Slow Cooker – 3 Bean Chilli

by Lou Robbie

This chilli is like a big hug…it’s warm and spicy and tingly, filling and comforting. Most of the ingredients came off the shelf of the Green Earth Organic store room. Tins of beans and tomatoes, spices and brown rice that comes in compostable packaging and some Galway grown squash and onions, to make it an organic bowl of tastiness! 

Using a slow cooker is very convenient for time-poor/busy people. Stick it on in the morning and head out the door and when you get home in the evening dinner is ready! 

Slow cooking brings out the best in some foods. It allows the flavours to mingle for hours and to permeate the ingredients, like the beans in this recipe. Any extra chilli can be used in a burrito the next day or frozen for dinner next week. 

Lovely for the cooler weather.

Lou 🙂

**If you don’t have a slow cooker you can of course make this in a casserole pot on the hob or on the oven, cooking time approximately an hour on a medium heat on the hob or 180C in the oven.

Ingredients: Serves 6

Method:

This recipe is suitable for a 3.5 litre slow cooker.

To get more flavour from the base flavours, I recommend cooking the onions, garlic and spices on the hob first. 

  1. Finely dice the onions and chop the garlic. 
  2. Put a frying pan on medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and add the onions. 
  3. Cook gently to soften for 5-10 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, paprika, coriander, cumin, chilli, brown sugar, salt and pepper and cook out on low for another 5 minutes. Take them off the heat when they are soft and cooked.
  4. While the onions are cooking prepare the butternut squash. You can peel it if you wish, but you can also cook the diced squash skin and all, it makes it quicker to prepare and more nutritious, especially because it’s organic.  It’s also less wasteful.
  5. Wash it and chop it into two. Scoop out the seeds. (You can roast the seeds in the oven with salt and pepper later)
  6. Take one half of the squash and slice and dice it small. 
  7. Open all the tins, the black, kidney, cannellini beans add them all together to a colander to drain and rinse under cold water. 
  8. Set up your slow cooker, add the cooked onions, the squash, all the beans, then add the chopped tomatoes, fill the tomato tins with water and add both to the pot. 
  9. Toss in the bay leaves, add another pinch of salt and pepper and pop the lid on. 
  10. Cook it on low for 8 hours. 
  11. Serving suggestion: Cook up some brown rice and serve with sour cream and fresh coriander.

Oat & Raisin Cookies

by Liz Child

Oatmeal cookies make the house smell amazing (cinnamon, vanilla and oats, what a dreamy combo) and the kids adore them after school with a glass of oat milk. Ok, so they are not the healthiest snack, but the oats do make them slightly more wholesome than a regular chocolate chip cookie. We keep them vegan with our Naturli butter blocks and oat milk, but of course you can use your favourite butter (or even an odourless coconut oil at a pinch) and milk. These are a little crisp around the edges and perfectly chewy in the middle. Enjoy!

Liz x

Ingredients (make 12 large or 16 medium cookies)

  • 150g butter, cubed and at room temperature
  • 150g soft brown sugar
  • 100g plain flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 200g porridge oats
  • 50g raisins

Method

  1. Turn your oven on to 180C and find some large baking sheets – line with baking parchment.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk (or give your arm a workout and use a wooden spoon) – it should get light and fluffy.
  3. Then add the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix well. Stir through the flour until it forms a rough, sticky dough, careful not to over-mix the flour. Lastly, stir in the oats and raisins.
  4. Use an ice-cream scoop or wet hands to form even balls. Space out on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until the balls have spread into cookies and are just taking on some colour around the edges. Leave the cookies to cool and set on the trays before moving as they will still be very soft at this stage.
  5. Store in an airtight container and enjoy within a week.

Aquafaba Mayonnaise

by Liz Child

Vegan mayonnaise is so easy to make and is a great option if you don’t eat eggs or don’t want to risk raw eggs. The easiest version is made with soy milk (check out that recipe here) but we don’t often have soy milk in our house so we have perfected this aquafaba version which uses up some of the liquid from a tin of chickpeas. Aquafaba is such a handy, magical ingredient, and we love that it’s practically free! Another way we use it is to make this quick and easy cake, give it a try!

Leave your mayonnaise plain or flavour it with garlic, rosemary, saffron, chilli etc to your liking. I added a tiny pinch of saffron this time because I wanted to eat it with this one tray, Spanish inspired supper. I would love to hear about your versions in the comments below!

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas)
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • optional extra flavourings eg a pinch of saffron or a small crushed clove of garlic, or some chopped rosemary…
  • a pinch of salt
  • 200ml of neutral oil eg sunflower or rapeseed

Method

  1. Place the aquafaba, mustard, vinegar, salt and optional flavouring in a small mixing jug or jar in which your emersion blender can fit.
  2. Blend with the emersion blender until frothy, then, whilst still blending, drizzle in the oil slowly. Keep blending and adding oil, you may need to move the blender up and down a bit.
  3. You should end up with perfectly thick and glossy mayonnaise. Taste and if it needs more salt add it now and blend again to evenly distribute it.
  4. Store in a clean jar in the fridge and use within a week.

1 Tray – Smokey Potatoes, Peppers & Chickpeas

by Liz Child

We are currently obsessed with putting together quick and easy, one tray suppers. They’re the perfect solution for mid-week suppers when you are knackered from a long day at work. Just turn on the oven and pop some veggies, some beans and some seasoning in a tray and let it cook while you catch up with the rest of the household. I tend to pick a country or dish and go with those flavours and seasonings I know go well, rather than just bunging in random herbs and spices. So for this dish, the theme was Spanish-ish! I was thinking about paella and potatas bravas, that sort of thing. Smokey paprika, garlic and lemon, finished with parsley… goes so well with peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and chickpeas.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 2 large potatoes (or the equivalent in new potatoes)
  • 1 large red pepper
  • 6 cherry tomatoes (or 2 large tomatoes)
  • 1 tin of chickpeas
  • 1/2 a lemon
  • 2 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp garlic granules/powder (or 2 crushed fresh cloves of garlic)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • fresh parsley, salad and mayonnaise to serve (I made this saffron mayonnaise from the aquafaba from the tin of chickpeas)

Method

  1. Heat your oven to 200C. Chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces and scatter into a baking tray.
  2. Drain the chickpeas (reserve the aquafaba to make mayonnaise or a vegan cake if you like) and add to the tray. Season with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika and garlic, drizzle over the oil and mix well.
  3. Add the lemon in the center of the tray and roast for 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and starting to take on some colour.
  4. Remove the tray from the oven and scatter over fresh parsley, use tongs to squeeze the hot roasted lemon over everything (roasted lemon is a revelation! It goes extra sweet and juicy in the oven) and enjoy with some salad leaves and mayonnaise!

Purple Kale Colcannon & Thyme and Honey Roast Carrots

by Lou Robbie

Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish made with mashed potatoes “spuds” and cabbage or kale.  When I was a child we had spuds 7 days a week, to have mash was a treat and to have colcannon with lashings of butter was heaven!  This is traditional warming comfort food perfect for an Autumn supper. 

You’ll find the purple kale, new potatoes and carrots all in the Irish Farm Box this Sept ’22. 

Enjoy this one. 

Lou 🙂

Serves 4 

  • 800g New potatoes with skins on
  • 6 medium carrots 
  • 1 sprig of fresh thyme- leaves picked
  • 1 drizzle of honey (local is best)
  • 200g purple kale 
  • 200ml milk
  • 50g butter for the kale
  • 50g butter for the potatoes – and extra to serve
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 180℃. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
  2. Begin by scrubbing the dirt off the potatoes in cold water. Chop into quarters or halves of similar size and steam until cooked through – roughly 40 minutes. You can boil them too if you prefer. (When you cook with organic veg keep the skins on that’s where the nutrients are)
  3. Likewise, scrub the carrots and pat dry. Chop in half lengthwise, toss in oil, salt pepper and lay on the baking tray, sprinkle with the thyme leaves and drizzle with honey.

The carrots: 

  1. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. 
  2. To prepare the kale, wash first in cold water. 
  3. Then pick the leaves from the stem and add to a mixing bowl. (Tip: You can reserve the stem and chop finely to add to a stir fry.)
  4. Once all the leaves are picked, take a handful of the kale, roll it up into a tight roll shape and finely chop it into bite sized pieces. 

To steam fry the kale. 

  1. Warm a wide pot, with a lid, on a medium heat. 
  2. Add the knob of butter and melt, then add 100ml of water to create steam. 
  3. Add all the kale at once, stir and put the lid on the pot. 
  4. Give the pot a shake to agitate the kale and wilt it, it will take 3-5 minutes for the kale to soften. 
  5. Add a small pinch of salt and mix. 
  6. When it’s cooked to your liking, take off the heat and set to one side.

The mashed potatoes.

  1. When the potatoes are fully cooked, tip them into a big pot or bowl. 
  2. Heat the milk and butter in a jug in the microwave for 1 minute or on the hob.
  3. Mash the warm potatoes along with the hot milk and butter, add a pinch of salt. The skins may get caught in the masher but keep on mashing until its creamy. Add more hot milk and butter if needed. 
  4. Fold in the cooked purple kale, taste to check the seasoning. 
  5. Take the carrots from the oven when they are roasted nicely. 
  6. To serve, add 3 or 4 carrots to a plate with a big spoon of hot colcannon, top with a knob of butter and a crack of black pepper!! 

There is nothing nicer. 🙂

Warm Rainbow Salad

by Liz Child

A warm salad for those chilly last summer days. Any leftovers can be packed up for lunch the next day too. We love adding beans or lentils to as many meals as we can. Pulses are affordable, nutrient-rich powerhouses and the crops are very planet friendly too. A win, win, win! Do you include lots of pulses in your diet?

Get a rainbow of vegetables delivered plastic free to your door here!

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2 as a big lunch or 4 as sides)

For the roasted roots:

  • 3 beetroot, scrubbed & chopped into bites
  • 2 carrots, scrubbed and chopped into bites
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds (or use caraway, cumin or any herb/spice you prefer)
  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp honey/maple syrup
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the sautéd chard:

  • 7 or 8 large rainbow chard leaves
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

  • 1 tin green lentils, warmed and drained
  • 1 heaped tbsp wholegrain mustard

Method

  1. Turn your oven on to 200C and find a deep baking dish.
  2. Tumble your chopped carrots and beetroot into the baking dish. Add the olive oil, vinegar, fennel seeds, honey, salt and pepper and mix well. Place the dish in the oven to roast for 20 minutes or so until just tender.
  3. While the roots are roasting, prepare the chard. Use a knife to separate the stalks from the greens. Cut the colourful stalks into bite sized pieces and place in a frying pan with the chopped garlic, oil, slat and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes until tender. The roughly chop the greens and add to the pan with a small splash of water. Stir for a few minutes to steam-fry and wilt the greens.
  4. When the roasted roots are cooked to your liking, remove the dish from the oven and stir in the mustard, lentils and chard. Serve warm or cold.

3 Ingredient Frittata

by Lou Robbie

Less is more with this frittata, gently season each ingredient as you work through the recipe and you’ll end up with a delicious dish that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner! 

The Italians got it right with this one, its simplicity is what makes it. Served with some local leaves and ripe cherry tomatoes all it needs is some September sun to make it perfect! 

If there’s any left over, use it to make a sourdough sandwich. Slice it cold, add mayo, leaves and tomato to the sandwich – it’s delicious for the lunch box.

Lou 🙂

**You will need an oven safe non-stick frying pan to make this frittata – most frying pans are oven safe. If you wish you can use a deep baking tray 8in x 8in approximately. 

  1. Scrub and steam or boil the potatoes first. Allow to cool. 
  2. Slice the courgettes into rounds and fry on a frying pan with a pinch of salt until charred and golden sprinkle, set a slice to cool. 
  3. Once cooled, dice the potatoes into cubes, keep the skins on if you wish, that’s where the nutrients are.  
  4. Preheat the oven to 180℃.
  5. Warm a (oven safe) non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. 
  6. Fry the potatoes until golden and crispy and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
  7. While the potatoes are frying, crack 6 eggs into a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt and pepper, whisk well. 
  8. Pour the eggs over the fried potatoes. Top with the slices of courgette. 
  9. Cook on the hob for 3-4 minutes then carefully transfer into the oven. 
  10. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the egg has set. 
  11. Use a dry tea towel to lift the frying pan out of the oven. 
  12. Set the frypan aside to cool for 10 minutes then loosen the edges with a rubber spatula and slice onto a serving plate. 
  13. Serve with salad – I chose Galway grown leaves and heaps of cherry tomatoes! 

Sweet, Sticky, Sesame Tofu with Stir Fried Greens

by Liz Child

The best way to get a whole lot of greens into my family is with a simple stir fry. No one can resist them simply seasoned with a splash of salty soy sauce and piled into a bowl with rice or noodles. And for protein? We are really into tofu right now, its a beautiful blank canvas and we are trying to up our soy consumption as latest studies show how healthy is it (cancer and fibroid prevention, also anti-inflamatory and great for heart health – high in calcium, magnesium, selenium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese and zinc). Beans as crops are also a brilliant, Earth-efficient source of protein. We love extra firm tofu with our stir-fries, simmered with a sweet and sticky honey-ginger-sesame sauce.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the stir fried greens:

  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 small courgette, julienned
  • 1/2 a cabbage, shredded
  • a few large kale leaves, shredded
  • a small head of romanesco or broccoli, chopped
  • a few large handfuls of green beans
  • 1-2 tbsp soy sauce (to taste)

For the sticky tofu:

  • 2 packs of extra firm, natural tofu – drained and cut into cubes
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • a splash of soy sauce
  • 50ml honey or maple syrup
  • the zest and juice of half a lime
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, or to taste
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • a thumb of fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp sesame seeds
  • rice or noodles and chopped scallion to serve

Method

  1. Start by mixing the sticky dressing. Gather the ingredients and mix together in a bowl or jug. Taste and adjust the salt level with a bit more soy sauce if needed. Want it tangier? add the other half of the lime.
  2. Cook your rice or noodles and heat up two pans, a large one for the greens and a smaller one for the tofu. Stir fry the greens with the oil until starting to wilt, then add the soy sauce and stir for a couple more minutes.
  3. In the other pan, fry the tofu with the oil until starting to warm through. Add the small splash of soy sauce and stir fry to season and brown the cubes. Then pour over the sweet, sticky sesame sauce and let it simmer and reduce for a couple of minutes.
  4. Serve with the rice or noodles and greens, top with chopped scallions and enjoy!

Baked Blueberry Blended Oats

by Liz Child

Ok, we’re a little late to this trend, but if you are like me (wanting to eat oats regularly because they are so incredibly healthy, but fed up of porridge) you’ll appreciate this twist on a warm, sweet, oaty breakfast. It couldn’t be simpler really, blend oats with banana, milk, baking powder and a touch of honey and bake while you get ready for the day. You’ll end up with a sort of breakfast pudding that is set on the top and sides and beautifully runny in the middle. I’m sure you can come up with countless variations, but we are REALLY into blueberries right now. Did you know that we have sourced organic blueberries from Banner Berries right here in Ireland, and they come in compostable tubs!? Add some to your next order while they are in season and see what the fuss is about (we order extras and pop them straight into the freezer!).

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 small mug of porridge oats
  • 1 small mug of milk (any you like)
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla or other flavouring you like (try cocoa powder for chocolate, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom… a dollop of peanut butter?)
  • a couple of handfuls of blueberries (or any fruit you prefer – all summer berries work well as do sliced stone fruit, figs, apples, pears etc)

Method

  1. Turn your oven on to 180C and gather your ingredients, a couple of large ramekins or oven safe bowls and a blender.
  2. Blend the oats, milk, banana, baking powder, honey and vanilla into a smooth batter. Divide it between the ramekins/bowls, sprinkle each with a handful of blueberries and pop it into the oven to bake while you make coffee and get ready for the day.
  3. After around 15-20 minutes, you should have 2 breakfast puddings ready to eat. they should be slightly risen and golden brown. Dig in with a spoon and find the delicious runny middle. Enjoy as it is or top with a dollop of yoghurt, nuts, seeds more fruit etc as you like.

Lunch box – Courgette & Carrot Muffins

by Lou Robbie

Its the end of the summer holidays and back to school and work routines for most! If you are looking for ways to get a bit more veg into yours and/or your child’s lunch box then give these muffins a go. They are lightly sweetened and alongside a sandwich, some fruit and raw veggie sticks they are the perfect lunch. #backtoschool

They freeze really well so why not pop some in the freezer that are handy to defrost overnight, making filling the lunch box a little bit easier. #freezerstash

If you have kids get them to help make them, let them grate the courgette and carrot. Let them get used to cooking and baking with seasonal Irish vegetables and have a chat about where they are grown too. Cooking together creates great opportunities for learning about where our food comes from and why it’s important that we support our local farmers. 

Lou 🙂

Makes 18 regular muffins – approx

  1. Preheat the oven to 180℃.
  2. Prepare your muffin tins with paper cases if needed. I use silicone moulds that don’t need paper cases. 
  3. To make the muffins begin by gathering all the ingredients. 
  4. Grate the carrot and courgette. 
  5. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and cinnamon and mix. 
  6. Add the grated carrot and courgette and mix well again with a wooden spoon. 
  7. Measure the oil into a jug and crack in the eggs, whisk well. 
  8. Pour the oil and egg mix into the bowl and gently mix until there is no visible flour.
  9. Scoop into the muffin tray. 
  10. Bake for 20 mins or until, when checked, a skewer comes out clean.  
  11. Allow to cool completely then bag up to stash in the freezer for the future lunch box. 
  12. To defrost, take one from the freezer bag and pop in the lunch box the night before.