#syndestruction

Bobotie is a South African dish that’s traditionally made with beef or lamb mince, but it’s one of the few dishes where I personally think the veggie version is better. There’s something about the soft texture of quorn mince that’s perfect for bobotie. This is also one of those rare dishes like kedgeree that actually is better when made with white-people curry powder. I don’t know why, but it is.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the mix:

2 Medium Onions

4 Medium cloves Garlic

5 tsp Curry Powder

1 dried teaspoon, 1g Allspice, Ground

1 tbsp Red Onion or Mango Chutney

500g Quorn Mince (or other vegetarian mince)

1 Tsp Ground Turmeric

2 Tsp Garam Masala

1/2 200g Tin/Can Tomatoes

50g Sultanas or Raisins

2 slices white bread (or 50g breadcrumbs)

1 tbsp Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce (or veggie alternative)

Teaspoon Sea Salt

For the topping:

150ml Semi-Skimmed Milk

3 Large Eggs

Method:

1. Dice your onions and crush or finely chop your garlic.If using whole slices of bread, blend them or tear them into crumbs. Preheat your oven to medium (cake baking) temperate.

2. Fry your onions in a medium sized saucepan until soft. Add spices and fry until fragrant. Add the rest of the mix ingredients and allow to stew until the quorn is cooked through (15-20 minutes). Your mix should be a bit wet but not soupy.

3. Spoon into an oven-safe dish.

4. Beat the eggs and gradually add the milk to make a milky-eggy mess. Pour over the quorn mix. Top with a couple of bay-leaves if you’re feeling fancy.

5. Put it in the oven and let it bake until the eggy-milky topping has set (about 30 minutes).

This is good with Indian spiced grilled meat like home-made chicken tikka (although I’d just buy the naan breads personally!) or with a biriyani. My favourite veggie biriyani recipe is this one, or try the ever-reliable Madhur Jaffrey’s chicken biriyani. Biriyanis aren’t hard, but they do take time, so they’re better as  weekend food than after work.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

5 cherry tomatoes or 1 large ones

4 or 5 inch piece of cucumber

1/2 medium red onion

4 raddishes

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tbsp)

1/2 small bunch coriander (5-10g)

Method:

This is probably the healthiest thing I make and it’s actually really easy, and despite the high veg content not all that expensive. I usually make this with frozen sweetcorn, so the the peppers and courgettes are the biggest cost here.

It’s also a good cooking with kids recipe. Stuffing the peppers is something they can help with, and salsas are a great way to learn about flavours since they always end up needing adjusting no matter how careful the recipe.

Serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

For the peppers

8 Medium Peppers, whatever colours you like (but a mix looks pretty and is often cheaper to buy)

1 Large mild Red Chilli Peppers

4 Medium Courgettes

200g Sweetcorn Kernels (defrosted if from frozen)

300g Cheddar Cheese

4 Tsp Ground Cumin

2 Tsp Paprika

2 Tsp Ground Coriander

Tablespoon Sunflower/Vegetable/Groundnut Oil

1 Medium Red Onion

30g Coriander Leaves, Fresh

For the Salsa:

1 Pointed Sweet Red Pepper

1 Medium Red Onion

15-20 Cherry Tomatoes

2 Medium clove Garlic

Large Red Chilli Pepper (optional - raw chilli can be a bit hot for small humans)

400g can Black Beans in Water

3 Tbsp Lime Juice

4 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt to taste

1/2 Level teaspoon White Sugar (or to taste)

Method:

For the peppers:

1. Grate the courgettes. Finely chop the chilli and onion. Crush or finely chop the garlic. Cut the stalks from the coriander and dice them (set the leaves aside - we’re going to add them to the salsa later). Grate the cheese.

2. Cut the tops off the peppers, and scoop out the insides, leaving the peppers whole. Preheat your oven to a medium hot temperate (I use gas mark 5, but I don’t know how that translates into electric ovens. Think a bit hotter than you’d use to bake a cake).

2. Add the oil to a frying pan. Fry the courgette, chilli and onion until soft. Add the garlic and coriander stems and cook for a little longer, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add the spices and fry until fragrant.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the sweetcorn and cheese (retaining a little bit of cheese to put on top). Adjust seasoning to taste.

4. Stand the peppers up in an oven safe dish or tray. One that’s only just big enough is best, as it will stop your peppers falling over and loosing their filling. Scoop your cheesy mixture into the peppers, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover with oven-safe foil and bake for until the peppers are soft (around 20 minutes).

For the salsa:

1. Dice the pepper, onion and chilli (if using). Quarter the cherry tomatoes. Crush or finely chop the garlic. Drain and rinse the black beans. Tear or chop the coriander leaves we set to one side earlier.

2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Adjust seasoning as needed.

You can put this on rice, in tacos, in burritos, on a baked sweet potato... You can also serve the salsa by itself with grilled meat or barbecue, or put it on nachos.

Add rice, cheese and tortillas to make burritos if you’re trying to feed fussy kids. The fact that they can assemble their own will encourage them to eat it - if they feel like they made it, they’re more likely to give it a try! Plus food you eat with your hands is always a hit.

Serves 4 (with some leftover salsa)

Ingredients

Grated cheese

Rice or tortillas (or both!)

For the Beans:

1 Medium Onion

2 cloves garlic

1 stick of celery

1 red pepper

1 large mild red chilli

1 400g tin kidney beans

1 400g tin black beans

tsp cocoa powder

4 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

salt to taste

1 tbsp vegetable/groundnut/other tasteless oil

For the Salsa:

15g Coriander Leaves, Fresh

2 tbsp Lime Juice

Medium Red Onions

2 tbsp Tesco Red Wine Vinegar

140g Sweetcorn Kernels (fresh, tinned or defrosted)

20 Cherry tomatoes

1 Medium clove Garlic

Sugar and salt to taste

Method

First make your salsa - letting it sit in the fridge while you make the beans improves the flavours:

1. Finely chop the red onion. Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters. Tear or chop the coriander.

2. Add everything to a bowl and stir to combine. Add sugar if it’s too tart, and salt to taste.

For the beans:

1. Finely chop the onion, pepper, celery and chilli. Crush or finely slice the garlic.

2. In a wok or frying pan, add the oil and the chopped vegetables. Fry until the onion and pepper soften. Add the spices and fry for a few seconds until they become fragrant.

3. Completely drain one tin of beans and add to the pain. Drain most of the liquid from the second tin and add, along with the tomato puree. Allow the mix to stew for 5-10 minutes, adding water as necessary to keep it from scorching. Adjust seasoning as necessary.

This is mostly an attempt to make a veggie version of Wagamama’s cha-han, addapted to what I could easily get in the UK. It’s a great recipe for using up leftover rice, and is both tasty enough to appeal to adults while mild enough that it’ll be a hit with young children. It’s also on the table in about 15 minutes if you’ve got leftover rice and pretty cheap to make.

Serves 4

Ingredients

250g white or chestnut Mushrooms

4 Medium Eggs

Small Tin/Can of Sweetcorn Kernels, Drained

4 Spring Onions

2 Medium Cloves Garlic

Tablespoon (15ml) Sesame Oil

100g Sugarsnap or Mange-tout Peas

300g Rice (Jasmine or Basmati for preference, but normal long-grain works fine)

6 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

Method

1. Cook your rice in the normal way, and set it to one side to cool

2. Slice your mushrooms, spring onions & peas into biggish slices. Crush or finely slice the garlic. Crack the eggs into a cup or bowl and beat until smooth

3. Get a wok or pan hot, add your sesame oil. Add the spring onion, mushroom, peas and sweetcorn and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and egg and allow it to cook without stirring until the egg is mostly set but not hard. Break up your eggy veggie omlette with a wooden spoon or spatula and add the rice and soy sauce. Stir fry until the rice is heated through and serve.

Kids are weird about foods. I had a cousin who would only eat red things until she was 5 or 6. Didn’t matter what it was, as long as it was red. Another one wouldn’t eat any vegetables but loved brie and olives. They’re also genetically programmed to be fussy at that age to stop them from eating poisonous things, so keep offering foods she initially rejects, as familiarity is often the key and tastes change quickly when you’re young. My mum had a three rejections rule that worked pretty well to get me and my brother eating a wide range of things. If after three attempts we still hated it, she wouldn’t make it again, but we had to try it on three different occasions first.

What her list of favourite foods immediately suggests to me is salsas or kachumber. Hopefully the cherry tomato (and cucumber for kachumber) will convince her to try the other things on the plate! Or a stir-fry with snap peas and egg or chicken. Mince or egg is good for tricking kids who don’t like protein into eating it, as it’s in small enough pieces that it can’t easily be identified or picked out. Or tofu, if you’re a tofu liking person, chopped small in a stir-fry.

The other good under-used source of protein is beans. They’ve got a soft text and mild taste that means they don’t freak kids out, and they’re high in healthy proteins. Dairy as well - kids need quite a lot of fat, so there’s no harm in adding cheese to things!

Is it ok to add you?

I miss your writing so much. Heh. I will forever have RR on an open tab to read whenever I need a good get away read.

pertaret replied

I miss your writing as well! I remember the hours of just laying in my bed through the night, binge reading RR, that masterpiece (i started reading it, when you already stopped updating for awhile). It's still one of my favourite tkym fics out there <3