Vegetable Balti

Vegetable Balti

Serves 4 with 190 calories per serving ( so you can have a dessert!)

I love this recipe and have been making it for years now, it is a staple in our house. Easy to make and delicious, so full of flavour, it is tasty the day after as well. Not good to freeze in my experience, but it lasts wells in the fridge. I do not like the texture once frozenand defrosted, but they do say it can be frozen, so try it and see for yourself. The recipe does say you can stir in yogurt at the end of cooking, but I do not. The 190 calories includes the yogurt.

low fat cooking spray ( I personally use ordinary grape seed oil)
2 large onions, sliced finely
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5cm (1inch) piece of fresh root ginger, chopped finely
1 small red chilli, de-seeded and chopped (optional) - I tend to use chilli powder if I am serving it to my kids and only fresh chilli's if it adults only
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon garam masala
200g (7oz) sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium carrots, peeled(optional) and chopped
1 small cauliflower, chopped into florets
400g can of tomatoes
300ml ( 10fl.oz ) vegetable stock
200g (7oz) green beans, chopped
150g (5 1/2oz) low fat plain yogurt) I do not put this in!
salt and pepper( freshly ground)
a small bunch of fresh coriander, chopped, to garnish

Method
1. heat a large non stick frying pan and spray with low fat cooking spray( or oil of choice). Stir fry the onions for 5 minutes and season them, adding a little water to stop them sticking and help them soften. Mix in garlic, ginger, chilli, and spices and cook for a further 2 minutes.

2. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes and stock, stir together and bring to teh boil. Turn down the heat and then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the beans and simmer a further 5 minutes or until the sauce is thick.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool a little before stirring in the yogurt and fresh coriander. Serve


Tonight for dinner we had mushroom risotto, with salmon burgers and a side of chopped tomatoes and avocado, I thought I would share the recipes.

Mushroom Risotto

Mushroom Risotto

1 large onion chopped( I like a red onion- but this will bleed into the rice, shallots are delicious as well)
1 lb of mushrooms, sliced
a small amount of oil ( I use grape seed)
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cups of risotto rice ( I use arborio)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
7 cups of broth, either chicken or vegetable ( rice:liquid ratio should be 1:3 1/2 )
seasoning

Method

Gently fry the onions and garlic over a medium heat until soft , add the pepper and mushrooms for another 2 minutes, then add the rice. Do not rinse the rice, as that releases the starch, and we want the starch for risotto.

Once the rice has had a few minutes to cook in the oil, start adding the liquid a cup at a time, each time it is absorbed, add more until all the liquid is added.