It's cold, it's dark, you have limited time and limited ingredients? These 5 ingredient winter warmers can be whipped up quickly, with no fuss and you will be feeling toasty warm in no time!
Vegetarian Thai Green Tofu Curry
Serves – 4
Ingredients
350g hard tofu
2 bunches bok choy
1 head broccoli (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons green curry paste
1 x 400ml milk coconut cream
Method
- In a large hot saucepan/ pot cook off curry paste for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add coconut cream and fill up can with water and add to pot to and bring to the boil.
- Chop broccoli into florets, and the stalk portion of the bok choy.
- Dice the tofu into 1 cm cubes and add to the pot.
- Cook for 5-10 minutes until broccoli is soft.
- Add leaves of bok choy and cook until wilted.
- Option – serve with quinoa and brown rice mix.
Roasted pumpkin and chickpea soup
Serves - 4
Ingredients
1 quarter of Kent pumpkin (skin on) (around 4 cups cubed)
2 brown onions
1 bulb garlic
2 cans drained chickpeas
1L chicken stock
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Chop pumpkin into chunks, leaving skin on and put onto tray. Drizzle with olive oil and a little paprika (pantry items) and bake for around 30 minutes until golden brown.
3. In a hot pan sauté garlic and onion in a little olive oil until tender and brown. Add roasted pumpkin (including skin - this adds fibre and flavour and you won't even know once it is blended, promise!).
4. Add chickpeas and stock and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Take off the stove to cool slightly and whiz with a bar mix until smooth and creamy.
Slow cooked Mediterranean chicken
Serves - 4-5
Ingredients
1 x whole chicken (seasoned)
3 x tomatoes large diced
3 x washed potatoes large diced
1 x egg plant large diced
1 x capsicum large dice
2 x onion large dice
Okay, okay … that’s 6 ingredients – you could omit the capsicum or tomoato and it would still be delicious!
Method
- Dice all vegetables and put in the bottom of the slow cooker
- Sit whole chicken on top of veg.
- Cook on high for 3-4 hours or until chicken is tender.
- Optional – serve with couscous and broccoli
Spinach, roast pumpkin and ricotta cannelloni
Serves - 4
Ingredients
1 x bag frozen spinach
2 cups roast pumpkin
1 x 200g tub ricotta
1 packet fresh lasagne sheets
500ml passata sauce
Optional: top with ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Medhod:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Dice pumpkin into 1 cm cubes – lightly coat in olive oil and salt and pepper (you can add any spices or herbs you like here – mixed herbs, paprika, cumin etc)
- Roast pumpkin until golden brown and soft.
- Defrost frozen spinach in the microwave and drain away all liquid.
- In a large bowl mix roast pumpkin, spinach, and ricotta together (you ca add 1 egg here to bind together if needed)
- Lay 1 lasagne sheet long ways on a chopping board and put 2 tablespoons of pumpkin mix on top, roll until ends meet like a spring roll. Place in an oven proof dish.
- Continue rolling lasagne sheets and putting into tray until all mixture is gone.
- Top with passata and optional cheese.
- Bake in a 180 degree oven for around 25 minutes or until pasta is soft when tested with a knife.
- Serve with steamed vegetables.