ZZ Ward ~ Till The Casket Drops Album
I have this niece who is awesome..takes after her Auntie..lol No sorry...right, I have this niece who, whenever she is visiting and I am kitchen bound..grabs her apron from the hook and then bombards me with a thousand questions...What are we making? Is it dinner or pudding? Are we eating it for lunch? What veggies are in it? What are we having with it? and many, many others questions... Then I put my apron on and she is already waiting patiently at my kitchen counter to be my assitant chef. She is 4!!
Now to many parents and other Aunties and Uncles..the idea of a 4 year old in the kitchen is probably a stressful thought...or maybe ok for a shot of cupcake baking. But with Noo it is very easy to forget she is only 4 because she is older than her years and smart as a whip. And I have grown to trust in her and her abilities. Naturally she is heavily supervised but her natural skills are getting better everytime she is in the kitchen with me.
Today when she asked what she could do..instead of finding a task that would keep her busy I decided to give her some more responsibility...so I was ready for the What can I do Auntie R? First job up was the peeling of the fresh tomatoes...when I drained them and set them on the counter she peered into the bowl and asked what was going to happen to them. I told her that they all needed skinning ready to be chopped up. She looked up at me and said Can I do that? I answered...I don't know Noo, could you? She frowned and looked at the tomatoes and asked me to show her what I would do...which I did...then she moved the bowl infront of her and said to me...Yep I can do that...you get chopping! lol. And she peeled them perfectly. Then the rest of the process was the same...so then she went on to rinse and clean the veggies, peel carrots, grate them, cut courgettes in half moons (obviously supervised but she listened and kept her finger ends away from the knife..), measure out spices, stirred the cooking chilli as each ingredient went in, handpicked black eyed beans to go in it and then she placed grated cheeze and nachos into serving bowls for the dining table...all the while coming back to 'check on her chilli' lol. Myles did manage to grate some carrot but then lost interest when he got carried away and skinned a knuckle. lol And the littlest one LB who was desperate to help, helped wrap tortillas in foil to heat in the oven so she was very proud of her little job. Oh yes and Myles laid the table for me...must not forget that. So it was very much a joint effort but the day was really Noo's. I was so proud of her...and when we sat down to eat and I showed them how to fill and roll their wraps they got straight to it and devoured their lunches...success...lol When my sister and our mum came home Noo very proudly told them about her day...that kid rocks...
Referring back to the bean part of the process...little miss Noo 'hates' beans with a passion and therefore I rarely make a beany meal for them which has always distressed me. So today when I needed to select beans...I told Noo that the dish needed beans and at first she looked a little afraid and concerned. But I simply said..No sweetheart there has to be beans so I'm going to let you choose which ones we use...and gave her the choice of three tins and she studied them all carefully and then handed me the black eyed beans and I nodded and said Great choice, you'll love them. She smiled and said Really? I replied...You bet. And you know what...she loved them and can't wait to choose another bean to try out next time. Small steps...but steps non the less.
So this chilli is packed with veggies, textures and flavour. It's great in a wrap, as a topping on jacket potatoes, with rice or just as a stand alone dish. There is a good amount of heat but not a burn through your mouth amount. And here is the little one's recipe....
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| Noo's Vegan Chilli. |
Noo's Vegan Chilli Serves 2 big people and 3 little ones
1lb/350g fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
4 med carrots, peeled and grated
1 large courgette, sliced into half moons
1 tin of black eyed beans, rinsed and drained
1oz natural soy TVP
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp fresh red chilli, minced
10 floz/ 300ml veggie stock
1 tsp dried coriander
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
2 bay leaves
fresh cracked black pepper
Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the onion, celery, garlic and fresh chilli and saute for approx 8-19 minutes until they have softened greatly. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir well and leave to cook over a medium heat until they have pulped down. Then add the remaining ingredients and stir very well and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook down until all veggies are cooked. Then serve....
Enjoy! from Noo..
Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Saturday has been as great as ours....
~Red~
