Rice and Quinoa Mix

There is this cute little cafe near my work which serves healthy and yummy meals put together by a nutritionist.  Their healthy curries are always served on a bed of quinoa and rice, with some veggies stirred in.  I've taken a liking to it.  Adding quinoa to your rice adds fibre and protein, both of which I am always keen to increase in my diet.  I'll be making this regularly, and thought it would be convenient to have a post demonstrating how to easily cook them in one pot using the absorption method.  Happy cooking!

Strawberry, Blue Cheese and Balsamic Salad

 

Planning a date night? Promised to cook something special?  I've got you covered.  This is the most romantic salad you can plate up, and having it on a share platter makes it even more special.  The combination of flavours are sweet, peppery, tangy and nutty.  Serve it on  a share platter, with tuna or salmon steaks, eye fillet steaks or chicken breasts on small single plates. It works beautifully with champagne, or even better - a chambord royale (chambord liquer with champagne).  We had it with a cocktail of chambord, vodka, soda water and mint leaves.  Never forget the candles and music.  Your romantic evening awaits.

Salmon Steak with Quinoa Mint and Feta salad

A while ago a good friend of ours made an amazing salad.  My socks were literally blown off by how amazingly good it was - it tasted fresh and fulfilling and I wanted more.  Unfortunately he can't remember what went into it in order to give me the recipe.  So I have come up with my own version. Tada!

I remember quinoa, mint and feta.  The rest I've come up with to try to fill in what I think would work - and we got to use mint and flat leaf parsely from our balcony herb garden which was lovely.  I may post about our herb garden at some point because we have tried a few different methods and have finally found a method which is really working well.

Welcome to my delicious Thursday night feast.  I decided to pair it with a baked ginger and garlic salmon for night one, so have included the salmon in the recipe - it worked a treat.  On night two we had it with steak, and on night three we had it with chicken breast rolled in Greek Yiros seasoning and some blanched broccoli with slivered almonds.  It was gorgeous every time.  This is going to be a regular in our household.

Goats Cheese, Leek and Spinach Tartlets

My best friend had her baby shower recently.  She is an amazing woman who has brought so much happiness to my life.  So of course I wanted to bring something rustic, home made and delicious to share. I was really happy with what I created and they disappeared pretty quickly from the plate.  I think everyone had at least one. Tartlets are an instant win at parties, and this rustic style recipe is perfection.  From what I researched, goats cheese is fine to eat while pregnant as long as it has been cooked.

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry of Dreams

We first made this slow cooker curry on a Sunday when we were home all day (such a rare treat!).  While technically a vegan dish, its original intention was to become a side dish for meat.  Bwahahahaha.  We had so much meat in the fridge, and I wanted to make up a big batch of side vegetables that could easily go beside any other meal we were serving up.  I'd had a lot of salad recently so wanted something that felt like carby comfort food but was really just veggies and beans.  We made a big batch and it lasted five nights for the two of us :)  As a main rather than a side dish, it serves three nights for two.  After bite one on night one, we were in love.  This curry is beautiful served over rice, as a side, or even as a stand alone meal.  It is creamy and healthy.  Even the most carnivorous person will love this vegan delight.

My Favourite Side Salad

This has been my favourite side salad for years.  It has a great mix of flavours that I love, I don't end up picking out anything, and it is enjoyable to eat.  It goes with pretty much anything - steak, chicken, fish, skewers, burgers, small serves of pasta or rice dishes - you name it.  Plus you can always pre chop the veggies at the beginning of the week and throw it together each night with minimal fuss. Salty, peppery sweetness.  Yum.

Coleslaw with Mustard Sour Cream

Coleslaw makes me happy. Shame most of the store bought ones are so bad for you.  I wanted to make a healthy one to go with Chipotle BBQ Pulled Pork.  I remembered using a mustard and sour cream sauce with a pork fillet and coleslaw years ago and when I read about the South Carolina tradition of using mustard sauce with pulled pork, I knew I had to try the combination.  This coleslaw is served drizzled with the sauce, rather than having mountains of sauce/mayo stirred through it, as I have seen most coleslaws do.  This lets you control just how much sauciness you want, and I think makes it a little different.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Garlic Mash

Garlic Mash as a bed for beef casserole

Mashed potato was a staple on my plate growing up.  Unless it is lumpy or cold, it's one of those things that it is hard to get wrong.  Creamy, warm, filling...drool......

To be honest I don't make it that often nowadays, and my dinner plate bears no resemblance to the well done steak/chicken/hamsteak, peas, carrot, mash and tomato sauce staple of my youth. When I do make it, though, I want it to be nostalgic but special.

Mash can be so easily dressed up by just tweaking it a little.  In my opinion, there is no such things as too much garlic.  So when I make mashed potato, I usually add flavour by cooking the potato in stock rather than just water and mashing a clove of minced garlic per person through the mix.  If you want to be super special then using cream instead of milk will make you think you are in heaven.

Below is a recipe for the garlic mash which we used in our Perfect Beef Casserole.