Warm Rice Salad

As we roll through summer here in Western Australia salad becomes my go to veg option and now with the boys being teenagers, I need to bulk out the salads more to fill them up!

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

200g basmati rice

375mls water

120g iceberg lettuce, finely shredded

100g cucumber, finely sliced lengthwise, I use a potato peeler

4 large spring onions, sliced at an angle

80g fresh coriander/cilantro, roughly chopped

6 dried figs, chopped into 4-6 pieces each

1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced

80g shelled pistachios

25mls lime juice

25mls olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sumac

Salt and pepper

Method

Wash the rice, pour it into a pan with a tight fitting lid, add the water and cover. Bring the rice up to the boil and then simmer, covered for 12minutes. Turn the heat off and let the rice sit for 10minutes. Do not take the lid off during the cooking and sitting period!

Allow the rice to cool a little.

Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat and add the pistachios.

Dry roast for 3 minutes and then tip the nuts onto a chopping board.

Once the nuts are cool enough to handle, roughly chop.

Combine the lime juice, oil, sumac, salt and pepper, check the seasoning.

Fork through the rice and tip into a large bowl, add the vegetables, fruit and nuts, stir well, finally pour in the dressing and stir again before serving.

I sometimes keep a few pistachios back to throw on top at the end.

Zesty Coleslaw

Another coleslaw recipe, this one is great with rich meat when you need something light and zesty as a side or as I’ve done with pulled pork tonight. It’s also nice and easy to prepare for a barbecue as you let it sit around after making to let all the flavours meld together.

Adjust the herbs to suit your tastes or what you have available.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1/4 red cabbage, finely sliced

1 small red onion, finely sliced

140g snow pea sprouts, halved

2 tablespoons fresh chopped mint

1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill

3-4 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander, leaves and stalks

175mls sour cream

1 lime, juiced

Salt and pepper

Method

Combine the cabbage, onion, pea sprouts and fresh herbs in a bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream, lime juice and seasoning.

Pour the sour cream dressing over the cabbage mixture and stir well.

Allow to sit for 15-30 minutes before serving.

Stir again just before serving.

Taco Coleslaw

I’ve found that the best way to get raw vegetables into the boys is make them an essential component of their tacos!

We have this coleslaw with most of our tacos, fajitas and burritos. Due to the creamy dressing I tend not to have sour cream as well, another incentive to get the boys to eat veg and not just meat and sour cream!

We love dill so there is a fair whack of it in this salad but cut it back if you aren’t a fan. I do deseeded the pickled chillis but if you love spicy food, leave them in.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients

1/4 large white cabbage, very finely sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and julienned

25g fresh chives, snipped

25g dill, fronds picked and roughly chopped

2 pickled jalapeños, deseeded and finely diced

DRESSING

130mls mayonnaise

100mls sour cream

1 lime, juiced

Salt and pepper

Method

Combine the dressing ingredients.

Pour over the slaw ingredients and mix well, I use my hands.

Allow to sit for 30 minutes if you have time and then serve.

Peach Salsa

Summer is well and truly with us here in Western Australia.

With summer comes delicious stone fruits so I like to use peaches or nectarines in a salsa just to mix it up a little.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 yellow flesh peaches, stoned and diced

1/2 a jalapeno, deseeded and  finely diced

1 small shallot, peeled and  finely sliced

1/2 lime, juiced

a handful of fresh coriander

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.

Let the salsa sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Brussel Sprouts With Chorizo And Red Onion

Brussel sprouts can be a bit of a challenge for some people, memories of squishy sprouts boiled for hours is a very common one, especially around Christmas time in the UK!

These sprouts have nothing in common with those bad memories and if you are trying to persuade kids to eat sprouts this is the recipe to start them on!

These sprouts are still on the crispy side, if you want them on the softer side just cook them a little longer.

We sometimes have these sprouts with a runny egg on top, absolutely delicious or as a warm salad!

Serves 6.

Ingredients

170g chorizo

600g Brussel sprouts, trimmed, outer leaves removed and halved

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 1cm wedges

Method

Take the chorizo and remove the skin, then cut into quarters lengthwise. Next, slice each long quarter thinly at an angle to give you larger very thin slices.

Heat a large non stick pan over high heat, once hot add the chorizo and cook until crispy and the fat has rendered out of it.

Remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon, try to keep as much of the chorizo fat in the pan. set the chorizo aside.

Add the sprouts and onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Now turn the heat down to medium to stop the onions burning. Continue cooking the sprouts and onions for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently again.

Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, serve immediately.

Barbecued Lamb And Haloumi Salad

In a family of males, meat features regularly on the menu but this is a favourite, known as cave man salad by the boys and with the added bonus of bribing them to eat the salad as it has the meaty juices all over it!

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.4kgs well trimmed lamb cutlets

4 garlic cloves, crushed

8 teaspoon zatar

2 teaspoons sumac

2 teaspoons ground cumin

zest and juice of 1 lime

50 mls oil

200g haloumi

200g mixed lettuce leaves

1 carrot, grated

1 capsicum, thinly sliced

6 tomatoes, quartered

1 pomegranate, seeds only

Method

Combine the lamb, garlic, zatar, sumac, cumin, lime zest and juice, salt, pepper and oil, allow to marinade for thirty minutes.

Heat the barbecue flat plate over a high flame.

Mix all the salad ingredients and plate up.

Cook the haloumi on both sides and then place it on the salad.

Now pop the meat into the BBQ and cook, turning once, to your liking.

Place the cooked meat on the salad, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds and serve.

Corn Couscous With Edamame And Pinenuts

Corn couscous is a brilliant alternative if you are following a gluten free diet! It also makes a nice change from rice in our house. Check the cooking method recommended on the packet as there does seem to be some differences with the makers.

I’ve used chicken stock here but vegetable stock works very well too and if you aren’t a fan of edamame, frozen peas and baby spinach make a great alternative.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

30ml olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

215g corn couscous

250mls boiling chicken or vegetable stock

200g cooked edamame

50g Pinenuts, toasted

1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley

Method

Take a pan with a well fitting lid, heat over medium heat, add the oil and once hot, add the onions and cook until soft. Towards the end stir in the cumin too.

Pour in the stock and couscous, stir once and cover, allow to simmer gently for 2 minutes and then, leave covered for 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the edamame, pinenuts and parsley and serve hot or at room temperature.

Dukkah

Dukkah, what can I say, one of my favourite ingredients for so many things!

On its own with bread and olive oil, as a crust for chicken and fish, spooned over salads, sprinkled over rice, popped into soups, sprinkled over a mashed avocado, added to an egg for breakfast and even sprinkled over the top of barbecued meat.

This is a totally non traditional recipe, no hazelnuts and no roasting of spices but it works for us and keeps in a jar for a couple of weeks so this is the minimum quantity that I make.

Ingredients

60g macadamia nuts

50g pistachio nuts

4 teaspoons sesame seeds

3 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

a pinch of ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

a really good grinding of fresh ly ground pepper

salt to taste

Method

In a frying pan, toast the nuts until just beginning to colour. Tip onto a plate to cool.

In a large mortar and pestle, crush the nuts so that it’s mostly powdery with a few bigger pieces, don’t over do it or it will be oily and stick.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Taste and add a little more salt if needed.

Store in an airtight container.

Dukkah Coated Chicken Breasts

This is a nice easy cheat using shop bought dukkah with a little extra kick.

It can be hard to find chicken breasts with skin on and bones in here in Perth so I tend to buy whole chooks and break them down into breasts, thighs, legs and wings.

By having the skin on and bones in the breasts have so much more flavour and really retain their moisture. I like to thinly slice the breasts and serve them on top of a big green salad.

Serves 4 if serving them up individually or thinly sliced in salad serves 8.

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts, skin on, bones in

30g shop bought dukkah

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 pinch chilli powder

salt and pepper

olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Rub a little olive oil over the skin of each breast.

On a flat plate, combine the dukkah, cumin, sesame seeds, chilli, salt and pepper.

Dip the skin side of he chicken into the dukkah mix, ensure the skin is totally coated.

Repeat with the remaining breasts.

Place the breasts on the prepared tray and pop into the oven.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until fully cooked, baste half way through.

Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Fig And Macadamia Salad With Labne

Not really a recipe, more of suggestion with this!

Figs are in season for such a short time here I like to make the most of them, I also have to get them off the tree before the parrots find them!

I didn’t  dress this salad as I used shop bought Labne and it was in oil but a light dressing of oil and white wine vinegar would work well.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

150-200g mixed salad leaves

4 large figs, halved

90g macadamia nuts

100g Labne in oil

Method

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add the nuts and toast them until the are colouring but not burning, pour onto a plate to cool.

Once the nuts are cool, chop them roughly.

Plate the salad leaves, top with the cooled nuts, halved figs and small, teaspoon sized scoops of labne.