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.

Beef Jhal Faraizi

One of the best ways to use up leftover roast beef and potatoes.

This has a bit of heat to it but if you like your food spicier then, throw a sliced red chilli in when you are cooking the onion.

Serves 4-6 depending on sides. When it comes to frying the eggs, I take a straw poll of those eating and just cook enough for them with no spares!

Ingredients

900g potatoes, cooked and peeled

1-2 tablespoons oil

500g cooked roast beef, cut into 0.5cm dice

1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chilli flakes

2 medium or 1 large red onion, diced

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 handful fresh coriander

6-12 fried eggs depending on appetites

Method

Boil the potatoes with their skins on, drain and set aside to cool.

Once cool enough to touch, peel the skins from the potatoes and dice roughly to 1cm.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, I use a 32 cm pan for this.

Add the seeds and chilli flakes, once fragrant, add the beef and onion.

Cook over a medium heat until the onion has softened.

Now add the potatoes, turmeric, salt and pepper. Turn the heat up high and let the potoatoes catch a little on the pan to get some colour.

If they aren’t  browning up enough for you, turn the grill on and slide the pan under, being careful not to melt the handle!

Once the potatoes have some colour, stir through the coriander, fry the eggs and serve with the eggs on top.

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.

Coriander Dressing

This is one of those fab dressings that goes with so many things, we have it poured over roast chicken pieces, salads, barbecued meat and roast vegetables.

I delight in the fact that some of the vibrancy of the sauce comes from a sneaky handful of spinach leaves, what the boys don’t know won’t hurt them!

Ingredients

a large bunch of coriander, around 70g

1 cup firmly packed baby spinach

1 green chilli, deseeded

1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

juice of 1 lime

60-80mls olive oil

salt and pepper

 Method

In a food processor, whizz the coriander, spinach, chilli and garlic.

Pour in the lime juice and with the motor running pour in enough oil to get it to the consistency that you are after.

Mexican Green Chorizo

This is so tasty I always make double!

Can’t get the kids to eat greens? Give this a try, I serve it with mini tortillas and the boys make their own, we can get through an entire lettuce, 2 capsicums, 4 avocados and 10 tomatoes, never mind the sneaky spinach and capsicum in the chorizo!

Although I crumbled this for tonight’s dinner it also works well as a burger and sausages.

Leftovers are brilliant with eggs, over an omelette or scrambled eggs is a favourite in our house of I have thrown a little chorizo crumble into the boys school wraps for added zing!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

small green capsicum

80g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

30g green jalapeño chilli, deseeded

4 garlic cloves, peeled

50g baby spinach leaves

1 lime, zest and juice

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

500g minced pork

a little oil to fry

Method

Over a BBQ or gas ring, singe the skin of the capsicum, all over until it is completely black. Pop the capsicum in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Wait for 15-20 minutes and then remove from the bowl and rub off the skin, remove the seeds and stalk too.

In a food processor, whizz the capsicum, coriander, jalapeño, garlic, spinach, lime zest, lime juice, oregano, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper to form a bright green paste.

Weigh the meat into a bowl and add the paste, mix really well with your hands.

Form into any shape that you want, patties, sausages or crumble as I use.

Heat a large frying pan, I use a 32cm non stick pan, add a splash of oil and once hot tip in the green meat.

Using the side of a wooden spoon break up the meat, turning and squishing all the time.

To begin with lots of fluid will release but just keep cooking, on high heat until the water evaporates and the meat is beginning to colour up.

Serve immediately.

 

Teriyaki Chicken Burgers

Burgers are always very popular with the boys, anything that they can eat with their hands and all that!

This is a bit of a double whammy recipe as any leftover cooked chicken and the cooked down marinade can be combined to become the starting point of teriyaki sushi, another popular meal in my house.

I use gluten free soy sauce, my local Asian shop is a treasure trove and I can buy an enormous bottle of GF soy sauce for the same price as a tiny one in the big chain supermarket, they also have mirin, Japanese cooking sake and the most beautiful fresh herbs, hence the coriander in these burgers.

Serves 6-8 depending on appetites and sides. For the gluten free option, I have my chicken with a side salad and some steamed rice.

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts, mine were 1.2kg

175mls gluten free soy sauce

75mls mirin

30g caster sugar

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

40mls sesame oil

8 bread rolls

salad leaves

fresh coriander, stems and leaves

mayonnaise mixed with a little wasabi

Method

Take a chicken breast and cut it at an angle downwards to create one thick half and one thinner half.

Line a chopping board with baking parchment, place one of the halves on it, cover with more baking parchment and use the flat side of a meat tenderiser or a rolling pin to whack the chicken down to around 1 cm thickness.

Now, take a fork and pierce it all over.

Set aside and repeat with the other half and then continue with the other chicken breasts.

In a large bowl combine the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic and ginger. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Place the chicken into the marinade and allow to marinade for 30 minutes.

Let most of the marinade drip off and lay the chicken breasts on a tray.

Drizzle the sesame oil over the chicken breasts and rub in.

Pour the leftover marinade into a shallow pan and reduce over a high heat until thick and syrupy. Take off the heat.

Preheat the barbecue or non stick frying pan over a medium to high heat.

Cook the chicken, turning once and ensure its cooked through.

Remove to a warm plate and allow to rest for 5 minutes while you get the rolls ready.

I spread the base of the roll with a little mayo and wasabi, top with salad leaves.

Spoon a little of the concentrated marinade over the cut side of the top of the roll. It can be quite salty so check for flavour first, less is more with this sauce!

Place the chicken on the salad leaves, top with coriander and then the lid.

 

Middle Eastern Meatballs With Yogurt And Tahini Sauce

Humble mince, I can remember joking as a child that my Mum had one hundred and one ways of cooking mince but this certainly wasn’t one of them!

Loved by the boys the meatballs are sweetened with dates and the sauce tastes very mild. I serve these with Lebanese flatbreads and salad, as we all know, food tastes so much better when you eat with your hands!

I use fresh gluten free bread for my breadcrumbs and these meatballs freeze well too. Just brown them, place in freezer proof tray, and pour over the sauce. Cool and then freeze.

Makes 40 meatballs.

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and quartered

3 garlic cloves

70g dates

80g breadcrumbs, gluten free if needed

100g pistachio kernals

5 teaspoons ground cumin

6 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

50g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

600g ground beef/ minced beef

SAUCE

350g Greek yogurt

90g tahini

1 garlic clove, crushed

zest of 1 lemon

150mls water

salt and pepper

Method

Using a processor, process the onion and garlic.

Add the dates, breadcrumbs, pistachios, cumin, ground coriander, fresh coriander, salt and pepper.

Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped.

Tip this paste into a bowl, add the egg and minced beef and using your hands mix really well.

At this stage you can leave the meat in the fridge for 4-12 hours to develop its flavour or carry on as below.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade.

Heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium to high heat. You can add a little oil if you want but I tend to just use the dry pan.

Form the meat into small meatballs, you should get around 40.

Cook the meatballs in batches, just to seal the outside. Place the sealed meatballs in an oven proof dish and continue to cook the remaining balls.

Once all of the meatballs are sealed, spread them evenly in your oven proof dish.

In a jug, combine the yogurt, tahini, garlic, lemon zest, water and salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over and around the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are just cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Spicy Green Chicken

School Summer hols mean lots of barbecuing in our house, it keeps the heat outside and food cooks quickly for my hungry boys.

This chicken marinade has a wonderfully zesty flavour to it and although has a little chilli it isn’t fiery, just really flavourful.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

1.2 kg chicken breasts, cut into thin slices, around 1cm wide and 5-10cm long

75mls olive oil

3 limes, juiced

4-5 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 large jalapeños, seeds removed

100g fresh coriander

salt and pepper

Method

Using a stick blender or processor, whizz up the lime juice, garlic, 1 jalapeño, the salt and pepper to a thick paste.

Combine the chicken and paste.

Quarter the other chilli, lengthwise, deseeded and slice, add to the chicken and mix well again.

Allow the chicken to marinade for an hour at least.

Heat a BBQ hot plate or a large frying pan over very high heat.

Once very hot, add the chicken and fry until all of the liquid has evaporated.

Chicken and Sweetcorn Hand Pies

Leftovers come back to life in these fun pies.

I tend to make up a BIG batch and then freeze them to be reheated at a later date, normally evenings when we are all coming and going a bit too much!

Makes 12 pies.

Ingredients

450g cooked chicken, brown and white meat

400g frozen sweetcorn, defrosted

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 red onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 jalapeño, deseeded and finely diced

250g cream cheese

20g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

salt and pepper

1 kg puff pastry sheets, 6 sheets

1 egg, beaten

smoked paprika

Method

In a large pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft, add the chilli and garlic and cook for two minutes.

Add the cooked chicken and sweetcorn to the pan and mix well.

Add the cream cheese and mix until the cheese has melted and coated the chicken. Season well and allow to cool completely.

Once the filling has cooled, stir through the coriander.

Defrost the pastry and cut each sheet in half, spoon one twelfth of the filling onto one half of the cut sheet, brush the edges with egg and seal using a fork. Brush the top with egg and sprinkle over a little smoked paprika. Repeat with the remaining filling and pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the pies in batches for around 30 minutes until crispy.

 

Apple And Walnut Salad

A lovely crisp and crunchy salad.

Summer is fast approaching in Western Australia so salads are making a come back. I find that fussy kids are more likely to eat salad when it features fruit and nuts!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced finely

75g walnut halves, broken a little by hand

150g baby spinach

2 spring onions, finely sliced

a handful of roughly chopped coriander

DRESSING

2 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1/2 a lime

salt and pepper

Method

Take a dry frying pan, add the nuts and heat gently over a medium heat until a little roasted, remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Layer up the salad, leaves apple, nuts, onions and coriander.

Combine the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad.

Serve immediately or the apples may brown.