Tuesday 11 March 2008

MM Vegetable nut crumble

When I asked E what he wanted for dinner tonight he asked for something with rice. So I decided to find an old favourite recipe from one of my first vegetarian cookbooks which of course was produced by the Australian Women’s Weekly.

I had been thinking of cooking something for Meeta’s Monthly Mingle. This month the theme is one dish dinners. It made me reflect on how my cooking style has changed. I used to be a one pot cook. If I couldn’t throw it all in one pot then it was too complicated. These days I struggle at the idea of having dinner in one pot because I want more vegetables. Often I made a salad or steam some vegetables so their taste is fresher and not hidden under a heavy sauce or swamped by carbs.

But Meeta has made me think I should resurrect some of the good one pot meals I used to make which have fallen by the wayside. (After all I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bathwater!)

This dish is great because it is so satisfying. It has all the elements of a meal in a casserole dish. Rice on the bottom, vegies in the middle and lots of proteins on top. The flavours are quite simple but it works. I was a bit unsure if by one dish dinners, Meeta meant that only one dish was to be used in preparation or one dish was to be served out of. This dish doesn’t fit the former but it fits the latter. What I love about dinner being served from one dish is that it can be prepared ahead or served up as leftovers without any extra effort.

Oh and not only am I not sure it fits the theme, but it is a day late – hope Meeta will still accept it! But I hope she might include it as it is a great recipe that I would recommend – I even got to make dessert while the crumble was cooking. Stay tuned for that one!

Vegetable Nut Crumble
(from AWW Vegetarian Cooking)
Serves 4

Rice layer:
1 cup brown rice
1 tsp vegetable stock powder
1 egg

Vegetable layer:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped
125g broccoli, chopped
125g cauliflower, chopped
425g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 cup tasty cheese, grated

Crumble topping:
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup breadcrumbs made of stale wholmeal bread
1 cup unsalted mixed nuts, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Place brown rice and stock cube in large saucepan of boiling water. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until rice is cooked. Drain. Mix rice and egg. Spread in the bottom of a 2 litre dish (mine is about 22 x 22 cm square - update June 2014 - made this again and found a larger rectangular lasagne dish worked better).

While rice is cooking, fry onions in oil for 2-5 minutes over medium heat. Add chopped vegetables, tin of tomatoes, parsley and herbs. Bring to boil and simmer for 7 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Spoon vegetable mixture over rice.

To make crumble, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. (Note: I found that I had a lot of crumble mixture and felt I could have used less but it did taste good.) Sprinkle vegetable mixture with cheese and then spread crumble over vegetables and bake in moderate oven for 20 minutes or til crumble is golden brown.

NOTES: Update April 2014 - made this tonight with carrot instead of cauliflower and kale pesto instead of parsley and herbs in tomato mixture (and no parsley in crumble topping - also sprayed with oil spray as well as mixing olive oil through).  Made it vegan by replacing egg in rice with 1 tbsp chia seeds and 3 tbsp water, and using Daiya vegan cheese.)  Also used 3 cups cooked brown rice mixed with 1 tsp stock powder rather than cooking rice in stock.) 

On the stereo:
She will have her way – the songs of neil and tim finn: various artists

17 comments:

  1. My favorite kind of meal is a one-pot or one-pan, as they just seem so much easier. I also love having so many different flavors and textures in each bite. And how lucky is E, that you're so accommodating about dinner?!

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  2. Definitely saving this recipe! Looks delicious, easy and healthy. :) My kind of weeknight meal. I love how in the ingredient list you wrote "1 cup tasty cheese".

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  3. I love one pot meals! Maybe one day I will achieve two pot greatness... in the meantime though, great recipe!

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  4. thanks Ricki - I love salads or vegies on the side but when it comes to leftovers I am happy if it is all in one pot. I can't say I am accommodating to E everyday but some days yes, and some days he helps me narrow down what to cook when I can't make a decision!

    thanks Ashley - hope you try this recipe - it is a great weeknight meal. I just wrote tasty cheese from the cookbook - it is fairly normal here - is it very normal for you too or not at all normal???

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  5. thanks Lisa - what I usually do is two pot complications and make more dishes :-)

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  6. Johanna,
    I still say E is lucky (but then if I recall correctly from earlier entries, he has his own task in the kitchen, right?). Re: your comment on my blog--I think there was a glitch with Wordpress. The photos should be back up now (for what would a food blog entry be without photos, after all?) :)

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  7. Oh my! A veggie crumble this is sensational. A perfect entry!

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  8. I don't know why, but I rarely cook one-pot meals, except for soup, (does that even count?) You've got me reconsidering the value of the one-pot meal, however, with this healthy and delicious veg nut crumble.

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  9. Such a healthy meal! I love the convenience, I always try do just 1 dish ^_^

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  10. thanks Ricki - actually E gets a lot of brownie points for his washing up work! (although tonight I had to insist on soup from the freezer because it was so hot)

    thanks Meeta - I am so pleased my humble crumble with be welcome at your mingle!

    thanks Susan - I did wonder about if soup was a one pot meal - I think it is although we often have bread with it and that made me swither!

    thanks Rita - I agree with you that one pot meals are great convenience food - and we all need some of those recipes up our sleeves!

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  11. this looks SOO good! thanks for sharing!

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  12. Looks good Johanna! Ilked the idea of the rice on the bottom, it must have caught all the flavour!

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  13. thanks Lambrina

    thanks Holler - you are right about the rice soaking up the flavour - I had to restrain myself from adding more flavouring but it was quite enough

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  15. This was delicious. Perfect meal for a busy Tuesday night. We're not cauliflower fans so I used green beans and corn instead. Plenty for supper and another meal into the freezer.

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  16. thanks Julie - glad you enjoyed - this is a recipe where you can put in any vegetables that take your fancy or are in season - I love a bit of cauliflower but know it isn't everyone's thing!

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  17. I made this in high school, 1992. So glad I found it here. I use any vegetables, skip the egg and combine the rice with veg.

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