February 21, 2018
This week I wanted to share with you a delicious recipe that I made a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been trying to cook more vegetarian food, and my partner isn’t usually a fan straight out. But I made this for him and he loved it so much that I figured if it can reform a meat lover to vegetarian cooking, it must be good! Don’t get me wrong, he normally likes my cooking, but this dish he raved about, and even asked me how I made it, so I figured that must be a sign I had really nailed it with this one!
I’ve started trying to cook vegetarian for a few reasons. Firstly, I find we eat a lot of meat as a household, and I want to try and cut back on this a bit for health and moral reasons. I don’t think I could ever become a full vegetarian, and I certainly couldn’t do this with my partner around, but I do try to eat a few vegetarian meals a week just to cut back on my impact on the world, but also to feel a little bit healthier. I also often seek it out on a menu as I enjoy it more – especially with things like burgers! Give me haloumi and mushrooms over a beef patty any day!
The other great thing about vegetarian cooking is that it is generally cheaper than meat. This recipe is great as the protein comes from chickpeas which you can usually find a can of for under $1. Compare that to the price you pay for meat and it just shows how cost friendly vegetarian cooking is. What I love about this recipe too is that you can adjust it based on the vegetables you have on hand, meaning less wasted food and less wasted money on ingredients you don’t need. That’s why I love cooking things like stews or roasted vegetables because you can pick and choose whatever you put in them, and you still get the same delicious result!
This vegetable stew has a surprising twist of cooking the vegetables and the tomato sauce seperately, but it means you get the most out of your ingredients. The flavours in the roasted vegetables go so well with the thick tomato sauce, and I can’t imagine one without the other as they complement each other so well. This made for an absolutely delicious dinner, and neither of us even missed the meat!
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 large zucchini, diced
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 sprigs thyme leaves
- 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
- 1 handful fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 fresh chilli, diced
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 can tinned diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp maple syrup
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup water
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Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), and line a baking dish with baking paper and set aside.
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Place the carrot, zucchini, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, garlic, thyme leaves, basil and parsley in the baking dish. Pour over the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss to coat all the vegetables evenly.
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Place the baking dish in the oven for about 40 minutes, stirring about half way through.
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Meanwhile, over a medium heat, heat the olive oil for the sauce in a frypan. Add the onion, chilli and dried thyme, and cook until the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally.
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Add the tomatoes, maple syrup, water and salt and pepper to the pan, and allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce has cooked down and thickened. Add extra water if it begins to stick to the bottom of the pan (but only a little at a time. You want the sauce to be thick and not runny).
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Remove the vegetables from the oven when they are cooked, and pour the tomato sauce into the baking dish. Stir to coat the vegetables with the tomato sauce.
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Serve on a bed of greens or rice.
So there you have it, a delicious vegetarian recipe perfect for weeknight cooking. I loved that I could pop the veggies in the oven and do other things while they cooked, freeing me up to get what I needed to do done. The tomato sauce was also nice and easy to make, and didn’t require a lot of baby sitting so I was able to do other things. Then all you have to do is put it all together at the end and you have a delicious meal!
What I loved so much about this recipe was how well the sauce complemented the roasted vegetables and chickpeas. It brought these to another level by adding a bit of richness, and I was surprised by how well the maple syrup tied into the meal! I would never think to use it in savoury cooking but when I saw a recipe using it I had to give it a go. The results are that I feel it has a place in all my tomato sauces now!
This recipe would be perfect to warm a cold winter night, but it was also great in summer because it had a nice kick from the chilli. You could also pair it with whatever you have on hand. I myself put it on a bed of baby spinach, but you could easily put it with a salad or some rice if you want something a bit heartier.
All I know is this dish has helped me open my partner’s eyes to how good vegetarian food can be. Now I have opened the gateway I will have to keep going and try even more recipes on him! Does anyone have any suggestions?
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
