North African Couscous

This was a little strange, but pleasurable! Sweet, savoury, comforting and fragrant. I won't lie though...I had some fartiness for a few days after eating this. I think the large quantities of cooked dried fruit were to blame. But yeah, delish. And also...vegan! I got this recipe from my dietician, so it was strange that I felt like I had to lower the fats in it. But I've become like that. And I think it's a good thing. If you can get by without those bad things, why would you not?
Serves 4-6

1 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
30ml fresh parsley
5ml salt
5ml black pepper
10ml ground cinnamon
3ml turmeric
5 carrots, scraped and chopped
5 spring onions, chopped
100g button mushrooms, wiped and quartered
125ml raisins
100g dried apricots, soaked overnight in water and drained
Water

200g couscous (I used 2 x 100g sachets of instant couscous)
5ml salt
Spring onion curls for garnishing.

Heat oil in a saucepan, saute garlic and onion until soft (adding water if necessary to stop it sticking). Add parsley, salt, pepper, cinnamon and turmeric. Cook for 2 minutes. Add carrots, spring onions, raisins and apricots. Add enough water to make the carrots cook. Turn the heat down, and let it cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the carrots are soft.

Cook couscous according to packet instructions, and fluff with a fork.

Spoon couscous onto a serving platter, spoon apricot mixture over the couscous and garnish with a spring onion curl. Yum! I could do with some now.

Hariraaaaa!

Sweet! So far, I have lost 8kg - thats 20 pounds. Feeling so good, I decided to make soup. Kay, now this is pretty quick soup. Involves canned goods, my favourite hehe. Eat with a great big (well...moderately sized) piece of rolly bready goodness (low GI, of course).

Serves 8, so invite some hungry people round

Harira; Moroccan Lentil and Garbanzo Soup

2 T olive oil
2 onions, sliced
2 normal sized (or 1 huge) can of whole or chopped tomatoes
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cumin
8 threads spanish saffron, crushed (I didn't have this *aw*)
cup of fresh cilantro
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
salt, to taste
black pepper, fresh ground
1 cup dry brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
6 cups water
1 400g can chickpeas, undrained
1 400g can fava beans, undrained
1/2 cup capellini (similar but thinner than spaghetti)
lemon wedges

In a soup pot, heat the oil and brown the onions, stirring until tender (6 mins)
In a blender, combine the tomatoes, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, saffron, cilantro and parsley. Add salt and pepper. Blend until fairly smooth and add to the onions.
Bring to the boil, add lentils and water and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook for 30/35 mins, until the lentils are tender.
Add the 2 cans of beans, along with the juice, and bring back to the boil. Add the pasta, and cook until tender (6-8 mins)
Now, ladle it into bowls and serve with some lemon wedges. And BREAD!!

Shake your bobotie!!

Oh no, that was terrible wasn't it? Anyone? Y'all don't know about bobotie?!! Well I guess bobotie is a pretty traditional South African meal. It's a spicy, fruity mincemeat dish (think raisins, a bit of fruit chutney) which is covered with a savoury custard, sprinkled with nutmeg and baked in the oven. You eat it with rice.

It sounds pretty darn barbaric doesn't it? Well, this one's vegetarian (it is also very possible to veganise it) and it's so delicious. I got the recipe from my dietician Keri and she just rocks the casbah now!

Lentil and butternut bobotie
Serves 4 (at least)

2 tsp olive oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
400g butternut (or pumpkin) squash, peeled cubed and parcooked (steam/boil)
4 cloves of garlic
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely sliced
5ml garam masala
4 lemon leaves
410g can of chopped tomatoes
15ml grated fresh ginger
1 small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
10ml sugar
410g can of cooked lentils, drained and rinsed(or cook your own)
2 eggs and one egg white
350ml milk
Nutmeg
Handful of raisins
1Tbsp fruit chutney
Salt and milled black pepper (to taste)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add onions and butternut squash and simmer until softened. Stir in the garlic, chilli, masala, and lemon leaves. Add the can of tomatoes, cover and cook for 3-4 mins. Stir in the ginger, coriander, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 5 mins to allow the flavours to develop.
Remove the lid and cook on high for about 15 mins until the liquid has almost evaporated.
In the meantime, beat the eggs into the milk to make a custard mixture and season well.
Mix together the lentils, raisins and fruit chutney. Layer lentils and butternut in an ovenproof dish, starting with half the lentil mixture, following with the butternut, and ending with the other half of the lentils.
Pour the egg mixture over, sprinkle generously with nutmeg and press in a lemon leaf or two.

Bake at 160 degrees centigrade for 45-50 minutes or until the custard is golden brown and just set. Serve on it's own, with a big colourful salad, freshly cooked vegetables, or brown rice (yes, I used basmati...but...but...it was pre-cooked! And only took a minute to warm up. And I'm a big ol' lazy)

For a vegan version: You could make the egg custard using a base of silken tofu, and adding 350ml soya milk? What are your suggestions?

Diet-friendly comfort soup

3 weeks until I go to Cape Town, so I'm being superstrict with my eating and scraping up every last bit of sun (for my WHITE legs) that I can. As some-lame-chick in high school said: "white fat looks fatter than brown fat". Hahaha.

Anyway, the thing is I found this (vegan!?!) recipe in a local fashion/lifestyle mag and was so enticed, I twisted it a little to keep the diet- gods smiling. And here it is for you.

Spicy lentil, chickpea and corn comfort soup
Serves 4

10ml (2 tsp) olive oil
5 cm piece of ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium (or 2 small) red chilli, finely chopped

10ml (2 tsp) curry paste
5ml (1 tsp) turmeric
1 x 410g canned brown lentils (drained)
1 x 410g canned kernel corn (drained)
1 x 410g canned chickpeas (drained)

250ml coconut milk (I used a lite kind with only 1g fat per 100ml)
250ml vegetable stock
250ml chopped coriander

salt, to taste (it definitely needs this)

Note: Instead of spending on the canned chickpeas and lentils (and corn, come to think of it), why not use the dried kind and boil them yourself? I used the tinned kinds and although it was convenient, it worked out a little pricey. I'm definitely using dried next time.

Heat the oil in a deep pan, and slowly cook the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli (for about 5 minutes). Add the curry paste and turmeric, and fry for a minute or 2. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the chickpeas and corn are softened. Take it off the heat.

If you have a hand-held blender you can blend it in the pan, but leave it moderately chunky (a few whole pieces here and there). Otherwise, transfer three-quarters of it to a blender and blend smooth. Return to the pan, season and serve hot.

1 serving contains, 7g fat, 300 calories, 50 calories from fat, 429g sodium, 42g carbohydrates, 11g protein)

apologies

I've cooked some things but I haven't posted pics of them yet. Sorry.