Spicy Bean Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

I have been craving tacos since last week. During my cooking class at camp last week i asked the kids what their signature dish would be if they were on a cooking show. One boy proceeded to tell me all about these incredible tacos he would make. Since then i haven't stopped thinking about making taaaaccccos so tonight was the night to satiate that craving.

My cousin (second cousin actually) from Scotland is visiting at the moment and like me, she's very much food obsessed. This recipe is a joint creation from the both of us.

*Note- You will need lots of limes for this!
   
Spicy Beans
2 tbs. cooking oil
1 large clove garlic
1 red onion
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 large capsicum, diced
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan and add onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the spices, tomato paste, beans, capsicum and diced tomatoes. Cook on a medium heat until the flavours are incorporated. Squeeze lime juice and season with salt.

Cabbage Slaw
1/4 Red Cabbage
2 carrots, grated
handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 zucchini, grated
1 cucumber, grated
Half onion sliced thinly
Juice of 1-2 limes
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
pinch raw sugar
2 tbs. sesame seeds, toasted

Combine all the vegetables and coriander in a large bowl. Dress with lime juice, red wine vinegar, raw sugar and sesame seeds.

Goats Cheese Guacamole
1 large avocado
few sprigs fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 tbs. goats cheese
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Mash avocado and add all other ingredients.

Garlic Mayonnaise Sauce
1/2 cup good quality mayonaise
1 clove garlic
juice of half a lemon
fresh chives, chopped

To Serve
1 packet gluten free corn tortillas
Chopped fresh chilies or jalapenos 
More chopped limes for serving

Heat tortillas in a pan on a low heat or in the microwave and assemble as desired!

Middle Eastern Barley and Brown Lentil Salad

 I've been trying to keep a balance between sweet and savoury recipes on the blog to give you a bit of variety. It's so easy to post desserts because they always look so pretty for the camera and it always seems to be more of an experiment to make otherwise sugary, floury, buttery recipes a bit healthier.

Today I'm giving you the 'B Salad'- Brown lentil, Barley and Broccoli (plus a few other letters of the alphabet chucked in there.) This salad has a bit of a Middle Eastern feel to it with the dried fruit, pomegranate molasses and spices.
This salad acts as a whole meal in itself. It covers all bases- a protein, something crunchy, something sweet, something sour and something green! 

The Ingredients:
*this is really a 'do-it-how-you-like' kind of salad. Find what you have in the fridge and pantry and go wild. If you cover the bases i mentioned before, you'll probably nail it*

1 cup cooked barley, cooled
1 400g tin brown lentils or 1 cup fresh green or brown lentils- boiled and cooled
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp sumac
2 tsp ground cumin
1 bunch parsley finely chopped
1 bunch mint finely chopped
1/4 cup sultanas or currants
 Half a broccoli- florets cut small and blanched
7-8 sugar snap peas cut small
1 big handful baby spinach leaves salt and pepper to taste
juice of one big, juicy lemon
big drizzle pomegranate molasses
good drizzle olive oil  (good applies to the drizzle and the oil)
1/4 cup pumpkin and sesame seeds toasted

 Bring 1 cup of barley in about 2 cups of water to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until soft, but firm. You still want the barley to hold a nice texture in the salad. Drain any excess water and rinse under cold water to cool. Do the same with your lentils if using fresh.
Combine the barley and lentils in a large bowl with the spices, herbs and sultanas.
Place the brocoli in boiling water for about 30 seconds and transfer in to ice water to stop the cooking process. Add broccoli to the salad with sugar snap peas and spinach.
Add lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.
Give the salad a good drizzle of pomegranate molasses and toss well.
Sprinkle with toasted seeds and serve!

Halfway through enjoying my salad I forgot that i wanted to add soft goats cheese. If you're keen. Try this salad with some goats cheese or feta!

YUM!

Baked Eggs in Leftover Tofu Bean Stew

So, a volcano erupted in Indonesia on Friday and as a result, our long-awaited flight to Darwin got cancelled. BOO! We now have to wait until tomorrow night to fly.

Might as well eat brunch...

A good friend of mine Luisa has been living with us for the last 2 months and, like me, the kitchen is her haven too. It's always such a pleasure to come home to all the delicious dinners and treats she makes and to share our recipes with each other.
 The other night she made a yummy tofu, bean stew which i will share with you now.

Tofu Bean Stew
Plenty of oil to cook in (coconut oil, olive oil etc)
250 g Firm Tofu, mashed
2 Cans Red Kidney Beans
1 Can Corn/ Fresh corn kernels
1 Eggplant diced small
5 Mushrooms sliced
1 Red Onion
1-2 Cans diced tomatoes/passata or 10 fresh tomatoes (or a combination of both!)
2 Cloves Garlic
Chili according to taste
Salt and Pepper
Turmeric
Smoked Paprika
1 tbs Sliced Jalapenos

Heat the oil in a pan and fry off the onion, garlic and tofu. Add the corn, eggplant, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes (if you have them). Add the spices and salt and pepper and fry until all the vegetables are coated.
Add the tin tomatoes, kidney beans and jalapenos. Allow to cook for 15 minutes so all of the flavours are incorporated.
Taste and add more seasoning if required.

Serve by itself or with, rice or yummy bread.

We had some leftovers and trust me, this tastes even better when it's 2 days old. After a few wines on Friday night, a decent brunch was in order for Saturday morning.

Baked Eggs
Eggs (as many as you need)
Leftover tofu bean stew. Any other leftover tomato based sauces will do as well.

Heat the stew/sauce on the stove until just boiling. Pour in to an oven proof dish and crack the eggs on top.
Place in the oven on grill until your eggs begin to firm up. Keep an eye on them as they often look like they're not cooked when they are! The grill will dry out the eggs pretty quickly. Usually they take about 10-15 minutes to cook.

Serve on toast with fresh parsley or basil. We also enjoyed ours with some soft goats cheese and sauteed kale.