Butternut Squash,Cabbage and Green Lentil Curry

Say whaaaaaat? Curry that's healthy? AAAAND vegan? Yes! Yes, it is!

I am a super fan of curries. I am not, however, a super fan of the aftermath of curries. Yes, the bloats, the gurgles and the inability to move.

So I found a curry recipe online that included lentils and decided to put my own twist on it using the basic recipe I found. Of course I included my all time favourite veg - the Butternut Squash. Seriously, this guy ca do no wrong in my eyes! AND! You only need one pan! Plus a tray to roast the butternut squash and parsnips.

I thought i'd need to accompany this dish with rice, but I found the lentils helped fill out the meal and there really was no need for any side dish. Which is a step in the right healthy direction as a) no naan is involved and b) no stodgy rice.

You can obviously add and subtract veg depending on what your personal taste is and of course make it hotter and mix it up with different spices.


So here's my spin (Serves two - and some for lunch the next day)

For the roast veg;

1 Butternut Squash - peeled and cubed
2 Parsnips - peeled and cubed
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Madras Curry Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Pepper

For the Curry;

1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Onion - diced
3 Garlic Cloves - or less depending how much you love garlic!
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 cups Veg Stock/Broth
Half cup Green Lentils (or any other type you fancy!)
A few leaves of Cabbage - or a handful of Spinach

Preheat your oven to 220oC/Gas7/fan 200oC. Place the Butternut squash and Parsnips into a bowl and add the oil, spices and salt and pepper (about a pink of both) and toss until all is covered. Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes until soft and brown at the edges.

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion starts to look transparent.

Add the spices and give a good ol' stir until the place smells amazing! Add the lentils, cabbage and the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat then simmer for about 10/15 minutes or until the lentils have soaked up the stock and you're left with a thick curry.

Taste to see if you need to add anything - Salt? Pepper? More spice?

Serve into bowls and add a good old dollop of Creme Fraiche or Yoghurt. Prepare to eat it all as it's so goddamn YUM!

Okay, so that's me done with the recipes for today! Hope you find them as delicious as I did and as easy to make!

Vegan Butternut Squash and Quinoa Chili

Okay so I would have put up a finished article photo, except that I forgot and ate it all!

I've been dipping my toes in the vegan/gluten-free side of life and quite frankly I am loving it! I love trying out the vegan version of things where at the end of the meal, you don't feel like you need some Oompa Loompas to roll you out the room!

This was my most recent experiment and it turned out delicious! Really tasty and left us feeling full but not bloated or in need of a nap.

It was really simple to make and doesn't take forever, like most chilis I've made in the past!

Basic ingredients are; (you can add or take away - much like standard chili)

Half butternut squash - peeled and cubed
Half cup Quinoa
1 onion - diced
1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic - finely diced or minced
2 cups of veg stock/broth
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (mild or hot - or mixed!)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Add the oil to the pan and wait until it's hot. Add the garlic and onion and cook 'til soft and slightly brown.

Add in the spices, butternut squash, kidney beans, tomato puree, quinoa and stock.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes until thick and the squash is soft but still has a bit of crunch to it. You don't want it to melt into the sauce!

Serve with some salsa or some greek yoghurt.

DONE!

Simple Fish Pie Goujons

Healthy food seems to have taken over my life in the past two months. Not only does it taste good, it makes me feel good too! Some stuff can be a bit manky tasting, so I've been trying out a few recipes to see whats the yummiest way to get good stuff in me without feeling like i'm eating cardboard constantly.

These beauts are hands down the easiest and quickest dish I've ever made that's tastes DIVINE!

For two people, what you need to make them are;

1 Sweet Potato (or normal potato if you don't like them - however sweet potatoes are healthier!)
Cream Cheese
2 fillets of haddock, cod or any meaty white fish - cut in half vertically then halved horizontally (so they're like goujons! You should have eight pieces)
prawns (I've literally no idea how many i just fire them in - but maybe half a pack?)
Tsp of Paprika (mild or hot)
Salt and Pepper

Start by peeling and slicing the sweet potato into cubes. Boil for about 15/20 minutes until soft and crush-able.

Heat your oven to 220oC/fan 200oC/gas 7

While these are boiling, get a baking tray and line with grease proof paper. Sprinkle over salt and pepper.

Mix the prawns with some of the cream cheese and paprika until it's covered. I normally put a tablespoon in first and give it a good mix so as not to overwhelm the prawns with all this cheese going on!

Place the fillets onto the tray, top with the prawns (allowing maybe 3-4 per fish goujon - depending on the size of prawns!)

Next, drain and mash the sweet potato with some of the cream cheese. Spoon over the fish pies.

Now you can add Parmesan over the top to give it some crispiness, however we used these tremendous pitta bread crisps we found in Markies to ass extra flavour and crunch. it was amazing! I imagine you can add anything on top. You know, to some degree!

Put in the oven for 10 minutes, until piping hot.

ENJOY!

I'm Late! I'm Late! I'm Really Really Late!

Oh good God! I just realised I haven't posted on this is AGES! Apologies my dears!

I realise I haven't posted in near enough a year which is MENTAL! I've been super busy moving 140 miles from my hometown to the lovely city of Inverness. It's cold but its awesome!

While i've been unpacking and making the house all nice and homely and cosy, I've been cooking and baking up a storm!

The first lovely recipe I have for you is YORKIES! Or Yorkshire puddings....not the chocolate bar! I always loved having these for Sunday dinner and it was always Aunt Bessie's as my Mum was the cook. However seeing as I have upped my culinary skills I decided to take on the dreaded task of making them myself one Sunday while making dinner.

And the result? OH MY LAWDDDDD AMAZING! I couldn't believe how good they were compared to the frozen ones I had been living with for 26 years! They're actually not difficult to make either, providing you have the time (you need to let the batter sit for half an hour) it's a straight forward operation.

So let's do this shall we??

Nom, right??

Ok so the stuff you'll need (note: these will all probably be in your cupboards! See- they cost nothing to make!)

to make around 12:

3 eggs115 g plain flour1 pinch sea salt285 ml milk12 tablespoons vegetable oil

muffin tray
whisk/fork
measuring jug
mixing bowl

I don't actually use measurements (sometimes I'll use less eggs to make less batter) so what I do is crack the eggs into a measuring jug and take a note of where the eggs measure to (the wee markings on the jug), empty the eggs into a bowl. Pour the flour into the same measuring jug to the SAME level as the eggs came to. Again, empty this into the same bowl with the eggs. Then, add the milk, again to the same level (nothing more or less) and add to the rest of the stuff in the bowl. 

Give it a good whisk and season to taste (nb: it WILL need seasoned) then pour all the batter back into the jug so it's easier to pour into the muffin holes. Set aside for about half an hour.

Heat your oven to the highest setting and pour the oil into the muffin holes and place in oven until oven has heated up or for about 5/10 mins. By this point the oil should be ROASTING, so pour the batter into the muffin holes and place back in the oven for 15 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME. REPEAT. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME.

Otherwise the puds will sink and it'll all be a travesty! It's rather fun sitting and watching through the oven door at them rising. I cannot even explain how happy I was when I first made these and seen them rising, there may have been a squeal involved!

They'll look all lumpy and weird at first!

Serve straight away or you can always eat one while serving them. Noone will know ;)