When things get stressful in life, a plate of proper grub will always help ease the stress. After all, food is one of the best ingredients in life for comfort. If you’re struggling to make sense of the cans in your cupboard, then fear not – Lucy and Lentils has put together three recipes that you can easily cook at home and can make plenty of for the family too.
Preserving Fresh Ingredients
Freezing produce is one of the easiest ways to preserve fresh veggies that might be on the turn.
Spinach and kale can be bought fresh and popped straight into the freezer without any prep.
Fresh ginger is a fantastic one to pop in the freezer and can be grated straight into the pan or sauce.
Batch cook meals such as soups, stocks and curries, as they can be frozen. They'll take an hour or two to make but will save you time later on.
Herbs that are going off can either be mashed into pestos, dressings or pastes. Another good way to preserve them is to fill a freezer ice cube tray with olive oil and place the chopped fresh herbs to make little pockets of flavourful olive oil. These can be popped straight into the pan to add a boost of extra flavour to your dish.
Instead of throwing away broccoli stalks, spring onion ends, and any other scraps, try looking at recipes that help get the most out of the veg – creating vegetable stocks will always be more flavourful than shop-bought! Try experimenting with savvy recipes such as using sweet potato peel to make truffled chips, or broccoli stalks to make a crunchy stir fry. Pinterest is a great inspiration source for this!
Bloody Mary Orzo Soup
Ingredients
For the base
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Cox’s Bloody Mary Spicer or Tabasco sauce
1 red onion
4 cloves garlic
1 400g tin butter beans or black beans
80g kale
200g passata
700ml veg stock
175g dried orzo or rice
Spices and seasoning
1 bay leaf
½ tsp salt
To top
3 tbsp fresh pesto
Method
Finely chop the onion and add to a pot with a glug of olive oil and fry for around 5-6 minutes.
Mince the garlic cloves and add to the pan and fry for a further 1 minute.
Add the passata, veg stock, drained beans and bay leaf and bring to a simmer for around 5 minutes.
Add Cox’s Spicer or Tabasco sauce along with the chopped kale, orzo and a good pinch of salt to taste, and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Taste test, adding a little more spicer or salt if needed.
Serve into bowls, and top with 1 tbsp fresh pesto on each bowl.
Chana Masala
Ingredients
For the base
2 x 400g tinned chickpeas
2 x 400g tinned tomatoes
3 garlic cloves minced
1 medium heat red chilli
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (1/2 grated and 1/2 finely chopped)
2 x 400ml coconut milk (optional to make it creamy as traditionally it's just tomatoes)
200ml water
Spices and seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
To top
150g fresh or frozen spinach
A handful of toasted hazelnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds (optional)
90g rice with 180ml water
Method
Bring the rice and water to a boil in a saucepan, then put the lid on and simmer for 10 minutes.
Drizzle 1 tsp coconut oil into a frying pan, then add the finely chopped chilli and chopped ginger with the drained chickpeas and fry for 5 minutes.
Add the finely chopped garlic to the pan and fry for 1 minute before pouring in the tinned tomatoes and water along with the spices, then bring to the boil for around 6-7 minutes.
Lower to a medium heat then add the grated ginger spinach and the coconut milk if adding, then stir together until combined.
Taste test the curry, adding more seasoning if needed.
Add the chana masala to a bowl along with the hot rice, top with toasted nuts and seeds if you have them, and enjoy!
Peanut Butter Blondies
Ingredients
For the base
120g plain flour
175g demerara sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
40g chocolate chunks
80g dairy/vegan butter
170g peanut butter
2 tbsp dairy/alternative milk
To top
35g chocolate chunks for the topping
2 tbsp Biscoff spread
Method
Preheat the oven to 180०C.
Bring the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl add the peanut butter, milk and room temperature butter, then whisk together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with the chocolate chunks until combined, then spoon into a lined brownie tin.
Add the remaining chocolate chunks on top, pushing them slightly into the surface.
Bake for 22 minutes - don’t worry if the centre is still gooey, as it’ll firm when cooling down.
Place onto a baking tray and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.
Heat the Biscoff spread and drizzle over the top!
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