SUPER QUICK AND EASY DINNERS
Let me start this by saying, I’m not a cook. I’m not very good at it, and I don’t enjoy it. I also hate onions, which a lot of people seem to believe are the base of every single meal and cooking without them is sacrilegious. Many people who, like me, are averse to the kitchen tend to end up ordering take-away a lot, but thankfully I’ve never really fallen into that trap. I order it from time to time, but it’s so expensive to do it regularly. Instead, I’ve found a few easy quick nutritious (vegan) dinners that I can cook that are easy to re-heat and that last me a good few days. They’re all pretty similar but it’s enough variation for me.
VEGETABLE CHILLI
The original recipe is in the Happy Pear cookbook.
Peel and chop 3 cloves of garlic and slice the chilli (you can remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy). Chop the pepper and slice the scallions (if you’re going to add them, I don’t), then drain 3 tins of whatever beans you want to use (I normally used mixed beans and kidney beans, but you can use black beans, chickpeas or butter beans instead/as well). Put some oil on the pan and once it’s hot, add the garlic, chilli, yellow pepper and scallions. Cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly.
Add in the beans, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 6 tbsps of tomato purée, 1 tbsp of liquid sweetener (I use agave syrup), 2 tbsps of ground cumin, 2 tbsps of ground coriander, 2 tbsps of Tamara, the juice of half a lime and some salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and stir regularly. I serve it with chilli flakes, rice and avocado, but you can also use soya yoghurt and some coriander.
CHICKPEA AND LENTIL DAHL
Click here for the original recipe on the Happy Pear YouTube channel.
Place the pan on a high heat and allow it to become hot. If you have them, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp fennel seeds to a pan and allow them to roast to develop the flavour (I often skip this step and it still turns out amazing). Add garlic and ginger, and stir well. You can add spring onions too if you want, I just hate onions so I avoid them at all costs but I know most people think you can’t cook without them,
Now add the ground spices, I use cumin, black pepper, coriander and cayenne, but you can also add curry powder and whatever else you want/have, and stir well. Add 10-12 cherry tomatoes sliced in half, along with some salt (which will help the tomatoes release moisture) and stir before adding the can of chopped tomatoes. Stir well to combine all of the flavours. Add a rinsed can of lentils and a rinsed can of chickpeas and stir to combine, then add 200ml of vegetable stock (or I sometimes use just water). Stir well to mix everything together then add the tamari and stir again.
Finally add baby spinach leaves (as much as you like), 1 tsp of liquid sweetener (I use agave syrup) and the juice of half a lime. Stir and serve with a side of your choice: brown rice, quinoa, salad, etc.
SWEET POTATO AND SPINACH STEW
Click here for the original recipe of the Happy Pear website.
Finely chop 1 bunch of scallions/spring onions (if you’re going to use them, I do not), 2 cloves of garlic and 150g mushrooms. Fry the onions for a few minutes first, then add the prepared garlic and cook for another minute. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook for 5ish minutes, stirring occasionally. The recipe says to chop the sweet potatoes while the mushrooms are cooking, but I chop everything before I start cooking. Regardless, after about 5 minutes, add 750g of chopped sweet potatoes, a 1 tsp of salt and 500ml of the veg stock. Give it a good stir. Put a lid on and leave to sweat. The recipes says to give it 10 minutes, but I found it needed closer to 20. You want the sweet potato to be cooked throughly and melt in your month texture.
When it’s done, add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and 2 tins of beans and stir mixing it well (the recipe suggests using baked beans and rinsing off the sauce to save money but I just used regular beans. I only used 1 tin but I wish I’d used 2). Add 1 tbsp curry powder (or if you’re like me and don’t have any, add cayenne), black pepper and 2 tbsp of tamari. Add the remaining 250ml of veg stock (or just water) and 200g of spinach and put the lid on to steam the spinach. Remove the lid and mix and incorporate the spinach. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime/lemon, if you have it. I eat mine with 2 slices of nice whole grain bread.
So that’s it, my go-to meals. They’re filling, nutritious and If I can cook them, trust me, anyone can.