Vegetarian salad, with Chickpeas and Rice, and Bistro Salad leaves

Chickpeas cooked until tender, then cooled, and dressed in red pesto sauce..Batonned raw carrot, and diced raw white onion dressed in tarragon. Basmati rice cooked with salt and two dried red chillies. Plus a bistro salad of lettuce leaves. Delicious and filling I made this dish just minutes before we heard on the wires that Sean Connery had died ( one of Edinburgh's most famous sons).  RIP. 

 

Chicken, Rice, and Blackbean Salad

Chopped chicken breast from the fridge. Served with basmati rice, black beans and chickpeas, red onion, plus a side-serving of carrot and green pepper. 

The chicken was roasted and cooled overnight. The black beans and chickpeas were soaked overnight, cooked, and cooled in cold water. The diced red onion was served raw. The carrots and green peppers were cooked and served cold. Dress in dried herbs of your choice, with a little black pepper.  

 

Beef Chili and Potato Pie

Effectively a spicy cottage pie, with chilli, red kidney beans and chickpeas. Made to use up some leftover beef chilli. 

The beans and chickpeas were soaked in unsalted water over night, and were added to the beef chilli (which already contained onions and carrots). 

The beef chilli was decanted into a standard pie tin, and mashed potato was laid on top, and textured with a fork. Placed on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to at least 180 deg C, for between forty minutes to an hour. Check progress by eye, and remove from the oven when the pie is sufficiently browned. Serve dressed with a little coriander. 

 

Chilli Stir-Fry, with Peppers, Bean Sprouts and Cabbage

Chilli Stir-Fry, with pickled chillies (Aleyna brand), bean sprouts, purple and green cabbage, diced carrot, and slices of orange pepper. Cooked in sunflower oil at a high heat for three or four minutes, and then the heat was turned right down. Stirred more or less continuously for another four minutes. Decanted onto a plate with a spiral of dark soy sauce. Delicious!

Beef Chilli with Carrots, Red Pepper, and Coriander

A healthy ground beef chilli with lots of vegetables - red kidney beans, carrot, onion, mushroom, chillies, red pepper, garlic, tomato puree (or tinned tomatoes), plus the herbs coriander and basil. 

The beef had been prepared the day before (with the Bisto browning), and was added to the pot, along with the diced vegetables, the red kidney beans, the garlic and the chillies, and tomato puree. Simmered under glass for an hour and a half. Added coriander and basil during the final ten minutes. 

Served with basmati rice, and dressed with a dusting of dried coriander.  

Chorizo, Pepper and Spring Onion Risotto

Chorizo based risotto with basmati rice, spring onions, and yellow pepper. The diced spring onions were added to the pan with the chopped chorizo, and they fried in the fat from the sausage. The strips of pepper were added after a few minutes.  Preparation time about twenty minutes.

 At the same time I prepared the basmati rice in another pan filled with slightly salted boiling water. Fifteen minutes cooking time at a low to medium heat. Cooked along with coriander leaf . 

The rice was drained thoroughly and then added to the pan with the vegetables and the chorizo. Stir-fried for five to ten minutes. 

 

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew, with Spicy Chips

A chickpea stew with diced carrot, sweet potato and green beans. The chickpeas were soaked overnight in unsalted water until soft. Drained, and decanted into a pot of boiling water, along with the carrot, sweet potato and the green beans. Add some chicken or ham stock, and ground white pepper. Add a teaspoonful of gravy granules and stir through the stew. Cook at a low heat on the hob for an hour.

Served in this case with spicy chipped potatoes, grilled in the middle of the oven for around fifteen minutes. The chips were allowed to stand in a marinade beforehand for a couple of hours The marinade was made with sunflower oil, malt vinegar, tomato ketchup (or puree), salt, garlic, red chilli, dried coriander leaf, tarragon and oregano (the choice of herbs is up to you). When grilled the chips don't need to be turned, and they are less likely to stick to the roasting tray, compared to oven roasting.

MacSween Haggis, with Potato and Turnip and Carrot Mash

A MacSween Haggis cooked in a steamer for fifty minutes. Allowed to stand for fifteen minutes, and then was cut in half with a sharp knife. The vegetables were cooked in a pan of salted water for half an hour. Each of the vegetables was cut in a different way to allow their easy separation, before mashing the carrot and turnip together. 

 

Red Pesto Fusilli with Prosciutto

A simple pasta dish made with wheat-free fusilli and diced prosciutto crudo. Dressed in red pesto. Served cold, with a little black pepper.  

 

Pancakes with Banana and Maple Syrup

Simple pancakes, made with Khorasan wheat and two eggs, plus sunflower oil and (in this case), a little water. Beaten together and then the mixture is decanted into a hot omelette pan. The heat was turned down immediately, and the pancakes were cooked slowly, and turned once. 

Served with sliced bananas, and drizzled with maple syrup. 

Banana Bread, with Oats and Peanut Butter

A simple banana bread, made with Khorasan wheat (about 200g), plus 300g of rolled oats, and three medium sized bananas, mashed. Stirred together with water (300 mls), 100g of Demerara sugar, salt, yeast, and three dessert spoonfuls of olive oil. 

Blend the mixture together thoroughly, and allow the mixture to stand in a warm place, and to rise. 

Spoon into a standard bread tin, and texture the surface with a fork. Bake on the middle shelf of an oven preheated to 190 deg C for fifty minutes (judge progress by eye). 

Allow to cool. Serve with salted butter, and peanut butter. Delicious!