As costs soar, many busy Mums and Dads have the same dilemma – How to put delicious, nourishing, wholesome food on the table for the family, without ‘breaking the bank’. Well, let’s concentrate on sourcing the most nutrient-dense ingredients and see what we can do with those. Porridge oats are one of the most nutritious and least expensive grains, not just to make a steaming bowl of porridge (add any leftover to the ingredients for a soda bread) but also to make morish flapjacks for school lunches. Brown and white rice, also inexpensive, the foundation of a myriad of a sweet and savoury dishes and a base for so many proteins – a bowl of risotto will feed the family well and deliciously for just a few euros. Whole grain pasta is also inexpensive and a super way to stretch meals and has a low glycaemic index. All brilliant but the real secret weapon in terms of ‘bang for your buck’ are the pulses – peas, beans, chickpeas and lentils, the variety is staggering. Flageolet, black-eyed, haricot, butter or lima, mung, adzuki, borlotti or cranberry and black beans… and then there’s chickpeas and carlin peas. These pulses are widely available in local health food shops or even on supermarket shelves. If you really want to save money, buy them dry – they are inevitably shelf-stable, soak them overnight in lots of water so they double in size. A few tins or jars of pre-cooked beans are super to have in the pantry for an emergency. There’s virtually nothing you can’t do with them: soups, salads, stews, curries, purées… mix and match. They have wide varieties of flavours and are the cheapest form of protein; why don’t we eat more of them? A few more nutritious thoughts. Eggs also provide lots of protein, vitamin D and B12 at low cost. Cabbage and root vegetables cost very little, keep for ages in a cool place and are super versatile. Frozen spinach and peas still have a high percentage of their nutrients intact and lots of fibre in which so many are deficient. Canned tomatoes are definitely worth the money, a brilliant basis for beans and provide lots of the antioxidant lycopene and don’t forget potatoes are a wonder food with tons of vitamin C, iron, potassium and fibre. Our food should be our medicine, so go out of your way to find chemical-free, organic food – may seem more costly initially but better to pay the farmer or food producers to keep you healthy rather than the doctor or pharmacist to undo the damage.
Chilli con carne
My favourite recipe for chilli con carne.
The accompaniments are a crucially important part of the enjoyment of the chilli con carne – they make it into a feast.
Serves 6
Ingredients
500-725g stewing beef (better than mince), cut into 1-2cm cubes
extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small green pepper, seeded, sliced
Colorado Sauce (see recipe)
1 tbsp tomato concentrate (optional)
1 tsp ground cumin
250g red kidney beans, cooked
salt and brown sugar
To Serve
sour cream
Cheddar cheese
fresh coriander
Tortilla Chips (see recipe)
Tomato and Coriander Salsa (see recipe)
Avocado Sauce (optional – see recipe)
Method
Trim the meat where necessary and brown it in olive oil. Transfer to a casserole. Brown the onion lightly in the same oil, add the crushed garlic and continue to cook for a minute or two and scrape on to the meat. Add the green pepper, Colorado sauce and just enough water to cover the ingredients. Cover tightly and leave to stew until cooked, keeping the heat low. Check the liquid occasionally. By the end of the cooking time, it should have reduced to a brownish red thick sauce. If it reduces too soon because the lid of the pan is not a tight fit, or you had the heat too high, top it up with water.
Last of all add the tomato if used, the cumin, the kidney beans if you are not serving them separately as a salad, with salt and brown sugar to taste. Simmer for a further 15 minutes, put a blob of sour cream on top of the chilli con carne, sprinkle with grated cheese. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with Tortilla Chips, Tomato and Coriander Salsa and optional Avocado Sauce.
Colorado Sauce
A delicious sauce to use when making chilli con carne, rather than the chilli powder sold in small bottles. It can also be used as a marinating mixture.
Ingredients
6-7 small, dried chillies, or 4-5 large fresh ones
1 large red pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic
salt
Method
If the chillies are dried, soak them in a little water for an hour, then slit them and wash out the seeds. Discard the stalks, do the same with the large pepper. Purée with the other ingredients, using the soaking water if necessary to moisten the vegetables. If you use chillies, you might need a tablespoon or two of cold water. Season with salt. You can keep this sauce in a covered container in the fridge for two days, or you can freeze it.
Avocado Sauce
Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
3-4 tbsp lime or lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
1 tbsp fresh coriander or flat parsley
Method
Scoop out the flesh from the avocados. Mash the flesh with a fork, add lime juice, olive oil, chopped coriander, salt and pepper to taste.
Tomato and Coriander Salsa (Pico de Gallo)
Best in Summer and early Autumn when tomatoes are ripe and juicy.
This sauce is ever present on Mexican tables to serve with all manner of dishes. Salsas of all kinds both fresh and cooked have now become a favourite accompaniment to everything from pan-grilled meat to a piece of sizzling fish.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
4 very ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp red or white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ – 1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped Jalapeno or Serrano
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
squeeze of fresh lime juice
salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar
Method
Mix all the ingredients together. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Totopos – Tortilla Chips
Tortilla chips make an excellent alternative to crisps; they will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
Serves 4
Ingredients
6-8 tortillas
oil for deep frying
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese – Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Method
Cut the tortillas into eighths. Alternatively, corn tortillas can be cut into strips, 5 x 1cm, but this is not advisable for wheat flour tortillas, which break too easily.
Heat the oil to 200°C.
Fry the pieces until they are light brown, stir occasionally to ensure that all the tortillas brown evenly. Drain on absorbent paper, season and toss with the salt and Parmesan and/or cayenne if desired.
Serve cold on their own or with a dip such as
Guacamole.
Autumn Black-eyed Bean, Pumpkin and Chickpea Stew
Recipe from One Pot Feeds All by Darina Allen, published by Kyle Books
One of the very best vegetarian one-pot dishes. What’s not to like about black-eyed beans, chickpeas and pumpkin with lots of spices? Delicious on its own, but equally good with a roast chicken or a few lamb chops. Eat with flatbreads or pilaff rice, if you prefer.
Serves 6
Ingredients
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 x 2.5cm cinnamon stick
150g onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
225g fresh mushrooms, sliced approx. 3mm thick
450g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut in 2cm cubes
400g fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
a pinch of sugar
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
225g dried black-eyed beans, strained
110g dried chickpeas, strained
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp chopped coriander
For the Mint Yoghurt
300ml natural yogurt
1 tbsp chopped mint leaves
Drain the chickpeas and black-eyed beans. Pop into two separate saucepans, cover with fresh water, bring to the boil and cook until tender, this can take anything from 30-60 minutes. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
Heat the oil in a sauté pan over a medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds and the cinnamon stick. Let them sizzle for 5-6 seconds, then add the onions and garlic. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until the onion is just beginning to colour at the edges. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms wilt, then add the pumpkin or squash, tomatoes, ground coriander, cumin and turmeric, a pinch of sugar and the cayenne. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, then cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes.
Turn off the heat and tip in the drained beans and chickpeas. Add the salt and pepper, together with 2 of coriander. Pour in 150ml of the bean cooking liquid and 150ml of the chickpea liquid. Return to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To make the mint yogurt, combine the yogurt with the chopped mint in a bowl.
Remove the cinnamon stick from the pan before serving and sprinkle
with the remaining coriander. Spoon into serving bowls and top with a dollop of
the mint yogurt. Accompany with a good green salad and rice, if you wish.
Red Lentil Dahl
One can never have too many dahl recipes. We’ve got lots in our repertoire. This one was given to me by a friend who says it’s her favourite.
Serves 6
Ingredients
250g red lentils
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
170g onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
½ tsp fennel seeds, ground
½ tsp chilli powder, or to your taste
1 tsp turmeric
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Forum white wine vinegar
1 stick of fresh cinnamon
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Method
Cover the lentils with water. Bring to the boil and cook until soft, about 15-20 minutes. Drain. It’ll be a thick purée.
Meanwhile, sweat the chopped onions in extra virgin olive oil over a medium heat. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes. Add the spices, mix well and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Add the crushed garlic, vinegar and the cooked lentils and the stick of cinnamon. Next add the tomatoes, when it bubbles, turn down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Taste and season with more salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary. Scatter with lots of coarsely chopped coriander leaves and serve with an Indian flat bread – naan, paratha, poori….
