Easy Caulifritters

Ok so I am on a mission with cauliflower at the moment. I am really enjoying inventing different substitutions for carbs that I would usually eat on a daily basis. When I get stuck into something, it often becomes a bit of an obsession so you will probably be seeing a few more cauliflower recipes.

This one is SO simple. 

What you will need:

1 head of cauliflower

2 eggs

1/3 cup pea flour

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste.

Toppings of your choice. I used salmon, greek yoghurt and avo topped with coriander.

1. Break the cauliflower florets into your blender. Blitz for about 20 secs to make your cauli rice

2. Measure +/- two cups of cauli rice into a microwavable bowl. Cover with cling film and cook in the microwave for 5 mins. This can be done ahead of time. Cauli rices keeps well for a few days in the fridge. Either way allow the cauli rice to cool before continuing.

3. For the next step I used my Bamix hand blender but any blender will do. Add the rest of the ingredients to your cooked and cooled cauli rice and blitz until everything is blended and it resembles the texture of a fritter (or a very thick soup).

4. Heat a non stick frying pan up, add a little butter and fry off spoonfuls of mixture at a time until lightly golden on each side. 

5. Once cooled, top with your topping of choice and enjoy.

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Light lunchtime Tuna salad

So this one is super easy and so delicious.

 

     What you will need...

       Serves 2

• 1 tin of tuna, drained
• 2 pieces of celery (long) chopped
• half a fennel bulb, with stalks, chopped
• 1 large apple, diced,
• 1 red onion, diced,
• 1 carrot, grated
• 250ml full fat greek yoghurt
• Mixed greens of your choice
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 avocado

1. Start with your dressing. In a bowl combine the greek yoghurt with a few squeezes of lemon juice. 

2. Add the rest of your ingredients (except your avo and green leaves) and mix into the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.Serve on your greens with chopped avo sprinkled liberally on top.

ENJOY!

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Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry (Pad Khing) with Cauli-Rice

Ok so I am not going to go all 'banting crazy' here as I am not completely convinced... but I do think it is smart to limit carbs in general, especially at dinner time. I attempted cauliflour pizza's on the weekend (recipe to follow soon) and it was so tasty! I was craving stir fry today so thought I'd try cauli-rice instead of ordinary rice...

Cauli-Rice

So Easy!! OK so for two people I used one small head of cauliflower. I broke off the florets and rinsed them in a colander. I then blitzed the florets in my food processor for about 20 seconds. It will look kind of like cous cous at this stage. 

The next step blew me away at how easy it was!! All I did was put my cauli rice into a microwavable bowl and covered the bowl with cling wrap. I set the microwave to 5 mins and THAT WAS IT! Perfectly cooked cauli-rice.

Thai Ginger Chicken Stir Fry (Pad Khing)

Serves 2

400g chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp chilli

Oil for frying (I used Sesame but ordinary canola is fine)

1 thumb of ginger, cut into match sticks- click here to learn how

4 spring onions, chopped

1 red pepper, sliced

1 packet mushrooms (I used enoki mushrooms from woolworths)

Sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tbs soya sauce

1tsp sugar/honey

4 tbs water

-combine these ingredients in a bowl

How to

• Heat oil in a suace pan with a lid. I used something like this.
• Add garlic and fry for about 30 seconds. 
• Add the chicken and fry until slightly brown.
• Add the sauce to the chicken and allow to reduce a little bit - about 2 mins.
• Add the remaining ingredients and give it stir. Cook for about a minute and then put the lid on for about 2-3 mins to 'steam' the vegetables.
• Take the lid off and stir in some fresh coriander leaves.
• Serve with cauli-rice.

I am being good in the week with regards to drinking wine but if I wasn't- Alvi's Drift Viognier 2013 is the perfect partner to a good ginger based dish.

Enjoy! 

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Best red quinoa salad

This is so simple and so delicious... even better the next day for lunch. 

Ingredients

1 cup of cooked red quinoa

250g baby rosa tomatoes

1 tablespoon of Pesto (your choice!)

200g feta

3 green onions

4 medium chicken breasts

Pumpkin seeds

1 avo, chopped

1 tin chickpeas, drained

Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste

Olive Oil

First you prep the ingredients separately as follows:

• Chicken- coat in salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon and place in a pre heated oven (200'C) for 15 mins. Check to see if they are cooked- the juices will run clear. Leave to cool and then chop into bite-sized pieces and place in a bowl.
• Baby rosa tomatoes- I like to roast these too. Coat in olive oil and place on a baking tray under your chicken in a preheated oven (200'C). These will also take about 15 mins depending on how 'roasted' you like them. Add these to the bowl with the cooled chicken.
• Chop the spring onion and add to the bowl.
• Add the drained chickpeas
• Crumble in the feta.
• Add your cooked red quinoa 
• Add your pesto and then follow with salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to taste.
• Finish off with chopped avo, a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and ENJOY!!

Serve with a nice crisp white wine- we drank a La Motte Sauvignon Blanc 2012.

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Healthy and delicious Ostrich meatballs

I am NOT a big meatball or burger kind of girl. I make wide circles around burger joints and pretend I can't hear people when they make suggestions like Spur burger special two for one. I just don't do them. 

That being said, I made an exception to the rule recently after coming across a similar recipe on the Taste website. It's a great summer dish and you can experiment with flavours. I used ostrich mince because its lean, tasty and easy to match with flavours. You could use any mince you like. 

Ingredients:

(Makes 6 meat balls)

500g Ostrich mince

2 tablespoons chopped capers

1 chopped red onion

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 handful chopped coriander

2 teaspoons soya sauce

Pinch or 2 of Maldon salt

Grind of black pepper

To serve:

You can go to town here and use your imagination. Inspired by the Taste website I served mine with slices of nectarine and a Fennel and Cucumber Tzatziki. Here are a few more ideas:

• Sweet potato fries or wedges (oven baked)
• Simple Green salad
• Fresh Steamed baby asparagus spears
• Simple spinach and goats cheese salad with a squeeze of lemon juice.

How too...

  

1. Mix ingredients together and roll into 6 balls. Place on a tray and into the fridge for an hour. 
2. Pan fry in a little olive oil until brown and crisp. 10-15 minutes. Longer if you prefer your meatballs well done.

3. Enjoy with a glass of your favorite red. Pinotage works very well.

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Pomegranate, feta and rocket salad

So I have just returned from a long and relaxing holiday in Mauritius. I am completely in love with that place. The food is incredible. With Creole, French, Indian and Asian influences you are spoilt for choice! We ate our body weight in the freshest seafood known to man. I also tasted Sea Urchin for the very first time. The French cheese, charcuterie and wine was a real treat!

We were also fortunate, thanks to Cyclone Bejisa, to spend some time indoors cooking and sampling all the fresh produce Mauritius had to offer. I love pomegranate but its expensive and hard to find here in SA. Whilst my foodie friends prepared the main course, I was on salad duty. This is one of my new favourites. Its so easy to make.

Pomegranate, feta and rocket salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 large handfuls of fresh rocket, washed.

200g of feta, cubed

1 small red onion, finely sliced.

Small handful of mint, chopped

I large pomegranate's worth of seeds (don't know how to seed a pomegranate? Look here)

Dressing:

Juice of one or two limes- depending on size

1 tablespoon of honey

Vinegar of your choice ( I used Tarragon infused but a red wine vinegar works really well)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix all of the ingredients together and drizzle with dressing just before serving.

Serve with a crisp and fruity rose - Ours was French of course.

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Cheesy Chicken Quinoa Bake

This is a such an easy recipe and its so delicious- also MUCH healthier than many other "Bakes". You can get creative with this but here is my recipe:

Serves 4:

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of chicken stock 

400g Woolworths mini chicken fillets

1 tin Italian tomato mix

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 teaspoon chopped chilli

1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional: for those that like it hawwwwt)

1 tablespoon olive oil for frying

4 large zucchini, grated

250g halved baby rosa tomatoes

4 large spring onion- chopped

1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (divided into two halves)

Handful of fresh coriander-chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

• Heat oven to 190'C
• Cook the cup of quinoa in the chicken stock- bring to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 mins until all the liquid is absorbed. Its important to keep an eye on it so that it does not catch at the bottom of the pot. You may need to rinse your quinoa first depending on the brand you buy -check the back of the pack.
• Once the quinoa is cooked set aside in a bowl.
• Cut the chicken into cubes and fry it off in the olive oil with the garlic, chilli and chilli power. 
• After 5 - 10 mins at the tin of tomatoes and allow to reduce for a further 10 mins- stirring occasionally.
• While the chicken is cooking, grate zucchini and cheese, slice baby rosa tomatoes and chop the spring onion. Spray and cook a medium size roasting dish (mine is 20cm x 20 cm)
• Once the Chicken is read, combine all ingredients (save half the cheese) in a bowl and add the handful of fresh corinader. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
• Bake for 20-25 mins until the top is crisp and crunchy. 
• Serve with a green salad.

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Healthy Gourmet....Lemon Quinoa and Coriander Chickpea salad

At this time of year, with summer fast approaching, most of my friends are frantically trying to diet. Healthy food can often be monotonous and boring, but not always. In fact, with a little inspiration you can turn the most boring and plain 'diet foods' into a gourmet feast. I thought I'd start by sharing one of my favourites....

First let me tell you about Quinoa-

While quinoa is usually considered to be a whole grain, it is actually a seed, but can be prepared like whole grains such as rice or barley. Quinoa is great for three reasons: First, it takes less time to cook than other whole grains – just 10 to 15 minutes. Second, quinoa tastes great on its own, unlike other grains.  Add a bit of olive oil, sea salt and lemon juice and - yum! Finally, of all the whole grains, quinoa has the highest protein content, so it's perfect for vegetarians and vegans. Quinoa provides all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. Quinoa is a gluten-free and cholesterol-free whole grain.

Lemon Quinoa and Coriander Chickpea Salad

Adapted from: The Diva-Dish

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry quinoa

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1 cup rosa cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 avocado, sliced and diced

2 cups of baby spinach

1 handful of coriander

1/4 cup red onion

2 small cloves garlic

For the dressing:

Juice of 2 lemons

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon cumin

dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Make your quinoa first. Soak the quinoa in a pot in the stock for about 15 minutes. After that, turn on the heat to medium high and let the quinoa come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium/low and let quinoa simmer. Stir every so often, and cook quinoa for about 20-25 minutes just until the liquid is absorbed.

2. In a food processor, blend the baby spinach and the coriander until they are finely diced. 

3. Add the greens to a bowl, and set aside. Next take your onion and garlic and finely dice those, and add to the greens mixture. Next add your chickpeas and stir until everything is combined and coated. If the quinoa is cooled, you can add it to the chickpea mixture next.

4. Make your dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. Pour over salad, and mix until combined. Add in tomatoes and avocado. Leave to cool in the fridge before serving.

Delicious!

Serve with an uncomplicated chardonnay- I like the KWV Classic Chardonnay or Graham Beck 'Waterside'

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Delicious low fat baked chicken tortillas...

The delicious recipe has all the flavour and half of the calories of a normal Mexican meal. I am a huge fan of Mexican food but often find it very rich and oily. This dish is simple to make and can be served as snacks, a starter, or a main meal with a side salad.

600g pack of chicken breasts

500ml chicken stock

2 cups of water

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 green chilli or jalapeno if you can find one (chopped)

3 cups baby spinach

5 large flour tortillas (cut in half)

150g of grated low fat cheese (reduced fat)

Olive oil cooking spray

Homemade salsa to serve- optional

1. Preheat the oven to 180'C
2. Put the chicken breastin a deep sided pan and cover with the stock and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it (either pull it apart or blitz in the blender). Mix together the chicken and seasonings.
3. Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.
4. Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Sprinkle in chopped chilli for those that want a burn! Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
5.  Spray with Olive oil cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy. Serve with salsa.

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Best prawn curry

This is another one of my favourite winter recipes. I usually also add calamari to it that I flash fry in a separate pan with a bit of butter- I get the calamari "tubes and tentacles' in a tub from Woolies....Oh and the prawns should also be those yummy vannamei ones...preferably fresh!

What you need...

• 2 red chillies split, cut into quarters lengthways and seeded
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 14 curry leaves , fresh or dried
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 250g vannamei prawns- leave some with their tails on if you like
• 150ml coconut milk 

How to...

1. In a food processor, blitz the chillies, onion and ginger with 3 tbsp water into a smooth paste - you may need to scrape it down the sides.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan or wok. When hot, toss in the mustard and fenugreek seeds, and curry leaves - they'll crackle and pop - and fry for 10 seconds. Add the onion paste, turn the heat down a bit and cook without colouring for about 5 minutes. Splash in some water if it starts to catch.
3. Add the turmeric and cracked peppercorns and stir the spices around for a few seconds before tipping in the prawns. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer, stirring all the time. The milk will take on a yellow colour from the turmeric. Cook for 1 minute until everything's heated through. Squeeze over some lime, sprinkle with fresh coriander and serve with rice.

(adapted from BBC Good Food) 

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Butter chicken, my way...

So as the days get colder....and we head into winter, I thought what better way to ease into it than with my own version of Butter chicken. So grab a glass of wine (I usually enjoy a nice Rhiesling or of you feeling in a red mood, a Pinot Noir), head to the kitchen and get creative. The best part of this recipe is you can add your own spices and flavours and most of the time it works!

Serves 2-3 people

500g Chicken mini fillets from woolies

Olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 x square of garlic, chilli, ginger from woolies (or DIY if you can't find it)

1x tin tomato and onion mix

500ml chicken stock

1 tablespoon crushed cardamon seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons curry powder (any will do- I usually use Pako)

2 teaspoons tumeric

1 tub of cream (you may only end up using half-depends on your taste)

Fresh coriander leaves for sprinkling

Tip: serve with Basmati rice and pappadoms

How To...

Chop chicken fillets into bite size pieces. In the olive oil,  fry the chopped onion, garlic (about a heaped teaspoon), ginger (also about a heaped teaspoon) and chilli (to your own taste) with one tablespoon of curry powder. Be careful not to burn so I would stick to a moderate heat.

Add the chicken fillets and 'stir fry' until they are cooked. Add the other tablespoon of curry powder, cinnamon, crushed cardamon seeds, and tumeric. Then add the tin of tomato mix and the chicken stock, put on the lid, turn the pot down low and go and pour yourself another glass of wine.

Over the next 25 min or so occasionally lift the lid and give it a stir to avoid it catching on the bottom. If you see that the liquid is running low add a half a cup of water. After about 25 minutes test the chicken to see if its tender enough. Then remove the lid and allow the curry to 'reduce' (liquid to cook off). During this time stir continuously so as not to burn the curry (you can turn the heat up for this part) Once you have a nice 'thickish' rich curry sauce add some or all of the cream (depending how mild or hot you like your curry) You are now ready to go... serve with basmati rice and garnish with coriander leaves and a pappadom.

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Quite honestly the best soup for cold days...

White Velvet Soup

1 head cauliflower
2 medium onions
1 head garlic (about 6-8 cloves)
3 cups cooked butter beans (about 2 cans)
2 cups water
2 cups vegetable stock
juice of 1 lemon
sea salt to taste
olive oil
smoked paprika

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 deg.
2. Cut up cauliflower into bite-sized chunks and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt.
3. Peel onions and slice into chunks. Peel garlic cloves. Place onions and garlic baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Place all veggies in oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes until everything has golden edges and is nicely caramelized.
5. Let veggies cool slightly and add to blender along with all other ingredients except olive oil and paprika (process in batches if you have a small blender). Blend on high until very smooth.
6. If the soup is not hot enough after blending, transfer soup to a large pot and warm until steaming. If the soup is too thick, simply add water to thin to your desired consistency.

Garnish with a sprinkling of smoked paprika and a drizzle of olive oil.

Tip: Try Woolies imported Smoked Paprika spice from Spain, called La Chinata.

You have to fork out R40 for it, but it’s worth it.

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The perfect steak with a quick mushroom sauce...

I thought I'd share... after this awful weather, and half the household having run the half 2 oceans, we are all relaxing with a glass of wine and a medium rare thick cut rump steak.

As I didn't run the 2 Oceans, I volunteered to make the steak and mushroom sauce (as no steak is ever complete without it).

For the perfect steak:

1. Heat your grill or frying pan over a high heat, until smoking hot.

2. Lightly brush the steak with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Don’t grill more than two steaks at a time, and keep them spaced well apart. If you add more than two steaks to the pan at once, the temperature will drop and the steak will stew, rather than fry.

4. Don’t turn the steaks until good seared markings are achieved, then turn them over and cook on the other side. I recommend serving them medium rare- 3 mins each side.

5. You must let the steak rest for about 3 minutes before serving, to allow the juices that have been drawn to the surface to relax back into the meat.

For the mushroom sauce:

Gordon Ramsey's is my favourite, although I have changed it a bit...

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 200g button mushrooms , quartered
• 1 clove of garlic , lightly crushed
• 1 sprig of thyme 
• 150ml dry sherry
• 1 tbsp sherry or balsamic vinegar
• 150ml beef stock or brown chicken stock (could be made with a good bouillon powder)
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 tbsp grain mustard  

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the mushroomswith the garlic and thyme, stirring until softened.
2. Pour in 100ml sherry and cook until reduced to a glaze, about 3 mins. Add the vinegar and cook for a few secs more. Mix in the remaining sherry and the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 3 mins.
3. Remove the garlic and thyme, then mix in the crème fraîche and mustard. Pour in any juices from the steak, then add the parsley. 

 Smother your perfectly cooked steak with the mushroom sauce and enjoy!

Wine pairing: Serve with a good strong red blend.

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Quick and Easy Salad dressings...

I am going through a bit of a healthy eating phase at the moment and there is nothing better than a good home made salad dressing to spice up a plain salad. Here are a few of my favourites...

Balsamic Honey Mustard dressing: 

1 tablespoon honey 

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar , to taste 

Ground black pepper to taste

Directions 

Blend honey and mustard in a small bowl with a fork until emulsified.

Drizzle in the balsamic vinegar until dressing is just thin enough to pour over salad.

Taste and add more vinegar if desired. 

Grind some pepper in, and if you feel like it, a pinch of Maldon Salt

Mix in dressing and drizzle on salad.

Coriander and Lime Dressing: 

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 clove garlic

3/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

1/4 cup lime juice

1/3 cup honey

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/4 cup packed coriander leaves

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions 

Place the jalapeno pepper, garlic clove, and ginger into a food processor or blender; pulse until the jalapeno and garlic are finely chopped. Pour in the lime juice, honey, balsamic vinegar, and salt, add the coriander leaves; pulse a few times to blend. Turn the food processor or blender on, and slowly drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated into the dressing. Season to taste with salt before serving. 

French Dressing:  

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup Tomato sauce

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions 

Place all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until its mixed. Chill and store in the fridge.

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