Super Tasty Zucchini Slice (thanks Sharon!)

Thanks to Sharon for sharing this recipe. I am going to make it during the week. If I remember I'll pop in a photo too:) 


I just made a super tasty zucchini slice.... I adapted it from one I found online to make it yummier. 

2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup grated carrot
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium sized chilli, chopped
chopped basil to taste
handful of grated cheese
2 heaped dessert spoons of plain flour
6 eggs, lightly mixed with a fork
oil and salt.

Heat oven to 180 degrees


Cook onion in a frying pan till soft, add garlic and grated veg, cook until excess juice has evaported and vegies are soft, season well with salt. 


Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool for 10 min, mix in cheese, flour, chilli, basil and eggs. Pour into a greased square cake/slice pan and bake until set, about 20min. 


Leave to cool slightly in pan, and slice into peices once warm. 


Makes about 8 serves.

Sweet Potato & Tumeric Soup

This is my favourite soup in the world.  I sort of made it up through trial and error.  It's a bit time consuming if you allow the mixture to cool so you can blend it...but well worth it.

Tablespoon Olive Oil
A large golden sweet potato - chopped into small cubes
1 medium brown onion - chopped
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 cm piece of fresh ginger - grated
1 birds eye chilli - deseeded and chopped (be careful doing this - watch rubbing your eyes!)
1 heaped tablespoon of tumeric
1 litre of water (4 cups)
2 Massel Vegie Stock Cubes
1 can (400ml) Coconut milk

Warm a big pot and place in oil.  Wait about a minute for oil to heat through and throw in the onion, chilli, garlic and ginger.  Stir fry until onion is transparent.  Try not to burn the spices.

Chuck in the sweet potato and tumeric.  Fry this a little until aromatic.

Add litre of warm water with stock cubes.  Bring to boil.  Then lower to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the sweet potato is soft.

Take this off the stove and allow to cool.  Blend the mixture in a blender until smooth.  If you blend it while its hot it tends to steam up and pop the top off your blender! you do not want tumeric on anything as it will stain or hot soup on your face!  You can always use a hand blender while its hot - but it doesn't make it as fine and creamy.

Place blended mixture back in the pot on the stove.  Heat through until hot, then stir through the can of coconut milk.  Remove from heat and serve with crusty bread.

YUM. YUM. YUM.

Dhal Tadka

I was inspired by Kirstin, who fb'd about a Red Lentil Dhal recipe. So much so, I had to rush off and look in my cupboard and see if I could make Dhal.  I actually found a box of 'Maharaja's Choice' Dhal Tadka that I forgot I had purchased and quickly nuked it and ate it.  It was yummy-yummy-yummy.  I have always been put off by dhal but Kirstin's recipe looked so simple.

So I googled away...found this Dal Tadka and made my own version.

Dhal Tadka (Idiot proof!, Spicy, Winter Warmer, Makes 2 big bowls - double as needed)
Vegan Friendly


Ingredients

Quarter pack of yellow split peas (roughly 125g) known as tor dal
2 cups of water
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of garlic garden gourmet squeezy or 3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon of ginger paste or 1cm piece ginger, crushed

2 tbsp vegetable oil
Half a tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 to 3 dry chillies
5 to 8 curry leaves (I bought the fresh from Farmer's Market and froze them)
Chilli powder (I used a teaspoon of Sambal Olek - as I have run out of chilli!)
Pinch of asafoetida powder
200g chopped tomatoes - (about 2 big over ripe tomatoes chopped)
Coriander leaves or a small squeeze of garden gourmet coriander

Method:
1. Wash and drain the split peas in a colander.

2. Put into a heavy based pan with water. Add turmeric and boil for 45 to 60 minutes until the dal is soft when pressed between the thumb and index finger.

3. In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and ginger with a good pinch of salt to a paste. Alternatively you can use ready Ginger Garlic Paste

4. Heat oil in a small pan over low heat. Add mustard seeds and allow to pop. Add cumin seeds, dried chillies, curry leaves, chilli powder, asafoetida, ginger and garlic paste and fry. Pour the hot flavoured oil into the dal and stir well.

5. Add chopped tomatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes.

6. Season with salt and garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rotis or rice.  I had garlic chapati which you can buy from coles/woolies. I gave it a quick grill.  I also added a squeeze of lemon juice. Yummy.

Laksa - inspired by Khym Lam

After moving to a regional town, I found it was hard to find good laksa.  I have always loved making soup and found this nifty recipe in 'Eating In'. You can view the actual recipe here from Khym's book.  Khym usually makes her recipes for one or two people. I always double or triple my ingredients depending on how many I am cooking for.  Here is my version.

NB: Don't be put off by the length of this. This is a lovely soup and even I can make this soup. It's really simple. And vego's just delete the chicken and fish sauce. It's yummo!

Laksa (idiot rating = foolproof!, Spicy!, makes two large bowls, ingredients Woolies/Coles, Aldi & Farmers Market)

2 chicken breasts
1 serve of rice vermicelli noodles (quarter pack), 1 half pack of hokkien (all from Coles)
2 tablespoons of vegie or olive oil
3 cups of chicken stock. I always use Massel brand - 1or 2 cubes. All their stock is vegetarian and has a cleaner taste. But it doesn't really matter what stock you use.
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
1 can of coconut cream or milk. I use Aldi Light Coconut Cream - may be a bit much but I love a creamy soup.

Mix together:
1 tablespoon of Red Curry Paste (Aldi)
1 teaspoon of garden gourmet Lemon Grass squeezy (or 1/2 tspn powdered lemon grass)
2 teaspoons of tumeric powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon of galangal powder (Farmers Market) - Khym says it's optional but it adds a real zing to the mix. Don't put too much in!

Vegies/Extras
Tofu - I use Thai marinated tofu by Soyco from Coles - 1 pack
1 Tablespoon of garden gourmet coriander
2 to 3 chopped shallots
sometimes add snow peas or beans etc

Garnish
fresh coriander
chilli
tofu puffs (if not using tofu in the soup)
I don't use any of the above - I cut a lime in half and dump it or squeeze it into the soup - yummy)

Heat the oil in a large pot sizzle. Not too hot. Add the 'mix together' ingredients (ie. curry paste, lemon grass etc) until it is aromatic - let them sizzle for about one minute. Don't over do this and let it burn.

Add chicken stock and fish sauce and then bring it to the boil.  Add the chicken. As I am such a lazy bum I cut the chicken breast into the pot with kitchen scissors. I don't remove the chicken as Khym does. I don't know if this does anything but...?? Parent's here is the good thing. You can now go and tend to your kids or do what you want. I usually let this sit on low while running around madly doing 100 other things.  It's at this simmering point I add Kaffir Lime leaves as I love limey soup. You don't need to add these.

This is a good time to cook your noodles. If you are using rice vermicelli, cover them with boiling water and let them sit for about two minutes. Drain and rinse. Add to your bowls ready for serving.

Once the chicken is cooked (usually after you have boiled and brought it back to a simmer for about 5 minutes) add all your other ingredients.  First add 1 can of coconut cream and heat through. Then add the tofu and vegies. I also add hokkien noodles at this stage if using them.  All these ingredients really only need to be heated through. You don't want to overdo the vegies and make them wilt too much.  I usually throw in half a cut lime or squeeze it through the soup just before serving. This is optional.

Using a slotted spoon or pasta spoon, I spoon out all the heavy ingredients into the bowls (that have the vermicelli noodles in them). I then ladle out the soup on top.

Voila! Laksa noodles for two:)