Coronation Chickpeas (a year late)

 Ok, so it's now a year since Charles was crowned and I first heard of the concept of Coronation Chickpeas. It's somehow waited until now for me to try them. I certainly won't be leaving it long to make the next batch - it was yummy!

I looked at several recipes and settled on an amalgam of them with some tweaks of my own - I didn't fancy the raisins that many had in, and I felt some garlic would help things along tremendously. Next time I'll add some lemon juice and chopped coriander - I had intended to add those but they somehow never made it into the bowl.

Ingredients

Chickpeas - 1 can drained, or 125g dried, soaked, cooked and drained 

Mayo - 3 tbsp (vegan or not, as you wish)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

20g mango chutney

2 tsp curry powder (I used a mild Madras)

3 soft dried apricots, chopped into 5mm pieces 

Method

Mash 2/3 of the chickpeas roughly in a bowl. Add mayo, garlic, mango chutney, curry powder and apricots and stir well. Add the rest of the chickpeas and stir again. Add salt if you think it needs it.

If you're going to add a squeeze of lemon and some chopped coriander, this would be the time to do it, and stir again. 

Fab as a sandwich filling or on toast.

Roosevelt Beans (vegan version)

 At Roosevelt Lodge in Yellowstone National Park, a few years back, I had Roosevelt Beans, which the server assured me were “completely vegan”. They were delicious, but when I looked at the recipe card she gave me afterwards, they did not appear to be vegan at all. Sure, there were lots of beans in there - but, disappointingly, also rather a lot of meat. So, I had a go at making a fully vegan version. After a few attempts, this is the recipe I’ve settled on. I’ve also omitted the sugar from the original recipe as it was weirdly sweet.

Ingredients:

300g onions, chopped

30mL olive oil

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

450g frozen soya mince

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 tbsp whole grain mustard 

2 400g cans butter beans, drained

1 400g can baked beans

1 400g can kidney beans in chilli sauce (or taco beans in sauce)

1 400g can kidney beans (not in sauce), drained

400 mL water

8 tbsp tomato purée

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry onion in olive oil gently for 10 mins until translucent and soft; add the garlic and fry another 1-2 mins. Add the soya mince, smoked paprika, mustard and stir well for another couple of minutes. Add all the beans, the water and tomato purée and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 mins or so. Add salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy with a green vegetable and rice.

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