RAINBOW OMELETTE

Do you ever have those days where you not only feel like shit, but every piece of news you receive is crappy? I had such a day yesterday and was, for once, not in the mood to cook. When I get really in my head, running is the only method that can chill me out. After my breathless, panting 8 km run last night, it was really 8pm and I was on the clock to provide something for dinner.

A little different from a conventional omelette, this Rainbow Omelette was a big crowd pleaser last night. Due to the sad and sudden disappearance of my spatula, I was unable to fold the omelette in half like is common practice. Instead I decided to let the egg completely set and serve the omelette in quarters. Me and my boyfriend Chris hungrily consumed this omelette at 8:30pm last night and my only regret was that I wish I had had 8 eggs in the fridge to make the meal bigger. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 eggs (preferably free-range)
• sea salt & black pepper
• 1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dairy-free spread 
• a small handful of sun dried tomatoes, 99% fat free and finely chopped
• 3 heaped tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
• Optional- if not dairy-free, add 1 tablespoon light grated cheese, 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese. 

COOKING 

1. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, adding sea salt & pepper. Heat dairy-free spread in a large frying pan over medium heat and swirl to coat. Pour the egg into the pan, spreading the mixture around the whole pan. Add the sun dried tomatoes, chives, red onion and cheese (optional) and let the omelette cook, letting it stand for 5-6 minutes or until all the egg has set. Remove the egg from the heat, cutting it into quarters and serve warm. 

Works beautifully served with some oven-toasted gluten-free bread with dairy-free spread and a sprinkle of rosemary. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 6 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 6-7 minutes 

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SATURDAY SALAD

Being a child of four and coming from a huge Dutch family, I have craved solitude for as long as I can remember. I love nothing more than being social, and have a very social job. However, when I come home after talking constantly at work from 5am until 3pm or later, there is nothing I want more than to be alone for a few minutes (of course alone means being with my gorgeous 9 month old puppy Buddy). I had a rare weekend night alone last Saturday, no plans at all. When I don’t have to cook for anyone but myself, I really enjoy experimenting with salads (and then treating myself to dessert after). This Saturday Salad was a simple 8pm creation with radishes (a vegetable I had never tried before) and was rather satisfying as well as being pleasing on the eyes.

INGREDIENTS
Salad

• 2 eggs, softly boiled (bring a small saucepan of water and eggs to the boil. As soon as water has boiled, turn off the stove and leave eggs for 4 minutes. Place eggs in cold water and gently peel away eggshell). 
• sea salt 
• 1/2 a ripe avocado, roughly chopped
• 1 tomato, sliced finely into wedges
• 1/4 of a bunch of easter-egg radishes, washed and cut into thin slices
• a generous handful of baby spinach, washed 

Dressing

• 1 teaspoon grape seed oil or any type of oil 
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lime juice 

PREPARATION

1. Combine the avocado, tomato, baby spinach and radish slices in a medium bowl. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and drizzle over the salad, tossing well. Add the softly boiled eggs on top of the salad, halving them if you wish. Sprinkle sea salt over the top. 

Serves / 1- 2 

Total Preparation time /  14 minutes (including softly boiling the eggs). 

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BASIC CHICKEN PILAF

Pilaf’s are rice dishes with vegetables, meat and sometimes herbs or spices added through. I decided to make a very basic, simple rice pilaf the other day as I was making leek, sweet potato & white bean soup and my boyfriend dislikes soup. I think the reason is that he finds it ‘unmanly’ somehow...anyways I made 2 meals for dinner instead of one and pilaf sounded simple. You can get more creative with pilaf’s if you desire, adding in dashes of smoked paprika, lentils, beef, tuna, and all types of vegetables. I will say that there is something so blissful about making a simple, basic meal once in a while. And to top it off, this meal lasts forever! It was made on Monday and we are still getting through it, trying to pawn it off to friends at work. Perfect to make for a family/friend gathering.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g lean chicken mince
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced 
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled & finely chopped
• 1 cup frozen or fresh peas
• 2 cups arborio / doongara rice 
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
• 3 cups gluten-free chicken stock (brand Massel preferred)
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil, in liquid form
• sea salt & black pepper

COOKING 

1. Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add brown onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until onion has softened. Add rice and stir for 30 seconds until rice is coated with onion. Add the chicken stock and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, briefly uncover to add peas, carrot and celery, stirring then into the rice. Cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to stand with the lid on. 

2. Whilst rice is standing, cook chicken mince. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat and add chicken mince and garlic cloves. Stir frequently, until chicken is coloured and no pink remains. Remove from heat. 

3. Place the rice dish into a large serving bowl. Stir cooked chicken through. Add chives and salt & pepper, seasoning to taste. (I liked a generous amount of black pepper in this dish). 

Serve warm, with a drizzle of tamari sauce stirred in if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 8 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 28-30 minutes 

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MIXED POTATO HASH BROWNS

This recipe was created as a necessity, as I needed a side dish to a few small, yet expensive pieces of eye fillet steak on Sunday night. I glanced at all the market fresh vegetables in my vegetable crisper and only felt like warm potatoes. I like to think that this dish is a progression from my Babushka’s (Russian for grandma) inspired Chive Potato cakes from April this year: http://soulfulsandwiches.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/chive-potato-cakes.html.

Adding sweet potato in to increase the low GI and decrease the starchiest of the regular potato worked very well, and also gave the potato cakes a sweeter flavour. If you do not have a gluten or wheat allergy, regular plain flour can be used. These hash browns turned out to be a perfect accompaniment to our steak and the Muppets movie…yes we did watch that! What can I say, Jason Segal does it for me.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled & grated
• 1 large potato (such as sebago), peeled & grated
• 2 eggs (preferably free range), lightly beaten
• 1 medium brown onion, grated
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
• sea salt & black pepper
• coconut oil 

COOKING 

1.  Preheat a fan-forced oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Combine the grated potatoes with the grated onion in a large bowl. Carefully place the grated vegetables into a large clean tea-towel, wrapping the towel around the vegetables entirely. Squeeze the towel over a sink so that all the excess moisture is removed. (This can get a little messy but is oddly satisfying!). Return the vegetables to the bowl, then stir in the eggs, flour, sea salt & pepper and mix well to combine. 

3. Shape the mixture into even shaped small, round patties. Heat a tablespoon of liquid coconut oil into a large frying pan over medium heat and add as many patties as you can, making sure to not crowd them. Flatten the patties gently with a large spoon and heat on either side for around 4 minutes or until golden in colour. Repeat with other patties and more coconut oil. Place fried patties on the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until grated potato and onion are cooked and no longer soggy. Remove from the oven and serve warm as a lovely side dish. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

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HONEY SOY CHICKEN

After a long day, there is no easier dinner to make than an Asian stir-fry. I remember my mother swearing by them when we were younger. She would somehow manage to cook a minimum of 9 vegetables in her well-used wok along with tender chicken. I am ashamed to admit that I got sick of those stir-fries and begged for any other meal whilst I lived at home. Nowadays, having been out of home for years, fending for myself in the wild, I relish the chance to sit down with her perfected stir-fries. Whilst my attempts never include as many vegetables as hers did (my fridge is simply not big enough to store kilos of wombok, beans and broccoli) I try to make the sauce different each time so that my oblivious boyfriend has no idea that the dinner is basically the same as last week….

INGREDIENTS

• 440g rice noodles (gluten-free)
• 500g chicken breast, cut into 3cm pieces and all fat removed
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets and stems
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 1/2 a carrot, grated
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade (gluten-free)

Dressing

• 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon tamari sauce 

COOKING 

1. Marinade chicken with 3 tablespoons honey soy marinade and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. 

2. Heat sesame oil in a large ok and swirl wok around to coat. Add garlic and ginger to the wok and stir for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add chicken breast and cook, stirring often, until chicken is coloured and cooked through (this will be when no pink flesh is visible). Add broccoli, beans and carrot and stir frequently, cooking the vegetables through. This may take around 6-7 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles by placing them in a saucepan or large heatproof bowl with boiling water. Gently break the noodles apart with a fork to separate. Drain well. 

4. Make the dressing by combining the three ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. 

5. Add the noodles to the wok and stir for 30 seconds to combine noodles, chicken and vegetables. Remove from heat and place in a large serving bowl. Drizzle dressing on top and toss to combine. Serve warm. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes (plus 30 refrigeration time)

Total Cooking time /  20 minutes 

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CHOCOLATE & PISTACHIO BROWNIES

For half of this weekend, I had an old friend visiting me from Sydney. We had worked together 3 years ago in Washington D.C, and had not seen each other since. I was amazed that during the 26 hours that she was in Brisbane, she was not particularly interested in seeing the sights, museums, galleries, but instead wanted to talk about my blog, healthy cooking and nutrition. Of course I LOVED THIS! We made dinner and dessert together on Friday night, and she vowed to learn how to cook when she returned home to South Korea shortly. I was dying to try out a new brownie recipe I had discovered in ‘The Best Gluten-free, Wheat-free and Dairy-free Recipes’ cookbook by Grace Cheetham and thought this was the perfect occasion. Like a true fearless (or is the word erratic?) baker, I changed the recipe considerably, however the brownies were the tastiest gluten-free, dairy-free dessert I have ever had the pleasure of eating… If I force one recipe down your throat from my blog, this is the one!  

INGREDIENTS

• 50g dairy-free spread (like Nutalex), plus extra for greasing pan 
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (preferable free range)
• 200g dairy-free dark chocolate (a minimum of 70% cocoa solids)
• 35-40g pistachios, shelled & finely chopped
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup gluten-free plain flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• baking paper

COOKING

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Lightly grease a narrow baking tin (around 20 x 30cm) with spread and line the base and sides with baking paper. 

2. Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl or frying pan, breaking the chocolate into pieces (if bought as a block). Place the bowl/frying pan over a saucepan of boiled water that has been reduced to a simmer (make sure that the bottom of the bowl/pan does not touch the water). Stir frequently until chocolate has melted, then add the dairy-free spread, stirring until melted and mixed in. 

3. Remove the bowl/pan from the heat. If using a frying pan, place the melted chocolate in a large bowl. Stir in the eggs, vanilla essence and maple syrup, mixing well. Then add the flour and baking powder, making sure to sift these ingredients as gluten-free flour can be very lumpy. Stir well to combine, using a metal spoon. Fold the pistachios into the brownie batter gently. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin, spreading the mixture evenly. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until brownie has risen and is quite firm to touch. (Another way to test- insert a skewer into the middle of the brownie- if the skewer comes out with just a little mixture on it, the brownies are done). Remove from heat and cool for 10 minus in the baking tin, then place on a plate or wire rack for 15 minutes to cool. Cut into however many brownie squares you desire. 

Serves / only a few dire chocolate fans

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 35- 40 minutes (cooling time is an extra 25 minutes)

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