Fennel & Cabbage Tahini Slaw with Chickpeas and Cashews

I call this little creation a 'tahini slaw' - it's essentially a coleslaw but the bulk of the creamy dressing is made from delicious nutritious tahini rather than lots of gluggy and nutritionally deficient mayonnaise. It's versatile, of course, so feel free to make your own adaptations. In this recipe I've used not just cabbage but thinly sliced fennel which gives it a wonderful crisp flavour and I've added a can of chickpeas to bulk it up a bit and turn it into a main event dish rather than a side. If you're just bringing it along to a bbq then you can choose to omit the chickpeas.

This recipe makes enough for 2-3 people to have a big bowl of it for lunch or dinner, or for 4-6 people to have as a side salad.

Fennel & Cabbage Tahini Slaw with Chickpeas and Cashews

Ingredients
1/4 medium green cabbage (you can substitute purple cabbage or a mixture of both)
1/2 large fennel bulb
1 small Spanish onion
1 small granny smith apple
1 400g can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup roasted cashews
2 tbsp unhulled tahini
1 tsp mayonniase
1 tsp soy sauce
Juice of small 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
Cracked pepper, to taste
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, washed and halved.

To Make
1. Very thinly slice the cabbage, fennel bulb and Spanish onion and toss together in a bowl. Cut the core out of the apple and cut into thin matchsticks. Add to the salad along with the chickpeas. Once you've added the apple, sprinkle a bit of the lemon juice over the salad to stop the apple going brown while you make the dressing.
2. Combine the tahini, mayonnaise, soy sauce, remaining lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl or jar. Mix well to combine. It may be very thick at this stage, but don't worry it will thin out as you mix it through the salad. Season to taste with cracked pepper.
3. Add the tahini dressing to the salad and mix thoroughly until the salad is evenly coated with the dressing. Break up the cashews a bit with your hands and toss them in along with the halved cherry tomatoes. Mix well and serve garnished with extra cashews (optional).

Notes: You can use the cherry tomatoes to decorate the top instead of mixing them through if you like. 

Serves 2-3 as a main or 4-6 as a side salad.

Cabbage-Is-My-Friend Tea

If you read this blog much then you'll notice an influx of cabbage over the last week or so. This is partly due to lots of delicious cabbage-y Croatian recipes, and partly due to the fact that we had lots of cabbage left over from all out Croatian cabbage cooking to use up. Now, cabbage is delicious - however, there is a catch and you all know what it is. So, in order to address this problem I have devised this carminative tea of fennel seeds, caraway seeds and fenugreek which is not only delicious but eases the digestion and allows you to eat as much cabbage as you like without stinking out the whole world. Hurray!

Not only is this tea carminative but it's also very good for you in other regards as well - because all these ingredients have fantastic properties which can be beneficial to your health*:

Fennel Seeds:

1) Can be a great source of antioxidants, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins (including B group), as well as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, folate, molybdenum and many other useful elements and nutrients.

2) Has been shown to produce anti-spasmodic, pain-reducing and fever-reducing effects

3) Can help stimulate milk flow in breast feeding women

4) Is a natural treatment for problems of digestion - including bloating, flatulence, constipation, IBS, cramping and pain of the abdomen

5) Can help regulate oestrogen in women and alleviate PMS symptoms

6) Can act as an aphrodisiac and increase libido

7) Is an effective weight loss aid

Caraway Seeds:

1) Treat digestive disorders such as diarrhoea, colic, flatulance, cramps and poor appetite.

2) Can help ease cramps during the menstrual cycle and can act as a natural pain reliever for dysmenorrhoea (period pain)

3) Can increase the production of milk in breastfeeding women

4) Can help fight bronchitis and coughing

Fenugreek:

1) Can lessen mood fluctuations and PMS during the menstrual period

2) Can increase libido

3) Improves digestion and metabolism, including treating flatulence, acid reflux, bloating and constipation (acts as a milk laxative)

4) May help regulate blood sugar levels and stimulate production of insulin

5) May help lower high cholesterol levels

6) Eliminates bad breath

What a wonderful lot of properties! Now you see why you should be drinking down this tea even if you haven't had any cabbage recently!

Ingredients

1 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp whole fenugreek

To Make

1. Put all ingredients in a tea pot and fill the pot with boiling hot water. Allow to steep for 4-5 minutes.

2. Strain into a mug and drink.

3. Refill the tea pot with more boiling water next time you want a cup of tea - you can use the same set of seeds all day and keep refilling, although you may find you will need to steep for slightly longer times as the day goes on.

*A small disclaimer on this: most of this information was gathered from various reputable websites, however, I did not have the time to trawl through research papers to find supporting evidence to these claims. Therefore you should take it as you would take any information you read on the internet (with a grain of salt). But not literally of course, because I don't think this delicious tea needs any salt added.

Chilli Free Black Eyed Bean, Pumpkin and Fennel Curry with Turmeric Couscous

It’s a fact that some people out there in the world think that they don’t like chilli. I know, it’s crazy, but there you have it. However, this shouldn’t mean that they can’t enjoy curry! Because curry is really delicious and super easy to make. So this recipe is dedicated to those out there who don’t like chilli, in a hope that they will love curry too! On the other hand, if you are a chilli fiend then feel free to add some dried or fresh chilli to this curry when you add the other spices.

Ingredients:

The Curry:

Olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chaat masala (or substitute garam masala)

½ tsp ground roasted fenugreek (for instructions on making your own out of whole seeds see this recipe)

1 tsp turmeric

3 cardamom pods, whole

1 tbsp apricot jam

½ fennel bulb, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

3 cups vegetable stock

3 carrots, roughly chopped

2 potatoes, chopped

400g pumpkin, peeled and chopped

1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk

5 Brussels Sprouts, quartered

2 cups black eyed beans, pre boiled (ie. cover with water and boil for about 30 minutes or until softened but not mushy)

½ cup fresh peas or frozen peas

The Couscous:

2 cups instant couscous

1 tsp turmeric

2 ½ cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted*

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted*

6-7 dates, chopped

Salt to taste

* Toasting! There are 2 ways to do this 1) Spread the almond slivers  and pine nuts on a tray and toast under a grill for 2-3 minutes until slightly browned – keep a close eye on the suckers because they are really easy to burn. 2) Heat a little bit of oil in a non stick pan and then slightly fry the nuts for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.

To Make:

1.  Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, soup pot or wok. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute until slightly softened. Add all the spices and fry for 1-2 minutes until spices are very fragrant, stirring constantly.

2. Add the apricot jam and stir through until the jam has melted and begins to simmer. Then add the fennel and tomatoes and simmer for 4-5 minutes, stirring roughly to break the tomatoes down.

3. Add the vegies stock, pumpkin, carrots, and potatoes and bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until vegies are tender. (While it is doing this boil the kettle and get your vegie stock ready for the couscous).

4. Add the coconut milk, black eyed beans and peas and simmer for a further 10 to 15 minutes with the lid off. While it is simmering away prepare your couscous:

5. Put the instant couscous in a bowl with the tumerick and some salt and pepper and stir well. Then add the hot stock and stir with a fork. Leave it for about 5 minutes to soak up all the liquid and then go back and fluff it up with the fork. Stir through the toasted nuts and the chopped dates. Leaving it stand for about 5 minutes longer while your curry finishes. Serve together!!

Serves 4-5 (or makes great leftovers for less people!)

Four Types of Lentils (with Broad Beans)

Lentils are awesome! :)

Ingredients:

1 bunch shallots/spring onions (either are fine)

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin

8 cups vegetable stock

½ cup blue lentils (or ‘French Lentils’)

½ cup green lentils

½ cup yellow split peas

¼ cup red lentils

2 carrots, diced

½ cup broad beans (frozen if fresh not available)

1 zucchini, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

To Make:

1. Heat some oil in a heavy based saucepan or soup pot. Slice the white parts of the shallots and put the green parts aside to use as garnish (or to put in a salad for some other meal). Sauté the white parts of the shallots in the oil with the fennel seeds until the shallots are soft and the fennel seeds are fragrant. Add the cumin and sauté a further minute.

2. Add the vegetable stock, and all 4 types of lentils. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Add the diced carrots and broad beans and simmer for a further 20 minutes, or until the lentils are nice and soft. Check the water level to make sure there is enough water and add more (boiling hot) water if the water has reduced too much.

4. Add the zucchini and season to taste with salt and pepper. Once zucchini is cooked serve.

Serves 4.

Vegan Baked Lentils with Sweet Potato and Cauliflower

There is something so hearty about baked lentils in winter and I'm always a fan of meals that you just throw together and leave in the oven for a while!

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced finely

1/2 fennel bulb, diced finely

500g button mushrooms, stems trimmed

1.5 cups puy lentils (also called bule lentils or French lentils by differernt companies)

5 cups of vegetable stock

500g sweet potato, peeled and diced

250g cauliflower (or however much you have in the fridge that you want to use up), chopped small (makes about 3 cups)

1 bay leaf

8 or so cherry tomatos

a small handful of pine nuts

To Make:

1. Preheat your oven to about 180 (you know your oven better than I do... or do you?).

2. You can start this dish by putting your casserole/baking dish straight on the stove to make this a one pot dish. Heat some olive oil in your baking dish and saute the onion and fennel until soft.

3. Set aside 8-10 of the mushrooms and slice the rest in thick bits. Add the mushroom to the cooking pot and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the lentils and the vegetable stock and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. Add the sweet potato and cauliflower and remove from the heat. Cover and put in the oven for 30 minutes, removing the lid for the last 10 minutes.

5. While it is baking you can wash and trim the mushies you set aside. Put them on a baking tray and drizzle with some olive oil.

6. When your 30 minutes is up take the casserole dish out of the oven and put it aside to rest. Put the tray of mushrooms in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes throw in a the whole cherry tomatos and the pine nuts and cook for a further 2-3 minute - keep your eye on it so they don't burn.

To serve, place some lentils in a bowl and top with the baked vegies and pine nuts. Serves 4, or two with leftovers. 

Winter Fennel and Pasta Soup

This recipe is a great base to adapt to whatever you have in the fridge and is so quick to make. It is great and warming on a winter day and never lasts very long when I cook it!

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped finely

5 cloves garlic, chopped roughly

1/2 big fennel bulb (or 1 small fennel bulb), chopped finely

2-3 sticks of celery, chopped finely

2 carrots, chopped finely

2 potatos or a small sweet potato (whichever one you have in your pantry that you want to use up)

4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock

5 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tin mixed beans

1 cup small macaroni or any other soup pasta

To Make:

1. Heat some olive oil in a big soup pot. Add the onion and soften for 2 minutes. Add the fennel and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes until fennel and onion are well aquainted and transparent.

2. Add the rest of the vegies, the tomato paste and the stock and bring to the boil. Boil for 15-20 minutes until vegies are cooked (this will take longer if you have chopped your vegies larger, but that's your own can of beans). Speaking of cans of beans, drain the can of mixed beans now and rinse the beans before adding to the pot with the pasta.

3. Simmer gently until the pasta is cooked and then eat in copious amounts!!

This soup is also great with leeks, peas, pumpkin or anything else you have a little bit left of and want to use up. The last friend I made this for now asks me whether I'm making soup every time she comes over :) It's a very simple but very impressive thing to knock up (not in that way....) for friends!

Enjoy indulgently!