These 2 meat-free magic dishes are perfect for those cold winter evenings, and if you’re not a vegetable lover, it will make eating them so much easier.

Creamy spinach and chickpeas with toasted naan

SERVES  4  •  TOTAL  TIME  25 min 

INGREDIENTS

For the creamy spinach

Vegetable oil 2 tbsp

Onion, finely chopped 1

Cloves garlic, minced 1

Spinach, stems removed and chopped 300 g 

Flour 1 tbsp

Milk 1 cup

Cream ½ cup

For the spicy chickpeas

Tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 

Chilli paste 1 tbsp

Red pepper, deseeded and coarsely chopped ½

Cream ¼ cup 

To serve

Mango atchar ¼ cup

Crispy onions 3 tbsp

Naan bread, lightly toasted 2

METHOD

For the creamy spinach

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium.Cook the onion until softened and translucent, about 3 min. Add the garlic and cook for a minute until fragrant. 

2. Add the spinach and flour and cook, stirring, for 1 min. Add the milk, cream and ½ cup water and cook for 4 min until the spinach is thick and creamy. Season well.

For the spicy chickpeas

1. Place all ingredients in a pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cream is thickened. Remove from heat and season.

To serve

1. Spoon the creamed spinach into a bowl and top with spicy chickpeas, atchar and crispy onions. Serve with warm naan bread.

Top tip: This dish can be perfectly shared as a light snack, or even served as a side.  

Broccoli, lemon and cream-cheese quesadillas

SERVES  4  •  TOTAL TIME 35 min  

INGREDIENTS

For the filling

Head broccoli 1 

Red onion, finely chopped ¼ 

Cream cheese 1 cup (200 g) 

Grated white Cheddar 1 cup

Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Egg 1

Chopped parsley 1 tbsp

To assemble 

Cooking spray, to grease

Flour tortillas 6 

Sweet chilli sauce, can thin it out a bit

Lemon wedges

METHOD

For the filling

1. Cook the broccoli in salted, boiling water for 5 min or until tender. Drain well and pat dry with a paper towel. Roughly chop the florets, discarding tough stalks.

2. Place the broccoli in a bowl with all the remaining ingredients. Mix well and season.

To assemble

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

2. Divide the filling between three tortillas and spread out evenly. Top each one with a second tortilla.

3. Lightly spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray. Cook the quesadillas one at a time over medium heat until golden and the filling is heated through, about 3–4 minutes on each side. 

4. Transfer to the oven and cook until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pan. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and broccoli mixture.

5. Cut into wedges and serve with sweet chilli sauce and lemon wedges, if desired.

Serving tip: These quesadillas are best served immediately to ensure the tortillas are crisp and the filling is warm.

These two meat-free weeknight meals, brinjal ragu cheesy pap and okra stew with fragrant rice, are bound to satisfy all your needs

Recipes & Styling: Jezza-Rae Larsen; styling assistant: Kirsty Buchanan & Sjaan van der Ploeg
Photography: Chanelle Naudt/hmimages.co.za

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