Chicken Pak Choi Salad with Greek Yoghurt Dressing
Sunday, September 27, 2020Chicken breast from the roasted chicken (homemade or storebought) tossed with a Greek yoghurt dressing for a fuss free, midweek meal that's high in protein, big on flavour and low in calorie. Enjoy it in a sandwich, wrap, or over a bed of pak choi greens or lettuce.
Greek Yoghurt Dressing | |
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- Place the diced chicken, grapes, chopped pak choi white stalks, spring onions, red onions and peanuts in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, honey or maple syrup, salt, and pepper until smooth. Pour over the chicken mixture and toss to coat. Taste and season. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to overnight for flavours to meld.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle with fresh dill. Serve as a filling for sandwiches, atop salad greens, as a dip with crackers, or simply enjoy it directly out of the bowl.
Sumac Roasted Delicata Squash Rings with Tahini Parsley Sauce
Friday, September 25, 2020There are loads of ways to turn delicata squash into a delicious treat. In my opinion, roasting makes the squash taste sweeter without adding extra sugar and brings about an amazing depth of flavour. You can also stirfry or steam them. No need to peel the delicata as the skin is thin and edible.
Tahini works in perfect harmony with roasted squash. Adjust the amount of water in the dressing depending on the consistency of the brand you use. The sauce should be thick yet runny, like honey or pouring consistency of mayonnaise.
Tahini Parsley Sauce | |
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- Pulse garlic, parsley, tahini, lemon juice, and water in a blender, adding more water if needed, until smooth. Season with salt. Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, toss squash rings with the olive oil, sumac, salt, and pepper until the squash rings are thoroughly coated. Arrange them evenly on the baking sheet in a single layer.
- Bake for 25 minutes, until tender and slightly caramelized on the edges. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
- Tranfer the squash rings on a serving platter. Drizzle some tahini dressing over and scatter with pomegranate seeds and chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Boule with Cardamom and Chia Seeds
Thursday, September 24, 2020This is a perfect yeast bread for Autumn, so soft, chewy and flavourful with cardamom, yoghurt and chia seeds. With a beautiful golden pumpkin crumb and light texture this yeast bread goes really well with soups and dips, also perfect for sandwiches.
This recipe, inspired by Dan Lepard's Pumpkin Bread Recipe, is easy, versatile, and perfect for your holiday table. The original recipe called for green olives, which I omitted, instead I used some chia seeds in the dough. You can use nuts or sundried tomatoes if you prefer.
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- Cook pumpkin in a steamer over a saucepan of simmering water for 20 mins or until tender. Set aside to cool completely. Measure 150 grams of pumpkin into a bowl and use a fork to coarsely mash. Save the rest for other use.
- Stir in the water then whisk in the yeast until dissolved. Mix in the yoghurt and chia seeds, then add the flour, crushed cardamom, and salt and mix everything to a soft dough, adding more flour if the dough feels very sticky. (When you have cooked or grated vegetables in bread dough, the salt will draw moisture out and the dough will get even softer as it rises, so aim for a dough that's slightly firmer than you would normally make.)
- Knead the dough until smooth on a floured surface then return it to the bowl and leave for about one hour somewhere warm until risen by half.
- Dust a proof basket liberally with flour. Shape the dough into a boule. Place the boule, with the seams up, into the basket. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to rise for 45-60 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 200C (fan-forced)/400F. Turn the proofed boule onto a baking pan lined with baking paper. Score the dough as you like. Bake for about 40 minutes until nicely golden brown.
Butternut Squash and Chickpea Soup with Saffron and Pecorino
Tuesday, September 22, 2020This nourishing soup is made with butternut squash, chickpea, coconut cream, Italian hard cheese, and plenty of fresh ginger and saffron. It’s robust, has a lovely silky texture and super tasty. Serve this as a starter for a dinner party or a filling supper with crusty buttered bread when you need a bit of comfort. This soup keeps well in the fridge and is easy to freeze.
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- In a large heavy saucepan, sauté garlic and ginger in the butter over a low heat until aromatic. Add the saffron, pumpkin and half the broth, then cook over a low heat, with the lid on, until the pumpkin is almost cooked.
- Add the cooked chickpeas, the remaining broth, coconut cream and plenty of cracked black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, with the lid on, and cook for about 15 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to process the soup until smooth. Season with salt, then add nutmeg to taste. Stir in the grated Percorino cheese and ladle into soup cups. Drizzle some pumpkin seed oil over and top with a few chives and pepitas.
Crisp Cajun Salmon
Sunday, September 20, 2020This light, low carb meal is quick and tasty, perfect for midweek dinners. Crispy-skin salmon steak is the star of this dish, soaking up the earthy flavours of cajun seasoning blend. Serve on a bed of leafy greens with a few of blackberries and you have a healthy dinner that is ready in 15 minutes.
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- Combine the beef dripping or olive oil, oregano, paprika, garlic and cayenne powder in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the salmon and gently turn to evenly coat in the spice mixture.
- Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the salmon, skin-side down and cook for 4-5 minutes or until skin is crispy. Turn the salmon and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for another 3 minutes for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and set aside for 5 minutes to rest.
- Meanwhile, combine curly endive, blackberries or grape tomatoes. Divide into two serving plates and top with salmon. Garnish with lemon wedges, shredded chilli pepper and dill fronds.
Butternut Squash stuffed with Pesto Black Rice
Thursday, September 17, 2020Fill butternut squash halves with hazelnut pesto flavoured forbidden black rice and Feta for a quick, healthy and delicious weeknight meal. It's easy to adapt and alter the stuffing (quinoa, buckwheat, spelt, or bulgur) for the squash, depending on what you have on hand and what you fancy. Homemade pesto is fresher and infinitely more delicious, but if you are in a hurry, store-bought one will work just fine.
Parsley Hazelnut Pesto | |
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- Heat the oven to 220C/430F. Put the halved butternut squashes on a baking sheet, cut-side up, and rub the cut sides with the crushed garlic, chilli flakes and a little olive oil. Season with salt flakes and freshly crushed black pepper, then roast for 40-50 minutes or until tender.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz to make a rough paste. Season, if you like, with salt and pepper.
- Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and add the rice. Simmer for 20 minutes until just tender but still with some bite left. Drain well and transfer to a mixing bowl. Stir in the chopped spring onion and pesto. Season to taste.
- Divide the pesto rice among the 2 cavities of the butternut squash halves. Sprinkle over the feta, then return the filled squash to the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese has turned golden and everything is piping hot.
- Serve sprinkled with the toasted hazelnuts, chilli flakes, parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
Spiced Beetroot Jelly with Sprouts and Sour Cream Dressing
Tuesday, September 15, 2020Jellied beetroot with sprouts is a super tasty, refreshing appetizer that would lifts up your mood, whet your appetite and makes you feel good. The fun combination of beetroot and sprouts with a creamy horseradish sour cream dressing that's a cinch to make and perks up any dish.
Beetroot is delicious and is a rich source of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. If you love this humble root vegetable, you can't go wrong with this. Sprouts (I am using alfalfa and radish sprouts) are also a nutrient-dense food. One cup of alfalfa sprouts has a mere 8 calories and is a good source of vitamin K. In a nutshell, this dish is a nutritional powerhouse!
Sour Cream Dressing | |
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- Soak the leaf gelatin in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile peel and finely dice the shallot and beetroot. Place them in a saucepan with vegetable broth. Cook for about 20 minutes until softened. Use an immersion blender to process until smooth. Season the puree with salt, pepper, allspice, nutmeg and blackcurrant jelly.
- Warm up the white wine or beetroot juice in your microwave. Remove the softened gelatin from bowl and squeeze out excess water. Dissolve the gelatin in the wine or beet juice. Now add this to the beetroot puree and mix until well combined.
- Divide the mixture into 6 silicone muffin cups and chill at least 5 hours or overnight until firm.
- Whisk together sour cream and yoghurt together. Add in dill and horseradish cream. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
- Turn out the jelly onto serving plates. Drizzle sour cream dressing over and serve with some sprouts and fresh herbs.