Meal Planning 2014 - Aduki Bean Pie recipe

We are into our second month of meal planning now and things are starting to get a bit more tricky. Most of the nice munchy food pressies we got over Christmas (tins of biscuits/chocolates/sweets) have gone and the store cupboards and freezer stores are starting the thin down as I am using things up and not able to replace them instantly.  I guess it's only going to get harder from here.

On the bright side the Aduki beans from last week are going down well - I will be using the other half of the pie filling this week for one meal.  Here is the recipe I promised to share...

Aduki Bean Pie

Ingredients

450g cooked Aduki Beans (see here for slow cooker method) or 2 large cans, drained
2 onions, finely chopped
clove of garlic, crushed
2 large carrots, diced
large handful of frozen peas
large handful frozen sweetcorn (or small tin, drained)
500ml carton of passata
300ml veg stock
tsp dried herbs
salt and pepper

enough potatoes to make a mash topping for your dish ( I used about 1kg)
50-100g of good flavoured cheese, grated

Method

Peel and chop your potatoes up into small chunks. Add to a pan of salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for about 15-20mins until potatoes are soft enough to mash. Prepare mash in your own favourite way ( I like lots of pepper, butter and a splash of milk!).

Meanwhile heat a tbs or so of oil in a large pan and gently fry the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes then add the other veg and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the veg from browning.  Add the passata, vegetable stock, dried herbs and finally the aduki beans and give it a good stir. Allow to simmer for 10-15mins to allow all the veg to cook through. Season to taste.

Roo calls this 'Rainbow Pie' because it is so colourful :-)

Pour half the veg mix into an oven proof dish (the other half can be put into a freezer container when cooled and frozen to be used another day) . Top with your mashed potatoes and cheese and then bake in a hot oven (around 180c/Gas4) for about 20mins until all the cheese has melted and the top of your pie has browned.

This pie easily serves 4 good appetites for a wholesome, filling, frugal, vegetarian meal!


On to this week's meal plan...

Saturday

Veggie Sausage Casserole 

(should have been Friday's meal but I forgot to turn the slow cooker on to high... ooops)

Sunday

Lasagna and garlic bread

Monday

Veggie fingers with pasta, peas and sweetcorn

Tuesday

Homemade vegetable soup with crusty bread and cheese

Wednesday

Chicken Curry 

(from the freezer)

Thursday

Homemade fish cakes with mushy peas

Friday

Aduki Bean Pie

 This post has been linked up to 'At Home with Mrs M!' Meal Planning Monday - check out the linky for other meal planning ideas.