Coconut cumin veggie curry

One of the best things about making curries is that you can literally just improv.

I know and readily accept that the curries I make are not even remotely authentic, but I like them nonetheless. And I particularly love a veggie curry.

But when making a veggie curry, I find you need to make sure you have lots of different and exciting ingredients involved - well, as exciting as a vegetable can be - so different colours and textures etc.

This is my latest fave veggie curry. It's healthy, it's hearty, it's simple and it's just really bloody delicious tbh.

I realise that it would look a lot better had I sprinkled on some coriander, but anyone who knows me will know that coriander is my main nemesis in life (along with mint and parsley) so I'm afraid you're going to have to do with my pictures of yellow mush.

It tastes a lot better than it looks, trust me.

I don't like my curries super spicy, and this one is subtly sweet and mild but also far from bland. And of course, you can adjust the spice levels to your taste.

The reason I focussed on coconut and cumin was because the lovely gang over at Bounce challenged me to make a recipe inspired by their new range of V Life Bounce Balls.

Now being a fan of original Bounce Balls, I was keen to try out the new flavours and see what I could come up with in the kitchen. I think the almond kale ball is actually my favourite - it tastes like marzipan! - but the coconut cumin is definitely the one with the most savoury undertone.

So I decided to turn it into a curry! Sort of.

This is a really easy one-pot dish and you can serve it with whatever you like - I went for quinoa, which I cook in chicken stock and Marmite. Trust me, it's amazing.

Depending on your portion size, this recipe serves about four.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp tikka curry paste
1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 small head of cauliflower, broken into florets
1 can coconut milk
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 can chickpeas
2 handfuls kale
A sprinkle of seeds, cashews and coconut flakes, optional
Quinoa or rice to serve


Method

1. Gently fry the onion in the coconut oil in a large saucepan over a low heat for a few minutes  and once starting to soften, add the garlic. Sauté until cooked.

2. Add the cumin and curry paste and stir, followed by the squash and cauliflower, then the coconut milk and stock. Season with salt and pepper and stir well before adding the chickpeas and kale.

3. Bring to the boil then simmer for about half an hour or so until the veggies are cooked through and the sauce isn't too runny. Check the flavour is strong enough for you and add more cumin or curry paste if you like. In the meantime, cook your rice or quinoa.

4. Serve the curry with the rice or quinoa and top with a scattering of cashews, seeds and coconut flakes. Dig in!

Eating Morocco in a day: My 24-hour foodie trip to Marrakech and back

Colleague: "How come you're not in on Friday then, Rachel?"

Me: "I'm going to Marrakech actually."

Colleague: "Oh lovely, for a long weekend?"

Me: "Nope, just for the day."

Everyone: "Wut."

I know, it sounds totally mad. And tbh it was totally mad. But I did indeed travel to Marrakech, spend the day there, and go back to London the same day.

When I got back home at around 1.30am and realised I'd actually been away for less than 24 hours, it was so bizarre - I'd done so much that I felt like I'd been away for a week!

But this wasn't just me being a bit of a nutcase. Allow me to explain...

You know Giraffe restaurants? Yeah, you know them. Often found at airports as it would happen.

Well they're - and I quote - "on a mission to explore and share wonderful foods from around the globe" to celebrate the launch of their new menu.

So to help gain some inspiration they asked if I'd like to head out to Marrakech, be shown round by a local foodie expert and essentially be challenged to discover as much about Moroccan cuisine as possible in a day.

Um, WHAT!? Is that not one of the coolest, most random but awesome things you've ever heard?

I'm always keen on crazy ideas, obviously love food, AND Marrakech has been on my 'to visit' list for yonks, so it was a no-brainer for me. Where do I sign!?

It was such a great day and I've got tons to tell you but I know you're busy so I'll try not to waffle too much. (She says, having already waffled for England in this intro.) Let me break it down...

Getting there

With a taxi booked for 3am, any sensible person would go to bed at like 9pm. But this gal? Nah mate. Was at the Cosmopolitan Influencer Awards dancing to the Spice Girls and drinking cocktails the night before, wasn't I?

(On a side not, thanks so much for your support with that, kind readers - I made the shortlist for Best Lifestyle Influencer which is kinda cray.)

Well it's fine, you can just sleep in the taxi and on the plane, said everyone. Not this gal, who is the most high-maintenance sleeper you've ever met. Lol good tired times for me.

Anyway I was so excited that the adrenalin overtook the tiredness and I successfully made it to Marrakech - the flight's only about 3.5 hours so not too bad.

Interestingly, I was slightly concerned I wouldn't actually be let into the country - upon arriving at the airport, everyone has to fill in a landing card detailing where you're staying etc. I had to try and explain to the security guard that I wasn't staying anywhere because I was leaving again that night. He was highly sceptical but thankfully let me in eventually.

And there waiting for me at arrivals was my host and guide for the day, the lovely Amanda from Maroc Mama, with her husband Youssef.

Amanda is an American ex-pat who's been living in Marrakech for 15 years. She's a travel and food blogger and also runs a business doing food tours of the city, which, after spending the day eating my way round Marrakech with her, I could not recommend more.

Breakfast

Our first stop of the day was breakfast - obviously having been up for millions of hours this would be my third breakfast of the day but I was so down for that.

And pleasingly, Marrakech airport is really central (not like the nightmare that is London) so it didn't take us long to get there.

We drove down grand, big, clean streets lined by pale red buildings, opulent lamp posts and benches. There were even camels. Awesome.

Less traditionally, however, I also spied placed like McDonald's, Buddha Bar, KFC, Pizza Hut and all the big chain shops.

But our destination was an eatery of the utmost authenticity - Amanda and Youssef took me to one of their favourite spots in the French, newer part of Marrakech, Chez Outmane (obvs am using the French name not the Arabic.)

I suddenly realised I had no idea what constitutes a Moroccan breakfast. When most people think about Moroccan cuisine, they think couscous and tagines, but for breakfast? Hmm.

First, a basket of warm fluffy breads called batbout arrived. And to eat with it, a wonderful selection of dips and spreads:

There was honey, butter, olive oil, argan oil, olives and - at the front on the left there - something I'd never heard of called amalou.

Sweet Lord, amalou was amazing. My fave discovery of the day, without a doubt. It's made from almonds, honey and argan oil so is basically almost butter with a twist but sweet Lord in heaven above, I loved it.

As well as the dips, I tried another speciality: khlii.

This was essentially eggs with salted, dried lamb (sort of like jerky I believe). I don't usually go wild for egg-based dishes but this was so flavoursome, and it was extra tasty after we added some zataar. Scoop it up with some bread and prepare for a mouthful of meaty, spiced goodness.

And of course, this being Morocco, we washed it all down with fresh mint tea.

Now, obviously any self-respecting British person would never add sugar to their cuppa, but mint tea (which is the standard Moroccan tea I believe) is always sweetened. I shouldn't like it but it was so tasty. I drank gallons of tea over the course of the day.

A cookery class

The next port of call was Riad Quara to learn how to make a couple of traditional Moroccan recipes. 

Located in the medina, everything was starting to look like the Marrakech I'd seen in photos.

Riad Quara is the prettiest place - it's traditional in style but beautifully done. We were greeted with more mint tea and little baked goods, which I loved.

Amanda and I weren't just there to sit around and eat though, it was time to get stuck in. We were to make batbout (yes, what I'd just eaten!) and msemmen.

Chatting in a mix of French, Arabic and English, we got stuck in. Amazingly, I learnt that Moroccan home-cooks never measure their ingredients, they just sort of feel it. So we did the same.

All our utensils were basic, and it was so much fun.

Whilst Amanda had made everything before, as you can see, she was having a blast too.

Here are my batbout:

And here are my msemmen, which are sort of like pancakes but flakier:

Served warm with honey, they were a dream.

 

We packaged up the leftovers and I took mine home for my flatmates who I'm sure will concur that both the msemmen and batbout were equally delicious with nutella, if slightly less authentic.

Couscous

Next up, we went for a wander through the medina on to our next foodie stop.

I tell you what, I need to go back to Marrakech for a day of shopping as well as eating. It smelled of leather and spices and was just fascinating to me.

There were so many interesting things to look at and it was all so colourful, despite the fact that I was there on an uncharacteristically overcast day.

A couscous stop hadn't been in the original plan, but as we walked past one of Amanda's favourite spots, Chez Bakchich, she paused and asked me, "Do you want some couscous?"

Obviously my answer was in the affirmative. So in we went.

Guys, it turns out we in the western world are doing couscous all wrong. That stuff you buy in the supermarket that cooks in five minutes? Not legit.

Real couscous takes hours to make which is why it's only eaten on Fridays in Morocco, Friday being the holy day when people don't work.

We shared a delicious bowlful with some veggies on top. It was simple but oh-so tasty.

Oh, another thing we're doing wrong: serving tagine with couscous. Apparently, tagine should always be served just with some bread. Couscous is a meal in itself and should only be eaten with some simple veggies or meat. Who knew?

MEAT!

Having had our carbs and veggies, it was time for some meat. Amanda took me to this little place right in the middle of the medina, on Mechoui Alley, where we sat at a table on the rooftop, out of the hustle and bustle below.

Oh, but before we get on to the meat, I have to tell you something else hilarious: as we walked through the streets, multiple men on multiple occasions shouted "Hannah Montana" at me. So there's that.

Anyway, to the meat. We tried two different dishes, the first of which was Tangia:

Tangia is lamb (well, sheep actually, as they only ever eat the animal after it's at least two years old), cooked in a clay urn with olive oil, garlic and cumin amongst other spices. The pot is buried in the ashes of a hammam and left over night to cook. How cool is that?

It was tender and tasted to me, well, just incredibly Moroccan.

The second meat was Mechoui:

It was also sheep but served with the most delectable cumin salt. We ate both with more batbout (I was learning it's a real staple) and despite not being a huge lamb fan, I really enjoyed them, particularly the Mechoui.

Olives

I simply couldn't walk past these amazing dishes full of plump, juicy olives without stopping to try some.

And look! Just look at the pink ones! I'd never seen any like it.

So preeeeetty.

The green ones on the very left couldn't have been more freshly-picked, and it turns out all the olives were from the same tree - the pink ones had been left on the branches a little longer, and the black ones even longer than that. Who knew?! (Maybe you did, but I didn't.) 

We bought a bagful for me to take home (and eat as plane snacks, oops).

Henna

OK, not strictly food I'll admit, but when Amanda asked if I'd like to get some henna done I couldn't say no.

We did at least drink yet more tea as we had ours done.

I'd never had henna and found it both incredibly therapeutic and relaxing but also mesmerising to watch - the intricacy was incredible.

I also liked that the designs on offer were quite unusual and the henna itself was all natural and additive-free too.

Safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed feeling like a Moroccan princess back in London for the following week.

Smoothies and sweet treats

It had been, like, a whole hour without eating anything which quite frankly was outrageous so we went off in search of sugar.

Amanda took me to one of her favourite little cafes for a smoothie - Great, I thought. Something light and healthy.

I couldn't choose between the two on offer so Amanda kindly said she'd get me a mini one of each.

What does Amanda come back with? Two full-size smoothies (both for me), a plateful of traditional cakes and biscuits, and a sizeable slice of millefeuille.

Not quite the light, healthy snack I had in mind but unsurprisingly I was OK with it.

I mean, really.

The green smoothie was avocado and almond and was so thick I swear there must've been about three whole avocados in there. At first I was like hmm this is a bit weird but then I decided I loved it and oops, drank the whole thing.

The second smoothie was mixed fruit and yeah, managed to drink all that too.

The plate of delicacies was incredible - I can't remember everything we ate but there were little almond biscuits, sesame creations, chocolate dipped biscuits, chewy aniseed thingies and what was essentially a Jammie Dodger. 

As any good foodie would, I tried them all.

Quote Amanda: "You're the first person I've ever met who can keep up with my eating." What can I say? Eating is one of my best skills.

Spices, nuts and dried fruits

Our final stop of the day was one of the many little shops selling tea leaves, dried fruits, nuts and tons and tons of spices.

And look at all the dates!

Almost as many as I've been on this year waheyyyy.

I loved how the spices were presented and thought it was so lovely that the kind shop-owner let us try lots of different things before deciding what I wanted to buy and take home (cumin, medjool dates and peppermint tea leaves).

The end

And just like that it was time to head to the airport and wave farewell to Marrakech, Amanda and Youssef!

What an incredible, delicious, fascinating, fun and educational day it had been.

I feel overwhelmingly lucky to have been given the opportunity to go to Marrakech, eat all day and hang out with the awesome lady that is Amanda.

Massive thanks to Giraffe for inviting me, Wildcard PR for arranging everything, and Amanda for showing me round, feeding me and teaching me so much. 

It just goes to show you really can do a lot in a day. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling somewhat inspired to take advantage of living in a city like London where it's so easy to get to tons of interesting places.

I had eaten so many tasty things and learnt so much about Moroccan food, and in my books, food is pretty much the best part of travelling. I can't wait to see how Giraffe work some worldly inspirations into their new menu.

And if you only take one thing away from this post, I implore you to try amalou whenever you get the opportunity. You won't regret it.

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Gousto recipe box delivery (and two of the best dinners I've ever made!)

My life right now is a bit mad. Super good fun, but also mad. And one of the outcomes of this is that I basically don't cook anymore. 

I'm out every weeknight and then if I'm not away at the weekend, I'm usually busy with friends on Saturday evening too. Now, I don't tell you this to be like 'guys, look how busy and fabulous I am [insert sassy girl emoji here]', my point is that I'm never home to cook. 

Seriously, I don't cook. My poor spiraliser is gathering dust.

If I don't eat a proper dinner out, I'll eat a million canapés or cake at an event then come home confused about what I've eaten, late, and just have a little snack if anything. Last Monday night, for example, I basically had mini burgers and risotto balls for dinner. Delicious, if not so nutritious. 

It has got so bad that when I had my auntie and uncle over for dinner a few weeks ago and I properly cooked for the first time in yonks, I realised I couldn't remember how to chop an onion. I know. 

And I love cooking, I do! 

So when Gousto got in touch to say hi, I decided being forced to do some cooking would be a very good thing for me to do. 

Gousto is a recipe box delivery company, and what that means is you choose from 12 recipes (which change every week) and then get sent a box containing all the ingredients you need to make them, bar cooking oil, salt and pepper. 

The recipes are all inventive and interesting, and it's great because you can filter your recipe search in various ways, for example by "healthy" or "veggie". You can also choose whether you want each dish to serve two or four, and of course the prices vary accordingly. 

The recipe cards are great too - they take you through, step by step, with pictures and really clear instructions. Plus, you're given nutritional info, should you be interested. 

First, I made lentil dal with spiced aubergine. 

It was so so good! I am definitely making this again. The recipe was super easy to follow, although it did take nearly an hour rather than 45 minutes. I needed one pan, one tray, one bowl and one board. 

I loved this dish - it was super flavoursome, just the right amount of spice for me and the texture was lovely. There was a great tang from the yoghurt and lots of aubergine, which I loved. 

I tweaked a few bits - I left out the coriander (devil herb) and ginger, but it was still bursting with flavour.

The recipe made loads - I'd say five portions, and this from a gal who eats a lot - and the leftovers may have been even better than the freshly-made dal. 

It was healthy, simple and super delicious. My whole flat did smell of dal for the rest of the day, it has to be said, but it's debatable whether that's a bad thing or not tbh. 

My second dish was baked Mexican bean parcels with sweet potato and toasted brown rice. 

This was so different to anything I'd usually make, which was great. I find it's very easy to get stuck in a rut with one's cooking, and it's fun to mix it up. 

This recipe was really interesting. It was easy to follow again, but it did take me an hour and 15 minutes instead of 40. 

I loved all the flavours here - the tangy feta was so good with the sweet potato and creamy beans, and the peppers still had some bite, which I liked. There were so many textures going on. I did, however, find it really spicy! I know I'm feeble with spice so normal people would probably be fine but I struggled. 

Once again, the portions were huge. But I love meals where you can just whack a load of different things into a bowl and nom it all up together. 

Oh, I should say that you need a lot of foil for this recipe. I ran out, which made this a lot messier than it should have been. 

I absolutely loved my Gousto experience - both my recipes were the best things I've cooked in ages (OK, I know I barely cook but STILL!) and it was a great way to try something new. I'll definitely be making them both again. 

Would you do something like Gousto?

I was invited to try out Gousto but I wouldn't have written about it if I didn't totally love it. Brownie promise. 

Lunch at The Mae Deli by Deliciously Ella, London

My lunch at The Mae Deli was as fab as I'd been hoping. And having been following their Instagram account for a few weeks since before the deli opened, I had high hopes.

If you haven't heard of The Mae Deli yet allow me to introduce it - the deli-slash-café is the latest venture of Ella Woodward aka Deliciously Ella (aka my healthy eating crush.)

She's teamed up with her fiancé Matthew, hence Mae - Matthew And Ella.

It's no secret that I love Ella's recipes so I hot-footed it over to the deli as soon as I was back in London.


And I've now concluded that I need to move somewhere in London with close proximity to The Mae Deli. I blimmin' loved it (quelle surprise).

Just down from Marble Arch out of the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street, the deli is located on a pretty road full of other enticing-looking eateries and charming buildings.

It's beautifully decorated both outside and in, with two floors for hungry guests.






Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was packed when I arrived at around 1.15pm, but lots of the busy Londoners were getting boxes of deliciousness to go, and I only had to wait a few minutes for a spot to eat in.



The premise is simple for lunch and dinner: there are hot dishes and there are cold dishes. You can have a bowl of either hot or cold, or combine the two, and you can choose four different things to have in your bowl.



(Apparently bowl food is a big trend in the food world for 2016, in case you didn't know).

There're also many tempting breakfast options.


I went for a Mixed Mae and absolutely adored it (too strong an emotion for food? Meh). Choosing which four things to have wasn't easy but I sure loved it all. Here's what I ate (and just look at how wonderfully colourful it all is!)...


Maple-roasted sweet potatoes (with paprika and cumin too). OMG these are absolutely fantastic. They're cooked to perfection and thus almost creamy in texture and they're in this delightful sticky, smoky, sweet glaze. Ella (yes, she was in the deli herself) said they've become something of a staple and I can see why!


My hot choice was aubergine and chickpea stew which was absolutely divine. I really like mixing hot and cold foods too.


Broccoli and kale salad (which also featured Chinese cabbage) in a lovely dressing - simple and delish.


Beetroot houmous. This had the perfect texture and although the flavour wasn't super strong it complimented the other foods delightfully.

And there's a choice of three dressings/sauces - I went for maple-tamari.


I also really rather liked the colours left on my plate afterwards. OMG I really want to eat that lunch again.

It was my ideal kind of meal and words cannot express how much I enjoyed it. Afterwards I was full but pleasantly satisfied, rather than stuffed and bloated. And I suppose that's what Ella wants us all to learn - healthy food can be so delicious and full of flavour that it leaves you feeling awesome, satisfied and not bloated.

That's not to say I couldn't have wolfed down one of these brownies...


But I resisted because the deli prices aren't the cheapest and I am actually funemployed right now. It's not extortionate and I was more than happy to pay what I did, but until I'm earning some deece dollar (or someone else is treating me!) I may have to try and resist going to The Mae Deli every time I'm in London. Or, you know, not.

They also do fab-sounding smoothies and juices which were very tempting indeed.

The staff were charming and very friendly and the atmosphere was most pleasant. Did I mention I loved it?

As I left, I even unintentionally papped Ella taking a snap for the deli's Instagram account!


So perhaps unsurprisingly I thoroughly recommend a visit to The Mae Deli. And when you go, take me, yeah? (Please?!)

The Mae Deli is found at 21 Seymour Place, London, W1 5BH. Should you need me, that's probably where I'll be found too.