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Katya’s grocery haul left-overs

Katya Alban teaches readers how to use their creative cooking skills to make forgotten ingredients tasty again

Before being unexpectedly evicted from St. John’s College, I did a big Tesco shop and got a whole load of incredible items in the reduced section – hence the honey roasted salmon flakes. The next source of inspiration came from a friend’s love of cardamom which has now transferred onto me. It has added depth to my cooking and I recommend it in pretty much any recipe. After arriving home and perusing the kitchen I stumbled upon several long forgotten condiments, such as the chilli chutney included below. This recipe is the result of my attempt to make a creative dish with the ingredients I found at home. 

Katy’s grocery haul left-overs: Honey roasted salmon flakes in mixed-bean Asian smoky-sweet spiced vegetable stew with walnuts   

Serves 4

*measurements are not 100% exact as I tend to eyeball ingredients, so adjust to your taste. 

Ingredients: 

 2 packs of Tesco honey roasted salmon 

1 can mixed beans

½ can tomatoes 

⅓ cup capers to taste (these give the dish a great salty undertone)

Garlic cloves x3 to taste

1 cup of chopped walnuts (add at the end)

 ½ bag of spinach (a big bag – this wilts down a lot) 

1 courgette 

1 aubergine 

4 small red onions 

1 tbsp vegetable oil 

Spices/ condiments:

3 tbsp nutritional yeast (adds cheesy flavour and packed full of vitamins) 

1-2 tbsp sweet soy sauce to taste

Pinch of salt 

1 tbsp smoked paprika

Black pepper to taste

½ vegetable stock cube 

2 tbsp spicy chilli chutney 

3-4 cardamom pods

 Method:

1.  Peel and cut the onions, finely dice the garlic, cut up the aubergine or courgette into medium-sized chunks.

2.  Add some oil to a pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry until somewhat transparent slightly browned. (Cook for longer if you want it caramelized.) 

3.  Add courgette, aubergine and the dry spices (stock cube, paprika, pepper to taste, and cardamon pods).

4.  Cook for 10-15min, continuously stirring, or until soft and cooked through. 

5. Add ½ can of tomatoes once the vegetables are soft or even charring slightly, then start gradually adding handfuls of spinach, allowing it to wilt down.

6. Add the soy sauce, spicy chili chutney and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Adjust spices according to taste (I added more paprika at this point.) 

7. Add the nutritional yeast and serve! 

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