Success!
Embarrassed by my initial question, I asked in a locked post about cooking tonight with stuff I had in the kitchen. With a lot of advice from that post (thank you unav, glitzfrau and unblinkered) I cooked something much more palatable than I had originally come up with. While I can't claim it was instinct cooking, as I ran back and forth between cooker and computer, hopefully it'll help me cook by instinct in future. Plus it tasted good now, which is the important thing :-)
So, I suppose it was a chickpea stew, with brown rice. Writing it up for those who are interested and future reference.
Ingredients
The not so good bits left over from the onion half I used yesterday (see previous post), chopped
a clove of garlic, chopped
a carrot and a bit. Call it a big carrot. Sliced.
half a nearly dodgy red pepper, chopped
a courgette (not as elderly as I had feared), chopped very small cos I'm not keen on them
tin of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
half a knorr vegtable stock cup mixed into a mug of hot water
around a cup of santini tomatoes, mixed red & yellow, halved
two normal tomatoes, chopped
small amount of frozen green beans, defrosted in hot water, chopped.
tumeric
ground ginger
oregano
chilli powder
salt & pepper
a teaspoon or so of tomato paste
sunflower oil for frying
It was suggested that I sweat the onion, but I didn't know how to do that and the internet was inconsistent (bad internet, no stew). I fried it and the garlic gently in a bit of oil. That maybe sweating it, I don't know.
Add the carrots, red pepper, courgette. Saute (or possibly just fry) for a while.
Add the chickpeas and about half the stock. Turn up the heat to start it simmering. Add both types of tomatoes, and the rest of the stock, or as much as fits. Simmer.
Add the green beans, herbs, spices, seasoning.
I tasted it after a bit and decided it needed something else, hence the tomato paste.
Not sure how long I simmered for. Probably about 15 mins. The rice went on just before I started frying (2 cups brown rice in rice cooker) and finished around the time the stew was a good texture, with plenty of the liquid gone. Pure luck. So... simmer till the chickpeas and carrots are softening and the liquid is reduced.
Serve on brown rice.
Probably enough for three. So that's my lunch tomorrow sorted.
I still felt it needed something more when I tasted it again after adding the puree, but it was grand when served. Don't know if it was the reducing, or the rice, or what.
I'd like to try something similar with lentils and probably a bit of chorizo. And get more confidence with the spices.
So, I suppose it was a chickpea stew, with brown rice. Writing it up for those who are interested and future reference.
Ingredients
The not so good bits left over from the onion half I used yesterday (see previous post), chopped
a clove of garlic, chopped
a carrot and a bit. Call it a big carrot. Sliced.
half a nearly dodgy red pepper, chopped
a courgette (not as elderly as I had feared), chopped very small cos I'm not keen on them
tin of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
half a knorr vegtable stock cup mixed into a mug of hot water
around a cup of santini tomatoes, mixed red & yellow, halved
two normal tomatoes, chopped
small amount of frozen green beans, defrosted in hot water, chopped.
tumeric
ground ginger
oregano
chilli powder
salt & pepper
a teaspoon or so of tomato paste
sunflower oil for frying
It was suggested that I sweat the onion, but I didn't know how to do that and the internet was inconsistent (bad internet, no stew). I fried it and the garlic gently in a bit of oil. That maybe sweating it, I don't know.
Add the carrots, red pepper, courgette. Saute (or possibly just fry) for a while.
Add the chickpeas and about half the stock. Turn up the heat to start it simmering. Add both types of tomatoes, and the rest of the stock, or as much as fits. Simmer.
Add the green beans, herbs, spices, seasoning.
I tasted it after a bit and decided it needed something else, hence the tomato paste.
Not sure how long I simmered for. Probably about 15 mins. The rice went on just before I started frying (2 cups brown rice in rice cooker) and finished around the time the stew was a good texture, with plenty of the liquid gone. Pure luck. So... simmer till the chickpeas and carrots are softening and the liquid is reduced.
Serve on brown rice.
Probably enough for three. So that's my lunch tomorrow sorted.
I still felt it needed something more when I tasted it again after adding the puree, but it was grand when served. Don't know if it was the reducing, or the rice, or what.
I'd like to try something similar with lentils and probably a bit of chorizo. And get more confidence with the spices.