Following on from last week when I looked at store cupboard cooking I thought that you would like a few more ideas. These recipes are a little more adventurous than those in the first blog on store cupboard cooking but they freeze. So they can be cooked in advance for days when energies may be low or you are too busy to spend too much time in the kitchen. They contain mainly store cupboard ingredients:
Chick pea crumble (my own)
2 onions peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery thinly sliced
4 carrots peeled and diced
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 can of tomatoes
1 can of chickpeas drained
pinch of ground cumin
1 tsp of dried sage or rosemary.
Crumble ingredients;
7oz wholemeal or quinoa flour
2oz of oats
2 tbsp of sunflower seeds
3oz of olive oil spread.
Method
1.Heat the oven to gas 6/elec 200’C.
2.Steam fry all the vegetables in the oil till soft, add the tomatoes, chickpeas and cumin and simmer covered for 15 mins.
3.Make the crumble by rubbing the margarine into the oats and flour and stir in the seeds and sage. Season the chickpea mixture and pour into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the crumble mix lightly and bake for 30 mins till golden and bubbling.
Spicy falafels (Good Food magazine)
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 small onion finely chopped
½ tsp of lazy garlic
400grm can of chickpeas drained
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp of dried mixed herbs
1 egg beaten
Method
1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan and fry the onion till soft. Tip into a mixing bowl with the chickpeas and spices then mash together with a fork or potato masher until the chickpeas are broken down.
2. Stir in the parsley or dried herbs. Add the egg and mix well
3. Mould the mixture into 6 balls then flatten into patties.
4. Heat the remaining in a frying pan and fry the falafels on a medium heat till golden. Serve hot or cold.
Kedgeree (from Food Glorious Food by P Holford) (Serves 4)
300g of brown basmati rice
1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
600g of undyed smoked haddock (can be from the freezer)
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 large onion finely chopped
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp of coriander
½ tsp of cumin
½ tsp hot chilli powder
100g frozen peas defrosted
2 eggs beaten;
seasoning.
Method
1. Cook the rice according to the instruction on the packet using the stock cube in the pan.
2. Poach the haddock for 8-10 mins in water till it flakes. Drain and cool. Break into large flakes.
3. Add the oil to a large pan and sweat the onions till soft. Add the spices and cook for 1 more minute. Stir the spice mix into the rice and the flaked fish and peas.
4. Add the beaten egg and cook for gently for 1 minute. Season and serve.
A few sweet endings
Berry and Nut crumble (Healthy eating by Rayman, Dilly and Gibbons)
500g of frozen mixed berries
2 tbsp of xylitol
115g of plain wholemeal flour
115g of porridge oats
115g of olive oil spread
55g of brazil nuts chopped
2 tbsp of xylitol.
Method
1. Preheat the oven 200’C/gas 6. Put the fruit into an oven proof dish and sprinkle over the xylitol.
2. Make the crumble by rubbing the margarine into the oats and flour, stir in the xylitol and Brazil nuts. Sprinkle over the fruit.
3. Bake 30 mins till golden.
Creamy rice pudding with cranberries (from Eating During Chemotherapy by Jose van Mill) (Makes 2 portions)
200ml of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of easy cook short grain rice
2 tbsp of dried cranberries
1 tbsp honey.
Method
1. Bring the milk to boil in a small pan with the rice, cranberries and honey. Turn down to a gentle simmer and cook until the rice is soft. Stir occasionally.
2. Serve hot or chilled. Can top the pudding with some chopped nuts for more texture.
Again some simple recipes mainly from the store cupboard.
The additional store cupboard ingredients that you will need for these recipes are; dried sage, brown basmati rice, easy cook short grain rice, dried cranberries, xylitol, coconut milk.
From the freezer; mixed berries, (undyed smoked haddock.)
I hope that you find some of these useful and enjoy the results. If you have any interesting store cupboard ingredients that you could not manage without then I am sure that we would all be interested to hear about them and how you use them.
Blog originally written by Caroline August 2014 - checked April 2020