Fragrant Cambodian Noodle Salad
Spicy Sweet Potato & Bean Enchiladas
Strawberry & Orange Pops
YOU NEED
200mls of fresh strawberry juice
200mls of fresh orange juice
YOU DO
All you need to do is combine the strawberry and orange juice and and pour the miture into small paper baking cups and place in the freezer.
Wait until the pops have almost frozen through and/or a firm enough for you to be able to place a paddle pop stick into each then pop the sticks in the middle of each pop and allow them to freeze completely and serve.
Serves: Made 4 pops.
Time: Prep time of 5 minutes plus freezing time.
Freeze: YUP
Pineapple Basil Pops
I struggled to stop myself drinking this it was so delicious!!! I did however have some left to freeze into pops.
Basil is not everyone’s thing but its mine and combined with pineapple it’s a match made in heaven.
These would be perfect served at a finger food event or at the end of a dinner party for a fun finish on a warm day.
YOU NEED
400mls of fresh pineapple juice
fresh basil leaves to taste. I easily used a very loose ¾ – 1 cup because I LOVE basil. I suggest you do this to taste.
YOU DO
All you need to do is place the pineapple juice and basil into a blender and blend until they are well combined and the basil has broken down. Then place some baking cups onto a small tray and pour the pineapple and basil juice into the cups and place the tray in the freezer.
Wait until the pops have almost frozen through and/or a firm enough for you to be able to place a paddle pop stick into each then pop the sticks in the middle of each pop and allow them to freeze completely and serve.
Serves: Made 4 pops.
Time: 5 minutes of preparation. Plus freezing time.
Notes: If you have a juicer that presses, you can just pop the basil leaves into the juicer, as you juice the pineapple and it will press the basil beautifully. Otherwise simply blend the basil into the pineapple juice as the recipe explains and then even strain the mix if you don’t want any “bits”.
#Note that I had a VERY sweet pineapple so if your pineapple is not SUPER sweet your results will be different and you may need to add a little agave or pure maple syrup.
Watermelon & Rose Water Granita
Looking through the “Juicepresso” recipe book I saw their watermelon “sorbet”. To me it is more like a granita but regardless of what you call it, it’s easy and delicious! They sweeten theirs with honey though so I simply subbed with pure maple syrup. I also added a little rosewater because rose reminds me of my late grandmother Bonnie <3
Would be interesting to also add basil or mint to this instead of the rosewater and I wonder if agave would be a better sweetener when doing a watermelon granita, only because watermelon has quite a delicate flavour that struggles a little to compete with the maple syrup.
This has got me in a granita mood so watch this space.
YOU NEED
400mls of watermelon juice, (I juiced a few cups of chopped organic watermelon in the Juicepresso until the measuring jug measured 400mls.)
4 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (or agave)
rose water to taste
YOU DO
Whisk all 3 ingredients together.
Pour the mixture into a chilled metal tray and place into the freezer.
After about an hour, use a fork to scrape the edges of the mixture that will have started icing up and push it into the centre of the tray. Continue doing this every 20 – 30 minutes until the entire mixture is completely flaked.
Serve in chilled glasses and eat it before it melts! 🙂
Serves: Serves 2
Time: Aside from the freezing time this recipes only takes a few minutes.
Corn & Orange Juice
I have been playing with the “Juicepresso” that I have been asked to review. They have a Corn and Orange Juice among their recipes so I had a play with that today. This is what I love about being exposed to new things. I would never have thought of juicing corn! It has quite an earthy flavour and there are no quantities on the recipe though so I just juiced until the taste seemed balanced. I also added ginger and fresh lime to give the flavour a lift.
YOU NEED
the kernels of 3 cobs of corn (I used organic)
3 oranges, peeled and cut into quarters
1-2 cms of fresh ginger
1/2 fresh lime, peeled
YOU DO
Make sure your ingredients are chilled before you make your juice.
Then simply pop them through the juicer.
Serves: Serves 1-2.
Time: Took me about 5 minutes.
Freeze: Is preferable to drink straight away.
Pistachio & Coriander Pesto Pinwheels
YOU NEED
1 batch of my “Pistachio & Coriander Pesto”
1 unsliced loaf of bread
YOU DO
Using a serrated knife carefully slice all the crust off the loaf of bread. You want the entire loaf to be crust free for this recipe. Place the crusts aside for another recipe.
Then slice the loaf along the long side into about long slices. So you should end up with about 7 long rectangle slices of bread, depending on how thick you cut them.
Lay one slice of bread on your bench and spread a thick layer of pesto across the top. Then roll the bread slice from one of the short ends until the whole slice is rolled into a snail shape. Cut the roll into 2 so you end up with 2 good size pin wheels and place aside. Repeat this with all of your sliced bread until you have about 14 pin wheels.
These are great for parties and picnics or just a different lunch box idea for the kids.
# For a quicker recipe have the pesto made and in the fridge ready to use. You can also pre slice your bread and just keep it over night in an air tight container or sealed in the plastic it came in so all you have to do on the day you want your pin wheels is top , roll and cut them.
Chocolate Fudge Cake w/ Rich Coconut Cream Ganache
YOU NEED (FOR THE CAKE)
1 cup of plain flour
¼ cup of cocoa
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of oil (I used rice bran oil)
1 cup of rice milk
YOU DO (FOR THE CAKE)
Preheat your oven to 180%.
Carefully line a cake tin with baking paper. This is a really important step because it always sticks as it is such a wet fudgy consistency.
Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Whisk all the wet ingredients together. Put the dry ingredients into the wet and gently fold them through until well combined.
Pop in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. The time will vary depending on your oven. You are looking for a cake where the top is not wobbly, the sides have come away from the edge of the cake tin and a bamboo skewer comes out clean. Once cooked, remove and allow to cool.
YOU NEED (FOR THE ICING)
2/3 cups of coconut cream
120 grams of icing sugar
½ cup of cocoa
150 grams of Lindt dark chocolate. Must be at least 70% cocoa
YOU DO (FOR THE ICING)
Make your icing once your cake is almost cooled, out of its tin and on a serving plate.
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
Melt the chocolate. While the chocolate is melting put the coconut cream into a small pot and gently heat. You don’t want to boil it. You just want to bring it up to a nice warm temperature. Once the chocolate is melted quickly whisk it into the warm coconut cream until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture and whisk until well combined and scrape out onto the cake. Distribute evenly. There is PLENTY so it will be lovely and thick.
Top with your favourite berries and serve.
Servings: Enough for 8 good slices
Time: Takes about an hour plus allow cooling time.
Freeze: N/A
Notes: I find this much easier to slice if you make and ice it the day before and refrigerate it over night. Just make sure you pull it out a couple of hours before you serve it so the ganache is nice and soft.
Topping with berries is really recommended because this is such a rich, sweet cake so the bitterness from the berries provides a lovely balance.
Zucchini & (not Bacon) Chowder
Zucchini & (not Bacon) Chowder
Today was the 4th time I played with this and I’m glad I did. I made it once then lost the recipe which happens because I scrawl them down on scrap paper as I work. It turned out to be a good thing though. I made it again to re write the recipe up as I went but wasn’t quite happy. The 3rd time I decided to grate the zucchini and the result was much nicer than the original dice I had been doing. I also played with the amount of water and seasoning. In my 1st recipe I didn’t use any corn but the 3rd time I threw some I had in the freezer in and it added so much more texture that I decided to make it a part of the dish.
I got thumbs up for this one from my husband too which is so very rare J So I am happy with that.
YOU NEED
1-2 tablespoons of rice bran oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
500ml of water
250ml of Bonsoy soy milk
1 teaspoon of salt
plenty of fresh ground pepper to taste
1-2 teaspoons of liquid smoke (available at well stocked deli’s and the American Store, which is also online)
6 teaspoons of Massel vegetable stock powder (available in most supermarkets where the stocks are)
4 generous cups cubes (approx 2 large potatoes) of brown potato, peeled and cut into small
4 generous cups (approx 4 medium zucchini) of grated zucchini
2 cups of corn kernels
YOU DO
Heat the oil in a large pot on a low to medium heat. (I tend to sauté my onion in just water mostly these days unless doing a dish like this that would normally be quite meaty and would contain some fats). Sauté the onion gently until browned. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.
Add the water, Bonsoy, salt, pepper, liquid smoke. stock powder and potato and bring to the boil. Once the water has boiled, turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer. (You don’t want to reduce the stock too much so you don’t want a furious boil at this stage.) Cook until the potato cubes are about half the way cooked through.
Add half the zucchini and pop a top on your pot. # The soup will look like it needs way more water when you do this and you will be very tempted to add more liquid at this point. DON’T, because zucchini contains a ton of water. Just continue cooking for a few minutes and when the potato is on the cusp of being ready. Turn the heat off.
Using a ladle, scoop out half the soup into another container. Try to ladle a lot of the liquid into the container as well as potato and zucchini. Blend the mixture in the container until it is smooth. Add the blended soup back into the pot with the unblended soup and gently stir to combine. #You want to try not to break up the lovely potato chunks as you do this. Throw the rest of the zucchini and corn in, bring the soup to the boil and serve immediately.
Enjoy with your favourite crusty bread.
Yields: 2 FABULOUS serves or 4 more polite serves.
Time: Takes about 30 minutes.
Freeze: I wouldn’t
Notes: I like bold flavours so if you don’t just use the stock and part of the liquid smoke and check the seasoning at the end and decide as to whether you would like the salt and extra smoke.
This is best served straight away. If you have left over’s it may need extra seasoning when you reheat it because of the high water content of the zucchini.
Garnish with some thin slices of red capsicum or long red chilli for color like I have if you wish.