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Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Why does it feel like it is always load-shedding at the exact time you would usually cook for your family?
It is not like you can use Uber eats or Bolt every day to bring you dinner (you will quickly go bankrupt). And you can’t be making peanut butter sandwiches every night or the kids are gonna start complaining (eventually).
Hot or Not?
With loadshedding here to stay for the foreseeable future and at higher levels than ever it is time to think about ways to minimize it’s impact on your dinner time.
For some this means getting a braai going for others it may mean a chance to enjoy some fresh salads. Either way we need some tasty solutions.
We have put together a few no-cook dinner ideas to take the stress out of load-shedding.
We have also included a few recipe ideas, if you are able to cook some of the ingredient while there is power, as well as some side dishes to add to your braai meat, if you are so inclined.
Thai Chickpea Salad
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- Chickpeas
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Cabbage
- Bell peppers
- Coriander
- peanuts
For the full recipe and peanut drizzle dressing or Olive oil & lemon dressing visit:
https://peasandcrayons.com/2020/06/thai-chickpea-salad-with-peanut-dressing.html
Black Bean Taco Salad
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- Romaine lettuce
- Bell pepper
- Black beans
- Corn
- Diced/chopped tomatoes
- Onion
- Grated cheddar cheese
- Crushed tortilla chips
For the full recipe visit:
https://peasandcrayons.com/2020/08/black-bean-taco-salad.html
Greek Chickpea Salad
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- Chickpeas
- Bell peppers
- Chopped tomato
- Chopped cucumber
- Avocado
For the easy Mediterranean marinade and full recipe visit:
https://peasandcrayons.com/2012/05/greek-chickpea-salad.html
Vegetarian Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl
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- Onion
- Garlic
- Cauliflower rice
- Black beans
- Frozen corn
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Grated cheese
- Sour cream
- lime
For full recipe visit:
https://peasandcrayons.com/2021/12/vegetarian-cauliflower-rice-burrito-bowl-recipe.html
PARTIAL COOK
If you have a few minutes while the power is still on you can prepare a few ingredients in advance to add later, when Eskom flip the switch. Here are a few examples:
Cranberry Apple Kale Salad With Quinoa
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- Quinoa
- Kale
- Carrots
- Cranberries/raisins
- Honeycrisp apple
For the dressing and full recipe please visit:
Cheesy Black Bean Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
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- Sweet Potatoes
- Black beans
- Corn
- Chopped tomatoes
- Grated cheese
- Minced red onion
- Coriander
For potato cooking instructions and the full recipe, visit:
Greek Tortellini (or any pasta) Salad
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- Pasta of your choice
- Diced bell pepper
- Diced tomato
- Cucumber
- Red onion
- Feta cheese
- Avocado
- Parsley
For the Greek lemon dressing & full receipt, visit:
https://peasandcrayons.com/2020/07/greek-tortellini-pasta-salad.html#wprm-recipe-container-104037
Curried Quinoa With Roasted Butternut & Cranberries
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- Cubed roasted butternut
- Cauliflower
- Quinoa
- Cranberries/Raisins (optional)
- Curry powder
- Garlic powder
- Lemon zest (optional)
For instructions on how to cook Quinoa and the rest of the ingredients, please visit:
NOU GAAN ONS BRAAI
It might require some blitz, wood and matches and take a little longer to prepare but making a braai is a South African classic.
Throw your favourite meat on the braai and add a few extras (most of which do not require electricity anyway).
Add:
Potato salad
Coleslaw
Make use of some tin foil to make:
Roasted veg
Mielies
And treat yourself to a little fire toasted cheese sandwich along the way.
TRY SOME DESSERTS
Want something a bit more sophisticated than half a slab of chocolate for desert (ok, we know its hard to eat only half the slab, who are we kidding?).
Why not try some of these ideas:
- Fruit & Yogurt parfaits
- Acai bowls
- Chopped fruit & box custard
- Eaton-Mess
Google, Pinterest & Insta are your friends.
Try search for a few ideas to make your life easier and spice things up.
With a little advanced thought and preparation, you can easily make use of these loadshedding days to bring out your inner master chef.
