Super Easy Paneer Curry

So I'm currently in "simplify my life" mode. With a particular attention on cutting down my cooking time whilst keeping it healthy on the week days. And sometimes, as we all know, this can be a challenging balance. But I'm managing to knock up a few goodies, and this is one of them: A super easy paneer curry, which can be prepared from woe-to-go in about 15 minutes, and only requires 1 pot. ENJOY!

Ingredients:
- 1/2 (150g) pack paneer (I used the fresh stuff, from New World)
- 1 can (425g) whole peeled tomatoes
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 Tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder
- Cooking oil, and salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Put the curry powder, garlic and onion powders in a medium pot, with a swig of cooking oil, on medium heat. Let them sizzle a little. Then add the tomatoes and paneer, and cook for 5 or so minutes. Then add coconut milk, and peas, and cook for about 5 minutes more. To make this super easy, I served this with pre-cooked rice!

Jo's Yummy Blueberry Bread

After doing lots of googling last night, and taking the best bits of about 3 recipes, I came up with this. And it was so good, I made another straight away!

Dry
1/2 C oats
1/2 C wholemeal or spelt flour
1/3 C Linseed, almond flour, and wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Wet
1/4 C oil (I used coconut oil for one, and butter for the other)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2.5 Tbsp honey or golden syrup
3/4 Cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/3 Cup yogurt
1/4 C coconut milk (other milk of your choice)

Preheat oven to 170deg. Mix the dry ingredients.  Then warm the oil/butter, and mix the wet ingredients.  Combine together (being careful to not over mix). Line a loaf tin and pour in batter. Bake for 45min, or until skewer comes out clean.

Tuna Patties with Seasonal Slaw

Tonight I wanted something easy. I also had some mashed potato sitting in the fridge, from last nights' casserole. So this is what I did.....

Serves 2

For the patties

1 185g can + 1 95g can tuna in brine

About 300g mashed potato from a previous night

Dried bread crumbs

Milk (depending on how dry the mashed spud is)

Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Oil, for frying

For the slaw

Use what's in season.

¼ fennel bulb

1 spring onion

1 carrot

½ celery rib

¼ cucumber (if cheap enough)

Fresh coriander leaves

For the Dressing

½ lemon, squeezed

About ¼ cup olive oil

1 garlic clove

Putting it all together

Mix the tuna, mashed potato, and parsley. If the mix is quite dry, add a bit of milk. Create 4 evenly sized patties, and coat in breadcrumbs. Then saute on medium heat in a bit of oil.

While the tuna patties are cooking, prepare the salad: Chop up the coriander, finely slice the fennel, then julienne the remaining vegetables and put into a bowl. To make the dressing, mince the garlic clove, and combine with the olive oil and lemon. Pour over the salad.

Serve the patties on top of the salad.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Risotto

This was the result of a fridge with hardly any fresh food, and a desire for something healthy....

Ingredients:
- 250-400g pumpkin, cubed
- 500ml vege stock
- 1/2 cup arborio rice
- 1/2 cup medium grain brown rice
- 1/2 can black beans
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- handful of fresh herbs or greens of your choice (I used parsley from the garden, but you could use rocket, mizuna, baby spinach)
- Pumpkin seeds to garnish
- Olive oil and/or butter

Method:
Fry the rice for 2 minutes in a little olive oil/butter, on a medium heat, in a frying pan or saucepan. Then add the vegetable stock, pumpkin, thyme and nutmeg. Check every 5 minutes or so, and add water if necessary to stop the rice sticking. After about 25 minutes, the risotto should be ready. Take off the heat, and add the black beans and chopped greens. Top with pumpkin seeds.

Thank you!

A Balanced Kiwi Lifestyle has now been going for just over 1 year.... Since my first post on 7th March 2014 I have found and created some great new recipes, I have continued learning about living a balanced lifestyle, and I've definitely improved my food photography a weeny bit B-)
I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all of my subscribers and readers for your continued support and contributions... Without you, this blog wouldn't be what it is. xx Jo

Healthier nutty slice

This is a relatively healthy slice (well, compared with other snacks), moist and tasty, and packed with nuts and fibre......

 

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup nut oil of your choice. I used peanut the first few times, but next time I'll try almond. 

- 1 cup yogurt

- 1 cup oats

- 1 1/2 cups wholemeal / spelt flour (I used half and half)

- 1/2 cup almond meal

- 2 eggs, beaten

- Juice of an orange

- 1/3 cup honey / golden syrup

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or mixed spice

- 1/2 cup mixed nuts, eg: walnuts, pistachios, almonds.

Method:

Keep the nuts aside while preparing the rest of the slice.   

Whisk the eggs with the yogurt, honey/syrup, and orange juice.  Add the spice.

Add all the dry ingredients and mix lightly, just enough to combine the ingredients.

Line a small baking tray with baking paper and pour in the batter.  Add the nuts over the top of the slice.

Bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  

This slice is best served once cooled and will last well if stored in the fridge.

Source:

http://thecookingbug.com/oat_nut_slice

Cashew Lentil Patties/Burgers

This is the best recipe I've found so far for vegetarian burger patties. In fact, I like these much better than any meat patty I've had!

The recipe makes 12 patties. You could double the recipe and put some of the patties in the freezer for easy week-day meals.

Ingredients
4 c veg stock
2 c diced carrots
1 c red lentils, rinsed and picked through
2 c raw cashews
4 T oil, divided
2 medium onion, chopped
2 clove garlic, minced
2 T curry powder
2 c bread crumbs, (I used 1 c oats and 1 c dried breadcrumbs)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Combine carrots, lentils, and stock in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover and simmer until the lentils are tender and broken down (about 12-15 minutes). Drain in a sieve, pressing out excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, toss the cashews in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat or in the oven until golden and fragrant. Let cool completely.
3. Heat 1 T of the oil in a pan. Add the onion and saute until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and curry powder and stir for another minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Place the cooled cashews in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the lentils and the onion mixture; pulse until the mixture is cohesive but still somewhat textured. Transfer to a bowl and add enough bread crumbs to create a consistency that enables you to form cohesive patties. Season with salt and pepper to taste. With moist hands, form the twelve 1/2″ thick patties. (At this point, you can refrigerate the patties until needed.)
5. When you are ready to serve the burgers, heat 1 T oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the patties until evenly browned and heated through (about 4 minutes per side).

Serving suggestions:
Pita minis
Tomato, lettuce and cheese
Beetroot / beetroot relish and cucumber raita
Hummus, beetroot hummus
Oven-baked kumara or potato chips
Coleslaw

Original recipe sourced from: Michelle's Blog - Cashew Lentil Burgers