Peri-Peri Beanie Burger

This was my attempt at recreating a Nando's beanie burger for my daughter. Apparently, it didn't taste as good as the Nando's one, but she still enjoyed it.

The recipe is packed full of protein from different sources, so this is a good recipe to fill up growing children and hungry adults alike!

Serves 4-6

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped
• ½ cup each of frozen peas and sweetcorn
• 2 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tin chickpeas
• ½ tin black eyed beans, or other pulses
• 4 tbsp chopped or coarsely ground pumpkin seeds (or cashew nuts)
• 1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices of bread)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mature/sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1-2 tsp fresh or frozen chopped mixed herbs
• Peri-peri sauce to serve

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Fry the onion, garlic and chilli on a moderate heat for a few minutes, until softened, but not brown. Add the spices and throw in the peas and sweetcorn. Turn off the heat.

Meanwhile blitz the bread in food processor to make the breadcrumbs. Remove and keep to one side.

Add the chickpeas and beans to the food processor and blend roughly.

Add all of the other ingredients (including the onion and pea mixture) and pulse to blend, so that the mixture still has a chunky texture.

Form into 6 large burgers, using your hands or a burger press.

Chill for half an hour to firm up.

Shallow fry for 4-5 minutes each size, or brush generously with oil and bake or barbecue.
Brush with with peri-peri sauce and serve in a bread roll with salad and potato wedges or fries.

Suitable for freezing before or after cooking.

Vegan version: Omit the egg and cheese. Add just enough breadcrumbs to form a firm mixture.

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Indian Restaurant-Style Mint Sauce and Onion Salads

I've been trying to re-create the onion salad or chutney that we get with poppadoms in our local Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. There are two types; one is quite plain with a bit of cucumber and tomato; the other has a sweet and spicy red sauce. The 'secret' ingredient in both recipes is chopped coriander, which complements the mint.

I've previously blogged my mint sauce dip, but thought I'd add it here too.

Each recipe serves 4-6 with poppadoms, bhajis or samosas. They also go well with vegetarian barbecued food.

Red, sweet onion salad

• 2 medium white onions, diced into approx 1cm pieces
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp mango chutney (sweet or spicy depending on preference)
• 1 tbsp tomato purée/paste
• 1 tsp unsweetened mint sauce concentrate (Colemans)
• 2 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves

Chop the onions and separate the layers.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients together and then stir in the raw onions.

Allow to marinate for an hour or so, in the fridge, before serving.

Plain onion salad (Kachumber) 

• 2 medium white onions, quartered and sliced finely
• 2.5 cm/1" chunk of cucumber, de-seeded, quartered and sliced finely
• 1 tomato, de-seeded, quartered and sliced finely
• ½ tsp dried mint
• 2 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• A little red chilli powder, to taste (optional)

Chop the onions and separate the layers.

Mix with all of the remaining ingredients.

Allow to marinate for an hour or so, in the fridge, before serving.

Mint sauce

This is my version of the thin, pourable mint sauce (not the thicker raita), which is normally green and served with poppadoms and onion bhajis. If you want to, you can add a few drops of green food colouring, or a pinch of turmeric to give it some colour, but I don't think it needs it! 

• 1 cup of plain yogurt or dairy-free yogurt
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp unsweetened mint sauce concentrate (Colemans)
• A few dashes of hot chilli sauce
• 1 tsp chopped fresh or frozen coriander leaves (optional)

Mix all of the ingredients together. Chill until needed.

Top tip: If you can't find mint sauce concentrate, either use ½ tsp of dried mint or 2-3 tsp regular mint sauce, strained through a tea strainer to remove most of the vinegar. Adjust the amount of extra sugar added accordingly.

How to cook poppadoms in the microwave...

Traditionally poppadoms are deep fried in oil, but they taste nearly as good when cooked in the microwave and are much lower in fat. Look in the Asian section of your supermarket for brands of uncooked poppadoms, such as Ruby or Natco, as they are much cheaper and better than the big UK brands. 

You can microwave them dry, for a fat-free snack, but they taste better and expand more, when wiped (use a sheet of kitchen towel) or sprayed on both sides with a little vegetable oil before cooking.

Microwave individually for 30-40 seconds on high (no need to turn).

For a main course try my paneer tikka kebabs with mushroom biryani.

I'm adding these salad recipes to this month's No Croutons Required challenge hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes and to the West Midland's Bloggers linky.

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Hobnob Biscuits

I thought I'd have a go at making home made Hobnob biscuits as they're a family favourite. We were all quite impressed with the results. They actually taste like genuine Hobnobs! 

This recipe is a great one to make with little ones (or big ones!) for Mother's Day, as the cookie dough is very easy to make and can be mixed and rolled by hand, if you don't want to use a mixer or food processor.

Makes around 18-20 biscuits

• 75g/3oz white SR Flour
• 75g/3oz wholemeal SR flour (if you don't have this, use white SR flour)
• 100g/4oz porridge oats (or fine oatmeal)
• 150g/6oz dairy-free/vegan spread
• 100g/4oz granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g/4oz dairy-free chocolate to top, optional

Pre-heat oven to 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3/325F

If using porridge oats, grind them for a few seconds in a food processor or liquidiser to make your own fine oatmeal.

Rub or blend (in a food processor) the spread/margarine into the flours and oats, until you have the consistency of coarse breadcrumbs. 
Mix in the oats, bicarb. and sugar.
Drizzle the syrup over, and mix or blend well until you have a firm dough. Add a little more syrup, if the mixture is too dry.

Roll the dough into around 18-20 small balls, using your hands.
Place, spaced well apart, on greased baking trays and flatten slightly.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, until dark, golden brown.
Allow to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Suitable for freezing.

Options: If you prefer a softer cookie, bake for 12 minutes, until pale golden brown.
To make chocolate hobnobs, allow the biscuits to cool completely. Melt the chocolate and dip each cookie into the melted chocolate. Alternatively, drizzle the chocolate over the cookies.

I'm linking this post to this month's Family Foodies  baking challenge co-hosted by Eat Your Veg and Bangers & Mash

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Fruit & Nut Bars - Suma Blogger's Network

Here's my latest post for the Suma Blogger's Network, which also ties in quite nicely with Veganuary. 

I currently buy a certain brand of fruit and nut bars for healthy snacks, but they're very expensive, so I thought I'd have a go at making my own. I've made a couple of different varieties so far, and found you can mix and match the ingredients, so long as you keep the fruit and nut ratio roughly the same. I used my Optimum 9400 blender to get quite a smooth textured bar, but a normal food processor or blender should work, if you're happy with a chunkier texture.

Makes 6 bars

• 75g/3oz cashews
• 50g/2oz dairy-free chocolate or raw chocolate - I used Plamil vegan dark chocolate 
• 100g/4oz dried dates (or 50g/2oz dates plus 50g/2oz raisins) - I used Suma pitted dates
• a dash of cinnamon powder, vanilla/mint extract or orange zest to flavour

Blend the nuts briefly, until ground into a fine powder. Remove from the blender. 
Repeat with the chocolate.
Blend the dates with a little cinnamon/flavouring to taste. Scrape out of the blender.
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until completely combined into a dough-like consistency.
If the mixture seems very sticky, add more ground nuts, or some unsweetened cocoa powder.

Squeeze together using your hands and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Cover with another sheet of paper and roll to approx 1cm thick. Push the edges in with a palette knife to neaten them up.
Chill for 30 mins then cut into 6 bars.
Wrap the individual bars in greaseproof paper and chill until needed, in an airtight box.

Variations: Double the ingredients to make a batch of 12 bars.
Use different combinations of dried fruits and nuts for different flavours and add your choice of flavouring extract. You may need to add more ground nuts, if you use softer dried fruits. If you want to use softer nuts (such as Brazils, walnuts, macadamias or pecans, it's best to mix them half and half with harder nuts such as cashews, hazelnuts or almonds. Toast the nuts gently before grinding for a fuller flavour.
You could also roll the mixture into balls and dust in cocoa powder to make raw, vegan truffles. 

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Piri-Piri Mushroom & Halloumi 'Burger'

This super-easy meal was inspired by a well-known chicken burger chain. I ate there once. I enjoyed the 'burger' but didn't know how they could possibly charge £6 (that's without any side orders) for something so cheap and simple to prepare. I knew I could make a similar meal far cheaper with better ingredients, so I did...

Assuming you have most of the piri-piri/peri-peri sauce ingredients already, this costs around £1.50 per portion for the 'burger'. For 4 servings, I used: Sainsbury's Halloumi £2.25, large, flat mushrooms £1.40, burger buns 70p, lemon 35p, lettuce 60p.

Serves 4

For the burgers:

• 1 (250g/10oz) pack of halloumi cheese cut into 8 slices
• 4 large flat/Portabello mushrooms, wiped and de-stalked
• 4 burger buns (or make your own)
• Finely sliced lettuce

For the piri-piri sauce:

• 1-2 red chillis - finely chopped (or use 2 tsp frozen chopped chilli, or hot chilli sauce)
• 1 lemon, juiced (add zest for more citrus flavour)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• A pinch of salt (vegan version only)

Make up the piri-piri sauce, by mixing the ingredients together in a small bowl, or whizzing up in a mini food-processor.

Brush the mushrooms with the sauce and either fry, grill or barbecue them until soft and golden brown. Keep warm in the oven.

Repeat with the halloumi cheese slices.

Put a little shredded lettuce on the bottom half of a bread roll.

Layer up with the mushroom and 2 slices of cheese, a little more piri-piri sauce and topping with the other half of the bun.

Serve with grilled corn-on-the-cob and/or home-made seasoned sweet potato wedges.

Mushroom alternative: For fungi-phobes like Miss K, use grilled bell pepper instead.
Vegan alternative: Omit the halloumi and top the mushroom with a good dollop of vegan coleslaw.

Camping alternative: Use ready made piri-piri sauce.

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Mexican Rice with Beans

Here's my last recipe for Veganuary; this is another copycat recipe, adapted from the ingredients list of a well known brand of packet rice. If I had an uncle and his name was Ben, he might well make a rice similar to this! Needless to say, this home made version is significantly cheaper than the ready-made variety and contains a higher proportion of pulses and vegetables.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced finely
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp mild chilli powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• salt and black pepper to taste (optional)
• 1 cup long grain rice, rinsed and drained 
• 2 cups boiled water or hot vegetable stock
• ½ can borlotti/pinto beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1 tbsp pickled jalapenos, finely diced (optional) 
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp fresh/frozen chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (on a low to medium heat).

Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes, before adding the green pepper and garlic.

Cook gently for a further 2-3 minutes.

Increase the heat slightly.

Add all of the dried herbs/spices. Stir well and cook for a minute or so.

Add the tomato puree and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Add the drained rice and water/stock. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer.

Reduce the heat slightly.

Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir, season and then add the beans, lime juice, jalapenos and coriander. Add a little more water/stock if the rice is starting to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Cover again and cook for a further 3-5 minutes, until the rice is just tender.

Stir. Turn off the heat and leave the covered pan to stand for a further 5 minutes.  

Serve with chilli, tortilla chips and guacamole/salsa.

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Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Onion Pizza

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This is my version of my favourite Padana pizza from Pizza Express. I've made a few tweaks, such as substituting spinach for rocket and leaving off the red onions and mozzarella, but I think it compares pretty well to the original and is substantially cheaper!

• ½ quantity basic bread dough 
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
• 100g/4oz soft goat's cheese, roughly chopped
• A few fresh basil leaves torn roughly
• A handful of rocket/arugula leaves 

Make the dough and divide in half once it has proved for an hour or so (use the other half to make another pizza of your choice!)

Meanwhile make the caramelised onions: 
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. 
Sweat the onion with the lid on for 5 minutes, on a low heat, until soft.

Remove the pan lid, raise the heat and cook the onion for a further 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it turns a dark golden brown. 
Turn the heat off and stir in the sugar; then add the vinegar. 
Allow to reduce in the pan until most of the moisture has evaporated.

Flatten out the dough on a greased baking sheet to form a large circle (about 10"-12" in diameter.)
Spread with the sun-dried tomato paste.
Shred a few basil leaves over and top with little piles of the caramelised onions. 
Sprinkle with the goat's cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C/200C Fan/Gas 8/450F for approximately 8-12 minutes.
After 5 minutes, check on the pizza and spread out the goat's cheese slightly. Return to the oven and bake until the pizza base and cheese start to brown.

Remove from the oven and top with a handful of rocket/arugula leaves.

Serve with corn on the cob or salad.

Vegan alternative: I found this recipe for tofu/cashew 'goat's cheese' over at Vegan Feast Kitchen, which looks like a good substitute for the dairy cheese. Alternatively try Bute Island Blue Sheese.

I've added this post to Emily's  #recipeoftheweek linky over at A Mummy Too.

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