Two meals in one - Lentil & Vegetable Spaghetti Bolognese plus Vegetarian Chilli

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Whether you're on a diet or a budget, these two vegetarian meals are ideal. Make the spag bol on the first day and reheat the leftovers with the added extras the next day to make a tasty veggie chilli. 

As the vegetables are chopped or grated, you can hide them in the sauce too...great if you have fussy children!

Both meals are low fat and vegan, unless you add cheese to serve.

Each meal serves 2 adults and 2 children.

For the spaghetti bolognese

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large bell peppers, diced
• 1 medium courgette/zucchini, diced or grated
• 1 carrot or ½ sweet potato, diced or grated
• 6-8 mushrooms, diced, sliced or grated
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed
• ½ cup dried red lentils
• 2 tbsp tomato puree or sundried tomato paste
• 500ml passata or 2x tins of chopped tomatoes 
• A glug of red wine (optional)
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp sugar
• black pepper, to taste
• dried spaghetti

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook for a few minutes on a low heat.

Add the rest of the vegetables, and garlic and stir well. Cook for a few more minutes until softened.

Add all of the remaining ingredients (except for the spaghetti!)

Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.

Turn the heat down and simmer, with the lid on the pan for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked (stir occasionally to stop the mixture burning at the bottom of the pan).

Meanwhile cook and drain the spaghetti.

Top the spaghetti with just over half of the mixture, and serve with a sprinkle of vegetarian/vegan Parmesan-style cheese (optional).

Alternatives: Use 2 cups of veggie mince if preferred instead of the lentils, or a combination of veggie mince and lentils.

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For the chilli

The next day, reheat the remaining mixture on a low heat, adding the following ingredients and a dash of water or stock if needed:

• 1 tin drained pulses (kidney beans, mixed beans, baked beans etc)
• 50g tinned or frozen sweetcorn
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• a good pinch of cinnamon
• ½ chilli, chopped finely (optional)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• a little chopped fresh coriander (optional)

Serve with rice or wraps.

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Squash, Lentil and Sweet Potato Salad

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A friend passed this hearty salad recipe on to me, which she found on the American blog called Stacey Snacks. I've changed the recipe a bit, using a combination of squash and sweet potato and adding some fennel seeds.

Serves 4-8 as a side salad

• 300g/12oz butternut or other firm pumpkin/squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 300g/12oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 50g/2oz dried puy lentils
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp fresh, chopped parsley or mint
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
• 100g feta/soft goats cheese, crumbled (optional)
• Salad leaves to serve

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a non-stick baking dish, in a pre-heated oven (190C/180C Fan/Gas 5).

Add the squash and sweet potatoes and coat with the oil.

Bake for 20-30 minutes turning once or twice. 

Sprinkle with the spices and bake for a further 10 minutes until cooked and golden.

Meanwhile boil the lentils for about 20-25 minutes, then drain.

Allow the vegetables and lentils to cool for around 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining oil, vinegar and herbs in a bowl to make the dressing.

Add the lentils to the baking dish and pour the dressing over the warm vegetables.

Mix well to coat.

Serve warm or cold on a bed of salad leaves, topping with the cheese (optional) - leave out for a vegan dish.

Variations: Add a combination of other vegetables such as bell peppers, courgettes and sweetcorn.
Vegan option: Swap the feta for some toasted pine nuts.

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Turkish-Style Stuffed Aubergines/Eggplants

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This is my variation of the Turkish dish Imam Bayildi. I add cheese which is not in the traditional recipe, so you could leave this out for a vegan meal. You could stuff other vegetables with the same mixture (even baked potatoes/sweet potatoes) if your kids don't like aubergines.

Serves 4

• 2 medium or large aubergines/eggplants (or use large courgettes)
• 1 large onion, sliced finely
• 2 green bell peppers, sliced finely
• 4 tbsp sun dried tomato paste
• 4 tbsp cider vinegar* 
• 200g feta, diced
• 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch of cinnamon 

Cut the aubergines in half lengthwise.
Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil and bake, cut side down, for around 15-20 mins at 190C/180C Fan/Gas 5 in an oven proof dish, or casserole.

Meanwhile soften the onion and green pepper in a pan with a little olive oil.
Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pan, except the feta, and stir well.
Allow to cook for about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat until the aubergines are ready to stuff.
After 15-20 mins, the aubergines should be soft enough to carefully scrape out the flesh (with a spoon), leaving the shell intact - I do this while they're still hot, but you might want to let them cool a little first!
Cut up the aubergine flesh and add to the pan.
Add the cheese to the pan and stir gently to mix.

Divide the stuffing mixture between the aubergine halves.
Pour about 200ml of boiling water into the bottom of the dish and cover with foil or a lid. This stops the aubergines drying out.
Bake in the oven for a further 15-20 minutes.
Finally uncover the dish and cook for a further 10 minutes to give the ingredients a chance to colour and to allow some of the moisture to evaporate.

Serve hot, warm or cold with a salad or green vegetables.

Not suitable for freezing. 

For this recipe, I used Higher Nature* Organic Cider Vinegar, as I was sent a sample to review. This vinegar has a lovely fruity flavour which balances its acidity well. It can be used in a variety of recipes - especially sauces, marinades and salad dressings.
*Supplier of vitamins, supplements and organic foods Higher Nature.

Integrity Statement
I received a bottle of Higher Nature* Organic Cider Vinegar to review and use in a recipe. I did not receive payment, and the views expressed are genuinely those of myself and my family.

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Aloo/Potato Masala Parathas (Vegan)

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Miss Kahonie and I made our own parathas for this recipe, but it was a bit of a faff, so I'd suggest using ready-made ones (look in the frozen Asian foods section in larger supermarkets), or use chapattis or tortilla wraps instead.

If you want to made your own, I've added the recipe at the bottom of this page. 

Serves 4 (fills 4-8 parathas depending on size)

• 1 large potato, peeled and diced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp black mustard seeds
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 heaped tsp ground coriander
• ½ fresh chilli grated, or finely chopped, optional

Boil the potatoes until soft (as you would for mash), then drain.
Fry the cumin and mustard seeds in 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for a minute or so, until they start to pop.
Then add the onion to the pan and cook until soft.
Add the garlic, chilli and remaining spices.
Add the potatoes and a drop of boiling water and stir.
Cook for a couple of minutes until piping hot.
Crush the potatoes lightly with a fork or potato masher (the mixture should still be quite lumpy).
Spoon into warm parathas/chapattis and serve. 

Alternatives: Add a handful of frozen peas or some chopped spinach to the pan along with the cooked potatoes.

Parathas
Makes 6-8

• 100g/8oz plain flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Warm water
• Dairy-free spread/butter

Mix the flour and oil together (I used my food processor), then slowly add the water until the mixture just starts to form a dough.
Chill the dough for about 30-60 minutes.
Cut into 6-8 pieces and roll each into a rough circle, on a lightly floured board.
Spread each circle with a little spread/butter. Fold in half to make a semi-circle.
Spread with a little more spread/butter and fold over again to make a triangle.
Gather up the edges of the dough and make a ball.
Roll this out to make a circle again (about 10-15cm across) .
Heat a frying pan (with no oil).
Cook each paratha for a minute or two on each side.
Keep them warm in the oven until they are all cooked. 

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Paneer and Vegetable Tikka Masala

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Chicken Tikka Masala may be Britain's most popular food, but vegetarians don't have to miss out on a tasty alternative to this delicacy... It's taken me a while to come up with this recipe, which is as close as I can manage to one of my family's favourite Indian take away dishes - Paneer Tikka Masala.

I've added extra vegetables to make it into a slightly healthier meal, but this doesn't detract from the flavour of the sauce/gravy. I still think there's some sort of spice missing, so I'll update this recipe if I ever work out the secret ingredient/s!
Miss Ony said that this was my best curry recipe yet, which is praise indeed.

• 100g/4oz paneer cheese, cubed 
• 1 small onion, diced finely
• 1-2 bell peppers, sliced or diced into chunks
• 50-100g/2-4oz sweet potato/butternut squash, peeled and diced into small cubes
• 8 chestnut mushrooms, sliced thickly
• ½ tin chickpeas or other pulses, drained and rinsed
• 250ml passata
• 25g/1oz cashew nuts, ground (or ground almonds)
• 25g/1oz creamed coconut
• 2 tsp tandoori/tikka masala powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp ground fennel seeds
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1" piece of root ginger, grated
• ½ red chilli, grated or finely chopped, optional
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2-3 tbsp double cream, optional

Marinate the paneer in the tikka masala powder mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Leave in the fridge for an hour or so.

Fry the onion in a drop of vegetable oil until soft.
Add all of the remaining dried spices, ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for a minute.
Add all of the vegetables and coat well in the spice mixture. Cook for a further 3-5 minutes on a low heat.
Pour in the passata and add the chickpeas.
Increase the heat slightly and bring to a simmer.
Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, with the lid on, until the vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, fry the paneer in a drop of vegetable oil (in another pan), until warmed through and slightly crisp.
Add the paneer to the saucepan once the vegetables have almost cooked, and stir well.
Finally add the sugar, cashew nuts, creamed coconut and cream.
Stir well and allow to simmer for a few more minutes, or until the creamed coconut has melted.

Alternatives: Use any combination of vegetables or pulses, or use extra paneer and less veg.
You could also swap the paneer for vegetarian chicken-style pieces (marinate and fry as per paneer).
For a vegan curry, replace the paneer with firm, drained tofu (marinate and fry as per paneer), extra pulses or extra mushrooms. Omit the cream.

For a BBQ version, thread the marinated paneer on skewers along with chunks of onion, pepper and mushroom, brush with vegetable oil and barbecue. Make the gravy separately on the hob and pour over the cooked kebabs.

For more Indian-inspired recipes, pop over to A Celebration of Indian Food at Lisa's Kitchen.

More sweet potato and Indian recipes. Pin It

Quick and Easy Scone Base Pizza

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This time last week there were 4 giggling girls in my house, as both Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie had a friend round for tea. I decided to make them a scone base pizza as they're so quick to make, especially using the food processor. As one of these friends is a notoriously fussy eater, I made a plain cheese and tomato pizza, as I know she's not a big fan of vegetables!

Serves 4

Scone base

• 200g/8oz SR flour
• 50g/2oz butter/spread
• 50g/2oz grated cheese
• 5-7 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp mustard powder

Toppings

• 2 tbsp tomato puree/sun-dried tomato puree
• ½ tsp mixed herbs
• 50-100g/2-4 oz grated cheese
• your choice of extras: finely chopped peppers/onion/mushrooms, sweetcorn, pineapple, olives, veggie bacon etc

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/Fan 190C/Gas 6
Rub the butter into the flour.
Add the cheese, baking powder and mustard and mix.
Slowly add just enough milk to make a soft but not sticky dough.
Roll out into a circle about 2cm thick, on a floured board, and place on a greased baking tray.
Top with the tomato puree. Sprinkle with herbs and add any extra toppings.
Finally top with the grated cheese.
Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

Serve with pasta and salad.

Suitable for freezing.

Vegan option: For a vegan scone base omit the cheese and milk. Use 75g/3oz of dairy-free spread and add water or dairy-free milk instead.
Top using vegan mozzarella-style cheese. Pin It

Child-Friendly Vegetarian Enchiladas

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I was wondering what to cook for dinner the other night, so I had a delve in the freezer and pulled out a pack of wraps and some home made tomato sauce. I had various vegetables to use up in the fridge and plenty of store-cupboard ingredients, so I decided upon making vegetarian enchiladas.

These enchiladas have a mild child-friendly, baked-bean chilli filling. You could, of course add some extra chopped jalapenos if you want to spice things up! You can use the same mixture to fill burritos, top jacket potatoes, or to stuff peppers with.

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 2 carrots/1 small sweet potato/1 courgette/zucchini, grated
• 6-8 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn or 150g frozen sweetcorn
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 tin of baked beans (or mixed beans in mild chilli sauce)
• 2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 6 tortilla wraps
• 1 portion of tomato & chilli pasta sauce
• 100g/4oz grated cheese or vegan cheese

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan.
Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the herbs and spices, the mushrooms, pepper and carrots/sweet potato/courgette and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, until softened slightly.
Stir in the tomato puree, garlic, sweetcorn and baked beans.
Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.


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Pour about ¼ of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven proof dish.
Divide the chilli mixture between the wraps. Roll them up and place (seam side down) in a row in the dish.
Pour the remaining sauce over the wraps and top with the grated cheese.
Cook for 20-30 minutes at 160C/150C Fan/Gas 3.

Serve with a green salad, soured cream/guacamole/salsa etc.

Alternative: Use frozen mixed vegetables and a jar of ready-made pasta sauce for an even speedier dinner.

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Mini Spinach and Feta Pies (Easy Spanakopita)

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My family loves Greek food (and Greek holidays) so I'm always on the look out for new Greek vegetarian recipes to try out. When I saw a recipe for halloumi cheese pie on Eftychia's Dream of Cakes blog, I was intrigued, as this was a recipe I hadn't heard of before.

I decided to try it out as part of a meze, which also included spinach and feta pies (see below), falafels, hummus, tzatziki and salad. I halved the recipe, and made it without the pastry case to make small individual  pies. I also swapped the mint for a combination of parsley and dill, as my children aren't keen on the taste of mint. Unfortunately the mini pies stuck to the greased muffin tin, so next time I'll make them with pastry, like the original recipe states. They tasted great though and went down really well with my halloumi-loving family.

This spinach and cheese pie recipe isn't wholly authentic, but it's my own quick-to-make adaptation of spanakopita.

• 1 pack puff pastry/shortcrust pastry (or make your own)
• 200g feta cheese
• 150g fresh spinach, washed
• 2 eggs
• 100ml Greek yogurt
• black pepper to taste
• ½ tsp dried oregano (or use fresh chopped parsley/dill)
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg

Roll out the pastry.
Cut circles out of the pastry (using a cookie/pastry cutter) and pop them into a greased muffin tin - press pastry down into the bottom of the tin.
Put the spinach in a bowl, cover with cling film and microwave for 2 minutes on high.
Allow to cool for a few minutes, drain off the excess water and squeeze out the remaining water (wrap in a few layers of kitchen towel and squeeze with your hands), so it's as dry as possible.

Chop the spinach.
Mash the feta in another bowl, stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into each of the pastry cases, filling almost to the top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/190C Fan/Gas 6 for around 15-20 minutes, or until the pies are golden brown.

Serve warm or cold.

Suitable for freezing.

Alternatives
Cut out 4-5 layers of filo pastry, brushed with butter for more traditional pies.
Make one large pie if preferred and cook for an extra 10 minutes.

Recommended cookbooks
The Greek Vegetarian
Greek Vegetarian Cooking

This week's recipe shed linky is on a vegetarian theme, so be sure to check out all the other lovely recipes on Reluctant Housedad's blog.
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