Things I love - Zesty Cauliflower with Lentils

There are so many foods that I love to eat. They all have one thing in common; fresh food.

I've been thinking about all the different recipes I have tried over the last few weeks. Some absolutely superb, others not so. Now it might not be the recipe that has anything wrong with it, but not to my liking. And one of those recipes gave me the biggest bout of indigestion I have ever had, causing me undue belly pain for a large number of hours. Yes, I can laugh about it now, but when its happening, you think you are going to die.

I'm linking here to some of my favourite recipes on some other blog sites to give you a taste of what I like to eat.

Homespun Capers  is run by Liberty from Melbourne. One of my favourite dishes is Lentil and Leek Ragu. This is a hearty, flavoursome dish you can serve with rice, pasta or quinoa.

Cookie + Kate from Oklahoma, USA - Sweet Potato and Black Bean Taco - Yummy and spicy and very filling.

Amy from South Carolina hosts, She Wears Many Hats and has some interesting recipes, but this one is to die for - Grilled Cheese with Gouda, Roasted Mushrooms and Onions.  Scrumptious served with a bowl of soup for dinner or on its own for lunch. Yum!

I mentioned in my last blog post that I needed to find new ways using black lentils because I bought some interesting ones from Goodies and Grains at Adelaide Central Market. I was immediately drawn to the huge sack of black lentils, they were small, round and shiny, like black crystals. And the spoke to me, "buy me!"

These lentils are a variety called "Black Beluga Lentils' (named after the Beluga Caviar they resemble). They hold their shape really well and have at chewy, nutty, consistency. 

 And so I did buy them  and I have cooked them together with cauliflower rice to make this dish. You could use any black, green or brown lentil in this dish, so don't worry if you can't find the black ones. 

Cauliflowers are growing thick and fast in the veg plot so I needed to use them up too. The combination of cauliflower and lentils is deliciously creamy. It a quick recipe to prepare but it tastes as though you have been slaving over the cooker all day. Eaten straight away this dish really worked well, but eaten cold the following day, I was astounded at how good it tasted as a salad.  

Before you decide to try this recipe make sure you have a lime or too, because substituting lemons in this dish doesn't work so well. 

ZESTY CAULIFLOWER WITH LENTILS

INGREDIENTS

1/2 head of cauliflower (a whole one if it is small) 

1- 2  cups Black lentils if possible but green or brown are good substitutes,  cooked*

2 tablespoons Oil 

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2  a red capsicum, diced

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

a knob of fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped

1/2 cup frozen peas

salt and pepper

2 tablespoon soy sauce or Tamari

2 Spring onions, finely sliced

2 limes, zest and juice
salt and pepper

* To cook lentils quickly, place in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 15 minutes. Drain the water. Put the lentils in a saucepan, cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 - 20 minutes. Drain and use.

You can either grate the cauliflower or pulse it in a food processor until it is the size of rice grains.

In a large frypan, heat the oil. Add onion, garlic, sesame seeds and ginger and cook, stirring frequently until the onion is a golden brown.

Add the cauliflower and cook for around 10 - 15 minutes until it has turned the colour of honey.

Stir in the lentils, peas, red pepper, soy sauce, salt and pepper and continue to cook until the peas are heated through.

Add the zest and juice of one lime and stir through.  Serve immediately garnished with spring onions and with a quarter of lime extra.

If you have any left over - serve as a cold salad. Or make it earlier in the day and keep covered in the fridge until ready to eat.

Caponata

Apologies for my absence from this blog for a few weeks. Needed to take a few days out to refresh my thoughts, try out new recipes and basically veg out. But I'm back, so watch out!

Thinking about a garden tour of Italy in 2018. What do you think? I've visited Italy many times, seen a few famous gardens as well as magnificent towns, cities, churches, cathedrals, markets and museums. But a holiday just looking at gardens, now wouldn't that be fabulous for a 'plant-a-holic' like myself?

On my last visit to Florence I walked the Boboli Gardens. The view of Florence from the top of the embankments was breathtaking. 

I was reminded of this trip only a couple of weeks ago when I visited a dear friend in Brisbane. Over dinner - a fabulous Caponata, we discussed our very next adventure - walking trails and gardens in Tasmania - a garden tour of Italy! With these very thoughts on my return to Adelaide I grabbed my Private Gardens of Italy by Helena Attlee and an Italian phrase book. Neither of which would help if we go the Tasmanian road. 

So dreams of Italy and Italian food and nudged by my restorative time in Brisbane - here is my version of Caponata.
Buon appetito!

The origin of this recipe is thought to be Spanish and the earliest recorded recipe dates back to around 1700. The thought is, that it is derived from the word Caponada meaning a kind of relish and yes the consistency could almost be classed as a thick relish.  I suppose some people might serve this with meat or chicken but on its own I think it's perfect. Today, Caponata is often referred to as Sicilian Caponata or Sicilian Stew.

The flavours will be much stronger if you cook the Caponata the day before you wish to eat it. Store covered in the fridge overnight.

CAPONATA

1 large eggplant diced
1 onion finely diced
I red capsicum diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
3 large tomatoes diced
1 440g tin crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons capers
10 kalamata olives, halved, pits removed
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup water/veg stock
handful chopped parsley and oregano
olive oil

• Put a good lug of olive oil into a large fry pan and on a low heat cook onions and garlic until slightly softened. 

• Add eggplant and cook until it is lightly browned and starting to soften.

• Add the rest of the ingredients, except parsley and oregano and cook on a low heat until the eggplant is very, very soft. Around 30 -40 minutes. Keep checking to ensure that it is not sticking on the bottom. Add a little more water/stock and continue to cook. 

• The mixture should be nice and thick and the eggplant very, very soft. Check seasoning. If you are not going to eat this straight away, then hold off adding the parsley and oregano.

You can serve this with any pasta/couscous if you prefer, but some nice chunky bread to mop up the juices is my preference.

Red Beans with Rice

First cold day, 18 degrees and I'm longing for warm comfort food. My family and friends in the Northern Hemisphere are laughing - 18 degrees is not cold they tell me! It sure feels like it after 6 months of hot, rain free months and I'm not sure I like wearing this many clothes. (Sorry, I'm going to ramble on a bit today).

However, this is a wonderful time of year in the garden. Stunning autumn leaves of the deciduous trees and a recent trip to Mt Lofty Botanic Garden did not disappoint.  

 When the sun comes out even on these autumn days it's still very strong. Get out from the wind and it could still be a summer's day. But as soon as that southerly hits and the leaves are tossed and turned into the air, you know that it's soon going to be winter.

Getting prepared for the colder months means we eat comfort food - and that to me means chilli and beans!   

I think of myself as a 'bean aholic' because I love beans in every shape and form. From good old Heinz baked beans, to haricot beans, black beans, kidney, broad, French and butter beans. I can make a multitude of dishes with beans - don't you find them just so versatile? Ok, well yes, too many may have a disastrous effects on some of you, but be polite ...... we wont talk about that here.   

Do not worry, I have had this dish twice in as many days and all has been fine!!!! So dispatch yourself to the kitchen and get your beans ready. This spicy, aromatic bean recipe is really flavoursome. Be warned; it's not pretty to look at and you might think twice about serving it to your friends. 
But if they are true friends then give them a treat and serve this, because they will love this, even though it does look a twee bit ugly! Don't be put off by this because the taste is sensational.

I would love to have some feed back on this recipe, so drop me a quick email or comment because I want to know if you love the recipe as much as I do. I mean, what's not to like about beans??

MASHED UP RED BEANS WITH RICE

Ingredients

2 x 400g tins of cooked red kidney beans, washed and drained

1/2 green capsicum

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

2 sticks of celery

3 cloves garlic

1 onion

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp fresh thyme chopped finely

1 tsp fresh oregano chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

1 tablespoon liquid smoke/Habenero/Tabasco Sauce (more or less to taste)

1 tbls olive oil

Take a large pan and add olive oil. While this is heating, process the onion in a food processor and add to the pan. Cook gently for a few minutes.

Again use the food processor to chop garlic, celery and green capsicum. Add this to the pan of onions, with a couple of tablespoons of water and continue to cook for 5 minutes. 

Place half the beans and half the tomatoes into the food processor and blitz until the beans are coarsely chopped. At this point it all looks a little ugly, but don't despair, it all comes together nicely. Add this to the pan, with the remainder of the beans and the tomatoes.   

Now add all the other ingredients except the hot sauce/liquid smoke/Tabasco, cover tightly and cook gently for at least 45 mins. Remember to keep checking and stirring so the beans don't get stuck to the bottom. Add a little water if the beans look too dry.

Just before you serve add a tablespoon of hot sauce, keep tasting until you get the right amount of heat for your palate.

Serve with rice, a spoonful of plain yoghurt and some chopped coriander/parsley or oregano.