Thanks JD I have had a look at this thread and it looks very interesting.  I will have to have a go at this bread.

I'm not bad with kitchen gadgets but fitness equipment that is another story.

I have :
3 sets (at least) each of cycling clothing, running clothing, swim wear.
2 bicycles and I want a third
Cycle trainer for when it rains
GPS watch to track speed, time, heart rate etc,
Assorted swimming paraphernalia
I just bought a new pair of running shoes even though my current pair is only a few months old (but they were a bargain at $160 off)

We all have our addictions.

I have to try this one.  I love rye bread. It is really the only bread that I eat since I try to avoid wheat breads.  As a former New Yorker I agree with Kalya on the caraway seeds.

I sometimes buy a bread from a small commercial bakery called Bohdi's they call it wupper light. it is a combination of rye and lupin.  similar tasting to rye bread but a bit heavier. It has a fairly high protein contenet from the lupins.

Everyone's pics of their tree inspired me to include mine.  All of the ornaments on the tree have a story. The angel was my grandmother's. Many of the others we picked up when we were on holidays or family members gave them to us etc. 

Notice the large box next to the tree.  There is another one behind it.  Guess what my daughters are getting for Christmas.  I know the youngest one is going to be beside herself. She has wanted one since before I got mine but could never afford it.  I hope the older one will grow to love it as much as I do.  She really needs one but doesn't realize it yet.  She is a teacher and works a second job saving all her money to travel. Last year while working two jobs she also studied full time. The one thing she rarely does is cook homemade good food.  We hope this will change that.

Since Mother Nature decided to grace us with another cool wet evening I gave this a try tonight.  I never made the EDC version since
I never figured it would measure it up to my regular recipe.

I took on board amajjika's suggestions and kept my old recipe in the back of my mind. I started with 1 clove garlic, onion and 1 rasher of bacon which I chopped 3 seconds speed 6 (2 seconds at 5 might have been better). I sauteed this in oil and butter for 3 minutes reverse speed 1 then add a carrot and stick of celery which I chopped for 2 seconds on 5 then sauteed for a further 2 minutes. I continued this process with each addition of zucchini, potato and green beans.

Finally added the tomatoes, stock paste and water cooked 100 reverser speed 1 for 20 minutes after 20 min added tin 4 bean mix and 40 gms pasta and cooked another 10 minutes.

While it was not my old slow cooked minestrone it was pretty good.

I made these last night.  They were easy and very tasty. I have to provide a savory dish this weekend for our masters swim meet. I plan on trying Robyn's suggestion and making them about small golf ball size for my contribution to afternoon tea.

I would love to try this and try quinoa for the first time.  The only problem is the boss wont eat vegetarian.  Could I put some sort of meat in this?

cheers

You could certainly add meat to this. I would probably use diced or stewing lamb and you might have to reduce the amount of water to allow for the extra volume from the meat. If you wanted to go really authentic goat would probably be the meat of choice in Africa.

I had a version of this made in a slow cooker. I went looking for the recipe tonight to see if I could make this in the Thermomix but must have thrown it out when I was cleaning out my recipe book cupboard. I quick search of the internet found another recipe that I used as the basis for this one. I made this on the fly jotting everything as I went. My my DW liked it so it may need more chili and herbs for people with a more sophisticated pallet. For a more African flavour try swapping the zucchini for okra.

African Quinoa Stew
1 clove garlic peeled
1/2 onion peeled and halved
1 stick celery
1 carrot
1/2 hot chili
15gms EVOO
100 gms Sweet potato diced
1/2 cup quinoa rinsed and drained
1 400gm tin red kidney beans
1 tin diced tomatoes
100 gms peanut butter (made in Thermomix)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin (I used whole seed but ground will work)
2 Tbls vegi stock paste
650 - 700 gms water (enough to fill bowl to just below 2 litre mark)
1 small zucchini diced handful of peanuts

Method:
place garlic, onion, celery, chili and carrot into TM bowl chop speed 6 for 3 seconds. Scrape down, add EVOO and saute speed 1 100degrees 4 minutes.

Add all other ingredients except peanuts and zucchini. Cook reverse speed 1 100 degrees for 15 minutes. Add diced zucchini and peanuts and cook for a further 5 minute reverse speed 1 at 100 degrees.

Serve garnished with a few peanuts and maybe a few slices of chili.

Should serve 4

members' comments

megant - it was really really good. I used butternut pumpkin instead of sweet potato and it was great. I'll definitely be making again although I'd make a few slight adjustments:
I'd make my pumpkin/potato more chunky as I found it just mushed into nothing and I like more chunky stews - but that's just a personal preference. I'd also add another can of kidney beans as it made sooooo much I just think it needs more beany goodness.
I'd use a fraction less water and when cooking leave off the MC so it reduces and thickens a little bit.
I'm also going to try it with cashew paste instead of peanut butter just from a better health aspect. Mine was quite running when I made it, but I just added some corn flour to thicken it up.
But overall a great recipe. We served with crusty flat bread and it was amazing! DH loved it!

KerrynN - We had this with some red quinoa and some (cheap) lamb. I cooked the lamb in two batches with some EVOO on speed 1, reverse, 100 degrees for 7 minutes the first batch then 5 for the second batch and set it aside. I then added the lamb (including the juices in the bottom of the bowl) back in with the rest of the main ingredients. The amount of water was much less, not sure how much exactly but enough to get it up to just under the 2 litre mark as per the original instructions. I increased the cooking time to 20 minutes before the zucchini went in.

This was a delicious meal! The whole family really enjoyed it and I even had DH say that he would enjoy it without the meat or with chicken as well. This will go on our list of quick, easy and delicious dinners.

jkmt - I made this although I didn't have quite enough peanut paste and only had crushed nuts rather than whole peanuts, which actually gave a texture I liked. My husband and I really enjoyed it and thought it was something we could definitely play with and tweak further. The kids weren't so keen, so it probably won't make it onto the regular meal cycle for that reason.

Tasty - I thought I'd give this recipe a go and I have to say that it was really lovely. I'm definitely making this again as it's easy prep, easy clean up and good for you, as well as tasting great! Thanks for posting Dennis!

ElleG - Dashingden this was just lovely. I used a large tin of kidney beans and didn't add as much water. I just poured some in and stirred until it looked 'right' and added chopped roast lamb when I added the zucchini and some almonds. It ended up about half an inch from the top. Thanks for such a tasty recipe. My guest and husband really enjoyed it, and so did I.

Amy - I made this using only 400g water and after leaving it to stand for a while in a casserole dish, I ended up with a lovely, thick consistency. Mum said it was very tasty. Thanks for the recipe Den!

JuliaC83 - This is the best!!! Yummo! I made some minor adjustments as I wanted to use up what I had in the fridge and pantry! I had no peanuts or peanut butter, so I made cashew nut butter with raw cashews and macadamia oil, I used 250g diced pumpkin instead of sweet potato, I increased quinoa to 3/4 cup, I used chickpeas instead of kidney beans and lastly I pan fried 400g diced beef and stirred through at the end. Definitely making again.