Bean & Corn Tacos

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Easy Bean Tacos 1 wm

Bean & Corn Tacos

This is an absolute favourite in our house. We have it with tacos or burritos and left overs are eaten with steamed rice.

 

YOU NEED

2 brown onions, peeled and finely sliced

2- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

3 capsicum (also known as bell peppers) I use 1 yellow, 1 green and 1 red, remove the core and chop into a dice

1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock

2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups of corn kernels

1 x can of creamed corn

2 x tins of kidney beans, rinsed well

2 tablespoons of Old Elpaso Fajita seasoning powder sachet. (This gives you a kind of smokey flavour)

chilli powder to taste

 

YOU DO

Heat a little oil or water in a wok or large pan and saute the onion until it softens. Add the garlic and capsicum and cook, stirring regularly for another minute or 2.

Add the stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Then add the corn kernals and creamed corn. Stir to combine all the ingredients, add the kidney beans and continue cooking on a light simmer.

Continue cooking until the mixture thickens and is no longer a watery consistency. This takes about 15 minutes,

Check the seasoning and add extra tomato paste and/or fajita seasoning. If you like spice, throw some chilli in.

Serve as is with brown rice.

or

Eat with tacos or soft tortillas and go the whole mile and serve with steamed or blackened corn, chopped tomatoes, avocado, carrot ribbons, garlic chives, fresh spinach, fresh coriander and dairy free sour cream.

 

Serves: Serves 4 – 6

Time: I have never timed this one but it’s so quick and easy to make and left overs are fine for freezing and great for serving on a busy night with just rice

Freezing: Great for freezing.

Mango Banana Soft Serve Ice-Cream

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Raw banana ice-cream is a great way to use up super ripe bananas that may normally have hit the compost or sadly the rubbish bin. When your bananas get so ripe that you don’t want to eat them, quickly peel them and pop them in a bag and into the freezer and make ice cream with them. It’s a quick, healthy, super easy snack, dessert or breakfast idea.

It is also a great way to get fussy children to eat fruit. My fussy 4 currently refuses to eat bananas and has never wanted to try mango but has finally decided he likes raw ice cream. I just kept making it and kept offering it and one day he decided to give it a try and now he is asking me for it!

 

YOU NEED

1 large, peeled, frozen banana

1/2 cup of fresh peeled mango

 

YOU DO

Cut the banana into chunks.

Blend the banana and the mango in a food processor until you get a smooth creamy texture.

Serve immediately and eat before it melts.

 

Yields: 1

Time: 5 minutes

Notes:  I use organic fruit so I mix whatever is in season with the banana.

Apricot Balls

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TWO ingredients and a few minutes.

I had a random hankering to make some apricot balls recently, despite my intense dislike for dried fruit!  I had never made them before, so I did some research. All the recipes I found had butter, condensed milk though so I figured I would just source plant based alternatives. I also wanted the Apricot Balls to have a lovely smooth texture.

In my 1st attempt I skipped the butter but bought some soy condensed milk and they were nice. Then I made some without any sweetener. The apricots are sweet enough so I figured why add sugar. Because I didn’t add a sweetener I needed less coconut, so these are quite soft. After some refrigeration that they will firm up though.

 

YOU NEED

1 X 225 gram pack of “soft and juicy Mediterranean” apricots. (I used Angus Park brand which I picked up in the supermarket)

½ cup desiccated coconut

An additional ¼ cup of desiccated coconut

 

YOU DO

Blend the first 2 ingredients until they are combined and smooth.

Place the additional ¼ cup of coconut into a shallow rectangle Tupperware container (or small tray).

Ball the mixture, (about a heaped teaspoon per ball) and place the balls into the container along with the coconut. Shake the container back and forward until all the balls are covered in coconut.

Cover and refrigerate.

DONE.

 

Serves: Makes 24 balls

Time: Takes circa 7 minutes

Note: There is no reason you can’t blend your mixture for less time so that you have chunks and if you can’t find “super juicy apricots” which are much sticker than normal apricots just add a little pure maple syrup when you blend the apricots. Or coat the balls in a little water so that the coconut sticks.

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.

Little Treats for Little People

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Little treats packed with, protein, calcium, minerals, fibre, vitamins & omegas 🙂 AND SUGAR FREE 🙂

Like many of my recipes this one came about today because I had a few things that needed using up. I also made it because my son is obsessed with chocolate but not so obsessed with the things I want him to eat like dates, tahini and nuts. I hide thin layers of nut spreads and tahini under his peanut butter on rice cakes but wanted to get a big hit of these other nutrients into him.

I just rolled them in cocoa when they were finished and told him they were chocolate 🙂

 

YOU NEED

3 tablespoons of hazelnut spread (the kind found in the health food section of supermarkets and health food stores)

1 teaspoon of tahini (you will find this in the same places as above)

1 tablespoon of almond chia spread (you will find this in the same places as above)

1 tablespoon of peanut butter (I use one that is sugar, salt and oil free. Just peanuts. Strange but true)

10 dates, roughly chopped

2 heaped teaspoons of desiccated coconut

 

YOU DO

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or with a hand blender.

Place some cocoa onto a plate, pop the balls on the plate and move the plate around in circles on the bench till the balls are covered.

I like the fact that these aren’t sweet and that you can taste an earthy nutty flavour, but if you want your balls a little sweeter or a little more moist just add a little brown rice syrup, pure maple syrup or agave.

 

Servings: 15 balls

Time: 5 minutes

Freezing: Haven’t tried freezing this one.

Semi dried Tomato & Garlic Chive Chickpea Pancakes

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 YOU NEED

150 grams of chickpea (also known as besan flour or garbanzo flour)

220ml of water

2/3 cup of zucchini, washed and grated (also known as courgette)

1.5 teaspoons of salt

1/3 cup of fresh chives, washed and finely sliced

¼ cup of semi dried tomatoes, drained of their oil and finely sliced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

 

YOU DO

Put the chickpea flour into a large bowl and add the water. Whisk until the mixture has a smooth batter consistency.

Squeeze the grated zucchini in a clean, dry tea towel to remove extra water content from it.

Add the zucchini and the rest of the ingredients to the batter and mix well to combine.

Gently heat a small non stick pan with enough oil to grease the pan (I used the oil from the semi dried tomato jar).

Put a well greased pancake ring (I used one because I wanted my pancakes to look pretty) in the pan and pour in just under ¼ cup of the mixture (I used a 1/4 cup, cup measurer). Each time you scoop up ¼ of a cup of the mixture make sure you stir the mixture first so that all the fillings are well distributed in the batter.

Watch your pancakes while they are cooking and when you see bubbles on the surface of the pancakes and also when you touch the sides and they have firmed slightly, gently pull the ring up and place it aside. Then turn the pancake over with an egg flipper. Do this GENTLY. Cook until till browned.

Repeat this process until you have used all the batter and serve

I served mine with a spicy eggplant pickle, semi dried tomatoes and rocket.

 

Yields: Makes 10 depending on the size of the cooking ring you use and if you use a ring.

Time: Approximately 20 minutes

Freezing: Not suitable for freezing

Notes: If your batter is too wet, simply add more flour and if it’s too dry add more water..

You REALLY want your oil to be fairly hot before you pour the batter onto, otherwise your pancakes will be soggy and oily. Not too hot though or they will burn.  A gentle to medium heat after the batter has hit the pan is perfect, because you want your pancakes to cook through. If your pan gets too hot at any stage just remove it from the heat. Remember like all pancake making sessions that the 1st couple are usually crap and they get better as you keep cooking.

If your pancakes stick a little to your cooking ring when you try to lift it, just get a small, sharp, thin bladed knife and gently run it around the edge of the ring to release the pancake.

These are also lovely with corn, but I do find ingredients with strong flavours like those I have listed or by adding things like olives, capers, spring onions etc work best with besan flour as they compete well with the strong earthy flavour of the flour.

Easy “Cheesy” Lemon & Pea Baked Risotto

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 Easy Cheesy Lemon Risotto-2wm

YOU NEED

½ cup water

1 medium brown onion, peeled and finely diced

1/2 cup of dry white wine

3 cups of vegetable stock

½  teaspoon of salt

pepper to taste

1 cup of Arborio rice

1 teaspoon of lemon rind

1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes, also known as savoury yeast.

extra ½ – 1 cup of stock

1/2 cup of garlic chives, washed and finely sliced

1 cup of frozen peas

2 handfuls of fresh spinach, washed

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 200c

Heat the ½ cup of water in an oven proof tray. Add the onions and sauté on a medium heat until the onions are soft.

Add the wine and simmer until it has almost evaporated.

Add the stock, salt, some pepper and the rice. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Then tightly (& carefully) cover the tray with foil and place it into the oven for 20 – 25 mins. #Mine was ready after 20.

Once the rice is cooked, remove it from the oven and stir through the nutritional yeast (ensuring it’s well combined). If the risotto is a little dry, place the tray on your stove top on a low  heat and add a little of the extra stock until you get a desired consistency.

Check the seasoning. Throw in the peas (I throw them in frozen), chives and spinach. Serve immediately.

Servings:  2 large serves

Time: 15 minutes preparation. 20-25 minutes cooking. For my 20, I was just drinking homemade lemon squash 🙂

Notes: Nutritional yeast is available in most health food stores. This is what gives you the “cheesy” flavour.