Friday 27 July 2012

Double Recipe Post!

Today I am spoiling you, and you are getting two recipes that I have recently made but not got around to sharing. First up, are stuffed cabbage leaves. I was given a lovely cabbage from James' grandfather and wanted to use it in a kitchen experiment. I'm never one for getting fussy over things like stuffed leaves or anything that requires attention to the presentation - one pot is more my style - but it definitely seemed the most inventive way to use it. To get a basic idea of how to treat the leaves and how to cook it all I found a recipe but I think I did a good job of making it my own - I subbed in my own mix of quinoa and mixed beans (soaked and pre-cooked a day before) for the can of rice and beans in the recipe. Here's what I did if you fancy having a go yourself:

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (serves 1)

3 Large cabbage leaves - be careful whilst pealing these away from the head
30g quinoa - Uncooked
120g cooked beans - any you like. This equates to about 50g of dried beans soaked overnight and boiled for an hour, or half a tin of cooked beans.
1 Tsp coconut oil
Half a red onion - Finely sliced
1 Tsp dried herbs - I used herbs de provence
100g tinned tomatoes  - Mine were arrabiata and so had extra chili chopped in, so feel free to add your own.

  • Bring a large pot of water to the boil and carefully put the cabbage leaves in so that they are totally submerged. Leave to blanch for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water so that they don't continue to cook and are easier to work with. If the stalks running through the leaves are thick, carefully use a knife toshave the stalk down so it doesn't protrude so much.
  • Meanwhile, saute the onion in the coconut oil and stir the dried herbs in. When they are translucent, add the quinoa and cover with water by about a centimeter. Quinoa can take about 15 mins to fully cook in my experience and you will need to keep a close eye on whether or not it dries out. Add more water if you need to.
  • Stir the pre-cooked/canned beans through the quinoa and onion mixture. You could also season at this point and add in any herbs you like.
  • Spoon a third of the mixture into  the centre of each leaf and roll them by first folding in the sides and rolling them up (sorry, I realise that I should've put in a photo as it's kind of hard to describe). Put rolls in, 'seam' side down into a pan large enough to fit all the rolls in the base.
  • Thin out the tinned tomatoes with a little water (a couple of tablespoons should do) and then pour over the rolls.
  • Bring the pan to low heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Like the quinoa, keep an eye on the pan for moisture to keep the rolls from sticking.
  • Serve up with any side you fancy, or just simply on their own.
I quite enjoyed these, and it's safe to say I was very proud of how they turned out, i.e. intact. Next time I will definitely look into adding more flavour as they were a little bland, by perhaps adding herbs, adding spices to the onions, and some bouillon when cooking the quinoa.



And your second recipe.....

Yesterday afternoon I verged on a food rut. If I'm hungry in the afternoon and now that I need a smallish meal to carry through a workout and onto dinner I'll have something easy - banana toast, cottage cheese, dark chocolate. But I didn't have any of those things to hand and I had the time to spare so I decided to cook something with the odd veggies I could find. I went for soup because it seemed the best way of incorporating the lentils and veggies I had to hand

Pea and Lentil Soup (serves 1)

50g Dry red lentils - Rinse throrougly
1/4 Tsp turmeric - Optional
1/3 Vegetable stock cube or 1/2 tsp of vegetable bouillon
Small handul of shelled broad beans
1 Spring onion - Roughly chopped
1/2 Cup of frozen peas
1 Tbsp fresh mint - Chopped

  • Bring the lentils to a boil in enough water to cover by an inch and stir through the stock and turmeric (I nearly always add turmeric to lentils out of habit which is why they are randomly included in this recipe) 
  • After about 10 minutes of boiling add the spring onion and broad beans
  • Another 10 minutes later add in the peas and mint.
  • Cook all together for another 5 minutes or until the lentils have completely softened.
  • Transfer to blender and blend. Some blenders will need you to allow the mixture to cool before blending, otherwise there will be a soup explosion! Alternatively use a hand blender.
  • Once smooth, transfer back into the pan and bring the soup back up to temperature.
  • Season with salt and pepper if you prefer, and serve.
I really liked the fresh flavour and the bright green colour brought on by the turmeric. The lentils helped give body and a protein boost. Even Barney the dog was eyeing it up ;-)


I am submitting this post to two blogging events - Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Shelby at Everyday Vegan Girl , Gabby at The Veggie Nook  and Carrie at Carrie On Vegan. This is the event's first week so why not support them by checking out the page or submitting yourself? Also I am submitting to Wellness Weekend over at Diet Dessert and Dogs which always gives me inspiration and keeps my motivation to be healthy high over the weekend.

Get in touch if you try anything out!

Hannah xx

1 comment:

  1. This sounds absolutely delicious. I've been on a cabbage kick lately, but haven't stuffed them yet. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Also, thanks for submitting to Healthy Vegan Fridays!

    Your blog is looking so great by the way!

    ReplyDelete