Vegetarian – Page 44 – The Food Wife

(Sort of) Patatas Bravas

29th June 201829th June 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 3-6 as a tapas

Here it is, my final dish from the tapas feast and when it comes to tapas, patatas bravas is a staple. This is a bastardised version but still really good. Itâ€™s less oily than normal and the spicy sauce is simple. Iâ€™m not going to lie, I couldnâ€™t stop eating it… like I say, it could serve six, but we (mainly me) polished it off between the three of us!

Ingredients:
500g new potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaped tsp paprika
2 roasted red peppers, finely diced
Parsley, finely chopped

Step 1: Cook the potatoes in cold salted water, bring to the boil and then simmer until a knife can easily pass through them.

Step 2: Drain the potatoes and slice in half.

Step 3: Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat and add the halved potatoes, allowing to sizzle and crisp for a couple of minutes.

Step 4: Add the crushed garlic, paprika and chopped peppers, and turn over the potatoes and continue to cook for a couple more minutes. Scatter the dish with some fresh parsley before serving.

Baby Weaning Ideas #4

23rd June 201825th June 2018
by thefoodwife

So this time round I thought Iâ€™d focus on some of the meals Austin has been wolfing down that have been siphoned off from meals the food husband and I have been eating.

As a general rule, I simply take three or four portions out for Austin before I add the salt. With the recipes below you’ll find a link to a previous blog post and a note of what I left out/altered to make it baby-friendly. I would say that Austin likes a bit of spice – I think he must have got used to it in the womb and from my breast milk!

Katsu curry sauce

So I left the soy sauce and sugar in the recipe (it is such a small amount considering the volume of sauce produced) and he had the full amount of curry powder, but it is such a sweet and fruity sauce from the apples and carrots that the heat is tempered. I just took out the portions for the food baby before I added any extra salt.

Austin has had this with couscous but it would be good with rice or pasta too, along with some extra veg (and chicken if you like!).

Pizza

When I made a batch of dough for the food husband and me, I took one of the portions (this amount of dough made eight medium pizzas) and quartered it. I simply wrapped each quarter in clingfilm and froze them ready to make an easy meal for Austin. I defrosted the dough in the fridge over night (but you could get it out a couple of hours before you need it and let it defrost at room temperature), rolled it out thinly on a floured surface and then topped it with a small amount of the tomato and carrot (pasta) sauce in my last baby weaning blog post, some fresh mozzarella and torn basil leaves. I cooked it on an oiled oven tray at 220c for seven or eight minutes. Yum.

Apricot Yogurt

And finally a quick pudding idea. I whizzed up a drained can of apricots to a purÃ©e and froze portions. I simply defrost a portion and stir it through some full fat yogurt to make a fruity yogurt for pudding.

Chickpea and Preserved Lemon Tagine

23rd June 201823rd June 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 6

If you want a super quick and easy meal then this is perfect. Ready in half an hour but bursting with flavour, this Moroccan-inspired stew can be flung together from a few store cupboard ingredients.

Iâ€™ve called this a tagine, but Iâ€™ve just made it in a normal pan on the hob. If you wanted to make this in a proper tagine in the oven then you can of course, itâ€™ll just take a lot longer! At step four you would transfer it to your tagine and cook at 150c for an hour or two.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 onion, large dice
2 heaped tsp ras al hanout
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 pepper, large dice
2 pieces of cassia bark/cinnamon sticks
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tins of chickpeas
10 prunes, quartered
2-3 preserved lemons, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Soften the onion in the oil for five minutes on a medium heat.

Step 2: Add the ras al hanout and stir for one minute.

Step 3: Add the garlic and diced pepper and stir for another minute.

Step 4: Add the tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, cassia/cinnamon, prunes and preserved lemons. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste.

We had this with couscous or quinoa and a fat-free yogurt, spiced up with some garam masala (simply stir a teaspoon of the spice mix through a few tablespoons of the yogurt). You could also have some salad or vegetables on the side.

Courgette and Butterbean Salad

20th June 201820th June 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 as a lunch or 4-6 as part of a meal.

I had a version of this wonderful salad at a friendâ€™s house a while ago and loved the textures from the combination of vegetables and beans. I decided to tweak some of the flavours and have come up with this, equally tasty, salad which is great as part of a meal or on its own as a healthy and nutritious lunch. It does no harm to make this a couple of hours before serving; in fact, I think it improves as the flavours from the dressing infuse into the vegetables.

If serving with other salads try it with my spiced butternut squash, feta and pomegranate salad.

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1 large or 2 small courgettes, 1cm dice
1 small red onion fine dice
200g baby plum tomatoes, halved
1 tin butter beans, drained
3 sprigs of mint, chopped

For the dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ras al hanout spice
Salt and pepper (a small pinch of each)

Step 1: Add the courgettes and red onion to a large bowl along with the tomatoes and butterbeans.

Step 2: Add the dressing ingredients to an empty jam jar and, with the lid on, shake vigorously for a few seconds until combined. Alternatively, whisk together in a bowl.

Step 3: Pour the dressing over the salad and stir through along with the chopped mint.

Katsu Curry

13th June 201818th June 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 4

If Iâ€™m going for Japanese, and not eating sushi, then it is very likely Iâ€™ll opt for a katsu curry. Referring to the breaded and fried meat or tofu, katsu is served with a fruity curry sauce and a sticky rice.

At home Iâ€™ve been researching recipes for the curry sauce as I had already decided that I wanted to have a go at making a lower calorie katsu by cheating on the frying element (by just using frylight and a non-stick pan). I knew I wanted to use apples in my recipe and I also wanted to make sure that it could be both vegan and gluten-free if required. I succeeded in adapting the recipes to make this version which I was really pleased with.

It is really quick to make (it only took about 20 minutes) and I made it earlier in the day so I only had to reheat it in the evening whilst I was frying my tofu. I have included a description of how I created the katsu element at the end of this recipe, and whilst this is not gluten-free/vegan, it could be adapted by using gluten-free flour, aquafaba (the thick water found in a tin of chickpeas that is often used as a vegan egg-replacement) and gluten-free bread crumbs if necessary.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and roughly diced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tbsp soy sauce (gluten-free if required)
2 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour, slackened in a little cold water
2 heaped tsp of curry powder (I used medium strength)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
350ml hot vegetable stock (gluten-free if required)
A drop of sesame oil
Salt and pepper

Step 1: Melt the coconut oil on a medium heat in a frying pan and add the onion, carrot and apple. Put a lid on the pan and cook for eight to 10 minutes until they are softened (you may need to stir or shake the contents a couple of times).

Step 2: Whilst this is softening add the sugar, soy sauce and tomato purÃ©e to the slackened cornflour and stir. Set to one side.

Step 3: Remove the lid and add the garlic and cook for a minute, followed by the two spices, stirring for 30 seconds.

Step 4: Add the vegetable stock and stir followed by the cornflour mix and stir. Add a tiny drop of sesame oil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for four or five minutes.

I served this with a low calorie, low fat version of tofu katsu, but there is no reason why you couldnâ€™t follow the same method with chicken or pork.

I used a firm tofu and cut slices 1cm-1 1/2 cm thick, pressed them on kitchen paper to remove the excess moisture and then panÃ©d them by first dusting them in seasoned flour, dipping them in beaten egg (if you wanted to make this strictly vegan then replace the egg with aquafaba) and then coating on a mix of panko breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. I fried them in a non-stick pan with just a spray of fry-light, cooking them on a medium heat for three-four minutes on each side. I served two of these slices with some sticky sushi rice and a small salad on the side.