First up: Sunday brekky. Usually I have my eggs poached, but I couldn't be bothered with the faffing about, so I opted to just fry them up. I popped some sourdough bread in the toaster, squeezed some fresh orange juice and cut up some organic tomatoes and topped with some basil pesto I'd made the day before. (I also put some on the toast under the eggs). It was all on the table in less than five minutes.
Home-made pesto is super easy. A bunch of basil, a handful of parmesan, a handful of pine nuts, olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Whizz it all up in a food processor and give it a taste and adjust if you need. It keeps for days in the fridge, or you can freeze it. I have it for lunch with wholewheat pasta (I just drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil through it to lube it up a bit more and shave some fresh parmesan on top, and toasted pine nuts if I can be bothered). It's a good way of using up leftover herbs and nuts. You can also substitute coriander for basil (hold the parmesan) or macadamia nuts for pine nuts. Have it as a dip or a pasta sauce or a spread. Whatever you fancy, really.
Second up: mid-week dinner. I've been trying to eat less meat lately, however it hasn't gone down too well with my meat-loving husband. I came across this recipe in one of my cookbooks and thought I'd give it a go. It was super tasty! And a really easy recipe. Perfect comfort food. And I loved that we had our own individual portions. I actually froze half of the mince. So next time, I'll just heat it up and make some fresh mash. In fact, next time I might even double the recipe and freeze three batches. It's that good.
Moroccan Cottage Pie
Adapted from "Delicious: Quick Smart Cook" by Valli Little
Serves 4-6 (in one big dish, or small individual dishes)
For the pie
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
650g lamb mince
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground turmeric
2tbs tomato paste
150ml red wine
150ml beef stock
½ cup roughly chopped pitted green olives
1/3 cup chopped mint leaves, plus small leaves to garnish
For the mash
2 extra-large potatoes, peeled and chopped
knob of butter
dash of milk (or ½ cup sour cream or crème fraiche)
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the lamb mince and cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes until browned. Add the dry spices, reserving 1 tsp turmeric for the potato mash) and the tomato paste and cook for a further minute. Add the wine and stock, bring to a simmer, then decrease heat to low and cook for 15-18 minutes until the meat is cooked and the sauce has thickened. Stir in the olives and mint. Transfer the mixture to a serving dish (or small individual dishes) and set aside. Meanwhile, cook the potato and remaining turmeric in a saucepan of boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain well, then mash well. Season with salt and pepper, stir in butter and milk. Spread the mashed potato over the mince, and garnish with mint leaves.
I'd also bookmarked a recipe a while back on a food blog I read regularly, but I'd never got around to actually cooking it. I was looking for a side dish to the cottage pie that would complement the flavours but also add some veggies to the equation. Enter: Spicy Cauliflower.
I modified it a bit as I didn't have all the ingredients to hand, but it didn't matter. Even without the sesame seeds and jalapenos, it was a winner. I'll give it a go with those ingredients next time, but for my money, it actually didn't need it. What's more: the dish was even better when I ate the leftovers cold a few days later for lunch.
Spicy Cauliflower Recipe
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 big yellow onion, finely sliced
A pinch of turmeric
Sea salt
1 medium cauliflower, thinly sliced
4 dried red chilies, stemmed and halved
1 garlic clove, grated
4 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the cumin seeds and cook until they begin to crackle, just 30 seconds or so. Stir in the onions, along with the turmeric and a few pinches of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions caramelize a bit and turn lightly golden, roughly 7 - 10 minutes. Add the red chilies, garlic and half of the ginger. Continue to cook for another minute. Add the cauliflower and stir well. Cover the pan and cook the cauliflower over low-medium heat for 3 - 5 minutes, until just tender. (I added some water to the pan here to hurry along the steaming of the cauliflower). When the cauliflower is nearly cooked, remove the lid, increase the heat, and stir in the remaining ginger. Salt to taste, sprinkle with cilantro and enjoy.
Weekend dinner: Fish tacos! I had some frozen cod fillets in the freezer and some tortillas that needed using up, when I remembered a recipe I'd bookmarked a while back. It's from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook (ugh Gwyneth!) and was a pretty great recipe. I actually made the fish two ways. One following her recipe (beer battered and fried - kinda surprising for health nut Gwyneth) and another more healthy choice (marinated in lime juice and coriander, then grilled).
The picture above is of the beer battered version. It was pretty fantastic. I followed the recipe pretty faithfully. You can read it here. I've made pico de gallo and guacamole before (I add chopped red chilli and lemon juice to mine) but I've never made salted cabbage. It was so easy and really very, very tasty. It definitely added a new element to the dish.
Lastly: dessert! I have never really had a sweet tooth, but my pregnancy seems to have brought out the dessert lover in me. I had bought some fresh green apples and had not used these cute little single-serve ovenproof dishes we'd bought. Hey presto: apple crumble.
I used this recipe as inspiration but I don't measure anything and substitute rolled oats instead of flour for the topping. I find it tastier - and I think it's healthier? Minus the two scoops of ice-cream! Whoops. But what's crumble without vanilla ice-cream? The dish I used fitted one green apple perfectly. You could of course make a bigger crumble in a bigger dish, but I like having my own plate!
Apple Crumble
Adapted from BBC Food
For the crumble
Rolled oats
A little bit of plain flour
Some brown sugar
Knob of unsalted butter, cubed at room temperature
For the filling
1 green apple (per head), peeled, cored and cut into 1cm pieces
Handful of brown sugar
Handful of plain flour
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the rolled oats, flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Taking a few cubes of butter at a time, rub into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Place the fruit in a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir well being careful not to break up the fruit. Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom, then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the crumble is browned and the fruit mixture bubbling. Serve with vanilla ice-cream.
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