Maria Runs

Hello everyone.

Cooking counts as one of the “pottering about” activities that I can get on with while being at home. I needed something for Tuesday tea, so I decided to make another lot of the mexican casserole that I made a while back. It is loosely based on this recipe from Oh She Glows. I think my version is easier!

For 3 big servings you will need:

1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 red onion, 2 sticks of celery.

1 carton of passata, 75g dry quinoa, 1 small tin sweetcorn, 1 small tin borlotti beans, paprika, easy chilli, assorted herbs.

Cheese (optional but tasty).

Avocado/ salad/ other stuff to serve.

First up, chop the veggies and roast in the oven for about 25 mins (220C). I sprinkled with paprika for fun. While that is going on, cook 75g quinoa in water, again add some paprika if you like.

Some quinoa should be rinsed first- check the packet. All I do is weigh out the dry quinoa, pour over cold water (just enough to cover it) then gently simmer. Stir to stop it sticking, and add more water if you need to as it will soak up a lot of water. Add any flavours you like- stock cubes etc as it will soak up the flavour. When it is done they go from looking like tiny balls to all squiggly. There is no other way to describe it. A bit like rice you need to be careful when cooling and reheating it- make sure it cools quickly if you are not eating it right away.

Once the quinoa is cooked, put it all together. Pour the passatta (and a little water if it looks dry), the drained tin of sweetcorn, the drained tin of beans and a tsp easy chilli over the roasted veggies. Then stir in the quinoa and add any herbs if you like- I think I added oregano.

Before baking, add a little cheese if you like. Or just bake for about 20 mins.

I left 1/3 in the tray (saves on washing up) and the other 2/3 into foil trays. Once cooled they went in the freezer- I did not cook them first.

Then, the best bit! This time I chopped up a small avodado, mashed in some lemon juice and served it, alongside some rocket. Yum.

Plus the best part (well, aside from the fact I have 2 more of these in the freezer) is that you can easily change it to your tastes or to what you have. Last time I used black eyed beans and did not have any sweetcorn (or celery). You could swap in different veggies, different beans, use a different grain…. Endless yummy meals.

This was followed a little later by some grilled pineapple.

I grilled it with some coconut, and had it with an alpro vanilla pot. Delicious.

Now you get some random things that I have photographed over the last few days.

I fancied a smoothie for breakfast, and also fancied using up the last of some lemon marmalade my Mum made. I also realised I had a pouch of protein powder to try, so I had that in a smoothie with half a frozen banana, some frozen cherries and soya milk. It did smell lovely and chocolatey, but it had maybe a chalky texture? I am not sure I really liked it, although it did fill me up for hours and did not give me stomach ache (when I tried whey protein, years ago, it gave me tummy ache). So smoothie, toast and a very ripe nectarine were eaten.

I have also been enjoying more chai lattes- I used some white christmas tea (which has white tea and lovely spices) and frothed like crazy!

I think that is enough for now.

What is your favourite easily adaptable meal?

I think I have found my favourite pancake recipe!

Enjoyed the other day with a chopped and microwaved apple, and some lovely meridian mincemeat.

It goes like this: 35g wholegrain spelt flour, 50g fruit puree (or apple sauce or pumpkin puree- I like the little pots meant for babies because they are small), 1 tsp baking powder and about 50ml soya milk. Add in cinnamon/ orange essence/ other flavours if you fancy them.

Whisk it all up and cook slowly. Very slowly.

Today (made with pumpkin puree which I think does not work quite as well as the apple sauce) topped with dark chocolate dreams and the most massive pink lady apple (chopped and microwaved and cinnamon-ed).

Yum!

I also attempted to make a nut/veggie loaf over the holidays. It is tasty, but did not turn out quite firm enough. I found this recipe, but then I did not have any eggs, and did not like the sound of the cheese in it (I do not like it when cheese gets overcooked and goes all crispy and this has to bake for a long time), so I did not follow it to the letter. In fact, very loosely! Might be why it didn’t quite work.

Mine had a chopped red onion (instead of shallots) and a chopped carrot cooked in a pan, and some drained cooked lentils (I used dried lentils as they were so much cheaper and don’t need pre-soaking so seemed quite easy) which I cooked in water with a little marmite added.

They went in a bowl with 250g mixed toasted and then chopped nuts, a tin of tomatoes, some herbs and some dried cranberries (got to get something festive in there). I added some flax and chia seeds soaked in water (I thought that might replace the binding of the egg).

It all went into a lined loaf tin and then cooked for about an hour and 15 mins.

It was really tasty, but it did not slice very well. I think if I had cooked it for even longer it would have firmed up more, as the ends were firmed more than the middle. Or maybe use tomato puree instead of the chopped tinned tomatoes next time. But I was hungry! Alongside some hummus, cucumber for dipping and rocket it was delicious and really filling. I sliced (well tried to) up the rest and have put them into the freezer (individually wrapped) to enjoy another time. Or maybe what I would do it bake it on a roasting tin- like a brownie almost- spread it out a bit flat as then it might go more solid and cook more evenly.

Also, I was sent a couple of books to review, so please check out my review page and see what you think of them.

Any recipe successes recently? Or misses? What do you love to have on your pancakes?