Chilli rice with chickpeas

I know I only just wrote a post about my favourite bolognese / mince but I made a dish with it that was so tasty it deserved it's own post! We had a pot-luck lunch at work last week where we all had to bring a dish, it being a foodie company it's higher pressure than if I just worked in a standard office (although I'm sure my colleagues would all argue it doesn't matter) - this meant something shop bought just wouldn't do!

Enough of my colleagues are keen on chilli for me to be fairly confident I can pick a spicy dish (my favourite) to cook for them. I wanted to do something that was filling and high protein without being too heavy. Rice is one of my favourite things ever - as I'm sure you've noticed from the number of risottos that end up in my Instagram feed (https://instagram.com/hannahalqadhi/) - so that seemed the perfect carb.

On the day it was just served warm and went very well with everyone else offerings - particularly the warm kale and broccoli salad, the greek salad, and of course, avocado!

Chilli rice with chickpeas

Large red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 romano peppers, halved then finely sliced
1 tin chickpeas, drained
1 tin tomatoes
Lots of dried chilli
1 heaped tsp hot smoked paprika
Oregano
Salt and pepper
3-4 heaped tbsp mince (previous blog)
Coconut oil
200g rice (dry weight)

Warm the coconut oil to fry off the onion and garlic.
Once softened add the peppers and fry for a couple of minutes before adding the chickpeas along with spices and seasoning.
Once the spices have fried for a couple of minutes add your tinned tomatoes and puree, rinse out the tomato tin with a bit of water and add to the pan.
Cook your rice according to packet instructions, while cooking allow the chickpea mix to cook down a bit - about half way through add your mince.
Just before the rice is done add to the pan of mince and chickpeas, stir through.
Taste for seasoning and serve in whatever way you see fit - it went really well with salad (especially avocado as in the picture above) or if you're feeling adventurous on the weekend have it for brunch with a fried egg (and the obligatory avocado and chilli because I'm obsessed)!

Slow cooked bolognese

I've called this a bolognese but it's basically a one-size-fits-all mince - it can easily be a bolognese sauce for pasta, add some chillies and kidney beans for a chilli, or even layer up with aubergine for a beefy version of moussaka. I cook this a lot in very large batches and make it up into any number of dishes. You'll see a very similar variation on the mince sauce for my take on 'lasagne' in an earlier post. As you'll see this time I decided to get the slow cooker out to make super slow cook version of my favourite mince - I've also included a couple of examples of how I've used it this time.

A note on slow cookers - my grandma passed one of her slow cookers on to me (she had about 10 but that's another story!) with some strict instructions on using it successfully:
1. You must heat the slow cooker before adding your ingredients to it.
2. You must fry / brown off your ingredients before adding them to a slow cooker.
3. Add much less liquid than you think you'll need.

I questioned her and she was a little evasive around the specifics but logically I would guess that you need to treat the slow cooker as if it's the moment you put your dish in the oven. You would never expect to be able to throw a load of raw ingredients into a casserole dish, cook at 60 degrees for 8 hours and it taste as good as if you've taken the time to brown your meat first. To be honest the results of taking the time to follow the above three steps speak for themselves.

Slow cooked bolognese

2 x 400g packs minced British beef (I normally use around 10% fat but use whatever you have)

1 x 400g pack minced free range pork

2 large onions, diced

4-5 large cloves garlic, crushed of finely chopped

3 red peppers, diced

1 pack chestnut mushrooms, quartered or halved depending on size

2 tins of tomatoes

Tomato puree - approximately a tbsp

Large glass of red wine

Lots of dried oregano, basil, salt and pepper (esp. the dried herbs)

Coconut oil or meat fat - I happened to have a bit of coconut oil with chicken fat from previous frying off some chicken thighs but obviously use whatever you have - also if the idea of using meat fat freaks you out then steer well clear! :)

Turn the slow cooker on to low so it gets warm, at the same time heat the oil/fat in a pan on the stove.

Fry off the onion and garlic in the oil, when slightly softened add the meat and brown.

Once brown, add the meat to the slow cooker (you might need to do this in batches depending on how much space there is in the pan).

Once you've browned all the meat chuck the rest of the veg into the pan and cook off - it doesn't need to be soft in any way just start the frying process.

Use the wine to get any meat residue off the bottom of your pan, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon while you're stirring the veg in the red wine.

Add the tomatoes, puree, herbs, salt and pepper.

Bring to boiling point then add all the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker - you might want to use a bit of water to rinse out the pan into the slow cooker but don't go overboard as slow cookers retain most of their moisture.

Put the lid on and keep the slow cooker on low while you are out for the day (so you get a delicious meal for when you come home from work!) - alternatively you can leave it to cook overnight.

Serve the mince in whatever way you see fit - below I've included a healthier option paired with cauliflower rice (left) or cheat meal style scattered along with jalapeños and olives on a pizza (right).

Baked Spanish omelette

After the overall success of my recent baked omelette / crustless quiche I've been experimenting with other fillings. I really like deep omelettes but they are so tricky to turn over without breaking them. I think I've found the perfect solution - invest in a silicon cake case. I have a bright orange one (pictured below), all you do is spray with a little oil and the omelette comes out perfectly. The recipe below is great with a big green salad for dinner or on it's own as a portable breakfast!

Baked Spanish omelette

Ingredients:

8 large, free-range eggs

2-3 potatoes, halved and finely sliced

Large white onion, halved and finely sliced

50g smoked, free range bacon lardons

Large handful curly kale

Salt and pepper

Coconut oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to about 160-180 fan.

Cook your potatoes - now controversially I cooked my potatoes in the microwave (about 5 minutes on high) in a bowl covered in cling film, I know some people disapprove of microwaves so please feel free to cook then in some boiling water but if you do this give them a decent amount of time to dry out before you add them to the frying pan.

While your potatoes are cooking fry your bacon lardons and onions in the coconut oil until the onions are soft and slightly browned, the bacon should have browned off at this point too.

By this point your potatoes should be cooked so can be added to the frying pan and lightly seasoned (don't forget you'll be seasoning the egg too so don't go overboard!).

Fry for a few minutes then set aside to cool slightly - I chucked them in my silicon mould to cool as it let some of the bacon and onion flavoured oil come off into the mould so I could use this to grease it.

Next add your curly kale to the pan, you can add some butter at this point if you like but I just used a splash of water to let it steam / fry a bit, once cooked add to the other cooked ingredients.

Beat your eggs in a large bowl and season, once your fillings are closer to room temperature add them to the eggs and stir though (it doesn't matter if they are still a bit hot as it just helps the egg cook a bit faster), pour the mix into your greased mould.

Make sure your mould is sat on a baking tray so it's steady then put in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until it is fully set.

Cut up and enjoy!

NB: You might want to cut up your bacon lardons so you get lots of small bacon bits all through the omelette rather than the odd massive chunk!

British veal meatballs with courgetti

Now before I get in trouble for cooking veal I would like to stress this is British / rose veal which can be bought in the supermarket and is a great alternative to beef. It isn't associated with the crates or live export that normally goes with veal and it's actually been given the ok by the RSPCA. If you've never had it I would really recommend trying it.

In this case I had my parents coming round for lunch (aka putting up pictures) so I needed to make sure I had a decent meal to keep dad happy. Mum's been trying to eat clean too so I wanted to choose a healthy option. The meatballs seemed to be filling enough to keep dad happy as he never once complained at the lack of spaghetti!

Meatballs and courgetti

British veal meatballs - bought mine from Waitrose but you could make your own or use beef instead
2 red onions, diced
3 large garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
Roasted and skinned peppers, diced (I normally use jarred)
Tinned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
Dried basil and oregano
Coconut oil
Fresh basil
3 courgettes, raw, spirulised or cut into ribbons with a speed peeler
Parmesan

Fry the onions and garlic in the coconut oil until soft, add the peppers, tomato, puree and dried herbs.
Rinse the tinned tomatoes out and add the water to the pan.
Let it cook down for a while then add the meatballs and cook for another half hour.
Just before serving stir the courgette through and some fresh basil.
Spoon out into bowls then top with parmesan.

Steak two ways

My housemate was away the other weekend so I stopped off at M&S to treat myself. I found a delicious pink grapefruit liquor which, when mixed with gin, makes a delightful cocktail (picture at the bottom)! I also went for steaks because they were two for £5 which seemed a bargain. I've done steak two ways below. The left hand picture is of steak marinated in a wet rub of Szechuan pepper and soy on top of Chinese greens in miso soup. The right is za'atar crusted steak with green salad and balsamic dressing.

Both steaks were marinated in their rubs for about 30 minutes and fried in a hot pan - I'd suggest oiling the steak not the pan and get the pan on the highest heat possible. You should only need to fry the steak for a couple of minutes on each side for a rare steak (obviously if you like it more well done then a few more minutes). I think the best test for a steak is the hand test if you're not sure I'd go on the soft side as they will need to rest for about 5 minutes. As you'll see from the pictures a dry rub will normally blacken more but don't worry, the steak inside will still be succulent and the crust will taste amazing.

This is the cocktail - so yummy!

Aubergine 'lasagne'

I love lasagne! It's one of my favourite cheat meals but it does always tend to make me feel a wee bit ill. Unfortunately, however much I love wheat (pasta and bread mainly) it doesn't seem to feel quite the same about me. To combat this problem I've replaced the pasta in my lasagne with grilled aubergine slices so I can eat it anytime I like. Not only is it much lower in calories and therefore technically healthier, I can eat vast quantities of it without looking slightly pregnant and it tastes absolutely delicious.

Aubergine 'lasagne'

Mince sauce:
Coconut oil
2 onions
Several large cloves of garlic
500g beef mince
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato puree
Red pepper
Dried oregano and basil
Salt and pepper

Cheese sauce:
2 tbsp cornflour
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
Milk
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Aubergine layers - grilled aubergine, salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to to 180 degrees.
Fry the onion and garlic in the coconut oil.
Once softened add the beef, fry until brown.
Then add chopped peppers, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Let this cook down for about half an hour, taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.
In the meantime warm the milk in a non-stick pan, once warm pour a small amount of milk into a jug with the cornflour and mustard powder, blend to a paste and return to the pan.
Stir this constantly until it begins to thicken, add the cheese and season to taste.
Layer up a large dish with mince, cheese sauce and aubergine, repeat until you fill the dish with the top layer as cheese sauce then top with more grated cheese.
Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Crustless quinoa and feta quiche

Right, apologies for the massive gap in posts. I moved jobs to a great new role with a food tech company. The only downside is that I've been super busy for the last month and a bit. There has still been lots of cooking but taking the time to write it up has been tricky! Going to try and power through the recipes for the last month to make up for the gap tonight. We'll see how far we get!

I've always struggled with breakfast, I don't like to eat very first thing in the morning but can't make it all the way through to lunch with no food. I may have come up with the perfect solution. I love omelettes but they don't tend to travel well. Instead I've gone with a cross between a frittata, omelette and (crustless) quiche. This was an experiment so I didn't write quantities this time but I will make a note for in the future.

Crustless quinoa and feta quiche

Quinoa - cooked and cooled
Kale
Cabbage
Beet tops
Garlic
Butter
Fresh basil
Dried oregano
Chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
Free range eggs - I used 13 but they were pullet eggs from the farmers market
Feta

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees.
Cook the kale, cabbage and beet tops in butter and garlic, allow to cool with the quinoa.
Add the herbs and spices including the salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs and mix through.
Pour the mixture into an oiled cake tin (I use a silicon mould because it's easier to get out - if you're using a standard one then line it to stop any leaks) then top with the feta.
Put in the oven for about 40 minutes until it's fully set.
Allow to cool and cut up into portions.