annas crayfish salad

Wow Anna that looks devine and delicious.
Chris and I were fortunate to be out again on my sister and brother and laws boat over the last weekend at Great Barrier Island.  What an amazing place.  Diver Dean caught numerous crayfish which mean't I gave some away to Anna ( I didn't want to be greedy) and this is what she came up with her lunch yesterday.  I wish I stayed around.  I made a crayfish risotto which we had for dinner last night and I have been nibbling on it this morning and I will take the remainder for my dinner at work tonight.
Very fortunate. Yum Yum.
Shit just realised I have posted 2 crayfish recipes in a row.

roasted carrot and beetroot salad with herb dressing

I have made this salad a few times this summer and it goes especially well with BBQ beef or lamb.

For this salad I used

Carrots - cut lengthways and roasted in the oven, you will need a lot
1beetroot - baked in the oven with foil for about an hour
goat cheese - crumbled
rocket
capers
herbs, any will do,  I used chervil, basil, and parsley as they were in my garden
herb dressing
Just put together as much as you like

The beetroot came from my garden along with the herbs

For the dressing I used

white wine vinegar
olive oil
lots of finely chopped herbs, I used oregano, basil, chervil and parsley
Maldon salt and pepper

Give it all a good shake in a jar and pour over salad just before serving.

beef salad with thai dressing

Well I thought it was about time that I got myself organised and started posting again.
This was what I had for lunch yesterday, left overs from last nights dinner. The beef and the dressing were the same but the choice of vegetables were different.
What really makes this salad good is the dressing the coriander and mint, some crunchy vegetables topped of with some peanuts and deep fried shallots and of course some chile.

For this salad I used

• lettuce leaves
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• yellow pepper
• cucumber
• a little bit of carrot, just because I like carrot
• avocado
• spring onions
• red chile
• mint
• fresh coriander
• asparagus was used on the sat night
• chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• deep fried shallots
• And don't forget the beef,  I used finely sliced BBQ rump

The dressing is really simple and goes perfectly with the beef, herbs and crunchy toppings

• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or more depending on how sweet you like it
• 2 tsps of fish sauce
• I also used some kaffir lime leaves as they were in the garden pounded in the mortar and pestle with the sugar before I added the juice and fish sauce

Combine until all the sugar has dissolved and add at the very last minute before serving

Actually this is what the salad really looked like before I ate it.

chicken mango salad

We had this salad on Friday night which was originally made with green prawns. I made it again on Saturday using the leftover greens, but used BBQ chicken thighs instead, which also works really well with the mango and the lime and sesame dressing.

For the salad I used

• salad greens of rocket and thinly sliced iceberg and endive
• bean sprouts minus their heads
• julienned sliced mango - Mexican ones are fairly affordable at the moment
• coriander
• spring onions
• avocado sliced
• toasted sesame seeds and chopped peanuts
• BBq chicken thighs thinly sliced

For the lime and sesame dressing I used

• juice of 3 limes
• 2 tablespoons of palm sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of finely grated ginger
• smidge of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil

The quantities for the salad is up to you and the measurements for the dressing are as close to a guess as I can remember as I don't measure, but taste it until it's balanced and right for you.

Dress the greens with some of the dressing and gently toss before adding the mango and avocado, so you don't make it mushy, finish off with the chicken and the nuts add some more dressing and give it a final gentle toss with your fingers.

chicken caesar salad

Creamy avocado, succulent chicken, crunchy croutons and lettuce, tasty parmesan mayonaise dressing. Yum yum.  A marriage made in heaven in my eyes...

The recipe I use for making a basic mayonnaise is by 'Jamie Oliver'.  I like his recipe because he only uses one egg yolk so hence it is not too eggy in flavour.

The recipe goes as follows

1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
salt to taste
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
285mls peanut oil ( I use grapeseed as I think peanut oil is too strong)
258mls olive oil

I don't use all that amount of oil, as I think it makes to much.
I hand whisk and just add equal quantities of oil and stop when I have as much as I need.

"Mayonnaise can be be made in a food processor, by hand with a whisk and a bowl, or in a food mixer.  Put the egg yolk, mustard,  3 small pinches of salt, vinegar and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk until the salt has dissolved.  Whisking fast, add small drops of the oil bit by bit, so the egg can emulsify with it.  ( If you add it too fast it could split.)  When you've added a quarter of the oil it will start to look like mayonnaise, and you can add the oil slightly quicker.  If at any point it does split, just pour a tablespoon of boiling water in the mayonnaise and that should re-emulsify it.  When you've added all the oil, the mayonnaise should look thick, creamy and slightly yellow.  At this point you should check for seasoning."

At this point I add 1/2 a cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar and a smidgeon of finely grated garlic, Probably 1/8 of a teaspoon.  Adding the cheese thickens it up.

Make sure your egg is at room temperature before you start, as if it is cold there is a great chance of it splitting.  I have been known to cry on more than 1 occasion when my mayonnaise has split.  I then just give up.  I was very pleased that I was successful this time.

For the croutons, slice 1-2 day old baguette wafer thin.  They are much nice and crunchy this way.
Bake in a 200C oven for just 2-3 minutes.  Keep an eye out as you don't want them too brown.

To assemble the salad.
Firstly I coat the lettuce leaves in a small amount of the dressing in a separate bowl, so as to keep the salad bowl clean.  I used cos and frilly lettuce, but iceberg would be good as well.
Now put some lettuce leaves down in the salad bowl, then some sliced avocado, croutons and chicken, then repeat.
Finally add some more dressing if you wish.
This would be gluten free if you didn't add the croutons.

roast vegetable salad with beef fillet

I do like a beef salad and this is my 3rd variation. Using the beef added to the salad makes it go a lot further.  I made a basil, chipotle mayonnaise with my stick blender as well but the colour of it was a hideous muck green so I did not post it.  It tasted ok though.


For this recipe I used

• 4 small pieces of beef fillet, marinated in garlic and olive oil and BBQ
• 5 medium sized carrots
• 2 handfuls of mushrooms left whole
• 4 small orange kumara
• 5 smallish red onions
• 2 whole beetroot (roasted in foil separately so the rest of the vege do not turn purple)
• 1 small red pepper finely sliced in strips
• 1 small yellow pepper finely sliced in strips
• 4 tomatoes into wedges
• rocket
• sprig of rosemary and thyme, only because they are in the garden
• handful of finely chopped basil 
• parmesan cheese about 1/2 to 1 cup grated on a fine grater plane
• handful of finely chopped italian parsley
• balsamic dressing made with good olive oil.

I started by roasting the beetroot in foil with its skin on for an hour and a half at 180C.  Once cooled peel off the skin.  It comes off very easily.  Cut into chunks.
Next peel and cut the carrots and kumara lengthways , quarter the onions, leave the mushrooms whole and toss with lots of salt and black pepper and olive oil, rosemary and thyme.
Roast in the oven at 180C for about and hour, turning regularly at 10-15 mins intervals.  Watch that they do not scorch too much.
I then mix the parmesan with the basil, parsley and black pepper.

To assemble the salad start with the rocket and a sprinkling of the parmesan cheese mixture.
Then the roasted vege and beetroot, some more cheese sprinklings, peppers and tomatoes, more cheese sprinklings and finally add the beef and the dressing and toss.

simple prawn salad

This is really simple and the sort of food I like to eat.  I bought the prawns already cooked.  They were surprisingly good and I will buy them again.  The rice is my sticky rice recipe.
The salad is what you can see, prawns, cabbage and sticky rice.  Of course I did put a dressing on it before I ate it and some chile as well.
I think it would be nice with a wasabi mayo type dressing which I will make some time soon but I had it with the usual sweet soy sauce.  It's kind of eating sushi without the nori.  Some avocado would be nice also, oh and some sesame seeds, ah and some raw tuna, the possibilities are endless.

broccoli bacon salad

This is my dinner for work tonight...time to get back to the healthy eating...how boring
I was inspired to make this recipe from here, but with a few changes

For this recipe you will need

• 1 small head of broccoli, chopped and steamed to how you like it
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped cooked bacon
• 1/4 cup of nut mix ( I used almonds, cashews and cranberries, a pre mix from from 'Pak n Save')
• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme
• maldon salt and pepper
• maple syrup vinaigrette 

Assemble and toss with the dressing

sushi rice salad

I have been meaning to put a salad together like this for a long time.  It is another way to use sushi rice and whatever vegetables you have on hand.  The idea is that you chop your ingredients all the same size and group them on top of the rice.

For this recipe I used

• 1 chicken thigh panfried and finely sliced
• an  assortment of julienne vegetables - cucumber, cabbage, beansprouts (with their heads removed), avocado
• top it off with some spring onions, red chile and chopped  peanuts (you could use sesame  seeds as well)
• asian dressing of some sort - I used some dressing left over from last nights 'Pad thai' dinner, but you could use the sticky sweet soy sauce or miso dressing or anything else you would prefer

The combinations are endless, I want to try it with prawns next time.
This would be a good lunch to take to work already prepared the night before, just add the dressing and the nuts before you eat...

spring salad

We had this salad for dinner with our usual Sunday lamb.  The lamb was simply bbqed with rosemary and garlic.  The photo above is before the dressing is added

For the salad you will need

• asparagus
• courgettes (finely sliced and fried in a dry pan)
• broad beans ( I used frozen ones.  Just pour boiling water over and let them sit for 5 minutes and then slip off the outer skin)
• tomatoes
• basil
• mint (finely chopped)
• red pepper (finely sliced)
• feta cheese (crumbled)
• balsamic dressing

Put together  as much or as little of the above as you like and then toss with the dressing

chicken soba noodle salad with ginger peanut dressing

I have had a food revelation.  I poached some chicken breast for the first time and was stunned with the results.  So so simple.  I will be experimenting with this further.

Anyway for this recipe you will need  -  serves 4  -

• 1 poached chicken breast sliced thinly
• 1 head broccoli divided into flowerets and steamed
• 1 packet of soba noodles ( I used the green tea variety as that was all that was available)
• 4 spring onions sliced finely on the diagonally
• 2-3 tablespoons of nut mix ( tasti nut fusion) or sesame seeds dry fried
• ginger peanut dressing

Steam your broccoli for about 2  mins.  Take off the heat and leave the lid on for further cooking.  I like it on the firmer side.

Cook your noodles in boiling water and I stress, do not over cook them or they will be horrible.  Remember noodles are as much their texture as their taste.  Once cooked cool them with cold water and strain and then lay out in a flat dish until they are ready to use.  Add sprinkles of water or in my case the stock I used to poached the chicken to keep the noodles from getting sticky.

For the poached chicken, put the breast (minus its' tender loin) in a pot with enough cold chicken stock to cover.  Bring to the boil, turn off the heat, put on the lid and leave in the stock for a futher 30 mins to continue its cooking.  The results are superb and succulently tender.  Put in the fridge after the 30 mins if you are not using it straight away.

To assemble,  add the broccoli, nuts and noodles along with the dressing (as much as you would like) and toss together,  then put in your serving bowl.  Slice the chicken and layer on top with the spring onions.  This noodle salad is intended to be eaten at room temperature or cold.
I was pleasantly surprised with the results.  Very healthy and delicious with a naughty dressing.

BBQ beef feta salad

I have been really slack of late.  Too many other things going on.
I made this salad last week some time.  Not particularly special but tasty and good for you.

I put together what was at hand.

• piece of thick cut rump bbqed as a whole piece and sliced thinly
• tomatoes
• avocado
• feta cheese
• sugar snap peas
• red cabbage sliced very thinly
• watercress
• basil
• lettuce leaves

Toss it all together with some balsamic dressing and lots of black pepper

We had it for lunch with some bread

tuna salad with carrot dressing

I had this tuna salad for my lunch on friday.  I just put together what I had in the fridge.

It has one small 85g can of tuna lite
sliced iceberg lettuce
sliced sugar snap peas
grated carrot
finely sliced red cabbage
chopped nuts - cashews, pumkin seeds, sunflower seeds

Carrot dressing

Using a fine plane grate about 1/2 a small carrot
juice of lemon
teaspoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/4 tsp of fresh ginger
slug of peanut oil ( not much)

Combine all ingredients of the dressing and then add the tuna to that before adding it to the vegetables.
Not very pretty but very tasty.

superfood salad

It is always this time of year that I feel that I need to get myself healthy. So after a few salads like this I feel like I am back on track.

 There is only goodness in this salad.

1 serve quinoa
grated carrot
grated beetroot
edamame beans
mixed toasted nuts (tasti make a nut fusion blend which I toast in a dry pan with sea salt)
finely chopped red onion
finely chopped currants

It doesn't really need more than a squeeze of lemon juice because it is quite balanced in flavour, but I did add a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegrette.

 To make the quinoa you will need twice as much liquid to quinoa.
For a one serve I use 1/4 cup of quinoa to 1/2 cup liquid and in this  case I used beef stock (because there was a small amount in my freezer).  You can you chicken stock, miso broth, water and soy sauce, anything as long as it is a little bit tasty.

Firstly you need to wash the quinoa in plenty of water as it has some bad stuff on it that needs to come off.  I rinse and strain 3 times.

Put the quinoa and the stock together in a pot and bring to the boil and then turn down the heat to the lowest setting and let it simmer away for about 10 minutes.
At this point you need to keep on checking it so it doesn't dry out and burn.
You may need to add more liquid before it has cooked through properly.  I boil the jug and add small amount as I need to.  Taste it for doneness and stir it around for even cooking.  It should still have a bite to it, you don't want it to become mush.  It takes me usually about 20mins total.  At the end I turn off the heat and put a lid to just get it right.

This photo the quinoa is nearly done but not quite.

I decided that feta cheese was needed just to add some badness.

beef salad with maple syrup vinaigrette

Yay... finally tomatoes are back at a reasonable price.  I have missed them over the winter.  I bought these lovely red and yellow ones from 'Jack Lums'.  I decided to use them in a beef salad that was inspired by 'food for my family'.  The combination of the blue cheese and the maple syrup is delicious.

For this salad you will need

• 2 whitlof or you could use cos lettuce
• baby watercress
• 1 avocado
• red and yellow tomatoes
• thinnly sliced rear beef ( i used a big piece of thick whole rump that was BBQed)
• crumblings of blue cheese (I used blue castello)
• walnuts (optional - i didn't bother, kids don't like them)

You can plate up individually or serve yourself from a big salad bowl

For the dressing you will need

• 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar  (you could use any type of vinegar)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 clove finely minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
• 1/2 finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

prawn noodle salad

This is what I had for lunch the other day.  

• Finely slice up some red and white cabbage
• Grate 1 carrot
• Cook 1 serve of dried egg noodle (make sure not to over cook) you need the bite of the noodle for this dish.
• Cook 6 prawns any way you like.  I pan fried mine and let to cool.
• Sprinkle of sesame seeds
• 1 finely sliced spring onion cut on the diagonal
• Sprinkle of 7 spice assorted chile pepper - nanami togarashi
• Miso dressing

Toss the first 5 ingredients together with the miso dressing in a bowl and then transfer to a plate.

Place the spring onions on the top and sprinkle with the chile pepper

3 dressings for coleslaw

Cabbage and coleslaw is great in the winter as it is in season and good value.  

Raw cabbage is nutrition rich, full of antioxidants, one of the strongest cancer fighters out there.

Here are 3 different dressing ideas...

 Creamy mayonaise dressing

1/2 cup of best food mayonnaise

1 tsp of sweet chile sauce

zest of lime or lemon

juice of 1/2 lime or lemon

smidge of garlic, crushed to a paste.  ( no chunks of raw garlic) 

Mix all ingredients together

Sweet tart lime dressing

juice of 1 or 2 limes depending how juicy they are

1 heaped tsp of white sugar

1 tsp of fish sauce

pinch of chile flakes

Mix until sugar is dissolved

Miso dressing

1 tbs of miso paste

1 tsp of white sugar

2 tbs of rice wine vinegar

2 tbs of canola oil

squeeze of lemon or lime juice

Whisk together