Tag: #foodporn

Meat Free Monday Curry….
Stylemesisteradmin
July 22, 2019

Meat free Monday

My Fast Spinach Curry

Growing up with Popeye it took me a while to acknowledge that large doses of leafy greens did not automatically equate to biceps that would make Dwayne Johnson jealous. Lucky for me though I’m a patient type of chick and I’m steadily changing my body to look the way I want (muscles and all).

This is a super quick curry that I really love. I’ll be honest. The portion sizes here are 250 grams each and feel it’s worth having a larger portion as spinach wilts down a lot.

Like I said it’s quick and actually easy to get onto the table. I use pre-fried onions and frozen spinach….and well the lack of fresh stuff means the food is quick to get on the table. Result!

Of course you can use fresh onions and spinach and adjust amounts and cooking time to reflect this. But like I always say my Meat free Monday recipes are designed for speedy Monday meals.

To make two portions of this amazing curry you will need:

500 grams frozen spinach defrosted and drained
2 TBSP oil
4 TBSP pre-fried onions soaked and drained
1 heaped TBSP garlic paste
1 heaped TBSP ground coriander seeds
1 heaped TBSP ground cumin seeds
1 TSP chili powder
Cooking salt-to your own taste
150 ml (and a bit more just in case) water
Juice of one lemon

1) Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2) Add the onions and fry for about one minute stirring well to ensure it doesn’t catch/stick or burn. If you find the mixture is sticking too much just add 2 TBSP of water.
3) Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
4) Now add the salt and spices. Fry for about one minute to cook out the spices. Keep stirring though. No one likes a curry tinted with burnt spices.
5) Add the spinach. Stir well to coat the spinach in the spicy mixture. Fry the spinach for 5-6 minutes.
6) Turn the heat off; your curry is done.
7) Before you serve the curry add the lemon juice.

Enjoy

My easy, tasty and good Baked Chicken Meatballs
Alliyah Dawud
June 14, 2019

Baked Chicken Meatballs…like are they a thing?

Quick, easy, healthier than a lot out there…ladies and the odd gent I present to you Chicken ‘Meatballs’.

Give me a Kofta Curry and I’m happy. Give me some Kefta Kebabs and Naans and I’m also happy. Give me a meatball sub with some extra hot sauce and I’m happy….I love a good meatball.

As you know we are constantly being encouraged to focus on healthier recipes. Focus on reducing fats, salts and sugars in our diets. We are also encouraged (and quite rightly so) to get our children eating healthier from a young age so it’s a habit and lifestyle rather than a chore.

Recently I got playing in the kitchen and with Chicken mince being around £2.69 per KG at my local Butchers I decided I would make some ‘meatballs’.

Cheaper meat, leaner too. And if I play my cards right I can bake them off in the oven and reduce the fat too.

And believe it or not I’ve created a meatball the girls actually adore. And I’m happy because a simple bit of prep work means I can create, bake and freeze a few meals in next to no time…

To make these awesome meatballs (enough for 3-4 or more depending on the age of those you are feeding) servings you will need:

  • 500 grams chicken mince
  • About 16 olives chopped
  • Zest of 1 lemon finely chopped
  • 1 tsp salt (or to your taste)
  • 1/2 TSP dried thyme (leveled spoon not heaped)
  • 1/2 TSP dried oregano (leveled spoon not heaped)
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 2 heaped TBSP breadcrumbs
  • OPTIONAL flavourings:
  • 2 sun dried tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of crumbled feta (if you do decide to add feta reduce the salt intake).
  • Chili Flakes-if you want some need.
  • To bake:
  • Spray oil ( 1 Cal spray works, as do other varieties)
  • Baking trays (1 large pan will be enough or two smaller ones)
  • Kitchen Tongues
  • Greaseproof paper

1) Line the baking trays to keep cleaning to a minimum. Preheat to oven to 170 (160 on a fan assisted oven).
2) Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and with your hands mulch it all together. Yes it’s a messy job but dammit it will create awesomeness in the form of springy healthy meatballs!
3) Once you’ve mixed all the ingredients together take a tablespoon amount of meat mixture and form into a meatball using wet hands. Place on the greaseproof sheet. Leave a gap between the meatballs.
4) Repeat the process until you’ve used all the mixture.
5) Spray each meatball once with the oil.
6) Now bake for 10 minutes.
7) Remove from the oven and carefully turn the meatballs over using the tongues. Spray the other side of the meatballs with oil. Place back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off.
8) Allow to meatballs to ‘rest’ for 2/4 minutes and then serve. I add my meatballs to a simple sauce which I have featured before here:

To make this recipe extra healthy you can serve the meatballs with wholemeal spaghetti.

NOTES: If your meatballs release any liquids do not panic. This is a normal part of the cooking process. The amount you find really does depend on many factors so don’t worry yourself too much on the science. Think of the flavour.

Mini meatballs make great canapes.

Making meatballs can be fun and messy for younger children.

Meatballs can be cooked, cooled and frozen successfully for up to 3 months without losing texture etc.

Vegetarian Taco Meat Burritos
Stylemesisteradmin
June 10, 2019

Over the past two years I’ve grown to love the idea of meat free meal days. Once upon a time I dreaded the idea of finding a vegetable based recipe that wasn’t coated in fat and spices to cover the fact there’s no meat in it.

Nowadays for me it’s no longer a challenge. Possibly because I have found that I simply need to adapt the meat element to be replaced by a non meat product.

There’s plenty of non-meat alternatives available in the UK. I personally love Morrisons own brand Vegetarian Mince from their Taste range for things like Spaghetti Bolognese (400 grams for £1.50 and no they have not paid me to compliment them).

Most Superstores have their own ranges however some famous brands include Quorn and Lindy McCartney. Considering how many more mouths we will need to be feeding in the future and how much farm land we actually have I’ve got to be honest with you; I feel we should all be looking into alternative proteins.

Anyhow….back to the recipe.

I love Burritos! I do. I reallllly do. However I find good ones hard to come by. So I literally created my own at home.

These Burritos contain:

My awesome vegetarian taco meat (recipe here)

My Tex Mex Inspired Burrito Rice (recipe here)

Plus a flurry of other ingredients that pack a punch.

To make 4 Burritos you will need:

  • 1 lot of Vegetarian Taco Meat (heated)
  • 1 lot of Burrito Rice (heated)
  • 4 large Tortilla Wraps (I use corn ones)
  • 1 large red onion diced finely
  • 80 grams of Sweetcorn (cooked)
  • 50 grams Cheddar Cheese (grated)
  • 4 TBSP Salsa
  • 4 TBSP Sliced Jalapeno
  • 1 large tomato deseeded and finely chopped
  • Optional :Hot Sauce

To serve:
Skewers/tooth picks (optional but I find they come in useful to keep things in place)
Burger wraps (I used colourful ones but that’s all I have in)
Tortilla chips
Salsa
Sour cream

The HOW TO:

1)Take a Tortilla Wrapper and gently warm it in the Microwave (10 seconds) or in a dry frying pan. Turn over to avoid it burning. Remove from the pan and place on a chopping board or large plate.

2) Now place the taco meat on the wrap. Spread it in a ‘line’ vertically. We need to pile up the ingredients in a ‘line’ as we need to wrap these badboys up as tight as possible.

3) Now add some rice.

4) Add the Jalepenos, Sweetcorn, Onions, Tomatoes and Cheese.

5) Drizzle on the Salsa and Hot Sauce (if using).

6) Now is the hard bit. It may take some practice but its worth it. Trust me. Fold the horizontal sides in. Now gently start rolling the Burrito trying to tuck everything in. Don’t speed this step up because things will fall to pieces; literally.

7) Once it’s all rolled up take the burger wrapper (or greaseproof paper if using) and wrap it tightly around the Burrito. Add a tooth pick if you feel it needs one. Just let people know there’s one there so they don’t hurt themselves on it.

8) Your Burrito is ready to serve. I serve mine with extra Salsa, Tortilla Chips and Sour Cream.

Super Green Alu Tikkis
Stylemesisteradmin
May 11, 2019

Super Green Alu Tikkis…..because green is glory.

Green vegetables in a Tikki you say? Really? Indeed! My girls love these so much we use the mixture to create Burgers too.

Getting some children to eat anything green and ‘healthy’ looking can be tiresome. This recipe takes the classic Alu Tikki (potato Tikki) and rammed it with good stuff (being spinach and peas). These Tikkis taste like Spring…so enjoy.

To make enough to serve 4 people you will need:

  • Ingredients
  • 80 grams peas or petite pois cooked, drained and cooled
  • 40 grams baby spinach cooked (I cook it in the microwave as it takes minutes. I place the spinach in a microwaveble dish, add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover with microwavable cling film. I poke a few holes in the film to let steam escape. Takes a few minutes. Job done).
  • 200-250 grams potatoes-boiled (that’s two medium potatoes if you are not fussed my weights). Mashed OR riced.
  • 2 spring onions (green onions) washed and thinly sliced.
  • Salt-to taste
  • 1 & 1/2 TBSP cornflour
  • 1 heaped TBSP coriander leaves chopped finely
  • 1 TSP cumin seed powder
  • 1 TSP coriander seed powder
  • 1/2 TSP chili powder
  • 1 heaped TSP garlic granules
  • 1 TSP amchoor (green mango powder-I add this to give a tang. If you can’t find this ingredient don’t panic and just leave it out and squeeze over some lime before serving the tikkis).

Oil-to shallow fry

1) Whiz together the peas and spinach to create a rough mixture. You can roughly chop the mixture by hand if you haven’t got a processor.

2) Place the mashed potato in a bowl and add all the tikki ingredients. Using your hands get in there and combine the ingredients (don’t forget to wash your hands properly after as there is chili in the mixture).

3) Using wet hands shape your tikkis. You can make medium ones using a walnut size amount of mixture. Or if you want to serve these as canapes/starters make them smaller.

4) In a large pan heat the oil on a medium heat. Fry the tikkis on a medium heat until lightly golden brown. Do not keep turning the tikkis over as this will increase the chances of breaking them.

5) Once brown on both sides drain off on kitchen paper (the tikkis should take about 5 minutes maximum on each side).

6) Serve with chutneys and sauces of your choice.

NOTES: the corn flour is added to help keep the tikkis together. If you cannot get your hands on it replace with Basan (gram flour).

This mixture makes great vegetarian burgers.

These Tikkis do not freeze well. This in my humble foodie opinion is down the the spinach but still. These badboys make awesome burgers (including veggie dirty burgers…recipe coming soon).

Easy Rajmah Tikkis
Alliyah Dawud
May 10, 2019

Alu Tikkis are one of my favourite all time desi foods. My love of tikkis means I am always trying to come up with variations that are healthy and will bring a bit of va va voom to the dinner table.

I love Rajmah dhal. Its at number two at my favourite and most cooked dhal at home (Tarka dhal being at number one). Nowadays you can pick up cooked Kidney Beans in a can for around 30 pence in England. I usually use two cans to make myself Rajmah dhal and believe me pre-cooked anything saves time in the kitchen.

My love of lentils, pulses and healthier desi food brought me onto the idea of making a tikki from this bean.

This recipe combines a bit of potato with the beans. I find this definitely helps the texture of the tikkis and also helps keeps them together. Plus it reduces down the carbs in the Tikki.

This is a nice, economical recipe. You can use wonky potatoes to make these tikkis.

These Tikkis can be frozen up to a month successfully. Fry them, cool them, open freeze them on a baking sheet for around an hour and then wrap them in greaseproof paper before placing them in an airtight freezer container or ziploc bag.

To make enough to serve 4 you’ll need:

  • 1 x 400 grams Red Kidney Beans rinsed and drained
  • 200-250 grams potatoes-boiled (that’s two medium potatoes if you are not fussed my weights).
  • Salt-to taste
  • 1 & 1/2 TBSP cornflour
  • 1 heaped TBSP coriander leaves chopped finely
  • 1 TSP cumin seed powder
  • 1 TSP coriander seed powder
  • 1/2 TSP chili powder

Oil-to shallow fry

1) Mash the potatoes and the kidney beans to form a mash/dough. You can blitz the beans in a processor if that makes you feel better because lets face it. Mashing beans isn’t all fun and games.

2) Now add all the other tikki ingredients to the mixture. Using your hands mix well.

3) Using wet hands shape your tikkis. You can make medium ones using a walnut size amount of mixture. Or if you want to serve these as canapes/starters make them smaller.

4) In a large pan heat the oil on a medium heat. Fry the tikkis on a medium heat until lightly golden brown. Do not keep turning the tikkis over as this will increase the chances of breaking them.

5) Once brown on both sides drain off on kitchen paper.

6) Serve with chutneys and sauces of your choice.

NOTES: the corn flour is added to help keep the tikkis together. If you cannot get your hands on it replace with Basan (gram flour).

The beans and potatoes are already cooked so don’t worry if the tikkis are fried to golden brown within minutes. Kidney beans only cause problems if they are not cooked properly. And in this case they are already cooked.

Additional Tip: I use my trusted potato ricer to mash the potatoes. I don’t even need to peel the potato to use it. I can boil the potato whole (skin on) or bake it (skin on of course) and put it through the ricer.