Easy and Sneaky Bolognaise sauce

With my kids, as I've said before, it's all about hiding the veggies, so here's one I tried last week that was SO easy, tasty and a big hit with the picky ones!

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small carrots, roughly chopped
1 med zucchini, roughly chopped
1 chunk cabbage,about a handful, roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and quartered
3 tomatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
750g (approx) lean mince
4 tins diced tomatoes
2 tbs TMX stock concentrate
salt, pepper, sugar, other herbs to your own taste
Olive oil for cooking

Method:

Chop onion and garlic at speed 7 for 2 - 3 seconds.
Remove from bowl and set aside
Chop remaining veggies on speed 4 until roughly chopped - sort of like the TMX coleslaw. Make it as coarse or as fine as you want.
Gently fry onion and garlic until starts to soften.
Add meat and brown
Add chopped veggies and stir fry for a few minutes
Add stock, tomatoes and any herbs and simmer for 3 - 4 hours.

I know that 3 - 4 hours seems like a long time, but trust me, it's well worth it, as the sauce just goes so thick and rich with so much flavour...

Swap out any vegetables you like - try adding corn, Chinese greens, spinach leaves, squash or anything else.

Vegetarian Version:

Simply substitute 2 tins of drained and washed brown lentils for the meat and voila, a super-healthy all-vegetarian version. In fact, if you don't garnish with cheese it's even vegan!

(Thanks to Jess on FB for asking about veggie alternative!)

Sneaky Burgers

As much as I love cooking and eating super-fresh and healthy meals, my children don't always share my passion for the healthy side of things, so I have often resorted to being terribly sneaky and simply hiding good stuff inside yummy stuff. Possibly a mild parenting fail, but I reckon it's a win for sneakiness. Here's one of our family favourites, and the kids have no idea how much good stuff lurks within it...

Ingredients:

500 - 600g good quality mince (or make your own in the Thermomix!)
1 med onion, peeled and halved
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 med carrot, peeled and cut in 3 or 4 chunks
1 small - med zucchini, roughly chopped
2 handfuls (approx) baby spinach leaves
100g organic rolled oats
100g breadcrumbs (made in Thermomix, obviously!)
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

• Whiz onion and garlic for 5 seconds on speed 7
• Scrape down sides
• Add carrot and zucchini and chop for a further 5 - 10 seconds on speed 7
• Add spinach leaves and chop for further 5 seconds on speed 7, using spatula if necessary, until incorporated
• Add all other ingredients and mix on speed 4 for 15 - 20 seconds, or until well-mixed
• Remove from TM bowl, shape into hamburger patties (or meatballs) and cook as usual.

*SUGGESTIONS - Have fun playing with ingredients - try adding linseeds, sesame seeds, other vegetables, fresh herbs, or use chicken or lamb instead of beef. Also, if you refrigerate mix for 15 minutes before shaping into patties it can be a bit less sticky.

*TIP if making meatballs - you can then cook your meatballs in the Varoma whilst brewing up a delicious tomato sauce in the TM bowl.