Cannellini bean mash

Need added beans to a meal to complete it but don't want to eat them plain?
Can't be bothered peeling potatoes?

Here is the answer..... and a very tasty & easy one at that!

You'll need:
1 tin cannellini beans
2 tablespoons lemon juice (i use bottle stuff, otherwise i would recommend using bout half a lemon)
1 teaspoon dried garlic flakes

Drain the beans & place them in a microwave proof bowl.
Microwave on high for 1 and a half minutes.
Add lemon juice and garlic flakes.
Mash til well combined.

YUM

You can sprinkle some green herbs over the top for presentation if desired.


This picture shows the mash served with my sweet potato patties.

Bean Lasagne

Chop a medium eggplant into slices & place on the bottom of a lightly sprayed oven dish.

In a bowl, combine 1 drained tin red kidney beans, 1/2 cup tomato cooking sauce and 1 tablespoon Italian herb mix.  Mash until beans are broken down & all ingredients are well combined.

Place a layer of the bean mix on top of the eggplant. Then place strips of zucchini or chopped sweet potato or other veggies of choice. Repeats layers until dish is full. Make sure the top layer is the bean mix.

Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes or until veggies are soft & top is lightly browned.

Perfect

Perfect partners: a salad or side of wedges.

Maybe this shouldn't be called a lasagne since it has no pasta in it!

Perhaps its better names veggie & bean stack! But whatever its called, I don't mind because it is absolutely DIVINE tasting! And its gluten free for those who need it!

 

Sweet Potato Patties

You'll need:

1 medium sweet potato

1/4 cup chopped pistachios (walnuts also work great in this recipe if you'd rather)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon tahini

1 chopped shallot

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/2 cup corn flake crumbs (or more if needed)

Peel and slice the sweet potato. Bring to the boil in a large pot and cook until tender.

Drain & transfer to a bowl & mash well.

Add the chopped nuts, soy sauce, tahini, shallot & dried thyme. Mix well (best done whilst potato is still warm so the tahini melts and stirs more evenly).

Add the corn flake crumbs & stir gently until the mixture becomes slightly thicker & will hold together. You may need more crumbs depending on how moist the sweet potato is.

Press into a burger press or alternatively press into patties with wet hands.

Place on a lined oven tray & bake at 180C for 25 mins until lightly browned.

These are delicious served with my cannellini bean mash or bean salad.

I love my tupperware burger press and recommend it highly. Its so easy to use and the burgers come out perfectly shaped & even every time without sticking to the sides.

Cereal Bars

Great way to use up any leftover cereal.

You'll need:
2 cups cereal
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
2 tablespoons nuttelex
1/4 cup brown sugar
approx 2 teaspoons water

Melt the nuttelex & brown rice syrup in a pot. Add the brown sugar & stir until melted - do not overcook.
Pour cereal into a bowl & add the melted sugar mixture. Add the water only if needed to keep the mixture moist.
Put into a muesli bar maker - or alternatively press into a lined baking tray. Put into fridge until set - at least 1/2 hour.
Press out of muesli bar maker - or cut the mixture into bars from the baking tray.

Delicious with soy yogurt & passionfruit.

The muesli bar set shown in the picture is a tupperware product click here to see the details.

Dessert Spring Rolls

A great treat to throw into children's lunch boxes :-)

And very easy to make! They will enjoy helping you assemble these!

You'll need:
rice paper rolls
dried apples
dates
prunes
pepitas
cashews
cocoa

Use as much or as little of these ingredients as you desire. Blend in a food processor til smooth but with a few bite size pieces left.

Place about 2 tablespoons mixture onto a moistened rice paper roll.

Do not overfill or they are very hard to roll!!

Place assembled rolls onto a sheet of baking paper.

Place in a hot oven & bake for 20 mins or until lightly golden brown.

Allow to cool before eating.

Goes well with almond cream! :-)   (blend almonds & apple juice til creamy mixture is made)

Curried Cabbage

I'm a big fan of red cabbage.
Here's another delicious way to use up any leftovers that you might have!

Saute in a pan 1/2 red cabbage chopped into fine pieces and 2 sliced leeks.
Add a tablespoon dried basil.
Cook until wilted. Add a drop of water here and there as needed so it doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add one tin drained lentils & 1/4 cup peanuts. Stir well to combine.

 Once all the ingredients are warm through, add to the fry-pan 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons soy sauce & 1 teaspoon curry powder. Stir until well combined.

Place mixture into bowls & top with fresh or dried parsley.

This can be eaten as is, but is also really nice the next day once cooled on a bed of lettuce leaves.
It has such deep and delicious flavours!
Enjoy :-)

Soy-tella!

I decided that I wanted to make a healthy version of nutella! When I told my daughter this she asked what nutella was!!!! I was secretly very proud that I have lasted 7 years without my daughter finding out about nutella!!!! lol
Well now she's addicted - but I'm more than happy to put this on her school lunches!!!

I like the way this doesn't become completely 'smooth' - it reminds me a bit of crunchy peanut butter! And of course, it tastes divine!!!

You'll need:
1 cup roasted soybeans (if you want you can use cooked ones that haven't been roasted, they just won't taste as nutty)
1 tablespoon hazelnut spread
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons warm water (more or less depending on consistency desired)

In a food processor combine the soybeans and cocoa powder. Process until the soybeans are quite broken down. (This will take some time - also if you have a mini food processor, it seems to work better for smaller amounts of food - it won't all fly off to the edges then!)
Add the hazelnut spread & continue to process until desired smoothness is reached!
(You can choose to add a touch of sweetner if your taste prefers a sweeter sweet - try agave nectar.)
Put into a container & store in the fridge.

Really great as a filling for ginger logs :-)