Slow cooker Spanish chorizo, tomato and bean soup

Ingredients

2 carrots, small dice

2 stalks celery, small dice

1-2 zucchinis, 1 cm dice

1 red and 1 green capsicum, 1 cm dice

1 brown onion, diced

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp smoked paprika (or use 2 tbsp of one if you don’t have both paprikas.

700g tomato passata

2 x 400g can rinsed and drained mixed beans

1-2 chorizo, small dice

Water

You can add chopped chili if you would like it spicy, add in with the onion

Method

Put your passata in a large measuring jug and make the total liquid 1200ml (1.2 litres) by adding water. You can adjust how liquidy you want your soup at the end.

Starting in a cold pan, fry off your chorizo to start rendering the fat out, after about 2-3 minutes you can add your paprika onion and garlic and cook for about 1 minute until softened.

Then add your chorizo mix plus your other veg, passata/water to your slow cooker, give it a stir and leave on low for 8 hours. Adjust consistency by adding more water at the end if you need to.

If you want stove top method cook the chorizo in a large pot instead of a pan and carry on with the rest of the recipe. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until all the veg is tender.

Slow cooker Italian chicken and vegetable soup

Dinner or lunch doesn't get much cheaper than this!
This soup mix by itself is just $1.70 for 500g!
It's nutritious, delicious and very filling!!...and did I mention cheap!?!?!
Utilising nutritious legumes this soup mix contain dried peas, barley and lentils. Barley is not gluten free, you can use the italian soup mix which contains, beans, peas and lentils which is gluten free.
This mix contains 18% protein and 15% fibre which is great!
You can make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and using vegetable stock.

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 carrots, ½ cm dice
3 stalks of celery, small dice
1 brown onion, small dice
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 bay leaves
1-2 tbsp dried basil
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock-this amount of liquid will make a souper thick soup, more like a stew. If you like it soupier you can add more liquid to taste at the end.

4 chicken lovely legs- You can find 'lovely legs' in most supermarkets. They have the skin and part of the bone removed. If unavailable, use chicken drumsticks, just be sure to remove the skin first or you will have bits of soft skin in the soup which doesn’t taste great. You could also just use 4 skinless chicken thighs, large dice.

250g or half a packet of dried soup mix- you can get this near the soup section at the supermarket and its really cheap!
Salt and pepper at the end.


Method
Put everything in your slow cooker and put on low for at least 8 hours. Everything should be nice and tender. When done you can take the chicken legs out, take the meat off and put the meat back in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper.

Spiced chicken thighs with chickpea mash and a zucchini, snow pea and capsicum salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 x 125g chicken thighs (about 4 big ones) cut in half

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp chilli powder or to taste

Method

Mix together and marinate with a splash of olive oil. Leave overnight or as long as you have. Cook in a pan, bbq or bake in the oven. Serve with zucchini salad and chickpea mash.

Zucchini salad

150g snow peas, ends chopped off, plunged into boiling water for 30 seconds or until they change color and then plunged into cold water to retain their color

4 medium zucchinis, sliced thinly with a mandolin or potato peeler

½ red capsicum and ½ yellow one, sliced thinly

Juice of 1 lemon (zest first and set the zest aside for the mash)

2 tsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Mix these together in a bowl and set aside. If you have some basil handy, this would make a nice addition.

Chickpea Mash

2 x 400g can chickpeas (or cannellini beans) rinsed and drained

1 brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Juice of half a lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup of chicken stock or water

In a medium pot add a little olive oil and cook the onion and garlic for 2 minutes or until softened, then add your chickpeas, lemon juice and zest. Heat through for about 3 minutes and then blend using a stick mixer or use a potato masher. Add some salt and pepper.

Quinoa, cannellini beans with vegetables and tahini & lemon dressing

Ingredients

½ cup of quinoa, cooked- cook while your vegetables are cooking

1 x 400g can of rinsed and drained cannellini beans- add these in the last 1 minute of cooking the quinoa to heat through

½ a large cauliflower

1 large broccoli

400g of thinly sliced pumpkin, skin off and slice  as thin as you can sliced it otherwise it won’t cook in time

Method

In a large pan or wok add some olive oil and butter, stir fry your veg for 5-6 minutes until it is cooked to your liking. When done add in your cooked quinoa/cannellini beans and mix through. Season well with salt and pepper. Serve up with tahini dressing and optional garnish.

As a garnish sprinkle over some pumpkin seeds and some Persian or normal feta cheese, feel free to have more veg/salad on the side J

Tahini dressing is 1 tbsp tahini, juice of one lemon, small clove of crushed garlic (not too much!) 1/4 cup of natural yoghurt plus salt and pepper, mix well.

Black bean chocolate brownie

Ingredients

This stevia is mixed with erythritol

1 x 425g can black beans rinsed and drained

2 eggs

¼ cup of stevia powder/natvia or honey or maple or rapadura

½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup of cacao powder

1/3 cup of olive oil or butter or coconut oil

½ tsp salt

Optional…but is it ever really optional? 2-3 tbsp choc chips scattered over the top

Method

Preheat oven to 160 fan forced or 180 c normal

Put everything in a blender/food processor, scrape down the side and make sure it is nice and smooth. Line a 20 x 20 cake tin with baking paper. A good way to line this is to get your paper and screw it up with wet hands, this make it easier to sit in your tin. Pour in your mix and then scatter the choc chips over if using.

 Bake for 12-15 minutes, the centre will still be a little soft and the outside edges with be firm. Leave to cook in the tin and then cut into squares when cold. Keep in the fridge

Mexican beans

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 red capsicum

1 green capsicum

3 carrots

3-4 stalks of celery

1 brown onion

4 cloves of garlic

2 x 400g cans of diced tomatoes of passata

1 x 400g can of kidney beans or ½ cups of cooked kidney beans

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp smoked paprika

1-2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

Method

Dice all the veg up about 1cm, chop the garlic.

In a large pot heat 1 ½ tbsp olive oil, through all the veg in a stir, cook for 1-2 minutes and then add spices, cook another 1 minute and then add tomatoes and kidney beans, add about ½ can worth of water. Simmer for about half an hour until the veg is tender.

You can take this mix and put in an ovenproof dish, break in 1-2 eggs each and sprinkle over some grated cheese, bake at 200 fan forced for 10 minutes or the eggs are done to your liking. Serve up with extra veg and sour cream if you like!

Lentil and vegetable soup

Lentils have 9g protein per 100g cooked lentils so are a great vegetable based protein. 8g fibre, 3.3 mg iron and 1.3 mg of zinc.

They are also an excellent source of molybdenum and folate and very good source of copper, phosphorus and manganese.

Ingredients

4 cloves of garlic

1 onion

3 stalks of celery

2 carrots

1-2 zucchinis

¼ of a small cabbage

3-4 bay leaves

1300 ml vegetable or chicken broth

1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes

1 cup of lentils. I used ½ cup each of red lentils and French lentils. Near the soup section at the supermarket. Very cheap!

2-3 slices of bacon or pancetta, prosciutto (opt)

Method

Using a grater attachment on a food processor grate all your vegetables, or pulse with the food processor blade, until small. Or chop small by hand. I like small so my kids won’t be able to pick out bits.

If using bacon, fry off in a large pot in some olive oil, then add everything else. Simmer covered for 30-40 minutes or until the French lentils are soft. Take out the bay leaves if you can find them.

Legume ragout with saffron and rosemary

Have this by itself or as I have done with poached eggs and feta cheese

The term comes from the French ragoûter, meaning: "to revive the taste".

The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat.

Serve 4-6

Ingredients

2 carrots, diced

2-3 stalks celery, diced

1 red or green capsicum, diced

1 large brown onion, diced

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 stems rosemary

A pinch of saffron

2 x 400g can of rinsed and drained legumes, chickpeas, butter beans, cannellini bean, kidney beans etc…

2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup tomato passata

Method

Put everything in a slow cooker and put on low for the day.

You can serve with extra veg and poached eggs, feta cheese, chopped chilli