The "Bean Chillin' Burger"

The “Bean Chillin’ Burger”

I have a dear friend of mine, Joseph, who got me addicted to saying "Just Chilling" to the point where that became my catchphrase! My vlog "Just Chilling with Just Shanners" was therefore birthed from that catchphrase, and years later, I just cannot get "chilling" out of my vocabulary! I've decided to see how I can play around with that word in everything I do, so here we have the "Bean Chillin' burger", perfect for when you're just chilling with your vegetarian friends! Haha, ok I'll stop now.

Anyway, I had the privilege of hosting dinner for one of my dear friends from London. Initially, I intended to make braised beef and go all out with the meaty stuff, then I decided to ask if she was allergic to anything two days before she was supposed to come to my house. I felt myself go weak when she told me she was not allergic to anything but that she was vegetarian, which is strange because it's not like I'm addicted to meat or anything. So, I decided to get back to the drawing board, change my menu and make sure it accommodated her. My sister was in for a surprise as she assumed that when I said I was making burgers, they'd be beef burgers at least! Now she is addicted to meat (I said what I said). 

I made my friend and our other guests a lovely three-course meal, starting off with my favourite leek, potato and ginger soup, followed by the Bean Chillin burger, and then a "peanut butter banana ice cream" (dairy free and vegan-friendly, woot-woot!) for dessert! I'll share the recipe for the ice cream in a separate post, in the meantime let's get down to business!

Recipe Serves: 4 adults

Preparation time: 15min

Cooking time: 20min

Assembling time: 5min

Total time: 40min 

Ingredients

½ of 400g tin Black beans

½ of 400g tin Red kidney beans

½ of 400g tin Black eyed beans

2 tablespoons peas

2 tablespoons sweet corn

½ Onion

2 peeled garlic cloves

¼ green pepper

¼ red pepper

¼ yellow pepper
50g breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon steak seasoning

1 teaspoon all-purpose seasoning

2 tablespoons grated mature cheddar

Brioche burger buns

Burger sauce

Pickle

Rocket, spinach and watercress salad

1 large beef tomato

4 mature cheddar slices

Method

1. Place the black beans, black-eyed beans, red kidney beans, peas, sweet corn, onion, garlic cloves, green, red and yellow peppers in a food processor and blend
2. Lightly oil an oven tray and place it in a preheated oven at 200 C / Gas mark 5.
3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the egg, sea salt, mixed herbs, chilli powder, steak seasoning and all-purpose seasoning.
4. Stir the blended bean mixture into the large bowl with the egg. Add the breadcrumbs and mature cheddar cheese gradually, and mix until the mixture holds together and becomes sticky.
5. Divide the mixture into 4 patties. If you have time to spare, let them rest in the fridge for at least an hour to allow them to hold better. Otherwise, continue with the cooking process.
6. Spread a little bit of oil over each pattie before placing the oiled side down onto the baking tray. Spread a little bit of oil on the top side of each pattie, and bake for about 10 minutes on each side. Add a slice of mature cheddar cheese on top of each pattie and let it melt slightly while still in the oven. Once melted enough, take them out of the oven.
7. Spread a teaspoon of burger sauce on the bottom side of the brioche bun, add a teaspoon of pickle on top and place one pattie on it. Spread a teaspoon of burger sauce on the top side of the brioche bun and place a slice of tomato over it. Now add the spinach, cress and rocket salad on top of the patties and place the top bun. Serve while still hot.

TIP:

You may find that your mixture is falling apart when you're making a pattie. Try adding a little more breadcrumbs and also grate some cheddar which helps the pattie to stick together.

Chorizo Omelette - Father's Day brunch Special!

Father's Day brunch

It's Father's Day! That means I get to spoil my dad (as always 😉)  to a delicious meal. I enjoy spoiling my old man, and today I felt like making him something simple but scrumptious! Since I moved back home from uni, everything has been rearranged and it was a bit of a task getting around the kitchen cupboards to get what I needed! I opened the fridge and was so happy to find two of my favourite things in the world: chorizo and extra mature cheddar! My fridge suddenly feels heavenly (and in this heateavd, the cool air emanating from the fridge was truly a cosmic experience haha.

So I made chorizo, tomato and onion omelette, served with whole,eat bread (we're  doing this "healthy eating" thing in my house 🤗) but I cheekily spread some garlic and herb cream cheese on it for a bit of excitement! He absolutely loved it, and if anyone knows me very well, they know how much I value my dad's opinion on my cooking! Quite an achievement this 🙌🏾

Anyway, here goes:

For the egg "omelette":

Ingredients:

- 7 eggs
- a dash of milk
- a pinch of salt
- 1 whole white onion, chopped
- 2 slices extra mature cheddar cheese
- basil
- oregano
- 8 chorizo slices
- 5 cherry tomatoes sliced in half


Method:


1. Fry the onion and tomato in just a little bit of oil in a pan
2. Beat the eggs and add a dash of milk and a pinch of salt, whisk thoroughly and add to the pan
3. Immediately add 4 chorizo slices on top, and sprinkle dry basil and oregano dand allow to cook at very low heat 
4. Add bits of the cheddar on top, and add 4 more slices of chorizo on top the pan and transfer to the oven to cook the top part of the omelette
5. Once well cooked, serve
6. Sprinkle more basil to garnish or use fresh leaves instead

Serve with avocado and whole meal bread or whatever else you prefer.

Happy Father's Day 🤗

Teriyaki Chicken (served with rice and veg)

I'm such a huge fan of Asian Cuisine these days: from Indian (non spicey), to Chinese, to Japanese to Thai! Most of it has similarities here and there, but each nation has its own take on some dishes. Anyway, one of my favourites has to be teriyaki chicken! I was so amazed when I discovered just how easy it is to make, so I made it for the first time two days ago. Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

Chicken breast fillets (2 big ones) nicely diced
1 tablespoon Cooking oil
1/2 cup Soy sauce (light instead of dark if you don't want your chicken to come out dark)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 small garlic bulb, finely chopped
2 teaspoons All purpose seasoning
Salt and pepper

For the veg:

1 broccoli branch
Red bell peppers, sliced
Green bell peppers, sliced
1/2 a large white onion, sliced into moons
Mushrooms, sliced

Method:

1. Marinate the diced chicken breast in all purpose seasoning.
2. Pour the cooking oil into a large, non-stick pan and add the chicken
3. Stir fry for a minute and then add salt and pepper
4. Add the garlic and stir fry for a while longer
5. Stir fry until well cooked and then add the soy sauce, honey and sesame seeds
6. Once cooked, take the chicken out and leave the sauce in the pan
7. Add the vegetables all at once and stir fry. Avoid making them soggy
8. Strain out the sauce and use that with the chicken when you serve. The flavour of white onions will add an extra tastiness to your chicken

Leek, potato and ginger soup

This delicious soup is both hearty and super nutritious, and with each spoonful, you can almost taste each nutrient breaking down in your mouth! 😋
It is perfect for ANY day and can be enjoyed in any season. Its is rather easy to make and should take approximately 20 minutes including prep time. This recipe serves 6.

Ingredients

Ingredients

You will need:

Cooking oil (about a tablespoon or two)
1/2 white onion, sliced or diced
1/2 red onion, sliced or diced
3 medium/large potatoes, cubed
2 medium leeks, sliced
1 medium Garlic bulb
1 teaspoon All Purpose seasoning
fresh ginger (about 5cm)
1 litre of vegetable stock (you can mix 3 veg cubes with hot water to make this)
150ml single cream or crème fraîche
A pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper
Optional freshly ground black pepper and chives to garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large and deep pan, and add the onions, potatoes, garlic, ginger and leeks. Stir fry for 5 minutes or until they start to soften.
2. Add the vegetable stock to the pan and bring to the boil. Season well with salt, pepper and All Purpose seasoning, and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Make sure you stir it regularly so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. Once well cooked and mashy, pour it all in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Return it to the hob in a clean pan, stir in the cream or crème fraîche, and make sure it's nice and hot again before you serve.
5. Garnish with chives and freshly ground black pepper (Optional)

Bon appetit

Refreshing Homemade Lemonade

Want to make this delicious, refreshing drink from just 3 ingredients that are most likely already in your kitchen? 

I stumbled upon this recipe on food.com because I couldn't be bothered to walk to the store to buy some lemonade, and it's a healthier alternative to the store bought version anyway! Last week, I bought 15 lemons (don't ask), and I'd only used 3 of them until today. So, instead of spending money on lemonade (which has loads of sugars in it), I decided to make my own! It is perfect for the current beautiful weather, bbq weekend with your friends and family, and it's super easy to make,you'll want to do this all the time!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar (original recipe said 1, I reduced it so it's healthier. Can substitute with honey too)

1 cup water

6 lemons

3 cups cold water

strawberries, limes and mint (optional garnish)

To get the most juice out of my lemons, I soaked them in hot water for 2 minutes, then rolled them before slicing. The juice just came out so easily with minimal effort.

Method:

1. Pour the sugar and 1 cup water into a saucepan and boil until sugar has completely dissolved and you're left with a syrup.
2. Squeeze lemon juice into a cup, 6 lemons should get you a full cup of juice
3. Pour the sugar syrup into a carafe or jug, and add the lemon juice
4. Pour the 3 cups of water, mix and refrigerate for about 1 hour

Depending on how strong you want your lemonade to be, you may add more lemon juice and more water to reduce sweetness. Slice some strawberries and lime, and grab a few mint leaves to garnish your lemonade. These soak up the lemonade and add extra flavour to the juice, particularly lime. 

If you want to try something different, add grenadine syrup to your lemonade to make an even sweeter and exotic tasting beverage! Mind you, though, that adds to your daily sugar intake, so always make sure you watch how much you're drinking if you're on a weightloss diet! Enjoy

Lemonade with grenadine syrup

Roast Chicken Thighs with Creamy Pepper Sauce

So I did it! I made my first YouTube cooking video! To say the least, it's not really professional or extremely amazing or anything. I was experimenting and I did it all by myself using my phone - which was a bit tricky. However, I'm well pleased with the result. This is only the beginning; it can only get better!

Roast Chicken Thighs with Creamy Pepper Sauce

So, I made roast chicken with creamy pepper sauce served with a vegetable and sweet potato stir-fry. Something completely different! Serves 2 people.


For the chicken - Ingredients:

Two chicken thighs with skin on (remove skin if you don't want the fatty bits)

Half red, green and orange or yellow bell peppers (cut horizontally so it creates full circular cuts as shown in the video below)

1/4 Leek

Salt

All purpose seasoning

Lemon or lemon juice

Garlic or garlic powder

Method:

1. Marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours in salt, all purpose seasoning, garlic and squirt some lemon juice on it. You can use different marinade if you prefer.

2. 2 hours later (once the chicken has marinated well) Cover up a roasting tray with foil paper, grease it with like two drops of oil or so (you don't want too much oil as the chicken has its own fat too), then turn on the oven at 180 degrees

3. Place the chicken thighs on the tray and leave it to roast.

4. Occasionally check the chicken and turn it over after one side has browned. Now place the sliced peppers and leek on top towards the end of the roasting (so that they do not burn)


For the vegetable and sweet potato stir-fry - Ingredients:

1 courgette sliced and then sliced again in half

1 large sweet potato, diced

1/2 leek, sliced

1/2 red, green and orange/yellow bell peppers each, diced


Method:

1. Boil the sweet potatoes in salted water for about 5 minutes or until they're cooked but not soft

2. Grease a non-stick pan with a little bit of oil and add the courgette, leek and mixed peppers while the sweet potatoes are still boiling to give them a "head start"

3. Now add the sweet potatoes to the stir-fry once they're cooked but not too soft

4. Add seasoning of your choice and stir-fry for about 5 minutes or so.


Creamy Pepper Sauce:

I used a store-bought powder which is absolutely delicious! You'll need:

Creamy Pepper Sauce powder

200ml milk

Method:

1. Mix the powder with the milk thoroughly then pour into a non-stick pot or sauce pan

2. Boil the two until thick

3. Pour on top of the chicken and bon appetit! You might not want to pour the sauce on the stir-fry as I did. Although it was yummy overall, aesthetically it wasn't as great after all!

Below is the YouTube video showing what I did. Serve with a beverage of your choice!

Stuffed Butternut Squash with Green vegetables

Ingredients:
Butternut squash - sliced in half and seeds removed
Chicken breast - sliced into thin strips 
Okra - diced
Bell peppers (red, yellow, green) - sliced into strips not diced
White onion - sliced into strips
Large mushroom - sliced into small pieces 

***Wash your ingredients before preparation, taking great care especially with raw chicken***
1. Grease an oven tray or tin, layered with foil, very lightly. Place half of the butternut squash on to the oven tray in a preheated oven at 150 degrees, with the skin facing up, and pull back one side of the foil so it comes to cover the squash

2. Leave it in there for 15 minutes, checking regularly. I'd advise piercing the skin (butt) in order to make sure heat goes all the way through to the centre

3. After 15 minutes, open the foil and turn the squash over from its butt to face upwards. Do not replace foil unless the squash hasn't cooked on that side yet. In that case, cover it again for another 5 minutes. Uncover the squash and reduce the heat to 100. Allow it to brown for 3-5 minutes then switch off the stove. 

4. Heat up a pan with a little bit of oil and add the onion, peppers, okra and mushroom to it. Stirfry it for a good 3 minutes. 

5. Add the chicken and let it cook together with the vegetables. Let it be for about 5 minutes (or until cooked), then add soy sauce, salt and a seasoning of your choice. 

6. Take out the butternut squash and serve on a plate. If there's no ridge in the middle of the squash, create one using a dessert spoon. The squash should be soft and slightly mushy by now, therefore it should be relatively easy to remove bits. Now add the chicken stirfry onto the space on the butternut squash. Bon appetit. 👌

Roast Pork Chop with Aubergine and Plantain

"Yum!" is an understatement...

I'm crazy about food and I'm ALWAYS experimenting! I break limits or "norms" when it comes to food and my palate loves that excitement!It's not uncommon at all, but instead of dicing aubergine the way people typically do, I stuffed it instead! Served with oven baked plantain and roast pork chop, it was a very yummy meal with different flavours that worked well together.

Ingredients:

1/2 aubergine, the round side

1/4 green, yellow and red peppers

one egg

salt

seasoning

garlic clove

1 plantain

1 pork chop

olive oil

Method:

                            

1.  Slice up your plantain into extremely thin slices and place them on an oven tray. Let them bake while you prepare everything else. Cut out the flesh in the middle of the aubergine as shown in the images above

2. Dice up the peppers and chop the garlic as shown above

                                          

3. Stirfry the peppers and egg on the side (as it takes forever to cook inside the aubergine) Stuff the aubergine with the stirfry, add a bit of oil, seasoning and oregano. Season the pork chop with desired seasoning, and add extra peppers on to it for flavour. Bake the aubergine along with the pork chop at a low heat to ensure it cooks well. Increase heat later to brown. Bon Appetit!

Budget Student Meals - Plantain Stirfry

Being a student, especially one who lives away from home, can be tough. You have to start budgeting for all your needs with the hopes of having sufficient disposable income for hobbies and "wants". Not everyone has parental support or a part time job to tide them over, and for some it's an absolute nightmare when student finance thinks they don't deserve a grant and to make it worse, the student loan isn't even enough to pay rent.
The most neglected aspect of life for many students is eating good. Some resort to instant noodles and bread when times are tough, probably because they don't know how to cook or they can't afford proper food. Well, proper food is actually very cheap if you know where and how to shop wisely. It's especially easier if you're not fussy about food or if you haven't got special dietary needs. Today I'm going to share with you one meal that's easy to cook and that won't leave you with rolls of fat on your belly!

Time to cook - 15 mins including preparation
Total Dinner Cost - £1.15 (rounded up)

Ingredients:

1 plantain, diagonally sliced into oval shaped pieces (bought 3 for £1)
1/4 red bell pepper, diced (bought in a pack of 4 for £1)
1/4 yellow pepper, diced (price as above)
1/4 green pepper, diced (price as above)
1/5 large onion, sliced in half moons (bought in a pack of 3 for £1)
1/2 Aubergine (2 for £1)
Sea salt (99p 500g shaker)
Seasoning (Aromat, 59p 200g shaker)
Vegetable cooking oil (£5 for 5ltrs on sale)

Method:

1. Heat up 1 tablespoon (10ml) oil in a pan

2. add aubergine and peppers and stir for a minute or two

3. add the onion and stir for another minute or two

4. add the plantain but don't stir it for about a minute to allow it to slightly brown - stir everything else though to avoid burning

5. add your salt and seasoning, then stir everything until well cooked.

Note: for those who have no clue how to cook, to know if it's done, it changes colour by darkening. That means aubergine will no longer look like a white rubber but more of a dark, greyish, soaked colour, and the plantain will be predominantly yellow with brown, and the peppers and onions will also look slightly soaked/soggy.

My favourite Tanzanian Dish - Chipsi Mayayi

 Chipsi Mayayi served with green beans with white onions, mushrooms with garlic and basil, tomato with oregano and a slice of garlic bread

"Chipsi Mayayi" is an omelette made with chips. It is not your typical healthy food due to the method used to make it, but it is sooo delicious! The beauty of omelettes is that you can add many different things to it, and I plan to experiment as I go. Chipsi mayayi is quite common in Tanzania and I learnt of the dish when I visited Tanzania in 2014. It is quite simple to make.

Ingredients:

1 Potato (or ready made oven-baking chips like Aunty Bessie's)
3 eggs
salt
seasoning
olive oil

Method:

1. Bake the chips in the oven until well cooked but not soggy or too sfot

2. Heat up a little bit of oil (2 table spoons max in an 8 inch non-stick pan)

3. Beat the eggs thoroughly and add salt and seasoning

4. Add the chips into the frying pan, making a layer with gaps for the egg to seep through

5. Now add the eggs into the pan, making sure they cover the chips completely

6. Once cooked on one side, turn the omelette over, taking care not to break it. If it breaks, it's not the end of life

7. Let the other side cook for about a minute or two, then serve.

You can garnish your Chipsi Mayayi with anything from cucumbers and ketchup to (as I did), green beans, mushrooms and tomato.

Garnish Ingredients:

1 small packet Green beans
half a white onion, sliced in quarter moons
Handful of mushrooms, sliced
4 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Oregano
Basil
Garlic clove chopped, or garlic powder
Salt
Aromat seasoning (or All purpose Seasoning)
Oil

Method:

1. Grease a non-stick pan and heat up for a while

2. Place the tomatoes flat side down onto the pan and allow to lightly cook. Sprinkle oregano and salt then turn them over for a minute or two

3. Put the tomatoes in a side bowl or plate and add a drop of oil to the pan if necessary. Add the mushrooms and sprinkle garlic/garlic powder, salt and basil. Let it cook for two minutes or until well cooked. Again, add to a separate side plate or bowl

4. Add a little more oil if necessary, then place the green beans and white onions into the frying pan. sprinkle some salt and seasoning. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes and add basil towards the end.

5. Place the green beans and onion on top of the omelette, followed by the mushrooms, and finally, the tomatoes. 

Bon Appetit