pineapple chutney

 

This was a treat at Christmas, but I think it would be good any time you have ham or chicken for a meal. I'll bet it would be tremendously delicious on a ham sandwich, too, and I'm going to try it on vanilla ice cream sometime. It was packed full of spice, tartness, sweetness, and just overall perky deliciousness. 

(Borrowed from The Healthy Foodie, but I've slightly changed it.)

You'll need:

• 1 onion, finely chopped 
• 1 large pineapple, finely chopped (I used pre-cut pineapple in chunks, but then I had to chop it into tiny bits)
• 1 dried Japanese chili, deseeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 3 T. grated ginger
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• a pinch of ground cloves

Do this:

Saute the onion a few minutes in a frying pan, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low heat about an hour, until most of the liquid is gone. 

Serve with a festive meal or whenever you darn well feel like it. 

curry fried rice

 

I aggregated a few recipes plus my own ideas for this yummy curried fried rice, which one of our sons loves and one doesn't. I happen to be in the love camp. (I served it in my bento with carrot sambharo, another delicious concoction, and yogurt with honey, lettuce, tomato, and a lemon wedge.) 

You'll need:

• ground pork, about 500 g
• garlic cloves, minced, about 5 or 6
• ginger, grated, about a 1-inch or 4-cm knob
• cooked rice (I used 3 cups, pre-cooked)
• 1 or 2 carrots, chopped finely
• 1/4 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• frozen peas, about 200 g
• salt and pepper to taste
• Worcestershire sauce, about 1 T. 
• soy sauce, about 2 T. 
• ketchup, about 1/4 cup
• cooking sake, about 2 T.
• turmeric, about 2 t. 
• Japanese curry powder, about 1 T. 
• 4 eggs, beaten

Do this:

Saute the onions, carrots, cabbage, garlic, and ginger in a tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil, then add in the pork and stir till cooked through. Throw in those peas. Pour in the Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, cooking sauce, and ketchup along with your spices, then add in the cooked rice. Cook till you get little crispy rice edges in some places, then pour over your beaten eggs, let set a few minutes, then stir again before serving. 

If you need to do a little happy-taste-buds-dance, I won't stop you. 

gluten-free and dairy-free potato rosti quiche (from nadiya hussain)

 

I'm not sure if I got this recipe from the show "Nadiya Bakes" or "Nadiya's Time to Eat," but it's lovely and it disappears in one sitting down our four gullets. I've amended it just slightly.

You'll need:

• 1 white potato
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 t. paprika
• 1 T. garlic powder
• 1 T. onion granules (I left these out because I didn't have any)
• 1 t. sea salt
• 40 g flour (I used 20 g rice flour + 20 g almond flour)
• 6 eggs
• 200 ml milk (I used soy)
• 150 g grated cheese (I used soy "cheese")
• (optional extra: I thought I might add a teaspoon or so of nutritional yeast powder next time to give it an even bigger cheesy taste)
• chopped chives or green onions

Do this:

Grate the potatoes (no need to peel) over a tea towel and then squeeze the liquid out. Put the drained grated potatoes in a big bowl and add the paprika, garlic powder, onion granules if you have them, sea salt, flour, and 1 egg. With your hands, squish it all together. 

Grease a pie plate and mash the potato mixture in using a round jar with a flat bottom. Bake it at 170 C about 13 minutes or until a little bit crispy. Beat an egg and put an egg wash all over the crust, then bake 5 minutes more. 

Beat together 200 ml of milk and 4 eggs. You could season with a little salt and pepper at this point.

Put the grated cheese into the bottom of the crust, pour the egg and milk mixture over, then sprinkle with green onions or chives. I cover my crust with a lovely red silicone crust cover so it doesn't burn. 

Bake at 160 C for about 30 minutes (might need more). Let it rest for 30 minutes out of the oven, then dive in! 

dairy-free and gluten-free cashew and veggie "cheese" dip

This is what my Blendtec blender cookbook calls "Garden Cashew Cream," but I call it MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE CHEESY CASHEW STUFF, PLEASE.  

You'll need:

• 2 T. water
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 2 T. soy sauce (I use gluten free)
• 1/4 C. red bell pepper (I actually read this wrongly and used 1/4 of a red pepper, and it worked fine)
• 2 T. red onion (I used white onion---it's cheaper!)
• 2 T. nutritional yeast 
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 C. cashews, soaked for 2-4 hours and then rinsed and drained

Do this:

Put those ingredients in your blender in the order listed above, and then blast away! 

Tasty with tortilla chips or raw veggie sticks. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go soak some more cashews. 

best black-eyed peas

 

I've amalgamated my own family history of making black-eyed peas with a few other recipes from online, and I'm posting this here so I won't forget next time I have some dried black-eyed peas to play with.

Peas, please! 

You'll need:

• 500 g dried black-eyed peas
• 2 T. grapeseed oil
• 1/4 to 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 t. paprika
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• chopped cooked ham
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 onion, chopped small
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch komatsuna greens (or whatever greens you wish), washed, drained, and chopped

Do this:

Soak the peas all day in water, changing the water every couple hours. Just before cooking, drain and rinse. 

Saute the onion, garlic, and greens in a big stockpot with the grapeseed oil, and when they're nice and browned and softened, add the black-eyed peas, water to cover, chopped ham, and all the spices. Simmer till the beans are softened and a lot of the liquid has evaporated. But make sure you keep some of that good pot liquor in there! It's great with cornbread. 

carrot sambharo

 

I can never get enough of carrot sambharo---it's great with curries, in a bento, as a side dish at a picnic, or in place of a regular boring salad. I don't remember how I found this recipe to begin with, but I used this one from Bon Appetit as a starting point.

You'll need:

• three medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
• about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 t. kosher or sea salt
• 1 T. veggie oil
• 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 T. tomato paste
• 1/2 t. ground turmeric
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Do this:

Toss the carrots with the salt and let the salt draw a bit of water out, then drain. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the tomato paste, garlic, red pepper flakes, and turmeric, and stir and cook for about 5 minutes. 

Add that mixture to the carrots, toss, and pour over the lemon juice. Stir it all up and then put in the fridge till you're ready.

Or just dive right in! The water (um, glossy spicy carrot mixture) is fantastic.