Lentil Salad with Basil and Lemon

Its Australia Day, and what is more Australian than lentils….well lots of stuff actually…but as you may be aware, I have been home from a cruise for less than a week, and talk about struggle with being home and getting back into the swing of it all! Can’t even bring myself to go to the shops, and so this was one of those; Must blog, have stuff in the cupboard, fridge that will do, and actually turned out quite delicious. So it is accompanying us to our BBQ and swim in a little while.

I wanted to add quinoa, but fresh out…need to order some from Honest to Goodness, as they stock an Aussie grown variety, that is nutty and delicious and un radiated….

So if you have it, add it…and actually, this lends itself to adding or subtracting just about anything that takes your fancy…Happy Straya day!

NEED:

200g lentils (I used green and red)

1200g water

Zest 1 lemon, finely grated

Juice 1 lemon

60-70g Fini EVOO plus some more as needed

Good pinch Murray River salt

1/4 red onion, diced

3 spring onions/shallots, sliced on the angle

1/2 red capsicum, diced

2 stalks celery, sliced

Good handful basil leaves, shredded (any variety, I used Thai as I have a garden abundance at the moment, adding a nice anise flavour)

300g cabbage, red or green, shredded

Other salad greens of choice

pistachios, pepitas, sunflower seeds to taste

DO:

Place lentils into simmering basket and pour water over.

Cook 30 min/100ºC/speed 3. Remove lentils and place into insulated serving bowl with lemon zest, juice, EVOO and salt. Stir and cover to marinate whilst you prepare the rest of the salad.

Prep remaining ingredients as directed and place all in large bowl. Stir through lentils and add more oil or seasoning as needed. Serve warm or cold.

Chicken Mango and Noodle Salad

Perth has been having a mini heatwave…of sorts, and now it is all cloudy and threatening, but I do have the airconditioner in full swing. The first air conditioning day for the season in fact…here we go…summer is on its way!

So for a hot day, a quick and easy salad. Make the dressing. Chop the cabbage, fire up the barbie or the grill and dinner dilemma is solved…to everyones satisfaction I think.

Speaking of Dinner Dilemma’s being solved…VERY SOON…in my store (see tab above), I will have my first little self published project available for sale. Now let me just make a fuss…21 fabulous recipes, all main meals with lots of variety, whether you are carnivore or vegetarian, whether you enjoy Asian or Mexican food, spicy, salads, winter warmers, its a bit of a mixer and hopefully you will find that you have a new friend in the kitchen in this book. It is small enough to carry in your bag;  just call it a prehistoric app…bring it out at the shop to just check on a recipe ingredients and yes, dinner is sorted. It will be that easy…so hope to have a big SOLD OUT sign up really soon!

In the meantime, enjoy this…

NEED:
Dressing;

20g peeled ginger root

1 lemon grass stalk, white part only

1 kaffir lime leaf

1 red chili

2 cloves garlic

30g palm sugar

Pinch sea salt

40g fish sauce

100g lemon or lime juice, fresh

60-80g Fini EVOO

Handful fresh mint leaves

Salad;

One chicken breast fillet between 2 servings

1/2 Chinese cabbage

Few spinach leaves or other salad greens of choice

1-2 avocadoes

1-2 mangoes

1-2 pkts Changs fried noodles

DO:

Place all dressing ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 7. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place up to 400g of cabbage at a time into the Thermomix bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 4. Remove from bowl and place on serving platter. Repeat with remaining cabbage until all is chopped. Place a few baby spinach leaves or other greens on top.

Meanwhile heat a griddle pan over a high heat on Induction 12. Oil it and then cook each chicken breast, until well charred and marked. Turn heat down to medium heat, (Induction 6), cover and cook until cooked through completely. Rest chicken,  covered in pan with heat turned off.

Chop avocado and mango and toss through the dressing.

Slice chicken on the diagonal and arrange over bed of greens, top with avocado, mango and drizzle with dressing. Garnish with noodles and additional sliced red chilies.

Voila, Summer is Served!

Well here I go again…the fruit in the salad routine! Can’t help it, just adds that piquancy that a salad needs. This salad is quick, to the point and totally great to increase or decrease to suit the numbers you are feeding. Add more spinach, avocado, prawns, peanuts, and/or pineapple to suit.

A great summer option, or as in this case, autumn (‘fall’ down under) option…we are still having 35°C (95°F) days here! Frankly I’m looking forward to a good ole rainy day and the chance to cook up a batch of soup or something, but in the meantime, this sort of food reminds me of why I love summer. My pic was compromised somewhat due to the earlier setting of the sun, (damn Thermomix office that holds me till all the good light has gone)! And of course I am off to Melbourne this week, of all weeks, for a food shoot on a work project with a proper stylist and photographer and everything, so this pic hardly sells me does it…oh so much to learn, and so excited to do so…I may never come back!

NEED:

Dressing;

3 cloves garlic

1/2 red onion

50g fish sauce

juice of 3-4 limes (50-60g)

40g EVOO

2 tbsp palm sugar

3 handfuls fresh mint leaves

few sprigs fresh coriander leaves

1 bunch chives thinly sliced

1 *roasted large red chili sliced thinly

Salad;

300g peanuts

500-600g forzen prawn cutlets (use fresh, but alter cooking time significantly!)

1 whole pineapple, peeled, cored and diced

1-2 large avocadoes peeled and diced

200g baby spinach

DO:

Make dressing by placing garlic, onion, fish sauce, lime juice, EVOO, palm sugar, mint and coriander into Thermomix bowl and blending for 15 seconds on speed 6.

Add chives and chilli and stir through for a few seconds on Reverse + speed 3. Set aside. (You can premake the dressing and allow flavours to blend for up to 24 hours prior to use. This dressing would also be excellent on other salads.)

Roast peanuts by placing nuts into 200°C oven and cooking for 10 minutes or until fragrant. Cool slightly.

Prepare prawns by placing into paper lined Combi Steam Oven tray, or Varoma tray and steaming for 15 minutes. (This time refers to frozen prawns, if using fresh you will need significantly less time.)

Gently toss all salad ingredients together with dressing and add a few extra coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

*I roasted my own chillies by simply placing them on top of the naked flame on my Kleenmaid wok burner for around 5-7 minutes. I did need to keep turning them (used one, saved one) until they were fairly evenly charred. Wrapped them in foil after that, until the skins blistered and rubbed off easily. The flavour difference in doing this is significant…and it is so easy and quick to do, I hope you try it.

Well kids as I brace myself for an Easter Choc Fest, I realise I should put up here some of the healthier options that happen in our household…maybe not as sexy as something dripping with ganache, but yummy nonetheless. I would hate you all to think we only eat dessert! In fact the kids probably would if the offer was there, but no; I DO make them eat properly from time to time!

This again is less of a recipe and more of a suggestion. So easy, pretty and quick to do…I think that is a tick for a few boxes there! I’m no Quirky Jo or Raw Loulou, but we love our healthy stuff here as well!

Enjoy!

NEED:

Feta and Lemon Dressing;

200g fresh feta. crumbled

2-3 cloves garlic

Finely grated zest 2 lemons

Juice 1 lemon

EVOO to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Veggies;

Baby carrots, green beans, broccolini, asparagus, (purple baby carrots here) other vegetables of choice

DO:

Combine dressing ingredients in attractive serving bowl. Allow to marinate for at least an hour, preferably longer. You may need to add more oil before serving as the cheese will soak it up a bit, so make sure you use a delectable oil. Flavored EVOO is certainly another taste option.

To steam your veggies, prep and place into steaming tray of Combi-Steam oven and fill water reservoir. Steam for approximately 13 minutes, or until carrots are done to your liking. Remember the residual heat in the vegetables will continue to cook them for a few minutes after you have removed them and if you don’t want soggy broccoli/broccolini, you are best to go with less time.

If you are using the Varoma, place 1L boiling water in the Thermomix bowl and set Varoma into position. Steam for around 15 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 3, with the same advice as above.

SERVE:

While veggies are still warm with plenty of the dressing. Great accompaniment to most roast meat or seafood of choice.

Green Potato Salad with Quail Eggs

My family rarely need an excuse to eat potato salad, and if I can use pesto for anything I will…so this is a combo, and whilst on a theme, we went green! (I know, I know, I should take up penning poetry)!

Less of a recipe and more of a suggestion, you can tweak this to your personal taste or numbers as required….This amount served 10 comfortably!

NEED:

15 baby potatoes, quartered

1 batch pesto

15 quail eggs

4-5 shallots/spring onions, sliced diagonally including green tops

200g green fresh or frozen peas

1 avocado

2-3 stalks celery diced

additional fresh lemon juice to taste

Additional toasted pine nuts and fresh basil leaves for garnish

DO:

Prepare potatoes and place into steaming tray from Combi oven, or Varoma dish and tray from the Thermomix. Steam following directions of appliance of choice until tender. (Approximately 30-40 minutes) Set aside.

Meanwhile make pesto and place into large salad bowl.

Boil eggs in enough water just to cover for exactly 6 minutes (from cold water to finishing) on Induction 7. Set aside to cool before peeling and halving.

Gently toss all ingredients together except avocado. Garnish with pine nuts and basil. Serve warm.

Do not be tempted to dress this salad ahead of serving as potato salad always gets gluggy and solid if dressed too early. To prepare ahead of time, just prep all ingredients including pesto, toss steamed potatoes with a little verjuice, lemon juice, white wine or champagne vinegar to prevent drying out. Finish mixing the salad just before you serve it. You can also substitute 6-7 chicken eggs if you don’t want to use the quail eggs. Cook for 12 minutes, peel and chop.

Roasted Fig and Cacciatore Salad

The name of this salad should be more in keeping with the bounty of family members it involved…but in keeping with my pledge to name posts for what they are…no matter how boring, this is, just as named; Roasted Fig with Spicy Cacciatore Sausage Salad.

Another quickie….I love fruit in salads as regular readers will know! My sister gave me a bucket of figs and after a batch of jam, I still had heaps left over…and as my system can only take so many fresh ones, (if you know what I mean?) and I was leaving for what was then supposed to be Bali and turned out to be Darwin (long story) and ultimately became Phuket…nonetheless, I had figs to use!

This was easy, painless and disappeared in minutes after its arrival at a farewell do for my darling personal web developer nephew and his little family…miss you guys already! So simple it can barely be called a recipe really. AND I must mention my lovely platter that appears in the pic. Recent birthday present from very thoughtful Sister in Law…thanks Imogen!

NEED:

Bucket of fresh figs! (Up to you how many)

Red wine vinegar, Coarse sea salt, EVOO to taste

Large bag salad greens (I used rocket)

1 spicy sausage of choice thinly sliced

Handful Kalamata olives

Excellent soft cheese of choice (Brie, Camembert, soft feta, creamy blue)

DO:

Slice figs in half and arrange on lined baking tray. Be selective as you do so, picking firm fruit. Sprinkle with salt, vinegar and EVOO and roast for approximately 20-25 minutes until fragrant and gooey. Cool on tray.

Arrange rocket or salad greens on large flat platter. Cook sliced sausage in hot fry pan until well browned. Place on top of rocket.

Arrange all other ingredients on top of each other, finishing with the roasted figs and cheese. Drizzle with the collected juices from roasting, adding more red wine vinegar if needed to dress the salad. (There is enough oil from the sausage and roasting juice to not need more oil…unless you want to!)

Allow to rest for at least 30 minutes before serving so the flavours can blend somewhat and the rocket will wilt. Try not to lick the platter in public!

There…back from holiday and blogging! Just barely, but stay tuned for some Thai inspired recipes. The food in Phuket was wondeful and we are all craving it already!

Cooked Honey Mayo (front) and Fresh Ranch Dressing (rear)

With all this hot weather, I confess I can really only cope with throwing a salad together, grilling or BBQ-ing some chook or beef and with occasional bread of some description thrown in (because bread IS the staff of life after all!) and is the only thing to fill the hollow legs of my growing lads. But does that get me away from the Thermomix? Oh no…certainly not!

If I had a dollar for every query I get at work about mayonnaise, I could retire…(please send payment to PayPal…) I had heard of cooked mayonnaise of course, so fiddled around and absolutely wonderful success…no fail. This will also help if you are worried about the consumption of raw egg.

So first up Honey Mayonnaise…cooked.

NEED:

3 egg yolks

20g white wine vinegar

1tsp dry mustard

1tsp honey

Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

200-250g grapeseed oil

DO:

Place egg yolks, vinegar, mustard, honey and salt and pepper into Thermomix bowl and cook 5 min/80°C/speed 2-3.

Allow to cool in Thermomix bowl for at least 10 minutes. Insert Butterfly and whip egg yolk mixture 1 min/speed 3.

Add oil through hole in lid slowly 3 min/speed 3-4.

Voila…cooked Honey Mayonnaise. This will lengthen the shelf life of your mayonnaise as opposed to the uncooked variety and I think you will find it pretty faultless. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

OR: Try adding fresh herbs, no more than a few sprigs. Chop first , remove from bowl and then proceed with recipe, adding herbs at the end of emulsification.

Add 1-2 anchovies, a clove of garlic and a few capers. Chop first with just a squeeze of lemon juice, and then proceed with recipe as directed.

Do I need to explain Lime Mayo? Add fresh lime juice apres mixing step but it will alter the texture.

Add 1-2 tsp curry paste of choice with first step for Curry Mayonnaise.

If you have ever been to the United States, you will know that one of the most popular salad dressings over there is Ranch Dressing. I have to say, I get it…and unfortunately in Australia, we are pretty limited in that department. I LOVE Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and I am pretty positive there are some nasties in it, but when my friend offered me a recipe for ranch dressing, I jumped at the chance. Of course, I lost that recipe, but remembered there were Saltine crackers in it…so…my version is the fresh version; no dried herbs around here, added buttermilk of which I have surplus at the moment and creme fraiche, which is really just  a poncy way of talking about sour cream…it there anyone out there who can clarify the differences to enlighten us all??

Buttermilk Ranch Style Dressing

NEED:

2 cloves garlic

4 shallots/spring onions

3 sprigs parsley

3 sprigs thyme

1tsp sea salt

a few black peppercorns

10g Salada plain crackers (2 whole ones)

150g uncultured buttermilk (in other words, make it yourself!)

55-75g Creme Fraiche

200g mayonnaise (see above)

Sea salt to taste

DO:

Place garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and crackers into Thermomix bowl and blend for 5 seconds on speed 7.

Add remaining ingredients and blend for 30 seconds on speed 5. Place into an airtight jar and allow flavors to socialize for a few hours before using.

There you have it folks. No more skulking through customs with packets of powder to make the ranch dressing…you have it here! Fresh, delish and swish!

What is your favorite salad dressing?

Watercress, Brocollini and Pomegranate Salad

You know me and fruit in salad…I think my kids have even stopped complaining about fruit showing up in a savoury salad because they are either;

A) resigned to the fact,

B) used to it or

C) enjoy it themselves now.

Colleagues are not so good with it, but I am trying to win them over. (When I say ‘them’ I am actually referring to one young lady who knows very well to whom I refer!)

Because I love top ten lists myself, and because I have so many salads showcasing fruit (including a new one just for this post!), an article with them all in one spot, ready for bookmarking seemed like a good idea. I also love the idea of a special salad being a bit more festive. With our hot Christmases in Australia, the old hot dinner on Christmas Day is long gone, and so a special salad recipe or ten can come in handy. Hope you enjoy!

So here goes;

ONE;

This is my new kid on the block.

NEED:

4 small bunches brocollini

generous amount of water cress leaves or other bitter greens of choice

Seeds of 1 pomegranate

1/2 thinly sliced red onion

water for steaming

Dressing;

2 cloves garlic

60g red wine vinegar

60g honey

Sea salt to taste

50g EVOO

DO:

Place enough water in Thermomix bowl to reach the 1L mark. Bring to the boil for 8-10 minutes on Varoma temperature on speed 4.

Place trimmed and washed broccolini into Varoma dish and set  aside. When the water is steaming, set Varoma into position and cook for 7 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 4. Remove immediately and place into ice bath to cool.

Drain bowl and make dressing by placing garlic into Thermomix bowl and mincing for 3 seconds on speed 5. Add remaining dressing ingredients and blend for 10 seconds on speed 6. Pour over sliced red onion and allow dressing to soften onion for 15 minutes.

Arrange greens on salad platter, add broccolini and onion with dressing. Top with Pomegranate jewels and voila. Beautiful and delicious, (and dare I say it? A little fruity)! Season to taste with black pepper and grainy sea salt.

TWO:

I love Thai flavours and a Thai Beef Salad is something I find hard to beat. So although not completely conventional, the fruit (grapefruit) in this just tips it into awesome for me. Of course it is optional, but I dare you, try it and let me know what you think.

THREE:

Originating from my darling sister in law who now lives in the States and whom I miss every day, I make this Broccoli and Grape Salad, just to reminisce sometimes! Tangy dressing, salty bacon, sweet grapes and barely steamed broccoli. Can’t really go wrong!

FOUR:

While not strictly complying to the fruit in the salad criteria, but rather in the dressing, Seafood Eatfood has never failed me. It is a little festive, a few Asian flavours are in there, great the next day as a cold lunch, can be easily increased to feed a crowd, is really so simple and easy…what more could you want at Christmas time?

FIVE:

OK, probably should have been number one…LOVE Fruity Harvest Salad and have even been known to add roasted nectarines when in season. This is a great accompaniment to roasted meats, particularly pork. Seriously, if you want to impress when asked to bring a salad, this should be your choice. Still in my old format (pre Thermomix days) feel free to go ahead and do what you will with Thermomix when you can!

SIX:

Probably Pineapple is one of the best foils for salty, think about all those Hawaiian Pizza days…or channel your inner 60′s dinner party with baked ham and pineapple…this Carribean Salsa salutes those flavours, adds some heat and is also fantastic with ham, or beef, or fish, or pork, or fried chook…anything you feel like really!

SEVEN:

Not quite a waldorf salad, Chicken with Grapes and Walnuts is what a waldorf salad becomes when it grows up! A lovely citrus and cranberry dressing make it perfect for Festive entertaining. Or serve with crusty fresh bread to make a great light lunch for friends.

EIGHT:

Again a bit of a cheat entry, Chicken Salad with Chilli Citrus Dressing is another example of the dressing (with fruit) lifting an ordinary salad above the mundane and into the heavenly. The dressing in fact can be used on any number of salads, kept in the fridge for around 3 weeks and never fails to impress. Great in the party season as well because you can cheat and buy a cooked chicken, simply make the dressing (all of about 1 minute) and with a bag of greens, punnet of tomatoes, you are ready to be the hostess with the mostess in no time.

NINE:

Again I am pretty well cheating with the Traffic Light Salad as well…in that the grapes are merely a suggestion. Fantastic at a BBQ of which I am confident there are no shortages at this time of year, (at least in the Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Last but not least,

TEN:

Number 10 is a johnny come lately; I have enjoyed it twice now, and have yet to photograph it…but try this on for size.

1 bag baby spinach leaves, tossed with thinly sliced red onion.

Drizzle with EVOO (and you know my stance on EVOO I hope.)

Add 1 tin of drained mandarin segments, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt and some toasted pine nuts. Drizzle with just enough of the drained liquid to moisten and again…voila…faster than a trip to the store…you are eating amazing and delicious Fruit in (Savoury) Salad…again. And one hopes without any complaints from the peanut gallery!

Christmas Sugar Plum Salad?

Ever since I spent nearly five years in the USA as a youngster (!) I have loved fruit in salads…It seems to be something they do extraordinarily well and so even after all these years I am still playing around with the idea. I LOVE mango in a green salad that sports a Thai flavored dressing. I LOVE roasted pears or nectarines or both in a salad that goes with roast pork and of course I love Waldorf, any salad with Citrus in it or the dressing, Pineapple with salty overtones, grapes with brocolli; the list goes on. Its the yin and the yang, the sweet with the salty, the straw and the berry, the apple and the pie; they just GO together!

This is no different. The cherry plums that are around just now are quite tart, so make sure you taste them before adding enough sugar to sweeten them up. I had a few beetroot rolling around in the fridge hoping to get eaten, so this is the pairing. I love the idea of fruity salads at Christmas time because somehow they seem a little more special and upmarket. SO keep this one on your list, Sugar Plum Salad, or Nutcracker Salad, if you will! I served it with Char Sui Roasted Pork and my butter sweet rolls. It was a pleasure to make and a pleasure to eat and a pleasure to realise for possibly the first time that I could head straight here and find everything I needed for the meal! (Feels good! Hmmnn, maybe I should bookmark this page…or subscribe over there in the right hand column, or even write a comment below…)

NEED:

450g cherry plums halved (pit them later if this is too difficult now)

A few baby beetroot peeled and quartered

Raw sugar, EVOO, red wine vinegar and Celtic sea salt to taste

Bag of baby spinach or other greens of choice

1/2 red onion thinly sliced

120g roasted and skinned hazlenuts

shaved Parmesan (please make it a good one!)

More EVOO and red wine vinegar

Few fresh parsley leaves for garnish

DO:

Preheat oven to 190°C and line 2 baking trays with paper. Halve cherry plums and prepare beetroot by peeling and cutting into bite sized pieces. Place plums and beetroot on separate trays. Drizzle both with EVOO, sprinkle with brown sugar and salt and then drizzle with red wine vinegar. Place into oven and roast, plums for 20 minutes, beetroot a little longer, around 30-35 minutes. Cool and remove plum stones.

Toss remaining salad ingredients except shaved Parmesan, with EVOO and red wine vinegar. Arrange on plates to serve, top with roasted plums and beetroot, drizzle with the syrup that will be generated from roasting the plums and top with shaved Parmesan. Serve immediately.

P8...Eight Flavours Pesto Pasta Salad

Now it is the pasta itself that has eight flavours…and if Adriano can call his amazing one flavoured Vanilla Thriller a V8, then I figure I can call this the P8 as I’m guessing the salad has a whole lot more flavours than eight, (given the pasta has its own thing going on). This salad can be made with any pasta, but I could not resist the pretty packet of Orecchiette (little shells) which cost an inordinate amount of money…but it was imported from Italy and it had all natural flavours; tomato, red beetroot, carrot, spinach, basil, turmeric and squid ink….um, guessing the eighth flavour is…pasta?

NEED:

500g small pasta of choice

1 batch pesto (reserve a few basil leaves for garnish)

juice 1 lemon

handful black olives

1 punnet grape tomatoes halved lengthways

1/2 red onion, diced

2 small Lebanese cucumbers sliced diagonally

1 small red capsicum deseeded and diced

DO:

Cook pasta as package directs. (This was a slow cooking pasta due to the ‘realness’ of the product…18 minutes!)

Drain and set aside.

Prepare pesto. Toss through pasta with all ingredients. Garnish with a few basil leaves.

Voila…a few great additions to this to make it a meal instead of a side would be flaked tuna, diced cooked chicken, roasted eggplant or pumpkin, or try adding different herbs and nuts in the pesto for a totally different take. Pasta salad is like Potato Salad; whatever you do, throw flavour at it along with a great dressing and you can’t really go wrong. Erm…unless you’re on a low carb diet!