Cookbook Challenge: Mixed Bean and Aubergine Tagine

For the first recipe of my cookbook challenge, I started with one of my stranger books: The Detox Health-Plan Cookbook. This particular book has been with me almost as long as I've been in Britain and yet... I've only made a handful of the recipes contained therein. It's a shame because this book also contains a lot of information about healthy eating, nutrition and holistic healing through food. Really interesting and a successful bargain bin find! 

The Detox Health-Plan Cookbook

Edited by Maggie Pannell

Hermes House, Anness Publication Ltd. 2006

The very first cookbook challenge post seems like the ideal place to confess that I have a particular weakness for cookbooks with fabulous photos. I wish every recipe would come with a photo! My reasons for choosing this particular recipe to kick off the challenge were based on practicality: I was desperate to clear out some cupboard space! I try to keep the kitchen cabinets fairly well stocked with canned tomatoes, different types of beans and other staples so, as a result, I'm often in need of a recipe that will let me use up some of those acquired bits and bobs! Since I didn't have a tagine dish handy, I used a large oven safe pot. However, I think you could also sauté everything in a large frying pan and then transfer to a covered baking dish if needed. 

Although this recipe calls for dried beans, I swapped those out for canned versions and they were perfectly delicious. That's what I call cupboard success! I stuck with the recipe's suggestion of using fresh tomatoes but I think using a canned version in colder months would be perfectly acceptable as well. Finally, the original recipe uses the bay leaves and the celery as part of the soaking process for the dried beans. Since I was using canned versions, I decided to add everything into the main dish instead and I think they really added a nice depth of flavor. 

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 60 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 medium aubergines, chopped into bit size pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-2 red chilies, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp paprika
2-3 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp fresh mint
1 tbsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp fresh coriander/cilantro
black pepper to taste

2/3 cup greek yogurt
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 160C / 325F.

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a large, oven safe casserole pot over medium heat. Add the chopped aubergine and sauté for five minutes or until evenly browned. Remove from the pot and set aside.

Next, add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and add the onion and celery. Stirring frequently, sauté until softened. Add the garlic and chopped chilies. After five minutes, add the tomato puree and paprika and cook for a minute or two. When the puree has been mixed through, add the chopped tomatoes, aubergine, chickpeas, red kidney beans and vegetable stock. At this point, add black pepper to taste.

Cover the pan and transfer to the oven. After an hour, give the tagine a stir and check that the aubergine is cooked through. If the tagine still has a lot of liquid, allow to continue cooking in twenty minute intervals until it has the consistency of a stew.

To serve, mix the yogurt, mint and spring onions and add to each dish alongside a sprig of cilantro/coriander. We enjoyed this recipe on its own but it could also be nice over couscous for a more substantial meal. Enjoy! 

Lunchables: Monday

This week I'm trying out something new for the blog. Since I'm working every day as a teaching assistant, I'm hoping to take my lunch in with me. Should be a good opportunity to use my fancy new box! I'll be posting each day's offerings here so stay tuned!

My new lunchbox!

Very handy having the cutlery included

Monday's lunch was a quick and easy stir fry. When I made dinner yesterday, I kept a small portion aside for a no-brainier lunch. Simple!

Love the little pot for sauces/dressings

Ready to go!

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup aubergine, sliced into bite size pieces

1/2 cup zucchini, sliced

1/2 a small red onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp garlic

100g ready to cook rice noodles

Coconut oil

Olive oil

Soy sauce

Method:

Add a half a teaspoon of coconut oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Place the slices of aubergine into the pan and sauté until browned and soft. Add a bit of olive oil if needed. Next add the zucchini and onion and cook until soft. Stir in the garlic and ginger and sauté for a minute or two until the garlic is fragrant. Next toss in the rice noodles and mix with the other ingredients. Add a dash of soy sauce and toss to coat. Enjoy!

Moussaka

In honor of Easter, I wanted to make something lamb based but thought that a leg of lamb might be a bit too pricey/fancy. So after a quick search, I settled on making moussaka - a Greek dish comprised of lamb mince and aubergines. Having never made this before, I was a bit nervous but luckily the Guardian had taken all the hard work out for me. Their weekly food column, "How to Make the Perfect...", by Felicity Cloake takes a dish and examines the different recipe tips and tricks before giving their verdict on how to make the perfect version. Her recipe had a manageable number of ingredients and was fairly simple to prepare - which are of course my main criteria for a first attempt at a dish.

Ingredients (ignore the chopped tomatoes)

Aubergine ready for the oven

Aubergine fresh from the oven

This version was surprisingly easy to make and had a great cinnamon flavor. The béchamel topping was equally easy and had the perfect amount of salt from the pecorino cheese. If you're looking for a dish that will  be warming but still spring-like, this is a great option. Also, by baking the eggplant first, this negates the need to salt them and also keeps the oil level of the overall dish much lower than other versions.

Layer 1: Aubergine

Layer 2: Meat sauce

Layer 6: Béchamel 

Finished result!

Recipe via www.guardian.co.uk

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

2-3 aubergines, sliced lengthwise
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
500g lamb mince
2 tbsp tomato puree, mixed with 150ml of water
150ml red wine
1 tbsp parsley
500ml milk
60g butter
60g flour
50g pecorino
1 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
Salt
Pepper

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180C / 355F.

Lay aubergine slices on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush both sides of each slice with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the slices are soft and browned lightly.

Meanwhile, saute the onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add in the garlic, cinnamon and oregano. Saute for a minute before adding the lamb mince. Continue to saute until lamb has browned and then add the tomato puree mixture and the red wine. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

In a separate pan, heat the milk until just before boiling. In another pan, melt the butter and add in the flour to make a roux. Slowly whisk this into the milk to form the béchamel sauce. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly before adding the two eggs so they don't scramble.

To assemble the moussaka, start with a layer of a third of the aubergine and top with half of the lamb mixture. Continue with these layers, finishing with a final aubergine layer. Top with the béchamel sauce. Bake for 45 minutes until the top is nicely browned. Allow to sit for 30 minutes so that the layers solidify a bit before slicing. Enjoy!