Specials Board: Aubergine & Cauliflower Burritos

Do you remember that cooking programme "Ready Steady Cook"? Where a member of the audience used to bring a carrier bag of food and the chef had 30 minutes (I think) to make something from the ingredients. Well, that's what it's like in my kitchen most nights! I open up the fridge and see what 'needs' to be used first. I really should start to plan my meals again, but I like challenging myself to see what I come up with. The majority of times I have managed to create something tasty, thank goodness, but believe me there has been the odd time when my composter has been fed instead!

Today, I'm pleased to say, things worked out well. After opening my fridge there were 3 things that needed using up, half a cauliflower, an aubergine and a packet of ready prepared butternut squash & sweet potato chunks that I had picked up in the mark down section at the local supermarket. Sometimes, when my fridge is bare and I fancy a challenge I go to the mark down section in the local supermarket and buy three items & along with store cupboard ingredients I challenge myself to come up with something tasty for dinner.

It would have been easy to make a curry with these ingredients but where is the challenge in that? So, I decided that the packet of ready prepared butternut squash & sweet potato chunks would be turned into a 'cheese' sauce similar to an earlier recipe I posted here. I would normally serve this with pasta, but the aubergine and cauliflower didn't appeal to me as a pasta dish. After looking through my store cupboard I noticed a packet of tortillas had gone past there "best before" date so that was it, they had to be used. Aubergine & Cauliflower Burritos were born.......

Ingredients 

350g sweet potato & butternut squash, cubed

1 Tbsp White miso

30g Nutritional yeast

200ml Almond milk, unsweetened

1 Tsp Marmite

1 Onion, finely diced

250g Mushrooms, chopped

1 Chilli, finely diced

1 Aubergine

240g Cauliflower

215g Spicy refried beans

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tsp garlic puree

2 Tsp Tomato puree

5 Tortilla's

Method

Boil the butternut squash and sweet potato until soft, drain and place into a blender. Process to a puree and then add the white miso, nutritional yeast, almond milk and marmite and process again to combine everything. You will have a thick 'cheese' sauce. Pour into a saucepan and put to one side.

Saute the onions in a little olive oil until translucent, then add the mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the chilli and cook for another 2 minutes.

Meanwhile add the chopped aubergine to a food processor and pulse until the aubergine is very finely diced. Add to the onion and mushrooms and cook over a low heat for another 5 minutes.

Next place the cauliflower into the food processor and pulse until you have 'cauliflower rice' and add to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring regularly to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the refried beans and stir to combine everything evenly.

Add the smoked paprika, garlic and tomato purree and give everything one more stir.

Lay a tortilla onto a flat surface and spoon 2 tablespoons of the mixture down the middle, wrap and place in an oven proof dish. Repeat with the other 4 tortillas until all the mixture has been used.

Gently heat the 'cheese' sauce and pour over the rolled tortillas and bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Serve with a few salad leaves and guacamole.

Crumbled Tofu Curry & Cauliflower Rice

I have been meaning to try cooking with frozen tofu for absolutely ages! But having no freezer it has proved difficult until my Mum kindly offered me some space in her freezer - thanks Mum!

Frozen tofu has a completely different texture to tofu bought from the cooler section in supermarkets. It almost resembles a sponge. There is no need to press frozen and defrosted tofu as you can squeeze the liquid out of the frozen tofu just like you would a sponge! It doesn't break up like 'normal' (unfrozen) tofu. When you break it up it kind of looks like a sponge too!

I found that there is no need to marinade the frozen and defrosted tofu as it soaked up the flavours of the other ingredients during the cooking time. So in my book its a win win and something worth buying a freezer for!

I have also frozen the basil tofu so I'm looking forward to creating a recipe with that too, watch this space........

I've also been meaning to try cauliflower rice for some time too and this curry was the perfect opportunity to try it out!

Ingredients
1 Cauliflower
1 Block of tofu, frozen & defrosted
1 Tbsp Groundnut oil
3 Tbsp Soy sauce
Knob of ginger, finely grated
2 Cloves of garlic, finely grated
1½ Tsp curry powder
1½ Tsp Tomato puree
1 Onion, finely diced
1 Aubergine, finely diced (using processor)
8 Cherry tomatoes, quartered165ml Coconut milk 

Method
First, break up the cauliflower into florets and add to a blender, pulse until it resembles rice. Transfer to a microwaveable bowl and set aside.

Squeeze out the liquid from the tofu and crumble into a large bowl. 

Mix the soy sauce with the grated ginger & garlic, curry powder and tomato puree to a thick paste and pour over the crumbled tofu. Fold the crumbled tofu through the paste until all the tofu has been coated.

Saute the onion in the groundnut oil until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

Chop the aubergine into chunks and tip into your food processor, pulse until you have very fine pieces. Transfer to the pan with the onions and saute for another 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly, add a little water if needed.

Add the tofu mixture to the pan and stir to combine and continue to cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes. Stir regularly to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Pour over the coconut milk, there is only enough to coat the tofu and thin out the mixture slightly. (I can buy 165ml cans from home & Bargain for 19p, great to stock up on). Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add 4 Tbsp of water to the bowl with the rice cauliflower and microwave on full for 2 minutes, give the bow a shake and microwave for a further 2 minutes.

Serve the crumbled tofu curry atop the cauliflower rice and enjoy!