8 Bean chilli wrap

The chilli here is by far the star of the show.  Tottering around the kitchen a few days ago I realised I needed to make something to keep me going for a few days.  Mainly because I had a lot of work to do and couldn't really set the time aside to keep tinkering in the kitchen.  I need a one pot job.

I had no meat to hand and to be honest was fancying a good old feast of vegetables - so decided to make a vegetarian chilli for a change.  This morphed its way into being served with rice a few times, but yesterday was thrown together with some avocado, sriracha and sour cream in a wholegrain tortilla wrap.

What you need:

1x Tin chopped tomatoes

1x Tin sweetcorn

1x Tin 4 bean mix

1/2 cup edamame beans (I used frozen)

1/2 cup frozen mixed veg

1 red onion, diced

1 red chilli, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

1tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp cumin powder

2 cloves garlic

1 carrot, diced

1 tsp marmite/vegemite

5 or so drops Lea & Perrins/relish

1 tbsp canola oil

What to do:

First of all heat the canola oil in a large pan and add the onion, garlic and chilli - cook until the onion is translucent.

Next, add the carrot to the pan and put the lid on, cooking for a few minutes.

Add each of the tins of beans and frozen veg (making sure they've been rinsed) and the tomatoes, cayenne, cumin, relish, marmite and also 1 cup of water.

Bring this to the boil (with the lid on) and then reduce the heat and simmer for around 45 minutes, or until the carrot is cooked and the sauce has thickened.  Simple!

To serve:

The above yields around 6 portions of chilli - so it's a really cheap, healthy meal if you're on a budget.  I had this a few times with rice, but reincarnated it with a tortilla wrap.  

Gently heat a tortilla wrap (I prefer wholegrain) and place the heated chilli in the centre with a liberal squirt of sriracha (hot sauce), some chopped avocado and a few dollops of sour cream.

A little chilli really does go a long long way! 

Spicy sirloin sriracha wrap

Things have been rather busy this week in the spice rack - unfortunately not in the kitchen!  So apologies for the lack of posts this week... that awful 'w' word (work) has kept me away from my beloved treasure trove of spices.


So... FINALLY I got round to doing what I call a 'proper' food shop.  This involves shopping at multiple places, for multiple things and having time to peruse the aisles and produce some mental creativity.


Lately I've been hankering after spicy food - a trip to a beautiful North East Thai and Laotian restaurant in Auckland was more than sufficient to fill my craving for crispy Larb snapper and amazingly tender whiskey duck - but tonight I still needed that spicy fix.  Speed was also of the essence too as seems to be the pattern of the moment - I had more work begging for my attention.


Fumbling around my spice rack, I laid my hands on a little jar of Cajun spice mix.  Now I'm not really a fan of pre-mixed spices, but this one I picked up from a tiny continental store in Auckland - and there are no nasty additives or 'fake' flavourings.  So this was the order of the day - Cajun spices on a lovely piece of sirloin steak bought just hours before.  Flicking through the fridge I saw a lonely avocado and some fresh, crisp mesculun salad leaves together with juicy grape tomatoes.  Then it hit me - it just HAD to be a wrap of some sort.


So anyway.... 


What you need:


100g piece of sirloin - get the thinner, minute steak variety.  It's not going to loiter in the pan for long.
2 tsp or thereabouts of good quality Cajun spice mix
1 tbsp canola oil
2 grape tomatoes, diced
1/8th avocado, sliced
Small handful of washed mesculun salad leaves
1 dessert spoon sour cream
1 tsp sriracha
1 wholegrain tortilla wrap
Sprinkling of salt and pepper


What to do:


First, marinate the steak.  Just rub the seasoning into each side of the steak and set aside.
Next, grab your tortilla and put it on a plate - microwave for around 20 seconds until pliable.
In the mean time, mix the sour cream and sriracha together in a bowl - it will turn the sour cream the most delectable shade of salmon pink.  Blushing sour cream, if you will.
Spread a teaspoon or so of the sour cream mix over the tortilla and arrange the salad leaves, tomato and avocado in a strip down the centre.
Now time for the steak - when a pan with the canola oil is piping hot add the steak.  It should sizzle.  You want to cook this around 45 seconds per side.  It still needs to be pink in the middle.  Overcooked steak is blasphemy.
Now, slice the steak on a chopping board and arrange on top of the salad.  
Use the rest of the sour cream mixture to drizzle over the top.


Voila!  Just wrap the contents into a fajita-style wrap and enjoy... it's the perfect combination of succulent steak, cooling sour cream, spicy Cajun and sriracha heat, sweet tomatoes, crisp salad and creamy avocado.
Mmmmm.

Spicy sesame soba noodles

In-keeping with the soba noodles theme, I was keen to try out another Japanese-inspired dish this evening.  I love all things spicy and had a craving for something with a kick of sesame in there... so eventually ended up playing around with some condiments I had kicking about in the cupboard.


As with cha soba noodles, soba noodles are made from buckwheat - hence the dark brown colour as opposed to the lighter colour of udon or ramen noodles.  However what they lack in visual appeal, they make up for in flavour as these are nutty, earthy and full of flavour.


So... what to do.


For the sesame chilli sauce you need:


2 tbsp Toasted sesame dressing
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 red chilli, finely sliced


What to do:


Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

For the noodles you will need:

2x 2oz bundles of soba noodles

What to do:

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the noodles - cook for 4-5 minutes until just tender and then drain.

Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Next, add the noodles back to the pan with the sauce and cook on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until heated through.

And there you go... sesame soba noodles in a jiffy! 

Simple sashimi

Sashimi is simply delightful in summer.  Asian dishes tend to bang on in terms of flavour and texture combinations - and the appearance of sushi and sashimi on Western shores and the speed at which it has gained popularity firmly attests to this.  


Upon first arriving in New Zealand, I'd never given a great deal of thought to differences in the fish available at the market.  Being a different hemisphere, this goes without saying.  Strolling around the market one day with my flatmate we spotted a rather lovely looking piece of Ling Cod.  Loving sashimi, I agreed to have a bash at whipping something tasty up for him later. 


What you need:


8oz Sashimi grade fish - we used Ling Cod, but other white fish would substitute just as well
1 red chilli
1cm piece of ginger, grated
1tbsp soy sauce
1/2 a grapefruit, juiced
1/2 clove garlic


What to do:


Slice the fish thinly, on the bias (at a 45 degree angle).
Next, mix up the chilli, garlic, soy sauce and grapefruit juice in a bowl.
Arrange fish slices on a plate and pour over the sauce mixture.


Eat, and enjoy - embarrassingly simple but exceptionally good!

Super slow roasted tomatoes

This recipe just has to find its way into my blog.  A while ago I had a dabble in the blogging world - and this was the first recipe I posted.  And rightly so.  These tomatoes form the bases of any number of wonderous tomato-based dishes... they're sweet, succulent and so very very tasty.


Tomatoes are one of the few fruits or vegetables that actually contain a higher nutrient density when cooked. They are a powerful source of lycopene, and cooking the tomato only serves to increase their nutritional value.


What you need:


6 tomatoes, sliced in half
1 tbsp olive oil
Pinch of basil
Pinch of oregano
Salt
Black pepper


What to do:


Preheat the oven to 120 degrees celcius.
In the mean time, place the sliced tomato halves on a baking tray and liberally drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Sprinkle each one with the basil and oregano - add a sprinkling of salt and twist of black pepper and then place in the oven and forget about them for at least two hours.


Time is the essence with these little gems - and your patience will be rewarded!  These are fantastic served alongside your favourite dishes, blended as a pasta sauce base or simply devoured as tomatoes on toast.

Cha soba and edamame surprise...

OK so it's not a surprise as such... more of a dead giveaway as you can see exactly what's in the dish.  However, I was surprised at just how tasty cha soba noodles are.  Soba noodles are a recent discovery of mine - they're made from a blend of buckwheat and wheat flour, producing a slightly nutty taste which is heartier than most traditional wheat flour noodles.  Buckwheat is awash with rutin - a strong antioxidant, so you really do get more bang for your buck.  Cha soba noodles have the added bonus of matcha green tea extract, meaning that these noodles really are a nutritional powerhouse - as well as being damn tasty.  Cha soba noodles are less earthy and more fragrant than traditional soba noodles, and are usually eaten by the Japanese on special occasions.  They're also great cold in salad dishes, as are ordinary soba noodles.


Ingredients:


2oz Cha soba noodles
1/2 Cup edamame beans
1 baby bok choy,sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 a dozen sugar snap peas
1 tbsp hot sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp water


What to do:


Boil a pan of water and add the noodles and edamame beans.  The noodles will take around 6 minutes too cook, as will the edamame (if using frozen; if using fresh add them half way through cooking the noodles).  I use the same pan because a) it saves on washing up and b) it can't hurt to have the extra nutrients in the noodle water!
In the mean time, mix the sweet chilli sauce, chilli, soy sauce, sesame oil and water in a small dish.
When the noodles are ready, drain into a sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water and set aside.
Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a pan and add the mushrooms, bok choy and peas and sautee for 1-2 minutes, and then add the noodles and edamame together with the sauce mixture.
Heat through for a further 1-2 minutes and then serve.


Eat, and enjoy!

Udon anyone?

I've been craving Asian food of late, and so recently been indulging in my penchant for herbs, spices and sauces and landed firmly in the arena of soups.  Being winter this side of the world, it only seems right that one should be tucking in to a hearty feed of slurpy, spicy soup.


The 'recipe' for this is embarrasingly simple and incredibly quick to create.  Perfect if you've just got in from a hard day at the office and the last thing you want to think about is what to feed yourself or the troops for dinner.


What you need:


1 Baby bok choy, sliced
Half a dozen or so sugar snap peas
1 Red chilli, finely sliced
1/2 a carrot, peeled and finely sliced (I use the slicing side of a cheese grater)
2 or 3 mushrooms
1 Pack udon noodles
1 Veg/chicken/mushroom stock cube
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil


What to do:


Boil the kettle and add the stock cube to the pan with 1 1/2 cups boiling water, stirring until the stock cube has dissolved. 
Throw in the chilli, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and carrot and cook on high for 2 minutes.
Add the noodles, bok choy, mushrooms and peas and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, or until noodles are tender.


Serve!


There you go, a spicy, healthy winter warmer in around ten minutes from start to finish.  Not bad eh?