Baked salmon with vegetable tempura

We received our box of fruit and veggies today and the prospect of carrot soup (the recipe suggested on the newsletter that comes with the box) didn't really appeal.

So I happened to have some tempura batter mix in the cupboard and a heap of root veggies in the fridge. Add some salmon, rice and a bit of soy and you have a healthy Japanese meal!

Meal for January the 25th - Baked Salmon with Veggie tempura and rice.

1. Cook some sushi or medium/short grain rice.

2. I wrapped the salmon fillets in baking paper with a bit of coriander sprinkled on top and baked at 200 deg cel for around 15 minutes.

3. Mix the tempura batter with very cold soda water but take care not to over mix it. It can still be a bit lumpy.

4. Cut up some veggies into slices. I used carrot, sweet potato and zucchini but eggplant, potato and beans are also really good.

5. Put the vegetables in the batter and make sure they are well covered.

6. Heat enough oil (I used a combination of peanut and grapeseed) in a wok so that you can deep fry the sliced vegetables. Don't worry that they stick together a bit, they should cook anyway.

7. Deep fry the vegetables for a minute or so. They won't turn golden brown but remain a light colour. Check the first few to see if the vegetables are soft.

8. Serve the rice, salmon and tempura with a splash of soy sauce and top with sliced spring onions. Alternatively you can serve a dipping sauce of soy and a splash of water for the tempura.

The verdict: Do not eat too much tempura! I felt quite sick afterwards... I ate what was on the plate and a bit more but I could only manage half of the salmon. It is a rich dish so take it easy.

A and M ate the rice and most of the salmon (the rest they rubbed in their hair and all over the table) and were eventually persuaded to eat the tempura after the addition of the dipping bowl. Although A seemed to just suck the soy sauce out of the tempura instead of actually eating it.

My husband enjoyed it and I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so greedy!

Happy Eating!

Spanakopita

After a lovely break in Sydney where we dined on some glorious but very meaty dishes, I am ready for vegetables! I was going to make filo triangles but with the weather being so hot and the children being rather unhelpful I decided to make the pie version - Spanakopita.

Meal of January 24th - Spanakopita (Cheese and spinach pie)

1. Wilt a big bunch of English spinach in a frying or saucepan.

2. Beat 4 eggs and add about 350g of ricotta cheese, 150g of Danish feta, 1/4 cup of parmesan and 1/4 cup of tasty cheese. Mix this all up and add salt and pepper. You could also add some fresh dill here but I had none... about a handful chopped would be good.

3. Saute a cup and 1/2 of chopped spring onions in a little olive oil.

4. Drain the spinach and chop roughly, then add this and the spring onions to the cheese mixture and combine well.

The next part requires speed if doing this on a 33 deg day as I did! Cover the exposed filo pastry with a damp t/towel.

5. Melt around 100g of butter with a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a small saucepan.

6. Grease a rectangle casserole dish with the butter/oil then place a sheet of filo over the dish. Using a pastry brush, cover the pastry with butter and add another sheet. Continue this until you have 8 sheets of filo, all buttered in your dish.

7. After the 8th sheet, fill with the spinach and cheese mixture and fold the edges in.

8. Place another sheet of filo on top of the cheese and spinach mixture then brush with butter and repeat until there is another 8 (or 9 if your 3.5 year old is counting) sheets all buttered on top.

9. Trim the edges and brush with butter. Score the top of the pie into diamonds and sprinkle with water to keep the edges from curling.

10. Place the pie in a preheated oven at 200 deg cel for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 for around 30 minutes or until it's golden on top and has risen or puffed up.

11. This should be served with a garden salad but we are totally out of salad until tomorrow so we just had slices of cucumber!

The verdict: M ate a big bowl full and then picked most of the pastry off my husband and my serves! A seemed to like the spinach and cheese more than the pastry which surprised me but she ate a lot too. My husband ate a HUGE serve so it obviously passed the authenticity test. A brief warning though... this is a messy meal to eat, especially if you have small kids!

Happy Eating!

Baked Potatoes and sausages

Initially this was just going to be baked potatoes but when I was in the supermarket I suddenly fancied some free range English style pork sausages so that's what we had! Luckily our friend who popped in for dinner didn't mind our meat addition to what was supposed to be a vegetarian meal. I was concerned she wouldn't have enough with just potato but they were surprisingly filling.

Meal of January the 18th: Baked Potatoes (and sausages)

1. Wash 1 large potato for each person and microwave until beginning to get tender. Then place on a baking tray. I like to spray the potatoes with a little olive oil. Bake in the oven at 225 deg celcius until crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Or if barbecuing, wrap in foil and cook in the coals.

2. For the coleslaw, I chopped some white and red cabbage, two spring onions and grated 1.5 carrots. The dressing was Thomy mayonnaise mixed with some seeded mustard. I left a portion out for the girls without the mustard dressing though.

3. Grill or fry the sausages until brown and cooked!

4. When the potatoes are cooked, cut into quarters without breaking the bottom skin and add grated tasty cheese, sour cream and coleslaw. I also had some canned corn kernels which everyone ended up adding too.

* Please excuse the photo for this one as we had a friend around for dinner and I forgot to take one at the beginning of the meal so this was taken towards the end!*

The verdict: M ate heaps and loved the coleslaw (possibly because she helped make it), A was a bit picky but ended up sitting on our friend's lap to finish most of hers. She did eat all the corn and sausage quickly though. Our guest enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and it was difficult to get my husband to stop eating so he obviously enjoyed it!

Happy Eating!

Tuna pasta

It's been a few days because I've been out, then tired and then stuck in bed with a migraine so the next couple of meals are not exactly feats of culinary brilliance... but they're tasty, healthy and easy to make!

Meal of January the 16th: Tuna Pasta

It was a bit of a shame making this meal as we just received our new Global cook's knife in the post and I was dying to do some serious cutting... but considering almost everything in this dish comes from a can or a packet all I chopped was parsely! Having said that though, great dish for camping as nothing is fresh.

1. Cook some pasta, I prefer spaghetti or linguini.

2. In a saucepan or saute pan, empty a jar of pasta sauce, a 425g can of tuna chunks in springwater, a tablespoon of capers and a handful of sliced kalamata olives. Heat.

3. When the pasta is cooked, add to the sauce, sprinkle with fresh parsely and voila!

The verdict: It's very tasty and the whole family ate good serves. It is also really yummy cold the next day.

Happy Eating!

Pork Cutlets with Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw

This dinner was requested by my husband who suggested it would be "a good one for the blog"... I'm sure he was thinking of the blog and not his stomach!

Meal of January the 13th:

Pork Cutlets, crackling, Red Cabbage and Apple slaw, new baby potatoes and stir fried zucchini and broccoli.

1. Cut the rind off the cutlets and place on a baking tray. Score and rub with olive oil and salt.

Put these in the oven at 250 deg cel until they are golden brown and bubbly. Remove from oven and place on paper towel to drain.

2. Rub olive oil, salt, pepper and dried sage into the pork cutlets and allow to rest out of the fridge for about 15 minutes.

3. Thinly slice 1/4 head of red cabbage (you can use green as well), 2 spring onions and one pink lady apple.

4. Place into a bowl and add 1 tablespoon of capers.

5. Combine 1/4 cup whole egg mayonnaise, 1/4 Greek style yoghurt (or sour cream) and 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Add the dressing to the cabbage and combine thoroughly.

6. Steam the baby potatoes for about 15 minutes.

7. Stir fry sliced zucchini and broccoli florets in olive oil until tender, add a little water to help.

8. Heat a non stick frying pan over a med high heat and cook cutlets until golden brown. Pork shouldn't be too rare but it can have a pink tinge so I like to slice one to check or you can use a

thermometer and make sure it's over 60 deg cel.

9. Serve the potatoes with a little butter and everything else as is!

The verdict: My husband ate 1 and 1/2 cutlets and at least 1/2 the salad. He also ate WAY too much crackling which was good if you like crackling but I think it tastes like deep fried sponges stuffed with fat. I couldn't eat much of it. The girls both enjoyed the pork and the broccoli, but neither ate the zucchini and A just squashed the potato. M loved the potatoes and after some cajoling seemed to enjoy the slaw as well so I think it was a successful meal.

Happy Eating!

Quick veggie soup

This is one of my staples. The kind of meal I make when I suddenly realise it's 5.30pm and I've not started cooking yet. So simple, yet really tasty.

Meal of the 12th of January: Veggie Soup with noodles

You can use any veggies for this, just chop them up very small. It is also good with bite size chunks of firm tofu or shredded chicken.

1. Heat a litre of reduced salt vegetable or chicken stock in a medium saucepan with a splash of soy sauce.

2. Add some finely chopped garlic, ginger and spring onions.

3. Bring to the boil and add vegetables. I used broccoli, carrot and mushrooms. In this case I added the mushrooms toward the end so they didn't get too mushy.

4. Boil for 7-10 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add mushrooms/snowpeas/zucchini at the 7 minute mark if using.

5. Add soba or ramen noodles

(I used both this time) and cook for about 4 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat and add chopped fresh coriander.

7. Right before serving add a handful of baby spinach so that it just wilts.

The verdict: It was saltier than previous attempts so perhaps I was a little generous with the soy sauce. Best to add a little at a time.

The girls, however, LOVED it! There was much joyous slurping and both bowls were finished in no time. My husband also enjoyed it, despite the lack of meat. But he did comment on the saltiness and, considering he adds salt to everything, that is testament to the taste.

Happy Eating!

Vegetable Curry

The best thing about curries is that you can use any vegies you like and it also works well with those that are getting a little past their best.

Tonight's non-chilli curry uses zucchini, carrot and broccoli but would also work with a number of other vegies such as beans, peas, cauliflower, squash, pumpkin, eggplant etc.

Meal of January the 11th:

Vegetable Curry with couscous and naan

(Ok, so the naan is from a packet and to be honest it wasn't very tasty but it was a good negotiation tool to get the girls to finish!)

1. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add a teaspoon of black mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of garam masala. Fry these over a medium heat until aromatic.

2. Add a finely chopped onion, a couple of finely chopped cloves of garlic and some finely chopped ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes and then add a couple of tablespoons of water. Fry until the water has evaporated.

3. Add a can of chopped tomatoes and a little extra water.

4. Rinse a can of lentils and add to the fry pan.

5. Add broccoli and carrot but leave the zucchini out until 10 minutes before serving.

6. Cover and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the vegies are tender then add the zucchini.

7. This curry can be served with rice or couscous and will also be yummy the next day.

The verdict: M and A both ate good servings and probably would've eaten more but I stupidly put the bread on the table in front of them instead of offering it AFTER they'd eaten. Anyway, they enjoyed it and although I thought it was tasty, I suspect tomorrow it'll be even tastier when I eat it for lunch!

Happy Eating!

Cauliflower and pasta bake

In order to use up one of the two cauliflowers I have in my fridge, I decided to make a pasta bake. Firstly; because the kids have been a little picky lately and they will ALWAYS eat pasta and secondly, because I felt like something stodgy.

I spent most of the cooking time being screamed at by A who decided she would have an out of control tantrum for 20 minutes. This did make the whole process far from fun but the finished result was satisfying.

Meal for January the 10th:

Cauliflower and pasta bake - comfort food!

1. Steam one head of cauliflower until tender.

2. Cook 500 g of pasta (I used rigatoni)

3. Chop and fry 175 g of bacon (free range of course)

4. Put all these ingredients into a bowl.

5. Melt 50 g of butter in the frying pan that the bacon was cooked in. Add about 1/2 of flo

ur and cook for a few minutes. Add milk very slowly, stirring the whole time so that it doesn't become lumpy. I don't have any idea how much milk but probably a cup and 1/2 or so. You want a smooth sauce that is runny enough to pour into the rest of the mixture.

6. Add a 1/2 of tasty cheese and mix all together.

7. Pour into a baking dish (I forgot to grease it but it didn't make too much difference) and

grate some parmesan cheese on top.

8. Cook at 225 degrees celcius for around 30 minutes or until browned on top.

9. I did intend to serve this with a nice garden salad which would've been really nice but after A's tantrum we were lucky to eat at all!

Whoops this picture is upside down and my text is now blue... odd.

So the verdict: Initially A ate the pasta and refused to touch anything else until I told her it was flowers (cauliflowers) and then she ate quite a lot.

M ate a good serving, I feel very full and satisfied and my husband was pleased too.

To be honest, this was nothing to write home about but it was tasty and I'm looking forward to making it again some cold and windy night... opposed to tonight which is warm and windy.

Happy Eating!

Lamb Roast

We've been a bit boring but often just good quality simple foods are just as satisfying as complicated meals.

I bought a leg of lamb for $15 from our favourite butcher and on Sunday night we roasted it and served it with vegies, then last night my husband fried up the left overs for souvlaki. Two meals out of one leg of lamb. Good value, tasty and healthy.

Meal of the 8th of January:

Roast Lamb with beans and corn.

For best results with meat, take it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking it.

We used a 1.3 kilo leg for this recipe.

1. Wash and pat the lamb dry then rub with oil, salt and pepper.

2. Make holes all over the lamb and stuff with chopped garlic and rosemary sprigs.

3. Add a little water to the bottom of the roasting tray (provided your using a roasting rack... you don't want the lamb swimming in water! )

4. Cover with foil and roast at 175 degrees celcius for around 1.15 minutes, then take the foil off and roast at a higher temperature for around 30 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest for around 30 minutes.

6. Blanche the beans and steam the corn and serve with slices of lamb!

Meal for Monday the 9th of January:

Lamb Souvlaki with homemade tzatziki.

It's best to let the tzatziki marinate for at least a couple of hours so make this first.

1. Very finely chop up a couple of cloves of garlic (or you can crush them if you prefer). Add this to a 1/2 cup of Greek style yoghurt. I prefer the Jalna brand. Then peel a small lebanese cucumber and chop finely. Mix together, cover and leave in the fridge.

2. Slice tomatoes, lettuce and red or salad onion. Take the tzatziki out of the fridge.

3. Slice small pieces of lamb and cook over a medium high heat with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice until starting to brown. Don't over cook or it will just become dry.

4. Let the meat sit while you lightly fry the flat bread. We usually use Gerry's pittas but last night we tried a wholegrain wrap I got at Aldi. It tasted really good surprisingly.

5. Place the meat in the middle of the bread, add tzatziki, tomato, lettuce and onion. Roll up and enjoy.

The verdict: The girls loved the bread and always enjoy food when it's rolled up in something. They loved it although A wasn't so into the meat. She ate a little but preferred the bread and vegies. The lamb roast was also enjoyed but once again, both preferred the vegies, especially the beans which is surprising because they normally don't eat beans. I think they like the crunchiness when they're blanched rather than steamed.

Of course, this is one of my husband's favourite meals so no surprises he ate loads! He was initially disappointed by the lack of Gerry's pittas but conceded that the wholegrain ones were pretty tasty too.

Happy Eating!

Red Cabbage and Beetroot Salad, South Indian Carrot Salad and Marinated chicken breasts

Yum! I've got to admit it was a tasty meal tonight and VERY healthy!

I went to my parents for dinner and we had barbecued chicken breasts marinated in finely chopped coriander, lemon juice and olive oil and a couple of very colourful and delicious salads.

Although the salads weren't a huge hit with my girls (not surprising), my 92 year old Nana was very impressed.

I was in culinary heaven cooking on gas and using my parent's Global knives.

Meal for January the 6th 2012:

Red Cabbage and Beetroot Salad.

This is a simple one that I basically threw together today. So colourful and tasty and REALLY easy.

1. Finely chop 1/2 a red cabbage and place in a bowl.

2. Peel and grate two raw beetroots... be prepared for mess. Place in the bowl with the cabbage.

3. Thinly slice 2 or 3 spring onions and add to the bowl.

4. Toast a cup of walnuts over a medium heat until browned, then chop.

5. For the dressing I mixed a couple of tablespoons of seeded mustard, about 1/4 cup of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice. Add this to the salad and combine thoroughly!

How beautifully colourful is this???

South Indian Carrot Salad: This recipe is from the book "Cooking with Kurma" that a friend gave to me over 10 years ago and it's never let me down!

1. Grate 4 or 5 carrots into a bowl.

2. Add a bunch of coarsley chopped fresh coriander.

4. Remove the seeds from a long green chilli and chop finely (this is a very mild chilli so it's suitable for most).

5. Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over a moderate heat in a frying pan.

6. Add a couple of teaspoons of black mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop.

7. Add a couple of teaspoons of cumin seeds, 10 fresh curry leaves and a couple of teaspoons of split urad (or urid) dal. Cook this until the the urad dal begins to brown. It will be very hard and crunchy like nuts. If you can't find urad dal then I suggest using chopped cashew nuts instead.

8. Take off the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of asafetida powder then pour the whole lot

over the carrot mix.

9. Squeeze a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice (or 1/2 a lemon) over the salad and you're ready to go!

And here's a shot of the chicken being cooked by my step-dad:

Yummy!

The verdict: Loved by the adults... ignored by the kids. They ate the chicken but I can understand them avoiding the salads. I think it would have been a good idea to take some carrot out at the beginning and mix it with some grated beetroot for them. They probably would've eaten it then.

Anyway, all who ate were very satisfied!

Happy Eating!

Potato Salad

Last night we went to our friend's place for a BBQ so I didn't make the whole meal but my contribution was very well received!

Meal of the 5th of January:

Potato and Green Bean Salad

1. Roughly chop up some potatoes (depending on how big the salad is going to be) and steam them until they are tender but not too soft.

2. Top and tail some green beans, then cut into halves or thirds. Steam or blanche these so that they are still a little crunchy.

3. Boil a few eggs for 10 minutes.

4. Cool all these ingredients in the fridge for an hour or so.

5. Chop up a tomato but remove the seeds.

6. Slice (don't chop or it'll bruise) a handful of fre

sh basil.

7. Half and slice a red onion.

8. Add all the ingredients into a big bowl.

9. For the dressing, I combined a tablespoon (or so) of seeded mustard, a few tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of red wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour over the salad. Then you need to mix it with your hands so the potatoes don't get squashed.

In the photo I haven't added the eggs because I wasn't sure if there were any allergies so I just brought them along separately.

The verdict: our friends kept the left overs because they enjoyed it so much and although it wasn't a hit with the kids (too many sausages and bread), the adults were very happy with the end result.

Happy Eating!

Happy New Year!

In order to challenge my culinary skills and introduce my family to a diverse range of foods, I'm going to attempt to record each meal I make for dinner. I'm feeling daunted already, especially considering it's the 4th of January and this is my first post!

A little bit about me...

I live in Melbourne, Australia and I am married with two girls aged 18 months and 3.5 years. My husband is from a Southern European background and very much into meat! I am from a Northern European background and was a vegetarian for 20 years. Our girls are pretty good eaters but can be picky at times.

Each week we get a box of seasonal organic fruit and vegies delivered which costs $56 and forms the foundation of our weekly menu. Usually, I shop once a week for nearly everything and just pick up a few things fresh as needed. I like to buy my meat from a local butcher shop that specialise in local, organic, free range meat so I would estimate that 90% of the meat we eat is organic and free range. I try!

I love to cook but have very limited resources. My kitchen is tiny and my electric stove/oven is really inconsistent. I have learned to deal with them though and I do sometimes use a little gas camping stove outside for steaks and so forth.

So... I'm still not entirely sure how to do this and if it will be remotely interesting but I'm giving it a go anyway.

Meal of January 4th 2012 - Italian Potato Pie with Zucchini and Onion.

This is a recipe from my mum and I have been slowly adapting it over the years. By the way... it's not really a pie... more of a casserole I guess. Tonight I'm going to add some zucchini and onion to the tomato sauce because I have HEAPS of them.

1. Boil or steam 5 large potatoes until they are tender but not too soft. You need to slice them and have them stay together.

2. Boil 4 eggs for at least 8 minutes. Then leave to cool.

3. Slice one large or two small onions and grate a medium zucchini. Heat some olive oil in a fry pan and gently saute the onions. When they are starting to soften, add the zucchini and cook until they are both soft. Add two cans of chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.

4. Slice the potatoes and layer the bottom of a

dish with half. Then layer half of the tomato sauce and then sprinkle with some freshly ripped basil. Repeat this and then after the basil, sprinkle some grated mozzerella cheese to cover.

5. Shell the boiled eggs and then grate them into a bowl (or the saucepan you cooked them in minus the water obviously!). Add some chopped parsley, olive oil and grated parmesan cheese. Mix it all up and sprinkle on top of the mozzerella. This is what it will look like at this point:

6. Now pop it in an oven preheated to around 200 degrees celcius.

7. Cook until brown (about 30 minutes) then cool for a few minutes and EAT!

So the verdict was positive. My 3.5 year old "M" ate her whole serve with gusto and my 18 month old "A", who is a little pickier, ate a good portion too. My husband still hasn't tried it. He's "right in the middle of something" at the moment in the shed but I suspect if I told him there was Italian sausage in the pie he'd be here in a flash!

I thought it was really tasty with the added zucchini and onion and I also added a fair crack of black pepper.

Right... only 4 zucchinis, 4 corn cobs, about 100 carrots and a pumpkin to deal with now.

Happy Eating!