Quick Asian-inspired Cucumber Salad (GF)

5 baby cucumbers (qukes) or 1-2 lebanese cucumbers, sliced finely
1 bunch asparagus, chopped and lightly steamed (remove woody ends)
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1/4 cup chopped cashews, lightly toasted
1/2-1 finely sliced green chilli
handful of chopped coriander or parsley

dressing
around 1 tab maple syrup
juice of 1/2 small lemon
2 tspns fish sauce
black pepper

mix all ingredients together well and serve (can chill if desired)

Porcupine Meatballs

Just found this in an old notebook, one to try for the kids ;)

1 1/2 lbs mince
1 onion, chopped
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup rice
pinch herbs
S&P
plain flour * Gluten free if needed
1 tin of tomato soup ** check ingredients if GF needed
1 cup water

mix all but soup & water & flour.
shape into small balls, toss in flour.
heat soup & water to boiling, add balls.
cover and cook 40-45 mins, turn once.

A Lazy's Mum's Soup

hehe
i always make my soup in the biggest chunks of vegies possible, as i can't be bothered chopping vegies finely when i'm going to puree anyway! today is a holiday, and while it's not cold it is grey and overcast. i made a loaf of gluten free bread and this soup which everyone had a second bowl of...

you'll need a very large saucepan or stock pot for this

1 tab olive oil
1 large onion, roughly diced
1 tab cumin seeds or ground cumin ( i ran out of seeds!!)
1 tab ground coriander
1/2 large butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into large (2"/5cm) chunks
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled, cut the same
1 large carrot, ends cut off and cut into smaller chunks (i find carrot cooks slowly when unpeeled)
1 medium potato, washed and cut into quarters
3cm ginger, peeled and quartered
4-5 large cloves of garlic, squashed and peeled
red lentils, maybe about 1.5 cups?
chicken stock to taste
water to cover

heat oil over medium heat and fry onions a few minutes. add spices and cook a few minutes more.

add everything else and cook until vegies are soft enough to break apart (maybe 25 mins).

puree in the pot and serve when smooth. everyone else had theirs with sour cream but i liked mine as it was.

Quick & Dirty Baked Beans -version #2 (TMX, GF)

this version was even easier and yummier than my other version! it reminded me of the pasta e fagiole without the pasta.


this quantity serves around 2-3 as a main (with toast or baked potato etc)

2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 green capsicum (pepper)
5g olive oil
3 ripe roma tomatoes, quartered
1/2-1 tspn beef stock powder (i use massell)
1 tin drained rinsed butter beans
1-3 tabs chickpea flour (or other, chickpea is what i had on the bench from last night)

chop the capsicum and garlic finely on speed 6 for around 2 seconds. scrape down bowl.
add oil and cook for 2 minutes at 90' speed 1 (you might not need as long if not using onion)
add tomato and chop on speed 6 for about 5-10 seconds
add stock powder, 1 tab flour and beans and cook for 10 minutes at 90'c reverse speed 1
check thickness, add more flour if required and cook for a further 5 minutes at 90'c reverse speed 1

i think these were nearly good enough to be acceptable for the kids ;)

Quick & Dirty Baked Beans (TMX, GF)

last night i just couldn't be bothered cooking, it's been too hot and I'd had an awful day (everything that could go wrong had gone wrong). inspired by Caroline's baked beans, which i didn't have time to make, i decided to go with a quicker version which was a bit plain but nice enough for me to write down in case of other lazy nights...

this quantity serves around 2-3 as a main (with toast or baked potato etc)

1/2 small red onion, optional *
2 garlic cloves, peeled
5-10g olive oil
2 ripe roma tomatoes, quartered
1/2-1 tspn beef stock powder (i use massell)
1 tin drained rinsed cannellini beans **

chop the onion and garlic finely on speed 6 for around 2 seconds.
add oil and cook for 5 minutes at 90' speed 2 (you might not need as long if not using onion)
add tomato and stock powder and cook for 5 minutes at 90' speed 4
add beans and cook for 15 minutes at 80'c reverse speed 1 with measuring cup out of lid


* i used a full one and it was a bit strong tasting, i'm not sure if i needed to cook it longer or leave it out
** i think you could probably use 2 in this quantity

a dollop of tomato paste in with the beans would probably be good too

Nem Nuong (GF, TMX)

Last night's dinner was a big (italian style lol) salad with Nem Nuong

i didn't have any pork - i though the recipe needed pork and veal mince but spaced it and bought double amounts of veal and no pork lol. it made them a little dry but they were still yum. I made a double batch and there was not one left after feeding 3 adults and 3 kids (SIL was here for dinner).

i won't worry about C&P this recipe across as the one i have in my vietnamese recipe book is almost identical :) this recipe was a CINCH in the thermomix though - i just roasted then ground the rice in it first, then chopped the garlic and chives (i'd run out of shallots / green onions) and then added in everything else (i actually had a coarse ground mince so didn't need to make my own)

i love these made quite small and put in the rice paper rolls, or served with rice vermicelli and salad, and nuoc mam.

just can't compare...

my friend irene first made this bean salad for us when we were camping with her at kangaroo valley last year. rory loved it! now ryan loves it too. i've tried to replicate it with a non-commercial dressing and they won't touch it LOL so now i've given up and i just make it like she does :)

Irene's bean salad
1 tin mixed beans (4 or 5 bean mix), rinsed and drained
french or italian dressing (low fat and / or gluten free)

mix and serve, chilling optional lol

Cranberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Using this recipe i made a nearly-core recipe for breakfast this morning. it was wayyyy too many cranberries though so i'll adjust that below :) i discovered at the last minute i was out of oranges so used a lemon which was good too.

rory absolutely loved them and ate more than me!!!



1 1/2 cups plain flour (or 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup processed oats)
1/2 cup polenta / cornmeal
2 tspns baking powder
2 tspns sugar (or splenda)
1/2 tspn bicarb soda
Pinch salt
2 eggs
juice of one small orange or one medium lemon
2 teaspoons finely grated orange / lemon zest, optional
1 cup skim milk
1/3-1/2 cup craisins

mix it all together!
spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat over a medium-low heat.
put large spoonfuls in for pikelet sized pancakes. when they have mostly set and have bubbles on top flip to cook the other side.

I did have trouble working out the ww points for these because the recipe builder on the ww website works mostly in grams and i hadn't weighed anything. but the only non-core ingredients are the flour and craisins.

Spring Roll night (recipe challenge)

well i kind of did the challenge anyway lol

i didn't have all the ingredients the recipes called for and didn't have the time or energy to go and get them, so i just made them using what i had, out of my head ;)

i made Fresh Rice Paper Rolls and Baked Spring Rolls - both were delicious!

Fresh Rice Paper Rolls
serves4 as a main or 6-8 as an entree

1 chicken breast, poached and shredded
4 tabs hoisin sauce (i mixed the chicken and sauce together as i couldn't be bothered doing a dipping sauce*)
1 carrot, finely grated
1 cucumber, finely sliced or julienned
several lettuce leaves, finely shredded
fresh coriander
fresh mint and / or vietnamese mint
1 "slab" rice vermicelli, boiled for just a few minutes (or soak in boiling water)
also optional - i usually use steamed prawns and sliced, poached pork instead of chicken, toasted chopped peanuts, bean sprouts
1 packet rice paper

i use the rice paper 2 sheets at a time, it's much easier! (i like big fat rolls so it lets you do that too)
dip your rice paper into a large bowl of boiling water, turn it around to wet the whole thing. before it softens place it straight onto a damp tea towel.
place your toppings in the middle about 1.5" from the bottom of the paper
fold the bottom up, roll once, fold one side in, roll again. fold the other side then roll all the way to the top
serve as they are or with dipping sauce


Baked Spring Rolls
200g beef mince
1 medium onion, cut very finely
2 carrots, cut very finely
i also used a bunch of mizuna that i needed to use up
also optional: pork mince instead of the beef mince, dried chinese mushrooms soaked and finely shredded, cabbage, finely shredded, bean sprouts
1 packet spring roll wrappers, defrosted

heat a little oil in a wok or frying pan. over a fairly high heat cook your ingredients, breaking the meat up as small as possible. when it's mostly brown take it off the heat and let it cool down

take your wrappers out of the packet and put them inside a folded damp tea towel. carefully separate them one at time and place on top of the tea towel. place a heaped spoonful onto the bottom middle of the wrapper and wrap as for the rice paper rolls.

brush a little egg yolk across the top of each wrapper to 'glue' it closed

you can either deep or shallow fry them, or i baked them in a 220'c oven, sprinkled a little olive oil over them and brushed them all with egg yolk. bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. serve with dipping sauce

we also did this one often without cooking the ingredients first, and would add a little ground black pepper and fish sauce for flavour.


Dipping Sauces
i usually do a choice of 2:
hoisin mixed with a little sesame oil, hot water and chopped roasted peanuts
fish sauce mixed with very finely chopped chilli and garlic, some sugar, vinegar and a little water. you can also add a little finely chopped coriander

you can also dip into sweet chilli sauce, or the kids dipped into plain old ordinary BBQ sauce

thanks dixie!

If you'd like to pick a book for me to cook from please post in the challenge post!

Felafel (Thermomix), recipe report and a freebie :D

recipe report:
these were surprisingly yummy! (i didn't trust the book for some reason lol) the only change i made was to use a 7 grain mix in place of breadcrumbs as mine smelled rancid - i hate bought breadcrumbs! (yes i know i could make my own but i either don't have stale bread or i forget about them in my freezer lol)

the mix was very sloppy and i think they might be better baked in a hot oven than fried.

we had ours with homemade tabouli and hommus (i didnt follow those recipes exactly but mostly. i used quinoa in the tabouli and it was pretty awful to be honest. though it might have been the old lemon that tastes bleh...)

the freebie:
as i had never used this book prior to this it is one that is going! who wants it?


the thermomix "recipe":
"recipe" because i wasn't very good at noting down what i did - especially after having to wait half an hour in the middle as i only had half the chickpeas i needed! lol oh and the reason the hommus looks like cement is because i used black tahini paste!


3 peeled garlic cloves
1 medium onion, quartered
2-3 sprigs parsley
2 x 310 can chickpeas, drained ****
5g dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tspns gluten flour
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn salt
2 tabs breadcrumbs, extra **
1 tab oil

1. chop garlic on speed 6 for 5 seconds
2. scrape down, add onions and parsley and chop on speed 6 for 2 seconds
3. scrape down and chickpeas and chop on speed 6 for around 5-10 seconds
4. add remaining ingredients, except extra breadcrumbs and oil and mix on speed 6 for 5-10 seconds or until smooth
5. shape into 24 balls *** and coat in extra breadcrumbs
6. heat oil in non-stick frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown - OR in hot oven until golden brown
7. serve in pitta bread with tabouli, hummus and salad. allow 4 per person
   

**** i'm not really sure what to say here - i used 1.5 420g tins of chickpeas but discovered that the liquid is actually included in the weight of the tin!!! so not sure how many g of chickpeas i actually had...
** i needed heaps more
*** i only made about 12-15 lol oops




grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr i am so over blogger posting my pics at their original sizes - am i the only one with this problem???? THANKS MOUSEY!

Felafel (Recipe book challenge #1)

2 x 310 can chickpeas, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tspn bottled crushed garlic
2 tabs chopped parsley
3 tspns dry breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tspns gluten flour
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn salt
2 tabs breadcrumbs, etc
1 tab oil

1. lightly process chickpeas and onion in food processor or blender
2. transfer to bowl and add remaining ingredients, except extra breadcrumbs and oil. mix well
3. shape into 24 balls and coat in extra breadcrumbs
4. heat oil in non-stick frying pan and cook over medium heat until golden brown
5. serve in pitta bread with tabouli, hummus and salad. allow 4 per person

thermomix version to come.... :)

i forgot to say that of course this recipe comes from this book

Brown Rice Salad

we're going to a birthday party tonight for our friend and chiropracter Michael. his wife Kristen asked us all to bring a salad. at first i had planned to make the Asian Noodle Salad i seem to have become famous for, but realised that i can't eat it on the core plan! (and will need my points for other things ;)) so i decided to make a rice salad.

At first i was planning a typical rice salad, but decided to go with brown rice and maybe something a little different. Inpsired by this recipe i am making my salad with:

brown rice
sliced baby corn
finely diced red and green capsicum
pepitas
sunflower seeds
sliced black olives
sliced shallots / spring onions

i can't be bothered to do my own dressing as i'm feeling lazy and planning to make a cake (the kids' choice) to take too, so i'm just using a purchased fat-free italian dressing.

the berries on the cake are just frozen this time too :( i couldn't get any more blueberries this week at choku bai jo

A Moroccan inspired meal for a Summer night

i don't seem to have posted these recipes yet - i can't believe it!

the other night for dinner we had grilled chicken with moroccan spices, cous cous salad and a potato salad with a mix of potatoes including purple congoes :) this is based on a recipe from mum, which i will also post, but which is different from what i made.

grilled chicken with moroccan spices
to serve 6ish
3 chicken breasts, cut into tenderloin sized stripe
2 heaped tspns brazen's moroccan spice blend

cover the chicken all over with the spice blend and leave for 20 minutes or overnight.
grill on a bbq plate (we have an indoor grill, our bbq is broken :() until cooked through.

cous cous salad
maybe around 1 1/2 cups of uncooked cous cous
1 1/2 tspns cumin seeds
1 tspn coriander, ground
1 1/2 tspns chicken stock powder
water to cover (sorry i have no idea how much, maybe 2-3 cups?)
3 tomatoes, diced (remove seeds if you can be bothered)
1 lebanese cucumber, diced
a few sprigs mint, shredded
(other ingredients which would be good in this include half a finely diced red onion, currants - add to the water with the cous cous - and nuts such as cashews, pistachios etc)

bring the water to the boil. turn off heat and add in cous cous (at this stage you can remove extra water if you have too much - you want about 1cm above the level of the cous cous)
add spices and stock powder, stir and cover.

leave for 10 minutes or until all water is absorbed. stir with a fork to fluff and let cool for as long as possible.

mix through the rest of the ingredients and serve. you can eat it at the temperature it comes or chilled.

pretty potato salad
around 6-8 purple congo potatoes, scrubbed but not peeled
around 6-8 small potatoes suitable for a salad (i think i might have used nicola maybe), scrubbed but not peeled
half a finely diced red onion
few sprigs parsley, finely chopped
1/3 cup cashews, toasted *
1 tab olive oil
few tspns of dijon or seeded mustard, to taste
large squeeze of lemon juice
salt & pepper
optional - some crispy diced bacon would be great too

boil the potatoes until they are just cooked, let cool a little and cut into 1" pieces. let them cool as long as you can.

mix everything together well, though gently (you might find it easier to mix the dressing first)

* to toast the nuts just place them in over a medium-low heat in a small pan or pot. keep moving them around every few minutes so they don't burn. you can use the microwave but i find it much easier to burn them than on the stove.

PS: sorry about the picture, blogger is still not making them the size i want :(

a varoma adventure!

dimsims in the varoma tray, vegies in the base of the varoma

rice in the basket in the bowl of the thermomix

the full story is over here but there are more pictures here than there ;)

Chick Pea Patties with a Chilli and Tomato Salsa

i made these a few years ago and we LOVED them! however i don't think i've done them since :( a good one to try again soon as chickpeas are high in iron. i'm going to C&P all my fave recipes here now because too many of my links are broken now and i don't want to lose any more good ones!!!

this recipe is originally from the Women's Weekly


Chickpea Patties With A Chilli And Tomato Salsa

Serving size: Serves 6
Cooking time: Less than 30 minutes
Special options: Kid friendly, Lactose free, Low cholesterol, Low fat, Vegan, Vegetarian
Course: Lunch, Main

INGREDIENTS

2 cups tinned chickpeas, drained
¼ cup coriander leaves
¼ cup mint leaves
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
sea salt and pepper
½ cup fresh corn kernels
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 red capsicum, roasted, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil

Salsa
4 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
splash balsamic
1 teaspoon brown sugar
¼ cup coriander, chopped or basil leaves

METHOD

Combine chickpeas, coriander, mint, ginger, chillies, cumin and seasoning in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped and add the corn. Pulse briefly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl.

Stir in the breadcrumbs and capsicum until well combined. Form into 12 patties. (It may help to have wet hands when forming patties).

Combine all the salsa ingredients in a small bowl. Season.

Heat oil in a non stick pan and fry patties for 3 minutes on each side or until well browned and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve patties with the salsa.



hmmmmm i think this will be a good one to convert to the thermomix ;)

Which came first?

Poached eggs with tomato sauce and greens
it was an eggy dinner tonight. needed another quick and easy, thursdays are the last day of my working week and we are all always exhausted.

This recipe from deb at smitten kitchen had me drooling when it turned up in my bloglines, so i decided that was dinner tonight. i knew the kids wouldn't be interested so their dinner was thermomix scrambled eggs *

i pretty much followed the recipe (mostly, you know me :p) for ours, though i had a bunch of greens in the fridge i wanted to try, i suspected it was Kale. as it turned out i'm pretty sure it is (the crone tells me it's the portuguese national vegie lol). anyway, i have a new love <3 YUM!!!!!!!!!! geoff wasn't as keen on teh kale but that's too bad because i'm the vegie buyer and mostly the vegie cooker and he eats what he's told or has to cook instead LMAO!!!

we ate it with leftover turkish bread from our dinner last night (which was also today's lunch and will be tomorrow's dinner LOL i LOVE turkish banquets!)

i also forgot to report back on my baking on the weekend...
the golden oat muffins are delish! so far the kids havne't got to try them ;p (they are not muffins fans anyway) i did share with g tonight but he's not a big golden syrup fan either.
the apple cake was a bit bleh, so-so, boring. not much of it was eaten and i think it will end up in teh compost (i am such a bad example of how not to waste food)
the orange cakes have been an occasional treat for the kids and they love them (except rory who seems to be anti cake atm)

oh and in other food related news rora had her paediatrician apmt this week and as soon as we can get her iron levels up to a safe level for a general anaesthetic she will be tested for coeliac disease. i'll also be asking for a proper diagnosis of my IBS as there is apparently a formal test for that too, but my gp just told me i had it. poor possum, i hope she doesn't have it. (we suspected a dairy / lactose / something intolerance)

* i still had trouble with cookign the eggs. finally got it to work, but had to up the temperature more and more. i think i did 12 minutes at 80', then 3 minutes at 100' and then 2 minutes at varoma. i also had to turn the speed up for all but the last few minutes

Links - Sweets (cakes, slices, pancakes etc) #2

ran out of room in the last list of 'want to makes' so here's part 2 :) part one can be found here

blueberry & yoghurt crumble cake

Chocolate pecan cheesecake bars

double lemon bars

easy apple pie

healthy pumpkin bread

light cranberry oatmeal bars

majestic and moist honey cake

maple huckleberry coffee cake

moist gingerbread cake from the crone

orange cranberry walnut loaf

parkin

peanut butter crispy bars

peanut butter oatmeal bars

pumpkin cake roll

pumpkin pecan scones

raspberry spice cake

sour cream coffee cake with chocolate and nuts

sour cream coffee cake

Links - Sweets (cakes, slices, pancakes etc)

I've discovered that there just aren't enough labels i can use to save a month's worth of recipes! and without the labels i can't find a recipe i'm looking for... so what i'll do is start a few posts with specific categories so that they will hopefully need less labels ;)

NEW Almond poppy seed bread

NEW Apple upside-down biscuit cake

banana bread

NEW banana bread, really good low fat

blueberry buttermilk pancakes

thanks susana for this one, it's divine and soooo much better than the dry one i made today :(
blueberry crumble slice
and another version blueberry crumb bars
and yet another version! blueberry crisp bars

NEW buttermilk blueberry muffins - oh no, i forgot to link this one! i can't find the exact recipe but here are some to pick from

NEW Cinnamon Apple Cake

crock pot chocolate mousse

creamy lemon blueberry bars

NEW damp lemon & almond cake

NEW elmo cupcakes (decorating idea)

german pancakes

ginger lime cupcakes

golden oat muffins

layered cream cheese brownies

NEW lemon marscarpone blondies

lemon meringue pie

orange almond cupcakes

NEW peanut butter swirled brownies

small coconut layer cake

Snickerdoodles

NEW Upside-down raspberry-plum cake

Day 1 - No-Meat Week

dinner tonight was pretty damn good. everyone enjoyed it :D (the kids didn't know there was no meat) thanks to bec for the inspiration! I take no responsibility for the lack of mexican authenticity ;)

i'll definitely do this again next time i have the chance to roast up a heap of vegies while the oven's already on...

Roast Vegetable Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Roast vegies - i used pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini and a small parsnip. i meant to do sweet potato and forgot. i should have done onion too!
olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced (if you didn't roast one)
pinto beans, soaked& drained, or a can of refried beans
spices - ground cumin, coriander and garlic (optional any kind of chilli spice)
10 tortillas
small amount grated cheese

gently fry onion and spices with a little olive oil
if you're using pinto beans put them in with enough water to cover all. put the lid on and cook for 5-10 minutes until the beans are soft enough to mash.
dice all your vegies (or chop in the tmx like i did)
mix your mashed / refried beans with the vegies and put 1/10th of the mix into each tortilla. roll up and place in a greased oven dish.
sprinkle with cheese
bake in moderate oven for about 15 minutes

1/2 onion, finely diced
olive oil
cumin seeds
ground coriander
garlic
around 3/4 cup of rice (? just guessing!)
1 tin of diced tomatoes or a jar of salsa or taco sauce etc etc
stock or a little salt & water
finely diced green capsicum
1 tin corn kernels, and the 'juice'
fresh herbs - coriander and / or garlic chives
optional - also great with sliced black olives, jalapenos

gently fry onion and spices with a little olive oil
add all other ingredients - and enough water to reach 1cm over the top of all the other ingredients.
bring to the boil
cover and turn down to low, cook until rice is done. (you can take the lid off and stir once or twice)
mix herbs through

i did use the thermomix a lot for this and you could probably do most of both recipes in it, but i wasn't in teh mood to play (plus i was making another slice in it lol)

PS: do you think i take too many food pictures? tonight ryan insisted i had to take one of them all eating, when he saw me taking one of my plate lol

Chocolate Fudge Cake

my gorgeous friend carol (with whom i shall be spending a fantastic weekend of relaxation and partying at the gold coast in around 80 days - woooooh!) has been working her butt off and lost 16kg over the past few months. this is a recipe she has used to make a special treat that is not goign to break her diet. thanks carol!

Chocolate fudge cake

60g choc finely chopped
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup boiling water
6 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup plain flour sifted

Preheat oven 170c line tin (I never do that)

place choc and cocoa in a small bowl pour over boiling water and stir til choc melts and mixture is smooth

Using and electric mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and continue beating until sugar has completely dissolved and the meringue is thick and glossy. Add the choc mixture and mix to combine. Use a metal spoon to gently fold in flour until just combined.
Pour into tin bake for 45 mins or until firm.
The book says to cool in oven with door ajar but I never do that image.

I serve this with a berry coulis image

Enjoy

i have people coming over today for a bookclub lunch followed by an undercover wear party, so i need to make some pumpkin & sweet potato soup, foccaccia, this cake and some pikelets with jam and cream. that's teh plan but somehow i doubt i'll have time for all that lol