Cornbread

Cornbread, I love you.

Dry ingredients

Seriously - life is better with cornbread in it! In the past I've used those little packets of Jiffy corn muffin mix but those aren't readily available here in the UK. So, I had to branch out into the world of making it yourself. And guess what: it's stupidly easy. This method was for a baking dish but you could also make muffins if you prefer.

Ready for the oven

All you need is cornmeal which my local Tesco had in abundant supply. The rest of the ingredients are probably already kicking around your cupboards. I was impressed at how quickly this came together and that the result wasn't overly sweet. I know some people prefer their cornbread to be on the sweet side so feel free to add a bit more sugar if you'd like! This was spot on for me... a little butter and I was all set! This recipe was from the BBC Food website and I've left it pretty much intact.

Ready to eat!

Recipe via www.bbc.co.uk

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20-25 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients: 

375g plain flour (I used a mix of plain and self rising because I ran out and it was fine)
225g cornmeal
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
110g sugar
480 ml milk
2 large eggs
110g melted butter (plus extra for greasing)

Method: 

Preheat oven to 200C / 390F.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until completely cooked through depending on your oven. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into portions.

Enjoy!

Easy Potato Cakes

Yesterday's dinner was an attempt to use my leftover mashed potatoes in a more interesting way than simply microwaving them. While there's nothing wrong with lovely mash on it's own, I am a bit tired of it since it has been a main staple of several dinners this week. Therefore, I present: the potato cake.

First side frying

Easy to make using leftovers, these were tasty and quick to prepare. I liked that the added ingredients (eggs, parmesan, salt and pepper, onion) were all things I already had on hand. While these are hardly the fanciest of dinners, they were filling and made a nice mid-week option. If you have leftover mash lying around, give it a try!

Second side frying

  Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

Leftover mashed potatoes (approx. 2 cups)
1 egg
1/3 cup parmesan cheese (or more to taste)
Salt and Pepper
1/2 a small onion, finely chopped
Olive oil for frying

Method: 

Mix the mashed potatoes with the egg, parmesan cheese, onion and seasoning. Make into patties and fry in the olive oil over medium heat until browned and crispy. Enjoy!

Sunday Roast: Beef Topside

Hello lovely readers! These next couple of posts have been a very long time coming! Why the long delay? Basically, life happened. Work has been busier than I anticipated (in a good way) and my PhD work takes up a lot of my remaining time so cooking hasn't been as much of a priority. Actually, I've been cooking - it just hasn't been convenient to take the time to properly photograph or write out recipes unfortunately. I'll try to make more of an effort I promise! Also, as a side note, my previous post mentioned the food challenge I do with some of my friends every month... and promised the recipe would be up soon after. However, that month's ingredients (ham, ricotta and tofu) combined to a not so appealing lasagne so I thought I'd save you all from that. This month's ingredients are tuna, cheddar and onions so I'll be trying to think outside the tuna melt shaped box... 

Ready to roast!

Anyway, moving on! This recipe was my first ever attempt at a Sunday beef roast and I have to admit I was a little scared of it. In the past if I wanted to make a roast dinner, I always opted for roasting a whole chicken because it's pretty simple and offers lots of great leftovers. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how equally simple this beef topside was. The only slightly fiddly bit is figuring out when it's cooked to your liking but luckily my lovely friends Laure and Eurydice were content with the slightly pink but mostly well done version we ended up with.

Finished product lined up with the other offerings

I had a quick look around the internet for cooking tips and finally ended up merging a few simple recipies that included mainly salt, pepper and olive oil. I like the idea of roasting meat on top of vegetables so I threw in some carrots and onions since that's what I had on hand. The key to this recipe is really just the cooking time. Everything else takes care of itself. Perfect! We served this along side your usual Sunday roast options: red cabbage, honey glazed carrots and parsnips, yorkshire puddings (unashamedly store bought!), mashed potatoes and a store bought gravy jazzed up with some caramelized onions. I think it was on the whole a pretty successful evening and I'm looking forward to trying more of these roasts at home! Finally, a good tip is to remove the beef from the refrigerator 20-30 minutes before you want to roast it so that it can come up to room temperature. 

Ready to eat!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: Varies

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

Beef Topside (weight will vary)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Carrots
Onions
(assorted other vegetables)
Large roasting tin

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 230C/

Cut the vegetables into large pieces and place in the bottom of the roasting tin. Next drizzle the beef with the olive oil and liberally season with the salt and pepper. Place the meat on top of the vegetables and place into the preheated oven.

After 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 170C and continue roasting depending on the following:

- 12-15 minutes per 500g for medium rare
- 20 minutes per 500g for medium well

My roast was nearly 1,000g so my total cooking time was 50 minutes. After removing from the oven, leave the rest for 20 minutes while you finish up the other dishes. Enjoy! 

Cinnamon Banana Muffins

Hello lovely readers! It's been a while! But I have two very good reasons for the lack of posts: I was on holiday in Virginia for almost three weeks and the day after I got back, I started my new job (!!). So things have been a little hectic to say the least - especially since I'm still slogging away at my thesis as well. The trip home was so nice and  exactly what I needed to help me destress and come back to London ready to hit the ground running. It was amazing to so many of my family members and old friends! Back in London, my new job with the Institute for Global Health has also been fantastic so far: I have great colleagues who are incredibly friendly and helpful (even when I'm asking the same question over and over!), the office has a great atmosphere and the kitchen has a little spout that instantly pours hot water... I'm very impressed. 

Anyway, to get back to today's recipe! I had a few bananas that were a little past their best and I was looking around online for a way to use them up. I love banana bread but find that it's a little hard to transport (I usually eat breakfast at my desk) so I thought muffins would be a more stable alternative. This recipe is almost exact from the Betty Crocker website (I omitted the sugar topping and added an extra banana and some nutmeg) and was super easy and delicious. If you have extra bananas, give it a go! Of course, I'm not sure if this recipe beats my Mom's though...

Also, the Betty Crocker website has a little tip section at the bottom of the page that I thought was pretty helpful. For example, did you know that you can freeze bananas and then use them in any dish that requires them to be mashed? I guess the texture would be a bit off after freezing if you tried to just eat them straight away. All you do is pop them out of the freezer, leave to thaw and then mash. Handy tip if you don't feel like baking anytime soon but love banana bread as much as I do! 

Stay tuned for a post with what will hopefully be a triumphant return to the Monthly Food Challenge... this month's chosen ingredients were absurd so I'm excited to see what my friends got up to! 

Recipe via www.BettyCrocker.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 17-20 min

Serves: 16

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C.

With a wire whisk, mix the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl until nicely combined. Stir in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and continue mixing. When the wet ingredients are ready, slowly sift in the flour and baking soda before adding the salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Line muffin tins with paper wrappers and divide the mixture evenly, filling each cup about two-thirds full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Easy Jam Tarts

I've been meaning to give this recipe a go for a while now. It just seemed like the perfect last minute treat for when you're feeling a bit down or if you have surprise guests. I mean, most people will have that forgotten jar of jam in their fridge just waiting for a recipe like this. I used strawberry jam because I happened to have it on hand but next time I think I'd like to try mixing it up with a few jam ones and maybe a few lemon curd ones... delicious!

Ready for the oven

I used shop bought pastry because, again, this is more of an emergency recipe than something you'd plan for but of course, feel free to use your favorite pastry recipe if you have one. My local shop tends to put the puff pastry and shortcrust pastry on offer every now and then so I try to stock up and have them on hand for situations like this.

Finished product

Also, I managed to make nine tarts out of the pastry I had but that will probably depend on the size of your circular cutter and your muffin tin. I found the best tarts were the ones where the pastry hadn't been stretched too thin so make sure you've got a good amount there for a solid crust around the outsides and on the bottom. And of course, be careful to really butter your tin properly so that the tarts slide right out.

Jammy goodness!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 20-25 min

Serves: 9

Ingredients:

1 package shortcrust pastry
9 tablespoons of strawberry jam
1 egg

Method: 

First, grease a muffin tin so that the bottoms and sides are lightly coated.

Next, roll out your pastry and use a circular cutter to cut nine circles and nine stars. Lightly stretch the circular cut outs in your hand so that as you press them into the pan, they come up the sides about half way. Use a fork to prick the bottoms of your pastry so that they don't puff up while baking.

Add a tablespoon of jam to each pastry shell. Top with one of the pastry stars and place into the fridge for fifteen minutes to set.

While the tarts are in the fridge, preheat the oven to 160C / 320F.

After removing the tarts from the fridge, make an egg wash by whisking the egg with a little bit of water and lightly brush over the pastry stars and the tops of the sides of each tart.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tarts are lightly browned and the jam is bubbling. Leave in the tin for a few minutes to cool and then turn out onto a plate. Enjoy! 

Mediterranean Lamb Salad

This dish was inspired by one I saw on Nigella Express where she used lamb tenderloin to make a thai inspired salad. Since I was out of both thai fish sauce and soy sauce, I thought I'd adapt the recipe to what I had on hand. This ended up being mainly Mediterranean additions such as vinegar and olive oil, which is where the title came from. I had planned to use Balsamic vinegar but only realized at the last minute that we were out so I used the cider vinegar instead.

Dressing mix, waiting for the lamb! 

Lamb steaks browning

Lamb cocoon

I highly recommend this dish for a weekday dinner because it was so quick to prepare. The actual cooking only takes five - six minutes depending on your lamb steaks and preferences. Then the lamb sits in it's little foil cocoon until the other elements are ready. I think this method could probably work with any cut of lamb so don't worry if you can't find these particular steaks. Nigella used lamb tenderloin for her dish but my supermarket didn't have any in stock unfortunately! One thing to remember: be careful with the vinegar as the amount used will vary depending on your personal tastes.

Salad!

Prep Time: 5-10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 lamb leg steaks
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
8-10 cherry tomatoes
Salad leaves
2-3 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
1 tsp mixed herbs
8-10 new potatoes

Method:

In a pan large enough for the lamb steaks, saute the onion and green onion in a teaspoon of olive oil until softened. Remove from pan and place into a shallow baking dish. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and then add a little more oil to the pan if needed and saute the steaks until brown on both sides. When they have finished browning, wrap them in a foil parcel and leave to sit for 5 minutes (or more depending on the thickness of your steaks and how well done you prefer them to be). Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until they are soft and then drain and set aside. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and divide the salad leaves, tomatoes and potatoes between two plates. In the baking dish, whisk the chives, herbs and vinegar along with a few dashes of olive oil into the onion mixture. When the lamb has rested, open the foil packet and pour the accumulated juices into the baking dish with the dressing. Slice the lamb carefully and add the pieces and any further juices to the dressing. Leave to sit for a minute before pouring over the plates. Enjoy! 

Energizing RedBull and Fruit Smoothie

Ok, I know some of you are thinking, "RedBull? In a smoothie? Have you lost your mind? That sounds disgusting." But you would be wrong, very wrong my friend. This was delicious. Of course, if you know me, then you know that I'm definitely partial to a bit of RedBull here and there. I tend to buy the sugar free version when I know I have a stressful few days ahead or if I need an instant boost in my energy levels.

Fresh from the blender

This recipe occurred when I wanted to have a smoothie for breakfast but didn't have any juice left in my fridge. I've been pretty terrible about food shopping lately due to a complete lack of appetite so things are getting a little desperate in my poor fridge. So, after surveying my options, I wondered if RedBull would be a worthy substitute. A quick search online told me that I wasn't the first to happen across this combo so I thought I'd give it a try.

Pretty!

I used fresh banana and frozen blueberries because, again, that's what I had on hand but you could easily adapt this to whatever is in your pantry. While you can still taste a bit of the RedBull, it's definitely masked by the fruit and the yogurt gives it a creamy consistency. Give it a try if you're in need of a boost and want to throw a few much needed nutrients in.

Prep Time: 1 min

Cook Time: 1 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

1/2 can of sugarfree RedBull
1/2 cup low fat natural yogurt
1/2 a banana, sliced
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Method: 

Mix all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Enjoy! 

Spicy Chana Masala

This is one of my favorite dishes in Indian restaurants and something I've been wanting to try at home. After ordering some amchoor powder off Amazon, I thought this was the perfect time to give it a go. This recipe is based on one from Smitten Kitchen, but of course I couldn't resist messing with it.

Ingredients

So many spices!

Ready for the pan

I thought that the amchoor powder added enough of a sour note that I didn't need the lemon juice that she included. However, if you don't have any on hand, you can definitely substitute the juice of half a lemon. I also neglected to notice that she included cumin seeds after they had been toasted and ground. Instead I threw them in whole and it was actually very tasty so I've kept them that way in this recipe.

Nearly ready...

Ready to eat!

I like the fact that this recipe not only makes TONS of food but it also is pretty quick and actually fairly cheap since chickpeas and chopped tomatoes are hardly the world's most expensive ingredients. And when I say this makes tons, I mean it. I've estimated you could get 8 servings from this but I really think it could even be more, especially if you're having it as a side dish. I served this with some store bought paratha, yogurt, chutney, some lemon roasted new potatoes, quick sauteed mushrooms and a sprinkling of fresh coriander. Delicious!

Finished dish

I highly recommend this as a dish that you could make on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy all week!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp oil
2 medium red onions, chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 green chili, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp amchoor powder
2 tsp paprkida
1 tsp garam masala
1 can chopped tomatoes
2/3 cup water
2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt

Method: 

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Allow to heat through and begin to become translucent before adding the chili. After a few minutes, add the spices and saute to allow the spices to heat through and become fragrant. Next, add the remaining ingredients and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Feta Avocado Dip

Just a quick post today with a tasty and easy snack before I head out to meet my lovely friend Katie for lunch. This is basically a quasi-guacamole with feta instead of the tomatoes onion that you might usually find. I was mainly trying to find a way to use up the last bit of my feta and this worked really well. I served it with some carrot batons and slices of red pepper. Delicious!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: N/A

Serves: 1 

Ingredients: 

1/2 an avocado, mashed

1 tbsp Greek or natural yogurt

15g feta, crumbled

1-2 tsp lemon juice 

Salt 

1 carrot, sliced 

1/2 red pepper, sliced

Method: 

Mix the avocado, yogurt, feta and lemon juice and season with salt to your preference. 

Serve with carrot sticks and red pepper slices. Enjoy! 

July Food Challenge: Black Bean Quesadillas with Raspberry and Fig Salsa

It's that time again! Unfortunately, I was swamped with work during the last two food challenge months so I'm really excited to share my recipe for July. The food draw landed us with a slightly strange mix of ingredients with black beans, raspberries and figs so I started thinking about how I could incorporate them while keeping things appetizing. I love black beans because they're so filling and versatile so in the long run, I'm glad they were in the mix. I definitely wanted to do something savory because I thought it would be easier to bring the raspberries and figs over to the savory side than it would be to make black beans sweet.

Beautiful Raspberries! 

Dried Figs

This recipe is based on my favorite quesadilla recipe from Economy Gastronomy - a television show from a few years ago that seriously needs to be revived. It was a brilliant show that demonstrated how to get the most out of you groceries and therefore how to save money on your weekly shop. THis included things like roasting a leg of lamb and using the leftovers for shepherds pie or using a quick saute of minced beef to make tacos, lasagna and chili. Obviously, as a poor grad student, I loved this show!

Onions and Chili

Bean Layer

Ready to crisp!

Anyway, I've added to the basic premise of the show's quesadillas and simply adapted my usual, go-to pico di gallo recipe to include the fruit. I also served these quesadillas with a simple guacamole and some sour cream. Delicious!This was a super quick recipe and actually surprisingly tasty! Give it a go if you're feeling adventurous...

Crispy!

Ready to eat! Quesadillas, guacamole, salsa and sour cream. Yum!

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

2 cans of black beans in water, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, chopped finely and divided
1-2 green onions, chopped finely
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green chili, deseeded and chopped finely
3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped and divided
1 tbsp chives, chopped
200g cheddar, divided
8 flour tortillas
5 tomatoes, chopped
1-2 limes, juiced
1-2 tbsp jalopenos, chopped
4 dried figs, chopped finely
150g raspberries, chopped

Method: 

To make the salsa: Mix the tomatoes, 1/2 of the red onion, lime juice, jalopenos, figs, raspberries and 1-2 tbsp of the coriander in a bowl and set in the fridge to let the flavors mix. Add salt to taste.

For the quesadillas: Saute the other half of the red onion, green chili and the green onions in a splash of oil over medium heat. Add in the red pepper and continue to saute over medium-low heat until the ingredients are fragrant. Add the black beans and saute until they have warmed through and softened slightly before adding the rest of the coriander and the chives. Stir thoroughly and use a masher or the back of your spoon to mash the beans so that half of them are mashed and the other half are still solid. Finally, add in 3/4 of the cheese and mix until melted. Spoon a few tablespoons of the bean mixture on to a flour tortilla and spread out in an even layer (about a cm thick) across the tortilla, leaving a small border around the outside. Sprinkle with a little of the remaining cheese, top with a second tortilla and paint with a little oil before popping into a pan over medium heat. Allow the first side to crisp while painting the second side before flipping. This stage will only take a few minutes so keep an eye on them! Also, while waiting for each side to crisp, press lightly on the tortilla to encourage the two sides to stick to the filling. When both sides are ready, remove from the heat and allow to sit for a few seconds before slicing. Enjoy!

Herby Egg White Omelette with Spinach, Feta and Scallions

Today's recipe is probably my go-to breakfast option when I need something that will keep me full for a while without too many calories and that's relatively quick and easy. I saute the spinach and scallions first and then add them back in later but you could keep them in the pan and make a quick scrambled egg version of this instead if you prefer. Either way, less than 10 minutes to a tasty breakfast means this would work well on either a work day or a leisurely weekend.

Ingredients

Feta, Spinach and Scallions

Ready to mix!

Finished!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 3 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

Whites of 2 large eggs

Tsp skimmed milk

Handful of spinach, stems removed and roughly chopped

1 green onion, chopped

15g feta, crumbled

Olive oil 

Dash of dried mixed herbs

Pepper

Method: 

Sauté the scallions for 30 seconds until they're sizzling. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Whisk egg whites, milk, dried herbs, and pepper. Add a tiny bit of oil to the pan if needed before pouring in mixture. Heat over a low flame until the bottom has set. 

Next, layer the spinach and scallion across one half of the omelette and top with the crumbled feta. Shake the pan to loosen the omelette before flipping the unadorned half over the filling. 

Sauté for a further 30 seconds before flipping. Leave for 30 seconds again and serve. Enjoy! 

Hummingbird Chocolate Cupcakes

You know, sometimes you just want a cupcake. And nothing makes my day more than realizing that I have all the ingredients for the item I'm craving already in my pantry. Brilliant! This recipe was super easy - the most time consuming bit of the prep is literally just measuring out your ingredients, which takes all of three minutes. If you're in the mood for a tasty cupcake that isn't oppressively sweet, then this is the recipe for you. 

I'd seen this recipe on the Good Food website as well but wanted to give the credit to Hummingbird via Tesco because Good Food sneakily neglected to give any credit to the Hummingbird Bakery! Naughty, naughty. The following recipe hasn't been altered at all because there wasn't anything I'd do differently. I've changed the serving size from twelve to nine because that's all I could get out of the amount. Strange since my cupcakes weren't massive or excessive...

Finally, this recipe has a bit of a weird method where, instead of creaming your butter and sugar first, they just pop everything in together and then add the liquid ingredients. Strange, no? But it worked really well and made the whole recipe really time efficient.

Recipe via http://realfood.tesco.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20-25 min

Serves: 9

Ingredients:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
40g butter, room temperature
120ml milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Beat the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and butter with an electric whisk until it has the consistency of sand and is well mixed. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract before slowly adding to the dry ingredients.

Line your muffin tin with paper holders and fill them two thirds of the way up.

Bake for 20-25 min, decorate and enjoy!

Beat the Heat Summer Salad

Tasty salad!

Hello! I'm back from lovely Rome to scorching heat here in London. With only my small desk fan for company, it's been absolutely baking all day both inside the flat and out. After running a few errands, I was ready for a tasty treat that wouldn't require too much energy and wouldn't add to the heat! Although this recipe does require the use of an oven, it's only for five minutes. Plus, I recommend doubling the kale and enjoying it as a snack later. I also cooked all six vegetarian sausages so that they'd be ready to go next time so that I wouldn't have to use the stove more this evening.

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 5-10 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

2 handfuls of chopped Kale
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 beetroot, cooked and chopped
1/4 red pepper, chopped
1/2 an avocado, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1 veggie sausage
2 tbsp hummus
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp honey

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix the kale, olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and tip out onto a baking tray. Pop into the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the kale is crispy. Set aside.

Saute the veggie sausage for 3 minutes in a dash of oil until it is browned on all sides. Slice into disks and set aside.

Whisk the hummus, vinegar and honey into a dressing. Add a splash of water if it seems too thick. Finally, assemble the kale, sausage and remaining ingredients in your salad bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Enjoy! 

Vegetarian Chili

Lately I've been trying to cut down on my meat consumption in a bid to be a bit healthier for summer. I also like the challenge of having to adjust my existing recipes to work without beef or chicken. In doing so, I've been really impressed with the vegetarian meat substitutes available in the supermarkets around me. I'll definitely be popping back to try some more of them soon!

Vegetarian mince

Celery and Onion

Defrosted mince soaking up the stock

For this chili, I used Quorn's mince. I really think it's a great option because it's so similar to actual beef mince. Sam said if I hadn't told him, he wouldn't have noticed a difference... pretty high compliment! In a bid to make it further resemble normal mince, I popped it in a pan with a little water and a beef stock cube and left it to soak up the stock. Because of that step, I wouldn't say this is technically a vegetarian dish but you could easily skip it or use a vegetarian approved stock cube instead.

Peppers and garlic join the pot

Adding the mince

Everything ready to simmer 

Because I'm using the vegetarian mince, I upped the veggies and spices to help make it tastier. The mince has a slightly softer texture than beef so I topped it with some extra celery to give it a little crunch. I also made a quick pico de gallo and added some olives, green onions and cheese. Delicious! Finally, I'm putting 20 minutes as the cook time but the longer you leave it to simmer, the better!

Finished dish!

Prep TIme: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

300g Quorn mince

1 beef stock cube

100ml water

2 sticks of celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp chilies, chopped

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika 

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can red kidney beans, drained

Toppings: pico de gallo, sour cream, green onion, olives, and celery. 

Method: 

In a small sauce pan, add 100ml of water and the beef stock cube. When the stock is ready, add the Quorn mince and stir to defrost and allow the stock to coat the mince. 

In a larger pan, saute the celery, onion, garlic and bell pepper in a splash of olive oil. When the vegetables have softened, add the mince and spices and cook over medium heat until the spices are fragrant. Finally, add the tomatoes and beans, and leave to simmer for at least ten minutes. Top with cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa, green onions, olives and celery. Enjoy!