Mexican Black Bean and Buckwheat Bake
with Crème Fraîche
Drum rolllllll Making a rare appearance, the star of tonight’s dish is ultra nutritious, super tasty buckwheat! Buckwheat is actually a seed related to rhubarb and quite apart from its delicious, nutty flavour it is absolutely chock full of nutrition. Slow-burning to keep your energy levels constant, it also contains magnesium which can help lower blood pressure and aid delivery of nutrients around the body. If you like to spice things up then use all of the jalapeños!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Red Pepper
½
Yellow Pepper
½
Vegetable Stock Pot
(Contains: Celery, Sulphites)
¼
Red Onion
2
Garlic Clove
1
Jalapeño Chilli
½
Cumin
½
Mild Paprika 1.5 tsp
½
Ground Cinnamon
1
Organic Black Beans
3
Creme Fraiche
(Contains: Milk)
4
Mature Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2
Chives
1
Buckwheat
Utensils
Cooking Instructions and Tips
Pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees. Remove the core from the peppers and chop into bite-sized chunks. Toss the peppers in 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook on the top shelf of the oven for 15 mins. Tip: The peppers are ready when slightly crispy at the edges - keep an eye on them.
In a pot, bring 450ml of water (exactly) to a gentle boil with the stock pot. Add the buckwheat. Gently boil until the top of the buckwheat comes out of the water then place a lid on the pot. Leave on the lowest heat for 10 mins before removing (don’t touch the lid until serving).
Peel and finely chop the red onion and garlic. Finely chop the jalapeño chilli. Tip: Jalapeños are a bit cheeky, so add less if you don’t want too much spice.
Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Once hot, add in 1/4 of the red onion, garlic and jalapeño. Cook for around 5 mins until soft (but not coloured).
Add in the cumin, paprika and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Drain and rinse the black beans before tipping into the pan. Stir together with 1/2 tsp of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook for a minute and then remove from the heat until the buckwheat is ready.
Once the buckwheat is done (it should be dry not soggy - place back on low heat if needed), fluff it up with a fork to separate the grains and then stir this into your black bean mixture, together with the roasted peppers. Now stir in half the crème fraîche, test for seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Tip the mixture into an ovenproof dish and grate over the cheese. Place on the highest shelf of the oven until the top is beautifully golden and crisp.
Serve with a big dollop of crème fraîche, a scattering of snipped chives (i.e. chop them up finely with scissors) and a big welcoming smile!
