Mexican Chilli Bean Soup

When I went to university, my Dad bought me a student cookbook by Fiona Beckett as I'd never really done much cooking at home.  Neither had he for that matter, so I don't know where his perceptions of being the next Gordon Ramsey come from.  I’ve been through a number of different phases of food including a vegetarian phase more than once, so this year he bought me Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Veg Every Day cookbook… I struggle to cook many things from there due to Rhys’s inability to eat a meal without meat in it, but there’s so many lovely looking dishes. This recipe is a combination of one of his soups and one of Fiona Becketts… with my own little twist naturally.
Anyway, it appears a number of the people accessing Nom-Appetite are actually my students (hello!), many of whom are on diets as well, so after making this soup on Monday evening and finding that it is absolutely delicious (not that it looks particularly appetising), I thought I would share it with them. I think the gem in this recipe is that it's so cheap (and easy) but it’ll feed a good number of mouths which makes it easy to make friends with.

Ingredients:

2 red onions

1 green pepper

2 cloves garlic

1-2 red chillies (depending on your preference for heat)

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli powder

400 ml passata

600 ml vegetable stock

1 can red kidney beans (drained well and rinsed)

1 can baked beans

1 small can sweetcorn

Instructions:

1. Finely dice the onions and pepper. Add to a large saucepan with FryLight and cook for 5 minutes.

2. Crush the garlic and finely chop the chillies. Add to the saucepan along with the cumin and chilli powder and cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the passata and vegetable stock, and bring to the boil.

4. Drain the kidney beans and rinse them well, before adding them to the pan. Boil for 10 minutes, and turn down to simmer.

5. Add the baked beans and sweetcorn and simmer for a few minutes (try not to overdo this stage as you don’t want mushy beans).

6. Serve immediately (Hugh recommends a scoop of sour cream on top, Fiona recommends with tortilla chips) or keep for later – your choice.  

Indian Chicken

The other day we watching Celebrity Masterchef and they were asked to make a cumin and coriander chicken dish, with an Indian flatbread and raita of sorts. The dishes they made looked amazing and Rhys had commented on how nice they looked. I decided I would have a go at a similar recipe (after all, the way to please a man is through his stomach) and so for once, this is me thinking off my own head and putting in what I think tastes nice... I hope you (and Rhys) enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

2 cloves garlic, crushed

125ml natural yogurt (I used fat-free yogurt)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp hot chilli powder

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut diagonal slits into the chicken breast. Place into a dish for marinating (I used my small oblong Pyrex dish).

2. In a mixing bowl, mix the yogurt, garlic, spices and salt and pepper. Taste the mixture - add more of any flavour as required.

3. Spoon the mixture over the chicken breasts, making sure you tuck some into the slits you cut earlier.

4. Put the dish in the fridge to marinate. Leave it at least 3 hours to allow the flavours to develop, but overnight would be preferable.

5. Preheat the oven to 220c (200 for a fan oven). Put the chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

6. Serve as required!

Chilli Chicken Noodles

It's been a while since I've posted anything but with the start of term, Rhys has done most of the cooking. Such a god send! However, today I've been inspired after telling some students about my blog so here is tonight's dinner.

Ingredients (per person):

FryLight

2 large cloves of garlic

2 chillies

1 chicken breast, cubed

1/2 pepper

1/2 onion

5 mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 portion dried egg noodles

Instructions:

1. Boil the noodles as stated on the packet instructions. Drain well, and rinse in cold water.

2. Crush the garlic and finely chop the chillies. Add the FryLight to a wok, and cook the garlic and chillies for 30 seconds.

3. Add the chicken and vegetables and cook for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Add the soy sauce and mix well before adding the noodles to the wok. Toss to coat the noodles in the mixture.

5. Serve immediately.