Mushroom & Butter Bean Goulash

This is great dish to enjoy over rice and comes together in a short time, perfect for a week night meal.  Thanks to Karin for this great recipe.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 inch piece ginger grated
500g brown mushrooms chopped
2 X 410g tin chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp vegetable stock powder
1 Tbsp honey
410g tin butter beans rinsed
Coriander to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic and ginger.
2. Add the mushrooms and fry until tender.
3. Add the tomatoes and stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the butter beans and honey and serve with chopped coriander.

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Brown & Wild Rice Pilaf

I got great new vegetarian recipes from my sister-in-law Karin while she and my brother were here visiting.  Fabulous flavourful healthy and very moreish meals.  It’s wonderful to see Greg and Karin’s kids enjoy these wonderful meals too.

Ingredients

1 cup of brown wild rice cooked according the package instructions
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 large onion chopped
1 large red pepper chopped
500g  brown mushrooms chopped
2 stalks celery sliced
¼ cup soy sauce
410g tin lentils rinsed
½ cup chopped parsley
1 small punnet sprouts
Toasted flaked almonds

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the onions and peppers.
2. Add the mushrooms and celery and cook until the mushrooms and celery are tender.
3. Stir in the sprouts, soy, lentils and parsley.
4. Add the rice and flaked almonds.

Baked Sweet Potato with Philadelphia, Dates & Coriander

Quite frankly this is a meal all on it’s own and I have been known to enjoy it more than once for lunch and is another fabulous recipe I inherited from my sister-in-law Karin.  I am also hooked on serving these for guests and they accompany everything from a braai to a roast dinner, well I think so.  If I bake the sweet potato in the oven, I brush them with olive oil before baking but when I do them in the microwave I don’t bother.  There are no real quantities as you can stuff in as much or as little of the cheese, dates and coriander as you like.

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Philadelphia cream cheese cut into chunks
Dates cut into pieces
Coriander chopped

Method

1. Baked the sweet potatoes in the oven set at 180°C until soft alternatively cook them in the microwave.
2. Slice the sweet potato lengthwise and place all the other ingredients in the opening.

Spicy Roasted Chicpeas

With the festive season here and all the extra eating and celebrating we do, a healthy tasty snack is always welcome.  Even if you aren’t a chicpea fan, I urge you to try this easy recipe, the crispy light nutty result is well worth the time in the oven.  I would suggest doubling or even tripling this recipe and use any combination of spice you would prefer.

Ingredients

1 tsp cumin seed
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp paprika
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tin chicpeas – drained and rinsed
Salt to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Grind all the spices together and place in a bowl, add the oil and stir to combine.
3. Rinse the chicpeas and mix through the oil mixture to coat.  Add salt to taste.
4. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until crispy.

 

Karin’s Quinoa Salad

My lovely sister-in-law Karin introduced me to the super grain quinoa.  I know, I am far behind in trying new things.  I was also put off by how expensive it is.

Quinoa in a nutshell – it is high in protein, is a good source of dietary fibre and phosphorus and is high in magnesium, iron and calcium, so is good for vegans and those who are lactose intolerant and is also gluten-free and is easy to digest.

On it’s own quinoa tastes pretty much like nothing but has a wonderful texture and put with other lovely ingredients makes a fabulous salad.  Karin adapted a couscous recipe from her favourite recipe book, The Cake the Buddha Ate. I highly recommend you make this for a lovely hot summer’s day salad.

Ingredients

3 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup flaked almonds toasted
1 cup fresh coriander chopped chopped
1 cup tinned chickpeas – oops I forgot to put these in
1 cup red and yellow capsicum peppers chopped – I only had yellow
¼ cup dates chopped
¼ cup figs chopped
½ red onion chopped

Dressing

100ml olive oil
50ml apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
1 small garlic clover crushed
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad and mix through.

Curried Butter Beans

This is a lovely quick and easy recipe which compliments so many meals.  I have been known to eat it as a meal on it’s own too.  I got this scrumity recipe from a friend who always makes these delicious beans when we get together for a braai.  The flavour combination of garlic, ginger and curry is always a winner and these beans remind me of the fillings we used to enjoy in roti’s and dhalpouri’s when we lived in Mauritius.

Ingredients

Half an onion chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
¼ inch piece ginger finely chopped
1tsp mild curry powder
420g tin butter beans in tomato sauce
1 tsp chutney

Method

1. Fry the onion in a little oil in a small pot until tender.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and fry for two minutes.
3. Add the butter beans and chutney and heat until the butter beans are heated through.

Broccoli Cheese Quiche with a Rice Crust

I read about this lovely idea over at Ashley’s, The Driven Cook’s blog and set to making this healthy lunch idea with a slightly less healthy white rice and amended the recipe ever so slightly.  This is a super idea to use up left over rice which I always seem to have, on the few occasions that I do cook rice.  I bet that brown rice would add a nice nutty flavour.

Ingredients

Crust
2 cups rice cooked – the original recipe called for brown rice
¼ cup cheddar cheese grated
1 egg

Filling
4 eggs
½ cup milk – the original recipe called for 1 cup
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 tsp veggie spice – this was not part of the original recipe
Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
2. Mix the crust ingredients together and press into a prepared quiche dish.
3. Bake for 7 minutes and allow to cool slightly.
4. Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C.
5. Combine the filling ingredients and pour into the crust and baked for 25-30 minutes.  The original recipe calls for 35-40 minutes.

Bean and Tomato Casserole

I could honestly eat this every day.  Pete’s assistant first made this for me shortly after our arrival here in Mauritius and I get so excited every time she phones to say that she is sending home a portion with Pete.  It is so sweet that every time she makes this for her family, she keeps a portion aside for me.  Thank you Nan’s.  When we move back home, I will think of you every time I make this.

Broad (Butter) Bean and Tomato Casserole

Ingredients

500g packet broad/butter beans
5ml salt
5ml sugar
10ml oil
1 litre water
10 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 large onion roughly chopped
1 green chilli
6 garlic cloves
1inch piece ginger
2ml thyme
5ml parsley
5ml coriander

Method

1. Soak the beans over night then rinse and place in a saucepan with the salt, sugar, oil and water and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30 to 40 minutes until the beans are soft and half of the liquid has evaporated.
2. While the beans are cooking, place the tomatoes, ¾ of the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger in a blender and liquidise.
3. Place the remaining onion and thyme in a saucepan with a little oil and cook for 2 minutes and then add the tomato mixture and reduce down to a paste.
4. Add the beans including the cooking liquid to the tomato paste and simmer for 5 minutes over a low heat.
5. Add the parsley and coriander and stir through.

Submitted by:  Nanda Seebaluck, Mauritius

Cabbage, Onion and Mushroom Tarts

Tandy’s challenge for this week is to cook something savoury using cabbage.  I really wish Woolies was down the road so I could pick up some baby cabbages but alas, I will have to wait a little longer.  In the meanwhile, I bought half a cabbage at Super U and my idea for petit chou tarts turned out beautifully soft, full of flavour and the individual portions made for a lovely lunch.

Cabbage, Onion and Mushroom Tarts

Ingredients

1 large onion peeled and sliced
125g button mushrooms sliced
3 cups finely sliced cabbage

Egg Custard
2 eggs
250ml cream
125ml milk
½ 60g packet white onion soup powder
2.5ml salt
2.5ml pepper

250ml cheddar cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Fry the onion and mushrooms in a little butter until tender.
3. Add the cabbage and stir fry until tender and set aside.
4. Combine all of the egg custard ingredients in a shaker.
5. Divide the cabbage mixture into 12 prepared muffin tins.
6. Pour the egg custard over the mixture and top with the cheese.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.

Roast Vegetables

This is a repost for Tandy’s Regional and Seasonal Challenge this week using Bell Pepper (Capsicum).

What can I say about roast vegetables other than they are scrumptious!  They definitely fall into the comfort food category for me and the leftovers reheat perfectly for a delicious lunch, either on their own or with crusty bread.  You can also add or substitute any of the vegetables with sweet potato, aubergine, baby marrows or patty pans – the list is endless.

Ingredients

1 small butternut, peeled, de-seeded and cut into chunks
1 punnet brown mushrooms halved
1 red pepper (capsicum)seeded and cut into small chunks
1 large onion peeled and cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves peeled and halved
Vegetable seasoning to taste
Oil for drizzling

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Place all the vegetables on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the vegetable spice and drizzle with oil.
3. Bake for approximately 45 minutes stirring halfway through to re-coat the vegetables.

Vegetarians

 

I have family and friends who are vegetarians to some degree.  Some just don’t eat red meat and say they are vegetarians, some don’t eat any meat or chicken but do eat fish and say they are vegetarian, some only eat eggs and say they are vegetarian, others don’t consume any meat or dairy products at all.

Some do it for health reasons, others for religious reasons and some for ethical reasons, whichever way I don’t have a problem with any of it.

My understanding of a vegetarian is somebody who fits into one of two categories, both categories don’t consume any meat, chicken, or fish and are divided with the one category consuming eggs and dairy products and the other category not.

I have also noticed a trend of late with a few of the blogs I visit.  When a really meaty recipe is posted, quite often some of the people leaving comments state that they have been a “vegetarian” for many years but are slowly starting to incorporate meat back into their diets.  They don’t say why they are doing this, just that they are.  I wonder why there is this “trend”?

This image that I came across on the Braai 4 Heritage blog a while back, poses an interesting question…

So I wonder then, what constitutes a vegetarian?  

I think it all depends on the individual and what they are comfortable with.

Salad Dressing

This has to be the worlds most versatile and tasty dressing; it compliments most salads, boiled eggs and is delicious with cold meats and over chicken.  For a bit of a change, replace the mustard seeds with fresh coriander (cilantro) or dill.  It also keeps well in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long and is a great way to get “non” salad eaters to tuck into a healthy salad.

 

Ingredients

125ml mayonnaise
125ml white spirit vinegar
125ml sunflower oil
30ml sugar
100ml plain yoghurt
5ml dry mustard powder
10ml garlic crushed
5ml mustard seeds
2ml salt
2ml ground black pepper

Method

1. Blend all the ingredients together and pour in a bottle, seal and refrigerate.

 

Submitted by:  Mandy Frielinghaus, Mauritius

Bharats in Yoghurt Sauce

This recipe was adapted from the book, “The Higher Taste”.  It is based on the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.  Nothing like a bit of history before getting going with your recipe for today.

 

Ingredients

1½ cups green split peas (soaked overnight)
2 cups yogurt
½ cup sour cream
½ cup water
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin powder
Pinch of hing *
1 tsp garam masala
Pinch cayenne pepper
½ tsp turmeric
Ghee for deep frying
Parsley for garnish

Method

1. Drain the peas and grind in blender or processor, adding a few teaspoons of water if necessary. Add the spices and mix.
2. Heat the ghee in a wok until very hot. Mould the pea mixture into 3 inch patties. Gently place the patties in the ghee and cook until golden brown (10 minutes). Do not stir immediately. Let them first cook for 2 minutes, or until firm before stirring. Drain and put in a casserole dish.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. Combine the yogurt, sour cream and water and pour over the Bharats.
5. Cover and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
6. Garnish with parsley.

* Hing (a salty dried plum) is needed in a vegetarian diet as it assists the digestive system.  It has a very distinct flavour (sweet, sour and salty) and therefore is used in small quantities.  It can be found in Indian shops.

Submitted by:  Nic Prinsloo, Clarens