haricot and roast veggie wraps
Last week London shivered under the first real breath of autumn. Though I think autumn will for ever mean the new school year and new shoes for me, increasingly it also means trying to heap my plate with food that satisfies the cold spot under my ribs and makes me yearn for seconds. This recipe is adapted from The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild and it is unbelievably delicious and makes enough to keep a pair of skinny bod like Matthew and I eating like kings for days.
ingredients:
1--2 large garlic cloves
1--2 red bell peppers, diced
2 small zucchinis, sliced into long thin noodles
2 baby eggplants, diced
1/2 butternut squash, diced
1 medium red onion, diced
ground cumin, pinched to taste
1 tin haricot beans (or equivalent re-hydrated)
the necessary extras:
some 9-inch flour tortillas
generous grating of cheddar, Gruyere or other melty cheese (vegan cheese works well here)
spinach
fresh coriander
salsa
guacamole
sour cream
method:
In a large pan heat up the olive oil. Mince and add the garlic and lightly saute for about 30 seconds. Add all the veggies at once, saute for 8--10 minutes, until only just tender. Do take care to have all the vegetables prepped before you start on the garlic. My speed dicing skills exist only in my imagination and that's how garlic gets burned. Mix in the cumin and saute for 2--3 minutes, until vegetables are tender.
In a small bowl, coarsely mash up the beans with a fork. If you are preparing these from scratch, as it were, it helps to give them a good last boil while the veg is sauteing so that they're easier to mash up.
Preheat your grill (or broiler) to medium-high heat to soften the tortillas. I tend to use a baking sheet and layer them so they overlap a bit to do this. When the edges begin to curl, remove and spoon out some of the veggie mixture, add a layer of the beany mash, spinach and cheese, and a sprinkle of coriander, then wrap up. Flip them over so that the open side in face down and return to the grill to melt down the cheese, which acts as a seal.
Serve with heaps of guacamole and salsa to great applause and delight.
If you're feeling adventurous, roasting the vegetables instead of sauteing them is lovely. You'd just need to brush them with some oil and then stick them under the grill for a while.
(Sorry the pictures are so poor. My camera seems to have started protesting lately.)
Comments