It’s not often that I quote lyrics from 90s pop songs (although I still probably do it more than is socially acceptable) but sometimes you really do need to spice up your life. So here I am folks to tell you how to make your boring meals more exciting, your life more interesting and how to lose 12kgs in 3 days!!*
*Some or all of these results are not guaranteed, and are in fact unlikely, to occur. But you will have a great side dish to keep you warm as winter slowly closes in.
Spicy mashed potatoes
*chop 1/2 a red onion, a few cloves of garlic and 1 red or green pepper (or use a pinch of dried chillis). Fry up on medium heat for about 5 minutes,or until everything is cooked through and smells fragrant
*peel and chop 4 potatoes (or as many as you want), boil in salted water until tender but not overcooked
* add everything in to the same bowl then mash with grated cheese, milk and butter
Chipotle mashed cauliflower (recipe adapted from http://kristaandjess.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/chipotle-mashed-cauliflower/)
*steam or boil 1 head of cauliflower (chopped) until well cooked and soft
*add cauliflower to a bowl with 30-40g butter, a handful of grated cheese and 1 Tbsp finely chopped chipotles (this is about 1 – 1 and a half chiptoles) and mash
Notes on the above:
*you should be able to buy chipotles in adobo at a mexican/spanish friendly food shop
*don’t be tempted, as I was, to use more chiptoles than suggested. They are HOT
*you’ll quickly realise you have a ton of leftover chipotles, luckily they freeze fantastically, just chuck them in a container or freezer bag and defrost when needed
*the recipe I used also suggested grilling the mashed cauliflower with extra butter and cheese until golden brown. It is a good suggestion, I was just so hungry I didn’t even see it. I’m trying it next time
You may have noticed that both of these recipes are for mash. Therefore another appropriate pop song reference in this case is: do the mash. Although I don’t know how Bobby Picket would feel about being compared to the Spice Girls. Or vice versa actually.
If you try any of my recipes let me know how they go, I’m interested to find out!
A Day In The Food 