Black bean and mango stew

A simple lunch that packs a punch!  Oh dear, I think i’ll leave the rhymes behind in future...

As you read this I am fighting back the nerves as I get my gear in order and make last minute preparations for Tough Mudder…. In just a couple of hours time I'll be en-route to the army base in Winchester where the event takes place so there is no backing out now. I just hope I don’t let myself down, I’m my own worst enemy for setting the bar so high in my mind and then struggle to match it. The main thing is that I give it my best shot and come back on one piece… no doubt I’ll keep you updated on Facebook once I’m done (and maybe a post on here later today if I’m not totally exhausted!!)

Now, back to food….

This is the kind of lunch (and dinner) I’ve been eating recently off the back of my tropical fruit experiments. I‘ve made this ‘stew’ both with mango and pineapple and they were equally nice. The sauce is light and fruity and makes more of a glaze.

This would be great to make with some leftover pineapple after having made the tropical bake for breakfast...just a thought ;-)

It’s a bright and simple ‘stew’ and can be cooked up as a light meal or added on top of brown rice or quinoa (i've been easy so much quinoa these final few days!) for a more hearty main dish.  Use veggies of your choice sliced thinly to cook through evenly and you’re good to go in no time.

Recipe: Black bean and mango stew

Serves 1

Ingredients:

½ cup black beans

2 cups veggies (I used an onion, sweetcorn, red pepper, mange tout and tomatoes)

½ cup fresh or pineapple mango chunks

Sauce:

1 tbs marmalade (sugar free if possible)

1 tbs lemon juice

1-2 tsp soy sauce

1 tbs fresh ginger

Method:

Saute onion for 5 mins until softened, add the remaining veggies and cook for another 5- 10 minutes (depending on size/type).

Add the cook black beans and continue to cook for a couple minutes until heated through.

Meanwhile mix the dressing ingredients and mix through with the mango/pineapple chunks. Add to the stew in the final minute of cooking to glaze and warm through.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

‘Secret ingredient’ Dark chocolate ice cream

Ok so I made you wait…and wait!

You first saw it melting into the choc-chunk cookie pie, but now here we have it in its own right. My super healthy dark chocolate ice cream. Top it with nuts, sprinkles, coconut flakes or a chocolate drizzle, this ice cream is light and refreshing whilst packing a substantial punch…all due to its secret ingredient…

Black beans!

Yup, another spin on the worlds healthiest fudge, further fuelled by the success with this chocolate frosting, it was only a matter of time before the worlds healthiest chocolate ice cream was born!

Perfect teamed with a warm dessert, served soft with layers of fruit or spooned into a cone to enjoy drippy ice cream in the sun shine. The sunshine actually came out today…whoooo!

I call this dark chocolate ice cream as it has a richly intense slightly ‘bitter’ dark chocolate flavour (bitter is not the best word to use- but I hope you know what I mean!) Using coconut milk may give a creamier result (not I have not tried it that way). You could easily jazz up this recipe with mix-ins of coconut, cookie chunks, chocolate drops…..

I topped this cone with a simple chocolate drizzle made with agave syrup, cocoa and melted coconut oil. I mixed approx. 1 teaspoon of each together to create a thickish runny chocolate sauce which froze upon contact with the cold ice cream.
                                                                                                                                                                            

Recipe: Dark chocolate ice cream

Makes approx. 600ml

Ingredients

1 batch fudge- see below

1 ½ cup ‘milk’

3 tbs agave

30ml rum (I used Malibu)

Fudge ingredients:

½  can black beans- rinsed and drained

1 mashed banana

½ cup cocoa powder (or raw cacoa powder)

1/3 cup dates

2 tsp vanilla extract

½  tsp cinnamon

½ tsp stevia

½ cup ground oats**

2 tbs ground flax

2 tbs ground chia seeds

Method

Mix up the fudge by combining all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients to the fudge dough and blend until you have a thick smooth liquid of yoghurt like consistency. Pour into a freezer container with easily removable lid. Place in the freezer for a few hours until solid, stirring twice every hour or two as it begins to solidify.

You can either serve in a semi-frozen state as a ‘soft serve’ dessert, or wait until fully set.

Note: once frozen it will freeze hard due to low fat and sugar content. Taking the ice cream out of the freezer and placing in the fridge 30 mins before serving will help soften it up a little. The alcohol content helps to make a more uniform softness, without it the softening process takes longer and is less consistent (although the resultant ice cream still tastes good!)

Note: I do not have an ice cream maker so have not tried using that method.

* This cone is not vegan or gluten free. I made this particular ice cream for my sister who isn’t vegan and this was the only option available to me. I know vegan and gluten free cones are available- Barkat and Escal are two such brands that are available in the UK.

** for further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Mexican sweet potato soup

Soup…in the middle of summer?? 

Well yeah, if  'summer' is practically winter!

We need the sunshine, I need my plants to grow….and I want to wear shorts and flip flops…. is that really too much to ask?

In mean time, whilst I wait patiently for the sun, I bring you soup. Not just any soup mind you, this sweet potato concoction has a spicy kick and a great texture that you can adapt to your preference. It’s super quick to cook and makes up a big batch for the freezer…just the way I like it!  You could probably also serve this cold on a hot day (note: I have not tried this!!)

I love grating sweet potato into soups as it speeds up the cooking time so much whilst still giving a great flavour and texture. You can also vary the seasonings as you wish, but I wanted to create a Mexican twist here. Oh, and you can ignore the savoury scones in the photos, they were an experimental lentil based recipe that were edible but not yet blog worthy.

I hope you are enjoying your summer, however hot (or not) it may be, and for those readers  who are now having their winter- well this recipe is for you!

Recipe: Mexican sweet potato soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 red or white onion-finely sliced

2 cloves garlic-crushed

1 tsp red palm oil or olive oil

1 medium sweet potato- grated or processed until coarse (approx. 1 large cups worth)

½ tsp chipotle sauce (or a small chopped chilli/chilli flakes)

1 can tomatoes

2 cups vegetable stock

½ cup cooked sweetcorn

½ cup cooked black beans

1 pepper

2 tbs nutritional yeast

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chilli

Salt to taste

Method

Fry the onion and garlic in a large saucepan for few minutes in oil till soft.

Add the sweet potato, tomatoes, chipotle sauce and stock and simmer for approx. 10 mins until the potato is fully cooked. Blend to achieve desired texture if necessary.

Meanwhile cut the pepper into chunks and grill/fry this separately. Add to the cooked sweet potato mixture along with the sweet corn and black beans. Cook for a further 5 mins to heat through. Add all the remaining seasonings in the last couple of minutes prior to serving. 

For more soup recipes check out this collection.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Black bean beet burgers

Chant the title of this recipe over and over and you’ll have yourself a rap…or something of that sort! Either way these burgers are worth the chant (and the wait for those of you saw the sneaky picture I posted on my Facebook page when I’d first made them a week or so ago)

I know I still have a few recipes to share from my birthday post, and also another birthday related recipe (who doesn’t like to keep birthday’s alive for as long as possible?) but for today, I didn’t want to make you wait any longer for these burgers that have been grinning at me from the folder of photos on my computer desk top for too long!

Black bean beet burgers… Black bean beet burgers… Black bean beet burgers… Black bean beet burgers… Black bean beet burgers…

So I figure the title of this post gives them away rather but apart from having a slight purple tinge, I think they look pretty authentic, complete with chargrilled lines and all.  When I make these burgers again I may reduce the amount of beetroot slightly and also use a mix of cooked quinoa and rice for a variation in texture, since quinoa holds the firmness of the grain more so than rice which may be even more realistic for a meaty texture…just a couple of tiny thoughts to bear in mind, but here I have given you the recipe exactly as I made it.  It goes without saying that you could make a big batch and freeze some. You could also form balls and make meatballs…another variation on this theme.

Typically I don’t seek to replicate ‘meat’ in my meals, I simply don’t feel the need to and a just don’t miss it. I love the taste and textures that veggies and non-meat foods provide without trying to replicate meat…but this was simply a challenge I could not ignore. Plus I wanted to see how authentic I could make these, particularly for non- veggie friends. 

Another important side note to these burgers is that they are very ‘stable’ by that I mean they hold up very well to handling pre-cooking so I think they’d be great for a BBQ! I am definitely going to be making some of these this summer.  I found that the most authentic colouration came from part oven baking and part pan frying in a griddle to obtain the best colour and charred lines. The first batch I just oven baked and they tasted great but just lacked a little something in the visual department… me…perfectionist…never!

I teamed this meal with homemade tomato ketchup, cheezy mustard dip, avocado slices, and a homemade coleslaw. The burgers buns were simply baked versions of my gluten free flatbread with sesame sprinkled on top. Sweet potato fries sealed the deal! I have a recipe for the ketchup and cheezy mustard dip on the way soon….

Enjoy!

Recipe: Black bean beet burgers

Makes approx. 6 burgers

Ingredients

1 cup black beans- cooked

1 cup brown rice- cooked

1 cup oatmeal

1 small onion- finely sliced

1/3 cup cooked beetroot- shredded finely

2 tbs chia and 3 tbs water

2tbs tahini

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tsp mustard

Approx. ½ tsp hot chipoltle sauce (to taste)

1 tsp garlic powder

½  tsp chilli powder

½ tsp paprika

Method

Mash black beans and mix with all other ingredients until you have a well mixed but still textured (meaty) mixture. The mixture should be sticky but manageable.

Form into burger patties approx. 1.5cm thick using your hands or use a cookie cutter as a mould to achieve neat edges (perfectionist!). Lay the burgers on a lined baking sheet and bake for approx. 10 minutes until they are just beginning to brown and then fry on a griddle pan for a few minutes each side to complete the cooking and achieve seared pan lines.

Can be frozen.

This recipe was shared in Allegy Free Wednesday's

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.