Mounds of Food

I love it whenI literally have to mound a meal onto my plate, piling on the pieces, trying to stop stray pieces of steak or carrot from rolling onto the bench because the plate can not contain the deliciousness. Admittedly, my plate is not large, and the food is mainly vegetables, but despite this it makes the meal feel generous. The only problem with this is that mounds of food don’t photograph well. I’m thinking that maybe chefs are onto something with their minimalist presentation – it makes the food look better.

Tonight’s Korean steak is meant to be served in lettuce cups. I failed at making the lettuce cups. No matter how carefully I tried to separate the lettuce leaves, they split into pieces. That’s why the recipe turned into Korean steak on a heap of lettuce instead of being daintily spooned into delicate bowls of lettuce. It’s not attractive but it tastes good.

Celery and carrots are quickly cooked in a fry pan with a  little water and then marinated steak is added, followed by spring onion and sesame seeds. The marinade is sweet, spicy & salty with soy, garlic, ginger, sugar, cayenne pepper and sesame oil. Serving the cooked meat and vegetables on top of lettuce was a refreshing, summery change from rice and something I haven’t tried before but definitely will again.

Korean Steak Recipe (adapted from GoodHouseKeeping.com)

(serves 2)

Ingredients

• 225g steak, cut into small cubes
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 stalks celery, chopped finely
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 spring onion, chopped finely
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
• Lettuce leaves

Method

1. Cut steak into small cubes and marinate it in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger & cayenne pepper
2. While steak is marinating, chop celery stalks finely, grate the carrot and slice the spring onion
3. Heat a fry pan to a medium-high temperature and add celery, carrot and 1/4 cup water. Cook for 2-3 minutes until celery is heated through and beginning to cook
4. Add steak and its marinade. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring often, until the steak has just browned on all surfaces
5. Add the spring onion and sesame seeds and cook for a further minute
6. Serve in lettuce leaf cups (good luck) or on a pile of shredded lettuce. Enjoy.

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Sensuous Strawberries & Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Slaw

I was so excited to see strawberries in the supermarket that I had to buy them. Yes, they are out of season. Yes, they are over priced but, I still couldn’t resist. Unwilling to pay the price for a full punnet, I bought a little pottle of reduced to price strawberries, and have been adding them as a small treat to my breakfast. (Sorry about the slightly blurred photo, my lens got all fogged up).

I tried out Kath’s recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Oats. For once, I actually followed the directions for a whole recipe – and it was good! The oats have milk, chia seeds, cottage cheese, banana, water and of course, strawberries added to them. The chia seeds make the oats nice and thick, binding the mixture together and the cottage cheese makes them creamy and gives a slight tang . I added almond butter on the top but sadly it was a waste of almond butter. There’s something about combining the textures of hot oats and sticky nut butter that I just don’t enjoy.

Lunch was the Healthy Food Guide’s Spring Chicken with Faith’s Sweet and Spicy Slaw. I know I’ve been saying this about a lot of recipes (ok, pretty much everything I have tried) lately but both recipes are fast, yummy and you should try them!

The Spring Chicken is chicken marinated in lemongrass, garlic, oyster sauce and sugar, then seasoned and grilled. Grilling is my favourite way to have chicken breast. You just crank up the oven grill as hot as it will go, spray the marinated chicken with oil and then put the chicken close under the grill for about 8 minutes (turning half way). The chicken turns out charred on the outside and moist on the inside. Rest it for a few minutes and then devour.

The Sweet and Spicy Slaw was a healthier and more tastier (in my opinion) to traditional coleslaw. The dressing is rice vinegar, soy sauce, canola oil, honey, chilli and garlic but what really makes it is the dry roasted peanuts tossed through – the crunch is so good.

If I were to make this meal again, the only change I would make would be to add some brown rice. Maybe it’s because I’m a carb fiend but it just didn’t seem complete.