Lunch was truly delicious today despite being leftovers from dinner last night. Or perhaps I should call them planned-overs because I made extra so I would have enough to pack for today.
The cous cous which isn’t really cous cous but cauliflower disguised as cous cous tasted better today than when I prepared it last night and it was good then. I think the extra time in the fridge allowed the flavours to mingle and next time it appears on the menu I hope to remember to make it at least a few hours in advance.
With the cauliflower cous cous I enjoyed baked falafel balls, a tahini dressing and a salad with roasted aubergine and yellow pepper. For dessert an orange and a sneaky medjool date { not supposed to have dried fruit when I’m trying to loose weight tut..tut.! But I didn’t roll the falafel balls in sesame seeds as I usually do because of the tahini dip so I was really very good about sticking to my nut/seed allowance. And I did only have one date, although I did consider packing 2 }.
This is one of my favorite comfort fooda, perfect for dinner on a drizzly miserable day like today. I enjoy it in the warmer months too, especially leftovers eaten cold for lunch the next day.
My mum made Shepherds Pie and Cottage Pie often during my childhood and my plant-based version is made to resemble her recipe, although I use cauliflower for the mashed topping and orange or red bell pepper in place of the carrots, tamarind pulp and red wine vinegar instead of the oxo cube and lentils of course, so really it’s totally different but if you squint it looks the same.
A healthier plant-based take on the hearty classic for those of us that are watching our waistlines!
Ingredients
100g onion
130g bell pepper – I used orange to resemble carrots or if not available a red one
150g brown lentils, washed and picked through for stones and debris
50g red lentils, washed and picked through for stones and debris
350ml water – or veg stock if you prefer, you may need more than this amount
100g mushrooms, use any kind of mushrooms I used shitake.
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
10g tamarind pulp (re-hydrated in 50ml hot water and pushed through a sieve)
2 tbsp mixed dried herbs – I used sage and thyme and marjoram
Ground black or white pepper, to taste
580g cauliflower
15ml soy milk or other non-dairy milk
Instructions
Chop the onion and bell pepper finely and cut the cauliflower into florets.
Water saute the onion until softened. Add the lentils, water or stock, the mushrooms and bell pepper to the pan with the onion and cook until the lentils are soft.
Add the tamarind pulp and soaking liquid, the red wine vinegar, dried herbs and parsley to the lentils, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. You may need to add a little more water/stock. Season with freshly ground pepper.
Whilst the lentils are cooking cook the cauliflower. I use a bamboo steamer on top of the lentils but do whatever is convenient for you.
Transfer the cooked cauliflower to a food processor together with a tablespoon of non dairy milk and process until smooth.
Preheat the oven to 200c/390F.
Spoon lentil mixture into an oven proof dish.Top with the mashed cauliflower and smooth down with the back of a fork and make pretty patterns on top with the fork.
Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes until the top is crispy but not browning and the pie is heated through.
Garnish with a sprig of parsley
Notes
Serving Suggestion:
Serve with peas and a steamed leafy green vegetable.
I don’t always use cauliflower for the mash. I do occasionally indulge in a fluffy white potato topping. Mr Y prefers half cauliflower and half white potato for his topping, so often I use small individual dishes as in the picture below then everyone can have their preferred topping. You could also use sweet potato if you wanted, I tried it once but it didn’t work for me.
One I made earlier (like a year ago lol) with white potato mash
By the way with an all potato topping using the same quantity of potatoes as cauliflower in the above recipe the calories per serving would be 302 compared to 238 - a Shepherdess Pie, not a ShepherdLess Pie.
But then considering cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable and way more nutritious than white potato perhaps it should be called a Shepherdmore Pie .
Finally a warm day so I was able to enjoy lunch outside for the first time this year. To start I had my newest most favouritest green smoothie. Its made with my current favorite variety of orange but you’d never guess from it’s colour. Not the most attractive of smoothie’s is it, despite the beautiful colour of the oranges I used!
I’m just loving these Moro blood oranges at the moment, so juicy and tart. Paired with a sweet Golden Delicious apple the flavours combined nicely into a sweet but still tart and sharp tasting smoothie.
Tart Moro blood orange paired with sweet golden delicious apple with a nutritional boost of lettuce.
Ingredients
2 Blood oranges, I used the Moro variety
1 Golden Delicious apple
4 oz / 113g lettuce,
¼ cup water or there about
Ice to serve
Instructions
Remove orange peel and core the apple. If the apple is not organic you may want to remove the peel due ti the amounts of pesticides used in apple production.
Wash the lettuce.
Place the above int a high speed blender with a little water to get it going and blend until combined.
Pour over ice into 2 glasses.
Notes
Recipe yields about 16oz. The entire 16oz or 2 servings is shown in the picture. For a 16oz serving of this smoothy the total calories will be 218.
You could of course use other kinds of oranges and other varieties of apples but then you’d have to call it Pink Lady Navel or Valencia Gala or whatever. Just saying….
Lunch was on the run today and for the first time in too long I was organized enough to bring a nutritious lunch with me. It was much tastier than the take-out salads I usually get when I’m out and about and more frugal too.
For my appetizer I packed butter lettuce “wraps” stuffed with red bell pepper bean pate. Then I enjoyed a salad of mixed lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes, carrot medallions, sliced red pepper and pumpkin seeds with a slice of juicy Amalfi lemon to squeeze over as a dressing. For dessert a strawberry banana creamy pudding and a sweetly-tart Moro blood orange. I can’t get enough of these blood oranges at the moment they are so delicious with a beautiful ruby red flesh.
