Spicy Vegetable and Quinoa Laksa

"YOU EAT WITH YOUR EYES". I find this statement to be so true; But, the taste of dish, I must admit, tastes a lot better than it looks. I don't like the look of vegetables once they've been cooked for a while, they lose their crisp vibrant colour.

- 1 onion, diced
-  4 tablespoons curry paste
- 1 litre milk
- 750g frozen vegetables
- 175g quinoa, rinsed

1. In a large frypan, simmer the onion and curry paste for around 2 minutes, then add a splash of water. Simmer this for 5 minutes. Heat the milk in a jug in the microwave.

2. To the onion and curry, add the vegetables, quinoa, and milk. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked. The quinoa will absorb most of the liquid. *I noticed it absorbed a lot more once I turned the heat off and let it sit.* Check for seasoning.


how I like my vegetables to look

 



the finished dish

Kale, Lentil and Quinoa Soup

For this recipe, I substituted the kale for spinach as I can never seem to find any at my local supermarket. I found the cayenne pepper gave the dish a nice bite, but it still seemed a bit bland, so testing a little bit with my mum, we decided it needed a tablespoon or two of honey, and some salt.

- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 medium carrots, diced             

- 2 small parsnips diced
- 2 sticks of celery, diced
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 5 cups water
- 28oz/794g can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup caned brown lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 cups kale (or spinach)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil and cook the garlic, celery, carrot and parsnip until it has softened slightly.

2. Add the garam masala, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, thyme and oregano.

3. Add the water, tomatoes, lentils and quinoa and bring to the boil.

4. Reduce the heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes, until the quinoa soaks up most of the liquid.

5. Stir in the chopped kale (or spinach) and season with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

*if using honey, mix it in after taking it off the heat.* 

Creamy Chicken Fettuccine

You learn something new every day. I have had a can of cream of chicken soup in the cupboard for a little while now, and I've noticed there is no use by date on the can. I didn't know what to expect to see once I opened the can, but it was fine. I only realized it as fine once I went and bought another can. AND THERE'S LITTLE CHUNKS OF CHICKEN in the soup too! I never knew this.

- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 750g chicken                                 

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 400g can cream of chicken soup
- 300ml thickened cream
- 375g fettuccine


1. Cook fettuccine according to packet directions.

2. Heat the oil in a large frypan. Cook the chicken then add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft.

3. Blend in the soup and cream. Cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Check for seasoning.

4. Mix the fettuccine in with the creamy sauce.  

Nutella Macarons

I have failed making macarons so many times it's not funny. If it's not my shell failing from being under cooked, put in the oven too soon, or the feet not rising much, it's my filling that fails. Well this day, somehow, my macarons decided to work.


- 1 egg white
- 50g caster sugar
- 30g icing sugar
- 30g almond meal
- some chopped hazelnuts (for the top)
- nutella (for the filling)


1. Whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar until stiff peaks form.


2. Fold in the sifted combined icing sugar and almond meal. (DO NOT OVER MIX)


3. Pipe blobs of mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and leave to rest for 30 minutes.


4. After 30 minutes, touch a blob lightly. If it doesn't stick to you, then they're ready to go into the oven. If they do, leave until it doesn't. Add some chopped hazelnuts to every 2nd blob.


5. Bake for 15 minutes at 150 degrees celcius. Once 15 minutes is up, if you lightly push on a shell and it doesn't move on the feet, they're ready. If they do move, leave for another minute. Remove from the oven and cool.


6. Once cool, sandwich together with the amount of nutella to your liking.

step 3

 

 

 

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Cannelloni

Every time that I've made this dish I've used the hard cannelloni rolls to stuff. I have so much trouble trying to fill them because they always seemed to break on me. I've even tried to stuff them after cooking them a little bit making them softer... made it worse if you ask me. But when I shopping for my ingredients, I noticed in the fridge section there's fresh lasagne sheets and next to them were FRESH CANNELLONI SHEETS. These were so easy to use!! They're in little rectangles, you put your stuffing on them, then they just roll up without tearing!!

- 1 tub creamed ricotta
- 1 tub cottage cheese
- 2 packets fresh cannelloni sheets
- 1 bunch spinach
- 2 small cans of tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian salad herbs
- 1 packet parmesan cheese

1. Cook spinach until it is soft, set aside and cool.

2. When cooled, add the mixed cheeses and a little of the parmesan.

3. Stuff the cannelloni sheets with the spinach mixture and roll.

4. Make the sauce by combining the canned tomatoes with the salad herbs in a saucepan and heating. Add salt and pepper.

5. Put the rolled cannelloni into baking trays and top with sauce and parmesan cheese.

6. Bake at 180 degrees celcius until the cheese has browned to your liking.

step 3

step 5

step 5

 

Beef Stroganoff

Just when I thought I finished making the dish, I realized I forgot one of the main ingredients. The sour cream. Thank goodness I realized before it was too late.

- 2 tablespoons oil                    
- 500g beef, cut in strips                          

- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 420g can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon worcestshire sauce
- 150g mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons parsley

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the beef and cook for 3 minutes or until browned. Add the onion and paprika and cook until soft.

2. Add the soup, tomato sauce, and worcestshire sauce and mix well. Stir in the mushrooms. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until meat is tender.

3. Stir in the sour cream and parsley.  

Orzo with Sundried Tomatoes and Mushrooms

When I found this recipe, I didn't know what orzo was. I was thinking maybe it was some sort of Spanish meat. Boy I was wrong. I looked it up, and found it was a type of pasta. I just used risoni in the dish as it looked the same. I could not believe the taste of the sun dried tomatoes. They're so tasty!

- 1 cup orzo (in my case risoni)                    

- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 large clove garlic, crushed
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat your stock in a saucepan.

2. In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until it is soft.

3. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are cooked. Remove to a bowl.

4. Add the orzo to the pan. Stir to coat the orzo with the oil.

5. Cook the orzo like a risotto... Add a little bit of the hot stock to the orzo, stir occasionally to avoid sticking, then when that stock is soaked up, add a little more. Continue until all the stock is gone ad the orzo is tender.

6. Add the mushroom mixture that you set aside in the bowl (STEP 3). Mix in the parmesan cheese and parsley.

7. Check for salt and pepper.