Gnocchi, because it’s nice

August 29, 2008 at 5:52 am (Uncategorized)
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The shepherd’s pie went down a treat. For me anyway. :) Tonight I have a large amount of that pasta sauce I made a couple of days ago (scroll down for previous post). I can’t be bothered cooking up more mashed potato to make yet another shepherd’s pie. Strolling the supermarket this morning I saw gnocchi and I thought perfect! Gnocchi is fresh pasta made from mashed potato. Another soothing to the stomach comfort food. So tonight it’s fresh gnocchi with the lentil/tomato/pretend mince and mushroom pasta sauce. A healthy sprinkle of freshly shredded parmesan melted on top. Yum!

Lunches the past few days have consisted of dipping into the left over mashed potato for a couple of spoonfuls, a handful of grated low-fat tasty cheese, and a beaten egg with a spoon full of water. Mix ingredients in small dish and microwave until egg is cooked. Today, just because I had some, I added a large hand of chopped fresh parsley. So the messy, eggy mush is sort of like scrambled egg with potato. Tastes good though and is soothing to the GERD afflicted stomach.

This afternoon’s snack was 3 slices of tinned peaches, a teaspoon of muesli for the crunch and nut factor, topped with yogurt that I’d mixed with a teaspoon of blood orange juice. Very tasty and quite filling. Normally I’d avoid citrus but I have found that a teaspoon of the juice of the sweeter varieties doesn’t upset me. And blood oranges smell divine!

Cheers,

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A Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

August 27, 2008 at 6:26 am (Uncategorized)
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I’m after comfort food today. Comfort food for GERD sufferers that is. Something that will not irritate, not cause an excess of stomach acid, something that will be soothing to my oesophagus and stomach and other digestive organs. This means cooking something with potatoes, you can’t go wrong with potatoes as long as they’re microwaved, steamed, baked or even boiled, just don’t add fat. Shepherd’s Pie. Lots of potatoes. But wait, I’m a vegetarian! How do I accomplish this?
Let’s start with the potatoes. I’ve chosen the casserole dish I’m going to use and worked out how many potatoes, once mashed, it will take to cover the dish. For me it’s 3 large potatoes (Lady Christl potatoes as it happens, nice yellow flesh that mashes nicely). I don’t bother peeling, just chop and microwave till tender. I mash them adding only 1 teaspoon of butter. Now here’s where I do something a bit different. My mash is quite lumpy and textured, nice but not smooth. I make up a small serve of Deb instant mash and add it to my own potatoes. Makes for a very yummy tasting potato mash! And it spreads nicely. Okay, potatoes done.
For the “savoury mince” I basically make up a very thick pasta sauce, vegetarian of course. For those GERD sufferers who are saying “but I can’t eat tomatoes” please remember the 10 minute/2 hour rule – either cook the tomatoes for less than 10 mins (i.e. leave them raw) or simmer them for 2 hours. This will eliminate or neutralize any acid in the tomatoes. Tinned tomatoes have usually been cooked so won’t need the full 2 hours, experiment and see.
My “savoury mince”/pasta sauce consists of sauteed onion (small) and mushrooms (lots), add a 425g tin tomatoes (no added salt), 425g tin tomato puree (no salt), 425g tin of lentils (Sanitarium’s Savoury Lentils), a squirt of worcestershire sauce (small squirt) (and I could have used red wine or other flavouring), diced carrots and chopped zucchini. A bit of water, some salt (1 tsp) and herbs and spices (remember to use “warm” spices only or if you’re having a bad day just go with the green or dried herbs). Allow to simmer on the stove top for an hour. Should thicken up nicely and smell delicious.
For extra protein I added a can of Sanitarium’s Casserole Mince. This looks like dog food which is why I only use it in thick, rich tomato based dishes. Once it’s covered it doesn’t look so bad. It is made from gluten, so for those of you who are allergic or wish to avoid gluten, try a soy based “mince”.
Casserole Mince

Casserole Mince

Place some of the “savoury mince” into your casserole dish. Top with the mashed potato. Sprinkle with your preferred cheese (I used grated parmesan) and perhaps some dried parsley and/or sweet paprika (just for colour). Bake in a 180C oven for about half an hour until the potato is crisp and golden or the cheese has melted.

Mine is cooling on the bench and smells just divine! (Sorry, no photo for now). Looking forward to dinner!

Cheers,

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Still recovering & it’s still summer

January 20, 2008 at 7:24 am (Uncategorized)
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I’m still recovering from the gastritis associated with my GERD. Eating healthy, very low-fat, and in small, regular portions rather than a set 3 meals per day. It just takes time to get back to feeling “normal” and pain free.

We’re still eating the dhal and rice I cooked a few nights ago. Who would have thought that 3 small potatoes, 2 small carrots and 1 cup of lentils would have made so much food!! This will be our 4th night. Just as well it’s yummy. And it’s very soothing comfort food for an inflamed stomach (as long as you leave out any hot spices like chilli or curry powder).

Lunches have been delightful affairs. Take a small pita bread, warm or toast lightly. Spread with light Philly (cream cheese, 80% reduced fat version). Cover with a small handful of assorted lettuce & salad leaves (I use mignonette, baby spinach & cos). Throw some fresh, chopped basil and lots of parsley on top (I use continental or flat-leaf parsley for its stronger taste). Finally, a few halved kalamata olives. Eat. Enjoy! This tastes so fresh and green!

In spite of the heat (we’re back to days of 39 and higher temperatures again) I opted to do some baking yesterday. I followed the recipe in Nigella Lawson’s book Nigella Express, for Breakfast Bars.  It was incredibly easy to throw together and only made a few, slight alterations to the recipe.

Pre-heat the oven to 130C (a very slow oven). Mix together in a very large bowl:

  • 250g rolled oats (not the instant oats)
  • 75g shredded coconut (I used moist coconut flakes)
  • 50g dried cranberries (craisins – available in the dried fruit/baking aisle of Australian supermarkets)
  • 50g mixed dried fruit (I use Angas Park’s Dried Fruit Medley)
  • 125g mixed seeds (I used pumpkin seeds, sunflower kernels and pine nuts, conveniently packaged together by the “Lucky” brand in Australia.)
  • 100g chopped, unsalted macadamia nuts (Nigella’s recipe calls for 125g peanuts but I prefer macadamias and I only had 100g.)

Open a 395g can of condensed milk and pour into saucepan. Warm gently. (I used the “skinny” or reduced fat version of condensed milk. If you read the nutrition label on the cans you’ll see there’s an incredible difference in fat content!)

When the milk is warm, pour over the mixture and stir thoroughly. You want everything coated. Spread the mixture into an oiled rectangular baking tin or use a throw away foil one, 23 x 33 x 4 cm. Bake in slow oven for 1 hour.

I found the top was beginning to crisp a little too much after 45 minutes so covered the top with some foil. Next time I’ll bake covered for the first 20 mins, then uncovered to ensure it turns golden and slightly crisp.

Let the tray cool for 15 minutes, then cut into 16 chunky squares. Let cool completely. Store in airtight container.

I have to say, this recipe is definitely a winner. I have tried a number of differing recipes for muesli and breakfast bars, but this has been the best. And it’s healthy. Although do remember that because of the condensed milk and the dried fruit, the sugar content is high.

Rather than eating these for breakfast, I eat them as a hefty snack. Preferably in two sittings. Each of those 16 bars was a fair size.

I think you could also make “biscuits” (cookies) out of this recipe too if you didn’t want the bother of cutting up slices. I’ll experiment next time I make this. I think it would work out well if I rolled out small balls for biscuits and they’d make a lot more than 16. Cooking times would need to be adjusted.

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GERD is a pain in the gut

January 17, 2008 at 6:27 am (Uncategorized)
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I’ve been unwell over the past couple of days with GERD (well, I assume that’s what it is). Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. A wee bit of nocturnal reflux and a lot of upper right abdominal pain which pierced right through to my back. Into this mix we throw some nausea and feelings of feebleness. The pain was so severe the other night that I did consider asking to be taken to the emergency department at the local hospital, but I was so tired and all I wanted was to sleep. Which I did, off and on … eventually. I’m not yet fully convinced that my gall bladder isn’t involved with my (poor) health symptoms. (Previous tests, usually done when I’m symptom free, have shown no sign of gall stones or inflammation.)

I lost most of my appetite over the few days of illness. I was eating only because I knew I had to. Thankfully I’d managed to roast some potatoes, kumara (orange sweet potato) and red capsicum, which I then served over a bed of warm, lime-juice drenched couscous. My partner and daughter both loved it. I was able to eat it, but as I said earlier, I was only eating because I knew I had to keep up my nutrients.

Today I feel I’m back into the land of the living and my appetite is returning, albeit slowly. I watched Nigella Lawson’s Feast last night. It was the episode featuring exotic, bite-sized foods.  Whilst I didn’t feel the rush and urgent need to dive into my kitchen and start cooking as I usually do after watching Nigella, I did feel slightly inspired, with the thought “must file those recipes away for future use”. So I knew I was on the road to recovery.

This morning I opted to cook something that is warming to eat and look at, nourishing and extremely low-fat yet high in protein. I wanted something to fill me up, that would make me feel good inside, that would feel as though it was healing my inflamed stomach and intestines. (My intestines feel like they’ve had the rough end of a pineapple shoved through them, brutally, leaving me feeling very sore and bruised inside.)

So I prepared a form of dhal. I added chickpeas and vegetables to my lentils.

  • 1 onion, diced finely
  • spices: ground cumin, coriander, turmeric & garam masala (to taste)
  • 440g tin chopped tomatoes (no added salt)
  • 1 cup vegetable stock (plus extra water or stock)
  • 1 cup red lentils (dried)
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 3 small potatoes, chopped or diced into small cubes
  • 440g tin chickpeas
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh parsley or other green herbs to taste, chopped roughly

Sauté the onion on low heat until onion is very soft, almost caramalized. (I cook in grape seed oil and use a large, heavy-based saucepan.) Stir in the cumin, coriander and turmeric whilst onion cooks. This will release the aromas and flavours of the spices. I used 1 large tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander and probably 1/4 tsp of turmeric (just a sprinkle). I added 1 tsp garam masala just as the onion was fully cooked.

Add the tin of chopped tomatoes (you could use 2 -3 fresh tomatoes, peel first) and then the cup of stock. At this stage I saw a cup of liquid stock was not going to be adequate so I added another half cup of water. I then added the carrots, potatoes, lentils and chickpeas. Stir. Add more stock or water to cover (you need enough liquid for the carrots and potatoes to boil and cook, and to allow for the lentils to swell during cooking.) Reduce heat and simmer, with the lid on for 20 – 30 mins until lentils and other vegetables are cooked through.  Stir occasionally. I found I needed to add a bit more water during the cooking.

When it’s cooked, the dhal should be thickened, all vegetables cooked through, the lentils softened and it should look and smell glorious. If you’re a fan of spicy or curry, you could add curry powder to the mix. I omitted this today as I know my stomach wouldn’t cope.

I added a big chunk of chopped fresh parsley at the end and transferred into a large casserole dish.

I’ll serve it tonight with wholemeal (brown) rice. I like the nutty flavour of the brown rice.

By the time the dhal and the rice were cooked it was almost lunchtime. I’d been flipping through a copy of Nigella Express and I was reminded of the scrumtiousness of  mushroom pizzas. Nigella uses naan bread, I used Greek Yiros bread. I spread a mix of hommus (reduced fat) and tomato paste over the base. Over this I scattered a very large helping of fresh, chopped basil and parsley. Some chopped Swiss Brown mushrooms and kalamata olives. Topped it off with a pile of grated reduced-fat tasty cheese. Cooked it in an 180C oven for 12 minutes until the cheese had turned golden but before the yiros bread had crisped too much. It was a delightfully aromatic experience to eat. Not to mention healthy. (I only ate half, my partner ate the other half.)

I only wish now that I was fit enough to go into town and do the shopping. But alas, I’m still recovering and I think the rest is doing me good. Maybe tomorrow.

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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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What to do with left over pasta and sauce

January 10, 2008 at 3:56 am (Uncategorized)
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We had plenty of sauce left over, and the taste had mellowed and improved over the days since it was first cooked. I’d picked up a packet of Latina’s new variety of fresh pasta – the wholemeal spinach and ricotta ravioli. My partner and I were curious to see how well the wholemeal version would taste. It was scrumptious. And we had some of that left over too, to which I added some cooked wholemeal spiral pasta. Mixed it in with the sauce, made a nice, thick cheese sauce which was poured over the top. Topped with grated cheese and slid it into an oven to bake for half an hour until the topping was all golden brown.

Utterly delightful!

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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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About the pasta sauce

January 7, 2008 at 2:23 am (cooking)
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Well I cooked my pasta sauce as detailed below. I sautéed the onions and mushies in a frypan on the stove top, but then finished the sauce off in the microwave as it was so hot and I didn’t want to heat the kitchen up any further.

Unfortunately, I didn’t notice at the time of cooking, but the onions didn’t soften as much as I’d have liked, so they’re a little crunchy. Nice, but well, just not soft and sweet.

And I possibly didn’t microwave the sauce for long enough. There was enough to fill a large round casserole dish and so I should have zapped it for around 8 to 10 minutes. Instead I only zapped it for 6, so it ended up having a very fresh, slightly raw taste. Raw is the wrong word because it was all cooked, it’s just that the onions and the zucchini (courgettes) were firm to the bite.

Still very edible though. Even if my partner said it was too runny (if I’d simmered it on the stove top it would have evaporated down and thickened a lot more).

We’re having the left-overs for tea tonight. And quite happily too.

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