Stuffed tomatoes

2 large, ripe tomatoes
¼ cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts (soaked in water for at least an hour)
¼ cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped (soaked in water for at least an hour)
Small handful fresh basil, chopped
½ clove garlic minced
Pinch salt


Cut a slice off the top of the fresh tomatoes, leaving stems attached to slice, and set tops aside. Scoop out seeds and flesh.

In a blender, blend the drained sunflower seeds with the drained sundried tomatoes. Mix in the chopped basil, garlic, and salt.

Stuff the tomatoes with the blended mixture. Top with some extra basil leaves, and place the tomato lids back on top. Serve with a leafy green salad.

Alternatively, use red or yellow capsicums and stuff those with the mixture.
NB: Pine nuts will give a richer, creamier taste – but they are very expensive. Sunflower seeds are far more economical.

Italian Bean Stew

This is the ultimate comfort food - a rich broth and creamy beans, full of late summer vegetables.

Italian Bean Stew

1 large red onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 courgettes, finely sliced and then chopped
1 - 2 red or yellow capsicums (bell peppers) cored, deseeded and chopped
2 tins of chopped Italian tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
1 Tsbp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup dried white beans, soaked overnight (cannellini beans are lovely)
1 tsp mixed spice
8-10 basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan coated in spray oil saute the onion, garlic and eggplants until they soften. Add the remaining ingredients except the basil, and cook for approximately 2 hours, until the beans soften. (will be less if you are using tinned beans). Taste and season, stir through the basil and serve.

This is ideal over spaghetti or polenta, and freezes very well.

Eggplant and Brown Rice Bake

I made this today for our family lunch ... it managed to feed 10 hungry people and seemed to please everyone from hard core vegans to staunch carnivores.

We served it with a big salad (thanks Kate!), some crumbled feta and some ciabatta bread.

Eggplant and Brown Rice Bake

2 cups brown rice
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large eggplant, peeled
3 large red capsicums, cored and sliced
1 tin chopped italian tomatoes or passata
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup frozen spinach, cooked and drained
2 packets tofu, or if you are not catering for vegans try 1 tofu and 1 feta
large handful of basil
pepper, salt and chilli

Firstly, boil the brown rice in a large saucepan of salted water for 30-40 minutes until just tender.

In a food processor finely chop the onion and garlic, and then cook these in a large frypan coated with spray oil. Using the food processor again (you don't need to clean it out obviously) chop the eggplant and capsicums, then add these to the frypan. Cook over a moderate heat.

Meanwhile use the food processor to puree the tofu (and the feta if using) and basil.

In a very large casserole dish or lasagne pan place the brown rice, the frypan mixture, the tofu mixture, the stock, the tomatoes, and the seasonings and mix well. You could top it with cheese if you felt so inclined.

(It can be cooked ahead to this point and left overnight)

Bake for 45 minutes in a moderate oven.

Tofu Stir Fry

As a little girl I used to get the left over tofu from this recipe in my lunchbox ... its suprisingly good. Don't be put off tofu until you have tried this - its delicious and makes for a high protein , low fat, super easy dinner.

Tofu Stir Fry

Tofu Marinade
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

300g packet firm organic tofu cut into 5-7mm slices

Assorted vegetables e.g.
1 large carrot cut into thin sticks
1 large handful mung beans
1 small head broccoli cut into small florets
1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 red or yellow capsicum sliced

Place the sliced tofu in the marinade for at least 1 hour, or even overnight.

Spray a large frypan with spray oil and heat to medium-high. Place the tofu slices (reserve the marinade) and the vegetables that will require longer cooking (carrots, capsicums). Cook for around 4-5 minutes, tun the tofu to brown the other side and add remaining vegetables and leftover marinade.

Serve with rice.

Caramelized Onion Calzone

Calzones are one of my favourite things to eat, being the carb addict that I am. You can fill them with all sorts of leftovers, so they are a great budget dish. In case you don't know what I am on about check out this one at Jamie Oliver's site.

Tonight was the best ever - I filled mine with some canned kidney beans, caramelized onions, feta cheese and mozzarella cheese. Not an exceptionally healthy dinner but great for a treat, and they go well with a huge green salad.

Here's my recipe for calzone dough. This will make enough for four hungry adults!

1 c lukewarm water
2 t active dry yeast
1 t salt
1/2 t sugar
3 c flour - a mix of wholemeal and white is lovely
2 Tbsp olive oil

In a bowl, combine the water, yeast, salt and sugar, and stir to dissolve. Set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes, then add the flour, and mix until smooth. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead for 5 minutes, adding more flour if necessary.

The dough should feel smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl, pop the dough inside and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Cut the dough into 4 pieces, and roll each piece out into a large circle. I use a small dinner plate and cut around it to get a neat calzone. Place the filling in the middle and fold over, using your fingers to pinch the dough together. Use a fork to pierce some holes for the steam to escape, and then bake for 20-25 minutes.

Seriously scrummy lentil and brown rice patties

I've said it before that lentils and brown rice don't deserve their appalling reputation. Make these delicious patties and serve them with a huge salad ... a really wonderful balanced meal. You can even use them for burger patties.

This is a big quantity - it makes 18 muffin tin sized patties easily. They freeze really well - just spray a patty pan with olive oil, pop the mix in and freeze. Then pop them out and put them in a large zip lock bag.


Lentil and Brown Rice Patties

1 large onion
1 large carrot
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 huge handful of leafy herbs - coriander, mint and/or parsley
1 cup brown lentils
1 cup brown rice
1-2 Tbsp each soy sauce and either sweet chilli or tomato sauces
2-4 Tbsp flour

In a large saucepan cook the lentils and rice together for around 45-50 minutes until tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large food processor finely chop the onion, carrot, garlic and herbs. Add the lentils and rice, and then add the sauce and flour as required to make a mixture that is not too sloppy!

Cook either in a fry pan or under the grill for 5-10 minutes a side until slightly brown

Quick Tempeh Curry

This is a real weeknight staple in our house. I have suggested some vegetables, but use whatever you have to hand.

If you have never tried tempeh, you are missing out. Granted, it looks pretty foul but it tastes amazing and has roughly twice the protein of tofu. Unlike tofu, tempeh freezes particularly well, so this curry is a good one to cook in advance and defrost on nights you don't feel like cooking. Serve with rice and yoghurt or raita as you prefer.

Tempeh Curry
Serves 4-6

1 onion, finely chopped
1 cloves garlic, minced
125 grams tempeh (half a packet) sliced 5mm thick
2-3 tbsp red curry paste
1 tin chopped italian tomatoes
1 cup veggie stock
1/2 tin coconut milk
1 red or yellow capsicum, sliced
1 green zucchini, sliced
1/2 small head of broccoli
1/2 small head of cauliflower
1 large carrot, sliced

In a large wok or frypan coated with spray oil saute the onion, garlic and tempeh until the onion and tempeh are slightly browning. Add the curry paste, the tomatoes, stock, coconut milk and cook for about 15 -20 minutes before adding the vegetables. Cook for a further 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has reduced.

Vegetarian Moussaka

In my very humble opinion this is better than any moussaka made with meat ... and my tofu-phobe husband couldn't pick what was in it. He had some lamb on the side though of course.

It wasn't a massive amount of work, but is more of a dinner party dish than a weeknight special. However, it is a good contender for the freezer. Serve it with a side salad and some crusty bread.

Vegans could easily leave out the feta cheese and instead use a cashew-nut and tofu mix - just mix 1/2 cup of cashews, olive oil, basil and lemon juice in a food processor until creamy and then whizz up the tofu with it.

Now, just a note on handling eggplants. I just cut the top off and peel the rest with a Y shaped veggie peeler. In the bad old days eggplants were complicated by the need to salt them, but modern varieties have been bred to be less bitter.

Vegetarian Moussaka
Serves 6-8

1 large eggplant, peeled and sliced into thin (about 4mm ideally) rounds
2 400g cans of tomato passata, or a large jar of good quality pasta sauce
1 large handful of frozen spinach, cooked and drained
1 portion of tofu mixture (see below)
fresh breadcrumbs made from 3-4 slices of bread
large handful of cheese for topping (optional)

Tofu mixture
1 block of firm tofu
1 200g block of feta cheese or 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
juice of a lemon
pinch of salt
a large handful of fresh basil, ripped up finely

Firstly, make the tofu mixture by blending everything in the food processor until creamy.

Then, in a large lasagne dish, place one overlapping layer of eggplant, then the passata, spinach, tofu mixture, a further layer of eggplant, and the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45-50 minutes.

Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole

Lentils and Brown Rice have a bad reputation, I blame Neil from The Young Ones! But seriously, this casserole is super super easy ... it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. It does take a couple of hours to cook, but you don't need to much more than give it the occassional stir. I love the feta in it, but it would still be delicious if you left it out.

Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole

1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup red lentils (dried)
3/4 cup brown rice
1 x 400 g tin chopped Italian tomatoes
3 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 cup (approx) spinach, cooked and drained
100 grams feta cheese (optional)
1-2 Tbsp basil leaves, roughly chopped
chilli, salt and pepper to taste

In a large casserole place the onion, lentils, rice, tomatoes and stock. Mix well and bake in a 180 moderate oven for about 2 hours, stirring occassionally. Add the spinach, feta, basil and seasoning, stir well and serve!

Bean burgers

You don't have to use these patties for burgers, but they are scrummy this way especially served with especially served with caramelised onions and lots of crunchy lettuce and tomato. To freeze these, spray a muffin tin with oil, then fill each muffin hole with mixture. Freeze, then pop them out into a ziplock bag, and you have 'free flow' bean patties.

The food processor makes light work of these

Bean Burger Patties

1 x small onion
1 x tin of cannellini or butter beans
1 x tin of red kidney beans
1 egg (optional but it does make them bind nicely) or 2-3 Tbsp tomato sauce if vegan
3 slices of wholemeal bread, or 3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp chilli powder
handful of green herbs ... coriander or parsley is my favourite
flour, if needed to get the patties to bind

Place all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz before shaping

Red Lentil and Eggplant Bolognese

A triumph for vegetarians and vegans if I may say so myself ... I have finally worked out something that is really delicious, but still protein packed, to replace the traditional meaty bolognaise sauce. Freezes beautifully, and is very economical. You could easily replace the eggplant and red pepper with other vegetables depending on what is in season - mushrooms and zucchini would be delicious.


Red Lentil and Eggplant Bolognese

Serves 8-10

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 eggplant, peeled, sliced and then cut into roughly 1cm cubes

1-2 red capsicum, ideally roasted and peeled otherwise cubed

2 x 400g tins chopped italian tomatoes

1 cup uncoooked red lentils

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

100g of dry feta cheese, crumbled (or soy cheese if you are vegan)

pinches of salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste

large handful of basil leaves, ripped up small

________________________________

In a large frypan with 1 Tbsp of ricebran oil, cook the onion and garlic until softened. Add the other vegetables and the tomatoes, vinegar and sugar. Cook until the mixture thickens, about 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the lentils for 12-15 minutes until tender, in a saucepan of boiling water. Drain and then stir through the tomato mixture, before adding the feta,the seasonings and the basil. Serve over hot pasta.

Morroccan Chickpeas

I have never been to Morrocco, but its one of those places that evokes all sorts of exotic fantasies for me ... mainly involving beautiful architecture, bustling markets, stunning fabrics and amazing food.

This dish is loosely based on a recipe I found in a Moroccan cookbook but simplified considerably. Its lovely with rice or couscous with a dollop of sour cream.

It freezes beautifully so I often quadruple the recipe and stock up the freezer.

Morroccan Chickpeas

spray oil
1 small onion finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp each ground cumin, coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper - more to taste
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (optional - its nice but I often don't bother)
2 tin chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained
1 tin chopped Italian tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock (powdered is fine here)
salt and pepper to season

In a large frypan coated with spray-oil, brown the onion, garlic and spices. Then add in the tomatoes, stock, and chickpeas. Cook on a medium heat until the sauce thickens and reduces.

Mexican pinto beans

Ole ... pinto beans are delicious beans but they need serious cooking so its a good one when you are home all day. This is another great recipe for the freezer, and I imagine it would be brilliant in the slow cooker!

1 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 cup of dried pinto beans, soaked in water overnight
1 tsp each ground coriander cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
1 tin chopped Italian tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
1 diced capsicum (any colour will be fine)
1/2 tsp sugar

In a large frypan sprayed with oil brown the onion and garlic. Add the spices then the beans, tomatoes, stock, capsicum, and sugar. Cook for 4 hours stirring occassionally minutes until the beans are tender. Add salt at the end to taste.
Serve with rice and sour cream, and a big fresh salad.