Category: Dinner

Dinner

Moroccan Chickpea & Sweet Potato Stew

This stew is a great winter warmer. It is jammed packed full of anti-inflammatory ingredients to help keep colds at bay! You can make it on the hob or it works equally well in a slow cooker.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 2 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ÂĽ tsp cinnamon
  • 3 small sweet potatoes
  • ½ cauliflower
  • 1 tins chickpeas, rinsed
  • 1 tins tomatoes
  • 250ml vegetable stock
  • Large bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for about 2-3 minutes
  2. Add spices and toss to coat. Sauté until onions become soft
  3. Peel and chop the sweet potato into 2” cubes. Add to the pan and stir well to coat with the seasoning
  4. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and stock. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
  5. Chop cauliflower into large florets. Add cauliflower to the pot and stir well
  6. Cook for a further 10 mins until the cauliflower is fork-tender
  7. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice
  8. Serve into bowls and top with fresh, chopped coriander
  9. If desired, serve with cooked brown rice or quinoa
Dinner

Veggie Chilli

I’m not a big fan of meat replacement products as they are often highly processed, however sometimes it is good to use them if you are cooking a vegetarian dish for meat eaters. This recipe can be made without the meat replacement as it is packed full of goodness from the beans. Some meat replacements are not vegan so leave out if you are making this as a vegan dish. You can use any beans you like but kidney beans are particularly good as they absorb lots of flavour.

Kidney beans are a great source of cholesterol lowering fibre. The high fibre content also makes them a great option for diabetics as they help to prevent blood sugar spikes after eating a meal. Kidney beans are a great source of protein too.

If that’s not enough to persuade you to eat more kidney beans then how about the fact they contain high levels of vitamins and minerals including molybdenum, folate, copper, magnesium, iron and potassium.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

  • 1 tsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 chilli (to taste)
  • 200g mushrooms
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • ÂĽ tsp marmite
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tin kidney beans
  • 1 tin black eyed beans
  • 200g quorn mince (optional)

Method:

  1. Slice the onion, finely chop the garlic and chilli
  2. Heat the oil in a pan and then add the onion, garlic and chilli. Cook until the onion softens
  3. Slice the mushrooms, carrots and courgette and add to the pan and stir well
  4. Cut the pepper into chunks and add to the pan
  5. Add the cumin powder, marmite, tomato puree and tin tomatoes. Stir well and reduce the heat and simmer
  6. Drain the beans before adding to the pan along with the quorn mince. Stir well and simmer for about 15 minutes
Dinner

Chicken & Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

As the cold weather draws in, this curry is a great comfort food. Sweet potatoes are packed full of nutrients, they are an excellent sources of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, manganese, iron and Vitamin B6 to name but a few.

Vitamin C is fantastic for boosting the immune system, which is ideal as the colder weather sets in. Sweet potatoes also contain iron which helps to boost energy levels and as a slow release carbohydrate they help to maintain blood sugar levels and keep you feeling full for longer.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1 onion
  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • 1” piece fresh ginger
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tbsp turmeric
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tsp Thai red curry paste
  • 500g Chicken
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • 250g mushrooms
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 10 cardamom pods
  • 100g spinach

Method:

  1. Slice the onion, finely chop the garlic and grate the ginger
  2. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan, add the garlic and onions and fry until softened
  3. Add a splash of water and the ginger, cumin, turmeric, cardamom pods, tomato puree and Thai red curry paste to the pan and stir well
  4. Cut the chicken, sweet potato and mushrooms into bite sized pieces, then add to the pan. Stir well to coat with the sauce
  5. Add the tin of coconut milk and simmer until the chicken and sweet potato are cooked
  6. Chop the coriander and then add the spinach and coriander and cook until the spinach has wilted
  7. Serve with brown rice if desired
Dinner

Vegan Pesto

This recipe is a great way to make the most of seasonal ingredients. The addition of wild garlic leaves gives it a great colour and flavour; however it works just as well with a garlic clove. This dairy-free pesto works well with both pasta and salmon.

Ingredients:

  • 40g cashew nuts, pine nuts or almonds
  • A small handful of wild garlic leaves (or 1 clove garlic)
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach
  • 1 small handful of basil
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Olive oil

Method:

  1. Put the nuts and garlic into a hand blender and blend until they are roughly chopped.
  2. Add all the other ingredients except the olive oil and blend.
  3. Add a little bit of olive oil at a time so that there is just enough to make a paste consistency.
  4. Optional extra: add a couple of tbsp. of tomato puree to make a tomato pesto, great on pizzas!
Dinner

Chicken and tomato curry – dairy-free and gluten-free

This curry came about when I realised I didn’t have the spices I needed for my usual curry so I thought I’d experiment a bit. It’s a great one if you don’t have much time, you can throw it together and then leave it to cook whilst the rice cooks. The heat from the chilli makes it a lovely dish to warm you up as the colder evenings draw in. If you’d like to make a vegetarian version simply swap the chicken for chickpeas.

Tomatoes are a fantastic source of Vitamin C as well as lypocene. Lypocene is part of the cartenoid group of antioxidants. Lypocene can help to prevent and treat a number of conditions including cancer, diabetes, cataracts, osteoporosis and heart disease.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

  • ÂĽ tsp fennel seeds
  • Chicken and Tomato Curry
  • 3 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 green chilli (adjust depending how hot you like it)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1” piece ginger
  • 2 onions
  • 200g mushrooms
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 350g skin and boneless chicken
  • 1 tsp fenugreek leaves
  • Small handful of fresh coriander

Method:

  1. Chop the garlic and chilli finely, grate the ginger and dice the onion
  2. Place in a pan with a splash of water and cook the onions out
  3. Add the cumin seeds, cumin powder and curry powder. Stir the spices to coat the onion and add more water if needed so it doesn’t stick to the pan
  4. Cut the chicken into cubes and then add to the pan, stir frequently and add more water if the chicken starts to stick, cook until sealed on all sides
  5. Chop the mushrooms into chunks and add to the pan stirring to coat with the spices
  6. Chop the courgette and peppers into chunks and add to the pan
  7. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and the juice from the lemon
  8. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked
  9. Add the chopped fresh coriander and fenugreek seeds and stir well

Serve with brown rice