#cherrycustard

It's National Vegetarian week in the UK so it was fitting my good friend Michelle (who also happens to be a veggie) was due over for dinner. I'm a complete carnivore but I do love cooking veggie food and try to have a few meat-free days each week. Recently I picked up a copy of Simon Rimmer's The Accidental Vegetarian. It's a real meat-eaters vegetarian cookbook (if that makes sense), full of substantial food packed with flavour. I wanted to make something easy and tasty that wouldn't chain me to the kitchen all afternoon. I opted for Simon's Aubergine and Black Bean Chilli. I couldn't find black beans (an ongoing problem in London it seems) so I used red kidney beans instead. 

Ingredients:

Vegetable oil

2 large aubergines

2 red onions (finely chopped)

4 garlic cloves (crushed)

10 small red chillies (chopped) - I used about five big ones instead and deseeded them

2x 400g can of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp each cinnamon and cumin

1 bay leaf

1 tin of black beans (or, as in my case, kidney beans)

2 tbsp of grated dark choc (minimum 70% cocoa solids) - the magic ingredient!

Method:

Pan fry the aubergine is some oil for about 4 mins (until soft and coloured). Remove and drain on some kitchen paper. 

In the same pan fry the onion and garlic for about 5 mins, add the chillis, fry for further 5 mins. 

Add in the chopped tomatoes, spices, aubergine and beans. Simmer for 15 mins. Stir in the chocolate. Dig out the bay leaf!

Serve with brown rice, a bit of grated cheese and a dollop of creme fraiche.

This dish made me go 'mmmmmm' out loud several times. The chocolate does something quite wonderful. You won't miss the meat, I promise. 

For dessert I wanted to use up a tin of cherries I've had hanging around getting dusty in the pantry. I found the perfect solution on the oracle that is www.skinnytaste.com - cherry custard. This dessert is super easy and really yummy. You can substitute cherries for any other fruit. I'm going to try it with raspberries. We had some leftover grated chocolate so we whacked that on top too. I think I overcooked mine as the texture was a little rubbery (albeit it very delicious rubber) so if in doubt get them out of the oven sooner rather than later. Apologies for the shoddy picture - I was hungry! Click on the pic for the recipe! Go on!