Quoted in The Age Newspaper in a 2 page article titled “Joining the Green Party” on Sunday 6th, 2014.
http://m.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/joining-the-green-party-20140403-3604t.html
Cucumber & “Cream Cheese” Pinwheels
YOU NEED
1 unsliced loaf of wholemeal bread. * See Method
1 cucumber
2 tablespoons of dairy free cream cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
YOU DO
Purchase the loaf of bread from your local bakery and request that they slice the loaf lengthways for you. Place the crusts aside for another recipe.
Line a plate with some paper towel and cut the cucumber into thin slices, lengthways. Place the sliced cucumber onto the plate with the paper towel and put it into the fridge over night. You will need enough slices to be able to cover one slice of the bread. Put any remaining cucumber aside for more sandwiches another day.
When you are ready to make the pinwheels, lay one slice of bread on your bench and spread the dairy free cream cheese evenly onto it. Make sure that there is cream cheese right to the edges. Then place one layer of cucumber slices lengthways onto the bread, without overlapping them. Season the cucumber with salt and pepper to taste.
Roll the bread slice from one of the short ends until the whole slice is rolled into a snail shape. Cut the roll in half, so you end up with 2 good size pin wheels. Put the rest of the bread into an airtight container to use throughout the week.
These are great for parties and picnics or just a different lunch box idea for the kids.
Yields: 4 pinwheel sandwiches. Note that you will get up to 14 pinwheels from one loaf.
Time: 5- 10 minutes. Plus the draining time for the cucumber.
Notes: Cucumber has very high water content. So it is an important step to lay the cucumber slices on draining paper, otherwise you will end up with very soggy sandwiches.
It’s important to lay the cucumber lengthways on the bread. If you lay them along the short side of the bread slices you will have trouble rolling the pin wheels.
You can purchase dairy free cream cheese at Coles. It is usually located where the dairy cream cheeses are kept.
If your children like herbs, these are also beautiful with finely chopped dill mixed through the cream cheese.
You can make the pinwheels with bean dip, hummus or any dip or filling that the kids love.
Rainbow Rice Paper Rolls
Ingredients
½ cup of fresh coriander
8 round rice paper rounds
½ cup of finely sliced red cabbage
½ cup of finely sliced savoy cabbage
½ cup of very finely sliced red capsicum
½ cup of peeled carrot, cut into fine match sticks
Method
Trim the roots from the coriander, wash it well, pat dry with a clean tea towel and set aside.
Lay all your prepared ingredients out on a plate.
Place 1 rice paper round in a shallow bowl of lukewarm water for about 10 seconds. When you pull it out of the water, it will still feel firm. It will soften as you work with it though and it is much easier to work with this way. Place it down flat onto your bench top.
Put equal amounts of each of the ingredients down the centre of the rice paper round. Make sure there is space at the ends and don’t be tempted to over fill it, or you will have trouble rolling it. Fold the ends of the rice paper in and roll up firmly, to enclose the fillings. Repeat with the remaining rice paper rounds and fillings.
Serve with fresh lime and/or organic tamari or sweet chilli sauce.
Yields: 8 rolls
Time: 20 minutes
Notes: You can purchase rice paper rolls at Asian supermarkets and in the Asian section of most supermarkets.
If you want the fillings to show, you can place the ingredients all to one side of the rice paper round and only fold one side of the round, before you roll it. This is great for parties and gatherings, but for lunches its best to enclose all the ingredients.
For a more filling snack or lunch, add a small amount of vermicelli rice noodles to each roll.
I was thrilled to be invited to conduct a cooking show at the “Go Festival” this year at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton.
It’s Melbourne’s Ultimate Girls Day Out where woman are invited to relax and explore fashion, workshops, massage, the kitchen stage & more.
I took to the stage on Saturday the 15th March and cooked some of my favourite recipes for the audience, whom enjoyed LOTS of tastings!
Full details: www.gofestival.com.au or join the conversation,www.facebook.com/GirlsOnlyFestival
I will be delivering a number of cooking classes later in the year. Keep on eye out on Facebook for the dates and details.
https://www.facebook.com/thekindcook
Recipe published and “favourited” on Animal’s Australia Whyveg website.
http://whyveg.com/recipes/make_this.php?recipe=131
Two recipes published on the UK Meat Free Monday website.
http://www.meatfreemondays.com/recipe/cinnamon-scented-pumpkin-black-bean-curry/
http://www.meatfreemondays.com/recipe/lebanese-pizza-macadamia-cheese/
Dirty Red Rice Tacos
YOU NEED
1 cup of red rice
2 cups of water
¼ cup of water
½ a large brown onion, peeled and finely diced
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
Pinch of hot cayenne
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
2 small tomatoes, cored and finely diced
½ a large red capsicum, finely diced
2 teaspoons of tomato paste
½ cup of vegetable stock
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of liquid smoke
1 small bunch of fresh coriander, washed and drained
8 taco shells
YOU DO
Rinse and drain the rice then place it in a small pot with 2 cups water. Bring it to the boil, then cover the pot, turn the heat down to a simmer and cook until it is cooked. This takes about 30 to 40 minutes. While the rice is cooking, finely slice the coriander stems, roughly chop the leaves and set them aside.
Put the ¼ of a cup of water into a large pan and sauté the onions and garlic on a low heat, until the onions are translucent. Add the cumin seeds, cayenne, oregano and paprika and sauté on a low heat for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes, capsicum, tomato paste and the vegetable stock and cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes.
Add the cooked rice and coriander stems to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Stir the mixture so all the flavours combine. If the mixture is too wet just cook it a little longer.
Spoon equal amounts into the taco shells and garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with sliced avocado and dairy free sour cream. They are lovely topped with a bit of spicy salsa too.
Yields: 8 tacos
Time: 30 to 40 minutes. If you cook the rice the day before though, it only takes 15 minutes to get these on the table.
Notes: You can get red rice from Asian grocers. If you can’t find red rice you can substitute it with brown rice.
Smokey Zucchini & Lentil Soup
Think “smokey”, “spicy”>>>>vegetable packed, nourishing, simple… tasty.
YOU NEED
1 large brown onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
¼ cup of water
1 cup of green brown lentils, washed and drained
1.5 litres of water
6 teaspoons of Massel “beef” stock powder
4 generous cups of grated zucchini
3 cups of grated sweet potato
2 tablespoons of Old El Paso Fajita Seasoning
liquid smoke to taste
hot chilli sauce to taste
salt/pepper
YOU DO
Place the onion, garlic and the ¼ cup of water in a large pot. Cook them gently on a medium heat, till the onion softens and the water has mostly evaporated.
Add the lentils, 1.5 litres of water, “beef” stock, zucchini, sweet potato and fajita seasoning to the pot. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and cook until the lentils are tender (approx 45 minutes).
Once the lentils are tender add liquid smoke and hot chilli sauce to taste. Check the seasoning and add a little salt and pepper if needed and serve.
Yields: 4 serves
Time: 15 minutes of preparation. 35-45 minutes of cooking time.
Notes: You can get liquid smoke from well stocked delis and American Food Stores.
Blackened Corn
YOU NEED
4 cobs of organic corn
1 tablespoon of coconut or olive oil
¼ cup of finely sliced spring onion
2 pinches of cayenne
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
¼ cup of beer
salt/pepper to taste
handful of fresh coriander, washed
# optional – ¼ cup of vegan cheese
YOU DO
Remove the husks from the corn. Discard the husks and place the corn on the BBQ or an open flame on your stove top. Using tongs, carefully turn the cobs as the kernels blacken. Continue cooking until the corn is mostly blackened.
Place the corn, oil, cayenne and paprika together in a large pan. Move the cobs around in the pan so that they are well covered in the seasoned mixture. Pour the beer into the pan with the cobs. Heat everything through and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Once the corn is cooked and well covered, turn off the heat. Garnish the corn with the coriander and the vegan cheese (if you are using it) and serve immediately.
Yields: 4.
Time: 15 minutes.
Notes: If you do not have a BBQ and are not comfortable blackening the corn on an open flame, or if you have an electric stove top, you can blacken them in a dry pan on a high heat instead. This will just take a little longer.