Red kidney bean and tomato salad

Let's start this weekend by posting a healthy recipe, as I probably will cook and bake something naughty later today. This vegan salad could be an idea for your lunch box next week. It's quite filling thanks to the beans and it tastes just as vibrant as it looks. This is quite a good type of salad I find and should make these more often.

Ingredients

1 can red kidney beans

200 g tomatoes

1 red romano pepper

1 small salad onion

Gem lettuce

Pumpkin seeds

Olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Method

Chop the tomatoes and peppers into smallish cubes.

Slice the salad onion finely and cut the gem lettuce into slices.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and dress with olive oil. You can also add vinegar of your choice.

Season with salt and ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Smoky freekeh with peppers, beans and sweetcorn

Freekeh is quite a new acquaintance for me, but I'm already head over heels for it, not just for its health benefits. Freekeh is an ancient grain, unripe wheat that has been through a process of roasting, where it has obtained a lovely smoky flavour. It's full of fiber and protein, which makes it a perfect veggie supplement.

Last week I made this spicy freekeh dish with beans, sweetcorn and peppers (please note that the recipe is for quite a large amount and can be scaled down). I think that this was a perfect mid-week dinner, which transformed into a great lunch for the next day. I will be making much more this kind of dishes in the future now that I'm hooked. This basic recipe is vegan, I only added halloumi to the serving, but it's optional.

Ingredients

1 cup smoky freekeh

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

1-2 bay leaves

2 bell peppers

3 shallots

3 garlic cloves

240 g red kidney beans

240 g sweetcorn

1 tbsp olive oil

½-1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

A sprinkle of salt

Fresh coriander to taste

Method

Rinse the freekeh and cook it in water with added vegetable stock powder and bay leaves until it's done. This takes about 20 minutes.

Chop the bell peppers, shallots and garlic and start cooking them in olive oil.

Add the beans and sweetcorn to the pan with the spices (chilli flakes, smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt).

Let it cook until you're happy with the flavour and textures.

Add the freekeh to the vegetables and cook for 10 minutes more.

Just before serving, add the fresh coriander.

On the side I served just a little bit of salad and fried halloumi slices.

Enjoy and have a good week!

Your VegHog

Red kidney bean Schnitzel

First veggie Schnitzel post from me in October!? Well, better late than never. Somehow I haven't made that many veggie burgers lately, maybe the more autumnal recipes have taken over. But now I have been once again experimenting in my kitchen for a different bean burger, and this time my recipe is for red kidney bean Schnitzel with nice spices. These Schnitzel are very versatile to use, and you can even freeze some of them for later spontaneous usage.

I have made a few veggie burgers before using semolina instead of my standard binding ingredients wheat flour or breadcrumbs. I also find that these burgers can be very easily veganised as the batter binds together pretty well, meaning it probably would bind okay without the egg as well. Maybe I'll try a vegan version next time.

Ingredients for about 10 Schnitzel

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp vegetable oil

480 g / 2 cans red kidney beans

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sage

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper
1 dl semolina + some extra for the surface

1 egg

Vegetable oil for frying

Method

Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them in vegetable oil until soft.

Add the beans and the seasoning and let cook for about 10 minutes. All excess liquid should be evaporated during the cooking. Crush the beans a little bit after the cooking and let the mix cool.

Add the egg and semolina to the mix and stir it into an even firm dough.

Shape burgers from the dough and roll them in some extra semolina.

I made mine oven baked, but what I noticed then was that they became fairly dry. I think this mixture works better when pan fried in vegetable oil.

But if you still decide to go with the baking method, which is more effortless, here's what to do: place the Schnitzel on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and bake at 200 for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy as a Schnitzel meal with salad and other sides or inside a burger bun. I served mine with steamed purple sprouting broccoli and salad, a little bit different combination this time.

I'm off to Germany today, but I hope I have the opportunity to post something from there. Certainly there will be a couple of Germany related posts once I'm back. Have a great week!

Your VegHog