Saturday, October 27, 2012

Moroccan Chicken with Lentils

At the moment we are trying to cut down on carbs, one of the yummiest and healthier ways to do that is to eat lots of lentils! So, I found a recipe and adapted it a bit.


Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
8 - 10 little skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or leave this out and keep it vegetarian)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
1 tbsp paprika
3 whole thai chillis 
1 large onion , finely sliced
1 cup dry split red lentils
400g can chopped tomato
1 tbsp tomato sauce / paste / puree
Some chicken stock
1 cinnamon stick (about 4 cm long)
100g whole dried apricots

Method:
Fry the onion, garlic and chicken in the oil and add the ground spices. After about 10 minutes of frying, the chicken should be cooked. Add the tomatoes and let it cook for another 15 minutes to combine the flavours.

In another pot, cook the lentils in some chicken stock (they need to be covered). Add the apricots and the chilies there too. Cooking lentils takes about 30 minutes. Once it was cooked, I let the stock reduce and thicken for a while. 

Mix it all together in a casserole dish and put it in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about a half an hour (this isn't a necessary step,but maybe it helps the flavours mix better).

Because if the large amount of lentils, you can eat it just like that, or you can have it with rice or bread.


A Note on Lentils:

Lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight of any legume or nut. So, lentils are a source of inexpensive protein and also of iron for vegetarians. They are also healthy because of the of the folate, vitamin B1, other minerals and fiber (consisting of 11% - 31% fiber depending on the colour - red is the least fibrous). 


They are mentioned many times in the Hebrew Bible, the first time being the time when Jacob purchases the birthright from Esau with stewed lentils (they are tasty indeed).

In Jewish mourning tradition lentils and eggs are considered as food for mourners because their round shape symbolising the life cycle from birth to death.

In Italy, eating lentils on New Year's Eve traditionally symbolizes the hope for a prosperous new year, most likely because of their round, coin-like form.


Original recipe:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1860/moroccanstyle-chicken-with-lentils

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Simple Vanilla Cupakes

I'm going to try these today!

http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-vanilla-cupcakes-178370

Buttercream: 
1 Cup butter, 
3 cups icing sugar, 
1 tsp vanilla extract /  2 tsp essence 
Some milk / cream to make it nice and smooth

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Roast Pumpkin & Aubergine Salad

Having limited ingredients in the house sometimes kind of encourages me to be more creative with food and putting things together that I would never have thought of otherwise. This is one of those surprising combinations.



Ingredients
1/2 half small pumpkin, peeled & chopped in chunks
2 big aubergines, chopped in chunks
handful of pumpkin seeds
2 little wheels of feta
olive oil
salt
herbes de provence
pepper

Method:
Lay out your pumpkin & aubergine in a baking dish - it's alright if it's not a single layer. Add some salt, a little pepper, a generous amount of herbes and some olive oil. Toss around & roast at 190 degreees celsius for 1.5 hours until soft.

When the veggies are looking a little wrinkly, you can take them out and toss them with the feta (crumbed) and the seeds. Add more olive oil if you like.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Green Creamy Soup

Hmm, this is really good: creamy, herby and very green.



Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, sliced
2 heads of broccoli, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp beef stock powder
2 tsp paprika
1 cup Greek / Bulgairan double cream yoghurt
3 twigs of thyme
3 twigs of rosemary

Method:
Fry the onion and paprika in a little olive oil. Once translucent, add the veg, stock, garlic and almost cover with boiling water. Boil until the water has reduced by about 2 thirds and then mash it a bit. Everything should be soft and mushy. Transport to the blender and blend. I had to do 3 batches of blending. Blend the last batch with your herbs- de-twigged and the yoghurt.

Mix it all up and enjoy, maybe with some crunchy croutons.


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Sweet Potato Shepard's Pie

Serves 2 very hungry people

I made this the other day and it was so very tasty and so it's highly recommended. It's filling and tasty, and mostly healthy. The original recipe is from Good Food, and as I usually amend the recipes a bit depending on the state of my ingredients, or purse. So, here's my own version:

Ingredients:
250g beef mince
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
3 carrot, in rondels
2 cloves of chopped garlic
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Marmite
1 cup dry lentils, cooked
3 medium-large sweet potatoes
Butter & milk for the sweet potato mash

Method:
Fry the onion & leek until translucent. Add the garlic, Marmite, Worcestershire & mince and fry until brown and almost crispy. Add the carrots and cook until soft. Add a little water if necessary. It should be a little bit saucy.

In the meantime boil the sweet potatoes. If you can cut them into 2cm slices they cook through quite fast. Drain & mash with butter & milk and a pinch of salt if you like.

And, then for the lentils: If you have a can or 2 you can use that, but if you are cooking dry lentils, it will take about 30 min. Put a cup of lentils into a pot with lots of boiling water. If you add a whole cup it will really make a lot of lentils but it will make your meal go further (my husband and I were particularly hungry this day and ate the entire pie in one night). Anyway  lentils are tasty and a healthy source of protein. But if you want less lentils to meat ratio, then use only half a cup.

Mix together the lentils and the vegetables and pour into a baking dish. Top with the mash & flatten. The butter in the mash is what should help it to brown and crisp a little bit under the grill. Grill for 10 min and enjoy hot!

Here is the original recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1718633/sweet-potato-shepherds-pie