In My Kitchen November: Polenta Crusted Adzuki bean & Vegetable Loaf

This month In My Kitchen I'm sharing a few newish gadgets that bring me much delight, and a recipe I've created using them. 

Let me introduce to you my new Tupperware gadget - 

Extra Chef

I debated long & hard about if I should get one of these as they are a little pricey. In the end, I have decided it has been so so worth the money! It is incredibly versatile, works just as well as my electric food processor and yet runs just on my arm strength!!!! ;-) Gotta love anything that is environmentally friendly and helps with jiggly arm syndrome!
It has a great capacity, but at the same time doesn't take up much cupboard space (considerable less space than a traditional food processor). It is incredibly easy to clean and all the attachments store inside the compartment itself.
I use it for so many things, but it especially comes in handy for when I want to add vegetables to dishes where I don't want them to be chunky.

Let me also introduce to you my new electrical gadget - 

Digital Pressure cooker

I never had much luck with the stove top pressure cooker that I had - so I offloaded it and waited for a good special on an electric one. I was over the moon when Target had a massive homewares clearance and this was less than half price. I quickly informed my husband that it was to be part of my birthday present! Thankfully, he took the hint!!!!

I am REALLY REALLY happy with it's pressure cooking ability. Not only for making legumes from dried instead of relying on canned ones, but also for making soups, stews, as well as cooking rice and other grains.
I LOVE the saute function, as it means I can toss in my onions and garlic and saute them in the same pot before adding other ingredients, saying on washing up. 
The non-stick coating is fantastic meaning I can saute without using oil, and also the insert goes into the dishwasher - a MUST for all our cooking gadgets as I hate washing up!!!!
It is *meant* to be multi-function meaning it can slow cook also, however after several trys with the slow cook feature on maximum length I have been disappointed to find the meal virtually uncooked. So, alas I haven't as yet been able to offload my other slow cooker as I was hoping to with a multi-purpose machine. Though, I find that with this machine I have no real use for a slow cooker as I can pop this on anytime and the keep warm function works amazing. Also everything that I previously would of done in the slow cooker has worked fantastically well being pressure cooked.


And now let me show you a recipe I made using both of these new gadgets:

POLENTA CRUSTED ADZUKI BEAN 
AND VEGETABLE LOAF 

Loaf:
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 carrot
1/2 head broccoli
2 celery stalks
1/2 capsicum
2 cups cooked adzuki beans
1 teaspoon each: dried oregano, cumin, turmeric, paprika
1/2 cup tomato paste
Topping:
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/3 cup polenta
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (regular breadcrumbs work fine however I particularly like the added crispiness that panko crumbs provide)


Place all the vegetables roughly chopped into a chopper, or food processor.

Process until all ingredients are finely chopped. (You can do this by hand if you would rather, for the best outcome you need all ingredients very finely chopped.)

In a large bowl, lightly mash the adzuki beans (I used the back of a spoon, depending on how soft your beans are you may need a proper masher) and stir in all the herbs and the tomato paste. 

Add the vegetables to the bowl and stir until well combined.
Press the mixture into a large baking dish (I used a 30cm x 20cm). Press down well.

In a smaller bowl combine the ingredients for the topping/crust. Press the crust over the bean mixture and gently press down. (For a gluten free version replace the breadcrumbs with more polenta.)

Bake in a preheated oven for 35-40minutes until golden brown on top.

Slice and serve.

Delicious with roasted potatoes (as I had but somehow managed to delete the picture)!
My hubby and daughter love this in a burger!

(Note: I have made this several times and I usually include frozen spinach that has been defrosted prior to adding it to the vegetable mix - however on the occasion I was taking pictures I defrosted the spinach and then forgot to stir it in!)


Share what's in your kitchen at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

Question of the day:
Have you ever debated about purchasing a kitchen gadget and had it work out more valuable than you initially thought?

WIAW - Back to school.....

I hate school.
I always have.
I hated it when I was a child & now that I have my own child, I still hate it!!!
So it was with a very sad face that I set my alarm last night to make sure that I woke up in time to do the regular chaotic prepartion that is a regular school morning.

However, I am not here to complain about the day that was inevitably going to come regardless of how much I dreaded it!
I'm here to share with you What-I-Ate-Wednesday!
Thanks again to Jenn from the peasandcrayons blog for being such a fantastic host! Add your link to join in the fun :-)

Breakfast was polenta porridge with berries:

My daughter informed me this morning that this was her "favourite breakfast". I was quite surprised by this remark because I'm sure I haven't been told that before! Not to mention that it isn't particularly a regular in our home. Then again, kids say anything is their favourite if they are enjoying it at the time. Isn't that right?!?!? ;-)
 
Of course there's always my morning coffee (though I don't usually take a picture of it!).
It tastes better out of a Jemima Puddle Duck mug you know ;-)



Lunch was a wrap with leftover lentil bolognese & lettuce.....

.......accompanied by a brown rice salad with spinach.

 My husband often jokes about my 2nd, 3rd or 4th lunch! ;-) Today there was only 2 lunches!

In the afternoon I put my juicer to work on celery, kale & apples.

For dinner I had spaghetti with aduki bean & veg bolognese..... and totally forgot to take a picture! ~shame~ 
I even had the camera sitting right next to my cooking area!


And last but definitely not least was the delicious dessert that I shared with my hubbie - waffles with chocolate banana soft serve!

Proof that even days that start out bad can have a good ending!

Day 2 Unprocessed

My day started out with this:

This is a 'yogurt' made by mixing frozen blueberries and dates with just enough plant-milk to combine it but not to make it too runny. Tastes delicious.

 Who am I kidding - I always mix everything on my plate together!

For lunch I had leftover of last nights green & bean mix with some quinoa:

Of course, I mixed all that together too ;-)











I had a few grapes with lunch too. Grapes are just so pretty aren't they?!?

For dinner I tried a Polenta Pizza from the fat free vegan kitchen.
It worked out really well! I loved the taste of it, even though it didn't really feel like I was eating pizza!

The base - cooked

Not bad for a 'different' type of pizza!

And yes, of course, I didn't forget dessert! ;-)

I used the okara from yesterday & made "banana rock cakes" - well something similar to that anyway! I just mixed the okara with 2 mashed bananas, a bit of maple syrup, a handful of currants & enough spelt flour to make a dough. Baked for 25 minutes = divine! When I'm convinced I've got the recipe right I'll do a blog!