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Hello everyone!

Today I bring you my second entry to the wonderful Cook with Us contest. I wanted to do an entry for soup week but circumstances beyond my control made it impossible to get it in on time. Not this week though!!!

This week we are looking at Budget Meals which fits perfectly with my style of cooking. I have never been well off financially so this way of cooking is second nature to me! It is possible to cook healthily and nutritiously without breaking the bank. Some find it difficult but if you love cooking you can find a way.

When I was at university I was even more hard up than I am now, during that time is when I came up with this recipe and have made it countless times since. It's a firm once-a-week staple in my house! I have made it for friends and family and they have all given it the seal of approval.

Moving forward, lets get the maths out of the way first: the rules state 1 SBD per head. I cooked this meal for 2 people, allowing me a budget of 2 SBD. Taking into account the pantry freebies, I only spent 1.15 SBD!

Here is the receipt for the items bought. I only used portions of each thing (red pepper, onion, cherry tomatoes and lettuce) which I calculated to be 99 euro cents worth of food. Here is the conversion to SBD:

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Now lets get cooking!

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Gardeningchef's Bean Wraps

(serves 2)

INGREDIENTS

For the bean mix:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (I used a local organic cold pressed olive oil, gifted from a friend)
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic (mine were homegrown!)
6 cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp of cumin seeds, toasted & ground
1 tsp of paprika
1/4 tsp of cayenne powder
1 tbsp of tomato puree
1-2 bay leaves, depending on size
1 vegetable stock cube
Pink Himalayan rock salt
Mixed peppercorns
400g jar of pinto beans
Half a red pepper, diced for garnish
6-8 lettuce leaves, chopped for garnish
Dollop of mayo in each wrap

For the tortillas (makes 4 wraps)

200g of flour (I can't buy self raising so use plain)
1 & 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 & 1/2 tbsp of oil
125ml of warm water
Pinch of salt

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To make the tortilla wraps mix the dry ingredients together and make a well, then add the oil and enough warm water to bring it together into a soft but non sticky dough. I used approximately 125ml of water but if you are making them yourself judge by how the dough feels, you might need more or less. Roll the dough into 4 equal sized balls and set aside to rest while you make the bean mixture.

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Now for the beans! Start off by finely chopping your onion and put it into a saucepan with about 2 tbsp of oil. Cook on a medium heat until they are well caramelised, this is a key step to achieve the full depth of flavour needed for this mix! While the onion is cooking mince your garlic, chop the cherry tomatoes and toast those cumin seeds. You'll know the onion is ready when it looks like this:

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Add garlic until fragrant while you grind up the cumin, then add all of the spices to the saucepan. When the spices have cooked out a bit add the cherry tomatoes, stock cube and tomato puree. Once it has bound together add the pinto beans and season with salt and pepper, turn heat down low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly and mash a few beans up to create more body.

I always use freshly ground seasoning as freshly ground pepper is far more fragrant and flavoursome than the pre-ground pepper dust you can buy in shops. I am also very wary of pre-ground salt as you never know what is put in it so I always buy my salt in pure rock form and grind it as I need it. I am currently enjoying cooking with pink Himalayan rock salt!

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Bean mix ready, now it's time to roll out and cook the tortillas. I cook them in a dry frying pan for roughly 1 minute on each side until they become opaque in colour and start to brown in places. It's important not to overcook them as they will not roll up easily and could split if they become too dry.

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To assemble the wraps start with a generous helping of beans (leaving space at the bottom to fold over), sprinkle diced red pepper, dollop some mayo and tear some lettuce leaf over the top. It's best to cover the mayo with the lettuce to avoid messy wrapping!

And there you have it folks, my easy, cheap and nutritious bean wraps!

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I hope you enjoyed this post, if you are interested in entering a foodie contest then Cook with Us is the one for you! It might be a bit late to enter this theme as the deadline is tomorrow but if you look here you'll find the calendar of topics for the weeks to come. Happy cooking!

Gardeningchef