Monthly Archives: October 2015

Leftover Baked Beans

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On the day I came home from my first experience of a magazine food photoshoot, (amazing by the way) I can only apologize for the shocking presentation and photography of this dish. My only excuse is that after getting up at half five, I was simply trying to get dinner on the table. Having said that, the reason I included this dish on the blog is that you will inevitably crave this when the whether gets cold and it’s pretty damn tasty. I am always trying to encourage my family to eat leftovers but sometimes it helps if you literally hide it in a dish. So with the bacon and baked beans leftover from brunch, save of breakfast for dinner, I had to dig deep. The weather is getting colder, the leaves are turning brown and this blog post is dangerously close to sounding like a cheesy hymn primary children sing at their morning harvest assembly… Cheese now there’s an idea. How about a warming stew, lentils, bacon and beans with pumpkin wedges and spinach (well they were in the fridge) and to stop my father from complaining about all this beany crap, I hide it with a nice layer of cheese….

Smokey Bean stew (serves 2)

  1. Heat 1tbsp oil in saucepan and add 3 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped. Cook for 3-4mins. Add 1tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika, 1tbsp red wine vinegar, 1tbsp soy sauce and 1tsp ginger.Add 5tbsp lentils and 1tbsp oil. Pour over 450ml stock, using 1/2 stock cube. Leave to simmer for 10mins, stirring occasionally.

  2. Add 2tsp honey and 1tsp smoked chipotle tabasco. Pour in leftover baked beans. Cook for 2-3mins. Serve in bowls sprinkled with grated cheese with roasted pumpkin or sweet potato wedges and spinach.

  

Green Chicken Curry with Cauliflower Rice

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I have, for a very long time, been intrigued by trying one of the new vegetables-replacing-carbs health fads going around at the moment. Given that courgette pasta would involve spending money on a spiraliser…I thought cauliflower rice would be a better starting point. Normally if I served my father any spicy food or indeed a carb-free, vegetable-rich meal I would get “oh what’s this” and a healthy pile of food left on the side after it had been pushed around the plate a bit; but this time it got the thumbs up. Whether this is just because slowly I’ve started to indoctrine my family in food that has flavour and is different or whether he actually liked it is for you to decide once you’ve tried the recipe. (See what I did there…)

 (Serves 2)

  1. Pulse 350g Cauliflower florets in a food processor to fine pieces. 

  2. Meanwhile put 1tsp sesame oil, 1tbsp olive oil, 1 onion (chopped) 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 1tbsp curry powder, 1tsp coriander paste, 1tsp mild chilli powder, 1tsp ginger and 2tsp sea salt in a saucepan. Sweat the onions over a medium heat for 5mins. Add 2 chopped chicken breasts and cook for 3-4mins. Add 1 small can coconut cream, fill the can twice with water and add to the pan. Add 1tsp lemon and black pepper. Simmer over a low heat for 5-10mins. 

  3. Meanwhile add 200ml water to a pan with the chopped cauliflower and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil and cook for 4-5mins. Drain well. 

  4. Add a handful of chopped green beans to the curry and cook for 2-3mins. Serve the curry served over the rice and sprinkled with flaked almonds.