Sunday, September 05, 2010

Cooking Up A storm

One of the things I missed the most when I was travelling was good home cooking. Since I have moved into my new place I have spent any moment of free time cooking lovely home cooked meals. Here are some of my staples, some of which I cook on a weekly basis, and they are all lap band friendly!


Sorry I haven't given exact measure on things, I really just add what I have in my fridge and I often mix and match ingredients depending on what I have. Also, sorry for any mistakes, this is just off the top of my head. I don't have the attention span to follow recipes!


My recipes are not fancy, they are just simple and quick week night meals using normal ingredients that I tend to have in my fridge and cupboard. I love reading about what other people are eating, so I hope this gives other people some ideas too!


*Translations*
Coriander= cilantro
Capsicum= peppers
Zucchini= courgette


Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients
375 g red lentils
Water 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red capsicum, diced 
1 bag fresh baby spinach leaves
2 medium zucchinis, diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 sticks celery, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1 x 450 g can condensed tomato soup
500 ml chicken stock
1 tbs coriander paste

Method
Place lentils in a large saucepan and cover with water
Cook the lentils until soft (do not allow the lentils to dry out)
Fry all the vegetables (except spinach) in olive until soft, then add to the lentils
Fry the chorizo, slice and then add to the lentils and vegetables
Add chicken stock, tomato soup, spinach and coriander and simmer until soup has thickened
Season to taste

*I have added chorizo or bacon when I have it for extra taste


Vegetable Curry

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
4 tbs Pataks chicken masala curry paste
400g canned chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely sliced
Cauliflower, cut into florets
2 Carrots, sliced
2 zucchinis, finely diced
Green beans, halved
1 red capsicum, diced
3 potatoes, cubed
Baby spinach
Pita bread
1 tbs chopped coriander
Low-fat sour cream, to serve

Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
Add onion and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until softened
Add curry paste and cook, stirring, for a further 1-2 minutes
Add tomatoes, vegetables and 200ml water, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender
Add spinach and coriander and stir through until spinach is wilted
Warm pita bread in the oven
Serve topped with a tablespoon of light sour cream stirred through and warm pita bread 

*You could add lamb, beef or chicken and just use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge


Sausage and Potato Quiche

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
6 eggs
½ cup of low fat milk
2 lamb and fetta sausages
2 medium potatoes, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
Fresh baby spinach
1 tbs basil paste
1/2 cup of low fat cheese

Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the red onion over low heat until caramelized
Add the spinach until wilted and take off the heat
Boil the potato slices until just soft (salt the water)
Cook the sausages in a saucepan and slice thinly
Beat the eggs and milk together with a fork in a bowl until mixed
Add the onion, spinach, sausages and basil and stir until mixed
Place potatoes into a lightly greased pie dish
Pour mixture over the top of potatoes
Sprinkle the top of quiche with cheese
Bake in 180 degrees oven for 25 minutes

*I think this would be awesome with some hunks of brie in the mixture before baking, but that is not very healthy of me!


Quesadillas

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 chicken breast, diced finely
1 red capsicum, diced finely
1 red onion, diced finely
Spicy salsa
Light sour cream
Light cheese
Light tortillas
1 packet of burrito seasoning

Method
Coat chicken in burrito seasoning (add chilli powder for extra spice)
Heat oil in saucepan and fry chicken
Add capsicum and onion and cook until soft
Place a couple of tablespoons of mixture onto half the tortilla
Add salsa on top of the chicken mixture
Add sprinkling of cheese
Fold tortilla over mixture and close
Place tortillas on oven tray (or use flat toasted sandwich maker grill)
Bake in 180 degree oven until golden (approx. 5-10 mins)
Serve will tablespoon of light sour cream


Pizzas

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
Pita bread
Tomato paste
Light cheese
Fresh baby spinach
Basil paste
1 red onion, sliced
1 red capsicum, diced
Black pitted kalamatta olives, halved
2 lamb and fetta sausages

Method
Heat olive oil in a saucepan and cook onion slowly until caramelized
Add capsicum to saucepan until soft and take off heat
Cook sausages in saucepan and then slice thinly
Spread a tablespoon of tomato paste on pita bread
Add a teaspoon of basil paste and spead out over pizza base
Sprinkle pizza base with cheese
Place a handful of fresh baby spinach on pizza base
Add cooked onion, capsicum and sausage to the pizza base
Add halved olives to pizza base
Cook in 180 degree oven for 10 minutes

* I used lamb and fetta sausages, but just use any meat or none at all. I think this would be even yummier with some goats cheese sprinkled over the top too.

A few other things I have been cooking lately:

* Red wine and beef casserole in the slow cooker
* Chow Mein
* Lentil patties
* Sausage and egg burritos
* Fish wraps
* Barbecued Portugese chicken thighs with grilled corn 
* Chili con carne

4 comments:

  1. yummmmmm. I think you be liking the lamb n fetta snags! I bought some Chicken Lemon & Pepper snags from a farmers market on the weekend - plan on sampling them tonight :0)

    PS Hope our boys come back with gusto this week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am planning to make this sometime soon. A friend of mine cooked it for a dinner party a while ago and it's awesome:

    http://recipefinder.ninemsn.com.au/restaurantrecipes/311944/bill-grangers-ricotta-and-herb-stuffed-roast-chicken

    ReplyDelete
  3. I LOVE YOU. Isn't it strange when you start thinking about something, and then the universe presents it on a silver platter? I was looking for a lentil/pea soup recipe, and here it is!

    Also, I really hope your boys don't come back with gusto this week, but I hope you'll still talk to me if they don't ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I tried your pizza receipt. It was delicious. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Awww thanks so much for the comment!