Posted by When it’s cold outside, possibly raining, it’s hard to think about what a healthy winter warmer lunch could be, let alone muster the courage to spend time in the kitchen making lunch for the next day when you’ve only just cooked your dinner.
But this quick and easy winter warmer lunch will have your taste buds tickled and won’t be a labour of love for your lunch.
This cottage buy recipe contains no meat, so it’s great for those who eat meat and don’t want that heavy feeling after lunch and also perfect for vegetarians. Simply microwave well to reheat this meal and it will be the perfect lunchtime comfort you need when it’s too cold to pop out for a boring old sandwich that you won’t enjoy anyway. So read on for the recipe.
Ingredients:
350g Quorn mince
1 tbsp olive oil (Quorn just needs to be added to the sauce, so the recipe requires about 50% less oil than you would usually use)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
100g frozen peas or mixed veg
400ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp salt reduced soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste in 1 tbsp cold water
700g potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
225g parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180C.
2. Boil the potatoes and parsnip until almost fully cooked and then drain and leave to one side.
3. Heat oil in the pan and saute onions and carrot.
4. Add the Quorn Mince, frozen veg, stock, tomato puree, soy sauce and salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on a simmer and then add make cornflour into a paste with the tablespoon of cold water and add to this pan. Continue to simmer this, stirring all the time, until thick and creamy. Place in an oven proof dish.
5. Take the cooled boils veg and mash adding milk until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread this on top of the Quorn mince in the oven proof dish and use a fork to fluff up the mash on the top.
6. Bake in the oven for a further 20 minutes until the top has crisped up a little.
7. Serve with a side of fresh vegetables.