Creamy, juicy chickpea pasta

Hey Everyone, I hope your day has been well and you are enjoying this Bank Holiday Monday. So far the weather has been lovely and warm and it’s pretty quiet outside.

This is as a very delicious meal with lovely flavours from the spices and lots of nutritious vegetables. One of those recipes where you can use up leftover vegetables you have in the fridge or freezer. I used less pasta here so the sauce and vegetables were the star of the dish. Even though I have been cooking pasta for years, it often ends up being more than needed so I just put in a smaller portion.

Serves 1

Ingredients
1 tbsp oil
Sprinkle of cumin, coriander, ginger powder, turmeric, black pepper and chilli powder
Handful tinned chickpea
Half portion pasta
20g tinned coconut milk
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Handful of shredded Brussels sprouts
Handful of spinach
Handful of corn
Handful of peas

Method
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, add the cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, black pepper and chilli powder
2. Mix in the chickpeas and pasta until fully coated, then stir in the coconut milk, ketchup and water depending on how thin/thick you want the sauce to be. Lid on and leave on a gentle simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in all the vegetables (adding some water if needed) and leave on a low heat for 3-4 minutes.
Once everything is cooked serve and enjoy!

Thanks for reading, A

Salad and quinoa

Hey Everyone, I hope your day has been well.

Today is a nice and simple recipe. Not to heavy and perfect for after work when I want to be healthy but not too much effort! A lovely combination of salad and flavoured grains. I soak the lentils and quinoa for a couple hours before cooking, just to reduce the overall cooking time.

Ingredients list is estimated as nothing was measured

Ingredients
Handful of quinoa
Handful of red lentils
Pinch of stock cube
Sprinkle of chilli powder
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Sprinkle of turmeric
2 inch spring onion, finely sliced
1/2 tub watercress
1 inch cucumber, finely sliced
1 small carrot, grated
2 radish, grated

Method
1. Place the quinoa, lentils, stock, chilli powder, ketchup, turmeric and spring onion into a pot with enough water for cooking.
2. Put on a low to medium heat to gently cook.
3. In the meantime, prepare the salad and set aside.
4. Once the quinoa and lentils are done, drain off any excess liquid and mix well with a fork.
5. Place the salad and quinoa on a plate and enjoy.

Do you like quinoa, if so what’s your favourite way to cook it?

Thanks for reading, A.

Green lentil and vegetable stew

Hey Everyone, I hope your day has been well.

This stew was full of green vegetables and simple to make. The potatoes were really tasty as they’d soaked up all the flavours and it makes for a delicious midweek meal when your short for time but still want something filling and healthy. I served this stew with air fried dumplings but rice or flatbreads would go just as well.

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

1/4 onion, diced

Pinch of salt

Sprinkle of curry powder

1 tsp tomato puree

60g green lentils, soaked over night or for a few hours

2 small potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

500ml coconut milk (may need to add more liquid)

Handful of broccoli, cut into florets

Handful of garden peas

Handful of kale

Pinch of chilli powder

Method

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions once hot, cooking for a few minutes until soft.
• Next sprinkle over the salt, curry powder and tomato paste cooking for 2 minutes.
• Mix in the lentils, potato and milk then leave on a gentle simmer for 10-12 minutes until the lentils and potato are both cooked – keep checking the liquid as you may need to add more.
• Turn to a low heat adding in the broccoli, peas, kale and chilli powder cooking for a further 5 minutes.
• Once everything is fully cooked, serve and enjoy!

What is your favourite type of stew?

Thanks for reading, A

Roasted sweet potato and broccoli wraps

Hey Everyone, I hope your day has been well.

This wasn’t really something I cooked but a simple throw together dish that tasted amazing! And a nice lunch or dinner idea when you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen. The sweet potato and broccoli were seasoned then oven roasted, the broccoli got a bit over done but it gave the tops a nice crisp. Very easy to assemble and nutritious! The only thing I would do next time is add a drizzle of lemon juice for a zesty/citrus flavour.

I had some sweet potato leftover which I added to my salad the next day!

Serves 1

Ingredients
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
Large handful of broccoli, cut into florets
Spray oil

2 tbsp hummus
Sprinkle of sesame seeds, pinenuts and sunflower seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gark mark 5 and place an oven tray inside.
2. In the meantime, prepare the broccoli and sweet potato and place in a bowl. Spray with oil and sprinkle over the seasonings. Place onto the preheated oven tray and roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes until cooked through.
3. Once the vegetables are almost done, place the tortillas in the oven for a couple of minutes just ta warm up then take out and spread with hummus and sprinkle over the nuts and seeds. Enjoy!

What’s your favourite vegetarian filling for wraps?

Thanks for reading, A

Homemade carrot and lentil soup

Hey Everyone, I hope your day has been well.

Today I’m sharing another vegetarian dish I made recently. A deliciously warming, carrot and lentil soup. I’ve added extra vegetables like sweetcorn, peas, and kale just to give the soup more depth and overall it’s really nice.

It’s warmed up quite a bit now we are almost coming to the end of March but I’ll still make a soup every now and then. This soup has a nice crunchy layer on top from the nuts and seeds, the soup itself was not as thick as I would have liked so perhaps next time I will blend the mixture before adding the final vegetables. Overall, it was a nice dish, very filling and lots of flavour.

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter

1/4 onion, diced

1 tsp garlic puree

Sprinkle of paprika, turmeric and cumin

1 tsp tomato puree

300g carrots, grated

70g green lentils, soaked for a few hours

500ml vegetable stock

50ml coconut milk

Sprinkle of chilli powder (optional)

Handful of sweetcorn, peas and kale

Walnuts, pinenuts and sesame seeds

Methods

• Heat the butter in a pot and once hot, add the onion cooking until soft.
• Next add the garlic, tomato puree, paprika, turmeric and cumin.
• Stir in the carrot, lentils, stock, milk and chilli powder leaving on a gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes until the lentils are fully cooked (it also depends how soft you want them)
• Sprinkle in some chilli powder and a handful of sweetcorn, peas and kale leaving on a low heat for a few minutes.
• Finally serve in a bowl and sprinkle over with the nuts and seeds. Enjoy!

What’s your favourite type of vegetable soup?

Thanks for reading, A