Juice and pulp

Having rediscovered my juicer in the back of a cupboard I've been on a bit of a juicing spree recently. Which has turned out to be a very good thing as today I woke up at 7am with pain. As in the pain woke me up. Not good. So lunch today was juice as chewing hurt. A lot. 
Making juice is fun as all the vegetables and fruit produce juices of different colours, although the end product is pretty much always sludge coloured. My sludge of the day was: apple, sweet potato, celery, carrot, ginger, red cabbage and tiny little bit of lemon. Sweet potato juice was starchy but not unpleasant. 

Cabbage juice. Odd but not bad tasting and very pretty

This is what happens when you run apples through after the cabbage

The by-product of all this juice is that there is pulp a plenty. Looking around I found that plenty of people suggesting mixing pulp into recipes as a source of fibre. I decided to go one step further and make it into the meal. I concocted a pulp and pinto bean chilli, served up in iceberg lettuce bowls with pitta chips with cheese. Even my sceptic mum and carnivorous brother seemed to enjoy it!

Pulp chilli

Pulp from a selection of veg (I used a couple of slices of cabbage, 2 carrots, a sweet potato, 2 sticks celery and an apple)
A little oil
2 tins chopped tomato
1 tin pinto beans
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan and then add the pulp (you could add some garlic and fresh chilli at this point but I couldn't be bothered with the chopping). Add the tins of tomato and about half a tin of water extra. Take care as the mixture is thick and air pockets will bubble up through it. Stir in the spices, adjust seasoning to taste, allow to cook for about 20 minutes.
Put into an oven dish, top with cheese and bake for 20 mins at 200C until all the cheese is melted and delicious. Line bowls with intact lettuce leaves and serve in the bowls.