ROASTED VEGETABLE & FETA BAKE

This vegetable bake can be made with any vegetables that you have on hand, such as zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, potato and eggplant, to name a few. It is a perfect dish for using up any spare produce in your fridge that has almost hit its expiration date.  The key in this dish is to add a few herbs that compliment the vegetables you are using; otherwise the end result can be a tad bland. I recommend using two or three of the following; sage, oregano, rosemary, parsley, thyme and basil. You can use any combination of these herbs you desire and they can be fresh or dried. 

INGREDIENTS

• 650g sweet potato, cut into 2-3cm pieces
• 300g potato, cut into 2-3cm pieces
• 1 red/green capsicum, cut into thin strips
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, leaves finely torn
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, leaves finely torn
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem
• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil
• 80g low-fat feta cheese, crumbled
• 75g breadcrumbs (gluten free, wholemeal or multigrain bread)
• 15g almonds, roughly chopped
• 300g tomatoes, sliced thinly

COOKING 

1. Before preparing the potato, preheat your oven to 200 degrees. 

2. Combine the two types of potato, red capsicum, garlic and whatever herbs you are using in a roasting tin. Toss these ingredients together and place in the oven for 30 minutes. 

2. Combine the feta, breadcrumbs, almonds and a pinch of ground black pepper in a medium bowl. 

3. After the 30 minutes is up, add the tomatoes to the roasted vegetables. Sprinkle the feta mixture over the vegetables and bake for around 15 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden and the tomatoes are tender. 

Serves / 4
Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 
Total Cooking time / 45 minutes 

x Emily 

HAM, SAGE & PEA RISOTTO

As the weather turns warmer, I find my cooking changing with the season. Crisp, colourful salads take the place of hearty quiches and chunky vegetable soups. One dish that I will continue to make regards of the heat is risotto. As I am gluten intolerant, rice is my saviour for lunches and dinners. I have created a somewhat ‘summery’ risotto below for other rice fanatics. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed 
• 125g gluten free ham, roughly shredded
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, thinly shredded
• 1 teaspoon ground sage 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 leek, thinly sliced 
• 3 cups vegetable stock (gluten free)
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups doongara rice
• dash of dry white wine 
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

COOKING

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until leek is soft. Add ham and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add rice and stir, ensuring that it is well coated. 

2. Add stock and water and bring to the boil. When boiled, simmer for around 15 minutes or until rice is almost absorbed. Add peas and stir, for around 4-5 minutes or until peas are cooked. 

3. Remove saucepan from heat and add cheese and ground & shredded sage. 

x E

LIME SORBET

I have wanted to make my own sorbet ever since I learnt how to spell this word. The recipe below does not require many ingredients and is quite easy to make. My lime sorbet was polished off in a matter of minutes!  

You can substitute lime for several other types of fruit, such as grapefruit, lemon or strawberry. I for one can’t wait to try my hand at making raspberry sorbet. Stay tuned! 

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 tablespoons finely grated lime rind 
• 2 1/2 cups water 
• 1 egg white
• 3/4 cup lime juice
• 1 cup caster sugar 

COOKING 

1. Combine rind, water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Decrease heat and simmer without stirring, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a large heatproof jug. Let liquid cool to room temperature and then stir in lime juice. 

2. Place the mixture into a loaf pan (I used a cake loaf tin) and freeze overnight.

3. The next day remove the loaf tin from the freezer and allow sorbet to thaw for a few minutes. Using a food processor, process the sorbet with the egg white until smooth and fluffy. This should only take a few minutes at most. Return the mixture to the loaf pan and freeze until solid. This will take a minimum of 4 hours. Serve with lime slices if desired. 

x E

Recipe from AWW 1000 best ever recipes. 

ISN'T FOOD WONDERFUL

I can’t seem to get enough of food. I love the power of a meal; it can bring long lost friends and family together, it can brighten someone’s day, it can bright a smile of delight to even the grumpiest face. 

x E

BUTTER BEANS

I discovered butter beans last weekend when they were on sale for 49 cents at a fruit & vegetable shop near my home. I must admit that the promise of a bargain sucked me in.  A bright yellow colour, these beans are far more exciting to cook with than the same old green beans I usually buy. I made the dish below as a side to a takeaway meal (I cant seem to stop cooking even when I order out!). 

INGREDIENTS

• 200-250g butter beans 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon fresh chives, finely chopped
• a pinch of sea salt 

COOKING 

1. Steam the butter beans for around 5 minutes or until tender. Drain. 

2. Meanwhile, combine the oil, vinegar and chives. Drizzle this dressing over the beans and add salt if desired. 

x E

MANGO JUICE

When November hits in humid Brisbane town, the residents do whatever they can in their power to stay cool. Electrical bills rise as air conditioning is used excessively, people flock to the nearest beach or pool and regular smoothies replace coffees. I turn to juice and ice cream in times of extreme heat. A few weeks ago, we had an incredibly humid day here. I was rather fatigued from the heat and was feeling far too lazy to make the mango smoothie that I so often treat myself with. So I just combined a chopped ripe mango and about 10 cubes of ice in my blender for 20 seconds or so.  No milk, no additional sugar added. Simplicity is bliss. 

x E

CREAMY POTATOES WITHOUT THE CREAM

Potatoes. Hundreds upon hundreds of recipes to cook them. Endless possibilities. I usually cook potatoes as an addition to a meal, when I realize that the main dish I have slaved over may not satisfy mine and my fellow diners’ appetites. This happened earlier this week. I searched my fridge for what I could add to the bland boiled potatoes. I found a tub of crème fraiche that barely had 1 tablespoon left in it and some bright green chives. And voila!

INGREDIENTS 

• 500-600g waxy white potatoes, peeled
• 1 tablespoon low-fat creme fraiche
• 2 heaped tablespoons fresh chives

COOKING 

1. Slice potatoes into thin, even slices. Place sliced potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water for around 10 minutes or until they are tender. Drain well. 

2. Place cooked potatoes in a bowl. Add chives and creme fraiche and stir well to combine. 

Serve hot or cold. I found that I did not need to add any salt or pepper due to the creme fraiche. I find it immensely satisfying when I can cook a meal and find myself NOT wanting to add any salt to it. This is definitely a good thing, cholesterol wise. 

x E

RASPBERRY FILLED PATTY CAKES

Baking day (Friday) is here again! I experimented a few Fridays ago with the recipe below using fresh strawberries and strawberry jam. Whilst tasty, I knew that I could improve on these patty cakes. Hence my decision to use raspberries, my favourite food in the entire world. I wish for the month of December all year, not because of the countdown to Christmas or the new year, but because raspberries are in season and are sold at a semi-reasonable price. I admit I used frozen raspberries for the recipe below, as in November this scrumptious fruit is sadly still out of my price range. As soon as December rolls around this blog will take on every single raspberry recipe I can think of!

INGREDIENTS

• 280g (2 ¼ cups) self raising flour
• 175g (3/4) caster sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 250ml (1 cup) low-fat milk
• a generous dash of vanilla essence
• 75g reduced-fat dairy spread, melted
• 80g-100g raspberry jam (12 teaspoons)
• 125g fresh or frozen raspberries, whole. (If frozen, thaw prior)
• Optional- icing sugar, to sift over when baking is complete. 

COOKING

    1. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees celsius. Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tin.

    2. Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl. Make a large hole in the centre. Whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla and dairy spread in a bowl.  Add this mixture to the hole and use a metal spoon to fold the liquid mixture into the flour and sugar. Next, add the raspberries by very gently folding them into the batter. 

   3. Divide the majority of the cake batter into the muffin holes. Top each hole with a teaspoon of raspberry jam. Cover with a teaspoon or so of the remaining batter. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cakes are light golden.  Cool in the tin for 10 munutes, then turn out knot a wire rack and let them cool.

  ** Sift icing sugar onto the top of each cake, if desired. 

x E

PASTA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES & PINE NUTS

I am constantly thinking up new pasta dishes to make. Being gluten intolerance does not affect these ideas, due to the availability of gluten-free pasta in all major supermarkets and delis. I don't know what it is about pasta, but I count it among one of my favourite foods. Looking back on my childhood, it may be the romantic scene in Lady & the Tramp where a dish of spaghetti and meatballs is shared and the two lovers find themselves slurring up the same piece of spaghetti that led to me associating pasta with crazy ideas of love and romance. Or, it may be my 2 week trip to Italy years ago that led to my obsession with all things pasta related. Whatever the reason, me and pasta come together every week or week and a half. Below is a simple but delightful recipe. 


INGREDIENTS

• 250 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• pinch of smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon rosemary (fresh or dried)
• 1 teaspoon basil (fried or dried)
• sea salt & ground black pepper
• 500g penne pasta (I used gluten free penne)
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons wine white vinegar
• 4 tablespoons low-fat creme fraiche 

COOKING

1. Combine the tomatoes, olive oil, basil, rosemary, smoked paprika, pine nuts and salt & pepper in a small bowl. Mix well. Put the tomato mixture in a shallow roasting tin and cook in a preheated oven of around 200 degrees celsius, for around 13-15 minutes or until tomatoes are soft. 

2. While the tomatoes are roasting, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water until it is just tender. Drain well in a colander. 

3. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and drizzle them with balsamic vinegar & white wine vinegar. Place the pasta and tomatoes in a large serving bowl. Stir in the creme fraiche until well combined. 

Serves / 4

Preparation time / 15 minutes

Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x E

recipe adapted from '200 low fat dishes' by Hamlyn.

CHICKEN GYOZA

I have wanted to try my hand at making Gyoza for months but have never gotten around to it, due to the fact that it is very time consuming and usually made with pork (one of the meats I don’t really like the taste of). As I was flicking through my diary aimlessly the other night I saw an entry of all the dishes I want to make in the future. CHICKEN GYOZA was at the top of the list. My guilt overpowered me. 

Now, in Japanese and other Asian restaurants, when you order gyoza as an appetiser it appears on your table in minutes, correct?. And because of this I have never thought extensively about the effort that must go into cooking these fiddly dumplings. All I can say is that after constructing my own at home, I have a new appreciation for the work and time that goes into preparing these bad boys. However, the gyoza was so tasty that I think I will endure this nightmarish preparation stage every two weeks or so as the end result is extremely appetizing. 

INGREDIENTS
Gyoza

• 500g chicken mince
• 2 1/2 cups wombok (chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2-3 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm fresh ginger, grated
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 1-2 egg whites, beaten 
• 2 x 275g packet of gow gee wrappers
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Dipping sauce 

• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

COOKING

1. Place the chicken mince, carrot, green onion, wombok, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and hoisin sauce in a large bowl. Combine well. 

2. Place the gow gee wrappers under a damp tea-towel so they do not dry out. Place 1 heaped teaspoon of the mince mixture onto one wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrapper with egg white and fold over to seal. Pleat the edges together with your fingers to seal. Repeat this until all gow gee wrappers have been used or until mince has run out. 

(NOTE- this part sounds easy, but it is quite fiddly. I found that I had to wash my hands often as they became covered with mince and were slippery when I tried to seal the edges of the wrappers. It is also very important that you place the wrappers under a damp tea-towel and take them out one by one, otherwise they dry out and will break). 

3. Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Place as many dumplings as possible in the pan, without overlapping them. Cook for around 2 minutes or until one side is lightly browned, then flip the dumplings over to cook the other side. When browned on both sides remove from pan. Continue to add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil as you add new dumplings to the pan. 

4. Heat a large saucepan with boiling water. Place around 7-8 browned dumplings in the saucepan for 4-5 minutes or until the gyoza are tender but not soggy. Cover cooked gyoza with foil. Continue this until all the gyoza have been steamed. Place gyoza in a colander to drain. 

5. Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar and the sesame seeds. Serve the gyoza with the sauce drizzled over the dumplings or on the side. 

x E