I cheated again. But it was worth it. The bean stock base makes this both really healthy and really satisfying, and (without going all Masterchef) it has some lovely complex flavours. Beans are so high protein, and complete protein when they are combined with a grain, that even regular meat eaters feel like they’ve had a real dinner. And they’re low GI, high fibre, full of vitamins and minerals.
The thing I am finding about the Tuesday Night Vego Challenge is that the range of healthy, from scratch, vegetarian dinners you can make in half an hour is much bigger if you put a bit of pre-thinking into it. Proving dough, soaking beans, salting eggplant all take only minutes to do, but you have to do them ahead of time.
This dinner came together in half an hour, including the naan bread to go with it. But I put the beans in water to soak, the eggplant salted, and the naan bread dough proving before I left for work in the morning. All very fast easy morning jobs, and they meant that when I got home I could just put it all together.
The Recipe:
Makes three adult serves. Leftovers are even better the next day.
In the morning:
- Soak ½ cup white beans.
- Chop a large eggplant (or the equivalent in small eggplants) into 2 cm dice, put in a colander, and sprinkle with a heaped spoonful of salt.
In the evening:
Drain the beans, add 2 cups of fresh water and a good pinch of salt, and pressure cook for 8 minutes or simmer for 25 minutes until they are very soft. Then blend the beans in the cooking water to get a smooth liquid bean stock.
While the beans are cooking:
Prepare Dry Spice Mix:
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon dill seeds
Prepare Wet Spice Mix
Use a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder to blend to a paste:
- Thumb sized piece of fresh turmeric (or substitute a teaspoon of dried turmeric)
- Thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
- 2 medium hot chilis (more or less to taste)
- 2-3 cloves garlic
Chop the Vegetables:
- 1 onion, finely sliced into half moons
- 1 capsicum diced
- 1 large eggplant chopped into 2 cm dice, salted and rinsed.
In a large heavy pot:
- Fry the dry spice mix until the seeds are popping.
- Add the wet spice mix and the rinsed eggplant, capsicum and onion.
- Cook on high stirring for a few minutes to seal and coat the vegetables in spices, then add the bean stock along with a good dessertspoon of tomato paste and two kaffir lime leaves (or substitute juice of half a lime and a little grated zest).
- Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is cooked.
- Serve in bowls, over rice or with naan bread. Fresh coriander makes a nice garnish.
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by Linda on April 27, 2012
Sadly this isn’t one of my better examples of photography! I’ve been waiting all year to post this recipe. Chili con Kanga is good on its own, but this time of year there is a little window of time when avocados, limes and coriander are all in season together, and the salsa with it makes it sensational.
I always make a great big pot of this when I make it, and we have it for dinners and lunches several times. It will serve six or eight people for dinner easily, or you can freeze it or keep it in the fridge for several meals. Or, you can halve the recipe.
Less red meat and more vegetables is a good idea, for health, environment, and hip pocket reasons. And less factory farmed meat and more wild harvested, free range, organic meat is a good idea for the same reasons. This combines both.
The Recipe:
Cook 400 grams dry beans till they are soft. I soak them first and use a pressure cooker so they cook quickly. The post about Bean Basics has my basic bean cooking method. I don’t think it matters what kind. They all add a different character to the dish, but they all seem to be good in their own way.
Brown 1 kg kangaroo mince in a little olive oil in a heavy pan.
In a big pot, saute together:
- 4 onions (chopped)
- 6 garlic (chopped)
- 6 chilis (more or less, depending on how hot the chilis are and how hot you like it)
- 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons smoky paprika
- 1 capsicum (chopped)
- 6 carrots (chopped)
Add the browned kangaroo mince and the beans, along with:
- 1 heaped tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or a good teaspoon of dried)
- 5 fresh bay leaves
- 1 kilogram chopped tomatoes (or a big jar of passata)
- 2 big tablespoons tomato paste (leave out if you use passata)
- 1 dessertspoon treacle (or brown sugar)
- 2 cups of water
- a good grinding of black pepper, and salt to taste
Simmer for half an hour or so until it reaches the right consistency.
Avocado, Lime and Coriander Salsa
Mash together:
- An avocado
- Juice of a lime
- a big handful of coriander leaves, chopped fine
- salt to taste
Serve the chili in bowls topped with a good dollop of avocado salsa, and, if you like, some warm tortillas to mop up with.
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by Linda on March 13, 2012
It’s not as photogenic as it was delicious. Green beans in a creamy, nut based mild curry sauce. I quite like creamy curries but most are based on coconut cream or real cream. Both are a bit too high in saturated fats (and kilojoules) for everyday, mid-week eating. Fresh coconuts are also well out of my “locavore” range, and canned coconut cream is oily and BPA is oil soluble. All reasons why curries with coconut cream are eating out special occasion foods in my world.
Luckily for me, you can make korma style curries using nuts and yoghurt to make them creamy. Traditionally it is cashew nuts, but macadamias are just coming into season here and my first pick is dry and ready to use. Further south, almonds are also now in season. As well as loads of nutrients, nuts have monounsaturated, good fats, and there’s good evidence that macas work as well as the “clinically proven to lower cholesterol” margarines.
The Recipe:
- In a large pot, dry roast:
- ½ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- Shake the pot to toast them evenly, and as soon as the seeds start popping, add
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 big teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
- 1 big teaspoon of crated fresh turmeric (or half a teaspoon turmeric powder)
- 1 to 3 fresh chilis, (depending on how hot your chilis are and how hot you like your curry) roughly chopped
- Cook for a couple of minutes, then tip the lot into a blender or food processor. Wash out the pot with ½ cup water and add that to the blender. Blend on high for a few minutes, till it is really smooth and creamy.
- Meanwhile, add a little olive oil to the pot and saute one diced onion until translucent.
- Top and tail and chop 300 grams of green beans, (my Blue Lake french beans work really well in this), add to the onions, and pour in the sauce from the blender. Use another ½ cup of water to rinse out the blender and add it.
- Simmer gently for around 20 minutes until the beans are tender. Taste and add salt to taste.
- Take off the heat and stir in ½ cup of low fat Greek yoghurt and ½ cup chopped coriander.
- Serve over rice with a little coriander to garnish.
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