Planet Veggie

The Quick Cook Vegetarian cookbook is a bargain. Not only did it only cost me about £4 including postage from amazon, each recipe is accompanied by a full-colour photo and each recipe only takes 30 minutes to prepare. And if 30 minutes is too long for you, each recipe also has two other versions of it that take only 10 or 20 minutes.

Last night I made the Creamy Courgette Orzo Pasta (which I didn’t take a photo of) and I’m looking forward to trying out the recipes for

Smoked Cheese, Pepper and Spinach Quesadillas
Asparagus and Udon Stir-fry
Deep-fried Beer-battered Halloumi
Aubergine and Harissa Saute

amongst many others. I haven’t been so impressed with a cookbook for ages.

Tonight I made the Black-Eyed Bean and Red Pepper Stew which was cheap, quick, easy, super-healthy and delicious.

Black Eyed-Bean and Red Pepper Stew (says serves 4, but it’s more like 6)

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 celery stalks, diced (I left these out)
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 1 cm pieces
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I left this out)
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato puree
75 ml vegetable stock
2 x 400g tins black-eyed beans in water, drained
4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves, plus extra to garnish (I left this out)
salt and pepper
cooked basmati rice, to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and place over a high heat.
2. Add the shallots, garlic, celery, carrot and red pepper and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until lightly starting to brown.
3. Add the dried herbs, cumin, cinnamon, tomatoes, tomato puree and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook gently for 12-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
4. Stir in the black-eyed beans and cook for 2-3 minutes or until piping hot.
5. Season well, remove from the heat and sprinkle over the chopped coriander. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice.