Beans & tomato stew

Here is a super fast and easy stew for emergencies.

I'm breaking my rules because I'm using imported canned products. Canned tomatoes are something I usually keep for emergencies and most brands you can buy in Japan are processed in Italy. So even though this is delicious and healthy, it is NOT seasonal, fresh or from this country.

1. In a heavy pot, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and one chopped onion.
2. Fry the onion for about 3 minutes.
3. Add in one can of beans. This picture shows chickpeas.
4. Add one can of chopped tomatoes.
5. Put a little water in the tomato can (about 1/3 of a can), add water to the pot.
6. Add 1 heaped dessert-spoon of fragrant (not hot) curry powder.
7. Cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat.

NOTES:
1. You could start with chopped bacon if you had some, then add the onion.
3. Any canned beans are okay - chickpeas, red beans, white beans.
6. The curry powder actually doesn't make the stew taste like curry. It comes out as a fragrant tomato stew.

Sometimes I chop up a carrot into very small pieces and add it with the onion. You could also add celery.
Once I added a can of anchovies and that gave a nice salty taste but no fish taste.

Purple sweet potatoes!

I bought some sweet potatoes from my local farmer and the label said "blue sweet potatoes". Hmm, I thought. Well, they weren't blue but were VIOLET!

I cooked them by wrapping them in damp kitchen paper and microwaving until done.

There were actually two varieties. The ones with reddish-purple skins were purple inside, and the ones with beige-ish skins were violet inside.

I've had purple sweet potatoes before, but not such lovely bright ones!

Salmon parcels

One of the easiest ways to cook fish is in a foil parcel.

1. Tear a piece of foil about 30cm long. (Longer is better than shorter.)
2. Put a little olive oil in the middle of the foil and wipe it around with your finger.
3. Put a boneless salmon fillet or white fish fillet in the middle of the foil.
4. Top with some sliced or shredded mushrooms. In this case, maitake.
5. Top with very thinly sliced white onion.
6. Wrap up the foil parcel, and close the ends.
7. Bake in a toaster oven, regular oven or under the fish grill for about 8 minutes.
8. Leave to rest for 2 minutes.
9. Be careful of the steam when you open it.

NOTES:
1. If you don't want to use foil, you can use a Pyrex dish with a lid.
2. The olive oil will stop the fish from sticking. Wiping the oil around with your finger is OK! If you use a brush, you'll have to wash it. Mother Nature gave you fingers, so use them ;)
7. This recipe is good because you can use the toaster oven or grill while you are cooking vegetables on the top of your cooker. You can put the packages in there and forget about them.

This dish is not good cold. But you can cook plain salmon in this way and add it to your lunch box, flake it for rice balls, etc.

You can also prepare the parcels in the morning and then cook them at night.

Small chicken fillets (sasami chicken) is okay cooked like this.

Spaghetti Squash

I bought spaghetti squash for the first time this year and it really is a versatile vegetable.

First, prepare it by cutting it in half and scooping out the seeds with a spoon. Rinse with water and put it cut side down on a dinner plate. Cover with kitchen paper and microwave for about 6 to 8 minutes until the point of a sharp knife goes in easily.

A great way to serve it is like a dry curry:

1. In a large based fry pan, put 100% beef mince and cook until browned. No oil is necessary.

2. Add 1 chopped onion. Cook until onion is still a bit crunchy. 

3. Add just a few raisins or sultanas, then add in the cooked spaghetti squash. 

4. After it is mixed well, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of aromatic, dry curry powder. It is better if the curry is aromatic as opposed to hot. 

5. Stir again to evenly coat everything with the curry. 

Serve with salad greens on the side. It is very nice the next day, and not at all wet so goes well in a lunch box.

Of course, you can also serve the plain squash just like pasta, with a tomato or meat/tomato sauce. 

No-crust Quiche

Quiche is really easy and also quick - just about 25 minutes in total.

Ingredients:
1 x 200ml carton 35% cream
3 eggs
vegetables*
bacon/ham/chicken sasami meat/mini sausages**
shredded cheese if you like it

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C
2. Use a brush or a small piece of kitchen paper to coat a pan*** with olive oil.
3. Put the vegetables and meat into the pan.
4. Break the eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork.
5. Add the cream.
6. Add a little salt and pepper.
7. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables.
8. Top with shredded cheese.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes in the center of the oven.

* Vegetables
You can use almost any vegetables that aren't too wet. Big tomatoes are not good, but mini tomatoes cut in half are great. For hard vegetables like broccoli or fresh asparagus, cut them into small pieces and microwave them for a few minutes. Spinach should be microwaved with just a very little water, then drained on kitchen paper. Any kind of onion or negi leek is okay.


** Meat
It is not necessary to add any meat. Mostly I make vegetarian quiche because the eggs and cream are high in protein and fat.


***Pan
Any size pan is okay. Sometimes I use a pound cake pan, sometimes a flat quiche pan, sometimes a muffin pan for mini-quiche! Pyrex glass dishes are fine, as are gratin dishes.


You will notice I don't use any pie sheet. It isn't necessary.