Mushroom Chilli with Lime

Lately, I've been pondering a lot about the meaning of life! I think Douglas Adams and Monty Python have already had a few stabs at it. There's a lot of talk about it, quotes about it but has anyone actually defined it?

"Life is rather like a tin of sardines-we're all of us looking for the key." Alan Bennett 

So has this anything to do with Mushroom Chilli with Lime? Absolutely!

If this meaning involves giving your body the best possible food, which in turn will keep you healthy then yes, its all part of the meaning of life, for me anyway. And it fuels the brain and gives more time for procrastinating and thinking of what the hell am I really doing here.

Hey, this is getting a little heavy. 

I need to add more value to what I am doing in my later years, so it is time to get all my jobs done, things I have put off for a while, then I will have some breathing space. I have made a huge list and I am going to work through this over the next couple of months. That painting job, family history, the garden project, the photography project, the collage, that mandala etc etc.

With all that accomplished it will be time to plan the rest of my life...................!

So to start off this rather eventful week, I offer you this delicious, easy to make, flavoursome, low calorie recipe (around 200 calories). It's full of fibre, protein, vitamin C and D, B6, Riboflavin and Niacin. 

Can you beat that?

MUSHROOM CHILLI WITH LIME

INGREDIENTS

500g mushrooms, sliced thickly
400g can of kidney beans, washed and drained
1 brown onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic diced
1 tablespoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground chilli or chilli flakes (more if you want it really hot)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons smokey paprika
salt and pepper
400g can chopped tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
handful fresh coriander, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime

Lime dressing
1/4 cup  light sour cream or Greek yoghurt
ime zest and juice 


Make the lime dressing first. Zest the lime and juice it. Keep the juice and the zest seperate.  Put the zest, 1/4 cup of Greek yoghurt and half the juice into a small container and stir to incorporate. Now set aside.

In a large frypan add oil and bring it up to temperature. Lower the heat and add all of the spices and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Do no allow the spices to burn or they will be very bitter.

Next, add the mushrooms. Cook relatively high so the mushrooms colour up but do not release juices. Throw in the chopped garlic and keep stirring, making sure that everything is covered in the oil and spices. 

Time to add the washed beans and tomatoes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for approximately 25 - 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Make sure you stir often to avoid burning.

Add the juice of half of the lime and stir in. When you are ready to serve, sprinkle the top with more chopped coriander and a few dollops of the lime dressing.

Serve with salad, rice, quinoa, cous cous, bread or just eat by itself.

Cauliflower and Chickpea Curry with Coconut

I could smell spring in the air last week! The first sign is budding on the almond tree, but then we had a day or two of high winds and torrential rain. Damn! And its's cold, so cold my bones ache.

Just as I was preparing for some warmer weather and getting my head into some salads, the rain came back. What a sluggish winter I've had - ugg boots, blankets and scarves and that's inside! Ha ha! So with that spring smell, that first bud, maybe that first blossom, its time to shake off the winter blues and set myself some monthly challenges. Here goes!

August Challenges: - 

Food - Finding new ways with black lentils. Develop new salad combinations topped with a Tahini dressing.

Fitness - Renew my fitness  regime - 10 gym sessions, 40  kms walking or hiking.

Diet - No desserts, chocolate or cakes. (Oops I had a beautiful Chocolate Brownie for my birthday yesterday - so counting from today) 

Am I up for this challenge - hell yes. What's your next challenge?

And because the winter chills are still with us I am starting off August with a favourite. Cauliflower is so versatile and I have found myself using it a lot for roasting and curries and salads. I just can't seem to get enough of it. 

Add another of my favourites, chick peas and this dish is calling my name. You can add as much or as little chilli to this recipe as you like. Depending on the strength of your chilli powder, you may start with a little and add more as it cooks. 

I also prefer to use fresh turmeric root but if you don't have that available then turmeric powder is fine.

Ok, here's the recipe.

CAULIFLOWER, LENTIL AND COCONUT CURRY

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

1 teaspoon ground turmeric or 11/2 teaspoons turmeric root, grated

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2  teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 - 1 teaspoon chilli flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 400g can chick peas, drained

1 400g diced tomatoes

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

2 tablespoon coconut oil

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup water

handful of fresh spinach leaves, chopped

1 400g can coconut milk

Add coconut oil to a large pan then add onion, garlic and ginger and cook until the onion is transparent. Add turmeric and rest of the spices and heat until the spices are aromatic. If they start to stick add a tablespoon of water.

Next add cauliflower florets and coat it with the spices. Add coconut milk, water and can of tomatoes and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Check seasoning, add salt and pepper and more chilli if required.

Rinse chick peas and add to the curry. If the curry is too thick add a little more water and cook until the cauliflower is just tender.

Add the chopped spinach leaves and cook until just wilted.

Serve with popadoms, rice of your choice and plenty of chutney.

Pasta with Lentils

Haul me over the coals for being a slack blogger, because this last month has been a nightmare for me. Cold and flu and back problems aside, the time has just flown by with family issues.

Tardiness on my part has been due to a number of things; a few family health issues - can't be avoided. Trying to make a decision like 'holiday or kitchen renovation', doing my sums, looking at pros and cons for both. The holiday has won out and I will be heading to New Zealand for the first time in 2018 plus a few side trips this year to get in a little kayaking on the Murray River and to see my amazing daughters in Melbourne.

Added to this I have been furniture hunting and finally - big excuse - I have been painting my family room. Yes OK I hear you!  That's not enough to slow me down. I'm fully hand smacked! I'm raring to go now so I'm trying to keep up the weekly blog posts.

So let's do it!

There are a lot of people I know that avoid eating pasta because of the carbs. But  how can you say no to pasta totally?? Put pasta and lentils together and you have double love. Let me tell you a little story about this recipe.

A few years ago I started, with the help of many volunteers,  a 'Book Shed' in a country town in South Australia. People donated books, they were resold and the profits went to a community organisation. It was a great way for locals to get new books for a little outlay and a terrific fundraiser. 

A friend who was having a clean out gave me a pile of cookbooks for the book shed and told me to take any book for myself I would like. Amongst them was an Italian pasta cook book that caught my eye but investigating I found many of the recipes had meat in them. Lentils with pasta caught my eye and I realised I could make something with that.

I've taken the basic recipe and rejigged it to take it from an OK recipe to what I think is a great winter dish without meat. I hope you agree. I truly love this dish because it is fast to cook, comforting on a cold winter's night and tastes really, really good.

PASTA WITH LENTILS

Ingredients

250g Pasta - Rigatoni, Penne or Macaroni
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup dried brown/green lentils

1 long red hot chilli, cut in half

2 -3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 cups of water or stock, or half and half
1/2 bunch spinach/chard/silver beet, washed and chopped

salt and pepper
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
grated parmesan

In a heat proof container add lentils and enough boiling water to cover. Set aside for half an hour. You can do this the day before if you are short of time.

Heat oil in fry pan and add onion and garlic. cook for a few minutes until the onion is transparent. Add the potatoes and mix until coated in oil. 
Now add enough water 1 cup at least to cover the potatoes by 5 cms. Now bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins uncovered.

Next, add the drained lentils, chilli, salt and pepper and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the pasta and 1 cup of water, salt and pepper, half the parsley. Cook until the pasta, potatoes and lentils are soft. If the mixture looks too dry, add a little more water.

At the last minute add the spinach and allow it to wilt. If you are using silver beet, you may need to cook it a little longer.  Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Take out the chilli and discard.

Serve in a bowl with grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of parsley.

Capsicum Jam

Are you a chilli person or not? I like it hot and fiery but leaving enough to taste whatever it's in. Past life I made a lot of Chilli Jam but I was getting a little bored with it and as I had a delicious dollop of Capsicum Jam on a plate the other day, I thought it time to investigate making my own.

I've looked at a lot of ingredients and I've settled on making something that is fiery but not too sickly. I want a big chilli hit without the sweetness and a richness in colour, chunky and full of body; I've been experimenting to get the right taste for me. OK, so I did add a bit of sugar, but not too much.

Are you brave enough to try it? 

It only takes a few ingredients.

Don't think you would want to eat it straight from the jar.

But with this cheese and fruit platter - it made a great addition to lunch.

Here is the recipe - give it your best shot!

CAPSICUM JAM - WITH CHILLI

2 red onions diced
2 red capsicums diced
3 long red chillies sliced, leave seeds in
100g caster sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g cherry tomatoes

In a large heavy saucepan heat oil ver low heat. Gently sauté capsicum, onion and chilli until they begin to soften. 

Add tomatoes and cook until they are soft and mushy.

Add sugar and stir until dissolved, then simmer for 30 - 40 minutes until the mixture has thickened.

While this is cooking, wash and rinse jars and sterilise. 

When the jam is nice and thick, ladle into hot jars and seal.

Once opened, keep in the fridge, otherwise it should keep in your pantry for up to 12 months.

Breakfast Muffins

I was watching Jamie Oliver on TV one evening and saw him make some delicious Breakfast Muffins. I didn't take down his recipe but based on his ingredients and my own muffin recipes I concocted a version of muffins to try. Once they were in the oven the kitchen began to smell so sweetly I couldn't wait for them to finish baking and the end result was great; colourful, fragrant, tasty and very healthy.

Celebrity Chefs are becoming a regular on Australian TV. It's not just on the cooking programmes but promoting various supermarkets and competing heavily for everyone's dollar. There's also the branding - the cake mixes, frozen desserts and spice mixes which celebrity chefs, or ex Master Chef contestants are now flogging.  I'm not sure I agree with all this commercialisation. There is nothing wrong with healthy, home cooked, seasonal food prepared well. It doesn't need frozen or pre prepared vegetables sold in plastic or cardboard; just adding fresh herbs and spices will bring out the best flavours in everything you cook.

Jamie's doing a good job in encouraging people to try something a little healthier and giving a heads up on how to prepare a meal with little fat and sugar! Can't be all bad! I honestly think you can eat these muffins at any time of day and if you are running late for work grab one to eat on the way.

BREAKFAST MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

600 grams peeled, grated sweet potato
3 - 4 large eggs
250 g wholemeal plain flour
4 spring onions finely sliced
1 red chilli finely sliced
200 g low fat cottage cheese
100 g parmesan or cheddar cheese grated
a large handful of parsley chopped
salt and pepper
Oil for greasing

For the topping

1 red chilli finely chopped
few sprigs of parsley

Grab your large muffin pan and some baking paper. Cut squares of baking paper that will fit nicely into the pans. Grease them using oil and a pastry brush and set aside.

In a large bowl add grated potato, spring onions, chilli, parsley and mix. Add the beaten eggs and the flour and mix again. Season with salt and pepper and mix in the cheeses.

You will need to use a large spoon to spoon the mixture onto the baking paper and into the muffin pans. I found the easiest way to do this was to take the paper in my hand, fill it and then drop it into the muffin pan. It made 12 nice sized muffins.

Finely slice the second chilli and sprinkle on the top with a little parsley and place in a pre heated moderate oven 180º/ 350 F for around 30 minutes. They should be reasonably firm and slightly browned on the top. Eat them warm or cold - delicious either way.

Orange, Pumpkin, Coconut Soup with Chilli

When winter comes, so do oranges and mandarins and I get excited all over again to discover more ways to use these beautiful fruits.

My healthy eating plan kicks in this week,  so don't expect cake recipes or delicious desserts for a little while. As I watch the temperature plummet and winter creep up faster than expected I hear my friends calling out for food that's quick and easy to prepare, will warm you from head to toe and has a flavour that will see you all yelling 'give me more'

I'm giving you a fast soup - Orange, Pumpkin, Coconut Soup with Chilli  and with a lot of flavour.

Get cracking in the kitchen, there is no time to sit on the couch wrapped in a furry blanket. Because winter is also a time to take some beautiful walks in the fog, prepare your vegetable patch ready for spring, plant some striking bulbs that will surprise you in spring and make a start on that new hobby you have been promising yourself.

Winter - savour it!

ORANGE, PUMPKIN AND COCONUT SOUP - with a Hint of Chilli

Ingredients

1 onion chopped

2 medium potatoes peeled and diced

600g peeled and diced pumpkin 

400ml coconut milk

1/2 cup stock or water

1 tbls olive oil

1 knob of butter

1 small red chilli seeded but left whole

salt and pepper

juice of 1 - 2  oranges

fresh chives

In a large pot add olive oil, know of butter and sweat the onions until soft. 

Add pumpkin and potato and cook for 5 minutes.

Add coconut milk, stock, salt, pepper and the whole chilli.

Cook partly covered on a very low heat until pumpkin and potato is cooked.

Add juice of one orange. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Remove the chilli and discard.

Blend soup using a hand held or bench blender until smooth and silky. Taste and add extra orange juice if required.

Serve with a sprinkling of fresh chives.

Carrots - Two Ways

Mrs Isabella Beeton is probably the best selling cookery writer of the Victorian era despite her short life, 1836 - 1865 and with only a few years of practical experience. Sounds a bit like "Master Chef" today contestants today.

'Mrs Beetons Book of Household Management' is still an outstanding book and worth a read. Imagine, it was first published in 1861 and initially sold 60,000 copies.  

The standards of food in the 1850s were so scandalously low. Mrs Beeton instructs her reader to cut off 'tainted' bits of meat, throw away 'worm-eaten' beans and pick the 'dirt' off currants. Milk was adulterated with water as a matter of course, flour was bulked out by alum, coffee came with acorns, and, most alarming of all, sweets were laced with arsenic. Do I hear you say that  we haven't come a long way with our food processing?

One particular vegetable, the humble carrot has definitely come a long way since Mrs Beeton suggested boiling a pot of carrots for 1 to 1.5 hours, mashing them and adding cayenne pepper. Sounds interesting but I can't think that there would be much left to mash after that long.

Such versatile vegetables; carrots can be used for sweet and savoury dishes, roasted, boiled, steamed, grated, julienned and raw: carrots are a great source of vitamin A, and C. high in fibre, low in calories and very low in cost. And how surprised Mrs Beeton would be to see the range of carrot colours we get at the market. Amazingly, they are available all year around and add a fabulously rich golden colour to any dish.

With winter fast approaching, it's time to get soups sorted. Here are a couple of my favourites carrot soups, which are deliciously filling and very cost effective for the whole family. 

Make sure you scroll to the end to get both recipes! Enjoy@!

Carrot and Pumpkin Soup with Ginger and Chilli

Ingredients

2 tbls fresh ginger grated
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 cloves garlic minced
1 small brown onion chopped
225 g pumpkin sliced
250 g carrots scrubbed and sliced
2 cups stock or water
2 tbls olive oil
1 tbls butter
salt and pepper 
small fresh red chilli
Plain Greek yoghurt

Pre heat oven to 18ºc fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper and lay the pumpkin on it. Either spray with olive oil or sprinkle with olive oil and a good serving of salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes until soft.

Once the pumpkin has cooled, take off the outer peel and cut into chunks. 

In a large pot heat butter and olive oil. Add onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 5 minutes until onion is soft. Add carrots and chilli powder and cook for 3 minutes. Add stock or water, salt and pepper to taste and simmer covered until the carrots are cooked through. Take them off the heat and allow the carrots to cool slightly before blending.

Using whichever kitchen appliance you prefer, blend the carrots and pumpkin together, until you reach the desired consistency.

Check seasoning and chilli and add more to suit. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt, a few slices of fresh chilli and parsley if you have any readily available.

Carrot and Cashew Nut Soup

Ingredients

1 small brown onion chopped
250 g carrots scrubbed and sliced
100 g raw cashew nuts
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
2 cups stock or water
2 tbls olive oil
1 tbls butter
salt and pepper 
chopped chives
grated fresh nutmeg

In a large pan add the oil, butter and onion and cook until soft. Add the carrots and potato, salt and pepper and 2 cups of stock. Bring back to the boil, then simmer until the vegetables are nearly cooked, around 20 minutes. Add the cashew nuts and continue to cook until the nuts and carrots are nice and soft. 

Take off the heat and allow to cool a little before blitzing with a hand blender until you reach the desired consistency.

I usually serve this with some chopped chives and a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Clear Vegetable Broth with Soba Noodles and Chilli Tofu

After two weeks of utter stinking hot temperatures and raging bush fires, the weather plunged into the depths of what can only be described as an autumnal week. Rain, fog and high winds.

Native animals have faced the devastation of their environment and food sources with local fires and now they are threatened with flood waters. What ever next? Eucalyptus trees are losing their bark at an alarming rates shredding into strips as the wind picks it up and hurtles it into the streets and on to neighbouring roof tops.

Although there is some compensation; the vegetable patch is enjoying the rain, we might actually get some tomatoes this year now and just yesterday I noticed that the beetroot was showing signs of recovery.

This had led me into thinking that it might be a gentle soup kind of day. Unable to get out and finish the weeding, I decided the pantry needed its annual clean out and right at the back I found two packets of Soba Noodles.

I had planned on making a Green Tofu Curry and had bought Tofu already, but it was time for something a little different.

This soup can be made in stages and when you have a little time in the kitchen you could make the broth/soup a day or couple of days before putting it all together. It makes enough for 4 or 6 people, is easy to adapt for more  or less people and any left over stock can be kept in the freezer for another day.

As you can see I don't worry about getting all the tofu the same size. I just dice it up quickly and throw it in the wok. It all tastes the same anyway.

Clear Vegetable Broth with Soba Noodle and Chilli Tofu 

For 4 people you will need:

Broth

Soba noodles

oil

4 cups of water

1 large carrot, very finely sliced

1 onion, very finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, very finely diced

2 sticks of celery, finely sliced

Salt and pepper

3 spring onions very finely sliced

1 small leek, very finely sliced

Soy Sauce - I use Tamari

a few handfuls of Kale, very finely sliced

1 small tin bamboo shoots

1 lime or lemon

A small bunch of parsley, fresh thyme and bay leaves, tied together with string

Tofu

oil

350g Firm Tofu

pinch chilli flakes

salt and pepper

zest of a lemon or lime

There are two ways to cook the tofu. Either baked in the oven or in a wok. I prefer to use the wok but it does mean that you need to use a little more oil. I think the tofu is crispier when it is cooked in the wok. However, it is your choice. The preparation is the same.

Take the firm tofu and dry it with paper towel. Cut it into cubes and sprinkle liberally with salt, chilli flakes and the zest of the lime or lemon. Using your hands gently rub the marinade into the tofu and set aside for about one hour.

To make the broth, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan and on a very low heat cook the garlic and onion until the edge start to turn brown. This will take about 8 minutes. Add celery, carrot and leek and mix this around for a few minutes until they start to caramelise. Then add 4 cups of water, salt and pepper and the herb bundle.

Bring to the boil, lower the heat to a very low simmer and cook for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool. Strain out the vegetables, retaining about half of the carrots.

If you wish to bake the tofu,  place on a baking tray, spray with oil and place in a hot oven 190 - 200 degrees/ 350 - 400 until it starts to brown. Turn over and continue to bake. This will all take around 30 - 40 minutes. Or if you have decided to fry using a wok, add oil and cook in batches until brown and crunchy.

Boil a large pan of water, add a pinch of salt and add the soba noodles. Bring back to the boil then simmer for  around 15 minutes , but check the label for cooking times. While these are cooking, heat up your broth, adding the bamboo shoots.

To assemble;

Once the noodles are cooked, add a small quantity to each serving bowl. Divide the tofu equally into each bowl. Divide the kale between bowls and then using a ladle, add broth to each bowl. Squeeze with lime or lemon juice, a teaspoon of soy sauce and a sprinkling of spring onions. Serve.

You may wish to adjust the seasonings with additional salt and adding a wedge of lime or lemon.

This is so heartwarming, low calorie, high protein and so full of goodness it will put a rosy glow on your cheeks and a smile on your face.

Hot Tomatoes

As promised, here is another recipe to use up those abundant tomatoes. 
If you don't grow your own, check out Adelaide Central Market or your local Farmer's Market because there should be some great tasting tomatoes on sale.

My chilli plants are fruiting nicely and just getting red blushes on them. I think there will be a good supply from mild to very, very hot! I think one lot is marked as a 10 for hotness. Can't wait to try them! I need to find my Chilli Oil recipe before I get inundated. I found a few Birdseye Chillies so I have used these, seeds an all.

My vegetable delivery today  via Aussie Farmers Direct had 4 red capsicums, so I decided to make a small batch of this Chilli Jam.  I have been playing around with the recipe and needed to get the balance right before I shared it with you. This recipe has a good balance of sweetness and heat, but go right ahead and adjust it to suit your own palate.

Sweet Chilli Jam

Ingredients
2 Garlic cloves crushed
Knob fresh ginger grated (size of thumb nail)
400g Tomatoes, chopped
200ml Water
200g Sugar
300ml Red wine vinegar
2 Red Capsicums chopped 
2 Chillies (I used small birds eye chillies)
Juice of a lemon

• Using a food processor, add capsicum, garlic, ginger, chillies with seeds and process until finely chopped.

• Scrape this to a large pan, add chopped tomatoes, vinegar and water and bring to the boil. 
• Remove any scum.
• Reduce heat and cook on low for 45 minutes until the mixture starts to reduce and ingredients begin to meld together.
• Add sugar and  lemon juice and bring back to the boil. Cook on a higher heat until the mixture begins to thicken and looks jam like, about 15 - 20 minutes. Keep checking it so it does not burn.

• Take off the heat. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then taste the jam and make sure you are happy with the sweetness and heat. (You can add more sugar at this point and reheat if needed)
• Fill two clean hot jars, seal and label. 

(See post under Cherry Jam for instructions on preparing jars)

This only made two jars, but if you want to make more you can adjust the quantities to suit. This is a great condiment for melted cheese on toast and is really lovely with Lentil and Vegetable Loaf (I need to post this recipe too). 
In fact it is pretty nice with most things, even scrambled egg.