The Taste Traveller

fall into winter easy cooking ideas

We're getting into that busy season in the upcoming weeks and I was thinking recently that I'd like to revisit some of my favourite recipes of the last few years that would fit well into either easy weeknight meals or entertaining ideas. 

Some of you are gearing up for Thanksgiving, others just general entertaining as we head into the big holiday season. Whether it's new recipes, fresh ideas or leftovers ideas - here's a taste of some recipes I've previously shared. 

It's definitely soup weather around here. If it is for you too, here's a few you might like to try:

Carrot, Apple and Ginger Soup (great starter for Thanksgiving or Christmas too - my cousin served a delicious soup like this at her dinner)

Vegetarian Mulligatawny Soup (I'm planning on making this again in the next few weeks, mmm!)

Chicken and Chickpea 'Stoup' (try it with leftover turkey!)

Simple Cabbage and Bean Soup

Looking for ideas for side dishes? Here's a few I've gathered up for you. 

Colcannon (okay, it's not St. Patrick's Day, but this would work well with turkey or ham no matter what we're celebrating).

Curried Rice with Celery and Almonds

Buttermilk Soda Bread with Cheddar and Green Onion

Butternut Squash Risotto

Spicy Zucchini Ribbons

Cauliflower Rice

Spinach, Split Pea and Lemon Mash

Easy weeknight meal ideas? Here you go:

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Healthy Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Spinach

Lean Turkey and Vegetable Cabbage Rolls (makes lots, great for freezing)

Easy Vegetable and Beef Stew

Caribbean-inspired Stew

 Zucchini Ribbon Lasagna 

Thanks for reading and look out for a recipe ideas post every once in awhile here. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the states.

slow cooker beans with apple

It seems like a good time of year for baked or slow cooker beans. I made two batches, tweaking the ingredients to get the results I wanted and changing from oven-baked to slow cooker beans for the second and third, more successful batches. Nothing against oven-baked but I just wanted to cook them for so much longer, and even slower, so it made sense to use my slow cooker.

I wanted to add some sweetness and liked the idea of adding apple, but didn't like the idea of the results being too sweet - with a fair bit of maple syrup and brown sugar in the recipe I was referencing (from a friend). I wanted a hint of these sweeteners, but with more of a savoury punch. My friend Jenni and I made these the same week, the benefit being we could share results or as Jenni called it, The Bean Report. She also found the original recipe too sweet, but her husband and one daughter loved it. At the point she gave me the feedback I was onto my second batch and used her information to modify what I did. The result? Just what I wanted. I would recommend tasting a few times during the process so you can also tweak to suit your particular taste - but here's what I came up with. I liked the slow cooker method as I cooked them for a long time - a few hours on high, and then overnight on low or overnight plus a bit more (closer to 12 hours) on low - ending up with a nice, thick tasty bean dish. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups navy beans, dried
• 4 to 6 slices (or more) of bacon, diced or roughly chopped
• 1 tin of tomatoes, diced
• 2 cups (500 ml) onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) ketchup
• 4 tablespoons (60 ml) maple syrup
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cider vinegar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 ml) dry mustard (I prefer more rather than less)
• 3 cups (750 ml) apples, peeled and diced (or try grating the apple)
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place the dried beans in a large pot, covered with three times their volume of water. Boil for 2 minutes, then let stand for 1 hour. Drain. Alternatively, soak overnight in plenty of water (as described above). Drain. Rinse.

Place beans into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. Turn on high for several hours, then to low for a longer period of time, or on low for slightly longer even. Overnight or all day is more likely to give you a softer, more tender bean. If you are able to, check about 4 or 5 hours in and see how they are doing. I had mine on low for almost 12 hours to get the softer result.

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chickpea turkey meatballs and moroccan tomato sauce

Here's a good, clean, healthy - and comforting recipe for the New Year! I made this in December and it went over well both with my husband and my two-year-old. I loved it and it's especially good with the chickpeas in the meatballs - an ingredient that you'll know I love if you know me or have been reading this blog at all. Whether it's just a basic hummous, a soup, 'stoup', Moroccan-style chicken rice dish, or salad, it's a versatile bean/pulse and so healthy.

The sauce for this recipe is fairly light and the Moroccan flavours are subtle but different enough to be a step away from your usual Italian-style tomato sauce. I served this with an egg noodle, but it would go well with any pasta or even quinoa, couscous or rice as the pairing. I made a tsatsiki-like yoghurt sauce and had that on the side which tasted really great with the meatballs and sauce. You could make something like this and serve the dish with a pita bread or naan bread to dip or scoop up the sauce and meatballs with. You could of course serve the meatballs on their own with toothpicks as a sort of appetizer too. 

This recipe came to me via a fellow foodie friend, and to her from a Bonnie Stern cookbook. I added a few extra spices to make it my own and the list of ingredients and how I pulled it together is below. Enjoy and Happy New Year! 

Ingredients:

Meatballs

• 3/4 lb (340 g) ground turkey or chicken
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) chickpeas, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) dry breadcrumbs 
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) pepper
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil (for sautéing meatballs)

Tomato Sauce

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) hot red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) cinnamon
• 1 x 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, diced (or purée them for a smoother texture) 
• salt and pepper to taste 

Method:

For the meatballs:

Combine all ingredients and shape into 1 ½ inch balls.

Brown in deep saucepan or skillet, then remove from pan and set aside.

For the sauce:

Add a little oil, then the onion, garlic and hot pepper flakes to the pan and cook gently for a few minutes.

Stir in the remaining spices and cook for 30 seconds.

Add puréed tomatoes and meatballs and bring to boil.

Cook gently, covered, for 20 minutes.

Uncover and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add pepper and salt.

Alternatively, place all sauce ingredients and the meatballs to a Dutch oven or large casserole dish and cook in the oven at 350°F (180° C) for 30-40 minutes (uncovered for last 10 minutes).

Serve with rice, pasta, couscous, quinoa, naan or pita bread. 

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