pour one cup of the passata into the bottom of a lasagne style dish and tip to cover evenly.
  4. Spoon a generous amount of filling in to each wrap and then roll up and place into the dish.
  5. Continue until all the filling is used up, 5-6 wraps is usual.
  6. Pour the other cup of passata over the top and then the cheezy sauce if using.
  7. Bake in the oven for 30 mins, covering with foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent burning if necessary.

 

Potato & Pea Pie

Not really a pie so don’t get excited – there’s no pastry!  But delicious all the same!  It’s kind of a variation on bubble and squeak.  I used to make a dish of potato and onion which had peas on the side and one night just thought damn it, I’m just mixing them in!  So good!  There’s something about the texture of peas mixed into mashed potatoes that I just love; maybe it’s childhood memories of Sunday lunch.  Either way this is a great midweek meal as there’s only a few steps and adding the peas makes it a complete meal so you don’t need any sides if you are pushed for time or just not inclined.  We had ours with just some wilted spinach and sweetcorn.

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Potato & Pea Pie
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: English
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1kg white potatoes, peeled (we used Desiree)
  • ½ cup oil free hummus (we use SSS brand from Woolies)
  • 2 medium brown onions
  • 3-4 tablespoons freshly chopped mint
  • 1 cup or 150g baby frozen peas (minted if you like!), defrosted
  • Seasoning
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
  2. Cut the potatoes into 2 inch chunks and steam the potatoes for 15-20 minutes
  3. Meanwhile, defrost your peas, finely chop the onions and cook them in a large frying pan, stirring frequently until starting to brown. Turn off the heat and they will unstick themselves naturally.
  4. Rinse the bunch of mint under the tap and finely chop.
  5. Once your potatoes are tender drain and then tip back into the pan and mash with the hummus until smooth, season to taste.
  6. Scrape in the onions and add the peas and stir to thoroughly combine.
  7. Line a baking tray or pizza tray with baking paper, scrape the contents of the pan into the centre of the pan and smooth it out into an even round shape about 4-5cm tall.
  8. Bake in the oven for 20-30 mins until starting to brown on the top.
  9. Cut into slices and serve!

 

 

White Bean & Olive Spread

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White Bean & Olive Spread
 
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Lebanese inspired spread for toast
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Lebanese
Serves: 6 slices
Ingredients
  • 1 can butter beans or cannellini beans
  • Juice and zest of 1 juicy lemon - about 4 tablespoons
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed
  • 2-4 tablespoons finely chopped red or spring onion (as preferred)
  • 6 black or green olives, chopped
  • 1 tsp capers, chopped (optional)
  • 1 tsp tahini (optional)
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped parsley
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped mint
  • pinch of chilli flakes or semi-dried chopped chililes
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Zest the lemon and tip into a medium bowl
  2. Juice the lemon into a small bowl and tip the crushed / Microplaned garlic into it to steep.
  3. Mash the beans with a fork in a bowl, or pulse in a food processor until broken down but not a smooth paste.
  4. Prepare the herbs, olives, onion & capers and add to the bowl with the lemon zest.
  5. Add the beans and stir thoroughly, add the tahini, chilli and salt and pepper as desired.
  6. Stir in the lemon juice and garlic mixture. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes as flavour will continue to develop. The garlic flavour will be stronger the next day if it lasts that long! 🙂
  7. Serve on hot toast with sliced baby tomatoes.
  8. NB: You can use all or one of the herbs, equally delicious with any combination of fresh herbs.