Ovenbaked portobello mushroom with quinoa & vegetable stuffing

A satisfying and filling vegan dish.

What you need (2 servings):
2 large portobello mushrooms
90g quinoa
1/4 mushroom stock cube
1 tsp garlic paste (or 1 clove fresh garlic, minced)
1/2 tsp sambal oelek (or to taste)
1/2 leek, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
50g frozen peas
approx. 8 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Cook the quinoa, 240ml water and the stock cube in a rice cooker (or boil approx. 20 minutes in a pot on the stove). Grease an oven dish with some oil and preheat the oven at 180°C.
Remove the stems from the mushrooms, chop the stems and set aside. With a spoon, remove the gills from the mushrooms and add them to the chopped stems.
Drizzle a bit of oil on the mushrooms and place them cap-side down in the oven dish. Cook the empty mushrooms approx. 15 mins in the oven.
Meanwhile, heat some oil in a wok. Saute the garlic and sambal. Add the leftover mushroom stems and gills, leek and peppers. After a few minutes, add the peas and tomatoes. Stir fry until all the vegetables are cooked and season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the pine nuts and cooked quinoa.
Remove the oven dish from the oven en spoon the quinoa mixture into the caps. Cover the oven dish with aluminium foil and cook the mushrooms for approx. 15 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil 5 minutes before the end. Serve immediately.


Loosely based on this recipe.

Cabbage rolls with tomato sauce

What you need (2 servings):
6 large cabbage leaves (Savoy cabbage or Chinese cabbage)
250g ground beef
1 egg white
breadcrumbs
1,5 tbsp asian-style chili sauce
50g grated cheese
1 can chopped tomato
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp garlic paste (or 1 clove, minced)
1 tsp thyme
salt & pepper to taste
vegetable oil

Boil the cabbage leaves for 5 minutes in ample water. Drain and cut out the thick part of the center vein/rib.
Mix the ground beef with egg white, some breadcrumbs and the chili sauce in a bowl and shape it into 6 rolls. Wrap each roll into a cabbage leave, making sure to tuck in the sides of the leaf.
Grease an oven dish with a bit of vegetable oil and place the rolls in the dish, seam down.
Heat some oil in a pan and saute the onion and garlic. Add the canned tomato and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over the cabbage rolls and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Bake in the oven for approx. 40 minutes at 200C (175C fan oven). Serve with boiled pasta.

Stuffed peppers

What you need (2 servings):

- 2 pointed peppers (red or orange)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cloved op chopped garlic (or 1 tsp garlic paste)
- 200 g lean ground beef*
- 1 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste)
- salt & pepper to taste
- vegetable oil

Slice a part of the pepper off lengthways and remove the seeds inside the pepper. Chop the sliced off piece finely. Put both peppers in an oven dish.
Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and sauté onion, garlic, chopped pepper and sambal until the onion has softened. Add the ground beef and fry until browned. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pre-heat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven). Fill the peppers with the meat mixture and cover the oven dish with aluminium foil. Cook the stuffed peppers for approx. 30 mins and remove the foil after 20 mins.
Serve with rice or fried potatoes.

Try this:
* use ca. 100g vegan mince to veganize this dish.
- use chopped leek or spring onion instead of onion.
- add (frozen) peas and/or corn kernels (canned and drained).
- add chopped carrot and/or chopped courgette.

Based on this recipe.

Pom (Surinamese chicken casserole)

I'd been hesitant to try this until a former colleague of mine brought pom rolls to work as a birthday treat instead of the obligatory cake. To my own surprise, I loved it! I got the recipe from another colleague, made some minor adjustments and now make this on a regular basis. It freezes well too, so I divide it into single portions with some rice and veggies for busy days.

What you need (approx. 8 servings):
1kg grated tayerroot, thawed (frozen, sold at exotic grocery stores)
400g chicken breast in strips
0,5 jar piccalilly
1 small can tomato puree
1 tomato, cut in cubes
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 stalks of celery
juice of 2 oranges, or 1 glass of orange juice
1 glass of water
1 chicken stock cube
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp allspice
salt, pepper
sambal oelek (chili paste) to taste
oil + knob of butter



Heat the oil and butter, and fry the chicken until golden brown. Add onion, garlic and sambal oelek, and sautée until the onion is translucent. Add orange juice, water, allspice, tomato, puree, stock cube and celery and let simmer for approx. 25mins.
Pre-heat the oven at 200C.
In a bowl, mix the sugar and piccalilli with the grated tayerroot. Take the chicken out of the sauce and mix the sauce gradually with the tayer mixture.
Grease a casserole dish and pour in half the tayer mixture. Spread the chicken evenly over the tayer mixture and cover with the rest of the tayer mixture.
Cover the dish with aluminium foil and bake for at least 1 hour. Take off the foil and bake for at least another half hour until the top is brown and set.

Serve with rice and stir-fried green beans (yardlong beans or 'kouseband') or on a white roll (‘broodje pom’)

Fish parcels

Another great recipe for people who don't like fish very much (i.e. ME). It doesn't taste 'fishy' at all, and is quite healthy too.

What you need (2 servings):
2 cod fillets of approx. 120g each (thawed when using frozen fish)
0,5 diced onion
4 tbsp canned tomato cubes, rinsed and drained
1 tsp sambal oelek (chili paste)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven at 200C. Place each piece of fish on a piece of aluminium foil.
Sautée the onion in a bit of oil. Mix the onion with the tomato cubes, parsley, sambal oelek, lemon juice, rest of the olive oil and salt and pepper in a bowl. Dived the mixture over the fish and make parcels of the aluminium foil. Bake for approx. 15mins in the oven. Serve with panfried potatoes or rice.

Try this:
Use tilapia, pangasius or bass fillets instead of cod.

Creamy fish

I'm not particularly fond of fish. Or cream cheese. Or green peppers. So I was a bit apprehensive when my mom made this one night when I came over for dinner. Surprisingly, it was really tasty and it's been one of my favorite dishes ever since.

What you need (2 servings):
- 1 onion, cut in half rings
- 1 green pepper, cut in strips
- 2 pieces of frozen fish, such as cod, tilapia or pangasius
- approx. 65g of cream cheese with herbs such as Boursin
- approx. 65ml cream
- salt, pepper


Preheat the oven at 200C. Put the pieces of fish in an oven dish and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the onion and green pepper on top. Mix the cream cheese with the cream and pour over the fish. Cook in the oven for approx. 30mins.
Serve with rice and a cucumber salad.

[adapted from an AH recipe]