Monday 8 December 2008

Im not fattening up a turkey for Christmas :)

About 3 months ago, my husband finally stopped eating meat. He wasn't a big meat eater for a very long time, and only really had chicken and fish once in a long while. Since he gave up meat he has lost quite a bit of weight. His father saw him on Skipe the other day and asked him if he was sick because he was so thin.

We tend to eat at different times because we get home from work at different times. When he cooks he tends to be quite lazy and makes whatever is simplest, and usually makes something very boring and low on calories. Add to the fact that he usually only eats an orange or banana for breakfast, and a salad for lunch, it's no wonder he's lost weight.

Here I am struggling to lose weight, and he loses it with no effort.


Anyway I am on a mission to feed him better, and since work has been a lot quieter these days I started my cooking advetures today. This is what he got for dinner on day 1. Let's see if it works and when he gets to Thailand on Christmas day his dad no longer thinks he looks sick :)

Fingers crossed everyone!!!

Mushroom & Lentil Cottage Pie
Ingredients
350gms brown lentils (pre cooked)
1 large onion chopped
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium carrot chopped or grated
1/4 cup of tomato paste
Kernels from two fresh corn cobs
2 tablespoons of Zest African Mama spice
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
5 medium sized button mushrooms thinly sliced
100gms of Enoki mushrooms (separated)
1 Massel Beef Stock Cube (these are not real beef, but vegetarian beef cubes)
4 medium sized potatoes (peeled and boiled)
3 tablespoons of Nuttelex (dairy free margarine)

Method
Heat olive oil in a pan and sautee onions until they become transparent.
Add carrots, and spices and fry off a little
Add mushrooms, and lower heat.
Add corn kernels, tomato paste, lentils, stock cube and half a cup of water.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring to avoid the mixture sticking to the pan.
Set aside

Mash potatoes with Nuttelex and set aside.

Pour mushroom/lentil mix onto individual oven dishes, and top with mashed potato.
Bake for 20 minutes until mash becomes slightly browned. (My dishes were big enough to only get two servings out of this recipe)

Serve with brown rice and steamed or sauteed vegetables.

Yummy Asparagus


Sautee asparagus spears in some olive oil and add 2 tablespoons of Tamari and 2 tablespoons of Mirin towards the end. Serve with rice.








1 comment:

Jacque said...

This looks delicious.
You are inspiring me to
find healthy alternatives Nati!!