So this is really delicious. It’s a hybrid of Mum’s ratatouille, Michelle Bridges vegetable and chickpea casserole with a twist from me. It could be great as a side dish or a lunch to take to work or not. It is a really satisfying dish and the spices make it extra tasty.
1 eggplant, diced
1 onion, diced
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 large red capsicum, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp chilli flakes
2 cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tin chopped tomatoes
250ml chicken stock or water
Steam the eggplant over water for 15 minutes.
In a heavy bottomed pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a medium heat. When hot, add the onion and celery and cook with the lid on for about 7 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add the capsicum and zucchini and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring once. Add the cumin, turmeric and chilli flakes and stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the eggplant and chickpeas to the pan and stir through. Finally add the tin of tomatoes and stock/water and stir. Bring up to heat and then simmer for about half an hour until the liquid has reduced and it is thickened. Season.
This is really better after a day or two so make in advance if you can.
This is a recipe from Michelle Bridges new book, but with a few changes made due to some ingredients I did and didn’t have. It has been a saviour for my lunches this week and yet again because I was well prepared, I mainly managed to eat healthy. I cooked some salmon on the BBQ and had that cold with it. It’s fills you up for a long time but isn’t heavy at all. The cauliflower is really nutty and is a revelation.
If you don’t cook quinoa regularly, don’t despair, it’s taken me a while to get it right. Usually, I put the quinoa in the pan and cover with twice the amount of liquid (1 cup quinoa to 2 cups liquid). Then bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for approx 20-25 mins. As the liquid reduces to nothing, I add a little more until it cooks to nothing and the quinoa is ready.
I really like to cook it with chicken stock as it gives it a great flavour but cooking with plain water is fine.
½ cup quinoa, cooked as above
300g cauliflower, grated
1 red capsicum (pepper), chopped into small cubes
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
100g mushrooms, chopped
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I used basil and mint)
Juice of a lemon or lime
Salt and pepper
Combine all the ingredients and season. Leave for at least 2-3 hours in the fridge or overnight for the flavours to develop and adjust seasoning again if necessary.
