Braised Coconut Spinach and Chick Peas with lemon

I have not much to say about this dish except for WOW! The flavours of everything just burst in your mouth. You can use this dish as a main meal or side dish.

- 2 teaspoons oil                

- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
- 1 large lemon, zested and juiced
- 1 can chick peas (400g)
- 1 bunch spinach, chopped
- 1 can coconut milk (400ml)
- salt

1. In a large frypan, heat your oil and add the onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, and lemon zest and stri fry for 3 minutes.

2. Add your chick peas and stir until golden.

3. Add your spinach, a handful at a time. Add the coconut milk, salt and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes until the chick peas are heated through.

African Curried Coconut Soup with Chick Peas

Okay, so the colder weather is on its way and as the years have gone by, I've found myself enjoying these soupy kind of foods now. I'll admit, I never really enjoyed soups or fillers such as chick peas or lentils, but now, since finding all these interesting foods, I'm quite enjoying them and the unique flavours.

- 1 1/2 cups chick peas
- 1 cup of brown rice (I use the pre cooked rice in a packet)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped                      
- 1 medium capsicum, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 cups of vegetable stock
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pepper
- 1 bunch of spinach
- 1 can of coconut milk (400ml)


1. Put the chopped spinach in a pot and cover it with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the liquid has evaporated.

2. In a large soup pot, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic and capsicum. Cook stirring until soft.

3. Add the vegetable stock, spinach, chick peas, tomatoes, curry, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat. Simmer gently stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.

4. Add the  coconut milk and rice and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes until heated through.

Vegetarian Sour Cream Pasta

I never thought that basil and parsley would accompany each other so well. Let alone basil in sour cream. Next time I make this dish, I think I might put a little bit of chopped up sun dried tomatoes in it.
                                                           

- 300g pasta
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups of vegetables stock
- 200g sour cream
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- 1 zucchini, sliced
- 150g spinach (I just used a whole bunch)
- 100g mushrooms, sliced
- 1 capsicum, sliced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil


1. Cook your pasta according to the packet directions.

2. In a large frypan, heat the oil and add the zucchini, capsicum, mushrooms and spinach.

3. Once the vegetables are soft, add the vegetable stock, sour cream, tomato paste and paprika. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat.

4. Add the cooked pasta and the herbs.

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Soup)

When the hamburger shop down the road from me started cooking Thai food, I tried this soup that I thought the name sounded quite strange. I loved it! It was quite fresh with the lemony flavour, but I don't really like the Asian style mushrooms, so I would pick them out. Just scrolling through Thai recipes the other night, I came across a coconut soup with the same name. I just had to try it and I was so pleased it was the same one.


- 300g chicken, sliced and cooked                      

- 2 cups of coconut milk
- 2 cups of water
- 6 mushrooms (I just used a handful of sliced mushrooms)
- a little bit of grated ginger (I used about a tablespoon)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves ... can you eat the lime leaves? I always take them out in case you can't.
- 4 chillies (I only put a little bit as I'm getting mum used to the heat)
- 6-7 pieces of lemongrass
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons fish sauce (I used 1 and a bit teaspoons... bit pongy for my nose)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoons lime juice


1. Boil the coconut milk and the water together over medium heat for about 8 minutes.

2. Add the ginger, lemongrass, sugar and lime leaves.

3. Add the chicken and salt and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and add the mushrooms and chilli.

4. Add the fish sauce and the lime juice as you desire.

Orange Balsamic Glazed Chicken

I found the orange in this dish to be quite strong. Even though it dos say orange in the name of it, I still wasn't expecting it to be that strong. I think it might have tasted pretty strong to me because I'm not a huge fan of orange flavoured food, I prefer to eat the fruit itself.

- 3 tablespoons oil                      

- 1/2kg chicken tenderloins
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pepper
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- zest of 1 orange
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried sage


1. Heat the oil in a frypan and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Cook until golden.

2. In a jug, combine the honey, orange juice, orange zest, balsamic vinegar and the sage.

3. Once chicken is cooked, spread some of step 2 onto the pieces and turn over. Let cook for a few minutes to become sticky and repeat on the other side. (I did this a couple of times, then ended up tipping the rest of step 2 in the frypan with the chicken).

4. Serve accompanied with grilled potatoes.

Lime and Coconut Chicken

I found that when I was testing the sauce, I didn't really like what I think was the sour? Yes, I think it was sour, taste it left on my tongue. I added some salt and it balanced it out, making it taste delicious. To me, the taste of the dish reminds me of the taste of Thai food.


- oil
- 1 tablespoon Worcestshire sauce                
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 500g chicken, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 3 shallots, sliced
- 415 ml coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon lime juice


1. In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of Worcestshire sauce, the soy sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Add the chicken and set aside for 1 hour.

2. After an hour, cook the chicken with salt and pepper and the shallots until browned and cooked. Transfer to a plate.

3. To the same fry pan you removed the chicken from, add the coconut milk, lime juice, the remaining 2 teaspoons of Worcestshire sauce and the other 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar. Bring to simmer and simmer until the sauce reduces to around 1/3. (around 5 minutes). Stir in the chicken and shallots and season. Warm through.

Veal Martini

For 2 weeks, I am covering my boss' shift while she has time off. The part I like the best? Because I start early, I get to come home early. Just in time to make a yummy fresh dinner. So this week and next week, I have been and will be making my dinners fresh instead of making them in advanced and freezing them. As handy as having frozen dinners made for during the week, it is nice to fresh stuff. Looking for a recipe for dinner tonight, I came across veal martini. I've only known martini to be a drink, and after looking at the ingredients, I thought it sounded quite tasty.

- 500g veal steaks
- 3 cups of chicken stock             

- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (420g can)
- 3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, oil patted from them with paper towel and sliced
- 1/4 cup minced shallot
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup finely sliced basil

1. In a saucepan, bring the wine an chicken stock to the boil and simmer until it is reduced by half.

2. In a frypan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and shallots. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and remove and set aside.

3. Combine the flour, salt and pepper, and coat the veal with it.

4. Add the rest of the butter to the frypan, and cook the veal to your liking. Remove and set aside.

5. To the same frypan, add the reduced wine and stock mix. Mix with the yummies left behind by the veal and cook for 1 minute.

6.  Return the veal and the mushroom mix to the sauce and stir in the tomatoes and basil.

*May I suggest maybe serving this dish with some mashed potato.