Bananas Foster Pancakes

Anyone that knows me knows I don’t really love bananas. It takes a certain type of banana to catch my eye, and when it does, it’s a rare event. I usually only like bananas right when they've turned yellow, and this often leads to waste. On one incredibly hungry evening I was searching my cupboards high and low for something sweet to eat! The only thing I had was a very ripe banana! YUCK! There’s nothing I dislike more than an old brown piece of fruit. It’s decaying  and dead in my eyes! Anyways, this was the recipe I came up with on that night. I previously have blogged about it, but I wanted to revamp the photo and revisit the ingredient list and make sure it was on point. In light of Shrove Tuesday around the corner it seems to be a perfect dish for me then and now. I use orange liqueur instead of rum because, well because I like it better. This is a great way to use up old eggs, milk, or EVEN BANANAS!  These are what I would assume are British pancakes, very unlike the American fat fluffy kind, but thin and crepe-like. This serves 2, but you can easily double it for more! 

Delicious with hot custard, cream or ice cream!

Ingredients:

55g plain flour

130ml milk

1 egg

1 tbsp. butter

Tiny pinch of salt

2 large ripe bananas, sliced

4 tbsp. caster sugar

1-2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. Gran Marnier (could use Brandy or Cointreau)

Cream, ice cream or custard to serve

To Get Started on the Pancakes:

Sift flour and salt into a bowl.

Add the egg and half of the milk, and whisk lightly with a fork, slowly adding the remaining milk until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan.

Swirl around until the bottom is covered, pour half of the melted butter into the batter and set the rest aside for greasing.

With a small ladle, pour batter fast and as close to the pan you can, swirl it out to create a perfect circle.

Each side will take about 2-3 minutes or until they lift from the pan easily.

To Make the Bananas and Assemble:

In a hot pan add the rest of the melted butter, and the sugar. 

Let it sit until the sugar starts to melt and caramelize, about 3-5 minutes.

When the sugar turns sticky and brown, add the sliced bananas and cinnamon; coat with the caramel.

Stand well back and turn off the heat, douse the pan with the alcohol and stir rapidly to evaporate the alcohol.

Handle with care and scoop spoonfuls into pancakes and wrap them up.

Top with ice cream and cinnamon for garnish.

Enjoy!

Southern Corn Casserole

First of all, let me start by giving many apologies for not blogging recently! Life has gotten quite busy and is always throwing me new twists and turns. Sometimes things get neglected but hopefully I will be back with enough inspiration to keep everyone’s interests up!

This is a recipe for corn casserole, ever heard of it? It’s a southern thing similar to cornbread but much more moist. I took inspiration from several recipes for this one. I was craving cornbread but one with much more of a light almost soufflé type feel. I dove right in and tried my hand at it without a recipe and I think it came out brilliantly. The great thing about this recipe is that it was made completely with your waist in mind. It’s a very low calorie dish with about 150 calories a portion. Give it a try! It makes an absolutely lovely accompaniment to roasted meats, buffalo wings, and I also split it in half and put it under the grill and served it with a poached egg on top for breakfast. Really delicious! This makes 8 servings. Enjoy!

You can use any type of cheese you want.

Ingredients:
100g yellow cornmeal (or polenta if you have it)
100g plain flour
20g silver spoon half spoon (if using regular sugar use 40g)
160g tinned sweetcorn drained (frozen will work if thawed)
1 400g tin of Green Giant cream style corn
½ c chopped onion
2 chillies – green or red for colour
3 egg whites whipped slightly
150g fat free natural yogurt
100g grated light cheddar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
Spray oil.

To start:
Preheat oven to 180C or about 375F
First things first, in a non-stick pan, spray with a few sprays of oil and warm it up.
Dice the onion and chillies and get them in the pan to soften. You don’t have to do this step but it takes the crunch off of the veg.

Moist light little bites.

For the batter:
In a bowl sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk three egg whites gently to get some air in them about 1-2 mins.
Add the creamed corn, tinned sweetcorn, and yogurt.
Gently whip up and add the dry ingredients a little at a time.
Add a little more than half the cheese and mix up, saving some for the top.
When all combined add the onions and peppers.

To bake:
Spray a square or rectangle pan with spray oil.
Pour the batter in and spread evenly throughout.
Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Place in a hot oven for about 45mins to 1hr. Check with a toothpick for doneness.

Green Jerk Marinade

Jerk seasoning is becoming one of my new favorite experiments. I absolutely love layering spices and herbs and creating depth of flavour. This was such a simple recipe that didn’t take long to put together. I marinated my chicken for a few hours but I suspect you could get away with not marinating it at all because the spices are so pungent. I used bone in chicken breasts which are always a favourite. You could easily use duck or even pork, I think this would go lovely with pork tenderloin or some other light meat. This marinade will do for about 4 chicken breasts. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2-3inch small stick cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
3-4 tbsp. chopped coriander
Zest of one lime
Juice of one lime (two limes if it’s not juicy)
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 scotch bonnet pepper
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt

To Make:
In a small blender, carefully add all ingredients and blitz up until it’s smooth.
Scrape every little bit out and pour over some meat (if it's too thick add a little water to smooth it out)!
I cooked my chicken breasts for about 35-40 minutes at 200C

Creamy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is such an American classic, typically associated with Thanksgiving dinner. I think it’s such a great dish and could be made with any special dinner. I really enjoy making it, but I was tired of the canned cream of mushroom soup that makes the sauce. I sought out recipes, and was open to the idea of something dairy free that didn’t require a load of cream or butter. I stumbled on a few recipes and here is my rendition of what I found! This is mostly adapted from a vegan recipe that got great reviews. Once I tried it I was hooked. This is quite possibly the most delicious green bean casserole I’ve ever made! The pictures show a half version that I did but the recipe is for the full version. I will be making it in the future. This recipe serves about 8. Enjoy.

Ingredients for the Green Beans:
500g-1kg fresh green beans rinsed and chopped (you can use tinned/frozen)
1 whole onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. pepper
Salt to taste

For the Casserole:
1 diced onion
1 diced green bell pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
200g chestnut mushrooms (any mushroom, just not shitake)
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 glass white wine
Pinch paprika
Olive oil
Fried onions for garnish (the French’s American ones)

For the Sauce:
1 c. unsalted cashews soaked in water for 1hr
1 tsp. corn starch
1c. +1c to thin the sauce vegetable stock (I use marigold vegan bouillon powder)

To start:
Get your cashews soaking immediately.
Make your stock.
Clean up your green beans and get them on to boil.
Boil them for about 30-45 minutes or until very soft.
Drain and set aside.

For the Casserole:
Dice your pepper, onion, garlic and slice the mushrooms.
Make the sauce; in a blender (a small fast one works well for this), blend the soaked cashews, corn starch, and stock for at least 3 minutes until thick and creamy. Set aside.
In a big sauté pan, heat a couple table spoons of oil, and begin to sweat off the onions, and peppers. When the onions are soft, add the mushrooms and the garlic.
Salt the mushrooms, and as they begin to soften add the white wine.
Cook off at a boil for a few minutes.
When the wine is cooked off, turn down the heat and add the sauce and sauté for a few minutes.
Next add the drained green beans, paprika and thyme.
Stir to combine, add more stock as it thickens and let cook for about 2-5 minutes until thick.
Put in a casserole dish and sprinkle with French’s fried onions and bake at 175C or 350F for about 30 minutes.

Plum Upside Down Cake

I had a punnet of plums and I was trying to make something like a tart tatin, and then it just sort of ended up more like an upside down cake. I absolutely surprised myself on this one; I must be getting better at desserts because we ate it up! I put some crème fraiche sweetened with a little sugar just on top. I'm generally not a dessert person but I am trying to expand my recipe list so that I have things available on hand to me in a pinch. This is so unbelievably simple and I encourage anyone to try it. Yo could even try it with fresh peaches, or strawberries or raspberries. Impress your family with this one. Serves 8. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
300g plums ripe, cored sliced 1cm
butter for greasing pan
2 tbsp sugar for pan
100g butter – soft/room temperature
100g flour
100g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
3 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda

To Start:
Generously grease a pie tin with butter and sprinkle with 2 tbsp. of sugar.
Core and slice the plums and arrange on the pie tin in a circular pattern or the pattern of your choice.

For the Cake:
In a bowl combine the soft butter, eggs and sugar, cream together until smooth.
Next sift in the flour, backing powder and baking soda.
It will be a thick batter, so pour over the plums and spread out evenly.
Bake at 200C or 400F for about 30-40 minutes, check at 30 minutes and see if a tooth pick comes out clean.
When done take out of the oven and cool for 5 minutes.
Place a plate over the pie tin and flip it carefuly.
Serve with crème fraiche or cream and enjoy!

Classic Toad in the Hole

Toad in the hole, what can I say? I had no real idea what it was when it came to British classics. I thought it was something like ‘pigs in a blanket’, which to me is a lovely little Polish sausage wrapped in a crescent roll. What British people think pigs in a blanket is, is a little cocktail sausage wrapped in bacon. While equally nice neither of these things are what I expected. When I looked into toad in the hole to make it on bonfire night it looked really good and interesting. More like a main course than an appetiser! It’s a lovely Yorkshire pudding batter poured over hot oil and sausages and baked. The texture is really great, it has a nice crunchy outside and a very lovely eggy soft middle by the sausage. I encourage anyone to try it, it’s so simple and makes an excellent economical meal! This serves just 2 only because I used 4 sausages, but you could easily use more sausages for this batter recipe. I adapted this recipe from several ones I read online so but my husband who is British gave it the stamp of approval! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
100g plain flour
1 scant tsp. English mustard powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
250ml milk
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
4 lean pork sausages (you can use up to 8 sausages)
1 ½ tbsp. oil (anything except olive)

To start:
Heat oven to about 220C or 400-420F (really hot!)
Get the batter going by mixing the flour, salt and mustard powder. Mix around until combined.
Add in the eggs and half of the milk. Mix slowly until combined.
Pour in the rest of the milk and the thyme until all is incorporated. Set aside.

For the Sausages:
In a reasonably sized roasting tin, pour the oil in and lay the sausages out.
When the oven is hot, place them in for about 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick your sausages are. The goal is to half cook them before the batter.

To Finish:
When the sausages have cooked about 15 minutes, take the pan out and carefully pour over the liquid batter. Be very careful as the batter will splatter in the hot oil.
Cook for 30-40 minutes in the oven, and gauge doneness by the golden crispy crust.
Take out the glorious bake, and serve with some fresh onion gravy and steamed seasonal veggies. YUM!

Butter Bean Bacon and Autumnal Squash Stew

I love dried beans, and with the weather really getting more troublesome with cold temperatures and even colder rain, I like to stock up and just have them around for really comforting dinner. I’ve also been trying my hand at bread making so this is an excellent accompaniment. I never knew that butter beans were lima beans. I used to think I hated lima beans as a child. I think it must be because when I was a child they came in a can and were green. Who knows, but my recipe for the lima beans now is amazing and I love it. Either I know how to cook them now or I was just a silly child. Probably both. I generally don’t soak my beans as I like the idea of having a pot cooking all day, but if you’re pressed for time and have the time to soak them in advance, I would soak them over night. This serves about 5 depending on your hunger levels. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
500g hard squash (butternut, pumpkin, red kobacha etc..)
400g dry butter beans
100g streaky bacon (about 6-8 rashers)
1 large onion
1 stick celery
1 green pepper
4 cloves garlic
2-3 litres of water
2 tbsp. bouillon powder (stock cubes work too)
1 tsp. pepper
Salt to taste

To Start:
Peel and dice your squash. Be careful with this; use a sharp knife and a sturdy cutting surface.
Dice your onion, celery, bacon and green pepper and garlic. (The garlic can be smashed and stay whole as it will be cooked for a long time it will just disintegrate).

To Cook:
Heat a large pan on high, and add the bacon. Stir it around and encourage it to get crispy. 5-6 minutes.
Next add in the onions, peppers, celery, and garlic. Stir around for a few minutes (you may need to add oil depending on how fatty your bacon is)
Add the beans, water, pepper (no salt yet) and bouillon cubes and bring up to a boil.
Once at a rolling hard boil, turn down to a low-med heat (small boil).
Cook for about 2-3 hours, or until beans are completely soft and cooked through.
Salt to taste and serve hot with fresh bread.

Cajun Style Dirty Rice

Sometimes things can never make you feel as happy as things from back home. Now, while I'm not quite Cajun, I am close enough in Texas. I used to make this dish (maybe not so traditionally) all the time for my roomates and friends who would come over. I have never made it with the chicken livers before but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It gives it a really lovely depth of flavor. I'm a sucker for offal so this was just up my alley. It's really simple to prepare, and you can use any leftover rice that you have. This recipe serves 2-4 depending on how hungry you are! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
250g lean pork mince
200g chicken livers
3c. cooked rice
1 stick celery
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. Cajun seasoning (If you don't have this add equal parts, cayenne, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper)
1 tbsp. oil
1c vegetable stock (maybe less, eye it)
Fresh parsley

To Start:
If you haven't boiled your rice, boil your rice according to the instructions.
Dice finely, peppers, onion, celery and garlic.
Dice the chicken livers to a mince and set aside.
Heat the oil in a hot pan and add the pork mince to brown.
Next add in the onions, celery, pepper and garlic.
Fry down for a few minutes until the peppers and onions have softened.
Add the chicken livers and stir around until thoroughly cooked. About 5 minutes.

To Finish:
Add the hot rice and mix thoroughly, along with the Cajun spice, and about a quarter of the stock)
Simmer on the stove for a few minutes.
Mix around and add more stock to combine ingredients.
When everything is warmed through, taste for seasoning then add the parsley.

Cod in Tomato Thyme Sauce

This is the simplest recipe to make when you're in a hurry. It's also really healthy for you if you're watching your calories! I know a few people who don't like fish that have really enjoyed this. This rich tomato sauce is a lovely compliment to the white flaky fish. You can add any herbs you want but I think fresh thyme goes the best here. Don't skimp on the garlic either! Serves 2-3. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
400g white fish such as cod, haddock etc..
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
½ small onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dark brown sugar
½ tbsp. olive oil
Few sprigs fresh thyme (1 tsp. dry thyme will work as well)
Salt and pepper to taste

To Start:
Dice your onions, chop your garlic and get a pan hot.
Heat the oil and saute the onions for a few moments.
Next add the garlic, and tomatoes, and thyme.
Bring to a bowl then down to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes. (trust me simmering does the world of good)

To Finish:
Add the brown sugar
Place the fish pieces in the sauce.
Spoon over some of the sauce onto the fish pieces.
Cover and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes or until fish is cooked through.
Serve over toasty brown rice.

Smoked Haddock Kedgeree

I loved smoked haddock (the undyed kind of course). I was looking for some inspiration for a dish and I came across kedgeree which was surprisingly British to my knowledge. It's traditionally served as a brunch dish but I decided to give it a go as a dinner option and it worked out great! I really love the combination of egg and smoked haddock, it's almost like a very non-traditional Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon! Either way, I think anyone should try this because it's dead easy, and you can use smoked salmon if you cant' find the haddock. Just skip the poaching process and flake it in at the very end with the eggs. As a dinner this fed 2, but you could easily double it, or serve it at a brunch and make the portion smaller! Enjoy.

Ingredients:
200g basmati rice (1c.)
150g undyed smoked haddock
1 onion
½ c. red pepper diced
½ c. frozen peas
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs - Soft boiled
300ml milk
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. mustard seeds
3-4 cloves
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
handful fresh coriander
handful fresh parsley
1 medium tomato

To Start:
Begin by poaching the fish in the milk, mustard seeds, cloves and bay leaves. Poach for about 15 minutes then set aside.
Bring the eggs and a small pan up to boil, boil for 4-5 minutes, turn off and take the eggs out and put them in ice water. Set aside

For the Dish:
Dice the onion and peppers.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan until hot, toss in the onions, red pepper and garlic. Toss around until fragrant.
Add the curry powder, turmeric, coriander and rice and fry for a further 2-3 minutes. Stirring constantly.
When the onions are soft add two cups of water, half the coriander and parsley and bring up to a boil, place the lid on and turn down to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

To Finish:
Remove the haddock from the poaching liquid and flake.
Peel the eggs and cut into quarters.
Dice the tomato.
When the rice is done take off heat, add the fish, the rest of the herbs, half the eggs, tomatoes and frozen peas. Mix thoroughly being careful not to smash the rice.
Serve when hot and garnish with the rest of the egg.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples

I love pork tenderloin, it couldn’t be more simple and delicious. When paired with roasted apples it is a treat for the senses. I do mine very simply by searing in a hot pan and roasting in the oven. This is when a meat thermometer becomes very handy. I like my tenderloin with an internal temperature of 150C I think that allows for a medium cook and the meat still be plenty cooked but maintaining all the moisture. This serves 3, but tenderloins vary in size so get one that will suit your family and keep a look out on the temperature in the thickest part. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
600g pork tenderloin
2-3 apples
1 tbsp. olive oil
Salt + pepper
Fresh thyme leaves

To start:
Take your tenderloin out about 30 minutes before you want to cook, this helps the meat get to room temperature and will cook properly through.
Heat the oven to 190C or 350F and on a clean surface spread out a few sprinkles of salt, and the thyme leaves and some of the oil, roll the entire tenderloin in it to cover it thoroughly with salt, thyme and oil.
Heat the rest of the oil in a pan until very hot. Sear the tenderloin on all sides, place on a pan with some chunks of apples and roast for about 40-45 minutes, checking the temperature towards the end.

Cannellini Bean Soup with Sausage and Kale

I absolutely love bean soups, any type I’m there. I got some more kale in the veg box, which I don’t mind so much as long as I have a solution of what to do with it! I had some frozen sausages and some dried cannellini beans and presto, bean soup. I love the smell of beans cooking on the stove all day on a cold day. It’s glorious, and with this recipe there’s plenty to go around and plenty for seconds. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
250g dried cannellini beans (half pound)
4 lean sausages, thawed meat removed from casing
2 c chopped kale
4 large carrots
1 large onion
1 tbsp. bouillon powder
2 tbsp. tomato puree (or tomato paste)
2 liters of water and a big pot
Salt + pepper to taste

To cook:
Rinse the beans and put them in a big pot with the 2 liters of water and turn the heat on high.
Peel and chop the onions and toss them in along with the bouillon powder and tomato paste.
Remove the casings from the sausage and dollop the sausage meat all over the pot (not an exact science here!)
Bring up to a boil and then reduce to low, and simmer for about 2-3hrs or until beans are soft.
Salt to taste when they’re done, and voila!

Bacon and Chocolate Chili with Sweetcorn

Chili is a standby dish in my house, in all kinds of ways. There’s always a base to chili, once you get that down you can really do anything…beans, no beans, meat, no meat, etc… I wanted mine to be simple, I had a little bacon leftover from another recipe and I decided to make chilli! And even better put some chocolate in it! Delicious, everyone should try this! I used a variety of chilli powders, but for the purposes of this recipe, you can use any chilli powder you want, hot or mild, whatever you prefer. This serves 4-6. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
6 smoked streaky bacon rashers
2 corn on the cobs (kernels removed)
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 400g tin cannellini beans
1 400g tin red kidney beans
1 red pepper
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
¼ c. chilli powder
2 tbsp. cumin
3-4 squares of lindt 75-90% dark chocolate
Salt and pepper to taste

To start:
Chop the onion, pepper, and garlic.
Slice the bacon into pieces.
With a sharp knife and sturdy hand slice the corn kernels from the cob. You can use about 1 cup of frozen or tinned if you’d like.
Get a pot hot, when it’s hot add the bacon and get it sizzling. Brown it a little and render the fat. 2-3mins.
Next add in the red peppers, onions, corn, and garlic. About 3 minutes of cooking.

To Finish:
Add the tinned tomatoes and beans (all undrained), and bring up to a boil.
Add the chili powder and the cumin and simmer for about 30-40 minutes on a low heat.
After it’s boiled down, take it off the heat and add in the chocolate and stir.
Serve hot over rice, or with corn bread.

Pork and Prawn Fried Rice

I absolutely love fried rice. It’s so versatile, so easy and so fast. You can use anything you have leftover, or you can make up some elaborate dish with a few ingredients. I had some frozen pork in the freezer as well as some prawns and decided to bang it out. I hope you like this as much as I did! Ate it right up, this serves two but obviously it can be doubled or tripled to your liking. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
150-200g pork shoulder (any cut will do)
175g cooked peeled prawns
1.5 c cooked cold rice
2 cloves garlic
1 red onion diced
1 egg beaten
4 spring onions
150g snow peas
2-4 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. sweet Thai chili sauce
1.5 tbsp. oil

To start:
Boil the pork for about 10 minutes (can do longer for a more tender result). Set aside.
Make sure your rice is cold and cooked, leftover rice is ideal.
Slice the snow peas on the bias.
Slice the spring onions, and dice the onion.

To cook:
In a large pan, preferably a wok (I used a non-stick pan), heat 1 tbsp. of oil.
When hot add the pork, onions, and snow peas and sauté for a few minutes.
When the pork has a nice char on it, add the rice and stir around until the rice starts to stick to the pan.
Add the prawns at this point and stir in with some soy sauce. Stir around about 2 minutes.
Next shove it all to the size and make a hole, turn up the heat and add the remaining oil.
Drop the egg in the oil and stir quickly to scramble. When almost set begin to mix it throughout the entire dish.
Add the spring onions, chilli sauce, and more soy sauce depending on your taste. Serve immediately!

Split Pea Soup with Smokey Bacon

When it’s cold and rainy outside, sometimes you just want to snuggle up with a big bowl of moreish soup, stew, or anything that makes you feel warm and cozy. For me, it’s always beany soups. My mom used to make split pea soup for me all the time growing up. It’s completely simple, and I was able to source ingredients that made it taste just like my moms, which uses a smoked ham hock. It’s difficult to find that here without going to a butcher and putting in a special request so I use smoked streaky bacon. This serves about 4-6 portions depending on how hungry you are! Serve with hot crusty fresh bread. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
500g green split peas
6 rashers streaky bacon
3-4 carrots
3 garlic cloves
1 whole onion
1 tsp. pepper
Soured cream or yogurt to finish

To start:
Slice the bacon into little strips.
Get a large pot hot, and throw the bacon in there to cook off and get brown and render some fat.
Throw in the peas and 1.5lr of water, or covering it by 4 inches.
Peel and chop the carrot (leave in quite thick chunks).
Dice the onion and garlic and toss in.

To Cook:
Bring that up to a boil and simmer for about 2-3hrs stirring every 30 minutes.
You will know when it’s done as the peas will turn to mush and everything will be one thick stodgy stew.
Serve hot with crusty bread and a dollop of sour cream.

Simple Kale and Chickpea Salad

I got a bunch of kale in my veg box yesterday. It wasn't planned, it was supposed to come last week, needless to say I had to think of something to do with it. When I've previously tried it I stewed it down and I felt it was a bit boring. Instead of doing that again I decided to see if salting it would soften it enough to just make it into a salad. About 30 minutes later after salting it (lightly), it turned into a lovely salad with some persuasion from some lemon juice. It was a good thing because I ran out of lettuce for a dinner salad and it made a great side dish, healthy and substantial! Serves 2. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 c. shredded kale
½ lemon juice only
½ can drained chick peas (~200g)
1 tomato
½ small onion sliced thinly
½ tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. Freshly ground sea salt

To start:
Shred the kale, place in a bowl and salt. Mix up with your hands and leave for about 30 minutes to break down.
Next slice the onion thinly and chop the tomato.

To finish:
Add the juice of half a lemon, the tomato, chickpeas and onion.
Adjust seasoning as necessary then drizzle on the oil.
Serve now or it can wait out marinading and the flavours get better.

Pork and Prawn Summer Rolls

These are my absolute favourite part of a Vietnamese meal. I always order these before I order my pho or bun thit nuong. I haven’t tried my hand at the fried spring rolls but maybe another time. This is really a no brainer; it’s not difficult at all. I literally can throw these together in a few minutes. The only prep is the vegetables that you want to go inside. I generally get all of the fillings set up and sliced beforehand so that you have everything you need when you’re ready to roll up. They’re such a great snack and actually pretty good for you. This makes 8 rolls. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
8 Sheets of rice paper
100g vermicelli rice noodles
100g cooked prawns
50g pork shoulder
4 spring onions sliced lengthwise
1 large carrot shredded
50g mint leaves
50g coriander leaves
100g shredded iceberg lettuce
Hoisin sauce and srirracha for dipping

To start:
Place all of your veg in little piles on a large plate or cutting board.
To cook the pork and prawns, bring a small pot of water to boil with a dash of salt.
Drop the pork in first and boil for about five minutes, then add the prawns boil until pink about 1 more minute.
Take out the pork and slice very thinly. Set aside.

To assemble:
In a large bowl pour 1 litre of half boiled water from the kettle in. (If you boil the kettle it will be too hot for you to get the rice paper out).
Get one rice paper and dip it into the water until it goes limp in the warm water, and then dunk the rest of the paper in, only for a few seconds or until it becomes very floppy and pliable.
Pull out and place on a plate try to get it as flat as possible.
Start to add some noodles, across the length of it on the edge closest to you, repeat with carrot, herbs, lettuce, shrimp and pork.
Next fold the sides of the rice paper over the mound and tuck and roll it, folding more rice paper inwards as necessary.
The paper sticks to itself so no need to worry about it coming undone.
Repeat for the rest of the rolls and serve with the hoisin sauce and srirracha for dips.

Smoked Turkey Carbonara with Mushrooms

I love carbonara, but I don’t particularly enjoy the saltiness of the dish. The salt usually comes from the bacon or so I’ve found…I wanted to try my hand at a turkey bacon one with a few simple ingredients. This is so easy to make, and it’s actually not too bad for you if you make it exactly this way. This serves 2, but can easily be doubled Enjoy!

Ingredients:
250g spaghetti
3 turkey bacon rashers (I used aMattesons)
1 small red onion
3 cloves garlic
250g white mushrooms sliced
1 egg yolk
¼ c. freshly grated parmesan
1-2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil

To start:
Slice the bacon into very thin strips.
Slice the mushrooms, onion and garlic.
Get the pasta water up to a boil – put the pasta in when it’s boiling
Grate your cheese, and separate the egg yolk.

To cook:
In a skillet, heat the olive oil.
Add when the pan is hot and get a good crisp on them.
Add the onions and mushrooms and garlic and sauté until the mushrooms are soft.

To Finish:
Drain the pasta but very quickly, so that you keep a lot of the juice (Ideally dump the pasta in the colander and then quickly put the pan underneath to catch the draining liquid).
Add the drained pasta to the mushroom bacon mixture and stir thoroughly.
Add the egg yolk, pepper and grated cheese.
Add ¼ c. – ½ c. of the reserved pasta liquid to make it a creamy texture.
Serve immediately!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Cinnamon and Walnuts

I’ve wanted to venture into changing a few of my all-time favourite recipes. I have had this idea for a different type of banana bread, and I thought to myself; what goes better with banana than its best friend peanut butter! I have never tasted it before so I decided to just do a bit of combination with the flavours and added cinnamon and also walnuts. It came out so amazingly well I wouldn’t go back to change a thing to redo it. So with that in mind! Here it is banana peanut butter bread with cinnamon and walnuts. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2-3 ripe bananas mashed
1 ½ c. flour
½ c. white sugar
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. egg whites
4 tsp. melted butter
¾ tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ c. chopped walnuts
½ c. creamy peanut butter

To start:
Mash the banana and mix with the sugars, egg whites, butter and peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
Next, sift in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
Finally add the walnuts (these are optional).

To Bake:
Bake in a preheated 190C oven or 350F for about 30-1hr. After 30 minutes check it every 15 minutes and check for doneness with a toothpick.

Coronation Style Roasted Chicken with Yogurt Marinade

I love nothing more in this world than a roasted chicken! Any way I can take it, I love to experiment and try new things. This time I really wanted to emulate a tandoori chicken but with more of a coronation chicken salad flavour. This was very simple; the only difficult part was doing cutting the back out of the chicken because I decided to do a spatchcock method. I also removed the skin and slashed it a bit so the marinade would seep in. I marinated mine for about 5 hours but you can do 1-2 in a pinch. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 medium chicken (1.4kg)
300g non-fat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp. madras paste
2 tbsp. Mango chutney
5 garlic cloves

To Start:
Spatchcock your chicken, please only do this if you are skilled with a knife, and have a sharp one!
Cut out the backbone on both sides of the spine, flip the chicken over and press it down and break the breastbone.
Remove all the skin and slash the breast and thighs.

To Marinade:
In a bowl, mix up all of the ingredients thoroughly.
Put your chicken in a pan, that can go in the fridge, and rub the marinade in, don’t be afraid to get personal with it. It needs a massage!
Pop that in the fridge for a few hours and you’ll be ready to cook!

To Cook:
Take the chicken out and try to wipe down a bit of the yogurt, but not much.
Place on a wire rack pan and bake at 200C for about an hour or until it’s nice and brown but not burnt.