Mexican Rice bowls: dairy free, syn free, can be veggie/ vegan

Midweek dinners can be a bit of a trial can't they? Toddlers hit grumpy o'clock (anytime from 4pm to bedtime in this house), husbands are hangry (an entirely new word to me - thanks Kat for introducing me to it as it defines M perfectly), and my thoughts are turning from caffeine to gin. Or something. These rice bowls, are quick, easy, and can be made with whatever is knocking around in your fridge as well as being personalised to your particular taste preferences - add coriander, or don't, add chilli, or don't, add avocado, or don't - you get the idea.

For us, these came about on spotting a box mix for this type of thing in Aldi - and thinking, to quote Jason Robert Brown - "I can do better than that." so, a home made spice mix, and some long grain cooked rice later we the basis of the dish. Adding veggies, a tomato based sauce, and some leftover roast chicken for the resident carnivore.  Surprisingly, as he's been a bit picky of late, Harry hoovered it up. Although we discovered he's no longer a fan of avocado. Which would be a shame if I didn't love it. Just don't mention Slimming World!

Without further ado, here's the recipe for our Mexican rice bowls

Mexican Rice bowls
Dairy free, syn free. Omit the chicken for veggie/ vegan option
Serves 4 (and 3 baby portions)

1 cup of long grain rice, cooked as you would usually. I use the absorption method as it's idiot-proof.
Flavourless oil for cooking - we used Fry light but rapeseed or vegetable would be great
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red and 1 yellow pepper finely diced
125g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup of sweetcorn (I used frozen)
1 red chilli, finely diced
Leftover roast chicken - or omit completely. I'd have been more than happy without it.
2 cloves of garlic
1 400g tin of back beans (or kidney beans, I just had a random tin of black beans in the cupboard)
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano

For the sauce:

1 tin chopped tomatoes/ 1 carton passata - depending on if you prefer smooth or chunky
1 red chilli
Tomato puree
Paprika
Pinch of sugar
2 cloves garlic

Toppings (to taste):

Fresh coriander
Diced avocado
Quartered cherry tomatoes
Sriracha or similar chilli sauce
Grated cheese/ vegan cheese

In a large pan make the sauce, gently cook the chilli and garlic until you can smell them sizzling away, then add the tomatoes, paprika, tomato puree and a generous pinch of sugar (more if, like me you buy cheap tomatoes).
Bring to a simmer and bubble down until you get a thick, almost pulpy sauce

In a separate pan cook the onion, garlic and chilli in the oil until the onion is softened. This normally takes me about 10 minutes over a low heat.
Add the beans, peppers, mushrooms, and sweetcorn and cook for a few more minutes
Add the spices and continue to cook until softened
If you're adding leftover chicken stir it in now
Add the sauce, bring to a low simmer (you might want to add a glass of water if it feels too thick - but you basically want your dry ingredients covered in sauce, not swimming in it)
Add your rice and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes

Serve in bowls, sprinkled with any toppings you a) have in the house and b) fancy
Enjoy

It took me less than half an hour to cook, and the duration of an episode of Mr Tumble to prep. Which in my eyes is perfect!

Why not Pin this recipe for later?

Some other lovely bloggers have made similar recipes - why not have a look at theirs too?

A gorgeous looking Veggie miso soup noodle bowl from Foodie Quine

Similarly a beautiful Vegan rice bowl with Maple Tofu and and Smoked tomato sauce from Choclette at Tin and Thyme

Also from Choclette, a Quinoa bowl with roasted squash and broccoli that I am entirely sure a certain toddler would love

A sushi bowl that is already on next week's meal plan from Jane at the Hedge Combers

I'm linking this post up as part of this month's Credit Crunch Munch that's being hosted by Lisa from Lovely Appetite

Credit crunch munch is a joint challenge run by Fab Food 4 All and Fuss Free Flavours

I'm also linking up with A Mummy too and her Recipe of the week as well.

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How do you like your eggs at lunchtime? Fridge bottom chilli spiked eggs

As I'm trundling through this dairy free process I'm not just bemoaning a lack of tea, but also it seemed that all my quick, go-to whilst breastfeeding, can be eaten with one hand lunches contained cheese, or milk, or chocolate. Digestives, mainly chocolate digestives. New options needed to be found, options with flavour.

Last week, I had half a packet of wholewheat pittas leftover from some earlier homous and pretty much nothing else in for lunch. A quick scour of the cupboards showed that we were out of pasta and similarly the fridge had some brocolli, a lot of milk (we must change the order with the milkman) all the bits of cheese I can't eat and some jelly I'd made the night before. As I'm pretty sure that jelly doesn't constitute the sort of balanced diet you need while breastfeeding, I did that thing of checking the cupboards again and decided on eggs. I normally scramble eggs with milk and butter, but in the absence of these just popped a little olive oil in the pan. Veg wise I literally used up what we had, but if we'd had mushrooms or ham would have happily added those into the mix - this is an ideal, fridge bottom dish.

Fridge bottom chilli spiked eggs

3 eggs, beaten lightly
Salt & pepper
1/4 red, green and yellow pepper
1 tsp olive oil
 Wholewheat pitta toasted
Tabasco sauce
Red chilli

Chop your red chilli and peppers into a fine dice, and gently cook in a small frying pan in the olive oil until just softened
Beat the eggs into a jug and season with salt and pepper
Add the eggs to the veggies and stir until cooked through
Sprinkle in tabasco to taste (liberally if you're me)
 Serve in toasted pittas and enjoy

If you're not dairy free, please add a load of good, strong grated cheddar. Just don't tell me how good it tastes. Please. 

I know some people might consider eggs to be dairy, but our paediatrician is happy for us to continue eating them for now.

Salad Days - a warm spring salad

Today's lunch. Well, with the sun finally putting his hat on I thought it was time to crack out the salad. Not in their true sense, but a variation thereof. So here we have a warm salad. After all, there's still a nip in the air, and whilst this sates my need for something healthy (I use the term loosely) it does still have strong flavours and a sense - from the oil in the dressing of being luxurious. 

This was one of those recipes that came to me whilst looking in the fridge, and just putting things together in my head. In terms of a recipe it's more of a loose approximation of what needed using up and would go relatively well together. Despite having a surfeit of parsnips and carrots, they didn't make their way in as I didn't fell they fitted with the other veg. 

Warm Spring Salad

1 bulb fennel sliced so it's still relatively chunky

2 courgettes, cubed

1 yellow pepper, cubed

1 orange pepper, cubed (by the way, Sainsbury's Basics peppers are brilliant, and much much cheaper than their regular ones)
1 leek sliced finely

1/2 a chorizo sausage, skinned and cubed

1 bulb garlic, smashed

Drizzle of olive oil

Dried thyme, sprinkled (probably about a teaspoon)

2 bay leaves

2 glasses white wine/ veg stock

Salt and Pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Rocket or watercress to serve

Aubergine, celery, cherry tomatoes would all be good additions, it's just I didn't have them.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees

Chop your vegetables so that they're roughly the same size and put them in a roasting tin. Try to keep them in one layer so that they cook relatively evenly

Add the chorizo, garlic cloves, herbs and salt and pepper

Drizzle with some olive oil and pour the white wine/ veg stock (about half a pint/ 2 wine glasses of either) over the veg

Cook in the preheated oven for about half an hour. Or until the veg is soft and starting to caramelise on the edges

Take out of the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes (so it's nice and warm but neither hot nor cold)

Serve in a bowl with lots of rocket or watercress (the pepperiness cuts through the dressing)

Pour off a little of the oil and cooked down wine into a jam jar, add some balsamic vinegar (sherry or white wine vinegar would be fine I imagine) put the lid on and give a good shake. Pour this over your warm salad and either toss through or if you're lazy like me, do some work while it sits on the side. 

Serve with some crusty bread, it's an idea working from home lunch in that it feels a bit more decadent than sandwiches or soup, but as it's basically a fridge bottom recipe is cheap and uses up veg that might be slightly past it's best. 

Alteration:

I would use the veg base for this as the basis of a sausage bake and serve with baked potatoes for an evening meal. It would be lovely, and you could spoon off some of the oils, and make a kind of gravy with any burnt bits of veg on the bottom of the pan. Lovely. 

Souper Dooper: Tom yum soup

It's actually a take on Tom yum soup. Without the coconut milk, and with a dash of fridge-bottom ness about it, making it slightly more frugal than either the name or this post would suggest.

I really have no appetite right now, my inclination is oddly, not towards traditional comfort foods, but to the clearing spice and cleanness of thai (or at the very least, thai influences). That said, this was a cobbled together lunch that made use of the last of my veg box, and a jar of tom yum paste left over from the Fusionfood challenges late last year.

1 glug oil
3 tablespoons tom yum paste (I used FusionFoods)
1 clove garlic crushed
3 pieces of galangal (I use Waitrose's dried galangal)
1/2 tsp lazy chilli
250g prawns (it's amazing what you find when you dig through your freezer)
Spring greens, leaves finely shredded
1 stick celery shredded
1 red pepper, chopped into matchsticks
Handful rice noodles
Boiling water

Heat the oil gently in a wok or frying pan and add the paste, cook until you can smell the aromatics
Add the garlic, chilli and galangal and continue to fry gently
Add the prawns and cook through until hot
Meanwhile, pour a kettle full of boiling water over the noodles and the shredded greens, and leave for about 4 minutes
Drain, the greens & noodles and add to the wok/ pan, stirring briefly
Add 150ml(ish) of boiling water into the wok/ pan and stir so that everything is combined
Serve in a bowl, and eat, alone and away from a mirror

The original recipe asked for coconut milk to be added at the end of cooking, and then coriander. I didn't add these as I didn't have them in and I didn't want the cooling sweetness of the coconut milk. That said this was particularly fiery and the sourness really came through, so it could probably do with the balance of the coconut milk. Something about it's clearing heat really appeals to me, with the lightly cooked vegetables and freshness of the broth says healing to me. And after all, that is what I'm after at the moment.

What appeals to me about this is that it could be prettied up into a lovely dinner, or if pushed for time and fresh food (like myself) a quick and easy lunch for one.

Meal planning Wednesday: The midweek edition

You may have noticed that it's not Monday, and I'm not trying to sidle in late to Meal Planning Monday with a note from my Mum. It's midweek, and I'm proudly only just doing my meal plan.

Wednesday: Nasi Goreng
Thursday: Fridge bottom soup (swede, parsnip, carrot and celery) with Herman bread
Friday: Is it cheating to say leftover soup & Nasi Goreng?
Saturday: Bratwurst, baked potatoes and red cabbage
Sunday: Chicken and leek pie

Baking: A Herman, and a beetroot chocolate cake

Lunches this week have been mainly fruit based, but once I've made the soup, it'll be that in my new flask.

My main reason for lateness is that I've been teaching in Kent this week, and I'm disorganised, and seem to be suffering with some kind of permanently full up and slightly nauseous thing. Anyway, the Riverford veg box arrived today and I made good use of it, and a leftover sauce from my Fusion Foods challenge in a protein and veg rich Nasi Goreng.

Nasi Goreng

1 cup brown, basmati rice. Cooked
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Dried galangal to taste
1 red chilli, chopped
250g chicken
100g cooked prawns
1 cup edamame beans
1 cup sweetcorn
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
1 jar WorldFoods Fusion nasi goreng sauce

Heat up the oil in a large pan or wok and add the spices, cooking until they sizzle
Add the chicken and cook until browned
Add the vegetables and stir fry until lightly cooked
Stir the sauce through
Add the cooked rice and stir until combined
Serve, on the sofa, in a bowl, with a large glass of water, wearing pyjamas.