Seared Salmon with Orange, Fennel & Beetroot Salad

Recipe adapted from Coles Magazine, April 2013 issue, page 44

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 oranges
½ red onion, finely sliced
1 fennel bulb, halved and very finely sliced
50g baby rocket
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 x 180g fresh salmon fillets
250g baby beetreet, cooked, quartered

Method

1. Using a small sharp knife, cut skin and white pith from oranges. Holding an orange in your hand over a bowl to catch the juice, cut between the membrane to release segments. Place orange segments on a plate and squeeze membrane to extract more juice. Repeat with the other orange.
2. Combine orange segments, onion, fennel and rocket in a bowl. Use a fork to whisk extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and mustard into orange juice, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Cook salmon over medium-high heat for 3 minutes each side, or until cooked to your liking.
4. Toss the salad with dressing and arrange on four plates. Add the beetroot and salmon and then serve immediately.

Smoked Salmon and Ricotta Fettuccine

Recipe modified from Latina Fresh

Serves 4

Ingredients

375g fresh egg fettuccine 
finely grated zest and juice of a large lemon
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup baby capers
200g smoked salmon, cut into strips
½ small bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly torn
125g fresh ricotta
cracked black pepper

Method

1. Place a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta. 
2. In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice and oil until it becomes creamy. 
3. Add the grated lemon zest, capers, salmon strips and parsley. 
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to pack directions. Drain and toss with the salmon mixture.
5. Spoon on the ricotta and gently stir through the pasta, season with freshly ground pepper.
6. Divide between bowls and serve immediately

Tip: Try dill instead of parsley for a flavour variation

Ma Po Tofu with Snake Beans

This is another one of my mum's recipes. She's put her own spin on the home style dish "ma po tofu" by adding snake beans and a few other ingredients. I love how easy it is to prepare this dish and how delicious it tastes.

Ingredients

500g pork mince
1 teaspoon cornflour
4 tablespoons Amoy Ma Po Tofu Sauce
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon oil
100g snake beans, cut into 2cm pieces
300g silken tofu, diced

Method

1. Season the pork with the cornflour and a bit of pepper
2. Mix all the sauces together- ma po tofu, tomato and sweet chilli sauce in a bowl then set aside
3. Add oil to wok over high heat, add the pork, stir fry until browned, then add the beans
4. When the pork and beans are almost cooked, add the sauces and mix well, then add the diced tofu. Adjust seasoning. Serve hot with rice.

Beef and Bean Stir Fry

Recipe adapted from Thai Creative Cooking page 56-57

Ingredients

2 teaspoons baking soda
500g topside or round steak, cut into thin strips
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
185g snake or green beans, cut into 10cm lengths
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
2 tablespoons coriander

Method

1. Marinate the beef with the baking soda for 20 minutes and then rinse the beef thoroughly (make sure that the beef is properly rinsed clean of the baking soda). Pat the beef dry with paper towels and then marinate with the sesame oil, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well, cover and let marinate several hours or overnight, refrigerate.
2. Heat oil and garlic together in a wok over a medium heat, increase heat to high, add beef and stir fry for 3 minutes, or until beef turns colour.
3. Add beans, lime leaves, sugar, soy, fish sauce and stir fry for 2 minutes or until beans turn colour. Stir in coriander and serve immediately.

Blueberry & Pear Slice

Recipe by Justine Schofield from Everyday Gourmet

Ingredients

200g caster sugar
2 eggs
Zest ½ a lemon
1 vanilla pod, seeds removed
150ml milk
110g butter
150g almond meal
5 tbs flour, sifted
1½ tsp baking powder
2 pears, roughly chopped
100g fresh blueberry

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Grease and line a rectangular slice tin with baking paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla together until sugar has dissolved.
4. Melt butter and add to milk. Mix into the egg mixture until well combined.
5. Now add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and fold together with a wooden spoon until an even batter has formed.
6. Add the blueberries and pears and combine.
7. Cook for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals Thai Chicken Laksa

Today is day 6 of my Jamie Oliver challenge.

This meal took me about 25 minutes to cook. I think because I took longer, I ended up boiling off some of the liquid and once the noodles went into the pot, it absorbed all the liquid hence my laksa didn't end up "soupy". But, it still tasted fantastic! Bursting with lots of flavours. Whoever thought a tasty laksa could be created in less than half an hour?! The only change I would make next time, would be to increase the amount of chicken since there didn't seem like there was enough to go with the amount of noodles.

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, page 44

Serves 4
656 calories

Ingredients

Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 heaped teaspoon Chinese five-spice
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 fresh red chilli

Laksa
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
½ butternut pumpkin,
2 cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
1 fresh red chilli
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ a bunch of spring onions
1 heaped teaspoon peanut butter
4 dried kaffir lime leaves
½ a bunch of fresh coriander
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon low salt soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
300g medium rice noodles
2 bunches of asparagus (600g)
1 x 400g tin of light coconut milk
2-3 limes

*Ingredients out *Kettle boiled *Griddle pan, high heat *Large lidded pan, high heat *Food processor (coarse grater & bowl blade)

Method

On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt, pepper and the five spice. Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin. Place on the hot griddle pan, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until nicely charred and cooked through. Pour about 800ml of boiling water into the large pan and crumble in the stock cube.

Grate in the food processor, then tip into the boiling stock. Swap to the bowl blade in the processor and add the peeled garlic and ginger, the chilli, turmeric, trimmed spring onions, peanut butter, dried lime leaves, coriander stalks (reserving the leaves), sesame oil, soy and fish sauces. Blitz to a paste, then tip into the stock and add the noodles.

Trim the asparagus and cut in half. Add to the pan, pour in the coconut milk and as soon as it boils, taste, correct the seasoning with soy sauce and lime juice, then turn the heat off. Drizzle the honey over the charred chicken, squeeze over the juice of 1 lime, scatter with the sesame seeds and toss to coat. Serve with the laksa and lime wedges, sprinkling everything with the coriander leaves and slices of fresh chilli.

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals Lamb Kofte with Pitta & Greek Salad

Today is day 5 of the Jamie Oliver challenge.

It actually took me about 20 minutes to cook this meal! I made a few adjustments to the recipe like squeezing only half a lemon into the yoghurt, omitting the raw onion from the salad since I don't like the taste of raw onions, not grating the cucumber but slicing it thinly instead and using wraps instead of pita bread since there was none available in the supermarket. I think next time I'll also use chicken stock with the couscous- tasted a bit bland with just water.

Loved how this meal has very nice flavours and that it was such a great combo. Loved most of all the honey and nuts with the lamb- it made the kofte so moreish. Will definitely be making this meal again.

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, page 108

Serves 4
587 calories

Ingredients

Kofte
400g lean lamb mince
1 teaspoon garam masala
olive oil
25g shelled pistachios
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon runny honey

Couscous
½ bunch of fresh mint
1 fresh red chilli (optional)
½ a mug of couscous

Salad
½ an iceberg lettuce
½ a red onion
½ a cucumber
5 ripe cherry tomatoes
4 black olives
4 heaped tablespoons fat-free natural yoghurt
2 lemons
40g feta cheese

To serve
4 pita wraps

*Ingredients out *Kettle boiled *Large frying pan, high heat *Food processor (bowl blade)

Method

In a large bowl, mix the mince with salt, pepper and the garam masala. Divide into 8, then with wet hands shape into little fat fingers. Put into the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, turning until dark golden all over. Tear off most of the top leafy half of the mint and blitz in the processor with a pinch of salt and pepper and the chilli until fine. Remove the blade, stir in ½ a mug of couscous and 1 mug of boiling water, put the lid on and leave to sit in the processor.

Cut the lettuce into wedges and arrange on a nice board or platter. Peel and coarsely grate the onion and cucumber into a bowl, season well with salt, then squeeze out any excess salty liquid and sprinkle over the lettuce. Chop and add the tomatoes, then squash, destone and dot over the olives. Mix the yoghurt in a bowl with the juice of 1 lemon, season to taste, then drizzle it over the lettuce and crumble over the feta.

Bash the pistachios in a pestle and mortar. Drain away the fat from the lamb, then toss with the bashed nuts, thyme leaves and honey, and turn the heat off. Pop the pittas in the microwave (800W) for 45 seconds to warm through, then cut in half and add to the board with the kofte. Fluff up the couscous, scatter the remaining mint leaves over everything and serve with lemon wedges.

Avocado and Vegetable Rice Paper Rolls

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas, November 2009 issues, page 71

Ingredients

8 rice paper wrappers
½ cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1 small carrot, peeled grated
1 medium Lebanese cucumber, cut into strips
1 medium avocado, peeled, cut into strips
Sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Method

1. Pour hot water into a heatproof bowl until half full. Dip 1 rice paper wrapper in water. Place on a flat surface. Stand for 20 to 30 seconds or until soft enough to roll without splitting.
2. Place one-eighth of lettuce along 1 edge of 1 wrapper. Top with one-eighth each of carrot, cucumber and avocado. Fold in ends. Roll up firmly to enclose filling. Cover with a damp tea towel to prevent roll drying out. Repeat with remaining wrappers, lettuce, carrot, cucumber and avocado. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Notes & Tips

Replace water if it gets too cold to soften wrappers.

For variation you can add the following:

Smoked salmon, Teriyaki chicken, vermicelli rice noodles, mint, perilla leaves, beansprouts

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals Crispy Duck Hoi Sin Lettuce Parcels

Today is day 4 of the Jamie Oliver challenge.

So I thought I had cashew nuts in the pantry, but then as I was getting all my ingredients out, I realised I had none. It turns out that what I thought were cashew nuts were in fact peanuts. I made the mistake of only glancing at my pantry rather than thoroughly looking at the packaging when I was putting my shopping list together. Oh well! I guess there'll be no cashews in my dish then. The recipe also called for silken tofu but I mistakenly bought firm tofu which still worked out okay. I actually felt it was better since they held their shape better once I sliced them up. I also made a few modifications to this recipe to suit our tastebuds- like omitting the radishes and cress and tossing the hoi sin sauce with the duck in the pan rather than drizzling it over the top. I found this dish easy enough to prepare. It was a bit messy to eat, but it was very yummy and tasty, and is a modern twist on san choy bow.

Recipe adapted from Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, page 54

Serves 4
738 calories

Parcels
4 nests of fine egg noodles
1 large iceberg lettuce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons hoi sin sauce
3 limes
1 clove of garlic
300g silken/firm tofu
5 sprigs of fresh coriander
sweet chilli sauce

Duck
2 x 200g duck breasts, skin on
1 heaped teaspoon Chinese five-spice
olive oil
1 fresh red chilli (optional)
2 spring onions
1 handful of cashew nuts
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon runny honey

*Ingredients out * Kettle boiled * Small lidded pan, medium heat *Large frying pan, medium heat

Method

Put the noodles into the small pan and cover with boiling water and the lid. Cut the duck into 1cm dice, toss with salt, pepper and the five-spice, then put into the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and toss regularly. Cut the lettuces in half through the stalk, remove the stalk, then separate the leaves into cups and arrange on a large clean tray or platter.

Drain the noodles and toss with the sesame oil, then divide them between the lettuce cups. Finely slice the chilli and trimmed spring onions. When the duck is nice and golden, pour away any excess fat, then stir in the chilli, spring onions, cashews and sesame seeds, and toss regularly.

Put the hoi sin sauce into a bowl, squeeze in the juice from 3 limes, squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher and mix together. Drizzle the duck with the honey, shake the pan to coat, then tip it evenly over the lettuce cups. Cut the tofu into rough 2cm chunks and sprinkle it in and around the lettuce cups. Scatter over the baby radishes and coriander leaves, then snip over the cress. Drizzle the hoi sin dressing over everything from a height and drizzle each piece of tofu with a little sweet chilli sauce. Serve with lime wedges.

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals Spicy Cajun Chicken with Smashed Sweet Potato & Fresh Corn Salsa

Today is day 3 of my week with Jamie. So far, so good. Whilst I still haven't been able to cook his meals in the advertised 15 minutes, I am still quite impressed at how much I can get done in such little time and how delicious everything tastes. But most of all, what I've really enjoyed is all the healthy and fresh food that hubby and I have been eating.

Unfortunately though, I'm not used to the huge amount of washing up that I need to do after I finish cooking Jamie's recipes! I normally use only 1 pot, 1 frypan and 1 chopping board, whilst Jamie's recipes tend to use at least 3 types of cookware, plus a food processor. I can hardly fit everything on my kitchen bench and stove top, let alone inside the dishwasher. I have a spatially challenged kitchen to work with!

Anyways, I don't think I'm going to bother timing myself any more when it comes to cooking Jamie's meals now. I reckon if Jamie can do it in 15 minutes, it means it'll probably take me about 30 minutes or more to achieve it. I can't multi-task and do the crazy things he does in the kitchen, heck I can't even slice vegetables as fast as he does! Whilst I do enjoy cooking quick meals, I do like to do it in a steady manner rather than rushing around, like I'm at work or something. Home is still a place I like to unwind and take things at my own pace and not be time pressed, if that makes sense?

But enough of my ranting and back to the spicy cajun chicken. This meal took me about 30 minutes from start to finish- it also didn't help that I misread a step- forgot to turn the pot containing the sweet potato on high heat and subsequently my sweet potatoes weren't cooking whilst I was preparing the chicken and salsa. However, since the potatoes were cut so thinly, they cooked really quickly so it didn't matter too much.

I also bought chicken minute steaks in order to omit the step about bashing and flattening the chicken breasts (I live in a unit so I'm mindful of noise and disturbing my neighbours).

This cajun chicken dish tastes absolutely fantastic! I love it and will definitely make it again.

Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals, page, 28

Serves 4
651 calories

Ingredients

Salsa
4 corn on the cob
1 small bunch of fresh coriander
1 fresh red chilli
4 spring onions
3 ripe tomatoes
2 limes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Smash
800g sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

Chicken
4 x 120g skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon polenta
olive oil
2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
175g okra
20g feta cheese

* Ingredients out * Kettle boiled *Griddle pan, high heat *Food processor (fine slicer) *Large lidded pan, high heat *Large frying pan, medium-high heat

Method

Put the corn on the griddle pan, turning when charred. Wash the sweet potatoes, remove any gnarly bits of skin with a speed-peeler, then finely slice in the processor. Put the sweet potatoes into the large pan, then just cover with boiling salted water and the lid. On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt, the Cajun seasoning and polenta. Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin.

Put the chicken into the frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Drain the cooked sweet potatoes well, return to the pan and mash with the sweet chilli sauce, pop the lid on and leave on a very low heat. Slice the bacon and add to the frying pan. As soon as he bacon stars to crisp up, add the okra the pan.

Carefully hold the charred corn steady and run a knife down the sides to cut off the kernals, then put them into a bowl. Roughly chop the top leafy half of the coriander and add to the corn. Finely slice the chilli and trimmed spring onions, chop the tomatoes and add to the bowl with a pinch of salt, the lime juice and extra virgin olive oil, then mix well. Serve the sweet potato smash on a board or platter with the chicken and okra, crumble over the feta, and serve with the fresh salsa on the side.