Cauliflower and kidney bean tacos

I'm back! After being pregnant and becoming a mum, I've been cooking from my instincts and not necessarily coming up with the most creative dishes. Also, I have often not had time to pause to take photos and blog. Nonetheless, I'm still here and tonight I made a scrumptious vegetarian mexican dinner for my best friend and hubbie: cauliflower and kidney bean tacos! The secret is cooking the cauliflower and bean mixture for a good hour or so--like a hearty bolognese. 

Apparently if you don't cook cruciferous vegetables for 30min they are goitrogenic (inducing goiter formation). They contain enzymes that interfere with the formation of thyroid hormone in people with iodine deficiency. In that class of vegetable includes: cauliflower, cabbage, cress, bok choy, broccoli and similar green leaf vegetables.

Ingredients

1 mexican dinner kit ('requiring' 500g of meat)

1 onion finely chopped

1tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves crushed

1tbsp ground cumin

1tbsp dried oregano

1/2 cauliflower chopped into bite-sized chunks

1 can kidney beans

sour cream

2 cups water

2 tomatoes diced

1 avocado smooshed with lime juice, salt and pepper

Fresh coriander/cilantro

1 green top of spring onion sliced

1 carrot grated

sprouts

lettuce

grated cheese

sour cream

Tabasco, jalapenos and chilli to taste

Method

Fry onion until soft. Add cumin, garlic and caulflower and cook for a couple of minutes. Add kidney beans, taco seasoning packet and water. Simmer on low, uncovered for 30min-1hr, stirring occasionally  and breaking down cauliflower with a wooden spoon. Add 2 tbsp sour cream towards the end as it thickens. Put taco shells in the oven to crisp.

Serve with chopped tomato, salsa, mashed avocado, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, grated carrot, lettuce, sprouts, coriander and chilli sauce to taste. 

Squash, Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry

I'm back!! 17 weeks pregnant and I've renewed our subscription to Food Connect after my trip to the USA. It's great to feel my energy coming back. First trimester was quite a fog. Still, I'm not quite back to normal, so we're going to try buying a mini-box for a month.


How inspiring! Those green things are like zucchini, but so fresh and sweet. I'm calling them 'squash'. Please let me know if you know a more precise name for them. I wanted to honour the cauliflower tonight. This dish is a warming, winter curry full of comfort. Even if you skip on some of the spices, make sure you use the cardamom.

Ingredients

20g butter (or ghee)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 small red thai chillies (makes it quite hot)

1-3 cloves of garlic minced or chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander seed
1 tsp cardamom seeds (or six bruised pods)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric

1 can coconut cream
1/2 cup stock
1/4 cup dried shitake mushroom slices (use fresh mushrooms if preferred)

2 sweet potatoes chunks roughly peeled
1/2 head cauliflower broken into small florets
1 can chickpeas
2 squash sliced

1 tbsp palm sugar
3cm x 1cm lemon zest in strips
Lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

Paneer cheese cubes (or haloumi)

Method


Cook onion on low heat with the oil. Add chillies after 5mins. Add spices after 10 mins. Cook until fragrant (1-2 mins).


Add a can of coconut cream (not coconut milk--you want the richest stuff they have). I used Trident coconut cream. Add stock, shitake mushrooms and sweet potato cook for 15mins. I love using dried mushrooms to add a thick umami flavour to dishes. You can grind them up in a spice grinder to really release a gorgeous mushroom flavour. I'm also being conservative with my fresh mushrooms. I'm holding on to them for use later in the week.


Add cauliflower and chickpeas. Cook for another 10mins.


Add squash, palm sugar and lemon zest.


Cook until squash is tender (approx. 5mins). Add lemon juice salt and pepper to taste.


Serve with fried paneer cheese. To cook cheese, heat up some vegetable oil (not olive) and drop cheese cubes into the oil for a minute or two until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.

Yummo! We don't have much of a winter in Brissy, but it's cold enough to enjoy a cheesy, flavourful winter curry. I hope you're all snuggled in!