Vegetarian

Courgetti with Quick Chickpea Tomato Sauce

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free | Paleo-Friendly) Cold or hot, this quick little dish is a sure win in your home. Why? All you have to do is throw everything in a blender/food processor and spiralize your courgette (zucchini) –dinner served! You can eat it cold or hot by heating the sauce and folding it through the courgetti. There will be leftover sauce for lunches, but I recommend that you bring the sauce and courgetti noodles in separate containers, drain off the water from noodles and then mix so lunch doesn’t get too watery. Enjoy! x

courgetti-with-chickpea-tomato-sauce-1

Ingredients

  • 2 large courgettes (zucchini)

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1 x 400g (15oz) tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 x 400g (15oz) tin of chickpeas or beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 tablespoons tomato puree or 5 sundried tomatoes in oil, drained
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus extra for drizzling
  • 6 anchovies or 8 large pitted olives in oil, drained
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Optional Extras

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, basil or thyme
  • A sprinkle of cayenne pepper or chilli flakes
  • 1 handful of finely grated parmesan

Directions

  1. Place all sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, or to the desired consistency, along with oregano, basil or thyme and cayenne pepper or chilli flakes (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Spiralize the courgettes (zucchini), snipping long strands into shorter lengths for easier eating, or use a julienne or standard vegetable peeler to peel the courgettes (zucchini) into strips before cutting in half lengthways.
  3. Toss the ‘courgetti’ in half the sauce, adding more if needed, and arrange on a platter, or plate up one portion of courgetti per person and top with 4 tablespoons of sauce. Serve with a grind of black pepper or a sprinkle of parmesan, if you wish, and drizzle with plenty of EVOO

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘Good + Simple’

Swede Fries

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free| Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) I’ve been getting a lot of swede (or, rutabaga) in my veg box lately. Although I love all vegetables and try not to play favourites (except when it comes to kale!), I really wasn’t sure what to do with all this swede/rutabaga. Luckily, I found this awesome recipe to spruce up my swede! Now I can eat comforting FRIES that are high in vitamin C to boost my immune system for the winter months. How good of a deal is that?!

Ingredients

  • 1 small swede (rutabaga), skin removed
  • ¼ – ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ – ½ tsp cayenne powder (add more if you like things spicy)
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions

  1. Slice the swede (rutabaga) in half, and then cut into “fries.” (You can place your “fries” into cold water and allow them to sit in the fridge overnight. This is what is recommended for crispy fries. You can skip if you like –I did).
  2. Preheat oven to 230C (450F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Drain rutabaga fries if you chilled them overnight. Pat dry. Add 1 tbsp. olive oil and toss until evenly coated (add more if necessary.) Add the spices and toss again. Transfer to baking sheet and spread out so no fries overlap.
  4. Place into oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flip. Continue baking for another 10-15 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached.
  5. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

swede-fries

Source | The Cookie Writer

Tip: I needed to do something with my swede (rutabaga) before I was out of town for the weekend so I cut it up into fries, seasoned those and then froze them. Once I was back, I just baked the fries from frozen; it worked great! From articles I’ve seen, it’s better to blanch the fries before you freeze them, but I didn’t know this before I froze my fries so I just went with it; it all worked out.

Slow-Cooked Veggie Curry

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Meat Free| Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) I’ve been getting a lot of swede (or, rutabaga) in my veg box lately. Although I love all vegetables and try not to play favourites (except when it comes to kale!), I really wasn’t sure what to do with all this swede/rutabaga. Luckily, I found this awesome recipe to spruce up my swede! Now I can eat comforting FRIES that are high in vitamin C to boost my immune system for the winter months. How good of a deal is that?!This recipe is adapted from Hemsley Hemsley’s Slow-Cooked ‘No Fry’ Chicken Curry. Because I didn’t have chicken, I just made it vegetarian by substituting meat with carrots and potatoes. Either way, this curry is a fantastically easy and quick meal to throw into the slow cooker (or on the stovetop/oven if you forgot to think about dinner until after you got home from work like me). I’ve also included the Spiced Coconut Cabbage recipe that I served the curry with. Don’t worry –both recipes take no time at all and are super easy to make. Winning! #curryinahurry (Yep, that hashtag just happened).

Ingredients

  • 4 carrots, chopped + 2 large potatoes, chopped (if you want to make the ‘no fry’ chicken version of this recipe use 1.2kg (2.6 lb) chicken thighs (8 small thighs, skin on and bone in)
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 6 garlic cloves, diced
  • 6 cm (2.5 in) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
  • 2 Tbsp tomato puree
  • 2½ Tbsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp chilli powder (to taste)
  • 1 tsp tamari (optional- I skipped)
  • 1 x 400g (15 oz) can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 x 400 ml (14 oz) can of full-fat coconut milk
  • 2 handfuls of fresh coriander (cilantro), stems finely chopped, leaves reserved to serve
  • Sea salt and black pepper (to taste)
  • Juice of 1-2 lemons or limes, to serve

Directions

  1. Put everything except the coriander (cilantro) leaves and lemon juice in a slow cooker (the liquid should just cover everything), season, stir, cover with the lid and set to low to cook for 6 hours or high to cook for 3 hours.
  2. If cooking on the stovetop, place all the ingredients except the coriander (cilantro) leaves and lemon juice, in a heavy-based pan with a tight-fitting lid (so that the liquid doesn’t evaporate) and cook on the lowest heat for 1- 1½ hours, stirring halfway through. If cooking in the oven, preheat the oven to 180C (350F), then place the ingredients in an ovenproof dish with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 2 hours.
  3. If you prefer a thicker sauce, remove the lid from the slow cooker –or pan on the stovetop or dish in the oven- and cook uncovered for the last 20-30 minutes so the liquid reduces down.
  4. At the end of the cooking, squeeze in the lemon juice and taste for seasoning -add more salt or an extra dash of tamari (if you have –for greater depth of flavour). Scatter over the coriander (cilantro) leaves to serve.

slow-cooked-veg-curry

Spiced Coconut Cabbage

 Ingredients for Cabbage

  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 garlic clove, diced
  • 4cm (1.5in) piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 large green or white cabbage, shredded
  • 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut
  • Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon or lime
  • Sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

Ingredients for Spices

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds or ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds (I didn’t have this so I just skipped)

Directions

  1. Toast the spices in a deep, wide frying pan on a medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the coconut oil with the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute.
  2. Tip in the cabbage and desiccated coconut and cook for 10 minutes, covered, until softened and fragrant (or cook for 3 minute if you want it crunchy- with the lid off).
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir through the lemon or lime zest and juice.

slow-cooked-veggie-curry-close

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘Good + Simple’