This recipe is a bit of an adaptation of something I saw Jamie Oliver create years ago on one of his many cooking shows, and I have been making it religiously ever since. It is so simple, yet never fails to impress. Try it out on your friends at your next get together - I guarantee they will think you are incredibly stylish and gourmet!
Baby spinach leaves (enough to cover whichever platter you are using)
12 chat potatoes, washed
1 medium avocado, peeled and sliced
1 long red chilli, finely diced
1 - 2 lemons, juice only
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
Place the potatoes in a pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Cook until just tender, then rinse and drain. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Arrange the spinach leaves on a serving platter and top with the sliced avocado.
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut any larger ones in half and arrange on the platter with the avocado and spinach. Sprinkle over the diced chilli and dress generously with lemon and olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately! Or if you are not planning on serving straight away, reserve the dressing until you are ready, otherwise you will end up with a soggy salad.
Serves 4 - 6
I'm a big fan of tofu, but rarely find an opportunity to use for anything other than soups and stir-frys. So I was rather pleased when I came across this recipe whilst hunting for something new to accompany my chicken san choy bow. The light, subtle dressing really worked well, and the colours looked amazing on the table!
You can find this recipe and other equally delicious ones in: Tossed: 200 fast, fresh and fabulous salads
250g firm tofu
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
100g snowpeas, julienned
2 small carrots, julienned
1/2 small red cabbage, shredded finely
2 tbsp unsalted peanuts, chopped
Place the sweet chilli sauce, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil in a small jar and shake well to form a marinade. Cut the tofu into 2cm pieces, place in a bowl and pour the marinade over, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
Meanwhile prepare the vegetables and place in a large serving bowl. Add the tofu and any excess marinade then toss lightly to combine. Top with chopped peanuts.
Serves 4 - 6
I've never made a rice salad before, but when I came across this one in the December issue of Super Food Ideas it just looked too good to miss out on. I have to say that the spiced yoghurt was the star of the show for me, although I did change the recipe slightly. (The magazine called for mango chutney in the yoghurt, feel free to add if you like it!)
You could serve this on its own if you like; it was certainly filling enough to be considered a main meal, or do what I did and serve it with some chermoula spiced chicken skewers and keep the leftover rice salad for a delicious lunch at work the next day!
Rice Salad:
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp ground cumin
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 red capsicum, diced
1/4 cup sultanas
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup fresh coriander, chopped
Cracked pepper & sea salt to taste
Yoghurt Dressing:
3/4 cup plain natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 lemon, juice only
Cracked pepper & sea salt to taste
Cook the rice according to packet directions, adding the tumeric and cumin to the water to give flavour and colour as it cooks. Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool.
Make the spiced yoghurt dressing simply by combining the ingredients in a bowl and stirring together well.
Next add the celery, capsicum, sultanas, almonds and coriander to the rice, season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Serve with a generous dollop of yoghurt dressing on the side.
Serves 4 - 6
I suppose I've said this before, but allow me to reiterate. Asian cuisine is not my forte! I am however, decidedly determined to change this. I tested out this noodle salad recipe on two of my favourite guinea pigs and both gave it a big thumbs up. I'm not a fan of cucumber and even I thought it was pretty amazing! The lemongrass dressing was delicious and zingy, and the best part of all was how super easy it was to make.
Salad:
150g rice vermicelli noodles
1 small handful mint leaves, roughly torn
1 small handful coriander leaves, roughly torn
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 small unripe (green) mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 lebanese cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
Dressing:
2 limes, juice and grated zest
2 tbsp grated palm sugar
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 stem lemongrass (white part only), finely chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to soak until tender. Drain, rinse under cold water and transfer to a serving bowl.
Next add in the cucumber, mint, coriander, onion, mango and half the peanuts and toss well to combine.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad, tossing to combine. Top with the remaining peanuts and some extra coriander and mint.
Serves 4.
This might actually be a Jamie Oliver recipe, but seeing as it was my friend Ewan who cooked it for me first, i will give him the credit! And what a wonderful dish it is. The best part being that you throw it all in one baking tray and serve it in the same, allowing everyone to help themselves at the table.
6 free range chicken marylands
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
700g chat potatoes, skin on
8 sprigs rosemary
8 sprigs thyme
Olive oil
Sea salt & ground pepper
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
In a mortar and pestle, crush half the rosemary and thyme along with some sea salt and pepper, then add a few tablespoons of olive oil to form a marinade. Rub all over the chicken, and leave it to soak up the flavours for a few minutes.
While this is happening, put your potatoes in a large saucepan of cold water, season with sea salt then bring to the boil and cook until tender. Prick the skins of the tomatoes, and drop them into the boiling water with the potatoes for about 30 seconds until the skins begin to peel back, then remove and plunge into cold water to stop them cooking. Drain the potatoes.
Heat a large frypan with a little olive oil, then fry the chicken, skin side down until it begins to colour up. Turn and seal on the other side, then transfer to a large roasting tray.
Remove the skins from the tomatoes, then scatter around the chicken in the baking tray. Add the cooked potatoes, crushing each one slightly with a fork. Season generously with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with the remaining fresh rosemary leaves, and sprigs of thyme.
Roast for approximately 1 hour, until the chicken is tender and golden and the potatoes have crisped. Then simply place on the table and let everyone dig in!
Serves 6.
As you may or may not know I was once a long term vegetarian, and even though my days of meat deprivation are since long gone, there are a few staple recipes that I still love more than any meat dish - this being one of them! Something about cheesy baked pasta dishes seems to delight even the most dedicated carnivore. Be certain to make an ample amount - I have never had anyone turn down a second helping!
300g conchiglioni (large pasta shells)
500g fresh ricotta
1 bunch silverbeet or spinach, rinsed & stalks removed
1 cup (packed) grated parmesan cheese
4 cloves garlic, crushed
700g tomato puree
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
Olive oil
Sea salt & ground pepper
This is a relatively simple recipe, though you will need to dirty up a few pots and get everything going at once when you start... Firstly, preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
Next, bring a large pot of water to the boil, and cook the pasta shells until tender. Whilst your shells are bubbling away, place your rinsed spinach in a steamer or boiling water and cook until just softened and bright green.
In a mixing bowl, combine the fresh ricotta with 1/2 the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Then, drain your cooked spinach, squeeze in a clean tea towel to remove any excess water (be careful not to burn yourself in the process!), chop finely and then add to the ricotta mix, stirring well to combine.
Grab a saucepan and heat some olive oil and fry off the garlic until fragrant. Pour in the tomato puree, and sprinkle in the dried herbs, along with salt and pepper to taste. Allow this to simmer for 5 minutes, then pour into a large baking dish.
Once your pasta shells are drained and cool enough to handle, simply fill each with a spoonful of the spinach and ricotta mix, and place in the baking dish with the tomato sauce. Repeat until you run out of ricotta, then sprinkle the whole lot with the remaining parmesan.
Bake the shells until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown and crisp. Serve with a simple garden salad and of course, a loaf of garlic bread.
Serves 6.
This recipe is a bit of an adaptation of something I saw Jamie Oliver create years ago on one of his many cooking shows, and I have been making it religiously ever since. It is so simple, yet never fails to impress. Try it out on your friends at your next get together - I guarantee they will think you are incredibly stylish and gourmet!
