Penne Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked penne pasta
1 onion, chopped
2 cups pasta sauce
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 cup grated cheese







Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Place cooked pasta in an ovenproof dish and stir pasta sauce, onion and garlic through it until pasta is covered in the mixture.
3. Top with grated cheese and sprinkle chili flakes over the top.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.
5. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then serve hot with a salad.

Roasted Balsamic Mushrooms

Perfect as a side dish, light meal, or even on toast for breakfast.


Ingredients:
400g button mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons chopped oregano
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh ricotta cheese



Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C
2. Combine mushrooms, garlic, vinegar, oregano and olive oil into a bowl  and combine gently until mushrooms are coated with mixture.
3. Spoon into a roasting tray, in a single layer and roast for around 15 minutes, turning once, until mushrooms are just tender.
3. Crumble cheese over mushrooms and drizzle with a little extra oil if desired.  Season with salt and pepper and serve hot with some extra fresh oregano.

Apricot Museli Balls

These bite sized snacks are seriously yummy and will store for around a week if you place them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Ingredients:

2 cups toasted museli
1 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup honey
60g melted butter
3/4 cup shredded coconut



Method:

1. Place all ingredients except coconut into a food processor or blender and process until well combined.
2. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and then cover in shredded coconut.
3. Place balls on a tray lined with baking paper and allow to set in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.

Basil Pesto

Basil pesto is a full flavoured sauce used for pasta.  Simply stir it through heated pasta and garnish pasta with extra toasted pine nuts and shavings of Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

2 cups basil leaves, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (plus extra)

Method:

1. Put all ingredients except olive oil into a food processor and pulse, gradually adding the oil until a smooth paste forms.
2. If you plan on keeping the paste, put it into a jar and pour extra oil over the top.  This will prevent the basil from oxidising and turning black.

Bubble and Squeak

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion
2 cups mashed potato
2 cups shredded cabbage

Method:

1. Mix ingredients and mash into 'pancakes'.
2. Fry until golden and serve.

Herbed Potatoes

Ingredients:

12 small new potatoes
80g butter
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme

Method:

1. Wash potatoes well then cook in boiling water until just tender.
2. Heat butter in a pan and stir in herbs.  Pour herb butter over potatoes and toss gently to evenly coat.
3. Serve hot as a side dish.

Onion Rings

Ingredients:

1 cup cornflour
1/2 cup plain flour
2 large onions cut into 2cm thick slices
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying





Method:

1. Combine flours in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
2. Add onions, toss to coat and shake off excess mixture.
3. Heat oil and fry until golden.
4. Serve hot as a side dish, or with lemon.

Lemon Couscous

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ingredients:

2 cups couscous
2 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley, coarsely chopped

Method:

1. In a heatproof bowl, pour water over couscous, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes or until the water is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork.
2. Stir in rind, juice and parsley.
3. Serve as a side dish.

Vegan Paella

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ingredients:
750ml vegetable stock
500ml water
350g aborio rice
1 eggplant, sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 cup frozen peas,
100g green beans, ends removed and halved
1/2 cup seeded black olives
pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
2 teaspoons paprika

Method:

1. Heat water and stock in a medium saucepan, bring to boil then remove from heat and stir in saffron.
2. Fry eggplant slices in a saucepan until flesh is browned.  Set aside.
3. Cook onion, garlic, tomato, capsicum and paprika together until onion softens.  Add rice and stir to coat.  Add stock, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
4. Sprinkle in peas, beans, eggplant over surface of rice and simmer, covered, for a further 10 minutes until the beans are tender.  Sprinkle with olives and parsley and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Vegetable salad with peanut sauce

Ingredients:
4 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
200g cauliflower, cut into florets
100g snow peas, ends removed and halved
1 lebanese cucumber, cut into matchsticks
100g chopped iceberg lettuce
120g bean sprouts
1/2 cup fresh, chopped coriander






Peanut Sauce Ingredients:
70g toasted unsalted peanuts
2 cloves garlic
4 spring onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chilli sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
180ml water
140ml light coconut milk

Method:

1. Boil or steam the carrot, cauliflower and snow peas until just tender.
2. Use a mortar and pestle to grind peanuts until finely crushed.  Place in a bowl and then use the mortar and pestle to crush garlic and spring onions into a paste.  Cook garlic and onion paste for 2 minutes in a frying pan with a little bit of oil, stirring.  Add remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for around 5 minutes.  Add the nuts and continue simmering uncovered for another 5 minutes.
3. Place carrot, cauliflower, and snow peas into a bowl with cucumber, lettuce, sprouts and coriander.  Toss gently to combine then drizzle with peanut sauce and serve.

Brown rice salad

Ingredients:
750ml vegetable stock
300g (1.5 cups) brown rice
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
45g toasted almonds
100g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
60g black olives, seeded and chopped
Handful fresh basil and parsley, chopped

Dressing Ingredients:
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 teaspoons dijon mustard





Method:

1.Fry onion and garlic in a large pot, until soft.  Add rice and lime rind and stir so the rice is coated in the mixture.
2. Add stock, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for around 45 minutes or until the rice is tender and there is no remaining liquid.
3. Place ingredients for dressing in a screw top jar and shake well to combine.
4. Add almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, herbs and dressing to rice and combine gently.
5. Serve warm as a salad.

Butternut Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin soup is a firm favourite winter warmer, worldwide.  To add extra flavour and body to the soup, you can roast the pumpkin with onion and garlic seasoned with nutmeg instead of boiling it.

Ingredients:

2 cups vegetable stock

750g butternut pumpkin chopped

2 onions chopped

2 cloves garlic, halved

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups water

Method:

1. Add stock and water into a large pot and bring to boil.
2. Add pumpkin, onion, garlic and return to boil then reduce heat until pumpkin is soft.
3. Drain vegetables through a colander and save liquid.  Put vegetables into a food processor and blend until smooth.
4. Mix puree with the liquid until it reaches desired consistency.
5. Season with nutmeg, pepper and salt and garlic with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and rocket if desired.

How to make a Greek Salad

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Ingredients:

1 cos lettuce torn into large pieces

2 lebanese cucumbers, roughly chopped

12 kalamatta olives

4 roma tomatoes, quartered

½ red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

200g low fat fetta cheese

Method:

1. Put lettuce, cucumber, olives, tomato and onion into a mixing bowl.  Add oil and lemon juice and toss gently.
2. Season to taste.
3. Crumble fetta over top and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

4 large flat mushrooms

2 small onions diced

1 tablespoon butter

1 clove garlic crushed

2 tablespoons couscous

½ teaspoon finely chopped parsley

Squeeze of lemon juice

¼ cup breadcrumbs

Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Sauté onions and garlic in butter.  Season with salt and pepper and once cooked squeeze a small amount of lemon juice over the top.
2. Scoop out insides of mushrooms and fill with onions and couscous.
3. Sprinkle breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan cheese over the top and bake for 10 minutes at 180°C.

Vegan Jambalaya

  Fragrant and tasty, this vegan jambalaya makes a wonderful main meal or side dish.  The basic recipe is listed below, but more vegetables can be added for additional flavour and colour.  I like to use sliced button mushrooms and even olives in this.  Enjoy!








Ingredients:
    1 medium onion chopped
    1 green capsicum chopped
    1 red capsicum chopped
    2 cups long grain white rice
    1 litre vegetable stock
    425g can diced tomatoes
    1 Tablespoon olive oil
    1 clove garlic


Method:

1. Saute onion, garlic and capsicum in olive oil until soft.
2. Add tomatoes, stock and rice and bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat.
3. Cook for 30 minutes or until rice is done

Slow Cooked Tomato Pasta Sauce

My favourite pasta sauce ever! The richness in the flavour of tomatoes is enhanced by slow cooking them.  You can use crushed tomatoes and tomato puree, which I've listed in the ingredients, or if you want to use fresh tomatoes finely chop 750g of them to replace the canned tomatoes.  For an extra flavour boost, use vine ripened tomatoes.






Ingredients:
1 can crushed tomatoes
2 cans tomato puree
2 cloves garlic
1 onion finely diced
1 tablespoon chopped basil
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
Extra basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper


Method:
1. Fry onion and garlic. 
2. Add onion and garlic, tomatoes, oregano, basil, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook in a slow cooker for 8 hours, occasionally stirring to break up tomatoes.
3. If you prefer a smoother sauce, blend with a stick blender, sprinkle some basil leaves on the top and cook for a further 2 hours on low.
4. Serve with pasta.

Coconut Chutney (Chatini Coco)

Chutney's are a huge part of Mauritian food.  They are often served as an accompaniment to main meals like curry, or eaten on their own with Mauritian flat breads.  This chutney is fresh enough to perfectly complement a spicy meal - and ridiculously simple to make!  You can use dessicated coconut to make it, but fresh coconut will make it taste amazing and give it a moist, mildly sweet flavour that dried coconut lacks.






Ingredients:

½ coconut grated

1 tablespoon tamarin

garlic

mint leaves

½ onion

salt

chillies

Method:

Process in a food processor until smooth.

Roast potato, green bean and olive salad

Ingredients:
1kg baby potatoes, halved
275g green beans, ends cut off and sliced in half diagonally
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh basil leaves





Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Place potatoes on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes, or until tender and golden.
3. Place beans in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and stand for 5 minutes, then drain and run under cold water.  Drain again and pat dry with paper towel.
4. Combine warm potatoes, beans, olives and the torn leaves of basil (to taste) in a large bowl.  Drizzle with vinegar and oil and season with salt and pepper.
5. Toss well then serve

Green Beans with Warm Mustard Vinaigrette

I adore green beans, so I'm always looking for an excuse to use them as a side dish for meals or on their own as a light meal.  This recipe allows for both those options and is seriously yummy.  Enjoy!


Ingredients:

800g green beans trimmed
3 lemons juiced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
75g toasted slivered almonds

Method:

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.  Add beans and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until just tender.  Drain then run beans under cold water.  Pat dry with paper towel.
2. Whisk 1/2 cup lemon juice, oil, garlic and mustard together.  Add sugar and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place beans on a serving platter and drizzle vinaigrette over.  Toss gently to combine then top with slivered almonds.

5 Yummy Indian Side Dishes

Indian food is diverse and varies from culture or area to area, but one theme which runs true through all Indian cuisine is the aromatic spices combined to produce highly flavoured, mouthwatering dishes.

Here are five side dishes, which also work well as light meals, snacks or appetizers.

Rishi Potatoes

Rishi Potatoes are quick and easy and use potatoes and capsicum (peppers) as the base.  The vegetables are then seasoned with tumeric, cumin, and chilli is added to give the dish a real spicy kick.  The recipe can be found here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1599483-rishi-potatoes

Crispy Samosas

Samosas are a firm favourite in Indian and Mauritian based cultures.  The plump potatoes and peas are seasoned with spices then wrapped in pastry and cooked so the outside of the pastry is crispy while the vegetable filling is tender.  They are one of my favourite foods.  The recipe can be found here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1006794-crispy-samosas

Eggplant in Mustard Seed Batter

The mustard seed used in this dish complements the eggplant perfectly, while the batter provides a wonderful way to serve the vegetable.  The recipe can be found here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1599672-eggplant-in-mustard-seed-batter

Basic Indian Potatoes

Easy and delicious, the lemon juice in this recipe takes some of the bite out of the potatoes while still providing a wonderful aroma and taste through the vegetables.  The recipe can be found here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1599736-basic-indian-style-potatoes

Spiced Cauliflower with Peas

While this dish can be served as a side, it's also filling enough to serve as a main meal.  The combination of tender, spiced cauliflower and plump peas is perfect.  The recipe can be found here:

http://www.bubblews.com/news/1599711-spiced-cauliflower-and-peas

Cucumber, Bean and Snow pea Sprout Salad with Orange

Super easy and healthy, this salad is a great way to add some extra protein, calcium, vitamin B1, vitamin C and niacin into your diet.

Ingredients:

Snow pea sprouts
Green beans
Cucumber
Orange
Red Onion



Method:

Wash then layer the snow pea sprouts into a bowl, sliced cucumber and sliced onion on top, scatter green beans over this then top with an orange slice and garnish with the snow pea sprout leaves.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

Cherry Tomatoes.  Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The best way to get the maximum amount of flavour out of your tomatoes is to roast them.  This pasta sauce recipe is delicious and relatively easy to make.

Ingredients:

4 cups cherry tomatoes with stems removed
6 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to season
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

Method:

1. Halve the cherry tomatoes and place them in a baking dish.  Add whole garlic cloves, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and scatter parsley over the top.  Season with salt and pepper and bake at 190 C for around thirty minutes or until the skins come away from the tomato flesh.

2. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.  Remove skins from tomatoes and garlic and discard.

3. Add tomatoes, garlic, basil and the juices from the baking dish to a food processor or blender and pulse until a thick sauce is formed.  Serve with pasta of your choice.

How to Cook Quinoa

Uncooked Quinoa.  Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

With its high protein content, and light, fluffy texture quinoa is currently enjoying its well earned status as a superfood.  Quinoa can be used as a substitute to rice, pasta or to add some substance to vegetable dishes.

Cooking quinoa is as simple as cooking rice.  Literally.  I actually cook my quinoa in a rice cooker.  For those who don't have a rice cooker you basically use twice as much liquid (water) as you do dry quinoa which will yield roughly three times the amount of quinoa you started with once it's cooked.  

For example, if you use one cup of dry quinoa, you use two cups of water to cook it, and you'll end up with three cups of cooked quinoa.

It's that simple.

One cup will cook in about 20 minutes, simply boil the water then let it simmer the same way you would rice.