Double Recipe Post!

Today I am spoiling you, and you are getting two recipes that I have recently made but not got around to sharing. First up, are stuffed cabbage leaves. I was given a lovely cabbage from James' grandfather and wanted to use it in a kitchen experiment. I'm never one for getting fussy over things like stuffed leaves or anything that requires attention to the presentation - one pot is more my style - but it definitely seemed the most inventive way to use it. To get a basic idea of how to treat the leaves and how to cook it all I found a recipe but I think I did a good job of making it my own - I subbed in my own mix of quinoa and mixed beans (soaked and pre-cooked a day before) for the can of rice and beans in the recipe. Here's what I did if you fancy having a go yourself:

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (serves 1)

3 Large cabbage leaves - be careful whilst pealing these away from the head
30g quinoa - Uncooked
120g cooked beans - any you like. This equates to about 50g of dried beans soaked overnight and boiled for an hour, or half a tin of cooked beans.
1 Tsp coconut oil
Half a red onion - Finely sliced
1 Tsp dried herbs - I used herbs de provence
100g tinned tomatoes  - Mine were arrabiata and so had extra chili chopped in, so feel free to add your own.

• Bring a large pot of water to the boil and carefully put the cabbage leaves in so that they are totally submerged. Leave to blanch for about 5 minutes, then drain and rinse in cold water so that they don't continue to cook and are easier to work with. If the stalks running through the leaves are thick, carefully use a knife toshave the stalk down so it doesn't protrude so much.
• Meanwhile, saute the onion in the coconut oil and stir the dried herbs in. When they are translucent, add the quinoa and cover with water by about a centimeter. Quinoa can take about 15 mins to fully cook in my experience and you will need to keep a close eye on whether or not it dries out. Add more water if you need to.
• Stir the pre-cooked/canned beans through the quinoa and onion mixture. You could also season at this point and add in any herbs you like.
• Spoon a third of the mixture into  the centre of each leaf and roll them by first folding in the sides and rolling them up (sorry, I realise that I should've put in a photo as it's kind of hard to describe). Put rolls in, 'seam' side down into a pan large enough to fit all the rolls in the base.
• Thin out the tinned tomatoes with a little water (a couple of tablespoons should do) and then pour over the rolls.
• Bring the pan to low heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Like the quinoa, keep an eye on the pan for moisture to keep the rolls from sticking.
• Serve up with any side you fancy, or just simply on their own.

I quite enjoyed these, and it's safe to say I was very proud of how they turned out, i.e. intact. Next time I will definitely look into adding more flavour as they were a little bland, by perhaps adding herbs, adding spices to the onions, and some bouillon when cooking the quinoa.

And your second recipe.....

Yesterday afternoon I verged on a food rut. If I'm hungry in the afternoon and now that I need a smallish meal to carry through a workout and onto dinner I'll have something easy - banana toast, cottage cheese, dark chocolate. But I didn't have any of those things to hand and I had the time to spare so I decided to cook something with the odd veggies I could find. I went for soup because it seemed the best way of incorporating the lentils and veggies I had to hand

Pea and Lentil Soup (serves 1)

50g Dry red lentils - Rinse throrougly
1/4 Tsp turmeric - Optional
1/3 Vegetable stock cube or 1/2 tsp of vegetable bouillon
Small handul of shelled broad beans
1 Spring onion - Roughly chopped
1/2 Cup of frozen peas
1 Tbsp fresh mint - Chopped

• Bring the lentils to a boil in enough water to cover by an inch and stir through the stock and turmeric (I nearly always add turmeric to lentils out of habit which is why they are randomly included in this recipe) 
• After about 10 minutes of boiling add the spring onion and broad beans
• Another 10 minutes later add in the peas and mint.
• Cook all together for another 5 minutes or until the lentils have completely softened.
• Transfer to blender and blend. Some blenders will need you to allow the mixture to cool before blending, otherwise there will be a soup explosion! Alternatively use a hand blender.
• Once smooth, transfer back into the pan and bring the soup back up to temperature.
• Season with salt and pepper if you prefer, and serve.

I really liked the fresh flavour and the bright green colour brought on by the turmeric. The lentils helped give body and a protein boost. Even Barney the dog was eyeing it up ;-)

I am submitting this post to two blogging events - Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Shelby at Everyday Vegan Girl , Gabby at The Veggie Nook  and Carrie at Carrie On Vegan. This is the event's first week so why not support them by checking out the page or submitting yourself? Also I am submitting to Wellness Weekend over at Diet Dessert and Dogs which always gives me inspiration and keeps my motivation to be healthy high over the weekend.

Get in touch if you try anything out!

Hannah xx

Beans :-)

Not going to post a long one tonight, but I wanted to quickly share a couple of my beany eats lately!

A few days ago I used up some leftover veggies and beans to make a chilli. Chilli is such an easy to make meal that can be made in bulk and what's more the leftovers taste even better! I've even been eating the leftovers cold because its been too hot for hot food, serving it up with some greens and mashed avocado.

Tonight everyone had BBQ and I was totally unprepared. I usually love having veggie skewers, halloumi etc but didn't have anything suitable to hand. Instead, James totally knocked me out with a beanburger which took well under 15 mins from start to finish. He drained a tin of mixed beans in tomato sauce (rinsing out the sauce), partially mashed them and gradually incorporating enough oats (ground and whole) to a doughy consistency. They were also seasoned with chili powder and mixed spice - strange but definitely worked! He coated them in wholemeal gluten free flour and fried 1 in a little olive oil for about 4-5 mins each side. The 2nd will be my lunch tomorrow! He can definitely cook for me again :-D

Recipe: Pearl Barley and Veg Broth

Eurgh. I'm not my best. I have a cold, a sore throat, and feel a little bit sicky. It's not the worst it could be (I like to think I have my veggies to thank for keeping the worst of it at bay) but I still don't feel great. And it also means that I have to keep away from my mum as her treatment means that her immunity's really low and any illness could delay her recovery.

I wanted something easy but comforting for lunch today, and soup is such a great go to for when you're feeling a bit rushed. I made a broth with pearl barley, kidney beans and a load of veg. I've done a variation on this many times, and while I was a student it was such a great go to meal at the end of the day. It's enough preparation (an hour from start to finish) to be therapeutic, but not stressful either. It is inspired by Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Every Day recipe for 'Raid the larder spelt broth':

Pearl Barley and Veg Broth (for 1 sick but hungry person)


25g pearl barley (dry weight) - rinse well

Clove of garlic - crushed
1 Dry bay leaf
1 tsp (scant) of vegetable bouillon/stock powder
Half a can of kidney beans - drained (which beans you have to hand. If you have dried beans, this equates to about 50g dry weight, and be sure to cook according to instructions before adding)
Half an onion - finely chopped
1 Medium carrot - finely chopped
Small handful of dried mushrooms (I used portobello, and shiitakes have worked for me well before) - Soak in enough water to cover for 15 mins, chop and reserve liquid)
50g (Large handful) Kale
50g Frozen peas

• Boil pearl barley in enough water to cover by at least an inch, depending on how much liquid you want your broth to have, adding in the garlic, bay leaf and bouillon.
• After half an hour (I use this time to prep the other ingredients) add onions and carrots. Keep the water boiling, and be sure to add more if it looks dry - the barley soaks it up!
• Five minutes later, add the chopped mushrooms and the soaking liquid.
• After another five minutes, add whichever beans you are using.
• Another 15 minutes later add in the peas and kale for a final 5 or 10 minutes of cooking, depending on how well-cooked you like your greens.
• Season with salt and pepper, if your taste prefers (though a decent bouillon should provide enough flavour enhancement).
• Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving in a big bowl :-)

I am submitting this to the Wellness Weekend event, which is a great weekly resource worth checking out if you're looking for clean-eating, refined sugar-free inspiration!

Let me know if you try this out!

Hannah xxx

Wardrobe Detoxification and Delicious Dumplings!

Today I have learned something. Humans have far too much stuff. And I have far too many clothes.

I thought that I had unpacked most of my belongings into my brother's old room at my mum's house. And that was enough 'stuff'. I thought I had everything in there that I could possibly need. It turned out my dad had the attic filled with bags and boxes of my clothes too, so today's mission has been to attempt re-homing a load of stuff that probably has all of 3% chance of me ever wearing/using again. I have taken a full rubbish bag of clothes to the recycling (something which I also did when emptying my cupboards 2 weeks ago when I was packing to leave university). And yet there is still SO MUCH STUFF!!!

There is a lot of stuff from my junk food days that are a size or two too big for me, but they are wearable, so I ought to hang onto them as I'd rather not waste them if I could wear them in future if the occaision arises and alter them if necessary. This is something I'm reluctant to do though as I like the size that I have worked hard to wear, but I guess I can always cut the labels out!

I'm going to attempt flogging some dresses on ebay too, to free up a little space, but I think the key thing here is to swear to myself that I am not buying myself any new clothes for a long time. I thought I needed new stuff for my holiday next monday...apparently not!

So to tenuously link this back to this blog's theme of health, I suppose you could call today's events detoxifying???

This morning's smoothie followed the usual formula, with strawberries, blueberries and extra spinach. Instead of green sludge, I thought I'd show the components today! The vanilla yoghurt I used made it extra sweet and creamy, though I only bought it because it was discounted. It also has added sugar, not my tummy's best friend, so I'll be back to plain yoghurt tomorrow *sigh*

Today's lunch was a regular staple as I needed a quick fix in between sorting all these clothes. Cottage cheese and toasted walnuts in a pitta bread which is a delicious combination and a superb meat-free protein fix, accompanied with some raw and cooked veggies.

I also tried this recipe of oat and chickpea dumplings in passata, as cited by Cathy at PlanetVeggie. I can confidently say that this is the best thing that I have cooked with beans in a long time! Whenever I have attempted similar recipes for bean burgers etc. they have never worked for me and fallen apart in the pan. However, it wouldn't've been a normal dinner without drama: just as I thought how perfectly things were going for a change as I panfried the dumplings, the smoke alarm went off! Ultimately though, I loved how simple this recipe was, and that it was free from egg, parmesan, and bread crumbs which are typically used to bind these sorts of things. The cumin and coriander flavours came through perfectly, and served on some steamed kale made this an extremely satisfying dinner. I wanted to show how moist and fresh they looked inside, which is why I've uploaded the second pic.

I have made enough to enjoy cold for lunch tomorrow...any thoughts on how I could tart them up?

No workouts today. Besides busily sorting out all the clothes, the weather has been absolutely terrible! Although it has brightened up now and I'm tempted to go and run off the dumplings!

Thanks for reading, back tomorrow!