Inappropriate

I feel like this post is almost inappropriate tonight. The whole country is gearing itself up for the rugby semi-finals tonight. I’ve read online that the Rugby World Cup may be partly responsible for lowering vegetable prices – everyone is eating takeout so the demand has lessened. And then there is me – eating a salad as my main meal. But this is no ordinary salad – this has got to be the best salad I have had this Spring. It is fresh, filling, delicious and a complete meal in a bowl.  Broccoli, snow peas, peas & chicken are tossed in a tangy Asian-inspired dressing and then sprinkled with toasted almonds and cayenne pepper. Delicious. I recommend you try it!

Double Pea Spring Salad Recipe
(adapted from Warm Snow Pea & Chicken Salad at EatingWell.com)

(serves 2)

Ingredients

• 250g chicken breast
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 1 broccoli
• 100g snow peas
• 1/2 cup peas

Dressing:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Toppings:

• 1T sliced almonds, toasted
• dried capsicum flakes (optional)
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Method

1. Bring chicken stock to a gentle simmer in a pot. Add chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through.
2. Meanwhile, slice the snow peas into strips and cut broccoli into bite sized florets.
3. Cook peas by microwaving for 2 minutes in a tablespoon of water. Alternatively, boil in water until heated through and bring green.
4. Place dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until smooth, place aside.
5. Heat 1 teaspoon of sesame oil over a moderate heat in a fry pan.
6. Add garlic and ginger to fry pan until fragrant (about 1 minute)
7. Add broccoli and snow peas to fry pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until the broccoli is tender crisp and heated through.
8. Meanwhile, drain chicken and tear into pieces.
9. Add chicken, peas and dressing to fry pan when broccoli is cooked. Mix to combine.
10. Serve and top with toasted almonds and dried capsicum flakes. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper if you enjoy a little heat.

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Guess who’s back… Back again..?

Sorry for my abrupt break in blogging. A trip back home for graduation and then feeling not too flash has meant that I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen at all so I enjoyed having a bit of a play this evening. After eating more convenience foods and restaurant food than usual I wasn’t that inspired to cook but I’m always so surprised how much I enjoy eating fresh, healthy food after having a break from it.

Tonight I needed to cook up some snapper I bought the other day and had been eyeing up the laksa paste in my fridge so I decided to poach the snapper. I have never poached fish before and I have no idea if this is anything close to the “correct” method but I do know that it worked, it was delicious and it was speedy. Please feel free to let me know if there is a better way of doing this!

Asian Poached Snapper Recipe

(serves 2)

Ingredients

250g snapper
1C vegetable stock
1C milk (you could replace the milk with evaporated milk or replace the milk with coconut milk and omit the coconut essence)
2 capfuls coconut essence
3TBSP laksa paste
1 spring onion
1 tsp dried capsicum flakes

Method

1. Bring vegetable stock, milk and laksa paste & coconut essence gently to the boil
2. Add fish and simmer approximately 8 minutes or until cooked through
3. Top with spring onion and capsicum flakes.

I served my fish over brown rice, broccoli and peas and spooned some of liquid the fish cooked in. Some fresh coriander and a touch of chilli would have given this meal a real boost.

Grocery Mission Aborted

I REALLY need to go grocery shopping and I REALLY don’t want to. I still haven’t done a proper food shop since my Frugal Frittata post and I thought I’d cleaned out my cupboards pretty well then. After having a look at the few items in my pantry and freezer I decided that I could make one more dinner from what i had left and it turned out better than a planned meal – win.

Usually I like to make my recipes from scratch. I like to know what’s going into my body is good and nutritious and if i make my own food I know that for sure. However, I’d bought some Taste of India Moong Dahl because I was impressed by the ingredient list (or lack thereof). It has no added chemicals, preservatives or sugar – just real food (see picture below).

Cheat’s Moong Dahl Recipe

(serves 2)

Ingredients

1 tub Taste of India Moong Dahl
1/2C frozen peas
1 1/2C frozen shrimp
1 courgette, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped roughly

Method

1. Sautee onion and courgette over a medium heat until softened and transparent
2. Add frozen shrimp
3. Once shrimp is heated through, add Moong Dahl
4. When mixture is hot add frozen peas

I don’t think you can get a much faster, quicker and tastier dinner recipe than that! I served mine with unsweetened yogurt and mango chutney. If you like your food with a bit of kick you might want to add some chilli to the onion and courgette mix at step one.