Stuffed Swiss Chard

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How about some curry quinoa, chickpeas and cranberries in your swiss chard? Sounds interesting, well it tastes pretty darn good too. As usual these recipe ideas hit me like a ton of brick and change over the course of the week depending on the ingredients available to me up until the time of cooking. This recipe is very hearty and filling, the chickpeas is almost like the meat component to the dish while the quinoa acts as rice. In essence this is a curry chicken and white rice wrapped in a swiss chard leaf…hardly! But you get my point.

Saucy Non-meatballs

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Almost everyone loves meatballs. Small convenient bite sized morsels that you can just pop in your mouth and enjoy. In my family it’s usually a challenge to make vegetarian dishes that my mother can enjoy while we enjoy our meat. Last year I decided to try my hand at a veggie meatball, since we were having beef meatballs for dinner. Turns out her vegetarian non-meatballs tasted way better than ours, and since then I have been working on the perfect recipe.

Turn Cornmeal two ways

 

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There is nothing more convenient than a meal that can be had two ways. The ‘meal’ I am referring to is Cornmeal.  Today the ingredient of choice takes on two extremely different forms. One is smooth and creamy, the other crispy, both delicious. Turn cornmeal is a Jamaican favorite, even though the sentiment is not shared by everyone. I decided to revamp this common steam fish accompaniment and remake it into something less common in Jamaica, polenta fries.

Sweet Beet Chips

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There are many ways to enjoy root vegetables. It would seem that slicing and frying them is the common favorite.  Just about everything can be a chip, so why not beets? Beetroot is a stable in most Jamaican households. However while some persons may cook and eat it is primarily used for juicing. This is my first time exploring the versatility of the beet and the results are delicious.

Fried Broccoli & Cauliflower bites

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Fresh out of the fryer and slightly cooled, crispy, flavorful, aromatic and delicious. That is how these fried broccoli and cauliflower bites can be described. The idea to dip broccoli in a batter and fry it just never occurred to me. Yes I know what a tempura is and I’ve had shrimp and asparagus tempura several times, I’ve even deep fried okra. However the thought to batter fry broccoli had never etched a place in my brain until now.  This all occurred a few weeks ago while I was being thoroughly entertained by watching Auntie Fee. When she did her fried broccoli recipe, a light bulb definitely went off.

Quick veggie stir-fry

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For the next episode of meat less month we have the stir fry of veggies. Who doesn’t love a good vegetable stir fry? This one is extremely quick, easy and delicious. This stir fry is probably the most simple you will ever attempt, perfect on its own or with a side of…meat

Cauliflower Gratin

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In our family Cauliflower is like the prodigal son. When we were kids there was never a plate of broccoli that didn’t have cauliflower at its side. As the years went on, it seemed the cauliflower in our plates ran away never to return. Well, today it’s returned and it’s not sharing the stage with broccoli (this time). This is a very delicious and unconventional way to enjoy this delicious vegetable.

Fried Green Plantains

  
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One of the easiest Jamaican snacks around, and It’s also pretty delicious. Served in many restaurants and prepared by hungry people who have no patients to wait until their plantains have ripened. It’s a great use of green plantains, second only to plantain porridge…but that’s for another post!