QUINOA CHICKEN RICE PAPER ROLLS

A lovely friend of mine fed these rice paper rolls to me the other weekend and I have not been able to stop thinking of them since, therefore I made my own version of them. I love the twist Collette has put on this traditional light Vietnamese meal, by adding quinoa and oven baked pumpkin to pump up the fillings. You can use skinless bbq chicken if you prefer this to poaching chicken breast and can choose to leave out the quinoa if you want to make this meal more low-carb. If you are vegetarian add the quinoa and some thinly sliced avocado. This is a such a light, fresh lunch or dinner that I can see myself making it for many, many years to come. 

Ingredients

• baking paper 
• 300g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and cut into 2cm pieces 
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 250g cooked chicken, skin removed or 250g chicken breast 
• 1/3 cup white quinoa
• 12 rice paper round sheets
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, cut into thin sticks
• 2 generous handfuls of baby spinach or green lettuce
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• Optional- 2 handfuls of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• Dipping sauce - hoisin sauce or sweet chilli sauce 

Cooking 

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Toss the pumpkin and oil in a medium bowl to combine, then place the pumpkin in a single layer on the tray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.

2. If you are using cooked chicken, ignore this step. If you are not using cooked chicken, you will need to poach the chicken breast. Whilst the quinoa is cooking, place the chicken breast in a small to medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, covered, then simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and let the saucepan stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the poached chicken from the pan and leave to cool for a few minutes before 'shredding' the chicken (I do this with 2 forks and pull in separate directions, as you would when 'pulling' pork). Discard the poaching liquid. 

3. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly, twice, with your hands and strain through a sieve. Bring the quinoa to boil in a small to medium saucepan over high heat with 1 cup water, covered. Once boiled, lower to a simmer and continue to cook, covered, until all the water is absorbed, around 6 minutes. 

4. Once the pumpkin, chicken and quinoa are cooked, pour boiling hot water into a medium bowl. Lay the rice paper sheets next to the water. Place your cool fillings; cucumber, lettuce, shallots, coriander (if using) on a plate next to your cooked fillings. You are now ready to make your rice paper rolls! 

5. Soften each rice paper sheet by individually dipping it in the water and rotating the sheet with your fingers for one rotation only; the paper will feel moderately wet but not completely softened. The consistently of the rice paper should be pliable and slightly tacky. Have a flat surface such as a large clean plate or your bench top to place the paper. Just work with one softened rice paper sheet at a time, as it is much less fiddly. 

6. To wrap - I use the Two End Method. Centre the ingredients vertically, using 1/12 of all of the above ingredients, and position them about 4cm from the lower edge of the rice paper. Bring the lower and upper edge of the paper up towards the filling, then roll up the rice paper from one side to the other (I roll from left to right) and seal. Continue until no ingredients and no rice paper sheets remain (the ingredients should make 12 rice paper rolls comfortably). 

Serve with one of the dipping sauces mentioned and enjoy. 

Makes / 12  / Serves 4 = 3 rice paper rolls each 
Total Prep & Cooking time / around 45 minutes 

x Emily 

PRAWN & MANGO WRAPS

This is a light and easy meal that screams 'summer' to me. I like to buy prawns all ready to be cooked, but sometimes I do the dirty work myself; peeling, deveining and removing their tails. It's up to you which way you go. I can see myself eating a lot of these wraps over the hot months! 

INGREDIENTS

• 250g prawns, peeled, deveined & tails removed, uncooked 
• 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce 
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 8 small tortilla wraps or mountain bread wraps 
• a handful of mixed or green lettuce, washed and roughly shredded
• 100g cucumber, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced thinly
• 1 small mango, cut into cubes, around 100g 
• Optional- a handful of fresh coriander leaves

COOKING 

1. Combine the prawns and sweet chilli sauce in a small bowl. 

2. Heat and swirl the oil in a medium fry pan over medium-low heat. Add the prawns and cook, stirring regularly, for 2 - 3 minutes or until the prawns are pink and no longer translucent. Remove from heat immediately so they do not continue to cook. 

3. Lay a wrap down flat on a plate or chopping board. Arrange 1/8 of the cooked prawns, lettuce, cucumber, avocado, mango and coriander if using in the middle of the wrap and fold to wrap. Repeat until all wraps and ingredients are used. 

Serves / 4 / 2 wraps per serving 

Total Preparation & Cooking time / max 15 minutes (this does not include prepping the prawns)

x Emily 

BROCCOLI with BACON & LEEK

A client gave me the idea for this dish when she told me about a meal she had made a few weekends ago, featuring broccoli, bacon, walnuts and herbs. You can add any herbs you like to this dish; I just kept it nice and simple as I was (and am) running a few minutes behind today! If you do not eat meat, replace the bacon with 3 hardboiled eggs for your protein. 

Ingredients

• 1 head of broccoli, stalk & florets chopped into even pieces
• 1/4 cup almonds, halved 
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 a leek, white part only, finely chopped
• 100g bacon, fat removed and chopped into even pieces 
• paper towel
• 30g reduced-fat feta, crumbled 
• ground black pepper

Cooking 

1. Bring a small to medium saucepan filled 1/4 with water to the boil, covered. Once boiled, remove the lid and replace with the broccoli in a small colander or sieve, then cover with the lid. Leave to steam for around 4-5 minutes, then check to see if the broccoli is tender by placing a fork into a stalk. If the fork slides in with just a little bit of resistance, the broccoli is tender but not mushy. Remove the colander or sieve with the broccoli and discard the pan. 

2. Meanwhile, dry fry the almonds in a medium fry pan over medium-low heat for just 2 minutes or until the nuts are fragrant but not burnt. Remove from heat. 

3. Using the fry pan from step 2, swirl the oil to coat the pan over meidum heat. Add the leek to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Remove the leek from the pan and add the bacon to the pan, covering with a lid. Cook for around 2-4 or until the bacon is cooked to your liking. Remove the bacon from the stove and pat the excess oil out of the meat with a few paper towels. 

4. Toss the broccoli, almonds, leek, bacon, feta and a generous pinch of pepper in a large serving bowl. 

Serves / 2 
Total Preparation time / 10 minutes
Total Cooking time / around 10 minutes 

x Emily 

THYME TURKEY with ROAST PUMPKIN

I love cooking with turkey as I actually like the taste more than chicken. I found a wonderful butcher at Greenslopes- Rock N Roll Butcher- that sells turkey steaks at a very reasonable price. This meal was created as I was walking my big kelpie; I tend to get my best cooking ideas when I am walking him, so we walk together everyday! 

Ingredients

• baking paper 
• 450g turkey steak, fat removed and cut into even pieces
• 1 heaped tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 heaped tablespoon lemon thyme or thyme leaves, fresh or dried, stems discarded 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 
• 400g pumpkin, deseeded, peeled and chopped into even 3cm pieces
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• a generous pinch of ground black pepper
• 1/2 a leek, white part only, finely chopped
• 4 handfuls of mixed lettuce, washed and roughly torn/chopped 

Cooking 

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 220 degrees celsius. Line a medium to large baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Combine the turkey, mustard, thyme, vinegar and 1 teaspoon oil in a medium bowl, stirring well. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. 

3. Once the turkey is marinating, toss 1 teaspoon oil, pumpkin pieces, maple syrup and pepper in a medium bowl. Place in a single layer on the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender and / or just starting to become golden. 

4. Once the turkey had marinated for 8 minutes, heat the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil in a medium frypan over medium-low heat and swirl to coat the pan. Add the leek and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant and just starting to become golden. Remove from heat and add the turkey to the pan, keeping the heat over medium-low. Cook the turkey for 4 minutes, stirring often, then turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave the turkey to sit in the pan for 5 minutes. After this time pick the biggest few pieces of turkey and cut them in half, checking that the turkey is white and no longer pink. If it is still slightly pink, cook for another minute. 

5. Toss the cooked turkey, leek, pumpkin and lettuce in a large serving bowl. Serve with extra thyme leaves, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation & Cooking time / around 40 minutes 

x Emily 

TOFU, QUINOA & GREEN SALAD

This recipe came from a Japanese cookbook, from a recipe titled "Millet & Tofu Salad". My creativity ran wild with this recipe and I ended up keeping just one of the original ingredients: tofu! This goes to show how deviating from the exact instructions and ingredients of a recipe is absolutely fine to do and I expect readers to do the same with my recipes! To me, cooking is fluid and everything can be fixed, like painting. You just have to own the ingredients and the methods you choose. Anyways, tofu has recently become a wonderful source of protein for me, as I am not an avid meat eater. I hope you like the dish (and if you don't, change it!). 

Ingredients

Salad 

• 300g firm tofu, halved 
• 1 cup quinoa 
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 
• paper towel
• 1 medium green capsicum (around 250g), seeded removed & thinly sliced
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup almonds, halved

Dressing

• a generous pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 heaped tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water (or more, if you want the dressing thinner)

Cooking 

1. Place the halved tofu between two chopping boards or plates with a weight on top (I used a jar of nuts). Raise one end (I placed a small scale underneath one side of the chopping board) and sit for 25 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa thoroughly, twice, with your hands and strain through a sieve. Bring the quinoa to boil in a medium saucepan over high heat with 2 and a 1/2 cups of water, covered. Once boiled, lower to a simmer and continue to cook, covered, until all the water is absorbed, around 10-12 minutes. 

3. Whilst the tofu is sitting and the quinoa is cooking, heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat and dry fry the halved almonds (meaning without using any oil). When the almonds are fragrant and the inside of the almonds are very slightly golden, remove from the heat, as they will continue to brown as they sit. 

4. Make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl or mug and stirring well until no lumps of mustard remain. 

5. Once the tofu has sat for 25 minutes, chop into slim, even strips. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, swirling to coat. Add the tofu strips and cover the pan. Cook for around 3 minutes on each side or until the tofu is lightly browned. Remove from the heat and place on a few paper towels, then pat with another few paper towels to remove the excess oil. Repeat this process, adding another teaspoon of oil, until all tofu is cooked. Remove the tofu from the heat and leave to cook on the paper towel. 

6. Change the heat to low and add the sliced capsicum, green beans and spring onions and cook, uncovered, stirring, for 2 minutes or until the spring onions are very fragrant. 

Serves / 4 
Total Prep & Cooking time / around 45 minutes (including the tofu resting time)

x Emily 

GYOZA / JAPANESE DUMPLINGS

Gyoza are a favourite dish of my husbands'; he asks for them frequently. They require patience and time so I don't make them too often for him (and I don't want him to get too used to them!). My dumplings are nowhere near as expertly folded or presented as what you would receive at a Japanese restaurant, however the way I fold my gyoza is less fiddly and works well for me! Ps please note that wonton wrappers are not gluten-free and that different wonton pastry are different sizes. I prefer to buy wonton pastry from an Asian supermarket, as they are bigger than some of the pastry for sale at the supermarket. If buying pastry from the supermarket you may need to reduce the amount of mince mixture in each gyoza by 1 teaspoon. 

INGREDIENTS

Gyoza

• 500g lean pork, beef or chicken mince
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2-3 cm fresh ginger, grated
• 2 small carrots or 1 large, grated
• 1 cup wombok (chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 
• 1 egg, preferably free range, yolk & white separated
• 1 x 330g packet of wonton pastry 
• pastry brush
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

COOKING

1. Place the mince, onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, wombok, soy sauce  and the yolk of the egg in a large bowl. Stir well to combine. 

2. Place the wonton wrappers on a clean surface. (If you are working with wrappers that have been in the freezer and are thawing, cover the wrappers with a damp tea-towel so they do not dry out). Place 2 teaspoons of the mince mixture in the centre of each wrapper. Brush the edges with egg white and fold over to close. You can pleat the edges of the wrapper with your fingers to seal or you can do as I like to do and fold the edges over each other, overlapping the edges and making a kind of rectangle. Repeat this process until all wrappers have been used or until the filling has run out. (If you end up with extra filling, roll the mince into balls and make meatballs!). 

3. Bring a large frying pan or saucepan with around 5cm of water to the boil. Once boiled, add as many gyoza as will fit without overcrowding. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover, cooking for 3 minutes. Remove the gyoza from the pan and continue this process until all gyoza is cooked. Remove the water from the pan and dry. 

4. Heat the olive oil in the same pan and swirl to coat. Cook the gyoza on just one side, for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Place the fried gyoza on paper towel to absorb the oil and continue this process until all gyoza are lightly fried. 

Serve alone or alongside a dipping sauce; I often eat these as is as they are so delicious! 

Serves / 4 as a main / 8 as an entree 
Total Preparation time / 30 - 40 minutes 
Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes

x Emily 

OMELETTE with CHICKEN & GREENS

A large portion of the recipes I make up come from experiences I have eating out. I had a delicious Asian Chicken Omelette at a Brisbane cafe recently which is where the inspiration for this versatile lunch or dinner omelette comes from. You can make each omelette individually, so that each serving has their own omelette (which is very cute) or you can make one big omelette in a large frying pan and then divide it into four even portions. You could make this omelette vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding more vegetables, such as carrot, wombok (Chinese cabbage) and / or Chinese greens, such as buk choy and pak choy. 

Ingredients

• 500g chicken breast, preferably free-range, fat trimmed and cut into small even pieces 
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
• 3cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 8 eggs, preferably free-range
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce 
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup water 
• 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut into small even pieces
• 1 head of broccoli, stalk and florets cut into small pieces
• Optional- a handful of fresh coriander leaves, to serve 
• Optional- 1 extra spring onion, finely chopped 

Cooking

1. Combine the chicken, garlic, ginger and oyster sauce in a medium bowl. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 10 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, make the omelettes. Whisk 2 eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1/4 of the spring onions in a tall glass.  Heat a medium frypan over medium-low heat and add 1/2 teaspoon oil. Swirl to coat the pan then pour in the egg mixture. Cook for around 2 minutes on the first side or until the egg is almost set on one side. You can either flip the omelette in half so that it overlaps or you can flip the entire omelette over, however the latter method is quite tricky! Cook the omelette on the second side for only 1 minute or until set. Remove from heat and place each individual omelette on a serving plate. Continue this process until all four omelettes are cooked. 

3. Once the omelettes are cooked, heat the remaining teaspoon of olive oil in the fry pan over medium-low heat and swirl to coat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for around five minutes, stirring often, or until the chicken is cooked (the test: the middle of the largest piece of chicken is white, not pink). Remove the cooked chicken from the stove and divide evenly between the four plates, keeping the chicken liquids in the pan. Place on top of each omelette or to the side. 

4. Add the beans and broccoli to the pan and cook, covered, over medium-low heat for around 4-5 minutes or until the broccoli is just starting to become tender (the test: you can slide a fork into the stalk of the biggest broccoli floret and encounter just a little resistance). Remove from the heat and divide the cooked vegetables evenly between the four plates. Place the vegetables on  top of each omelette or to the side. 

Serve warm, topped with extra spring onions and/or coriander, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / max 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 25 minutes 

x Emily