Slow Cooker Lentil Quinoa Stew

This hearty lentil stew is an easy to cook, high protein meal that suits those on low carb diets – such as the South Beach diet and low GI diets. Both lentils and quinoa are high in fiber and protein.

Ingredients:

2 cups brown lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
7-1/2 cups water
1-2 medium potatoes, diced
1/2 small sweet potato, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teas wheat-free tamari (or soy sauce if you aren’t on a wheat-free diet)
2 tablespoons miso
2 tablespoons tomato paste
mixed herbs (any of: oregano, thyme, tarragon, marjoram, sage, cumin)

Instructions:

Rinse and drain lentils, being sure to pick through them to make sure there are no stones. Rinse and drain quinoa. Add to slow cooker.

Dice potatoes and sweet potato, and chop garlic. Add to slow cooker along with herbs (dried or fresh and finely chopped), tomato paste and 6 cups of the water.

Cook on high for 3-1/2 to 4 hours. When the stew thickens and cooks down after about 2.5 hours add 1 additional cup water. Usually the lentils and quinoa will cook before the potatoes do, and potato cooking time will vary depending on how big the pieces are. Once everything is cooked, turn off the heat, add tamari and let set a further half hour.

Mix the miso and remaining 1/2 cup of water, then add to the stew and mix well.

Serves 6.

Serving Suggestions:

• Serve with grated parmesan on top
• Serve with toasted sesame seeds or gomasio (toasted sesame seeds and salt) on top for a vegan alternative
• Use barley instead of quinoa

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Soy Fried Tempeh

Ingredients:
1 block organic tempeh
olive oil
wheat-free tamari or shoyu (soy sauce)

Instructions:
Slice the tempeh as thinly as you can. The thinner, the better, aim for a thickness of 5 mm or less.

Put enough olive oil in a frying pan to just cover the bottom of the pan. Heat up the oil over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, lay the strips of tempeh in the pan.

Heat for 2-3 minutes, then sprinkle in the tamari or shoyu and shake the pan to keep the tempeh from sticking and to distribute the tamari. Continue to cook until the tempeh is golden brown on the bottom and turn. Fry the second side until golden brown and remove from the pan.

Frying Tempeh

Serve and eat!

Cook’s Tips:
This tempeh is great as a starter, either on it’s own or with a peanut satay sauce or sweet chilli sauce. It’s also great broken into pieces and thrown into a salad or stir fry. Put any leftovers in the fridge and use in a sandwich the next day.

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Crock Pot Chickpeas

Chickpeas are arguably the most delicious and versatile of all the legume family. They have enormous health benefits too.

Using a crock pot is simply the easiest way to cook chickpeas (garbanzo beans), but the main reason I cook my chickpeas in a slow cooker is that they come out so beautifully tender. Once you’ve had chickpeas cooked this way you won’t want to go back to canned chickpeas from the supermarket.

Ingredients:
2 cups dried chickpeas
6 cups water
1 teas salt

Instructions:

Cooking Dried Chickpeas

Rinse and drain chickpeas in cold water. Pick out any stones and dark brown chickpeas.

Put drained chickpeas into your crock pot. Add water and salt.

Cook on High for 2-3 hours or until soft. Depending on your tastes and what you are going to use them for you can remove when slightly firm or cook until they are very soft.

When done, carefully pour into a colander, being careful to use oven mitts to handle the crock – it will be hot. Drain and rinse well.

Chickpeas will keep for about 2 days in the fridge. They will keep longer if made into hummus. They also freeze quite well.

Freezing chickpeas:
To freeze chickpeas rinse and drain them thoroughly. Leave to drain well for about 15 minutes. Spread chickpeas onto a baking tray, making sure they don’t touch one another. Put into freezer. When frozen, you can transfer the chickpeas to a freezer bag or plastic container for more permanent storage.

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Cheesy Egg Muffins with Mushroom, Courgette, & Spinach

I’ve been waiting and waiting, but our chickens aren’t laying much at the moment – either that or they’ve set up yet another secret nest for us to discover (either that or someone will come back with a bunch of chicks in a few weeks). We went to the local vegie shop yesterday and I got a tray of free range eggs, in anticipation of making this recipe. Well, today was the day! Let me tell you, they don’t disappoint!

Here’s my version of these delicious egg muffins…

Ingredients:
6 eggs
2 T water
1 teas Herbamare ® Herb Seasoning Salt
1 medium courgette, deseeded
3-4 large spinach leaves
1 large mushroom
1 cup finely grated cheese (approx)
12 cup silicone muffin tray

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray muffin tray with olive oil spray.

How to deseed a courgette

Deseed the courgette. This is a trick I learned from Suzi who writes The Cook’s Cupboard, I love courgette raw but I didn’t fancy cooked courgette much until I tasted it prepared this way. You know how the seeds and the bit in the center goes all mushy and tastes a bit sour? That’s the part I didn’t like. Here’s how you avoid it. Cut the courgette in quarters lengthwise. Draw a paring knife down the length of each quarter, slicing off the ridge of seeds. You don’t have to get all the seeds, just slice off about the first 5mm (1/4 inch) and that should be enough. Make adjustments if you have really big seeds.

Cut the quarters of courgette into thin slices. Finely dice the spinach and mushroom.

Distribute the vegetables evenly into the muffin cups. Add grated cheese into each muffin cups. You want to aim to just about fill the muffin cups slightly below the top.

In a 2-cup measuring cup with pour spout, break the eggs, add the herb salt and 2 T water. Beat well.

Egg Muffins Ready to Cook

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the muffin tins, until it nearly fills each cup. It may look like there’s not going to be enough room for the egg, but don’t worry it will flow into all the spaces between the other ingredients.

Put into the oven with plenty of room above them, the muffins will rise up out of the cups while cooking. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown. The muffins will drop down to the size of the muffin cups when you take them out.

These cheesy vegetable egg muffins are delicious eaten warm or cold. Kalyn says they freeze well too, just wait until they cool, put them in bags and pop them into your freezer.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Splitpea & Chickpea Soup

This thick, hearty stew can make a filling meal all on it’s own, or can be served with warmed pita bread, dipped in olive oil and salt. Or, if you’re feeling really hungry,  a thick slice of homemade wholemeal bread, toasted and served with butter or olive oil. It’s a great winter warmer, but I love it even in the summer, or anytime I’m craving a protein hit.

Ingredients:
2 cups dried green split peas
1 cup dried chickpeas
8 cups water
2 teas tarragon
1 teas oregano
1 teas marjoram
1 teas Moroccan spice
1 T tomato paste
1 T vegetable stock powder
2 T miso paste, or salt to taste
1 handful unflavored TVP pieces (optional)
1 medium potato or sweet potato, diced (optional) *

Instructions:
Put everything but the miso/salt into the crockpot and turn on high. Let cook for 5 hours, or until the split peas cook to the point where they look pureed, stirring occasionally.

Add the miso:
When done, turn off the heat. Mix the 2 T miso with enough water to cover in a small bowl or cup. I like to use young white miso, which is what I’d recommend if you are new to miso as it has the mildest taste. Otherwise, use your favorite miso. Blend the miso paste with a fork until it is dissolved in the water, adding more water as needed. Add this miso mixture to the crock pot and stir in thoroughly.

If you’re not using miso, add salt, herb salt or garlic salt to taste. The flavor of salt disappears during cooking, so by adding salt after the meal has cooked you don’t need as much to get the same flavor.

South Beach Diet Notes:
If you are in phase one of the South Beach diet, leave out the potato/sweet potato. You won’t miss it and this filling, protein-rich meal won’t leave you hungry. Eat on it’s own or with a side salad.

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Cooked Quinoa

Cooking quinoa is similar to cooking brown rice using the absorption method. One cup of dry quinoa will make 2-3 cups cooked. Don’t worry about making extra though, if you have leftover quinoa it makes a delicious muesli or porridge for the next morning.

Cooking Quinoa:
First, measure out the dry quinoa. Remember it doubles in size during cooking.

Rinse the quinoa well under cold water and drain. It’s handy to use a fine mesh sieve for rinsing.

Put the rinsed quinoa into a saucepan and add cold water. The quinoa to water ratio is 1:2. In other words, use 2 cups of water for every cup of quinoa. Toss in a dash of salt.

Cover and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat down to a simmer, and set the lid just ajar, to prevent boiling over. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. The quinoa goes a bit transparent when it’s cooked, except for a little spiral sprout.

If the quinoa is tender but there’s excess water in the bottom of the saucepan just leave the lid off completely for a few minutes until the water evaporates. When done turn off the heat, put the lid on and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Use a fork to fluff up the quinoa and serve.

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