Recipe: Yummy Yummy Quinoa

I feel that I couldn't really call this anything except a 'yummy yummy' quinoa recipe because to be honest, it's one of those 'recipes' where you can put pretty much whatever ingredients you want in it and it will generally turn out.. well, yummy yummy.  I think once you've mastered a basic one-pot quinoa dish, you can master them all and there's so many different flavour combos I love - although the one below is definitely my fave at the moment. 

I discovered quinoa a while back, coincidentally shortly after I discovered that my body can't really cope with me eating delicious white wheaty things like bread and pasta more than about once a fortnight without me turning into a human floatation device (sorry if TMI).  The good thing about quinoa is that it's a grain so it's wheat and gluten free, super easy to digest and is also high in fibre and protein.  Beautiful. 

 Ingredients (a rough guide for 4 portions)

160g quinoa 

2-3tbsp olive oil

1 chicken or veg stock cube

A few florets of broccoli

1 courgette

1 leek

1 red onion

1 clove of garlic

5 mushrooms

2-3 chicken breasts

Seasoning: your choice - I like paprika and dried coriander for the 

chicken and lemon juice for the rest of it.

 

Rocket salad, fresh tomatoes and Greek feta to serve.

1) Immediately after taking this photo I realised there was probably no way of making raw chicken ever look particularly attractive.  So here are, in all their unaesthetic glory, my 3 small chicken breasts.  Season with salt, pepper, paprika and dried coriander and bake at 200 for around 30 minutes or until cooked and tender (you know the deal). 

2) While you're chicken's doing it's thing, you can crack on with the rest of the prep.  Chop your veggies finely and cook them in a large frying pan with the oil.  Start with the broccoli, garlic and onion, frying gently until beginning to soften, then add in the leek, courgette and mushrooms.  This should all take around 8-10 minutes in total.

3) Boil around 800ml of water in a large saucepan and add in your stock cube (this is what makes the quinoa all flavoursome and yummy yummy).  Pour in the quinoa and cook for 15-18 minutes, or until all the water has just been absorbed, stirring occasionally.

4) Once your quinoa is almost done, you can prepare your chicken (which should be looking a lot more appetising by now).  I like to shred the chicken using two forks, but everyone probably has a different method - go with what you like.  Also if you don't eat meat, tuna or salmon is great with quinoa.

5) Hopefully by this time your quinoa should be done and looking nice and fluffy.  The next bit is pretty simple really: chuck everything into the pot with the quinoa and stir, adding lemon juice. 

6) Serve up with a crumbling of feta over the top, fresh rocket salad and big red tomatoes!  This is so delicious cold as well - the perfect summer salad.

If anyone makes this recipe or has some ingredient combo suggestions, leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts...  Thanks for reading as always, and happy quinoa-ing!

Ruby x

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Super Healthy, Super Easy, Super Quick: Shakshuka

Put your hand up if you've ever heard of shakshuka.  Nope, neither had I until I came downstairs one day to find my housemate, Chiara, cooking up a shakshuka-shaped storm.  It's a middle eastern dish made with chopped tomatoes, peppers, onions and eggs, and it's swiftly becoming a new favourite of mine, as it's so quick and easy but also totally different to anything else I've ever tried.  Plus it's really healthy, which obviously means you get to eat twice as much - bonus.

Ingredients:

One tin of chopped tomatoes (400g) 

One onion

Two peppers, any colour

One clove of garlic

Herbs of your choice

A few fresh tomatoes if you fancy them

3-4 eggs

Salt and pepper, to taste

Around 1tbsp olive oil

This will make two large portions - you can put in 3 or 4 (or more) eggs depending on how hungry you are.  

1) Chop your onions and peppers, crush the garlic, and put it all in a deep frying pan with a little bit of olive oil.  

2) Add your herbs, and salt and pepper - I like oregano, dried chilli flakes and mixed herb seasoning.  This is also lush with fresh coriander, but I was unfortunately fresh out of that (lol). 

3) Cook it all over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes or so, until softened, then add your can of chopped tomatoes, and turn the heat up a little.

6) Stir them in until it's all bubbling away, then crack your eggs straight on top, and season again.  Turn the heat down so it's gently simmering, then put a lid on top...

 

7) Around 5 minutes later it should look a little more attractive, as the eggs cook.  Let them cook to your personal taste - I prefer a runny egg so 5 minutes is usually perfect for mine!  And this is the finished product...

Serve up with all your favourite things - mine had to include spinach, of course, and a few more tomatoes on the side, with a bit of balsamic vinegar.

So that's the dream of a meal that is shakshuka.  It's so easy, really cheap to make, and could easily be adapted to use all sorts of ingredients.  A cheesy shakshuka is definitely next on my agenda.  Has anyone else tried this? 

Ruby x

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Recipe: Spicy Carrot, Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

 Good afternoon my cherubs.  Today I have for you a warming wintry recipe for what is fast becoming my go-to when I'm exceedingly poor/cold and sad/hungover and hungry (I eat this all the time).  This is very cheap to make, can be produced in vast quantities, and is damn tasty. Introducing... 

Spicy Carrot, Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup

Ingredients: 

- 5-6 medium carrots (around 350g), diced

- 1 onion, diced

- 1 leek, chopped 

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- 2 small sweet potatoes, diced

- 100g of red lentils

- 1-1.5 litres of vegetable stock

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 2 handfuls of coriander

- salt and pepper, to taste

- dried chilli flakes or piri piri seasoning

- dried coriander

- creme fraiche, to serve

Method

1)  I start by sticking on some music and getting to work chopping everything first... which takes a little while.  Put a large non-stick saucepan on the hob, and on a medium heat, fry the onions, crushed garlic and leeks in the olive oil until just beginning to soften.  

2)  Chuck in your carrots, sweet potatoes, and the dried coriander, salt and pepper and dried chilli flakes then stir like crazy, adding more olive oil if required.  I tend to use around 2 tsps of dried chilli flakes, for a medium-spicy soup, but use less or more if you want to adjust the spice of your soup.  

 3)  After cooking for 4-5 minutes, pour in your vegetable stock (just enough to cover all the veg, you can add more later if required), and turn up the heat so the soup is simmering.  Here, you can add in a handful of chopped or torn coriander and the lentils. 

4)  Stick a lid on the saucepan, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until everything is tender and soft.  Make sure you keep an eye on it, stirring every now and again and topping up with stock when it boils off.

5)  Once everything's been cooked, take the saucepan off the heat and prepare to blend.  You don't have to blend your soup if you prefer it chunky or don't have a blender... it's equally delicious.  

 

6)  I use the Breville Blend Active  blender, which is probably one of the best things I've bought - it's a really good (and much cheaper - only £19.99!) alternative to the if slightly more stylish Nutri Bullet.  You can also just use a hand blender, whatever floats your boat.  I tend to add in a bit more water before blending to avoid the baby food consistency you sometimes get with homemade soups.  Blend it in batches, and load into all the tupperware you can find - this tends to make around 5-6 portions of soup.  

7)  Leave to cool before popping in the fridge.  Or, eat immediately, serving with a spoonful of creme fraiche, salt, pepper, more chilli flakes if desired and a sprinkling of more fresh coriander.  Bon appetit!

So, there we have it.  A healthy, hearty, wholesome soup for these cold, cold days.  Enjoy!

Ruby x

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My Favourite Hot and Steamy Winter Breakfast: Sassy Porridge

Good morning! You're probably looking at the photo above right now and thinking 'bloody hell what is that half-eaten looking mess of a meal'.  Yes, this doesn't represent a particularly glamorous or photogenic breakfast, but it is one that is super cheap, quick and healthy, and will keep you powering through those chilly mornings.  What you are looking at, my dear friends, I like to call 'Sassy Porridge'.  

And all the ingredients are available from Aldi:

Okay, my raspberries were from Sainsbury's this time... I obviously thought I'd treat myself.  

Ingredients: 

Milk of choice - Soya, Almond, Rice, Cow, Goat etc. or keep it simple and use water

Porridge oats 

Fresh or frozen fruit - I like banana and frozen raspberries

Dried fruit and nuts - I get mixed pots from Aldi which are only 59p each(!)

Yoghurt of choice

Basically, this is the easiest and quickest breakfast ever, as long as you do a little preparation.  Find a big tub  or jar, and measure out enough oats to fill it around three quarters.  Then take all your dried fruit and nutty goodness and chop it roughly.  This bit is really satisfying. 

Then, chuck it all in together into your big container, adding a few spices if you fancy it (I really like cinammon so I put in a big ol' spoonful of that).  Then it comes to the part where you really do have to shake it to make it.

Once it's all scrambled up together, you've got your porridge base for the foreseeable future!  Told you it was easy!  To actually cook it, pour or spoon some into a bowl, add enough milk to almost cover your oats, throw in some frozen berries and pop in the microwave for around 1 and a half minutes on high - you might need to stir it half way through. 

It should then look something like this:

For finishing touches, I like to cover with a dollop of yoghurt, a chopped up banana and a touch more cinammon or mixed spice.  Voila!!!  Let me know what you think if you give it a go.  

Ruby x

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Quick Eat of the Week

Hello!  Wow, it's been well over a week and for that, I apologize.  On the weekend my housemates and I hosted our first house party in the name of Halloween/my 20th birthday which was also last week, a party which seemed to take me about 5 days to prepare for and a further 4 to recover from.  For some reason, Halloween this year well and truly topped me: don't get me wrong, I had a fabulous time, but I'm certainly paying for it now... 

Today's post is dedicated to the rediscovery of one of my all-time favourite quick and easy but bloody yummy breakfast/lunch/dinners.  Yes, this is the ultimate mealtime hybrid - a dish that can satisfy hunger pangs at any time of the day.  This time last year every time I went on Instagram someone else was eating eggs and avocado but the thing is it's just such a good combo.  

Basically, all you need to make this is your bread of preference (give rye bread a go, it's delicious), about half a ripe avocado, 2 eggs and some salad on the side if you so wish.  Whack the bread on the grill, mix up the eggs with a little bit of milk, salt and pepper then start scrambling over a low heat.  Once your bread is toasted, mash the avocado on top of it and add more salt, pepper, and a little bit of cayenne pepper for special interest if you're into that shit (I most certainly am).  Keep an eye on your eggs, and once they're done to your personal liking layer them on top of your avocado toast and season again with smoky paprika.  Throw some spinach and chopped tomatoes on the side with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and bob's your uncle, fanny's your aunt - I told you it was easy.  

Do let me know if you try this out, or if you have any other ways to add variety and pizazz to your avocado/egg dishes... I'm addicted!!

Ruby x

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