It's been a while since I posted a new recipe...so how about a nice warming recipe to use up a few ingredients in your fridge. I had a little bit of pumpkin left over from Halloween, so I decided to whip up one of Mr Peachy's favourite soup flavours - Pumpkin and Pepper.
A lovely, spicy soup that I served up with some lovely, crusty onion bread;
Pumpkin and Pepper soup is one of the easiest recipes that uses just a few simple ingredients that you will have lying around. Soup is a great way of using up those few veggie stubs and stock that would otherwise go to waste - food waste is a huge problem faced by UK households at the moment and this is a way of making sure you are not throwing food away unnecessarily.
Ingredients (to serve 2):
400g Pumpkin - chopped
500ml Vegetable Stock
4 Shallots (chopped and halved)
1 Leek (chopped)
1 Red Pepper (halved)
1 tsp Lazy Chillies/Half Fresh Red Chilli
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
Under the grill on a medium heat, place the two halves of pepper face up and cook for about 15 minutes until the edges are slightly blackened. Remove from the grill and place in a bowl to cool - covering the bowl with clingfilm will also keep the flavour ripe.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat your shallots and leak in a bit of olive oil, cover and cook on a medium heat until softened and slightly browned. Add your pumpkin, chilli and seasoning and continue to cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add your vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cover and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
Whilst the soup mixture is simmering, cut the red peppers into small pieces and, when the soup mixture is ready, using a hand blender, add the peppers and blend until the soup is smooth with a little texture.
Serve with crusty bread and butter for a cosy, winter treat!
So I ummed and ahhhed and thought about what recipe I could possibly try for this Friday's Change One Thing. It's been an incredible week - but a very busy one and I've needed to have quick dinners on standby, as Little D has been struggling with teeth and, therefore, sleeping!
So it dawned on me, that one of my very early recipe posts has become something of a delicious staple in the Peachy household. So I've decided to re-post this gorgeous recipe for Payday Pizzas!
Now...why repost this recipe? And how does it fall into the Change One Thing theme for this month? Well, everybody loves a pizza - and we are no exception. But since finding this recipe for a lovely, light pizza dough (which is also dairy-free), courtesy of Baking Mad; I've really enjoyed putting my own pizzas together, gaining more control over the calorie content and even putting toppings together that reflect what's in season over in the veg world (I've developed an interest in sustainable living - more to come on Life is Peachy soon)!
I suppose this post, less reflects changing ingredients and is more reflective of changing our food lifestyle and how we view treats, takeaways and how we can; with the right ingredients, create even more delicious homemade food - without the takeaway price tag or the calorie guilt!
I hope you enjoy this week's repost and, as ever, I love hearing feedback!
CHANGE ONE THING - THE MOST DELICIOUS HOMEMADE PIZZAS
Next week is the last of my 'Change One Thing' recipe themes so I'm going to make it nice and challenging! If you would like to link up with Change One Thing - please email me your links and I will link them up with next week's big finale post!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I have a slight confession to make - I'm no vegetarian but I absolutely LOVE vegetarian cuisine and, in a former single life, mostly lived off vegetarian concoctions. The reasons? Well there seems to be argument after argument that meat is not good for the human body and, whilst I like to eat meat in moderation, I always feel much 'healthier' after period of vegetarian living. Plus you have the media meat-scares (horse, anyone?) and the fact that meat, or at least good quality cuts of meat, are forever rising in price.
So, for this week's Change One Thing recipe on Friday's Kitchen, I thought I would share a Vegetable Balti recipe that I have been tinkering with for a while. A delicious, fragrant curry with a yellow lentil base, complete with wheat-free bhajis; makes for a gorgeous curry without the calorie count or the bloated tummy! The key with Indian-style wheat-free is to cook with GRAM FLOUR (A flour that is made from chickpeas), which does not contain wheat, but still helps to produce the same sort of density in a curry or side dish. I do hope you enjoy AND if you would like to join in with Change One Thing this month - please submit your recipes to me and I'll link them up on HERE each Friday!
Ingredients (Serves 4 medium portions)
For the Curry
250g Yellow Lentils
1 Large Onion, chopped
1 Courgette, diced
1 Yellow Pepper, chopped
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tin of Chopped Tomatoes
Half a Jar (Approx) Balti Sauce (I used a Tesco Balti Sauce here)
1 tsp gram flour (flour made with chickpeas)
2 tsp Natural Yoghurt
For the Wheat-Free Bhajis (to make 4 small)
2 Large Onions (shredded)
1 tsp Garam Masala
2-3 tsps Mango Chutney
1 pinch Chilli Powder
2-3 tsps Gram Flour
Method:
Firstly, place your lentils in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes until soft.
For the Bhajis:
In a frying pan, fry your two chopped onions for the bhajis in a little bit of oil for a few minutes, until brown and sweet. Remove from the heat and leave to cool down.
Once cooled a little, pour the onions into a large mixing bowl and add your gram flour, chilli, garam masala and chutney. Mix the onion mixture together until sticky, you may need to add extra chutney if the mixture is too dry.
Carefully separate the mixture into 4 and pat together into circles. Leave until your curry is ready. Once the curry is cooked - heat some oil in a frying pan over a hot hob and add each bhaji, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Serve (and enjoy) with the curry.
For the Curry:
In a separate pan, fry your curry onion in a little oil until brown but not too tender, add your courgette and yellow pepper and continue to cook over a medium heat.
Once the veg is starting to soften, add your tinned tomatoes and a touch of salt and pepper and continue to cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Once the mixture is lightly bubbling, add the garam masala and mix in.
By this point, your lentils should be soft enough to add to the mixture, drain first through a sieve and add to the curry mixture, along with the half-jar of balti sauce. Allow the curry to cook, whilst continually stirring over a medium heat, for 5-10 minutes until the flavours are all combined.
Serve with bhajis and a side of Basmati rice! Guaranteed to satisfy even the most carnivorous of eaters!
Next week: Sweet Potato Brownies??? You best believe it!
Well, here it is...my first Friday's Kitchen recipe post under the 'Change One Thing' theme. I decided, a short while ago, to dedicate a month's worth of recipes to making minor changes to recipes in order to make them slightly healthier, but not less tasty! It's been nearly 5 months since I gave birth to Daisy and I'm keen to get my pre-baby body back, not to mention fit into the vintage leather skirt I have snaffled away in my wardrobe upstairs.
As a foodie, I'm not a fan of fad-dieting, I believe in making permanent lifestyle changes to maintain a healthy weight, but then again I'm a huge fan of cake and chocolate! So, along came 'Change One Thing'; an attempt to think outside the box with cooking and baking and simply 'change one thing' to improve health, without completely cutting out things I love.
For the first recipe, I've gone for a Dairy AND Sugar-Free Chai Latte! Grabbing a Starbucks was pretty much a regular deal when I lived back in London; but coffees are costly and these luxuries were the first to go when little D came along. Lucky for me, I formulated a lovely homemade recipe for making Chai Lattes with an authentic spicy, warming taste. Not only that, this recipe was easily adaptable to make it healthier. I substituted milk for delicious Almond Milk and used Agave Nectar, a natural and light sweetener, instead of honey/sugar. The result is a creamy, sweet and spicy drink - perfect for an afternoon treat. I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients: (makes one large mug or two smaller cups)
5 Whole Cloves,
1 Cinnamon Stick (I often use half plus extra ground cinnamon)
5 Whole Peppercorns
1 Inch Piece Fresh Ginger
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Teabag of English Breakfast Tea (or something of similar strength)
2 tsp Agave Nectar
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 Cup Almond Milk/Milk of your choice
Method:
Firstly, place your dry ingredients (cinnamon stick, ginger, peppercorns and cloves) in a saucepan. Add your vanilla extract and then add your cups of water (all at once).
Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and cover the saucepan. Leave to rest for 5 minutes, then rip the tea bag and pour the tealeaves into the saucepan. Give the mixture a quick stir, then leave to further rest for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the lid and pour the mixture into a bowl through a sieve, use a spoon to push through some of the mulch, as this helps to give your latte more flavour! Discard your other ingredients and pour your flavoured chai back into the saucepan.
Pour in your agave nectar and, lastly, add the milk - put on a low heat and, using a magic mixer or milk frother, slowly bring to the boil stirring all the time and remove from heat before milk boils completely. Serve in a mug or cup with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon!
Enjoy all the goodness of a sweet latte, with none of the guilt!
If you are a blogger, why not join in with my 'Change One Thing' theme for August? Email any recipe links and I will post links each Friday HERE!
Next week: Vegetarian Balti Curry with Wheat-Free Onion Bhajis
