Sarah's Version of Tempeh Salad

I didn't manage to find any tempeh at four different supermarkets so I ended up using tofu instead.   I made the dressing with avocado oil and it was really quite tasty.

All up this was a great way to get lots of veges in a meal and it was still good the next day for lunch (I took the noodles in a separate container so they didn't go soggy)

It was good to realise that salads are still ok in winter...

Brandy & Walnut Fondue

Brandy & Walnut Fondue - serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 garlic clove
250ml dry white wine
4 Tbs Calvados brandy (any good brandy can be substituted)
225g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
350g Gruyere cheese, grated
100g goat's cheese, crumbled
2 Tbs cornflour
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce, or to taste
100g chopped walnuts

To Serve - Dippers
Cubes of crusty bread - not too fresh
Strips of courgettes
Apple wedges
Mango wedges
Pickled jalapeno chillies for dipping
Frankfurter pieces
Pieces of cooked chicken

To Serve - Salads (see later)
Chilled Ratatouille (serves 4 to 6 - needs time to chill)
Tossed Green Salad (serves 4)

Instructions
Cut the garlic and rub the insides of the fondue pot. Pour in the wine and brandy. Heat Gently, then place over the lighted spirit stove.

Toss the cheeses in the cornflour then gradually stir into the wine. Heat gently, stirring until all the cheese has melted.

Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco Sauce and walnuts. Continue to heat, stirring throughout until thick and creamy.

Serve with dippers and Salads

Chilled Ratatouille

Ingredients
4 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium aubergine, cubed
1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 courgette, sliced
225g tomatoes, chopped
100g mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbs white wine
Salt and pepper
2 Tbs chopped fresh basil

Instructions
Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onion, garlic and aubergine for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, courgette, tomatoes, mushrooms and white wine, cover with a lid and cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Season to taste, and continue to cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender but still retaining their shape.

Cool, chill for at least 30 minutes and serve sprinkled with chopped basil.

Tossed Green Salad

Ingredients
1 garlic clove, halved
1 Romaine lettuce
1/2 small cucumber
3 celery sticks, trimmed and chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded
2 chicory heads
6 spring onions, trimmed
1 large, ripe avocado
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs roughly chopped parsley

Dressing
5 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper
1 to 2 tsp caster sugar

Instructions
Rub the garlic inside the salad bowl. Rinse the lettuce leaves, pat dry, tear into small pieces and place in the bowl.

Peel and dice the cucumber. Add to the lettuce with the celery.

Slice the pepper into half moon shapes, and add to the bowl. Pull the chicory heads apart, rinse then arrange in the bowl.

Chop the spring onions and scatter over the lettuce. Peel the avocado and discard the stone, dice, toss in the lemon juice then arrange in the salad bowl with the parsley.

Place all the dressing ingredients in a screw top jar. Shake vigorously until well blended. Poor over the salad, toss and serve.

From - The Fondue Cookbook by Gina Steer

Spicy Tempeh Salad

For the salad -

250g Spicy Tempeh

sesame oil

4 cups julienned mixed vegetables (carrots, snow peas, capsicum, spring onion)

2 cups shredded red cabbage

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

125g crispy fried chinese noodles

 

For the dressing –

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

¼ cup oil

 

Slice the tempeh into fine strips and brush with the sesame oil.

Place on a non stick tray and bake at 200 deg C for 20 minutes.

Mix with the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

 

Make the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients.

 

Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

 

Serves 4-6.

From The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

Sarah's Version of Paella

The main memory of this dish is how bad prawn stock smells while it is cooking...

The vegetarian version of the dish tasted pretty good - I doubled the amount of capsicum, mushrooms, peas and olives to make up for the lack of prawns.  I think the ratio of rice to "other stuff" in the altered version was pretty good but the prawn version was a little too stodgy (although it was also missing the mushrooms and capsicum).

I might look out a more traditional Paella recipe and see what the differences are.

Anna's Version of Paella

This was not the best of meals. It was quite bland. Although this could have been due to the bits that I left out because I forgot to buy them. It was missing the ginger, olives and capers. I also used dried Basil instead of fresh as I also forgot that.

Anna's Version Zucchini, Spinach and Mint Soup

I finally got round to making this one. I used Campbells tetra pack vege stock which is quite a dark stock, so the soup was not a great colour, but it still tasted OK. I also had a bit of a problem with nearly burning it at the beginning, so I had to add more stock. I think this meant that there is a little bit of burnt garlic flavour to it, but it's not too strong.

I didn't do the cheese croutes as I could only find quite large blocks of feta and since I don't actually eat it I thought that was a waste as what I didn't use would be thrown away. I had meant to cook some bread, but didn't get round to it, so just had plain toast. This was OK, but would have been better with something a bit more substantial as the soup was quite think.

Paella

Prawn Stock

4 1/2 cups water
1.1 kg raw jumbo prawns (about 32-40)

Paella

2 tsp extra light olive oil with a dash of sesame oil
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
1 tsp fresh grated root ginger
1 bay leaf
2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
4 cups prawn stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/8 tsp saffron
1/4 tsp freshly ground salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sauce

1 tsp extra light olive oil with a dash of sesame oil
1/2 onion, peeled and sliced
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into 1.5 cm slices
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into 1.5 cm slices
1 tsp fresh grated root ginger
1 clove garlic, peeled, smashed and chopped
1 cup white wine
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup fresh quartered mushrooms
3 Tbs black olives, chopped
2 tsp capers
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
3 Tbs fresh chopped basil

Garnish

freshly squeezed lemon juice
fresh chopped mint leaves

Instructions:

Prawn Stock -

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil, drop in the prawns and cook for 3 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. Plunge the prawns into ice water to prevent further cooking and make them easy to handle. Peel and devein the prawns, returning the shells to the reserved liquid. Set the prawns aside.

Bring the reserved liquid and prawn shells to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain - you should have 4 cups of prawn stock.

The Paella -

In a stewpot, heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic for 1 minute. Add the ginger, bay leaf and rice, stiring until the rice is well coated. Add the prawn stock, wine, saffron, salt and pepper, stiring until combined. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer over a very low heat for 25 minutes, stiring every 3 minutes.

The Sauce -

In another stewpot, heat the oil and saute the onion, bell peppers, ginger and garlic for 3 minutes. Stir in the basil, the wine and tomato puree and bring to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, olives, capers, and peas.

To Assemble -

Remove the bay leaf from the paella. Fold the sauce into the rice, then gently fold in the cooked prawns. remove the paella from the heat, cover and let stand for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle.

To Serve -

Spoon the paella into serving bowls. Sprinkle with fresh lemon juice and chopped mint.

Serves 6

From Graham Kerr's Minimax Cookbook.

Anna's Version of Kerala Style Egg Curry

I also found this really easy and quick It was also a lot nicer than I had anticipated (don't usually like yoghurt). I didn't have any fresh garlic, so used jar garlic but this didn't seem to be a problem. I also didn't quite cook the eggs long enough, but they were hard enough to use. I will probably make this again, which surprises me. Left overs for lunch tomorrow too.