I’m allowed to change my mind, woman is fickle after all

January 14, 2008 at 3:16 am (Uncategorized)
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Here’s an example of being flexible with my menu planning. Yesterday we ate salad for our evening meal, which I served with a platter of chilled, roast pumpkin and pototoes. Very filling. I adore cold roast potato.

Today, instead of roasting more vegetables and making the couscous dish, I’ve decided to use up the left over roast pumpkin instead.

I’m going to put them on a pizza.

I’m using flat bread (yiros or pita bread) as my base. I’ll cover it with hommus. I’m not using tomato paste as I think the hommus will taste better with the pumpkin. So, hommus it is. I used butternut pumpkin, which is very quick to cook and very sweet. But any of the good baking pumpkins would suffice, it’s all down to personal taste. I’ll sprinkle some minced garlic and freshly ground black pepper and a very light handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

The roast pumpkin will be scattered over the pizza, sprinkled with some dried rosemary and some pitted kalamata olives. I have some creamy-textured, reduced-fat fetta cheese which I’ll crumble and scatter over and amongst the pumpkin. Depending on my mood at the time of preparation, I might decide that it’s ready for the oven. But knowing me, and understanding my love for that golden brown of cooked tasty cheese, I’ll more than likely scatter a very light handful of grated tasty cheese on top (yes, reduced-fat).

Pop it into a hot oven (200C) for 12 -15 mins. Oh, when using flat bread as a pizza base, I always use a pizza tray. The bread would crisp too quickly if I cooked on the rack.

I use flat bread because (a) it tastes good, (b) it’s quicker than making my own pizza base, and (c) the quality and availability of flat bread in Alice Springs is far superior to that of pre-made pizza bases. The one exception is the Bazaar brand, but supplies of this are irregular and sell out quickly.

The only thing lacking in the pizza recipe above is something green. I think some snow peas or sugar snap peas would be delicious and the colour contrast with the orange pumpkin would be very appetizing. But I don’t have any in the fridge and quite frankly, I just don’t feel like driving or riding into town today.

If you’re a meat eater, I think some sliced chunks of roast chicken or turkey would taste fine with this, as would bacon (cut into large pieces, not small).

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Shopping & Menu Planning

January 11, 2008 at 5:19 am (Uncategorized)
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Those who are frequent visitors to my home will testify that I’m one of those people who sits down each week and writes out a menu plan for the coming week’s evening meals. That is then left on the kitchen bench (for the other occupants of the house to read and therefore not ask “what’s for tea?”) and is used as a basis for constructing the weekly shopping list.

This ritual works without fail during the cooler months of the year. In summer, by the time we get into those relentless and seemingly endless days of greater than 40 degree heat, the menu planning is a wee bit more haphazard.

I sit down and flip through my favourite cookbooks and notebook (I keep a book of recipes I jot down from all sorts of sources) and then write out a rough menu plan to cover either one or two weeks. I just want to ensure my pantry is stocked with all the ingredients and know which fresh vegetables I need to purchase and when. Potatoes for example, I can buy them days and days ahead of cooking them. But salad vegetables I like to buy as fresh as possible. I want them crisp and fresh, not slightly wilting.

As we’re on day 10 of more than 40 degrees, and the hot weather really has lost its novelty for me and my GERD is playing up again (nausea and reflux … lots of nausea), spending time in a warm-hot kitchen doesn’t appeal. Eating appeals, but I just want very quick, very easy, very summery recipes.

So tonight we’ll have the final remainders of that pasta bake. If we’re all still a bit hungry after a small serve each, then we have some lovely, fresh baked pesto and cheese rolls from the local bakery. They’re quickly reheated in the oven or microwave and they’ll be filling. And there’s fruit in the fridge if we’d prefer something cold and healthier.

Tomorrow I’ll do a salad, serving it either in a bowl or with some flat bread (as a salad roll). Tomorrow will be tomatoes, cucumber, fetta, lettuce, basil, parsley and olives all tossed together ( a sort of Greek salad, or maybe it’s an Italian salad, but with an Australian twist … we’re very multicultural here).

Sunday I’ll opt to roast some pumpkin, then add that to some chopped fetta, sliced red onion (pre-steeped in lime juice to get rid of the sting) and red coral lettuce. I’d have liked to use raddichio but couldn’t find any at the supermarket today. (And no, we don’t have a green grocer here, the supermarket is our primary source of fresh vegetables and fruit). I might throw in some toasted pine nuts too. Again, this salad can be served either in a bowl on its own, on some flat bread, or even with some cold, cooked noodles.

Monday I’ll go back to warm food again. Baking some potato, sweet potato (kumara or orange sweet potato) and red capsicum with garlic and assorted spices. Some mangetout (snow peas), quickly blanched, and the vegetables served up on a bed of hot couscous. The couscous will be prepared in vegetable stock, just to add extra taste. This dish can be eaten hot or cold. Both are delightfully yummy. A squeeze of lemon or lime juice is the only condiment needed. (I am tempted one day to experiment using a mix of bulgur wheat and couscous, I think the two different textures and flavours would be wonderful, but that can wait until the weather is cooler and my brain not quite so fried).

Later in the week I can do a sort of salad nicoise, with green beans, hard boiled eggs, olives, lettuce, tomatoes or cucumbers, basically anything and everything, all thrown together. Including a baked potato.

So, from the above paragraphs you can see my shopping list for today emerged with just a variety of fresh vegetables  on the list. Easy.

And the best thing is, if I want, I can change the menu plan as all those vegies would be useful in other dishes. It all depends on my mood, the weather, how many people are eating at home that night. The key is flexibility but stay inspired.

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Morning snack

January 7, 2008 at 2:46 am (cooking)
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Today’s mid-morning snack was 1 slice of Brumby’s Scotch Malt Loaf bread, toasted and then ever so lightly smeared sparingly with reduced-salt butter. I think I use around 1/8 of a teaspoon of butter.

Breakfast was my usual small bowl of Carman’s Classic Fruit Muesli served with soy milk.

I drink my coffee black with one, and to help reduce the caffeine (which is a trigger for GERD), I use 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of Moccona brand freeze dried instant coffee TOGETHER with 1 teaspoon of a caffeine-free coffee substitute like Nature’s Cuppa.

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Lunch time!

January 7, 2008 at 2:36 am (cooking)
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I didn’t use all the Casserole Mince in last night’s pasta sauce. So the left over “mince” (made from soy protein) was mixed with some of Maggie Beer’s Cabernet Table Sauce and a squirt of tomato paste (no added salt variety) and popped into the fridge. I’ll use it today to make toasted sandwiches on the sandwich press. If I’m feeling lazy or just after comfort food, I’ll just make a sandwich using the mince and some grated, reduced-fat tasty cheese.

If I’m feeling slightly more inclined, I’ll add some lettuce leaves and/or fresh herbs. Or, if I feel the need for a big lunch, I’ll spread a layer of cold, mashed potato onto the bread before topping it with the mince, cheese and salad leaves.

I’ll use either Brumby’s Pumpkin Bread or Sour Dough bread, depending what I’ve got in my kitchen (today it’s sour dough).

Whichever way I go, it’s still a healthy, vegetarian lunch!

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Vegetarian Pasta Bolognaise

January 6, 2008 at 4:41 am (cooking)
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How can you have a vegetarian version of pasta with bolognaise sauce? Easy. Fake meat. Yes, this will offend some vegetarians out there. But for me, I am happy to use a number of meat substitutes. This particular meal, which I’m making later today, can be served without the pretend mince. Sometimes I omit it, sometimes I don’t. It just depends on my mood and appetite at the time of cooking.

This is a very quick meal to prepare. If you omit the sautéeing of the onion and mushrooms, then it’s even quicker. You can also omit any added vegetables if you’re in a real hurry. But I like to include them. For the sake of nutrition. And they taste nice.

  • 1 onion, diced
  • some mushrooms, sliced (your choice on how many, I add enough to fill a breakfast bowl)
  • 1 zucchini (courgette), green or yellow, chopped into chunks
  • 440g tin crushed or chopped tomatoes, no added salt variety
  • 440g tin lentils (Sanitarium brand, comes with gravy and onion)
  • 440g tin Sanitarium Casserole Mince (sometimes I only use 1/2 tin)
  • small handful of your favourite olives, pitted
  • cumin, sweet paprika, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, oregano
  • splash of either tomato paste, purée, or your favourite sauce
  • maybe 1/2 cup water or stock or even red wine

Sautée the onions and mushrooms in a very small amount of oil, on low heat. I cook using grape seed oil or macadamia oil, that’s my personal preference. I find olive oil a bit strong for cooking. Add your spices (cumin, paprika) and cook till softened. Add the chopped tomatoes and lentils. Stir. Add the sauce and or tomato paste. Stir. Determine how much water or stock you need to add – it will boil down a bit during the simmering process but you don’t want it too watery. I add the Casserole Mince now and the herbs and the pepper. Stir. I add a few pinches of salt, it measures out to be just under 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes if cooking on the stove top. If cooking in the microwave, heat on high for about 6 – 8 minutes. I add the olives at the very end, they don’t need to be cooked, just heated through.

Cook your favourite pasta. Drain. Serve with the sauce and some parmesan.

Eat! Enjoy!

(I have done this recipe whilst on holiday using just the lentils and the tomatoes and a handful of herbs, it turned out very nicely.)

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When it’s hot, salads help

January 6, 2008 at 4:10 am (cooking)
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I know I wrote that I don’t like to eat salad all through the summer. But there are times when a salad is a very pleasant meal. As we’ve had maximum temperatures over 40 degrees these past few days, and I’ve been feeling lazy, salad has been served and happily eaten the past two nights.

My salad is a mix of panzanella or fatoush and greek salads, with the dressing courtesy of Rosemay Stanton.

Desertgirl’s Salad

crisp lettuce leaves, chopped or torn(I bought a bag of mixed cos lettuce leaves, some green, some red, lovely)

handfuls of parsley, chopped roughly (I used both continental flat-leaf & curly varieties)

fresh basil leaves, chop if large otherwise leave whole (use enough for your preference)

a few vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered, seeded, then diced

continental cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise, de-seeded lightly, diced into chunks

Australian kalamata pitted olives, halved (I use Sandhurst olives)

Fetta cheese, crumbled (I use reduced-fat fetta from South Cape, Tasmania as I find it’s creamier and not as salty)

Mix it up all in a bowl. Serve. I allow people to dress their salads individually, but here’s the dressing I’ve been using lately:

balsamic vinegar, splash of grape seed oil, juice of half an orange, some garlic. Mix.

I serve the salad either in bowls, or I often will grab some flat bread (I use Greek Yiros bread as it stretchier and most flat breads are delivered frozen to Alice Springs and tend to be brittle when defrosted. The yiros bread tends to not dry out so much.) I spread some hommus (reduced fat hommus is yummy!) on the bread, plonk on plenty of salad, roll it up and eat! By using the bread I feel I’m eating a far heartier meal than if I just ate salad from a bowl alone.

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