Recipe Roundup

Hello, hello to anyone out there who still visits this most neglected blog. I've been away a long time due to life taking over and me not having the time, energy, or desire to post. I still use this blog as a reference for many recipes and old meal plans however, so it is not entirely forgotten by me.

As old readers know, I am an avid cook, and love to experiment with seasonal produce, and mainly vegetarian meals. I knew I had a large collection of recipes in various places, and have decided to make it my New Year's goal, to organise them all into a usable resource for myself, and anyone else who is interested. Below is the beginnings of this resource.

What I have done is make a list of all of the recipes, both vegetarian and meat, that I make fairly regularly. Some of these are sides, but most can easily become a complete meal with the addition of some rice or bread and a salad. Some of these recipes are linked to my own, and some and linked to the ones I have used on the Internet before. Some are linked to recipes that are similar to that which I use, but not exact, as I usually free style when I cook. I intend to gradually upload my own recipes and change the links to the exact version I use. So expect to find new additions and changes, as this resource grows.

For more meal ideas, follow my Food board on Pinterest, which is where I keep a lot of new ideas.

Vegetarian

Rice paper rolls
Turkish eggs and tomatoes (similar recipe but eliminate the meatballs, put the spices in the tomato sauce instead)
Tabbouleh
Sushi bowls
Potato salad with tonnata sauce
Satay veges and noodles
Braised leeks and lentils
Greens pasta
Quinoa patties
Pumpkin and chickpea curry - Moroccan OR Indian
Greens pilaf
Stir fry and noodles
Pasta with tomato sauce
Lemon cream pasta
Roast vege and bean salad
Fried rice
Vegetarian lasagna
Cambodian mushrooms - serve with brown rice and flatbreads
Spinach cannelloni
Vegetarian nachos
Pasta with broccoli and feta sauce
Stuffed squashes
Spicy coconut noodle soup
Me gorang
Phad thai
Corn fritters - the first recipe in this forum
Dhal, rice, and flatbread
Leftovers lentil salad
Red lentil soup with lemon
Yellow lentil dhal
Moroccan spiced split lentil soup
Spaghetti with green pea pesto
Ginger soba noodles
Zucchini fritters
Pumpkin soup
Vegetarian okonomiyaki
Mung bean salad in tortillas
Poached eggs, rice, and greens
Coconut curry soup with pumpkin, peas, and brown rice
Hunza pie
Flatbreads with zucchini, lemon, and feta
Mushroom strogonaff
Macaroni cheese
Kale salad
Spinach gloop-filled raviolis
Pizza
Mushroom risotto
Vege curry
Tomato and spinach barley risotto
Roast pumpkin and sage barley risotto
Lemon, zucchini, and chickpea stir fry
Coconut cream carbonara
Spaghetti with tomato, zucchini, lemon, and garlic
Pasta with zucchini, basil, and parmesan
Vegetarian burritos 
Spinach, feta, and pesto fritters
Potato and onion tart
Miso soup with veges and noodles
Creamy avocado pasta
Salt and vinegar wedges
Crash hot potatoes
Broad bean, pea, orzo, and mint salad with avocado mayonnaise
Spring garden salad
Pumpkin soup with coconut and ginger
Crockpot refried beans

Meat

Chorizo and baked bean soup
Rice paper rolls with pork mince
Moroccan meatballs with tomato and eggs
Chicken marbella
Chicken and fruit tagine
Slow cooked pork - honey/soy/five spice OR fennel/lemon/chilli
Chicken soup
Meat pies
Sushi bowls with honey/soy chicken
Sushi
Burgers
Vietnamese chicken salad
Tom kha gai
Chicken gulai/three ginger curry
Spicy pork noodles
Good sausages, wedges, green salad
Green curry
Caesar salad
Curried sausages
Tuna pasta salad with hard boiled eggs
Sort of sausage cassoulet
Jerk chicken with salsa verde
Jool's pasta
Spaghetti alla puttanesca

Baking

Italian apple cake
Lemon yoghurt cake
Chocolate tart
Feijoa crumble cake
Pear tarte tatin

From My Kitchen - Sunday 15th April

It will be a busy few weeks for me as I work to get my PhD research proposal and Ethics application handed in. Balancing study with a full-time job is hard work and doesn't leave much time for play! That said, I have a Tupperware party on Tuesday to look forward to, as well as a session next Sunday to 'get my colours done', as well as a complete wardrobe sort! Hopefully this means that the mountains of clothes I don't wear will either be revived or moved on, and my shopping in the future will have some direction. I'm quite excited!

Most of my recipes this week are from this amazing site. I love that you can search by season, ingredient, or type of recipe. Check it out for some amazing whole food inspiration!

Here's the menu for this week:

Dinner
Sunday - ginger soba noodles with roasted garlic butter zucchini rounds (ok, it's basically a marrow...)
Monday - something from Paddy's brain
Tuesday - sushi bowl with organic chicken, avocado, brown rice and spring onions
Wednesday - red lentil soup with lemon and kale with wholemeal chapatis
Thursday -  lemony chickpea stirfry (minus the tofu)

To Do
- soak brown rice
- soak chickpeas
- make chapati dough
- make wholegrain sourdough

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This is not so much of a recipe as it is a 'here are some things to put in a bowl together'. Paddy and I have been craving Vietnamese food since we went to a delicious, cheap and cheerful restaurant for tea a few weeks ago, and a lovely friend of mine has just gotten back from Vietnam. So jealous!

The beautiful bowl is from my mother-in-law. Isn't it gorgeous!

I soaked some dried mushrooms for a dish last weekend and my friend suggested keeping the soaking water to make soup out of. I decided to try it as the poaching liquid for the chicken for this salad instead. I threw in a cinnamon stick, some star anise, ginger root and galangal, and it worked a treat! You could definitely mix and match the ingredients to suit what is in your fridge, but the dressing is a must have!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad
- 2 organic chicken thighs, poached in stock or water with star anise, cinnamon and ginger and shreaded when cool
- curly kale (in leiu of red cabbage, which I had run out of)
- diced carrot
- diced cucumber
- diced red capsicum
- fresh corn, cut off the cob
- 1 finely diced medium red chilli
- a generous handful of cripsy noodles
- fresh coriander to taste
- fresh mint (I used Vietnamese mint) to taste

Dressing
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp each lime and lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside. Place all ingredients except crispy noodles in a bowl, dress generously and toss. Add the noodles just before serving. Enjoy!

Sourdough 101 - Bake your Bread!

Oh hello there.. opps I may have been a bit slack in finishing this series off, sorry... We have had family to stay for the weekend and I have been busy doing deliciously fun things like picnicking, enjoying the sun, supporting pursuits towards my vege gardens being built, eating, eating and more eating. Back to work on Tuesday though, and back to reality.

Anywho, back to the sourdough, Hopefully your starter has been bubbling away and you have been feeding it regularity to keep it alive. I usually leave mine in the fridge during the week and bring it out in the weekend for making by weekly batch of bread. This system seems to work well for me, and I am yet to kill a starter.

Making a lough of bread has a few different steps: making the sponge, mixing the dough, rising the dough, and shaping and baking the dough. Let's start at the beginning:

1. Make the sponge
Before you make a loaf, you need to get your yeasts/starter in optimum condition - this is called the sponge. To make this, I tip my starter into a big ceramic bowl, mix in 100 grams of flour and enough tepid water to make a thick batter, cover with gladwrap, pop in a warm place (e.g hotwater cupboard) and leave for six or so hours. When you go back to it, it should be very bubbly and excited. Scoop out about 1/4 of a cup of starter into a sterilised jar, feed with a tablespoon of flour and a little water, stir and put somewhere safe for a few hours while you get your bread ready.

Bubbling sponge, ready to go.

2. Mixing the dough
I'm about to share with you my own recipe for multigrain sourdough. Now, keep in mind this is an ever-changing recipe, as I make new additions and alterations to it, on my quest for sourdough perfection. This means, it is by no means perfect, but it is pretty darn good, I think. I usually use a combination of whatever seeds and grains I have in my pantry at the time - this loaf was quinoa, sesame, sunflower, chia, flax and pearl barley. The types of seeds and grains will vary the loaf slightly, but I'm not too worried about a bit of mild variation. Feel free to use a consistent recipe if you prefer.

Multigrain Sourdough
250 grams white flour
250 grams wholemeal flour
2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp brown sugar or honey
1 cup mixed seeds and grains
1 Tbsp fennel seeds (optional)
Water

Add all ingredients to the large bowl containing your starter and mix to combine. Slowly add in water, 1/2 cup by 1/2 cup, and mix as you go. The amount of water varies each time depending on the quantities of seeds and grains and the types of flours. I think I used about 1 1/2 cups for this loaf. You are aiming for a soft, slightly sticky dough. Once you think you have enough water added, turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and begin to kneed. Turn and kneed the dough for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and cover with gladwrap.

Ingredients, added to sponge.

Mixed to a soft dough.

After kneeding, ready to rise.

Once you've finished mixing your dough, pop the lid on tight on your jar of starter and keep it in the fridge until next week. Like I said above, I find a once weekly loaf works quite well for me, but if you can't manage that, be sure to feed your starter a spoon of flour and a bit of water instead. They are hungry beasts!

3. Rising the dough
Sourdough takes longer to rise than regular dough, and I find the longer I rise it, the more sour it becomes. I usually make my sponge in the morning, mix and need my dough in the evening, and then bake my bread the next morning. You will need to find a routine that works for you.

Place the covered bowl in a warm place (back to the old hotwater cupboard again) and leave for 6-10 hours to rise. The dough should have doubled in size and spring back when you poke it.


4. Shaping and baking the dough
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Turn out your risen dough onto a floured surface and gently shape into a loaf. I prefer a classic cob style with a few deep slashes on top, although I have made this recipe in loaf tins before too. You want to treat your bread gently here as you don't want to knead out all of it's rising efforts. I usually just shape mine, and place it straight on the oven tray. Then, I cut a few deep clashes in the top, spritz it with water (that helps make a thick crust) and sprinkle it in flour or a few more seeds. Place in a hot oven for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown on top and hollow when you taps it's bum. Again, I find my baking times vary and I'm not sure how reliable my ancient oven is, so I would keep an eye on it. I would always err on the side of over-cooked with this loaf, as it's quite dense and you don't want it to be doughy in the middle.

I forgot to take a photo!! Here is a white sourdough loaf I made last year instead...

And that's it! Sourdough 101! I hope you have enjoyed my perspective on this mysterious creature, and give it a go yourself. It's rather satisfying to make bread using your very own yeast, and I quite like the idea of having one to match my house. Happy baking!

Part one here.
Part two here.
Part three here.

From My Kitchen - Sunday 1st April

Last week of term = busy Amy! We also have family coming to stay for the weekend; the house needs a clean and the tins are empty, so it will be an even busier week than usual! I also need to make at least one batch of hot, hot buns! I usually do one batch a year, on Easter Sunday (I never bother with the cross, hence the name). I use a lovely recipe from River Cottage that includes crystalised ginger. Yum! Hunt it down and have a try if you are looking for a new recipe this year.
Here we go:

Dinner
Sunday - hunza pie with green salad
Monday - coconut cream mushroom cabonara
Tuesday - off to a Tupperware party so a big bowl of kale salad prior to will do me fine
Wednesday - pumpkin and millet cakes with jewel salad (a version of these but with pumpkin instead...)
Thursday - zucchini fritters with homemade chorizo crumbs and green salad

To Make
- weekly batch of muesli
- weekly batch of sourdough (Recipe coming soon. Have you made your starter yet?)
- zucchini chocolate cake (to help use up all the zucchini I have in the fridge!)

From My Kitchen - Sunday 25th March

Due to sickness and other events such as friends visiting etc, last week was a right off meal planning wise! However, I am back this week with a fridge full of delicious veges and a plan. A bit late maybe, but you know, life happens! I've got a yummy salad recipe this week, to help make a dent in that cabbage we all have lurking in the back of the fridge; and the first part of making your very own sourdough starter; so stay tuned!

Dinner
Sunday - slow-cooked Asian style pork shoulder with jewel salad and roast potatoes, with quince crumble for dessert!
Monday - leftover pork made into rice paper spring rolls with carrot, capsicum, zucchini, coriander and soy chilli dipping sauce
Tuesday - last cooking class of the term, this week it's lamb vindaloo with Bombay potatoes
Wednesday - feta, spinach and roast pumpkin cannelloni with green beans
Thursday - homemade pasta with roasted tomato sauce

To Do
- make sourdough
- make muesli

Saving the Harvest: Roasted Tomato Sauce

It's Autumn in my little corner of the world, which means produce is at it's most abundant and it's time to start storing things away for the winter. I have preserved excess tomatoes and fruit for the past few years and it is always such a treat to open a jar of fresh-tasting tomato sauce or juicy peaches in the middle of winter. After weeks and weeks of pumpkin, apples and greens, a taste of summer can be a welcomed change. I am going to do a little series called 'Saving the Harvest', on some of the ways I like to put away excess for the winter.

I was lucky enough to be given a few kilos of organic Roma tomatoes, and as time was short, this batch was turned quickly into three pottles of roasted tomato sauce for the freezer. This sauce is great on pasta, as a casserole base, as a baked bean sauce or as a starter for a multitude of different soups. It's a little more flavoursome than a standard passata, but neutral enough to lend itself to a variety of different meals. This is a very loose recipe, that can be adjusted to suit the quantity of tomatoes you have on hand.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
Ripe, red tomatoes
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Herbs, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper

De-stem the tomatoes and roughly chop in quarters. Place in a baking dish or roasting pan and cover with a good slug of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season generously with salt and pepper and a handful of herbs of your choice (I used basil, thyme and rosemary for my latest batch) and toss to combine. Roast in a 180 degree oven for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once cool, push through a sieve or mouli to remove skin, pour into pottles in serving-sized  portions and freeze. If sieving, the paste left over is also great as a rich flavour explosion to add to pizza bases, casseroles or soups. I freeze this in ice cube trays for easy access to the right amount!

Homemade Muesli

I am keen to keep our grocery bill down, and would always prefer to spend my hard-earned money on local, organic food rather than processed rubbish that has travelled across oceans to get to me. Keeping the food bill down is becoming achievable thanks to a few handy hints:
1. Reducing the amount of meat we eat, and when you do eat it, focus on quality over quantity. We eat good quality, local and usually organic meat once a week and really enjoy it.
2. Make our own cleaners!
3. Not buying prepackaged snacks/treats/junk food. You will not find a single packaged biscuit, packet of chips or whatever else is popular these days in my pantry. My wallet and waistline really appreciates it.
4. Making whatever we can ourselves. Everything from stock to bread to muesli to cleaners. If I can do it myself, I will.

I was shocked recently to find a packet of relatively 'nice' looking muesli is over $6.00 to buy at my supermarket. Checking out the ingredients list, I wasn't too impressed about what I found in it either. Many of the ingredients I didn't recognise or couldn't see a purpose for. I much prefer my own, homemade version for taste, price and piece of mind.

Homemade Toasted Muesli

3 cups wholegrain rolled oats
1/4 cup each of chia, flax seed, sesame seed and sunflower seeds
1/2 cup coconut (any style is fine, I used shredded)
1/2 - 2/3 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/4 cup canola/rice bran/olive oil
1/4 cup honey
Dash vanilla

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine. Melt together the honey, oil and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. Mix until all the mixture is coated and shiny. Spread out in a baking dish and bake at 180 degrees for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should be slightly brown when you take it out but it will keep cooking as it cools. Stir it a few times as it cools down to keep the heat distributing evenly. Leave to cool entirely before storing in an airtight jar.

I used to add dried apricots to to the mixture once it had cooled, but now I prefer it as above. I add fresh fruit in the morning with organic yoghurt and milk for a delicious breakfast.

From My Kitchen - Sunday 11th March

Last week went by in a blur of activities - I didn't bother doing a meal plan as I only ate at home once! This week will hopefully be much more subdued as our visitor has left and evening events calm down. I haven't even opened my research proposal this week, which is a bit a naughty. I am aiming for 1000 words per week (not as easy as it sounds while also working a full-time job!) so will have to work extra hard this coming week to make up for it. I am really loving the work I am doing; the worst bit about it is trying to split my brain into work mode and writing mode; it can be very hard to separate out the two.

Anywho, here's the menu for this week:

Dinner
Sunday - leftovers! Free-range chicken and vege soup with Chinese dumplings (made with friends last night)
Monday - Paddy special: potato cakes with mushroom sauce and green salad
Tuesday - cooking class: this week it's beef in tamarind sauce with Nonya-style vege stirfry
Wednesday - spaghetti with roast pumpkin, sage, brown butter and greens
Thursday - marrow stuffed with brown rice and veges, topped with tomato sauce and cheese and baked until awesome!

Baking
- wholemeal, multi-seed sourdough
- homemade muesli

To Do
- nothing this week, it's all quick and easy!

From My Kitchen - Sunday 26th February

I've been sitting at my computer for the past 4 hours, working away on my research proposal for my PhD, so I am going to make this quick! Luckily it has been a rainy afternoon, so with a purring cat on my knee and dinner bubbling away on the stove, it hasn't seemed like much of a burden at all to be working on my weekend. Next week will be much calmer in our house, as Paddy's play has finished and he is back home at night. I might even be lucky enough to get a night off cooking dinner.
Here's the menu this week:

Dinner
Sunday - free-range, organic Chicken Marbella with dinosaur kale on brown rice
Monday - vegetarian quesadillas ala Paddy with navy beans, veges, salsa and homemade guacamole
Tuesday - cooking class: this week it's lamb and lentil curry with chapati
Wednesday - spaghetti with tomato, zucchini, lemon and garlic
Thursday - quinoa burgers with corn-on-the-cob and a huge green salad

Baking 
- wholegrain sourdough (I'm trying to replicate an AMAZING loaf I bought at the market this weekend)
- muesli (recipe to come)

To Do
- soak beans for burritos
- soak quinoa

From My Kitchen - Sunday 19th February

Well it has been a week of potentially exciting opportunities... Nothing I can share yet but things look like they may be changing quite a bit around here, sooner than we thought! (No, not a baby!). I have had a fairly lazy weekend, which has matched the changeable weather - housework was done, washing folded, animals tended to, a bit more garden has been taken over by things I want in it, time has been spent with friends, and a lot of blobbing out... Pretty good for a weekend, really. Paddy is in yet another play this week, which means a week of evenings alone at home. Although, my nights are actually quite full now, as I go to the gym, yoga and cooking class on different nights of the week. By the time it's the weekend, I am usually quite happy to be home! However, flying solo means dinners will be quick and easy. Here's whats on the menu this week:

Dinner
Sunday - a huge salad with mung and adzuki beans, kale, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, capsicum, apple, spring onion, sourdough croutons and a parmesan/garlic dressing.
Monday - fresh corn, capsicum and feta salad with chorizo
Tuesday - cooking class special. This week it's beef with black bean; honey chicken; and steamed fish with sour plum.
Wednesday - wholemeal flat breads with zucchini, feta and lemon topping, and a green salad.
Thursday - mushroom stroganoff with smashed new potatoes and a green salad.

To Do
- soak mung and adzuki beans
- make flatbread dough

Baking 
- wholemeal sourdough
- peanut butter bliss balls

Breakfast

I used to be in a rut about breakfast - I would have the same thing everyday because it was quick and easy, and I began to dread it. That is no way to start a day! If breakfast is dreaded, it doesn't set you well up for the rest of the day going well, does it. So, in line with one of my New Year's resolutions (get up earlier), which is going wonderfully, may I add, I have been branching out with breakfast.

source

Here are some of my favourites so far:

• breakfast smoothies: blueberries or mango, banana, organic yoghurt, organic whole milk, whole rolled oats, chia and/or flaxseed and/or hemp, and sometimes honey
• porridge: made with whole rolled oats and half milk, half water, served with banana or blueberries, organic whole milk, organic yoghurt, brown sugar and cream.
• homemade muesli: mix whole rolled oats, chopped almonds, seeds (sunflower/pumpkin/sesame) chia and  flaxseeds with honey and olive oil and toast until brown, add chopped dried apricots and serve with organic milk and yoghurt and fruit
• Japanese breakfast: brown rice with tinned tuna, mayonnaise, avocado and lemon. Sometimes with a cup of miso soup too
• wholemeal or spelt sourdough toast with butter and homemade preserves, and chopped up seasonal fruit
• green smoothy: banana, blueberries, greens and water
• poached eggs on wholemeal or spelt sourdough with wilted greens, butter, lemon, salt and pepper

I usually have a cup of tea with breakfast too, which varies from day to day. As I have a long drive to work, I sip a hot water and lemon drink. I have also recently purchased a wide mouth drink bottle, so I plan on taking a green juice on my drive to work each morning too. I can't get enough of those greens!

Any awesome breakfast ideas I'm missing out on?

From My Kitchen - Sunday 12th February

It's been another busy week here, with a new arrival to our family - an SPCA cat called Lola. She is possibly the most affectionate cat you will ever meet (she pretty much adopted me herself), cheeky, and soft as a cloud! Since I can't have any children for at least the next wee while due to study commitments, animals are providing a good distraction (even though it seems like EVERYONE is pregnant at the moment!).

Dinner
Sunday - off to the Chinese Lantern Festival, so something yummy from a stall
Monday - tom kha gai soup with organic chicken thighs, greens, red cabbage and capsicum
Tuesday - cooking class special: chicken gulai with carrot and cucumber salad (both Malaysian)
Wednesday - penne with mashed courgettes, basil and parmesan, and kale salad with apples and blue cheese
Thursday - vegetarian bean burritos with green salad

Baking
- more bliss balls (these are amazing!)
- wholemeal sourdough

To Do
- soak beans for burritos
- make chicken stock for tom kha gai

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas

Yum yum yum, I am still licking my lips after tonight's delicious dinner. Inspired by a recipe I found here, I was very excited to try out something new with mung beans. Usually I only sprout them, but now I have found out they are delicious and easy to cook, and make a fabulous base for salads. The recipe called for a vinaigrette, but I decided to use a lemon tahini dressing, as I had some tahini in the fridge that needed using up. Any dressing would be great on this salad though, so use whatever takes your fancy! I wrapped my salad in wholemeal tortillas, with homemade tomato chutney and some salad leaves. Delish!

I have had a busy afternoon, visiting the garden plot I have a share in for the first time. We will be documenting our adventures on a communal blog called Tenderfoot, so be sure to have a look see to keep up to date on what we are doing. I was pleased to come home to an easy and relatively quick dinner, and now I am cooking up a storm, making five seed sourdough, homemade cream cheese, homemade muesli and roasted pumpkin hummus. Now, who is on the dishes...

Mung Bean Salad in Wholemeal Tortillas
1 cup dried mung beans, soaked overnight and cooked until soft (about 15 minutes)
3 spring onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
10 black olives, diced
Large handful of greens, chopped (I used pea shoots, but anything would do)
Handful of fresh mint, chopped

Lemon Tahini Dressing
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp rock salt
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil

Wholemeal Tortillas
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
About 1 cup warm water

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. For the dressing, mash garlic cloves with salt in a mortar and pestle to form a paste. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and mix until combined. Toss warm salad in dressing and leave to marinate while you make the tortillas.

For the tortillas, place the flour, salt and oil in a bowl and slowly add the water and mix to form a soft dough. Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. You can leave to sit for a while at this point, or just forge ahead with making your tortillas. Split the dough into eight pieces, and roll into balls. Flatten into circles with a rolling pin. Cook in a very hot pan until brown and bubbling on both sides.

To compose, place a tortilla on a plate, smear with a spoonful of tomato (or other) chutney, add some lettuce leaves and a good spoonful of mung bean salad mix. Wrap and devour.

Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

It's rainy here tonight and I was very glad to come home to a delicious bowl of soup that I has pre-made last night, all ready for my late return home. I based it on a yummy soup my mum has made a few times, with my own additions of course, and it was delicious! I highly recommend you give this one a try for a quick dinner idea.

I used pumpkin and peas but it could easily be made with any veges, or chicken or fish. I was originally going to use the very first of the new season's asparagus, but decided to instead save it for a special dish, all of it's own! I love asparagus, and am very excited that the season is almost here, even if it does mean farewelling by beloved brussel sprout until next winter.

This is coming straight out of my brain from last night, so if the seasoning is a bit light, add more... :)


Coconut Curry Soup with Pumpkin, Peas and Brown Rice

1 tin coconut cream
1 1/2 tins chicken or vege stock (I used my empty coconut cream tin to measure this)
3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
2 cm fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp green curry paste
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3-5 kaffir lime leaves
2 cups diced pumpkin
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cups brown rice, cooked 
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh chopped coriander

In a medium sized pot, bring to a gentle boil the coconut cream, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, curry paste, lemon juice, lime juice and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then add the diced pumpkin and simmer until pumpkin is cooked (about 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces). To the soup add peas, salt, pepper and about half of your fresh coriander. Stir until peas are warmed through. To serve, place warm brown rice in the bottom of your bowl, ladle over soup and sprinkle with chopped coriander to garnish. I also added a handful of greens to mine before I ate it, since I can't get enough of them!

From My Kitchen - Sunday 11th September

I haven't done a meal plan for a few weeks and it throws me all out of routine when I don't! My time has been taken up with mountains of paperwork that needs to be completed in order to apply for my PhD, and luckily Paddy has been home more this past week and able to contribute to cooking, which has been lovely!

We are still getting most of our veges from the market (having eaten the garden empty) but I am very much looking forward to the contribution the plot will make to our food stores! I adore summer food and can't wait to be eating fresh from my garden once again. Until then, here's what's on the menu this week...

Dinner
Sunday - mac n' cheese at the neighbours, BYO green salad
Monday - coconut curry soup with pumpkin, asparagus and brown rice
Tuesday - mung bean salad in homemade wholemeal tortillas
Wednesday - creamy lemon spaghetti with roast brussel sprouts
Thursday - vegetarian sushi with miso and edamame

Baking
- homemade muesli bars
- lemon curd
- five seed sourdough

To Do
- soak brown rice
- soak mung beans
- make tortillas

Spinach, Feta and Pesto Fritters

Wow what a busy week I am having! We had a lovely weekend away in Auckland, visiting friends and watching this extravaganza of awesomeness, and this week is full to the brim with work and evening activities. Last night I went out to a potluck to meet the families we are going to be sharing a vege plot with this Summer! I don't know all the details of this amazing project yet but Paddy and I and the three other families in our group have access to 100 square metres of land to grow organic vegetables on, all the free, organic seedlings we need to fill this plot, organic sprays (i.e seaweed) and compost and gardening advice and guidance from the full time staff who manage the plot! All in exchange for a minimum of an hour a week of work. I am unbelievably excited about the prospect of an entire Summer of free, organic produce, and an opportunity to meet like-minded people. The project is aimed at a very diverse group of people and includes immigrants, recovering addicts and low-income groups such as beneficiaries. The aim is to promote and support healthy eating and self-sustainability. How amazing does this sound!? And even better, the whole thing is funded in full by the Ministry of Health. As the weather continues to improve, I am even more excited about what this Summer has to bring.

So, I pottered along last night to met my gardening group and took these delicious fritters with me. I was feeling very pleased with myself after creating these, as they include spinach from my garden, homemade feta and homemade pesto from last year's basil, that I liberated from the freezer. And, they turned out delicious! Served with homemade tomato chutney, they were the perfect addition to the potluck.

The gardening group decided last night that we will set up a blog to document our journey, so watch this space, as I will link up once it is underway. In other news, I have made a very big decision this week, which I am looking forward to sharing once I have told the special people in my life. Things will be different around my place for a while!

Spinach, Feta and Pesto Fritters
2-3 cups fresh spinach, washed well
1/2 block feta (about 1/2 cup?)
2 generous Tbsp pesto
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup water

Place spinach, feta, pesto, lemon juice and the egg in a food processor and blitz until blended (but don't worry about getting it smooth, as the chunks are nice). Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the spinach mixture; season to taste. Begin to fold together and add water as necessary to make a thick batter (think corn fritter mixture). Fry blobs in olive oil, turning once brown and flattening on the cooked side to make fritters. Serve with tomato chutney or more pesto and salad greens.

Homemade Halloumi

Halloumi is a delicious, squeaky cheese that is super easy to make at home. Halloumi has a very high melting point, so unlike most cheese, it holds it's shape when you cook it. Traditionally made with a mixture of goat's and sheep milk, most of the stuff you buy from the supermarket will be made with cow's milk. Unlike most cheeses, halloumi only uses rennet as it's setting agent, and has no added bacteria or culture. I love halloumi as a component in various salads; it is also great as a protein option in pita pockets and some fancy-pants people serve it on teeny tiny skewers with watermelon.

Go out and find your self some rennet - mine is from Mad Millie, and dabble in cheesemaking at home. It really isn't as scary or difficult as you might think! I'm obsessed, and saving my pennies for a Mad Millie blue cheeses kit. Oh my goodness, can you just imagine homemade blue cheese? It must be epic...

This process looks quite long and involved, and while there are a lot of different steps to complete, the overall time required to actually do stuff is very little.

Halloumi

2 litres un-homogenised milk (I used raw milk, which is also unpasteurised)

1.5 mls rennet diluted in 5 mils cooled, boiled water

Salt

Step One

Set up a bain marie. I used a large pot, with a preserving ring inside, and a smaller pot (which lost it's handle a while ago) inside it. Then, I poured boiling water in the big pot. Add your milk to the smaller pot and stir until milk is at around 45 degrees Celsius. I don't actually have a thermometer so I just heat it until it feels quite hot to my finger. Alternatively, you could warm the milk in the microwave until it reaches temperature, and then add it to the smaller pot.

 

Step Two

Once the milk is at temperature, add the diluted rennet and stir thoroughly. Allow the milk to set at 45 degrees (I put the lid on to keep it warm) for 45 minutes, or until a clean break is achieved.

 

Step Three

After the curd is set firm, you will need to cut it into 1cm cubes vertically, horizontally and at 45 degree angles along both of these sets of lines. Have a look here for a picture tutorial. Then, gently stir curds for about 10 minutes, until they are much smaller and slightly springy.

Step Four

Once the curds are ready, scoop them into a colander lined with cheesecloth or muslin. Wrap the muslin over the curds and place a weight on top to press them down. I used a bowl of water. Once the curds are firm enough (about 5 hours for me), remove from muslin and cut into blocks.

 

 

Step Five

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Place the blocks of halloumi into boiling water and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the curds rise to the surface. Drain on a rack to cool. While draining, sprinkle with salt to preserve them and give the distinct salty taste.

 

The cheese will last for two weeks in the fridge in an airtight container. To serve, grill both sides of the halloumi until browned and slightly soft.

I served my most recent batch as part of a noodle salad with spinach, carrot, spring onion and a lemon pesto dressing. Yum!

I shared this post on Real Food Wednesday and Simple Lives Thursday.

Self-Saucing Chocolate Mug Puddings

Apparently I am a bit behind the eight ball in the world of chocolate mug puddings...
I discovered this treasure of a recipe concept on Pinterest a few weeks ago and couldn't help but give them a try. The recipe I found had an egg in it, and as we always seem to run out of eggs, I was keen to try making one without. I found a few different recipes and tested them - they were all yummy but I am a long-time fan of self-saucing puddings, and decided this was exactly what they needed. I also wanted to tone the sugar levels down a bit, as I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth and the recipes I tried kind of made my teeth quiver. So, here is my version of the chocolate mug cakes (not that unlike the hundreds of other recipes around), with the added delicious addition of sauce and half the sugar.
Yum yum yum...

Self-Saucing Chocolate Mug Puddings
Per serve:
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp chocolate chips
Dash of vanilla essence
3 Tbsp milk or water
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp boiling water

Using one large coffee cup per person, add the dry ingredients first and stir to combine. Then, add the coconut oil, chocolate chips, vanilla essence and milk or water and stir very well until all mixed together. Make sure you get right to the bottom of the cup or you will end up with lumps of flour in your cooked pudding. Smooth the top of the pudding out and sprinkle the second measure of cocoa and brown sugar on top. Pour the boiling water, over the back of a spoon, into the cup. Microwave each pudding in 30 second bursts until puffed up and springy. Mine took one minute each but be sure to do it in bursts because an over-cooked pudding is dry and yuck. Serve with cream, milk or yoghurt on top.

Add dry ingredients to your mug and stir to combine.

Add wet to dry, stir very well.

Smooth down the top of your batter...

... and sprinkle over the sugar and cocoa
and pour over hot water.

Cook until moist and springy. Consume.

From My Kitchen - Sunday 21st August

It has been such a lovely weekend in Christchurch. After our second snow storm in three weeks, it has been such a treat to see the sun! I was very inspired yesterday to get out in the garden and started to feel positive about the space again. I had been feeling very unmotivated about the whole thing ever since the earthquake, but now I feel revived and ready to get stuck in again. I planted some new fruit trees, tidied up my herbal/medicinal garden and gave my strawberry bed a bit of VIP treatment. My plants had been furiously making babies and I managed to get 20 free plants from the runners! These are a wonderful variety of strawberries, which fruit continuously from about December till April/May. I managed to squeeze nine more plants into my patch and gifted the rest to my neighbour, Sharon.

The only thing left to tackle in my garden is the vege plot. As I have a small patch, I don't have the luxury of any kind of crop rotation, and I tend to be always planting, which means my poor soil never gets a rest. I have decided this week to try and empty whats left in my plot, and then give it a hefty fertilise/compost, so it is happy and ready to go when Spring planting starts. I might end up being a few weeks behind but it will be worth it in the long run.

So, this weeks meals are all planned around my vege plot. It currently contains: spinach, beetroot, carrots, kale, red onions, spring onions, broccoli and brussel sprouts and my goal this week is to eat it empty! I am also drawing on inspiration from a few different recipes I have tagged on Pinterest lately. I love trying new things, especially when it relates to food!

Dinner
Sunday: noodle salad with spinach, carrot, spring onion, homemade grilled halloumi and a pesto dressing
Monday: broccoli and homemade feta pasta sauce on wholemeal penne
Tuesday: raw tuscan kale salad with roasted brussel sprouts and quinoa risotto
Wednesday: upside down potato and onion tart with grated beetroot and carrot salad
Thursday: spinach souffle with roasted vege and quinoa salad

Baking
- wholemeal sourdough
- muesli bars

Coming up this week:

- halloumi tutorial
- homemade natural toilet cleaner
- my experiences with ditching shampoo...