Three Bean (or more), Tomato & Spinach Stew

This is a recipe adapted from April 2012 BBC Good Food (India). I cook it very often because it is so deliciously healthy (packed with tonnes of antioxidants and fibre!) and simple to prepare. It's also perfect for PJ's slow carb diet. 

To make this dish, I rely on my stash of canned tomatoes (Italian) and canned beans. I always have a few of these in my cupboard. The beauty of this dish is that you can use any kinds of canned beans that you fancy - cannellini, red kidney, black-eyed, pinto, broad beans, mixed beans, even chick peas.  I personally favour cannellini beans and red kidney beans. 

You can always use dried beans (soaked overnight), but I find it so much more convenient to use canned beans. Canned tomatoes are also very reliable in producing a flavoursome stew.

Serves: 2-3 (as a complete meal)
Cooking time: 25 mins

ingredients
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
400g canned tomatoes
1 cup water
10 black olives, deseeded and halved
2 x 400g canned beans, rinsed and drained (net weight of drained beans would be between 400-510g)
100g green beans, chopped
100g spinach, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste

method
Cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat, until softened. Add the cumin and coriander. Cook for 1 min, stirring constantly.

Tip in the tomatoes and water. Simmer for 10 minutes, until thickened.

Add all the beans and cook for 5 minutes, then add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes more. Season with salt and black pepper before serving.

notes
Add the garlic only towards the end of the onion softening. Garlic tends to burn quite easily.
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If you prefer a stronger flavour, replace the ground coriander with ground cumin, making it a total of 1 tbsp of ground cumin.
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You can replace the fresh vegetables according to your taste e.g., green beans with french beans, spinach with cabbage (will need to stew longer) etc.

Baked Mushroom and Tomato Rice

A really simple and healthy one-pot dish. 

Serves: 2 hungry people 

Cooking Time: 

ingredients

200g basmati rice, rinsed and drained 

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 large onion, chopped 

2 tsp fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary 

250g button mushrooms, quartered 

2 red peppers, diced 

400g tomatoes, chopped 

425ml vegetable stock 

Dash of black pepper 

Chopped parsley (optional) 

method

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. 

Heat oil in a casserole dish and fry the chopped onion until soft. Stir in the rosemary and mushrooms and fry briefly. Add the rice, coat it in the oil then add the peppers, tomatoes, vegetable stock and some pepper. Bring to the boil, stir, cover tightly and then bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Serve hot with freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley. 

Whole Lentils with Herbs and Spices

Dal - a soupy mixture of lentils in herbs and spices - is probably my favourite dish in Indian cuisine. This recipe adapted from Cooking with my Indian mother-in-law is a flavourful and much healthier version (i.e., less oily) than some of the dal you will find in Indian restaurants. 

Serves: 4 with rice, or 2 as part of a complete meal
Cooking time: 45 mins

ingredients
225g (slightly more than 1 cup) of brown lentils (alternatively, use 175g of yellow lentils w/o skin and 50g red split lentils)
1-2 green chillies
1 fat clove garlic
4 cm ginger, peeled
1 tsp salt
2 tomatoes, skinned and halved
1 tbsp canola or peanut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon dhana jiru (blend of ground coriander seeds and cumin seeds)
Pinch of turmeric
1/2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro) stems
1/2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander (cilantro leaves)

method
Wash the lentils in several changes of water until the water is clear. Drain and put them in a put with 2 litres or 8 cups of water. Bring to the boil without the lid. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat and simmer the dal for 35 minutes or until it is soft.

While the lentils are cooking, make the tomato mixture. Top and tail 1-2 (depending on how much spiciness you can take) of the green chillies. Put chillies, garlic, ginger, salt and tomatoes into a food processor and blend the mixture until well blended and finely chopped up.

Heat the oil in a soup pot, add the mustard seeds and onion and fry until pale golden. Add the butter. When melted, add the dhana jiru and turmeric. Cook the spices for a few seconds, then add the tomato mixture and the coriander stems. Increase the heat and simmer the masala until the oil pools around the sides of the pot. Set aside.

When the lentils are cooked, take a whisk and beat the mixture to make it as smooth as possible. Add it to the cooked masala in the soup pot and bring the mixture to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Depending on your preference, you may wish to add more water to achieve the consistency of a thin soup.

Add pepper and more salt if necessary, and serve hot with coriander leaves scattered over.

tips
To skin tomatoes, pierce the bottom of each tomato with a "X" using a small kitchen knife. Put the tomatoes in a deep bowl and pour freshly boiled water over them (enough to cover them completely). Leave for around 5 minutes, remove the tomatoes from the bowl and you will be able to peel off the skin easily starting from the "X".
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Whole lentils with skin will give your dal more bite. If you prefer something softer and more mushy, use lentils without the skin.

Vegan Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Ever since PJ decided to restart his "Slow Carb" diet, I've been cracking my brain on what to cook for him. Apart from kicking out all carbs from his diet (rice, grains, flour, noodles, glucose, fructose, potatoes etc.), there can't be any dairy products in his diet too (save for butter). Hence, when I came across this vegan roasted tomato basil soup recipe from chow.com, I thought, awesome! It's dairy free, and calls for ingredients that are easily available (not to mention, very cheap) in India. Tomatoes and basil. :)    

Here's the recipe which I modified slightly:

Serves: 2
Cooking time: 1 hr 30 mins

ingredients
500g plum tomatoes (or any sort that is readily available for you)
3 tbsp olive oil
 3/4 tbsp salt
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes
200ml tomato puree
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded roughly
1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

method 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Usually 10-15 mins is okay.

Slice tomatoes lengthwise (from stem part). Arrange them on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss the tomatoes with your hands until they are even coated. Arrange them on the sheet with the cut side up. Place in preheated oven and roast for 50 mins. Remove pan from oven when done and set aside.

Warm the rest of the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft & golden. Add garlic and chilli and fry for another minute. Pour in the tomatoes, their juices and add the puree, water, basil and thyme. Bring to boil and then simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Allow soup to cool slightly before blending in batches in a food processor. Blend until desired texture (I blend it until the tomato skin is all blended finely) and pour back into a saucepan to heat it up again before serving.

Pour the soup into serving bowls and top with fresh ground black pepper.