POTATO, PICKLE & EGG SALAD

 Finding a low-fat recipe for potato salad that still tastes appetizing is a tough feat. A dear friend of mine made a dish similar to the one below a few weeks ago and apologised to us diners for adding mustard as a finishing touch. I quickly assured her that her ‘mistake’ was sheer brilliance and raced home to create my own recipe. I used wholegrain mustard, however I also think that Dijon mustard would be delicious but make sure to reduce the measurement to just 1 tablespoon due to its strong flavour. Also stick to low-fat mayonnaise! Full fat will greatly change the calories. 


INGREDIENTS 

• 1 kg waxy potatoes, cut into 3cm pieces
• 2 eggs 
• 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
• 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons garlic flakes
• sea salt & black pepper
• 200g pickles, diced into 1cm pieces 
• Optional- 1 tablespoon pine nuts 

COOKING 

1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add eggs and cook for around 5 minutes. Drain and cool. When cool cut hard boiled eggs into small pieces. 

2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add potato pieces and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and cool. 

3. Combine cooked potato, eggs, a generous pinch of sea salt & pepper, pickles, mustard, mayonnaise, garlic flakes and pine nuts if desired. Serve cooled.

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SPICED MIXED BEANS WITH FETA WITH ROSEMARY & TOMATO SOURDOUGH

I’ll be the first to admit that when I invite friends over for dinner, 7/8 of the reason for the invitation is that I want to see them and greatly enjoy their company, and 1/8 is so that I can test out a crazy new dish and (hopefully) impress them. I tried out the funky dish below on 2 old friends who I backpacked around Europe with many moons ago. Perhaps a little risky on my end, as I hadn’t seen them for a while! But all was well. The warm spiced beans were zesty and delicious when contrasted with the coolness of the feta, red onion and coriander. The rosemary & tomato sourdough was something I came up with 5 minutes before my guests arrived, as like any other neurotic host I panicked that we did not have enough food. The bread side proved very useful for wiping the remains of the beans.

INGREDIENTS 


Spiced Mixed Beans with Feta

• 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar 
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• pinch of smoked paprika
• 1 medium brown onion (150g), roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained 
• 1 x 400g tin black beans, drained
• 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
• 150g fresh tomatoes, roughly diced
• 1/2 a cup (125ml) water
• 150g reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbed into small pieces
• 1/2 small red onion, roughly chopped
• a few springs of coriander 

Cooking 

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius fan-force (180 degrees for non fan-force). Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or stove-proof casserole on medium heat. (At the time of cooking, I did not own a stove-proof casserole dish, which is not a big issue, however you will have to place the beans in an ovenproof dish after being cooked on the stove. It is just an extra step and a little more cleaning). Add the brown onion and cook, stirring, for around 4 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander and paprika and stir for 1 minute. 

2. Add fresh and tinned tomatoes, brown sugar and water to the onion and spices. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After this stir in the kidney and black beans. When combined well either place the lid on the casserole dish or transport bean mixture to a roasting tin/dish and cover with foil if you do not have a lid. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed. 

3. Serve the zesty beans with feta, red onion and coriander tossed together. 

Rosemary & Tomato Sourdough 

• 1 french bread stick, cut into even slices, around 5cm 
• 2 tomatoes, diced finely 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary 
• sea salt & ground black pepper

Cooking 

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan-forced (180 degrees for non fan-force). Line an oven tray with baking paper and place bread slices on the tray. Combine the tomatoes, oil, rosemary, salt & pepper in a small bowl. Spoon mixture evenly onto the top of each bread slice and toast in the oven for around 10 minutes. Depending on the size of your bread slices, you may need to line 2 oven trays or cook 2 batches in the oven. 

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CHICKEN & LENTIL SALAD

I cannot take credit for this recipe, although I wish I could. On days when I feel uninspired in the kitchen and exhausted due to a double shift (these days usually few and far between thank god!) I restore to my own library of cookbooks. The recipe below has come from ‘Australian Women’s Weekly Super Diet’. Whenever I feel a little lethargic or off colour from a big weekend, I turn to this book. Ladies and gentleman, the only way to gain and retain a trim, healthy body is to construct a diet of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain foods, lean meat, eggs, dairy products and legumes. It’s sad but its true. In a world that is rapidly changing and transforming, one thing will always be certain: you are what you eat. So start cooking healthy, great tasting food. 

INGREDIENTS

• 300g chicken breast, sliced into 3-4 cm strips
• 2 x 400g tin brown lentils, drained 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon lemon grind, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
• (fresh parsley would also work well as a substitute for oregano)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1 red capsicum (200g), sliced thinly
• 1 zucchini (150g), sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 cup lemon juice 
• 100g baby spinach leaves 
• sea salt & ground black pepper

COOKING

1. Combine chicken, lemon rind, garlic and half the oregano (or parsley) in a bowl. 

2. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Cook chicken mixture, stirring, until tender and cooked through. Remove from pan and cover. 

3. Cook capsicum and zucchini in the same pan, adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until vegetables soften. 

4. Place chicken, vegetables, drained brown lentils and spinach with remaining fresh oregano (or parsley) and lemon juice. 

Serves / 4

Preparation & Cooking time / 40 minutes

Fat per serving / 3.1g 

Protein / 32g 

Fibre / 9.6g 

Carbohydrates / 22.5g 

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MANGO SORBET

I knew it wouldn’t take me long to experiment with other sorbet flavours after my first attempt with lime sorbet a few weeks ago. I have chosen to totally ignore the rainy weather we have been having and have been pretending that every day is filled with sun rays and endless blue sky. And summer days like these would not be complete without a refreshing dessert. My second attempt at making sorbet went a lot faster and smoother than my first endeavour. Anything with mango in it tastes amazing to me. My next sorbet experiment is a toss up between raspberry and/or lemon. Stay tuned!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 mangoes, peeled, stoned and cut into pieces
• 2 egg whites
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 cup warm water (250ml)

COOKING

1. Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and stir until the sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat. 


2. Meanwhile, place the mango pieces in a blender or food processor and blend/process until the fruit becomes a smooth puree. Stir the mango puree into the sugar and water mixture. 

2. Place the combined liquid into a loaf pan (I used a cake loaf tin) and freeze for a minimum of 5 hours or overnight.

3. After the freezing period- remove the loaf tin from the freezer and allow sorbet to thaw for a few minutes. Using a blender or food processor, blend/process the sorbet with the 2 egg whites until the consistency is 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. 

Note- eat within 3 days as this sorbet has raw egg it in. You will be doing extremely well if you can make this delicious dessert last in your freezing for even 2 days! 

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OKONOMIYAKI- ASIAN OMELETTE

This is by far the tastiest omelette I had ever made. A dear friend made it for dinner a few months back and we demolished it within minutes. It is traditionally meant to be served with Okonomiyaki sauce, however the several Asian grocery stores I frequented the other day were all out of this sauce. I decided to wing it and use a condiment already in my fridge. In my opinion, kecap manis tastes ever better and is much lower in price. The kewpie mayonnaise is a must, however. The great thing about this omelette is that you can use almost any vegetables left in your fridge, such as leek, onion, wombok, zucchini and mushrooms, to name a few. I badly needed to get rid of some red cabbage and chives in my fridge, hence my ingredients. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 8 eggs, preferably free range
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 potato (300g), finely grated
• 100g carrot, finely grated
• 150g red cabbage, finely shredded
• 3 tablespoons fresh chives
• 50g reduced-fat grated cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise to serve (available in the asian food section in most supermarkets) 
• Kecap manis to serve  (available in the asian food section in most supermarkets) 

COOKING 

1. Beat together eggs, then add flour, water and grated potato. The consistency of the batter must be similar to that of pancake mixture. If need be, add more flour and/or water to achieve this. 

2. Add all other vegetables and cheese to the batter and combine. 

3. Heat a medium to large non-stick frying pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Pour one third of the batter into the pan (this should cover most of the base of the pan). Cook for around 3 minutes each side. If it is too difficult to flip the entire omelette, break it into half. Continue this process until no batter remains. 

4. To serve- drizzle kewpie mayonnaise in one direction over the omelettes. Drizzle kecap manis in the other direction over the omelettes. (You can use as much or as little of these condiments as you wish. I find that a little goes a long way!). 

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POTATO GRATIN

When it gets to the end of the weekend, I often feel a little too lazy to cook something detailed or fiddly. This Potato Gratin was a perfect idea for a minimal preparation meal last Sunday. A few recipes I glanced at for gratin’s used butter and cream like they were going out of style. I am not a fan of using butter or cream in my cooking and try to avoid it whenever possible (baking is an exception!). So I decided to forgo these ingredients and add stock and dried rosemary to maintain the flavour. Looking at the ingredients I used you wouldn’t be out of line to think, did that actually taste good? Believe me when I tell you that it most certainly did. The potato was incredibly tender and seemed to melt in my mouth. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 medium brown onion (200g), chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 800g waxy, white potatoes, peeled and sliced very thinly
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 750ml vegetable stock (preferably gluten free Massel brand)
• 50g breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese

COOKING

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. 

2. Heat olive oil in a medium frying pan and cook onion for around 8 minutes or until onion is golden in colour. 

3. Place one layer of potatoes in a roasting dish or a casserole pan (I used a casserole pan which prevented the potatoes from drying out). Place one third of the cooked onions on top of the potatoes. Continue this layering, until all potatoes and onions have been used. 

4. Place casserole pan in the oven with the lid on top. Bake for 40 minutes. (If using a roasting dish, cover with foil to use as a lid). Remove from oven. Mix breadcrumbs and cheese together and pour on top of the potato. Place the casserole pan, without the lid, and cook for another 40 minutes or until potato is golden brown and tender. 

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LEMON & BLUEBERRY SLICE

I had glanced at this recipe for ‘Blueberry Tea Cake’ in Bill Granger’s cookbook Feed Me Now! for several days before deciding to bake it. As I have several 4:15am early mornings a week for work, I can sometimes become a little forgetful mid-week. I had assured myself the morning of baking day that I had bought all the ingredients I needed for this tea cake. When I commenced the first few steps however, I realized that I did not have enough sour cream, butter, eggs or any cream cheese to follow the original recipe. Being a little impatient as I am, I decided that I couldn’t be bothered going back to coles for the items I needed. I would make do with what was in my pantry. Hence the tea cake became a slice and the cream cheese frosting became lemon icing. The slice turns out to be incredibly moist and tasted like ripe, fresh lemons and blueberries. Just goes to show that you do not need to follow recipes exactly to make good food!  

INGREDIENTS 

• 125ml light sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 330g caster sugar 
• 200g plain flour
• 1 egg
• 150g butter, at room temperature 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 250g blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest 

Icing

• 75ml lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 
• 250g icing sugar 

COOKING

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a baking tin (the measurements of mine were 15cm x 26cm) with cooking spray. 

2. Combine the sour cream with the bicarbonate of soda and leave aside for 5 minutes. 

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and vanilla and beat well to combine. Beat in the egg and then add the sour cream mixture. Stir until combined. 

4. Place the blueberries in a medium bowl and toss with a small amount of the flour. Stir the flour and the baking powder into the cake mixture. Gently add the blueberries to the batter by folding. 

5. Place the batter into the baking dish and bake for around 45 minutes, or until a skewer (or tip of a knife) can be inserted into the middle of the cake and come out clean. Leave slice to cool in the tin for around 20 minutes, then place slice on a wire rack or plate to cool completely. 

6. To make the icing- use an electric mixer to mix the icing sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until the consistency becomes liquid. Drizzle this over the slice. 

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