This uses up some tins from your cupboard, a great store cupboard recipe. If you don't like it spicy, then just put less of the spices in.
Nutritional Information
Per portion
Serves 4
Calories – 441 per portion
Carbohydrate - 65 g of which sugars 21 g
Protein - 19 g
Fibre - 20 g
Fat - 6.6 g of which saturated fat 0.9 g
This dish is a really good source of Vitamins A, B, E and the mineral Potassium.
Prep Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 1.5 hours
Ingredients
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 Tablespoons of tomato puree
4 carrots, chopped into cubes
2 peppers, sliced
2 sticks of celery, chopped into cubes
3 fresh chilies, finely chopped
Large knob of ginger, chopped finely
1 can of chickpeas
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of broad beans
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
3 potatoes
175 ml low salt vegetable stock
Method
Place a casserole dish on the hob and add some oil. Add the onions and cook until soft and tender. Add the tomato puree and cock for approximately 3 minutes, before adding the carrots, peppers, celery, chilies and garlic. Cook for a further 2 minutes and add the ginger and stir. Add the remainder of the ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Cook on the hob for 1.5 hours or longer if you wish. You can cook it in the oven at 180 C for about 3 hours if you wish.
Serve with rice or pasta. If you don't have either of these, then make a basic flatbread recipe and use this instead.
The Science Bit
Beans and pulses are good plant sources of protein. Protein act as building blocks (think lego bricks) for our bodies, being a key part of skin, muscles, organs and glands. These all wear out with use. We need a constant supply in order to help our bodies continue rebuilding parts of our bodies that need repairing. Proteins are made up of amino acids and for the most of them our bodies can make them and use them when required. However, there are 9 amino acids that are called essential. This is because our bodies can’t make them or synthase them; therefore, we need them everyday from the food we eat.
In the plant and vegetable world, good sources include: legumes, nuts, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, quinoa, soy, nut butters and wheat germ. However, the majority of plant proteins are incomplete because they lack at least one essential amino acid. To highlight, grains supply the essential amino acids missing in legumes and legumes supply the essential amino acids missing in grains. So, it is important that you combine two or more plant sources of protein to make sure that you get all the essential amino acids.
Questions
What combinations of plant protein could you come up with to get all your essential amino acids? How much of these could you get from your freezer or store cupboard?