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!