tomatoes

Chilli Con Carne Recipe

(serves 4)

Ingredients

350g minced / ground beef
1 large onion (sliced)
1 red pepper (chopped small)
1 green pepper (chopped small)
50g sliced mushrooms
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
200g tinned kidney beans
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tsp chilli powder

Method

1. Dry fry the mince / ground beef in a frying pan for approximately 5 minutes, constantly stirring.

2. Next add the onions, peppers, mushrooms, crushed garlic and chilli powder. Stir well and cook for a further 3 minutes.

3. Add the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes, bring to the boil then simmer for around 25-30 minutes, giving it the occasional stir.

4. Drain the kidney beans and add to the mince, cook for an additional 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Quick and Delicious Spicy Tomato Salsa

This cool salsa, even with more than a hint of fiery-chilli, is especially delicious during the summer months. And it’s very easy to make too, so there’s no excuse!

We usually have it on wrap for lunch, along with some salad and rocket leaves. You could just as easily have it with nanchos or something similar.

In this version we’ve used chunky tomatoes. Feel free to make yours a lot smaller, if that’s the way you like them.

Fresh coriander ready for chopping. Did you know the word coriander comes from the Greek, koris, which translates as ‘bed bug’? Nice.

You don’t have to use a spoon to measure out the lemon juice, a good squeeze will suffice. Lemon is a flavour catalyst – it interacts with your taste buds to enhance the flavours that follow.

The lovely tomato salsa on a salad leaves and rocket wrap made a delicious light lunch.

Tomato Salsa Recipe

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

4 large tomatoes (chopped)
6 spring onions (finely sliced)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
3 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander
1/2 red or green chilli (chopped) (optional)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Instructions

Chop the tomatoes, slice the spring onion, crush or slice the garlic and chop the coriander. Add everything to a bowl and give it a good mix up.
Chilli is optional, so are the seeds. Personally, I like chilli so I throw in the seeds too. I prefer red over green.
Finally, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and put the bowl in the fridge until you are ready to eat.

Notes

Adjust the quantities in this tomato salsa to suit your tastes (and feel free to throw in additional ingredients).[br][br]After making the salsa and taking the photos, we immediately ate it on a salad leaves and rocket wrap. We took a picture of that too (see below).

Beef Lasagne Recipe

(serves 4)

Ingredients

450g (1lb) lean minced beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 chopped onions
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 carrot (chopped finely)
400g (14oz) can tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato puree
300ml (1/2 pint) beef stock
12 sheets oven ready egg lasagne
50g (2oz) grated Parmesan cheese

Cheese Sauce
75g (3oz) butter
75g (3oz) plain flour
800ml (1 1/2 pints) fresh milk
50g (2oz) grated Cheddar cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Grease a 3 litre (5 pint) ovenproof dish.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan and fry the onions, garlic and carrot for 5 minutes. Add beef mince and fry for around 4 minutes until the mince is brown.

3. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato puree and stock. Season with a little salt and pepper. Simmer for around 30 minutes.

4. In a saucepan melt the butter, then add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually add the milk. Place back on the heat and bring to the boil, stirring until the sauce has thickened. Season and add the grated Cheddar cheese.

5. Put 4 lasagne sheets in the dish, cover with half of the meat sauce then a third of the cheese sauce. Repeat layers, finishing with lasagne, cheese sauce and Parmesan. Bake for 45 minutes until nice and golden.

Thank you to CW for this recipe.

Bruschetta Recipe

Bruschetta Recipe

(serves 2-3)

Ingredients

1 onion
2 tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 clove crushed garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
4 slices of Italian bread cut 1/2 inch thick
salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Finely chop the tomato and onion.

2. In a bowl mix the tomato, onion, garlic, basil, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Place the slices of Italian bread in a broiler or toaster oven until lightly browned. Remove and brush the remaining olive oil on one side of the bread.

4. Place the bread back in the broiler or toaster oven until the bread becomes crisp and crunchy. Remove and add the tomato mixture on top of each slice.

5. Serve either warm or cold.

Thank you to F Lombardi for this recipe.

Greek Salad Recipe

(serves 3-4)

Ingredients

1/2 cucumber (cut into 1 inch cubes)
4 juicy tomatoes (cut in small chunks)
1 green pepper (sliced)
1 small onion (diced)
225gms (8oz) feta cheese
10 black olives
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Method

1. Arrange the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, pepper in a salad bowl.

2. For the dressing, whisk the olive oil and salt & pepper together, slowly pouring in the white wine vinegar, mix again.

3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss gently to coat.

4. You can either crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle over the salad or slice the cheese as shown, garnish with the black olives. Serve and enjoy.

Thank you to Carole for this recipe.