Tag Archives: beans

Pinto bean chilli and taco shells

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Growing up, my mother struggled to get me to eat my greens, and if anything had even the slightest fleck of spice or herb, a food tantrum would ensue.  Over the years, I've managed to introduce so many vegetables and flavours into my diet that I'll now happily eat meals that contain purely vegetables without complaint.

This dish here is made with a whole host of leftover vegetables but the main star of this dish is the dried pinto beans which are a good staple to keep in stock for bulking out meat free dishes into cheap, nutritious and protein filled dinners.

INGREDIENTS

  • 200g pinto beans
  • 1 onion diced
  • 2 x garlic cloves crushed
  • 6 x mushrooms chopped
  •  1 x carrot diced
  • 1 x red pepper
  • 400g tinned tomatoes
  • 1x green birds eye chillies
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1-2 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 300 ml veg stock
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Sugar
  • Salt and pepper

METHOD

Soak beans overnight & cook according to the packet instructions.

Meanwhile cook the onion and garlic for 2 mins before adding the spices and chilli and continuing to fry for a further 2 minutes

Add all of the other ingredients and cook for 2 mins before adding the vegetable stock. Stir well and scrape all of the spices off the bottom of pan.

Finally add the tomatoes, oregano and bay leaf, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

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Sweet Chilli Salmon with Asian Vegetables

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Salmon is one of my midweek time saving meals. It’s quick to cook, can be served with pretty much any side and gives rise to a huge variety of optional flavour mix ups; from simple lemon and parsley to teriyaki salmon or something more unusual, such as sweet chilli.

The idea for this dish was again down to leftover ingredients mentioned in my No Shop Week blog, which included fresh salmon fillets that I’d frozen alongside carrots and green beans.

The vegetables screamed stir-fry at me and Asian flavours are so easy to achieve with a few stock cupboard essentials.

If you’re a fan of Asian food, I’d recommend always keeping in store soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and; a new discovery on my part; ginger paste (although only buy this if you will use the paste regularly as it does have a shortish self life when open). In terms of flavour, I prefer fresh ginger but I like the fact that keeping paste in stock, opens up the opportunity to throw together a huge variety of Asian sauces without having to visit the shop.

I’m a flavour junky and I knew I wanted to stir fry the vegetables with sesame and soy but I didn’t want the salmon to be bland so I coated it in sweet chilli sauce, covered it in foil and baked in the oven for 15 mins. Whilst the salmon was cooking I prepared the veg, chopping the baby carrots and green beans into long thin slices.

In a wok, I heated a tbsp of oil and fried a clove of crushed garlic with a tsp of ginger paste for a minute, before tossing in the veg. I then added a tbsp of sesame oil and 2 tbsps of soy sauce and stir fried for a further few minutes before serving with the salmon. And that’s how to quickly make great Asian style side.

(Again I’m not one for measuring, as a guide two to one of sesame vs. soy is a good start. Sesame oil is very strong flavoured so I tend to start small and adjust as I taste)

If you fancy some carbs, this dish will be great with rice or why not flake the cooked salmon up and stir fry with the veg and a portion of egg noodles.

 

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