TWD - Vegetable Ribbon Tart

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is Vegetable Ribbon Tart. 

This tart comprises puff pastry, hommus, sliced vegetables, cherry tomatoes, vinaigrette and hard boiled eggs.

It tasted fine, not what I’d normally choose, but ok.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

TWD - Carrot Muffins

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Carrot Muffins. These are not your average muffins in that there is quote a number of steps and ingredients that you probably don’t need to make muffins. That said, these muffins are delicious.

 I subbed date syrup for pomegranate molasses (because I had the former but not the latter), and for the dried fruit component, I used cranberries.

I recommend using your food processor if you have one to grate the carrots, because it saves an awful lot of time.

These muffins are attractive to look at and nice and moist to eat. They taste good, undoubtedly. However, they are a little fussier to make than your average muffins, so do bear that in mind if you decide to make them.

To see everyone’s bakes this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

TWD - Asparagus-Lemon Quiche

 This week’s Tuesday with Dorie (Baking with Dorie) recipe is Asparagus-Lemon Quiche.

As the name suggests, the quiche is filled with chopped asparagus and chopped lemon (including the rind). The top is decorated with asparagus heads and sprinkled with parmesan.

The flavour combination is delicate and the quiche looks elegant. I served mine with salad:

This is such a gorgeous quiche, I would definitely make this again.

To see what everyone else made this week and their thoughts on it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

Beef Goulash and Braised Cabbage

One of my more recent cookbook purchases is Just Add Love, by Irris Makler.  The byline is "Holocaust survivors share their stories and recipes".  The recipes come from Jewish women from all over Australia, and includes not just recipes, but the stories of the people behind them. It really is a fascinating and inspiring read.

As it is still quite cold in Melbourne, and I wanted to find a way to use the stewing beef I had in the freezer, I turned to this book for recipes.  I wasn't disappointed - Annetta Able, a woman of Czech origin, had contributed a recipe for beef goulash.  The goulash was thick and rich and hearty - perfect for a cold night.

I bought cabbage to go with the beef goulash, and Just Add Love has a recipe from Rita Ross for braised red cabbage that intrigued me because it contains apple.  I had a green cabbage - no matter - and a single Granny Smith apple, so this seemed like the perfect recipe for me.  Rita says that the juxtaposition of the sweet and sour make this braised cabbage, and I agree - I really enjoyed the freshness of the braised cabbage which resulted from the sweetness of the apple with the  tartness of lemon, both of which help to lift the cabbage out of the realms of the mundane.

To make Annetta's goulash, you will need:

1kg stewing beef, cubed

1 finely chopped red capsicum

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 finely chopped onions

2 tablespoons paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup beef stock

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the onion until translucent.  Add the beef and fry until the beef is browned.  Add the paprika and salt and stir to combine.

Add the stock, capsicum, tomato paste and caraway seeds,  and bring the mixture to the boil.  Turn down the heat to a bare simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally.  If you need more water, add it half a cup at a time, and check every half an hour to ensure that the goulash does not boil dry.  The aim is for all of the water to be absorbed into the sauce, so don't add too much.

The goulash is ready when the meat is soft and tender.  Adjust the seasoning as necessary.

For the braised cabbage, you will need:

1 finely chopped onion

1/2 cabbage, shredded (the recipe says red, I used green)

2 tablespoons vinegar

2  green apples, peel on, roughly chopped (I used one as I only had one)

rind of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

salt and pepper to taste

Fry the onion in a large frypan until translucent. Add the cabbage and the vinegar to the frypan and stir to combine.  Add the lemon juice, apples, lemon rind and caraway seeds and mix well, and season to taste.

Cover the frypan and cook on low heat for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Before serving, take out the lemon rind.

I served the goulash and cabbage with mashed potato - a perfect accompaniment for me, but you could also serve with pasta, rice or nockerl, as suggested in the recipe.

Maggie Beer’s Pumpkin and Chickpea Soup

I was watching a morning show on TV this week when Maggie Beer popped up to discuss the success of her online cooking videos because of the surge in home cooking during lockdown. One of the hosts mentioned Maggie’s pumpkin and chickpea soup video and I was in - I had the ingredients, it sounded delicious and I was good to go.

I am not a huge lover of soup, but I really enjoyed this soup. It had a nice kick of spice, and the chickpeas gave it body.

If you like pumpkin soup, try this:

800g pumpkin, peeled and chopped

400g can chickpeas

200g brown onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1L chicken stock

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon verjuice (I skipped this)

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

2 teaspoons ginger

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil, extra

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Mix the spices and olive oil together in a bowl. Add the pumpkin and toss to coat.

Put the pumpkin on a lined baking tray, and roast for 20 minutes in the oven. If using the verjuice, add it now to deglaze the pan and roast for another 3 minutes.

While the pumpkin is cooking, heat the extra 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion. Fry the onion, adding the garlic after 5 minutes. Cook until the onion is golden and translucent. 

Add the roasted pumpkin, chickpeas and stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the soup to cool for 5 minutes.

Put the soup into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Enjoy with whatever you fancy - I used a splodge of Greek yoghurt and chopped coriander.

Cornbread

You’ve got to continue to grow, or you’re just like last night’s cornbread - stale and dry. Loretta Lynn

In the past, I had not been a fan of cornbread. I had never made it myself, and the versions that I tried were dry and tasteless.

One of my colleagues, Johanna, posted a cornbread recipe in the COVID cookbook this week, so I decided to give it a go. 

And boy, I was glad that I did.  This cornbread was moist and tasty, and especially good served warm with a little butter.

I added a cup of  frozen peas and corn to my batter, and grated a quarter of a cup of cheddar on top.  Johanna also suggests adding tinned corn, creamed corn, cheese or chilli to the batter.

If you would like to try Johanna’s cornbread, you will need:

125g butter
150g sugar (or a little less if you prefer)
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
175g cornmeal or polenta
150g plain flour
250ml buttermilk
pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a 1 litre capacity loaf tin.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Set aside.

Put all of the dry ingredients except the sugar into a large bowl and stir to combine. Stir through any add ins that you want to use.

Put the butter into a medium saucepan and melt over low heat.  Add the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.

Beat the eggs into the butter mixture with a fork, then fold in the buttermilk with a rubber spatula.

Pour the butter mixture over the dry ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to just combine.

Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and level the top.  Grate cheese on top if desired.  Place the tin into the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove the bread from the oven and cool completely in the tin on a wire rack before unmoulding.  

Slice and serve spread with butter.

Ottolenghi's Spiced Shepherd's Pie with Butterbean Crust

I own a copy of Ottolenghi's Simple, and have baked numerous terrific sweet dishes from that book.  However, I thought it was time to try some of the savoury dishes.  I started with the Spiced Shepherd's Lamb Pie with Butterbean Crust.  If you don't own Simple, Ottolenghi has published the recipe in The Guardian here. 

Traditionally, Shepherd's Pie has a mashed potato crust, so I found the idea of a mashed butterbean crust quite intriguing. Tahini is mixed through the butterbeans to give a lovely nutty flavour.

I also mixed things up by using pork mince instead of lamb mince. 

The mince filling contains green olives and dried apricots, giving the pie an exotic, tagine-like flavour.

I served my Shepherd's Pie with boiled beans and carrots that had a tablespoon of carrots mixed through.  It was a wonderful feast for a cool evening.

Walnut, Apple, Carrot and Honey Cake (aka Canberra Cake)

The Canberra Cake is so called because it is made with ingredients sourced from the Canberra region of Australia.  If the truth  be told, I did not source my ingredients from Canberra, so I will call my cake Walnut, Apple, Carrot and Honey Cake - or even more plainly, Carrot Cake.  This recipe was emailed to me by a friend.

It is quite a delicious cake, especially if you love cream cheese frosting!

To make this cake, you will need:

250g walnuts, roughly chopped
250g apples, peeled, cored and diced
3 carrots, grated
300g plain flour
250g honey
4 eggs
200ml olive oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 24cm springform pan.

Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.

Whisk the eggs, honey and olive oil together in a jug.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon to combine.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the preheated oven for one hour or until cooked through.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack in the pan for around 15 minutes before unmoulding onto the wire rack to cool completely.

For the icing, beat together 125g softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sifted icing sugar and 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional).  If the icing is too loose, add more icing sugar.  Once the icing is of a spreadable consistency, spread it evenly over the top of the cake using a metal spatula, and sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Slice and serve. 

Honey Soy and Chicken Stir Fry

I love a good stir fry.  Stir fry is such a versatile dish - you can include whatever meat, vegetables, carbs and sauce that you have, and end up with a tasty, hearty meal within minutes.

You don't really need a recipe for stir fry.  However, p24 of the September 2019 edition of Woolworths Fresh magazine featured a recipe for Honey and Soy Chicken Stir Fry that inspired me, and was a little different from what I normally make.  This stir fry contains lots of delicious vegetables, making it an easy way to get your "5 a day".

For this stir fry, you will need:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and diced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 crushed clove garlic
2 carrots, grated
1 sliced brown onion
1 green capsicum, deseeded and sliced
1/4 red cabbage, shredded
2 zucchini, grated
150g sugar snap peas, trimmed
steamed or boiled rice, to serve

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat.  Add the chicken and cook until golden brown.

Put the honey, soy an garlic in a small glass jar, put the lid on the jar and shake until the contents are well combined.

Add the carrot and onion to the chicken in the pan and stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add the capsicum and cabbage and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.

Add the zucchini, sugar snap peas and honey-soy sauce from the jar to the pan and stir fry for a minute.

Serve with rice.

Maggie Beer's Pumpkin and Pistachio Cake

I am a big fan of the SBS (formerly ABC) cooking show, The Cook and the Chef.  This show is now more than 10 years old, but I never tire of the re-runs.  The rapport between Maggie Beer (the cook) and Simon Bryant (the chef) is a joy to behold, regardless of what it is that they are cooking.

When I was at home over Christmas last year (yes, an age ago), Maggie Beer made a Pumpkin and Pistachio Cake on The Cook and the Chef (Episode 30, screened originally on 2 September 2009) that I could not get out of my head - it just looked so good.  I went to great lengths to find the recipe as the ABC website referred to on the program no longer exists, and made this cake at a time when I bought a whole pumpkin and made three different pumpkin cake recipes.

This was the end result:

The cake is more pudding-like in texture than cake-like, but it is absolutely delicious, and the pistachio brittle on top of the cake adds a lovely textural contrast to the soft, spongy cake.  It would be lovely served  warm with cream, icecream or crème fraiche on the side. 

If you would like to try making this cake for yourself, you will need:

Cake

3 eggs, separated
40g sugar
75g self raising flour
100ml sour cream
100ml extra virgin olive oil
250g pumpkin
1 extra tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup verjuice

Pistachio Brittle

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup shelled unsalted pistachios

Verjuice syrup

1/2 cup verjuice
1/4 cup sugar

Cake

Peel and cut the pumpkin into small pieces, toss with the tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and roast in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until soft.  Deglaze the pan with the verjuice, and mash the pumpkin.  Set aside to cool.  Leave the oven on for the cake.

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.

Beat the egg yolks with 2/3 of the sugar until pale and thick.  Fold in the flour, olive oil, mashed pumpkin and sour cream.

In a clean bowl, place the egg whites and remaining sugar, and beat the egg whites to medium peak stage.  Fold one third of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Scrape the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin, and bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.

Brittle

While the cake is baking, put the sugar and water into a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat, without stirring, until the sugar melts and the mixture turns a deep amber.  Immediately add the pistachios to the pan, and fold through. 

Turn the mixture onto a metal tray oiled lightly with a bit of olive oil.  Allow the mixture to cool and harden.  Break up the resulting toffee into rough pieces, then crush lightly in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle to the desired size.

Syrup

While the cake is baking, put the verjuice and sugar into a medium saucepan, and boil the mixture until it  becomes a rich amber colour.

Remove the cake from the oven and pour the syrup over the warm cake, then sprinkle with pistachio brittle. 

Pumpkin Pecan Pie Muffins for Queen Baking Club

A recent Queen Baking Club challenge was Pumpkin Pecan Pie Muffins.  As the name suggests, these muffins were full of mashed pumpkin goodness, with added nuts for texture, and topped with an oaty streusel topping.

You can find the recipe for these delicious muffins here.

I substituted the pecans for walnuts because I had walnuts already in the pantry.  I also used some leftover streusel from another project and added some oats to give it texture and make it more like the recipe streusel.

These were absolutely delicious muffins, and I would make them again.  Given the dire wintry weather here at present, these muffins are a perfect way to warm the soul.

Snowpea, Bean and Radish Salad - Red Tractor August

When I saw the Red Tractor recipe for this month, my heart sank.  I am not a salad kind of gal, and a salad with radishes? Uggh.

However, you can't judge a book by its cover, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this salad.  It had a peppery, fresh flavour, I am presuming from the radishes.

The quote for August from the calendar is:

This leaves me out, as I am not great with plants.  My record is rather hit and miss on successfully growing things.

Without further ado, here is the salad recipe:

Dressing

2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Place all of the ingredients in a small glass jar, seal the lid, and shake vigorously to mix.

 Blanch 200g trimmed green beans and 200g trimmed snow peas in boiling salted water.  Drain and refresh in ice water twice before drying with a paper towel.  

Thinly slice the beans, snow peas, 1 red onion and 4 radishes.  Place in a bowl and toss with the dressing.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup - Red Tractor July

This month's Red Tractor calendar recipe is Roasted Cauliflower Soup.  I will be honest and say that this recipe did not appeal to me.  I am not a huge soup fan to start with, and roasted cauliflower soup is not a flavour that is high on my desired list.  However, in the spirit of my project, I made the soup anyway.

The calendar quote for this month comes from  Anne of Green Gables:  

I am a big fan of Anne, and this statement reflects Anne's dauntless optimism.  In the middle of winter, now that I am older, I find it hard to muster up this kind of optimism, but it is an inspirational attitude to have.

Now for the soup.  It tasted better than I imagined, but it's still not something I would ever make again.  The potatoes and apples help to balance the cauliflower so that the soup doesn't smell like an old sock.

If roasted cauliflower soup is something that may float your boat, you can make it with the following ingredients:

1 cauliflower cut into florets
3 red apples, peeled, cored and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
3 finely chopped stalks of celery
2 large potatoes, finely chopped
6 cups boiling water
2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled
1/2 cup cream

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Toss the cauliflower, apple and garlic together with the olive oil in a large bowl. Transfer to a lined baking tray and bake for 30 minutes until soft and slightly browned.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter, then cook the onion and celery until soft.  Add the cauliflower, apples, garlic, potatoes, boiling water and stock cubes, bring to the  boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. 

Puree the ingredients in the saucepan with a stick blender, then stir in the cream and serve.

 

Red Tractor March - Colcannon

It was St Patrick's Day yesterday, so it seemed fitting to make the Red Tractor March recipe - Colcannon.  Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of cabbage and mashed potatoes all mixed together - a bit like Heaven and Earth is apples and mashed potatoes.

I chose to serve my Colcannon with corned beef, mustard, tomato sauce and mixed vegetables - a pretty good meal.  Corned beef is also quite economical as you get a lot of meat for your money and there are always tons of leftovers.

Here is the accompanying Red Tractor quote for March, an Irish blessing:

To make Colcannon, you will need:

1kg Sebago potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 Savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1/2 cup milk
a knob of butter

Boil up the potatoes and cabbage separately until soft, and drain.

Mash the potatoes, then add the garlic, butter and milk and mix well.

Add the cabbage, spring onions and parsley and mix well again.

Serve! 

Tomato Salad with Basil and Capers - Red Tractor January

I have been a little busy lately, so I haven't been able to visit this blog other than to keep up with Tuesdays with Dorie.  However, I have decided that today I am going to take time out to blog about Red Tractor's January recipe.  Yep, I liked the Red Tractor calendar so much last year that I bought another one this year.

The words of wisdom for January were: 

I am not someone who gets lost in gardening, but I know lots of people who do, so I understand the sentiment.  And who wouldn't love fresh produce that they grew themselves?  My harvest is limited to a few herbs from the balcony, but that is all I need.

Now to the recipe.  It is for a tomato salad with basil and capers.  It is simple, but very tasty, and perfect when you have ripe fresh tomatoes around.  It is also bright and colourful, which is always pleasant when you are hungry and need cheering up at the end of a long day.

To make the Red Tractor tomato salad, you will need:

450g cherry tomatoes
2 tomatoes, thickly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
100g buffalo mozzarella, drained
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 tsp capers, rinsed

Halve the cherry tomatoes and place in a large bowl.  Add the tomato slices, onion, oil, vinegar and sugar.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Set aside for 10 minutes.

Arrange the tomato slices on a serving platter then top with the remaining tomato mixture, reserving the bowl juices.

Tear the mozzarella into pieces and arrange on top of the salad.  Drizzle over the reserved juices, and scatter with basil leaves and capers.

Thomasina Miers' Pumpkin Spice Cake with Ginger Icing

Another gem of a recipe that I recently found in The Guardian was Thomasina Miers' Roast Pumpkin, Olive Oil and Nutmeg Cake with Ginger Icing.  I just loved the sound of this cake, and I already had some of the ingredients, including the  pumpkin.

Of course, I didn't make the recipe exactly as written.  Instead of roasting my pumpkin, I boiled it - the weather was too warm for me to want to put the oven on for the extra time to roast the pumpkin.  Also, since I tidied out my pantry cupboard, I cannot find my nutmeg.  This is why I have changed the name of the cake to just Pumpkin Spice Cake.

I think it turned out nicely - here's a peek inside the halved cake:

The ginger buttercream was a revelation - so tasty that I would make it again for other applications.

And the finished cake - it was devine:

Tempted?  To make this cake (with my modifications), you will need:

300g mashed pumpkin
300g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (if you find it!)
3 eggs
125g brown sugar
175g white sugar
100ml buttermilk (or a tablespoon of lemon juice used to sour 100ml milk) 
150ml olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the icing:

150g softened butter
100g cream cheese
1 x 3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
280g icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C and grease and line an 8" round springform pan.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a large mixing bowl.

Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork.

Put the pumpkin puree, eggs, olive oil and vanilla into a food processor and blitz. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the pumpkin mixture, and quickly fold together. 

Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the tin for 10 minutes before unmoulding it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat the butter for five minutes in a stand mixer until pale and creamy. Chop the cream cheese into cubes then beat it into the butter until smooth. Finely grate the ginger and beat it into the icing.  Add one third of the icing sugar to the mixture and beat in, then repeat with the remaining icing sugar in two lots.  Place the icing in the fridge to set. 

Cut the cooled cake in half, and spread the bottom half with half the icing.  Place the other half of the cake on top,  then spread the remaining icing on the cake however you please to decorate.

Slice the cake and enjoy!

Roasted Honey Mustard Vegetables - Red Tractor December

Wow, we have reached the end of the year, and it's time for the Red Tractor calendar December recipe.  Fittingly for those having a traditional Christmas lunch or dinner, the recipe is Roasted Honey Mustard Vegetables.

There is no quote this month - just lots of summertime Australiana:

These vegetables are mainly root vegetables, roasted until soft and then drizzled with a honey mustard dressing.  I am not much of a parsnip fan, as I find them woody and bland, but the rest of the veges were good.

I won't give you the exact vegetable blend suggested - you can roast what you like.  The honey mustard dressing recipe is as follows:

125g butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly grated ginger to taste

Mix everything together, pour over the roasted vegetables, and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Red Tractor October - Moroccan Couscous Salad

October's Red Tractor calendar recipe is Moroccan Couscous Salad.  It is Moroccan spiced couscous containing lots of vegetables, which is what I think inspired the quote of the month:

This salad was easy to make and quite tasty.  Add a can of tuna and you have a complete meal.

The recipe is as follows (I made half):

2 cups cooked couscous
750g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon Moroccan seasoning (I used harissa)
420g can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup currants (I forgot these)
1/2 cup lightly toasted pepitas
100g coarsely chopped rocket leaves (I used a spinach and rocket mix)
1 cup chopped parsley (I left this out)
1/2 cup chopped mint (I also left this out)

Dressing:

Juice and zest of 2 large lemons
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (I used orange vinegar)
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  Line an oven tray with baking paper.  Toss the sweet potato in the olive oil and Moroccan seasoning, place on the baking tray, and bake for 30-40 minutes until soft and caramelised.

Fluff up the couscous with a fork, then toss through the remaining salad ingredients.

Out the dressing ingredients into a screw top glass jar and shake until combined.  Use the dressing to dress the salad.  Add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower

It is winter here, a season for hearty comfort food, and roasts are high on the agenda.

No good roast is complete without a side of roasted vegetables.  If you don't mind the smell of "stinky" vegetables roasting, and you like brussels sprouts and cauliflower, then you might like this tasty recipe for roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower that appeared in the June 2017 issue of Mindfood.

It really is quite simple - preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Wash, drain and halve 400g brussels sprouts.  Cut a whole cauliflower into florets and wash.  Toss the vegetables with 2 garlic cloves and half a cup of olive oil, season to taste, then roast for 30-40 minutes in the oven. 

Remove from the oven and  allow to cool a little before tossing in a mixture of 1 cup Greek yoghurt, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin and 1 teaspoon ground coriander. 

Garnish with herbs and serve with lemon wedges if desired.

EwE - Penne with Zucchini and Mint - Spring Harvest

This week's Eating with Ellie theme is Spring Harvest, chosen by Peggy.  I can still imagine it's spring here, because the weather has for the most part remained warm, despite us being in the second month of autumn.  To that end, I thought of fresh vegetables for this theme, and settled on Ellie's Penne with Zucchini and Mint.

This pasta was a nice, meat-free meal to have for lunch or dinner.  The zucchini gave it moisture and the mint gave it some zing.  The use of wholemeal pasta provides fibre and lowers GI.

To see what the others made this week, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.