Thankful Thursday's are all about cooking or making food for others to enjoy and to say thanks for . . . . . . .
Today I wanted to say thanks to my hubby who has put up with me cooking with beans every day during September, especially when he's not a huge fan of everything bean like. He has escaped the bean craze on quite a few nights though so don't feel too sorry for him.
He also tells me I'm the loudest typist in the west and he's had to put up with that too, let alone photographing the food before we can tuck into it! So as a thank you I decided to cook him his favourite dish.
I made him a vindaloo curry and for a side dish and my main dish, I made a dhal with beans! There is no escaping the bean world during September and vegan mofo.
Ingredients
115g Red lentils
50g Mung beans
600ml Vegetable stock
1 knob ginger
2 Cloves of garlic
½ Tsp Turmeric
1 Green chilli
½-1 Tsp Salt
150g Runner beans
Method (Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish)
Grate very finely the ginger and garlic so you have a pulp and finely dice your chilli. Add all the ingredients bar the salt and runner beans to a pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until soft, adding more water if the mixture becomes too dry. If you prefer a smooth texture pound the mixture with a potato masher and add a little more boiling water if required. Taste and add salt if its needed.
Meanwhile top and tail the runner beans, cut to 5cm widths and add to a pan of boiling water. Simmer for 5-10 minutes depending on the age and size of the beans, you want them with a little bite. Drain the beans and add to the lentil mixture. Serve with plain boiled rice as a main dish.
I packaged up the left overs for lunch the next day, but I added 1 chopped tomato as the mixture looked a little dry. I had a quick taste and next time I make this I will definitely add chopped tomatoes, it worked really well.
Christmas is a coming and my cupboards are getting stocked! I'm starting to make some presents already, yep, I know we're not even out of September yet and there is Halloween and Bonfire Night to go! But this girl is getting organised.
I love making presents for Christmas, especially of the cooking variety. It's a great way to show how much you love someone by giving them something you've made and taken time and care over. If I'm super organised I make hampers, which are full of lovely goodies that I've made.
Today, I'm going to share with you an old family recipe that I've adapted to incorporate beans! Today I'm making Runner Bean Chutney. It's truly delicious and brings a piece of summer to the dark winter months.
You can use it to perk up some vegan cheese and crackers or melted cheese on toast. I've even used some in stir fry's, it's very versatile. You can easily double up the recipe but as I've only got a small garden and only 6 runner bean plants I don't normally pick more than 500g in a day. But even 500g of runner beans makes a few jars of chutney, I made 5 small jars.
Ingredients
500g Runner beans - weighing about 460g when top and tailed
Salt
375g Onions, chopped
460ml Malt vinegar
20g Cornflour
2 Tsp (heaped) Mustard powder
2 Tsp Turmeric
220g Demerara sugar
110g Brown sugar
Method
Pour 160ml of the vinegar into a pan and add the chopped onions. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the onions are a soft.
Whilst the onions are simmering prepare the runner beans and cook in salted water for 5 minutes then drain and add to the onions.
Mix the mustard powder, turmeric and cornflour with a little of the remaining vinegar until you have a paste. Add to the onions and beans mixture and stir through.
Pour in the remaining vinegar and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Then stir in the sugar until it has dissolved and simmer for another 15 minutes.
Pour the chutney into hot sterilised jars, screw on the lids loosely and leave to cool overnight. Best to keep for 1 month before eating or longer if you can!
115g Red lentils
