The Mind Food Fry Up
Serves 2
This Mind Food Fry Up is a real morning treat, with extra bean power from the Qi beans. Admittedly, more elaborate than your average bean but perfect for a quick and satisfying meal made ahead of time and served on toast, pancakes, or with fresh crusty bread. ‘Qi’, pronounced ‘chi’, meaning energy is exactly what these beans give you, with flavour and fibre to see you through the day.
For the Qi beans:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• Pinch of salt
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 celery stick, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp white miso
• 1½ tbsp harissa or hot sauce
• 200ml (7fl oz) passata
• 400g (14oz) white butter beans,
canned and drained
• 125g (4oz) kimchi
For the caramelised tomatoes:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium sized tomatoes, halved
• ¼ tsp salt
For the scrambled tofu:
• 250g (8.8oz) firm tofu, drained
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 pinch chilli flakes
• ⅛ tsp salt
For the smoked mushrooms:
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 250g (8.8oz) mixed mushrooms,
finely chopped
• ¼ tsp smoked salt
• 2 tbsp smoked water (optional)
1 Heat a medium saucepan with the olive oil over a medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté with a good pinch of salt for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent. 2 Add the carrot and celery to the saucepan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the carrot and celery are soft.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute, stirring constantly to release the magnificent aroma.
3 Stir in the tomato purée, white miso and harissa sauce, then cook until a thick paste is produced. Add the passata with 240ml (8fl oz) of water and cook until the liquid has reduced by a third. Add the beans and keep cooking for 5 more minutes to infuse. Leave to cool slightly.
4 Once cooled a little, put a ladle of the beans in a food processor or blender and process until very smooth. Return the blended beans to the pan and stir through the beans.
5 Heat a frying pan over a high heat and add the olive oil. Sprinkle the tomatoes with salt and once the pan is hot, add the tomatoes, skin side down. Cook for 5 minutes on each side until soft and lightly caramelised.
6 Crumble the tofu into a small bowl and then add the rest of the scramble ingredients.
7 Add the tofu mix to the frying pan, being careful to keep it separate from the tomatoes.
8 Pour the remaining oil to the pan and then add mushrooms and smoked salt. Cook the mushrooms and tofu until golden and add the smoked water to the mushrooms for the last minute, if using. When the mushrooms are bronzed and garlicky, and the tofu golden and lightly crisped, turn off the heat.
9 Remove the Qi beans from the heat and mix in the kimchi, including its brine.
10 Serve the beans with the tomatoes, tofu and mushrooms as they are or with some crusty toast.