Moroccan Quinoa Soup and Vegan Cook book giveaway

Spicy Moroccan soup that is hearty and delicious.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely minced
I courgette cut into small dice
1 carrot cut into slices
400 g fresh tomatoes finely chopped
400 g precooked Cannelloni beans
1.5 tablespoons harissa paste
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon paprika
200 g quinoa washed and rinsed
8 cups water
80 g baby spinach finely chopped
4 tablespoons mint leaves finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper.
60 g Greek yoghurt for serving(optional)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and when it is hot sauté the garlic and onions.
2. Add the courgettes, carrot,quinoa tomatoes, beans, harissa, cumin, salt, turmeric, pepper and cinnamon and the water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until quinoa is cooked.
3.Add the spinach and the mint leaves and cook for 5 more minutes.
4. Turn off heat and serve with a dollops of yoghurt on top of the soup if you prefer.

I was recently sent a copy of the vegan cook book by Adele McConnell. Adele McConnell is the founder of the highly successful vegan food blog, vegiehead.com, and winner of the prestigious “Vegan Food Blogger Award” by The Vegan Woman 2012.
The book is beautifully illustrated with mouth watering pictures and  beautiful vegan recipes. It is divided into chapters and includes recipes for breakfast and brunches, lunches,snacks and treats, maim meals and desserts.
I really enjoyed looking through the book and have book marked a number of recipes to try. The Moroccan Quinoa Soup I have prepared above  is from the book and it tasted delicious. The only changes I made were that I replaced kale with spinach.
Having a shelf full of cookery books this one I find I have been using this book  more and more. Its really handy as it is small enough to store in drawer in any kitchen.

My score for the book:15/15 this is a high score but the book is definitely worthy of it.

Content -5/5
Illustrations-5/5
Recipe Instructions-5/5

All the views and opinions expressed in this post are my own. I would like to thank Watkin Publishing  for sending me this book to review.They have also been very generous and agreed to provide an additional copy for one simplyfood reader.

How To Enter:

•         Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
•         Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
•         Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this Giveaway
•         Closing date – 28th April 2014 12.00 am
•         Entries open to UK residents only

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box. Please note your comment will not show immediately as it needs to be moderated however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of entries.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
•  Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Strawberry and yoghurt scones~ Secret recipe club 24th March 2014

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try it and blog about it. My assigned blog was AnniesNOMS. This blog is written By Annie. Browsing through her blog there were many  sweet treats and dessert recipes and were all temptingly delectable. I finally selected a healthier recipe which was Strawberry and yoghurt scones. I had to convert the recipe to grams and I also halved the recipe and I added a spoonful of mixed seeds and omitted the egg. The scones were delicious.

Delicious strawberry and yoghurt scones for a perfect teatime treat served with strawberry jam.

Ingredients:

170 g self raising flour
50 g wholemeal flour
85 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
5 large strawberries finely chopped
100 g muller low fat  strawberry yoghurt
1 tablespoon mixed seeds
1.5 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tablespoon milk to glaze
2 tablespoons strawberry jam for serving.

Method:

1.Preheat oven to 200 degrees C / 375 degrees F and line the baking tray.
2.Place the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and mix together.Toss in the strawberries and mixed seeds and mix together into the flour.
3.In a separate bowl place the yoghurt, melted butter and whisk together.
4. Add the yoghurt mixture to the dry ingredients and then mix until a dough forms. Do not overwork the dough.

5.Dust the work surface very well and knead the dough lightly , adding flour as you need to until the dough it less wet.
6.Roll out the dough to about an inch thick.
7.Cut out the scones, keep rolling out the dough and cutting as you need to. I made12 small scones with this mixture.

 8.Glaze the scones with milk and  Place in the oven and bake for around 16 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

9.Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To serve cut the scones in half and spread with strawberry jam. If you would like to make another variety of scones check out this vegan scone recipe.

Microwave Chilli Popcorn and a Heat 'n' Eat microwave popcorn maker giveaway.

This delicious microwave chilli  popcorn is so delectable one serving will not be enough

Ingredients:

Corn Kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon chilli oil
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes

Method:

1. Measure the corn kernels using the measuring cup provided in the Heat n Eat.
2. Place the corn in the Heat n Eat  and place it in the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes,
3. You will hear a popping sound when it subsides, remove the Heat 'n' Eat from the microwave and carefully open the lid and transfer the popcorn to a large bowl.
4. Add a sprinkling of salt and chilli flakes and drizzle with chilli oil. Toss the popcorn to coat it with the oil .
5. Transfer to serving bowls and enjoy hot spicy popcorn.

Warning-Don't rub your eyes after eating the popcorn as the chilli  from the popcorn will sting.

Chilli oil- 100 ml olive oil, 4 red dried  chillies 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes, 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder.
Warm the olive oil slightly and take it off the heat, add the red chillies, chilli flakes and chilli powder and give it a stir.Transfer to a oil bottle and keep aside for 24 hours for the chilli oil to infuse. After 24 hours oil is ready to be used in popcorn, salads, pasta, pizza.

Heat 'n' Eat, is a new microwave popcorn maker launched by Mustard. It makes popping popcorn so easy even a child could do it. The microwave popcorn popper comes with a built in measuring cup, all you have to do is fill it with corn kernels and pop the heat and serve in the microwave. You will get Perfect popcorn every time, and at a fraction of the cost.

Once you have popped the corn you can flavour it to make it savoury, salted, sweet in fact you can add any flavouring to it that pleases you. Alternatively eat it natural as it is.The Heat 'n' Eat is reusable and is totally dishwasher safe. It is made from non toxic plastic. You can order your Heat 'n' Eat from Mustard and t retails at £ 20.00.

I would like to thank Mustard for sending me the Heat 'n' Eat, all the views and opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Mustard have been kind and they have agreed to send one simply.food reader a Heat 'n' Eat.
How To Enter:

• Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
• Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
• Answering the mandatory question will open additional optional entries.
• Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
• Open to UK Residents Only and you must be over 18 yrs old.
• Closing date - 13th April 12.00 am

How Rafflecopter works:

• You will need to complete the mandatory entry first – usually making a blog comment. You can do this by clicking on leave a comment at the bottom of the post and leaving your reply in the comment box. Please note your comment will not show immediately as it needs to be moderated however rest assured it will appear on the site, so carry on with rest of entries.
• Login to Rafflecopter – click to see what the question is. Make a comment answering the question on the blog.
•  Go back to Rafflecopter and click the green button to tell me you have made a comment, this will unlock all the other options. All entries are checked to see that the mandatory question is answered, if its not all bonus entries will become void. 
• Rafflecopter will tweet, like and follow on your behalf.
• For information on how to find the URL of your tweet click here. 
• For bonus entries you can return to this page and enter the daily bonus entries. 
• If you are still unsure as to how Rafflecopter works please do check out this short video.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cauliflower Soup~5-2 diet

Creamy and rich cauliflower soup delicately fragrance with nutmeg.

Ingredients:

240 g  fresh cauliflower florets finely chopped
1 medium potato peeled and diced
1 small white onion peeled and finely diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
100 ml water
150 ml milk
1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

1. Place the potato and cauliflower in a microwaveable bowl and add the 100 ml water to it.
2. Cook the cauliflower and potato on high power for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower and potato are fully cooked.Keep aside
3. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat and add the onions and sauté them until soft and translucent but not browned.
4.Add the cauliflower and potato to the onions and mix together. Transfer the mixture to a blender jug and purée the soup to a fine purée.
5. Transfer the puréed soup to the pan and add the milk. Bring the soup to a slow simmer and add the salt, pepper and nutmeg.Simmer for 2-3 minutes longer.
6. Transfer the soup to serving bowls and garnish with a small  pinch of nutmeg.

Serve with bread rolls

NB-Bread roll not included in calorie count.

Calories per serving	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
166	34	3	9	702	12

Vegetable Biryani

Spicy one pot meal, fluffy rice cooked in aromatic spices in a medley of vegetables.

Ingredients:

240 g / 8 oz frozen mixed vegetables( carrots, green beans, peas, sweetcorn)
120g / 4 oz basmati rice
60g / tuvar dal (yellow pigeon peas split)
250 ml  boiling water
1 medium potato peeled and diced
1 green chilli finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 small onion finely diced or cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 small stick cinnamon
2-3 cloves
2-3 cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly chopped coriander leaves

Method:

1. Mix the rice and dhal and wash it in 3-4 changes of water and then soak the rice and dhal for 30 minutes.
2. After 30 minutes drain the water from the rice in a sieve and keep the rice to one side.
3.Heat oil in a pan,when it is hot add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamon pods and cumin seeds  the onions and sauté until onions are translucent.
4. Add the drained rice and the vegetables and potatoes to the onion and toss the mixture so that the rice grains are coated in the oil.
5. Add the tomato purée, chillies, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and sauté for 2 more minutes.
6. Add  the boiling water and bring the rice to a slow simmer. Reduce the heat of the rice to lowest setting and cook covered for 25-30 minutes until all the water is absorbed. (Do not open the pan lid during this cooking time.)
7. After 30 minutes open the lid and fluff the rice up with a fork and transfer to a serving plate and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with natural yoghurt or cucumber raita.

Submitting to:
In my VEG BOX~ Tomatoes event by citrusspiceuk

Lets cook with seeds event by simply.food

Javelin Warriors Cooking/ with luv