Courgettes filled with Ricotta cheese, walnuts and roasted red pepper

I have been thinking for awhile what kind of a starter would work with the Moroccan chicken. I wanted something fresh, tangy and light. I found the answer in an Italian cookbook, which was hidden on a shelf in the local library. I have used courgettes in many different ways, but mostly cooked in ratatouille, grilled, baked in the oven or in batter like the Greek cuisine does it. I have never used it in its raw state. I was surprised how much I liked the end result.

Ingredients

2 medium courgettes

6Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar ( use a good quality)

1 x 250 g tub of ricotta cheese

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

50g walnuts coarsely chopped

Small handful shredded fresh basil

250g ( approx) chargrilled red/yellow peppers in a jar, drained and cut into small squares to suit the slices of courgettes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the courgettes lengthways, into long strips.(  I would recommend 4-6 rolls per person) The above recipe serves 4-6 portions

2. Pour half the oil and half the vinegar into a large dish. Lay the courgette slices in the mixture. Drizzle the remaining oil and vinegar over the top, cover with cling foil and put it into the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes. See picture below

Courgette slices marinating

3. Meanwhile place the ricotta in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice, walnuts and basil, season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine the ingredients

4. Place a spoon of ricotta mixture at one end of each courgette strip, lay a piece of red/yellow pepper on top and roll up.
Repeat until all courgette strips have been used up.

Now roll 

I served the courgettes rolls with a mixed leaf salad and a lemon, honey and red chillies dressing!

Finished result

A big "Thank You" to my friend Margret, who motivated me to get back into writing my recipes!

Fresh Herbs and Green Pesto

Sage

January is a month when you start longing  for fresh greens. The quickest way to freshen and  brighten up  your kitchen are fresh herbs. At this time of the year, unless you have still some in the garden, like bayleave, rosemary, parsely thyme etc, you are dependent on herbs in pots from the supermarket. Nothing wrong with that. But when the weather gets better try to grow your own, if you dont have a garden, use window boxes. You will enjoy "harvesting"  your homegrown  herbs . During the summer I have more than 11 herbs in the garden and I use them in all in my recipes.
The pictures here show herbs growing in my garden.

Rosmary

Parsely

Bayleaf

Oregano 

Today I share with you my simple but quick recipe for
 Green Pesto

You can use the Pesto with any kind of Pasta. We used it with Spaghettoni, these are extra long but fine Spaghetti.

Ingedients for Green Pesto

Ingredients

1 cup of pine nuts ( you can use half pine nuts and half almonds if you wish)
1 cup of grated parmesan
1 cup fresh Basil
3 or 4 cloves of fresh garlic
1/2 juice of lemon or lime
1 cup of Extra Virgin olive oil ( I like to use Italian olive oil from the Puglia region)

Method

Put all ingredients into a dish and blend them until you have the consistency you want.
The flavour depends on the quality of your oil and parmesan cheese!

The result: Green Pesto

Note: This pesto is delicious as a dip. Use fresh crusty bread or anything you like!

My Thai ( Pork or Vegetables)

The last week has been a fight against a tummy bug. This was  tough enough , but what was tougher was that I had lost my appetite. During my morning swim I was thinking what would be a nice tasty dish to activate the taste buds. Ginger and coconut came to mind. By the time I was finished swimming I knew how the dish  was to taste. Our eldest granddaughter who happened to visit and  my husband were to be the perfect guine pigs. And the result made us all happy!

As I did not want to go shopping I decided to use what I had in the house. A little trick I use on myself when I want to create a new dish.

Well, I always have a tin or two of coconut milk in the larder (store cupboard), just in case. The same goes for fresh ginger, garlic, onions, red peppers, fresh basil, lime, lemons and of course rice. I was lucky to have a pork steak in the freezer and I happen to have a jar of red curry paste, waiting to be used.

I have to admit that I am a bit of a food hoarder. The minute I use up groceries I renew them at the next shopping, so that whenever I get an idea, the "just in case" ingredients are to hand.  My family is convinced I could feed us for two weeks without doing any additional shopping. I think that is a little exaggerated, but I do think that a well stocked cupboard is essential, if you like cooking. 

With regard to the meat, I think you could use free range chicken breast as well, but the pork steak is not called tenderloin for nothing, besides Fillet steak (beef), it is the most tender meet we have.

If you are vegetarian  use  potatoes or a mixture of sweet and normal potatoes, or any vegetables you like.

You will notice that I did  not use fish sauce, an ingredient which is added to most Thai dishes. I am honest I am not a great friend of it at the best of time and with my tender stomach issue, I decided to leave it.

Ingredients

Some rapeseed/sun flower oil

1 Tsp red curry sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 medium onion

I red pepper

2 -3 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

1/4 teaspoon Chili 

2 tins of coconut milk

Juice and rind of a fresh lime

Juice and rind of a fresh lemon

300 g pork steak/pork tenderloin or any choice of Vegetables

1 Tbsp corn flour 

Salt and pepper

1 Tbsp fresh Basil

Method

1. Gently fry the crushed garlic, grated ginger, diced onion, diced red pepper, Chili  and the red curry paste for a minute or two.

2. Add the coconut milk, lime and lemon , some black pepper and a little salt ( be careful with the salt,  I only added less than 1/4 teaspoon)

3. Cut the pork steak into small strips, discarding fat and sinuses

4. Coat the meat with the corn flour, which you seasoned with a little salt and pepper.
Note: if you are using vegetables omit the coating with the cornflour

5. Add the meat to the coconut milk mixture.

6. Simmer for approx 10 min, while the rice is cooking.

Note 1: be sure just to simmer the mixture.

Note 2: instead of meat or vegetables you can of course use any kind of fresh white fish

By the way, I had the leftovers the next day and as usual it tasted nearly better than the day before! 

Crunchy Winter Salads

The wind is howling outside and it is more the weather for a wholesome stew, than for a salad. Yet it is especially important in the winter to eat fresh fruit and vegetables in order to get our supply of vitamins and minerals.
 It is far more healthy for your body and soul to make a colourful salad out of what the winter has to offer us, than to swallow a few vitamin tablets.
The first salad uses red cabbage, apples, nuts and raisins. The second salad is based on cooked beet root and has a few more ingredients, which you can change to your own taste.
You might ask, why two red salads? I think nature is wonderful in supplying us with very colourful winter vegetables to cheer us up. Besides the red, look at the dark green of the Kale or of the wonderful marble colouring of the Brussels Sprouts, both make an excellent addition to  any winter salad. Just blanch them for a minute and cool down immediately in ice water before using.

Red Cabbage Salad

Ingredients 

1/2 head or a small head of red cabbage shredded

2 ripe apples, a winter variety, like cox orange, diced

50 to 75 g roasted walnuts or hazel nuts, chopped

50 g raisins or sultanas soaked in cider or white wine over night* ( if you haven't any cider, you can use apple juice or any fruit juice

A vinegar dressing made with a good Balsamic Vinegar ( see salads)

* freeze in leftover wine or cider in a ice cube freezer bag and you have at hand small quantities when you may need .

Method

Simply mix all the ingredients

together.

Serve salad on its own with cold meats and cheeses,

or as a side salad with fried/grilled pork chops, Roast Pork, actually with most Pork dishes







Beet Root Salad

Ingredients

2 to 3 cooked Beet Root, cubed
1 juicy apple, cut
25-50 g cashew nuts ( depending how crunchy you want the salad to be)
2 pickled cucumbers ( optional)
2 hard boiled eggs*
1 small gourgette, cut into small strips ( optional)

1 fresh Fennel roasted with a little oil and salt and pepper ( the fennel takes about 15 min. depending on your oven at 175C)

1 cream vinegar and oil dressing ( basically the normal vinaigrette with about 3 Tbsp fresh cream)

Leave the fennel cool down before chopping and adding to the rest of the salad

*Boiling eggs, a simple thing to do you might say,
but......
to achieve the nicely boiled egg as on the picture
you simply bring the eggs to the boil and then you turn of the cooker. Leave the eggs in the hot water
for approx. 20 minutes, cool down and chop


Method

As you see from the pictures, it is very easy to prepare the salad.
Chop all the ingredients, add the dressing and adjust the seasoning.
Depending on the size of the Beet Root you might want to add a little more salt.
If you don't use pickled cucumbers, you might want to add a little more vinegar.

This salad is a well balanced meal and does not need any extras, but any nice crunchy fresh bread would go very well indeed with it.

Note

Both salads can be prepared well in advance, as a matter of fact, they benefit from a few hours resting.

Good intentions

January is the months of good intentions, and the media is full of good advice to change your eating, drinking and exercising habits to a more healthier one.

No or little alcohol, less meat, more fruit and vegetables, regular exercises etc, etc.  Every year I totally ignored all these well meant 'healthy change your life efforts". Well this new year , due to circumstances so totally out of my control, forced me to change my eating and drinking habits, not because I had this sudden insight, but because I had no other choice. 

The interesting bit about it, I am actually enjoying it . So I thought I share  some of the small things I added or changed to my new and hopefully lasting eating habits .

Sweet Potato with Avocado Dip and Cottage Cheese

We all know or should know, that a healthy balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates should be our daily intake. 

Funnily enough, our parents and grandparents did the right thing without any help of health gurus.

They only used and ate what was in season; only used regional produce, had three meals a day, according to the  motto :

breakfast like an emperor , lunch like a king and eat in the evening like a beggar. Looking at old photos you see that obesity was a problem they did not have.

So what have I changed?
Porridge for breakfast ( the real McCoy, made with organics oatflakes) in the microwave, done in a minute or two, or the tradional way, soak the night before, ( put some blueberries in and some honey or maple syrup and you have a meal fit for an emperor),
I try to have the main meal at lunchtime now, eat fruit for snacks and eat little meat, I haven't eaten red meat for a month ( mind you slowly the thought of a nice steak is starting to appeal again!)
I rediscovered the Baked Potato. Yes, a big potato baked in the jacket and eaten with a big blob of good low fat cottage cheese. The mix of carbohydrates, protein and little fat gives you a perfect balanced meal.
To add variety instead of the humble potato, I use Sweet Potato.
Not to get bored with just cottage cheese, I tried a new new combination of avocado and chickpeas and I liked it!
Here is the recipe for the new dip.


Creamy Avocado/Chickpea Dip

Ingredients

1 ripe Avocado
1/2 tin of chickpeas
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
2 Tbsp low fat yoghurt
salt, pepper to taste 
a little tabasco or chilly flakes

Method 

1. Scoop the inside of the avocado in to a bowl and add the lemon juice and garlic.
2. Add the chick peas and yoghurt and with a blender purėe to a  smooth paste.
3. Add salt ( go easy), pepper as much as you like and the tabasco ( go gently).

Serve with baked potato, baked sweet potato or use a dip with fresh vegegtables or fresh crunchy bread.

What I like about this dip is that you use the chick peas to add protein, but unlike for Hummus you don't need Tahini.

Little Tip: Pepper and Chili activates your digestive system due to Capsaicin. Good if you want get rid of a pound o two!

Coming Next: Crunchy Winter Salad