Wholemeal Oat, Honey and Raisin Cookies

Here is a great little cookie recipe I found on Whole Grain Gourmet, which I tested out with excellent results. It contains no sugar and is pretty "healthy" as far as a cookie goes. The website says they freeze well, which is good because it will help stop me from eating the entire batch in a couple of days... maybe. The original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, but I followed the whole grain gourmet's recommendation to add more, plus I added mixed spice too, yum!

 

 

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 ½ cups of rolled oats

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

2 tbl cinnamon

1 tbl mixed spice

½ tsp nutmeg

 

½ cup honey

½ cup oil

1 tbl golden syrup

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

 

½ cup raisins

 

In one bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.

 

 

After mixing the dry ingredients, I added the raisins, and with my fingers separated them out so they were evenly distributed in the mixture.

 

 

In another bowl, add all the wet ingredients. Tip: Measure the oil first, then use the same 1/2 cup measure for the honey and it wont stick.

 

 

Whisk the wet ingredients together.

 

 

Add the wet to the dry and mix until combined.

 

If it feels to wet, add a little extra flour (I did).

Cool the mixture for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius

Using two teaspoons press a small amount of mixture into a tight ball and drop onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, then gently press down with a fork.

 

 

Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes at 170 degrees or until golden on the bottom of the cookie, be careful because they burn easy.

 

Black Bean Chilli

This post follows directly on from Black Beans 101. Martha Rose Shulman has a number of recipes using her perfectly simmered black beans. The first one I tested out was her  Black Bean Chilli. I've been searching for a vegetarian chilli recipe for ages and I'm so happy I found this one.

I made a few changes, primarily due to a lack of canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce available in Australia. As a substitute I added paprika, fresh chilli and apple cider vinegar. I also added some celery, because it was in the fridge and needed to be used.

It's thick, rich and delicious!

1 pot simmered Black Beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions finely chopped
6 large garlic cloves, minced
2 fresh chillies
3 sticks celery
1 tbl dried chilli
1 tablespoon lightly toasted cumin seeds, ground
425 gm tin tomatoes
2 tbl apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tbl paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt
1/2 cup chopped coriander

Make the black beans as directed, preferably the day before you wish to serve.

Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onion and celery

 

Cook, stirring often, until the onion is lightly colored, about 10 minutes.

Add the fresh chilli and garlic, fry for a minute or two until fragrant

 

Then add the spices, dried chilli, cumin and paprika. Cook, stirring, for two to three minutes, until the mixture begins to stick to the pan.
 

 

Add the tinned tomatoes, vinegar and oregano. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.

  

 

Stir in tomato paste then simmer for another 15 minutes, stir often to prevent it from sticking and burning.

 

Add the Black Beans to the tomato mixture and bring back to a simmer.

 

 

 

Continue to simmer, stirring often, for 45 - 60 minutes.

 

Taste and adjust salt.

 

I've been eating this all week in various ways along the theme of a burrito salad.

Served with brown rice and/or sweet potato

Garnished with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, black olives, coriander, jalapeños, spring onion, grated cheese, natural yogurt and corn chips.