FOOD
LIVING
FOOD [ CULTURE [ REVIEWS [ TRAVEL
ELLA-VATE YOUR EVERYDAY DISHES
Whether it’s a family meal or people coming round for dinner, Ella Mills, founder of Deliciously Ella, has ideas for flavoursome plantbased dishes that can be ready in 30 minutes or less
CREAMY LEEK, SPINACH & BUTTER BEAN BOWLS
Serves 4 Takes 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 leeks, cut into 1cm/½in slices
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 2 x 400g tins of butter beans
• 4 large handfuls of spinach (about 200g/7oz), roughly chopped
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the sauce
• 100ml/4fl oz oat milk
• ½ tsp brown rice miso paste
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• A large handful of baby spinach (about 50g/2oz)
1. Set a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the shallots, leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they soften. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes until it’s golden and fragrant.
2. Next, add the stock cube and butter beans, along with the liquid from each of the tins. Bring to the boil, then cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
3. While the beans are cooking, make the sauce. Put the oat milk, miso, yeast and the baby spinach into a high-speed blender and blitz until perfectly smooth.
4. Once the beans are ready, pour in the sauce and add the spinach, stirring until it’s wilted. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Scatter over the lemon zest before serving.