Cookathon Vegetable Pie & my love for nut butter!

Cookathon Vegetable Pie & my love for nut butter!

I hope you’re all having a great weekend! Unbelievably I’ve nearly eaten a whole jar of crunchy almond butter since my delivery on Friday! 😮  I guess it’s a lesson learnt that when you find something you like, you shouldn’t then buy a cheaper version! You couldn’t imagine how different two jars could be! They are both natural versions with no added ingredients but in my eyes one company certainly has the upper hand! Oh… maybe that’s my hand in the jar again! 😛 It’s been added to porridge, cookies and pancakes AND I’ve even had a spoonful or two straight out of the jar!!! 😀 If you’re reading this #Meridian your almond butter (crunchy or smooth I’m not fussed) is the best out there! 🙂 Over the years I’ve had my fair share of nut butters – almond, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, brazil nut (sorry I’m not a peanut butter fan) and I’ve decided almond butter is my favourite BUT most definitely Meridian almond butter! 😀

Almond butter Meridian WM

Anyway, as promised in my last post, we made the #BigCookathon mixed vegetable pie. I’ve posted the original version from their website here…

Us girlies made this at our lunch this week and it went down very well! The idea is to get everyone (including children) cooking a healthy meal together from scratch and a specific recipe is given. Almost all LifeDietHealth recipes are self-made so following a recipe is always going to be tricky but we stuck to the recipe as much as possible with a few tweaks to make it vegan and processed free (no stock cubes in our kitchen). There’s still time to join the Cookathon and whip up this delicious dish (or a meat version if you prefer)! The Cookathon event runs until tomorrow (25th April) but this was so tasty it will get made again and again in our house! 🙂 Don’t be put off by the seemingly long list of ingredients! Have a look at the original recipe and you will see I’ve listed all of the vegetables separately, listed the mashed potato ingredients individually and replaced the *stock cube with a mix of spices to make it as minimally processed as possible! 🙂

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Big Cookathon Mixed Veg Pie (vegan & Free-From)

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Gather

  • 1.5kg potatoes peeled and chopped
  • 250ml warm milk (I use unsweetened carton coconut)
  • 30g coconut oil (melted)
  • salt to taste for the mashed potatoes
  • 10g coconut oil
  • 2 medium onions diced
  • 1 (150g) medium courgette chopped
  • 4 (250g) medium carrots chopped
  • 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes (chopped)
  • 30g (2 tablespoons) tomato puree
  • 250ml boiling water
  • *1 teaspoon paprika
  • *1 teaspoon Cajun spice
  • *1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
  • *1/4 teaspoon garlic granules
  • *1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • *salt to taste (I use pink Himalayan)
  • 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (*use 2 if using a stock cube)
  • 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
  • 100g frozen peas
  • 100g frozen sweetcorn
  • 1 x 400g butter beans (drained)
  • 1 x 400g chick peas (drained)
  • 30g grated cheese (optional) {I use vegan parmesan}
  • sprinkle of chives (optional) 

Prepare

  1. Boil the potatoes until tender, drain, add the warmed milk with melted coconut oil and mash until smooth. Add salt to taste and set aside.
  2. While the potatoes are cooking you can start making the vegetable mix. Melt the coconut oil and add the onions, cooking until just stating to brown. If using fresh vegetables add these next and cook until softened.
  3. Add the tinned tomatoes.
  4. Stir the tomato puree into the boiling water, (if using a stock cube instead of my mix of spices add this here too plus 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar) and add the paprika, cajun, chilli, garlic, pepper, salt and balsamic vinegar. Pour this into the vegetable mix and stir. Cover and allow to cook until the sauce reduces.
  5. Add in the frozen peas and sweetcorn (or other frozen veg), followed by the pulses (beans and chickpeas). Stir and allow to cook through before doing a quick taste check. Adjust the seasoning as necessary – remember the flavours will develop in the oven.
  6. Pour into an ovenproof dish then top with the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle over the cheese if using and dust the top with chives. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes at Gas 5 (375f / 190c) until brown and crispy.
  7. Enjoy!

Serve & Store

  • As this contains all your protein, carbs and definitely your five a day we ate it just as it was (the first time)!
  • Alternatively serve with a fresh salad (the second time we had this).
  • Try with a side of crusty garlic bread.
  • Add some more vegetables such as steamed broccoli or sugar-snap peas.
  • Refrigerate an uncooked pie covered for three days, then cook for 45-60 minutes.
  • Refrigerate a cooked pie for three days and reheat thoroughly (or eat cold).
  • Can be frozen (cooked) for up to a month.

No Comments

  • Chocolate, Calcium & Cookathon! All vegan! | Life Diet Health 24th April 2016 at 15:11

    […] there are prizes to win too (if you register) so Let’s Get Cooking! I’m hoping to post the recipe and photos over the weekend so you get to see our […]

    Reply
  • wholerealfoodblog 24th April 2016 at 21:01

    I’m a big fan of eating nut butters straight out of the jar as well!

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 24th April 2016 at 22:12

      Glad I’m not the only one! 😛 What’s your favourite nut butter?

      Reply
      • wholerealfoodblog 7th May 2016 at 14:45

        I think almond butter, like you! So good!

        Reply
        • Life Diet Health 7th May 2016 at 14:59

          🙂 Absolutely! I’m playing with a new almond butter muffin recipe at the minute… yumyum!

          Reply
  • Sophie33 10th May 2016 at 09:22

    I love nut butters a lot too but make them myself in my beloved Vitamix,…it is so easy to do & much cheaper!

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 10th May 2016 at 17:25

      Sophie I don’t have a vitamix 🙁 My blender isn’t powerful enough to make nut butter – I even borrowed a VERY noisy machine from my friend but still it didn’t work! I don’t want to add any oil and all the recipes in a normal blender say to add oil.

      Reply
      • Sophie33 10th May 2016 at 17:27

        yes, that is so or try a good food processor!

        Reply
        • Life Diet Health 10th May 2016 at 17:58

          I need to buy something else first… then we can get a new blender! The one we have is quite good (it’s a blender and a food processor) just not quite good enough for lovely smooth nut butter!

          Reply

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