Chilli Sans Carne

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Chilli con Carne is a recipe my mum likes to make and I love bean recipes so it was only a matter of time before I played with a veg version.

For those of you looking for a fast, easy dinner. I just used what was in the pantry and honestly it was up in 20 minutes flat.

It’s rich, warming tasty and uncomplicated. If making it for children you can simply leave the hot cayenne powder out.

 

YOU NEED

1 large red capsicum (also known as bell pepper), seeds and core out and cut into a smallish dice

2 large brown onions, peeled and finely diced

1 can of baked beans

1 can of red kidney beans, well rinsed

1 can of chickpeas, well rinsed

1  can of crushed tomatoes

1 can of good quality tomato soup

2 cups of vegetable stock (I use Masell brand)

1 teaspoon of cumin powder

1 teaspoon of hot cayenne powder

# optional – oil for cooking

 

YOU DO

Get some rice on and cooking to serve this with….

Heat some rice bran oil in a large pot (alternatively just heat a little water instead of oil). Add the onions and cook on a low to medium heat till they are soft and browned. Add the garlic, cumin, cayenne and capsicum and cook for another minute or so.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine, bring to the boil and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve with rice, vegetables or salad.

# I would also suggest a teaspoon of smoky paprika would be awesome in this, to add depth and a “meaty” tone to it.

# This is S#P#I#C#Y, so if you are cooking it for the family, reduce or eliminate the  cayenne.

 

Servings: 4-6

Time: Takes me about 20 minutes to make this one.

Freezing: Should be fine for freezing.

Pomegranate Glazed Vegetable Salad

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This a beautiful dish served with a nut roast with all the trimmings of gravy and roast potatoes. It’s also a gorgeous offering for a bbq along with other salads or can just be enjoyed as a meal.

YOU NEED

3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunky rounds

1 small sweet potato, cut into chunks

¾ cup of orange juice

3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses

½ teaspoon Chinese five spice mix

1 handful of coriander roots, washed well and sliced finely

1 handful of fresh spinach

1 handful of raw walnuts

2 tablespoons of olive oil and some extra for serving

salt and pepper for seasoning

# optional pomegranate seeds for garnish

 

YOU DO

Pre heat your oven to 200c

Steam the carrots till they are partly cooked. You want to remove them when you can pierce them with a skewer or fork but you still get some resistance.

Place the cooked carrots and raw sweet potato chunks into a large bowl.

Combine the molasses, orange juice, the 2 teaspoons of olive oil and spice mix and pour into the bowl with the carrots and sweet potato. Stir well to combine

Place everything into a lightly greased oven tray and cook till the vegetables are tender and caramelised. This will take 30 – 40 minutes

Once the carrots and potato have finished cooking, remove them from the oven. Then very gently mix them with the coriander roots, walnuts, spinach, a little more olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve.

Serve warm or cold.

 

Yields: Makes enough for a lunch for one person or a small side for up to 4 people.

Time: 10 minutes prep and about 40 minutes cooking

Notes: I cook my carrots while I am gathering all my ingredients and doing my prep.

I would normally put pumpkin in this too because it adds sweetness to the salad which is a lovely balance for the sour of the pomegranate molasses.

Chilli Bean Potato Bake for 1

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YOU NEED

1 small brown potato, peeled and **very finely** sliced

½ small brown onion, peeled and finely sliced

½ can of red kidney beans, washed well and drained

¼ cup rice milk (I use Australian’s Own Organic rice milk)

1 large clove of garlic

½ teaspoon of smoky paprika

pinch of hot dried chilli flakes

3 tablespoons of tomato puree

½ teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of sugar

# nutritional yeast is a nice addition but don’t worry if you don’t have any.

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 180%

Heat some oil in pan, brown off the onions, add the garlic and stir for another minute or so.

Add the paprika, chilli flakes, tomato puree, beans, salt and sugar. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Set aside

Heat a little oil in a separate pan (just enough that it won’t stick) and gently cook the thin slices of potato one side, then turn them and do the other side.

Layer the potato and bean mix. If you have nutritional yeast sprinkle a bit on each layer.

Pour the milk over the top. Put your final layer of potato mix on the top. Glaze the potato on the top with some rice milk. Top that with nutritional yeast if you have some and place your dish into the oven. Cook until the potato is completely cooked, the dish is hot and the top layer of potato has browned. This takes approx 30 mins.

Serves 1 but you can easily increase to serve more. Double for 2 people, triple for 3 etc.

 

Servings: 1

Time: I haven’t timed this one.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Pomegranate Citrus Iced Tea

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YOU NEED

4 cups of boiled water

1 lemon, finely sliced

1 lime, finely sliced

3-4 tablespoons of agave (if you don’t have agave just use sugar)

5 plain black tea bags

1 cup of pomegranate juice (I used freshly squeezed)

ice for serving

 

YOU DO

Place the teabags into the boiled water for 5- 10 minutes. Don’t leave them too long as it will make the tea bitter. Remove the tea bags and refrigerate the tea.

Once the tea is cold, add the rest of the ingredients and combine. Put in a large jug, with ice and serve 🙂

 

Servings: Makes approx 1.5 litres of Iced Tea.

Time: 10 minutes plus cooling time.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Dragonfruit, Nashi Pear & Ginger Juice

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I am pushing myself top regularly try new foods. Today it was dragon fruit. I was lucky enough to get a stunning ruby red dragon fruit. Such an exotic looking fruit, it tastes a little like a pear but its the colour that impresses me most. Absolutely beautiful.

 

YOU NEED

1 dragon fruit

1 nashi pear

1 apple

2 soaked dates

½ teaspoon ginger

 

YOU DO

Cut the dragon fruit in half lengthways and remove the peel.

Juice the dragon fruit, pear and the apple.

Blend the dates and ginger through the juice.

 

Servings: 1

Time: 5 minutes

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Notes: This is gorgeous with lime juice too. It gives the juice a lovely lift.

Tandoori Mushroom and Capsicum Strudel

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This recipe illustrates just what one can do with a few bits of veg hanging around the fridge! I had a load of pizza dough, was feeling creative after my pide making session and this was the result.

I’m really proud of this one. It’s delicious too 🙂

 

YOU NEED (for the filling)

1/2 can of tomato puree

2 teaspoons of tandoori paste

2 field mushrooms, sliced, sliced stems and all

4 button mushrooms, sliced, stems and all

1 medium brown onion, peeled and sliced

1/2 green capsicum (also known as a bell pepper), core and seeds out and sliced

handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed and roughly chopped

#optional few blobs of plain Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese (You can find this in the supermarket sitting in the cold section next to the dairy cream cheeses)

oil for cooking

 

YOU DO (for the filling)

Stir the tandoori paste with the tomato puree until combined.

Heat the oil in a large pan, sauté the onions till browned. Add the mushrooms and sauté off for a minute or 2. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.

Add the tandoori and tomato puree mix and the capsicum to the pan and stir to combine.

 

YOU DO (for the base)

Make my “Pizza Dough” recipe and once you have made the dough and rested it and its ready to be rolled out, roll it into a thin rectangle shape.

Spread the tomato mix across the entire base.

Spoon the mixture from the pan onto the base, covering it all. #At this point just make sure the capsicum and mushroom slices are laid so that they horizontally follow the long side of the rectangle. This only takes a minute and makes your rolling a lot easier. Otherwise as you roll they may pierce the dough. Blob on some random spoonfuls of Tofutti cream cheese on your fillings.

Roll the long side of the dough onto itself to form a long roll. Very carefully place the rolled dough onto a baking sheet lined tray.

Then slicing on an angle make some cuts across the length of the roll a few cms a part. The filling will be exposed at each slice point and put in the oven at 200c until the base has cooked and is starting to brown.

 

Servings: 2 -3

Time: I haven’t timed this one but you can make up Pizza Dough and freeze it which makes for a quicker dish.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Lime Satay & Zucchini Pide

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When I left the cooking world years ago I went into recruitment and one of my regular and absolute favourite clients was (and still is) a well known chef who had a chain of Middle Eastern restaurants and cafes. I use to eat at them before I knew who she was and always loved their zucchini pizza. Their pizza had cheese on the base instead of satay sauce though and was served with lemon.

Here is my interpretation of that pizza with a different base sauce and layout for the zucchini. Cath Claringbold, I hope one day that you stumble across my site and that you are proud of my interpretation.

 

YOU NEED (for the filling)

1 teaspoon of oil (I use rice bran oil)

1 small brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1 small fresh red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

1/4 cup of crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup of water

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce (you can use Tamari instead if you wish)

1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar (I often use pure maple syrup or agave instead of sugar)

2 large zucchini with the peel left on, sliced very thinly lengthways

1 lime

a handful of rocket lettuce

 

YOU DO (for the filling)

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and browning.

Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a minute or so. Remove from the heat.

Add the peanut butter and stir until well until combined. Place the saucepan back on the stove on a low heat. Add the water, lemon juice, soy sauce and sugar. Cook, stirring until the sauce thickens. Set aside.

 

YOU DO (for the base)

Make my “Pizza Dough” recipe and once you have made the dough and rested it and its ready to be rolled out, roll it into an oval shape.

Grab one end and twist it twice in the same direction. It should now look like a small rope. Repeat with the other end.

To get the sides wrinkled as shown, start at the left side of the base near one of the knots you have made and place a finger underneath the side of the base about a cm in. Raise your finger, lifting the dough a few cms from the bench and then push that raised piece slightly forward and to the right at the same time. Push it gently back into the top of the pizza. Repeat this process around the entire edge.

 

YOU DO (to assemble)

Evenly spread the satay sauce across the pide base and place it on an oven tray and into the oven at 200c until the dough is cooked and lightly coloured. Once it has started to brown remove it from the oven.

Roll each slice of zucchini into a tube shape. Place them on the top of the satay sauce on the pide and put the pide back in the oven at 200c again, until the zucchini is warm and the pizza is starting to get to a crunchy texture.

Serve, topped with fresh rocket leaves and a generous squeeze of fresh lime.

 

Servings: 2 -3

Time: I haven’t timed this one but you can make up Pizza Dough and freeze it which makes for a quicker dish.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Stickydate Pudding w/ a Golden Syrup Caramel

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 YOU NEED (for the pudding)

3 teaspoons of egg replacer

6 tablespoons of water

200 grams of pitted dates and chopped into small pieces

185 grams of sugar

½ cup of tasteless coconut oil (you can use Nuttelex but I prefer not to)

1.5 cups of water

1 teaspoon of bi carb soda

1.5 cups of self raising flour

 

YOU NEED (for the sauce)

4 tablespoons of golden syrup

½ cup of sugar

2 tablespoons of tasteless organic coconut oil

½ a cup of Bonsoy organic soy milk

3 teaspoons of cornflour

 

YOU DO

Pre heat your oven to 175c and line a cake tin with baking paper and set aside.

Whisk the 3 teaspoons of egg replacer into the 6 tablespoons of water and set aside.

Put the dates, sugar, coconut oil and water into a medium pot and slowly bring to the boil, then turn off the heat.

Add the bi carb and gently stir the mixture. It will bubble up at this point. Add the egg replacer mixture into the pot and also stir to combine. Finally add the flour and pour the mixture into the cake tin.

Place the tin in the oven until the pudding is cooked. To check if it’s cooked, pierce it with a bamboo skewer. If it comes out clean the pudding is ready.

While the pudding is cooking place the golden syrup, ½ cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil into a small pan and gently heat until all the ingredients start to melt. Then simmer very gently until all the sugar is dissolved and a caramel starts to form.

Once the sugar is dissolved, add the Bonsoy to the caramel and whisk to combine.

Place the cornflour into a small container and add just enough water to make a paste. Add the cornflour paste to the caramel and whisk until all ingredients are well combined and simmer for another minute or 2. Turn the heat off and set aside till your pudding is ready.

Once the pudding is cooked, carefully remove it from the oven. Let it cool for about 15 minutes, then gently remove it from the cake tin. Serve it warm with caramel sauce and coconut ice-cream

If you are not serving it straight way just remove it from the cake tin and let it stand on a cake rack to cool.

 

Serves:  6 slices

Time: 20 minutes to prepare and 35-45 minutes to cook. Cooking time will differ depending on the cake tin size you use and the strength of your oven

Notes: I cook mine in a small, round, deep cake tin that measures 8cms (inside the lip) in diameter and 9cms in height.

Egg replacer is available in health food stores and most supermarkets in the health food section

I prefer not to try my best to avoid anything that contains palm oil, when I can find an alternative. Which is why I use coconut oil.I use the Bio Medical Tasteless Organic Coconut Oil so the coconut flavour doesn’t over power the pudding. It can be purchased online and at some health food stores.

Sweet Red Onion & Lentil Dahl on a Mushroom Steak w Mash

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YOU NEED

2 portobello mushrooms

½ can butter beans, well rinsed and drained

1 small potato, peeled and cut into chunks

½ cup cauliflower florets

1 red onion, peeled, cored and sliced

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 cup of  dry lentils (I used puy lentils as they retain their shape but they also take ages to cook so brown would be fine to use instead)

2 x 1/2 cup red wine

4 button mushrooms, chopped, stalks and all

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ tablespoon soft brown sugar

3 cups vegetable stock

1 bunch of fresh oregano leaves, washed

oil for cooking

Salt and pepper for seasoning

 

YOU DO

Give the lentils a good rinse then soak them in cold water for a couple of hours.

Heat some oil in a large pot and gently cook the red onion until it has softened. Cut the stalks off the portobello mushrooms and roughly chop them up.. Add the stalks and the button mushrooms to the red onion and cook till softened. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the lentils, 1/2 cup of red wine and 2 cups of the vegetable stock to the pot.. Bring  everything to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently until the lentils are cooked. Keep checking and add more stock if you need to.

Put the other ½ cup of red wine, the soft brown sugar, the tomato paste and the other 1 cup of vegetable stock into a small pan. Bring to the boil and reduce until nice and thick.

Steam the potato and cauliflower till tender and mash.

Blend the butter beans and stir through the mash and season with salt and pepper.

Once the lentils are cooked, stir through the oregano leaves.

Once everything is ready, heat some more oil in a small pan and cook the portobello mushrooms for a few minutes on either side until cooked through.

Put the portobello mushrooms onto a plate each, top them with the mash, then top with the sweet onion and lentil dahl. Pour some of the red wine sauce over the top and serve.

 

Servings: 2

Time: Takes about 45-60 mins. A lot less if you use brown lentils.

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Note: If you use brown lentils instead of puy lentils, use less stock and only add more if needed because brown lentils will cook much faster and your lentils will be too watery.

Scented, Crunchy Black Rice Salad

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Scented, Crunchy Black Rice SaladBlack rice is also known as “Forbidden Rice” in China because it is said to be only for emperors. It is said to be a super food that we are fortunate to have access to. Zhimin Xu, PhD, of Louisiana State University Agricultural Centre is quoted to have said “Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fibre and vitamin E antioxidants…”

There are many varieties of black rise from China, Korea and I think Thailand too.

Someone asked me today what they should do with some black rice they purchased to make a salad. Having not done a black rice salad before I just made suggestions on flavours and ingredients I thought would compliment such a staple. Then I decided to see how it would turn out so I made one.

The result was an aromatic, garden scented, dish with the black rice the platform for a range of fragrant Asian favourites. The nuts, noodles and coriander roots give it a gorgeous crunch. If you want an extra kick, simply leave in the chilli seeds and/or add more chilli.

 

YOU NEED

For the salad:

½ cup of black rice (I had the glutinous one)

½ small brown onion, peeled and finely diced

10 mushrooms, sliced (I used button as that’s what I had, but some Asian mushrooms would be perfect in this)

3 tablespoons of well washed and finely sliced coriander roots

1 handful of washed and roughly chopped coriander leaves

1 handful of fresh basil leaves, washed and gently sliced (as they bruise)

1 handful fresh spinach, well washed to avoid grit

 

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon of soy sauce (or tamari for a gluten free option)

dash of sesame oil

½ tablespoon of fresh lime juice

¼  teaspoon of minced ginger

1 teaspoon of agave (if you don’t have agave use sugar but add ½ teaspoon and taste again  before adding more)

oil for cooking

1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced

 

For the garnish

1 small red chilli, cut in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds and finely slice.

2 handfuls of roasted peanuts (Mine were raw so I dry roasted them in a hot pan for a minute or 2)

#optional~ a handful of “Chang’s” fried noodles

 

YOU DO

Rinse the rice under cold water. Put it in a pot of water, bring it to the boil and simmer until the rice is tender. Mine took about 30 – 40 minutes. I just pottered around and made the dressings etc while the rice cooked. I rinsed mine when it was cooked too in case there were any starches because I used the gelatinous one. Drain and set aside.

Heat a good splodge of oil in a small pan and cook the onion until it caramelizes. Add the mushrooms and cook till they are softened and coloured. Pull the mushroom and onions out of the pan with some tongs and place them on some draining paper. Set aside

Make the dressing. Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk.

Add the cooked rice and all the salad ingredient to the dressing and mix everything together.

Give the rice a good stir when you go to serve it. Sprinkle with the finely sliced chilli. Finally top it with the noodles and nuts, just as you are about to serve, so that they remain super crunchy.

Serve warm or cold.

 

Servings: 2 lunch size serves or serve as a side with other dishes.

Time: 15 minutes preparation. 30-40 minutes of cooking time.

Notes: Don’t be put off by a longer list of ingredients. It’s often the recipes with a lot of ingredients that are the easiest and require the least amount of skill. The result is worth it too!