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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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.