Bit-like Coconut Curry

I was going to call this "Corn & Kale Curry" but I decided "Bit-like Coconut Curry" sounded far more appealing - especially to those who are not kale lovers in our home! It has all the flavour of a curry made with rich coconut milk, yet substantially less fat.
Thankfully it went down a real treat - even none kale-loving members went back for seconds!!! I hope you enjoy it just as much as they did.

BIT-LIKE COCONUT CURRY

(Serves 4)
You'll need:
400g corn cobs (about 3 cobs) - kernels removed
1 bunch kale - finely chopped
500g pumpkin - about 1/4 medium sized one
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups soymilk
1 1/2 teaspoon coconut essense
1 Tablespoon curry powder of choice
1 teaspoon dessicated coconut (optional)

Chop all the veggies.
Saute the onion & garlic with a bit of water until lightly browned.
Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. 
Reduce heat & simmer for 20 minutes until pumpkin is soft.
Using the back of a spoon gently press the pumpkin pieces so they begin to fall apart. Stir dish well so everything is well distributed.

Serve over rice or potatoes.

 

Slow-cooked Mexican Stew

Monday nights are slow-cooker night in our home.
I must admit that for the first few years of owning a slow cooker I used it for nothing other than soup.
I am discovering that there is so much more than just soup that can be done in the slow cooker. I regularly make dried beans and love that on the high function it takes only 2-3 hours to cook them from scratch, even without pre-soaking if I haven't had the chance to do that.

Here's a way I make a complete meal that isn't soup:

SLOW-COOKED MEXICAN STEW

You'll need:
1 cup brown rice
1 can black beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 onion
1 green capsicum
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon taco spice mix of choice

Chop all the vegetables and drain the beans.
Add all ingredients to slow cooker. 
If you have the option, saute the onion & garlic first. If not, don't worry because it will still work out and be delicious.
Cook on slow for 6-8 hours.

Serve.

The rice will fluff up to be lovely & thick. It will absorb all the liquid so that this isn't the consistency of a soup.

Fruit & Oat Cookies - Sugar Free

My daughter doesn't like dried apricots...

My husband doesn't like ground flax seeds...

But I can get them BOTH to eat these cookies!!!

Fruit & Oat Cookies

(Makes 20)

You'll need:

2 over-ripe bananas

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup each: raisins, dates, dried figs, dried apricots

1/2 cup ground flax seeds

1 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups oats

In a large bowl combine the bananas and applesauce. Mash until smooth.

Finely chop all the dried fruit.

Stir the fruit, flax, cinnamon & vanilla into the banana/apple mixture.

Gently stir through the oats until well combined.

Using wet hands, roll 2 Tablespoons of mixture into a ball shape and press firmly til the ball holds together. Place onto a lined baking tray and press down gently to form a cookie shape.

Bake in a preheated 170C oven for 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.

(You may notice the fruit in my cookies looks brown and not coloured - that is because I use non-sulphur dried fruit. I highly recommend you use it too - its available in health food stores.)


Question of the day:
What food do you dislike but enjoy when it's cooked into something else?

Quick Pear Tarts

I recently did an interview for Plant Plate about being a parent who follows a plant based diet.  
My daughter whilst enjoying eating plant foods, often makes it known to me that she wishes for some "vegan junk food", as she mentioned in the interview!
So with one last sheet of pastry left in the freezer & it nearly reaching it's best before date these tarts were made! 
Yes, pastry falls into the "junk food" category for me! And now that it's all gone I won't be replacing it, instead I am enjoying experimenting more with home-made pastry options.

This is a really quick & easy treat to whiz up when visitors are due, or for a special occasion dessert!
But most importantly of all..... my daughter LOVED them and felt like she was having real 'junk food'! 

QUICK PEAR TARTS

Remove a sheet of dairy-free puff pastry from the freezer & allow to soften.
Cut the sheet of puff pastry into quarters. 
Along each cut, add another cut 1cm to either side. 
Also cut 1cm around the edges of the sheet of pastry.
Spread the inner 4 quarters with fig jam but not going all the way to the edge (or other flavoured jam of choice). 

Remove the 1cm sections of pastry from the lining sheet & press them gently into the edges of the tarts as shown.

Slice pears into thin pieces and spread them over the jam.

Sprinkle some frozen whole raspberries and broken pieces over the pears.

Bake in a preheated 220C oven for 15-20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.

Serve with chocolate coconut cream for added eating pleasure!

Don't forget to check out my friends blog at Plant Plate.com
It's full of wonderfully handy hints and is an amazing resource of information and advice for following a plant-based diet!