Happy Christmas!

So, I am currently writing this drinking Bailey's on ice and thinking about wrapping the last few presents before Father Christmas arrives tomorrow night. Christmas is the best time of the year. Ideally, it would be drawn out for another four weeks in order for me to actually have time to bake and cook everything in my head. 

Although it is a time for gluttony and decadence, in the run up to Christmas I actually like to eat as fresh as possible. That's why below I have included the recipe for a really quick dish I made for dinner this week. A white bean stew with spinach, mint and aubergine. Warming but fresh and a nice rest for the tummy from the stodge. It also works very well with left over Turkey thrown in for a post christmas dinner. 

I'm back in the Peak District this week, in actual fact, I've been here for nearly a week now. The annual visit to nearby Chatsworth house was exquisite and wouldn't be complete without a mince pie and a stop by the award-winning farm shop. 

I've been doing a lot of dog walking, visiting friends and family and getting some rest in before a hectic new year. 

I'm going to be part of a family team tackling the Christmas dinner this year. The course I have been designated is the pudding. In my opinion, the most difficult, but the best course. I've been weighing up a few options as people often don't feel the need for pudding after a huge christmas dinner. I will let you know how I get on and of course, I will do a post on the pudding I choose. 

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large white onion
2 crushed garlic cloves
200g of quinoa
600ml of chicken stock or water
1 can of butter beans
2 handfuls of spinach
1 small handful of mint leaves
1 lemon

 Method

Wash the quinoa is a fine sieve and place it in a pot with the stock, a pinch of salt and some ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and then turn down to a low heat and let this cook for around 10 minutes.
While this is cooking heat the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat, chop up the onion finely add a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes. Throw in the garlic for the last minute being careful not to burn it (nothing worse than burnt garlic).

Drain the quinoa if there is any excess water then, poor the onion mix into the quinoa and stir.
Wash the butter beans in a sieve and add into the quinoa with the spinach and a few tbsp of water. Cook for 10 minutes,, keep moving so that it doesn't burn on the bottom. 
Zest the lemon, finely chop the mint and throw these both plus the chilli flakes over the top and stir, then take it off the heat and serve.

Have a wonderful christmas & a happy new year!