Family Mess Hall - whole food meals dinners recipes

Festive stuffed pumpkin with rice, bacon, dried fruit and spice This stuffed pumpkin with rice, bacon, dried fruit and spice is absolutely delicious and luscious.  It's an amazing addition to your festive spread and can be served either warm as a salad or hot from the oven.    Ingredients: Roasted pumpkin 1/2 large pumpkin (approx 4kg) ((ie. use 2kg of pumpkin) ) 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp dried thyme 1/2 tsp allspice 1/2 tsp ground coriander Rice stuffing 1 cup rice 1 rasher fatty bacon ((chopped) (optional)) 2 tbsp butter 1 tbsp honey 1 onion ((finely diced)) 1/4 cup mixed dried fruit ((raisins, currants, sultanas, citrus peel)) 1/4 cup chopped nuts ((almonds, pecans, walnuts)) 1 cup water / stock 1 cup plain greek yoghurt ((for dressing)) 1 cup fresh coriander leaves ((for garnish)) Method: Preheat oven to 180C / 350F Slice your 4kg pumpkin in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds to create a bowl shaped cavity.  Driz...

Ingredients: 2 eggplants 2 zucchinis 1 cup long grain rice 1 tin crushed tomatoes 0.5 tsp allspice 0.5 tsp cumin 0.5 tsp dried oregano 2 tblsp chopped parsley 1 small onion (finely diced) 1 tsp crushed garlic 2 tblsp olive oil 250g ground beef (or other ground meat) salt and pepper to taste 0.5 cup vegetable stock Method: 1. Preheat oven to 180C.  Slice vegetables in half, lengthways.   2. Scoop out the centres of the vegetable to create a shallow well and place in baking dish.  Chop the excess vegetable and place in bowl. 3. Add onions, garlic, spices, herbs, ground meat, rice, salt and pepper to chopped eggplant and zucchini.  Mix until ingredients are evenly distributed throughout. 4. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables. 5. Loosly stuff vegetables with filling. 6. Pour over combined crushed tomatoes and stock. 7. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and cover dish with foil. 8. Bake for 45 minutes or until vegetables and filling are cooked through.