Healthy Archives - Spiced Up By Bilal

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Belle Babies

Belle Babies - Served

ByBilalBham | On July 28,17 | 0 Comment

My Italian friend Giovanni was having a dinner party at his and invited his European, hailing from Italy and Spain, over for food and asked us to bring or cook something. As you know, I love to cook, but I also wanted to show off my culinary skills… ehem! Since my friends were European, the food had to be good! I wanted to make something which was relatively easy to transport, didn’t need any Tupperware and people could just pick up and eat on a small plate. I also had to ensure that it was tasty in terms of spices but not too spicy hot since various people had different levels of tolerance, and I am a softy when it comes to spicy hot !If you are wondering why I used 3 different bell peppers, it’s simple, I like my food to be colourful and appetising!

I had made stuffed peppers before but I wanted to make sure I nailed it right this time. The time before, I didn’t have enough tomato puree and it showed up in the taste test!

If you are wondering how I managed to transport this to Giovanni’s place directly from the oven, then here’s the spoiler – mum came to the rescue with a brilliant idea! She covered the top with more aluminium foil, and then wrapped it in packing paper we had lying around from various deliveries, popped it in a large shopping bag and I was ready to roll! When I arrived 10 mins later, the food was still piping hot and ready to eat, and thankfully, they all enjoyed it!

For my vegetarian/vegan friends, you can swap the beef mince with Quorn mince, tofu, legumes and grains, or nut blends.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg beef mince

9 bell peppers

1 red onion

1 normal onion

3 cloves garlic

1 cm ginger

1 cm turmeric

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

100 g tomato puree

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

RECIPE

Chop up the onions, garlic, ginger, chilli and turmeric, and sauté at medium heat in a small frying pan with coconut oil.
In a larger frying pan, cook the beef mince at medium heat until it is cooked through and turned a tan/light brown colour – get rid of all the red bits, unless you like eating raw meat!
Whilst the 2 frying pans are cooking, slice the top of the bell peppers off and clean out the insides of seeds and other debris. Be sure to wash to get rid of everything, and shake dry.
Transfer the sautéed vegetables to the mince meat saucepan and mix thoroughly.
Add the tomato puree – they tend to be 200 g so use half – and mix thoroughly until cooked.
Set the oven at gas mark 6/200°C and set a shelf in the middle.
Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
Fill all of the bell peppers with the beef mince mix, cover with the sliced portions, and place in the baking tray.
Bake the bell babies for 30 minutes until the tops begin to turn brown.
Belle Babies served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 9 people – my friends loved these!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Fish, Lunch, Vegetarian

Hearty Haddock

Heart Haddock is served!

ByBilalBham | On October 30,16 | 0 Comment

As part of me going chicken-free in November, and vegetarian for December, I decided to cook fish! I looked in the freezer and found some haddock. I love how my mum cook’s haddock but it can be a bit too spicy for me, and although I love chapatti, my stomach doesn’t do well with gluten! I also bought a pack of mixed vegetables the other day and I decided to put it to good use!

I love colour in my food, and although many of the dishes turn out red because of the tomatoes, I love the mix of green and red, so always try to ensure a colourful and of course tasty dish! Ever since I began this blog, I wanted to ensure that I had a good mix of protein, fats and healthy carbs in my dishes, and this one has the macronutrients covered!

You can have this dish with rice, naan, chapatti, bread, bulgur wheat, buckwheat or anything like that but I love my quinoa so had it with that! Also, depending on how well you like your vegetables cooked, adjust the time you cook them for. I personally like them slightly crunchy, mum loves them basically mashed! Each to their own!

INGREDIENTS

Hearty Haddock

250 haddock filet (2 pieces)

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 cm ginger (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 green chillies (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Red chilli powder

Small pack of mixed vegetables

½ teaspoon dried coriander

Optional: A handful of fresh or frozen coriander

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Quinoa

100 g quinoa

1 small onion

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon coconut oil

200 mL filtered water

RECIPE

Hearty Haddock

In a large saucepan, add in 2 teaspoons coconut oil, 1 chopped onion, and caramelise on 3/4 heat;
Add in garlic, ginger, chilli, and cook and stir until the smell goes;
Add in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates;
Add in the fish, mix, cover, and cook until all the frozen bits are cooked (unless using fresh, in which case cook until it is almost done), around 10 minutes;
Add in the mixed vegetables and cover for 10 minutes;
Continue to stir occasionally;
Check the fish and vegetables are done as you like them and add the fresh or frozen coriander as a tasty garnish;
Hearty Haddock is served!

Quinoa

In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
Add the quinoa and stir gently for 30 seconds;
Add in the boiling water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Vegetarian

Fishy Omelette

Fishy Omelette :)

ByBilalBham | On October 24,16 | 0 Comment

I love eggs! Free-range mind. And I eat 4 every morning for breakfast! I get my daily dose of post-gym protein and healthy fats without fail! Hard boiled, scrambled or as an omelette, I eat eggs! The omelette is ubiquitous throughout the world and comes in many different forms such as the frittata (Italian omelette) in Italy, tortilla in Spain (Spanish omelette) or the tamagoyaki in Japan (Japanese omelette).

In Gujarat, India, the birthplace of my parents, the omelette is called a pura. As you can expect, Indian omelettes are spiced up to the high heavens! If there’s no chilli, it isn’t Indian! I loved the omelettes my mum and dad made for me and sometimes mum does still make them. In our household, and I am sure many households, it is the default go-to dish when you are hungry, don’t want to make a fuss in the kitchen and enjoy a filling meal.

Now, I do love my mum’s omelettes, but they tend to leave me feeling a little hungry – must be my big appetite! So, about 3 months ago, after a big morning workout, when I felt hungry enough to eat a cow, I decided to experiment (much to the chagrin of my mother’s traditionalist attitude in the kitchen) with a tin of tuna, and half a tin of mixed vegetables, along with the regular spice, and coconut oil! Up until this point, mum was using olive oil (and vegetable or sunflower oils before that, which play havoc with my immune system) for her omelettes, even though we’d switched to coconut oil – something about frying and “proper” oil ;). Anyway, I ended up cooking a deliciously healthy, tasty, quick and easy meal, rich in protein, good fats and healthy carbs, which was rustled up in 15 mins, and eaten in about 5! You can have this omelette for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and if you reduce the ingredients, a hearty snack! Oh, and if you want to up your greens, this omelette goes perfectly with salad!

I cooked this without the half tin of mixed vegetables because it was late and I wasn’t as hungry as I am after the gym! However, don’t be scared to experiment, have a bit of fun in the kitchen and see what you can come up with!

INGREDIENTS

4 free range eggs

4 cloves garlic (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 cm ginger (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 green chillies (I used a bag we’d frozen before)

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Red chilli powder

Optional: ½ can of mixed vegetables

1 can of tuna (remove the brine)

½ teaspoon dried corriander

1 teaspoon coconut oil

RECIPE

In a bowl, whisk up the eggs, garlic, ginger, chilli, salt, pepper, seasoning and tuna (and mixed vegetables);
Heat up a teaspoon of coconut oil in a large non-stick frying pan;
Pour the mix into the frying pan and cook on a medium heat for about 5 minutes, the bottom is cooked;
Turn on the solar grill to full and place the frying pan in there for about 5 minutes whilst the top of the omelette cooks. If you don’t have a solar grill and/or want to flip the omelette, good luck!
Once it cooks to your taste, place a large plate over the frying pan, carefully flip over, and you are ready to eat!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

This was a meal for me, but it could easily feed 2! My rule of thumb is 2 eggs per person 🙂

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch

BrocCauli ChiQuin

ByBilalBham | On October 16,16 | 0 Comment

In traditional Indian cuisine from the state of Gujarat, for those of us who are meat eaters, we don’t eat much by way of vegetables! As I have been trying to do throughout my blog, I want to increase the nutritional content of traditional dishes that I have grown up eating! Today it was chicken curry or chicken tikka massala again!

Broccoli and cauliflower are rich in vitamins C, B and K, and broccoli, so definitely good for your immune system at this time of year as our climate changes! Pigeon peas add some extra greens and vitamins to really give you a good helping of protein, healthy carbs, fats, fibres, vitamins and minerals!

I love my quinoa, but you can have it with whatever you wish! Mum had hers with chappati because she’s not a big fan of quinoa! More for me!

INGREDIENTS

BrocCauli Chicken

1 chicken breast

1 onion

50 g pigeon peas (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes

4 cloves garlic (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 cm ginger (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 green chillies (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon dried coriander

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon

2 teaspoon coconut oil

Pillau Quinoa

40 g quinoa

¼ onion

2 cinnamon sticks

200 mL of filtered water, boiled.

¼ teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS

BroCauli Chicken

In a large saucepan, add in 2 teaspoons coconut oil, 1 chopped onion, and caramelise on 3/4 heat;
Add in garlic, ginger, chilli, and cook and stir until the smell goes;
Add in the chicken, sliced and diced, and cook until all the pink bits are cooked.
Add in 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes, spices and seasoning, pigeon peas, and place on ½ heat and cover for 5 minutes whether ingredient are frozen or not due to moisture from the chicken;
Simmer on ¼ heat for 20 minutes and stir occasionally to mix;
Add in the cauliflower, chopped, and cover for 10 minutes;
Add in the broccoli, chopped, and cover for 10 minutes,
Continue to stir whilst the curry cooks, add water if needed;
Check the chicken and vegetables if they are done as you like them;
BrocCauli Chicken is served!

Pillau Quinoa

You can begin cooking this simultaneously with the BroCauli Chicken at point 6;
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
Add in the boiling water, ¼ teaspoon of salt, the quinoa and stir gently;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

I made enough just for mum and I! Mum had hers with chapatti!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

About Me

Going Meat Free in 3 Months!

Hi everyone, sorry for being away for so long and not posting anything, I upgraded my hosting and they lost everything… but then I managed to rescue my blog, so here I am!

First up, I have some news for you, which will affect what I post on here over the next 3+ months! As you will have seen from the title, I am going meat free in 3 months! I have gone red meat free for October (Stoptober!), will go chicken free in November, and fish free in December, i.e. full vegetarian! I am not sure about vegan, I love my eggs too much but let’s see how I get on!

Considering that I am lactose (and to an extent gluten) intolerant, I want to see how going without animal products affects my body and mood. This is as much an experiment for me as it is to share my life with my vegetarian and vegan friends! I currently only drink lactose-free milk and have gone dairy free before but never totally animal product free! If I feel good on a vegetarian diet and find good alternatives to egg then I will most certainly go vegan for a month!

Stay tuned for some funky recipes, as usual, a mix of mums cooking blended with healthier alternatives from modern cuisine, spiced up by me!! I am pretty excited about sharing my journey with you!

Dinner, Lunch

ChiQuin Biryani

Biryani, be with any type of meat and/or vegetables is very popular during special occasions across the India subcontinent, and of course amongst immigrant Indian families across the world.

Traditionally, we have always enjoyed chicken biryani at home, such as the Eid (feast) after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (Eid-ul-Fitr or Feast of Fast breaking) or 60 days later for Eid-ul-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice). Mum’s also made it for birthdays, family gatherings and so forth, and I have enjoyed it at weddings, engagements and other events.

As much as I love this speciality dish, I wanted to modernise it for my health and fitness needs. Therefore, I used only fresh ingredients (mum likes using frozen garlic and ginger), swapped the olive oil for coconut oil and used quinoa instead of rice! (I know what you’re thinking, I should rename this blog Spiced Up With Quinoa!).

You will need 3 saucepans for this, 2 medium sized ones and one large one, which you can line with aluminium foil like we do at home for easy washing.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Mix

2 chicken breasts

100g lentils

100g soya yoghurt (you can add any type of yogurt; I am lactose intolerant!)

1 onion

1 red onion

1 tomato

4 cloves of garlic

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (turmeric)

1 long red pepper (didn’t have this available at the time!)

1 long green pepper

1 long red chilli

1 long green chilli (didn’t have this available at the time!)

1 spoon dried coriander

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 pinch of saffron

Coconut oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)

Quinoa

200 g quinoa

Coconut oil

400 mL of filtered water, boiled

Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Chicken (saucepan 1)

In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onions, and stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
Add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger to the saucepan and stir;
To the mix, add one freshly chopped tomato, 100g soya yogurt, dried coriander, turmeric and a half a teaspoon of salt (feel free to add gharam masala);
Chop in the chillies and peppers (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
Cook this mix while stirring gently until the water evaporates (points 1-6 should take 5 minutes cooking time);
Begin preparing the quinoa;
Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook until all raw bits disappear, stir gently;
Turn the heat down to a quarter, add salt to taste, cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
You are now ready to mix with the quinoa!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Quinoa (saucepan 2)

In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (boil 500 mL filtered water);
Add in the quinoa and mix with the coconut oil (helps to keep the quinoa grains separated);
Add in 200mL boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Allow the quinoa to simmer until the quinoa is cooked (add more water if needed) and all the water has evaporated;
You are now ready to mix with the chicken!

Preparation time: 1 minute

Cooking time: 15 minutes

ChiQuin Biryani (saucepan 3)

Spread 1/3 quinoa at the bottom;
Spread 1/2 lentils over the quinoa;
Spread 1/2 of the chicken mix over the lentils;
Spread remaining 1/2 lentils over the chicken;
Spread remaining 1/2 chicken mix over the lentils;
Spread remaining 2/3 quinoa over the chicken;
Cook on half heat for 15 minutes, and check the chicken with a knife to see if it has almost cooked through;
Transfer onto an elevated gauze or saucepan (to stop the bottom quinoa layer from burning) for 15 minutes on 1/4 heat;
Check to see if chicken has cooked and the mix is to your liking;
You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 2-4 people –I made enough biryani to last us another day!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback!

Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Spicy Lamb Seekh Kebabs

ByBilalBham | On May 01,15 | 0 Comment

Who loves kebabs? I love them! Pure meat with some spices! But how many of you have paid the price the next morning after one from the takeaway? Or, got a frozen which just didn’t quite live up to what you were expecting? So mum and I began experimenting a while ago at home and it turned out that mine were better than what mum came up with! I ended up developing my own way of making kebabs, stealing bits here and there and coming up with something that makes my mouth water just writing about it!

One of the major obvious benefits of kebabs is the high protein content. If you are looking to lean up and bulk up in the gym, meat will be an essential part of your diet. I usually make enough to last me a couple of weeks if not longer, so that I can snack on them too! Yup, spicy lamb mince seekh kebabs are my light late night snack everyone! No carbs, good fats, plenty of protein, deliciously fiery (which boosts metabolism and burn fat!) and so quick to make, grill them or bake them they don’t take long. Served with some fresh salad or grilled vegetables, I can’t think of a more filling and nutritious meal any time of the day!

INGREDIENTS

500g lean lamb mince

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 spoon dried coriander

A bunch of fresh coriander

Salt

Pepper

1 large free range egg

½ lemon

Wooden skewers

INSTRUCTIONS

Slice and dice the onions, crush the garlic, and chop up the ginger, corriander, haldi and chillies into tiny pieces;
Add the vegetable mix to the lamb mince and mix thoroughly;
Whisk up the egg separately and add the juice from half a fresh lemon and add to the mincemeat and mix thoroughly;
Kneed the mix as you would dough, creating striations with your knuckle which shows that the meat is completely broken down and mixing with the vegetables;
Roll up the mix in a bowl, cover it and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight;
Soak the wooden skewers in lukewarm water for 30 minutes to stop them from burning or catching fire;
Bring out the mix from the fridge and knead again to fresh it up;
With moist hands, pick off a handful of the kebab mix and mould it onto the skewers, leave some out to eat now and some to place straight into the freezer for another time;
Place on grill for 15-20 minutes/oven bake in a tray at gas mark 5, 190°C/375°F for 20-30 minutes, depending on how well done you like your meat – do check every 10 minutes and turn them to ensure thorough cooking.
Serve with a salad or grilled vegetables such as courgette/zucchini, aubergine, sweet potato or butternut squash, or my favourite long peppers!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

We always make more so we can enjoy the food another time!

Please do let me know how you get on and feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch

Dhudi Dal and Pillau Quinoa

Dhodi Dal and Pillau Quinoa

ByBilalBham | On April 12,15 | 0 Comment

I have always loved dal and pillau rice! It is a staple food in the Indian state of Gujarat and our staple Saturday lunchtime dish! I remember as a kid (and even now as a big kid!), being intoxicated by the mix of spices emanating from mum cooking the rice, the aroma filling the house, and reaching my bedroom or my office now where I work! This always made my stomach growl and I would end up eating at least half a plate of the rice before adding in the dal!

Nowadays, it’s a different type of smell due to my health and fitness issues and goals with my no-refined-carbs policy! So, quinoa is how I roll!

My mum’s dal is something I have grown up loving, however, since de-carbing my diet, I know I have to increase the nutritional value of all of my foods, and that means increasing the greens! So I thought about adding European vegetables to the dal but decided to stay true with okra and then mum suggested dhudi, or the calabash/lauki/Asian melon, which is high in vitamin C, perfect for the immune system as well as the joints!

Again, I have included all of my favourite ingredients which are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! This mix, any meal can be Spiced Up By Bilal’s methods 🙂

INGREDIENTS

Dhudi Dal

100 g toor dal/pigeon pea

6 lamb chops

½ onion

½ red onion

2 spring onions

4 cloves garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm haldi

1 cm of ginger

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

6 okra aka lady’s fingers

½ dhud/calabash/lauki

1 spoon dried coriander

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

½ tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)

2 litres of filtered water, boiled.

Pillau Quinoa

100 g quinoa

25 g chana dal/split chick peas

1 onion

4 cardamom seeds

8 cloves

8 black pepper seeds

200 mL of filtered water, boiled.

Salt

Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Dhudi Dal

In a large saucepan, add 500mL filtered boiling water and add in the 100 g toor dal. Stir, cover with lid and allow to boil on ¾ heat for at least 30 minutes until all the toor dal have split;
Continue to check on the large saucepan every 10 minutes or so for water and stir (add more water if you need, and trust me, you will need to! With the rest of the boiled water in the kettle, prepare a cup of tea!);
In a small saucepan slice and dice in the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan), chopped ginger and haldi, and allow the onions to brown whilst continuing to stir;
Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
Once the onions brown, and the half tin tomatoes and continue to stir gently until the tomato cooks through, evaporating off the water;
Check on the toor dal (should be done around the 30-minute mark), and if the toor dal have popped, add in the contents of the small saucepan, chop in the red and green chillies (add them later at point 8 if you want your mung less spicy) add ½ teaspoon of salt and stir;
Add in the okra and slice in the dhudi (be sure to remove the skin!), stir and cover with the lid and to cook for about 15 minutes;
Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the toor dal and add salt and black pepper to taste;
Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
Feel free to add fresh coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough for mum and I to eat again!

Pillau Quiona

Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 1 of cooking the dal by soaking the chana dal in boiling water and covering it so it is partially cooked by the time you cook the quinoa;
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Add the quinoa and chana dal and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa several times in lukewarm water until all the dust disappears, and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 2 people –I made enough dal to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch

Mighty Mung

ByBilalBham | On March 28,15 | 4 Comments

Mung, or moong, is a green bean that’s popular over the Asian subcontinent, and very popular in our household! Mung is a good mix of proteins, carbs and fibre and is a staple food in India, where my family come from. It is popular among those who are vegetarian and vegan, so if you want a nutritional punch without the meat and dairy, this is the dish for you!

Growing up here in England, we had mung at least once a week! Traditionally, we had it with my mum’s delicious chappati, and my dad and I used to lap it up, by breaking the chappati up into little pieces and mixing it in the mung and digging in! My mum would also add yoghurt to the mung for thickness and taste, so I have continued with that but changed from dairy to soya yoghurt because of my lactose intolerance, acid reflux and IBS – believe me, the payback is definitely not worth it, not even a little bit… Think the film Bridesmaids…!

Nowadays, I am off the refined carbs due to my digestive issues with carbs and also my health and fitness reasons – there is a reason this is fitness food blog – which is my quest for a 6-pack! I am not that far off currently but I am going to motor on with this no refined carb and no dairy diet, it’s working for me both in terms of my health and fitness 🙂

One of the things I am trying to do is increase the nutritional value of all of our traditional dishes whilst removing the refined carbs. In this case I decided to add coloured vegetables in the form of chilli and peppers to increase the complex carbs and upped the protein by adding some tofu! The result is a delicious mix that has surprised me over and over again by how tasty it turned out, and it impressed my dear mother too! With my modifications, you get your protein, carbs and fibre, spice and taste all in one dish, what more could you ask for? 🙂

INGREDIENTS

1/2 onion

1/2 red onion

2 spring onions

3 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (not tamarind as I say in the video, my apologies!)

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1/2 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

1 fresh tomato

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

200g tofu

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon dried coriander

100ml soya yoghurt

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

First full fresh coriander

2 saucepans, 1 medium, 1 small

INSTRUCTIONS

In the large saucepan, add 500mL filtered boiling water and add in the 100 g mung. Stir, cover with lid and allow to boil on ¾ heat for at least 30 minutes, or until all the mung have split;
Continue to check on the large saucepan every 10 minutes or so for water and stir (add more water if you need, and trust me, you will need to! With the rest of the boiled water in the kettle, prepare a cup of tea!);
In the small saucepan slice and dice in the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and allow the onions to turn brown whilst stirring;
Once the onions brown, add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan), chopped ginger, haldi and tomatoes, curry leaves and dried coriander;
Continue to stir gently until the tomato cooks through;
Check on the mung (should be done around the 30-minute mark), and if the mung beans have popped, add in the contents of the small saucepan, chop in the red and green chillies (add them later at point 8 if you want your mung less spicy) add ½ teaspoon of salt and stir;
Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the mung and add salt and black pepper to taste;
Chop in the red and green peppers, stir and cover with the lid and to cook for about 5 minutes;
Add the chopped tofu and spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough for the next day as we had a busy weekend ahead!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback J

Dinner, Lunch

Spicy Green Prawns

Spicy Green Prawn Curry With Quinoa

ByBilalBham | On March 21,15 | 0 Comment

My mum’s prawn curry has to be one of my all-time favourite dishes that I look forward to every month! We tend to limit the amount of prawns we eat because of the high level of LDL cholesterol in prawns but once or twice a month we can’t go wrong!

I looooove the delicious sauce my mother makes, it is absolutely divine, and back when I was eating chappati, I could have 1 or 2 easily by dipping then piece by piece into the sauce and devouring, without even having touched the prawns! Mum usually adds potatoes but I felt that wasn’t enough for what I wanted to achieve.

I believe in serving you up the tastiest, healthiest, most nutrient-rich and of course spicy, food as possible to help you continue to make fitness gains without compromising on taste! Who said Indian food was unhealthy?! As you may already know, I am off the chappati and my mission is to create spicy, tasty, healthy, complex-carb rich food without the need for refined carbs, which block my plumbing and, well, I really am not going back to that painful place! Therefore, protein-rich pillau quinoa, with the method we use to cook pillau rice, is the way forward for me and for you if you want!

Now my mother uses fresh unpeeled and uncooked king prawns which I love because their shell adds to the gorgeous sauce, however, being someone who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty whilst eating (call me lazy and particular if you wish!), I decided to go for the easier option of shelled and cooked prawns!

INGREDIENTS

Spicy Green Prawns

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food!)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (not tamarind as I say in the video, my apologies!)

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

1 medium cauliflower

2 heads broccoli

1 carrot

150g cooked king prawns/300g fresh king prawns

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon dried coriander

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

200ml of filtered water, boiled

INGREDIENTS

Pillau Quinoa

100g quinoa

1 onion

4 cardamom seeds

8 cloves

8 black pepper seeds

200ml of filtered water, boiled.

Salt

Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Spicy Green Prawns

In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil for the quinoa);
Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger and add to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
To the onions, add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, tamarind and a half a teaspoon of salt and chop in the chillies (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
Allow to simmer and continue to stir gently until the water evaporates;
Slice the carrots, and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into manageable chunks;
Add the boiling water to the saucepan and then add in the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (and stir gently for a couple of minutes);
Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste;
Cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
Add the prawns and chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

Pillau Quinoa

Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 6 of cooking the spicy green prawns;
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Add the quinoa and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa first in lukewarm water and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough curry to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂