“Go vegetable heavy. Reverse the psychology of your plate by making meat the side dish and vegetables the main course. ~ Bobby Flay
So, since I’ve been unwell recently, and diagnosed first with an underactive thyroid and then with a vitamin D deficiency, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with the nutritional values of absolutely everything we eat and making sure that we’re getting everything we need.
And when I say a little bit obsessed I mean I’ve started substituting Nigella seeds for black pepper because they contain twice as many vitamins and minerals.
So we’ve been eating a lot of vegetables. All of the vegetables that I can think will go into whatever it is I’m making.
I was playing kitchen tetris for nearly half an hour after our Ocado delivery on Monday I’d ordered that many vegetables – for just the two of us.
And yet my GP on Tuesday wanted to send me to a group to learn about the importance of good nutrition and how to incorporate vegetables into my diet – go figure.
Anyway, I’ve also been trying to include more fish in our dishes, and this led to the creation of my fish and every vegetable that was in the fridge tagine, which was really, really tasty.
Ingredients
The quantities here are all approximate as I was measuring by sight.
> 1 x diced white onion
> 1 x fresh diced fish pie mix – ours contained salmon, haddock, and coley
> salt
> black pepper
> 1 x tablespoon of cayenne pepper
> 1 x tablespoon of paprika
> 1 x teaspoon of za’atar
> 1 x teaspoon of caraway seeds
> 1 x handful of freshly chopped coriander
> 1 x handful of freshly chopped oregano
> 1 x handful of freshly chopped basil
> 4 pressed cloves of garlic
> 1 x handful of freshly chopped parsley
> 1 x packet of spinach
> 1 x punnet of cherry tomatoes, quartered
> 1 x diced romano pepper
> 6 x finely sliced spring onions
> 8 x finely sliced baby corn
> 8 x finely sliced stems of broccoli
> 2 x chopped celery stalks
> 1 x finely sliced small red chilli pepper
> 1 x tablespoon of sriracha sauce
> 1 x handful of sliced sugar snap peas
> 1 x pint of fish stock
> a generous amount of olive oil
> 4 x bay leaves
> 1 x generously sized glass of red wine
> 1 x tablespoon of dried thyme
Method
> Season the fish with the salt and black pepper
> Add all the ingredients to the tagine in roughly the order above
> Toss/mix thoroughly
> Place the lid on the tagine and put it in the oven for 70 minutes at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4
> Remove from the oven and allow to stand uncovered for five minutes before serving.
We had this with plain bulgur wheat. It would also work with couscous, rice, or quinoa.
Have you had any similar culinary experiences?
Make-Up & Mirtazapine 
I’ve just started trying to up my vegetable intake. I’ve always been pretty good with enjoying vegetables, but as winter is here in Australia, I am trying to find ways to keep my health and my energy levels up. I know I tend to indulge in a lot of not-very-nutritious hot foods when I’m cold, so I’m roasting veggies – as many as I can whenever I can. It feeds my cravings for hot comfort food and also gives me what I need. I’m excited and I feel better already.
LikeLike
I always forget that you guys get cold weather in winter. It always seems to be hot and summery in Neighbours.
Roast vegetables are awesome. I live off roasts, casseroles, tagines, and mashed potatoes in winter. Although my mash potatos are super unhealthy – half potato, quarter cream, quarter butter.
LikeLiked by 1 person