Good Choice Range?

I am not a takeaway fan. Usually. But being on night shift changes everything. Although I know I could and should have prepared a healthy meal far faster than my pizza was delivered I decided to give the Domino’s Good Choice Range a try tonight. Their single-serve pizzas are all less than 400 calories and have pretty low levels of fat, sugar and salt compared to other takeout choices (see nutritional info)

Here’s the picture they have on their website, it looked pretty good:

Once I got over the disappointment that the delivery man wouldn’t bring the pizza to my armchair I opened the box and here was what I found:

In case you can’t tell, I chose the BBQ Chicken & Mushroom Ciabatta Pizza with chicken, mushroom, fresh tomato, onion and pineapple and barbecue sauce. It looked like someone had wolfed the pizza down and regurgitated it back into the box but fortunately it didn’t taste like it.

When I read that it had a ciabatta base I expected it to be soft and chewy, like ciabatta bread but the base was thin and crispy. There was a decent amount of toppings and it didn’t taste as greasy and heavy as pizza often does but I still wouldn’t describe it is very ‘nice’ and at $14.90 it certainly wasn’t cheap. Next time I’m tired and tempted to buy takeaway I think I’ll just look at the picture above and I won’t need any more motivation to get back in the kitchen! Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that your own food is actually pretty good.

Tuna with pineapple salsa & snow peas

Fresh tuna is such a delicious treat. It couldn’t be more different to canned tuna. I have nothing against canned tuna – it’s a great pantry standby but it just doesn’t compare to the melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness of a good tuna steak.

This meal was so fast to prepare – I made the salsa a few hours before hand so that the flavours could mingle so it was just a matter of heating the fry pan and then all the cooking was over with in about 5 minutes. You couldn’t lodge your order at the fish ‘n’ chip shop that fast – fresh food wins!

The salsa recipe is by Jess at Cheese Please and is sweet with just a little bit of heat. It makes a light and refreshing accompaniment to the tuna and is also very fast to through together. To flavour the tuna, I massaged it with sesame oil before cooking then added a splash of soy sauce and lime juice to each side before flipping, making a glaze.

Pineapple Salsa Recipe (from Cheese Please)

(serves 1)

Pan-fried Tuna Recipe

(serves 1)

Ingredients

• 1 yellow-fin tuna steak
• 1t sesame oil
• 2t soy sauce
• 1t lime juice

Method

	1. Massage tuna steak with sesame oil so that it is completely covered
	2. Fry tuna over a high heat for 1.5-3 minutes on each side until desired doneness is reached (I like mine rare to medium-rare which takes about 2 minutes on each side). Be careful not to overcook the tuna or it will be dry, it should be still pink in the middle.
	3. Add half of soy sauce and lime juice 30 seconds before flipping tuna, then the remaining half of the soy sauce and lime juice 30 seconds before removing the tuna from the pan. This will form a glaze on both sides of the fish.
	4. Let rest for a few minutes before serving with pineapple salsa and a green vegetable.

 

 

Mission Accomplished

I am a woman on a mission at the moment. I’m going away tomorrow and I seriously don’t like food going to waste so I’m trying to eat my way through the perishable contents of my fridge. After surveying my fridge this morning I came up with this decadent porridge recipe.

It turned out very sweet and creamy, reminding me of rice pudding. I topped my oats with greek yoghurt, passionfruit curd, toasted coconut and toasted, sliced almonds. I loved how the sweetness of the oat mixture was cut by the yoghurt and the toasted toppings broke the creaminess.

I quite often have toasted nuts on my oats. It sounds like a lot of hassle but doesn’t need to be. Just chop them up and pop them in a small microwaveable dish. Nuke them a minute at a time until they are golden and you can smell them cooking. So simple and delicious.

Creamy Tropical Oats Recipe

(serves 1)

Ingredients

1/3C rolled oats
2/3C light evaporated milk
1/3C water
1/2 banana, sliced
1t chia seeds
1 ring of tinned pineapple, chopped into bite-sized pieces (fresh would be even better)
1/2t coconut essence

1/2TBSP desiccated coconut
1/2TBSP sliced almonds
Greek yoghurt
Passionfruit Curd

Method

1. Heat oats, evaporated milk, water, banana and chia seeds in a saucepan at a moderate temperature.
2. Whisk every few minutes until the mixture is thick and creamy
3. Meanwhile, toast coconut and almonds in the microwave (see above for how to do this)
4. Add pineapple
5. When fruit is heated through, stir through coconut essence
6. Pour into a bowl and top with yoghurt, passionfruit curd, coconut and almonds.

If I make this again I think I would add sultanas in with the oats. You could also substitute the pineapple for mango.

Sweet ‘n’ Sour Chicken Kebabs

I’m not a huge meat-eater so for a meat dish to appeal to me it has to be quick, hassle-free and tasty. All this nice Spring weather has got me dreaming of long days outside and gatherings around the barbeque. That, and the fact I’m trying to up my lean protein intake, made this recipe from the Women’s Health Magazine appeal.

I adapted the recipe to serve two and increased the amount of sauce and meat each person gets (very important!). The original recipe says that you’ll have extra sauce to serve with the kebabs but after doubling it I only just had enough to brush on the meat.

This would make another quick and tasty mid-week meal. I served mine on a green salad but if you wanted a bit more of a substantial meal it would go great with rice and/or grilled veges.

Sweet ‘n’ Sour Chicken Kebab Recipe (adapted from the Women’s Health Web Site)

(serves 2)

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 small tin of pineapple chunks or rings in juice
• 1 red onion
• 1 green capsicum
• salt and pepper
• 6T salsa or ketchup (I used a mix of both because I only had a little salsa left)
• 1TBSP soy sauce
• 2TBSP cider vinegar
• 1/2t coriander flakes (fresh coriander would be awesome but I keep killing mine)

Method

1. Soak skewers in water
2. Mix salsa, soy sauce, vinegar and coriander in a small bowl to make the
marinade
3. Chop up chicken breast, pineapple, onion and capsicum into bite size pieces
4. Thread chopped ingredients onto soaked skewers and season with salt and
pepper
5. Reserve half of the marinade (so it doesn’t get contaminated with raw chicken
juice) and brush the remaining half over the kebabs.
6. Grill kebabs until the chicken is cooked through and charred on the edges
7. Heat reserved marinade and pour over kebabs
8. Try and look civilised while devouring kebabs off the skewer