(Meat Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free | Paleo-Friendly) This little party of flavours came out in a desperate attempt to use all the veggies that were hanging out in my fridge and needed to be eaten before I went on holiday (AKA ‘vacation’). It is with this spirit of ‘chuck it in-what’s the worst that could happen?!’ that I encourage you to put your own twist on this recipe. Have some courgette (zucchini), carrots or basically any other veggie? Throw it on in there!

Stir Fry Ingredients

• Peanuts or cashews
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
• Fennel bulb, chopped
• 1 whole onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
• A large handful of snap peas, whole
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into large chunks

Stir Fry directions

1. Dry fry the peanuts/cashews in a large frying pan. This will only take a few minutes so don’t leave them unattended.
2. Put nuts aside. Add 1-2 tbsp coconut oil to hot frying pan. Throw in chopped fennel, onion and garlic. Sautee for 5-7 minutes -depending on how you like your onions cooked.
3. Add in red pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Thrown in mushrooms, snap peas and chopped tomatoes and cook to desired consistency (1-2 minutes to keep everything fresh or longer if you like the fully sautéed version).

Here’s how my stir-frying went:

Stir Fry Sauce Ingredients

• 125 ml (½ cup low) sodium soy sauce (or Tamari/gluten-free soy sauce if gluten free)
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp corn starch or arrow root powder (I only had gluten free flour in my house so I used that as a thickener instead- it worked out fine)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated (or 1 tbsp ginger paste or 1 tbsp ground ginger powder)
• 2 garlic cloves

Stir Fry Sauce Directions

1. Whisk all ingredients together.
2. Makes about 250 ml (1 cup). Will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 1 week.
3. If you want to just add sauce into the stir fry mix (instead of serving it as sort of dressing that you can add as desired), throw the sauce into the frying pan with veggies and cook for 3 minutes to allow the flour/corn starch to thicken the sauce.

 

Cauliflower Rice Ingredients

• 1 cauliflower
• 1 tsp ghee or coconut oil
• 2 tbsp bone broth or water
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cauliflower Rice Directions

1. Remove the cauliflower leaves and the tough end of the stalk. Use a food processor or the coarse teeth on a grater to grate the cauliflower into rice-sized pieces.
2. Add the ghee/coconut oil to a pan with the grated cauliflower and the bone broth/water and stir to mix.
3. Cook over medium heat, lid on, to let the grated cauliflower steam for 4-6 minutes until tender. After a few minutes, check to make sure that there is still enough water on the bottom of the pan to stop it catching. Once the cauliflower is tender, season to taste and serve.

 

Cabbage Wrap Ingredients

• One large head of green cabbage (washed and dried)

Cabbage Wrap Directions

1. Cut off large piece of cabbage and use as wrap.
2. Add cauliflower rice topped with the stir-fry mix and your toasted nuts.
3. Wrap it up and enjoy! Here’s how my cabbage-wrapping went:

Makes 4 servings

Tips: If you don’t like the idea of a wrap, just skip the cabbage part and make normal stir-fry on a bed of cauliflower rice –topped with the nuts. Please note, do expect these wraps to be pretty messy when you eat them! They’re probably not the kind of thing you want to make for someone on a first date! 😉

 

(Gluten Free, Meat Free, Dairy Free | Paleo-Friendly) Courgette & Aubergine Curry (AKA Zucchini & Eggplant Curry) This delightful curry is creamy, packed full of veggies and just generally good for the soul. I served with broccoli rice (recipe included here) and a pile of watercress, but feel free to eat this one-pot wonder on its own or with any side that you wish –maybe even add in some finely shredded cabbage towards the end of cooking time –there are no rules here!

Even though this tasty curry would be ideal to cosy up to on a winter night, I was inspired to whip this up when I received an aubergine (eggplant) in my Nature’s Window Veg Box. Basically, my veg box made me do it. Here’s the culprit:

Curry Ingredients

• A handful of peanuts or cashew nuts
• 2 tins of full-fat coconut milk plus 2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee, for frying
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh root ginger grated (unpeeled if organic)
• 6 large garlic cloves, diced
• 200g (1 cup) red split lentils, rinsed (no need to soak them)
• ½ – 1 litre (2 cups – 4 cups) bone broth or water (use a little less if you are using coconut milk and depending on how thick or sauce you want your curry to be)
• 1 aubergine (eggplant), chopped into 1.5cm (0.5 inches) pieces
• 4 large tomatoes, quartered
• 2 large courgettes (zucchini), diced (I only had one so I also added the mushrooms that came in my veg box)
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lime or lemon
• 2½ – 3 tsp tamari or 2 large pinches of sea salt
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• A handful of roughly chopped fresh herbs such as coriander (cilantro), mint or basil

Curry Directions

1. In a large wide pan, dry fry the peanuts or cashews for a few minutes to toast them, roughly chop and then set aside. (Make sure you use a big pan or pot that will be able to accommodate all of the curry -see below picture for my massive mistake in this department).
2. In the same pan, heat the coconut oil over a medium heat and fry the onion, ginger and garlic for 10 minutes until soft (don’t let the onion and garlic go brown).
3. Add the rinsed lentils, the coconut milk, most of the bone broth or water (I only used 500 ml/2 cups of water) and stir well. Keep an eye on the liquid levels and add as needed so that the lentils don’t’ stick and burn at the bottom.
4. After 6 minutes of cooking over medium-high heat, add the aubergine (eggplant) and stir.
5. After a further 10 minutes, add the tomato, courgette (zucchini), lime/lemon zest and the tamari/salt. Add more bone broth or water if you think your curry needs it. As you can see, I should’ve used a bigger pot. Don’t be a fool like me!

6. After 6 minutes, turn off the heat and add the lime/lemon juice, the maple syrup and fresh herbs, then stir and taste. You might need a little tamari/salt or lemon/lime juice. (I was feeling adventurous and added a bit of a hot red pepper in for fun).
7. Top with the nuts and serve with watercress or your chosen side dish. If you’re having guests over, serve your curry with little bowls of extras (nuts, herbs, lemon/lime wedges, sea salt, etc.) so everyone can help themselves to extra toppings.

Serves 4 as a one-pot meal or 6 if served with a side dish.

Broccoli Rice Ingredients

• 1 head of broccoli including stalk
• 2 spring (green) onions, finely sliced or 1 tbsp snipped fresh chives
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Broccoli Rice Directions

1. Use a food processor or the coarse teeth on a grater (which is what I did) to grate the whole broccoli including the stalk into rice-sized pieces.
2. Steam the broccoli in a pan with a few tablespoons of water, lid on, for 3-4 minutes until tender with a little bite, stirring halfway through.
3. Season to taste and stir through the spring (green) onions or chives, then serve.

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’

What’s that? You want one last picture of this gorgeous curry? Well, okay then! You’re welcome.