Mexican Charred Corn Salad

Posted on 16 August 2023 by Linda Peek

This fresh corn salad is a nice accompaniment to chicken, fish or beef or use it to fill some wraps, with a few slices of barbecued chicken.

Using mayonnaise in the dressing makes it creamier but leave it out if you prefer. Optional garnish is some sliced avocado.

3-4 cobs of fresh corn (or 3 cups frozen corn, thawed)
2 Tbs olive oil
2-3 spring onions, thinly sliced or diced red onion
3 Tbs mayonnaise, preferably home made (optional)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 Tbs chopped fresh coriander or parsley
1 small red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 small red capsicum (or ½ a larger one), diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or substitute crumbled feta)
2 Tbs lemon or lime juice
Garnish:
Sliced avocado (optional)

Remove kernels from cobs using a sharp knife. Heat oil in a large frying pan and cook the corn for 10 minutes, stirring often, over medium to high heat, until it’s starting to brown a bit.

Mix all ingredients together.

Serves 4

Chickpeas with Chorizo

Posted on 9 August 2023 by Linda Peek

This is a hearty dish to tuck into before the warm weather arrives. It’s one of those dishes that improves with keeping for a day or two in the fridge. So, if there are any leftovers, serve them later in the week, on one of those nights when you’re too busy to cook. To make the leftovers go further, serve them in warm wraps. You can also freeze it.

I made this in my slow cooker, so I was able to leave it to cook while I was out for a couple of hours. If you prefer to cook it in the oven, use a heavy casserole with a lid and you may need to add a bit more water. Keep an eye on it and add as necessary.

The Clonakilty Black Pudding I used, which I bought in Woolies, completely dissolved into the sauce, making it thick and full-flavoured.

3 or 4 chorizo sausages, thickly sliced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 Tbs olive oil
5 large shallots or 2-3 medium onions
100g speck or pancetta, cut into chunky dice
100g black pudding (optional), sliced (you can substitute salami)
2 cans chickpeas (or 1 can chickpeas and 1 can cannellini beans), drained
2 cups beef stock
2 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To serve:
Steamed rice
Chopped parsley

Peel and quarter the shallots or if using onions cut them into 8ths. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onions, garlic, chorizo and speck for a few minutes, stirring often, until onions and garlic are softening and speck is starting to brown and release its fat.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a slow cooker. Cover and cook for 3-4 hours on high or longer on low. Stir from time to time. Serve with steamed rice and garnish with parsley.

Serves 4

Variations: use any other sausages instead of the chorizo. Use ordinary bacon instead of speck. Use drained lentils or black beans instead of cannellini and chickpeas.

Ten Super Quick Dinners

Posted on 26 July 2023 by Linda Peek

We all have our favourite quick and easy recipes that we make regularly. The recipe you think of as you take the main ingredient out of the freezer.

Tried and tested, easy no-brainers.

What are your favourite go-to recipes you can make with your eyes closed? Here are some of mine.

Salmon with Ginger and Sweet Chilli Sauce
Crispy Skinned Fish with Tomato Salsa
Lamb chops with Dijon, Rosemary and Honey
Steak Diane
Smoked Haddock with Tomatoes and Cream
Eggplants with Labneh and Spicy Cashews
Sticky Chilli Chicken
Pasta with Broad Beans and Pesto
Kedgeree
Chicken with Spinach, Pine Nuts and Raisins

Crispy Pork Belly with Sticky Sherry Sauce

Posted on 20 July 2023 by Linda Peek

This easy recipe for pork belly comes from Taste.com

Making it in an air fryer is the easiest way to ensure crunchy crackling with no oven cleaning. Roasting pork in the oven inevitably creates a lot of spattering. An air fryer is a dream to clean. Well mine is.

Aldi sell pork belly in one kilo packs which are perfect for this recipe.

1 kg (approx) pork belly with skin
2 tsp garlic salt (or ordinary salt)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Sticky Sherry Sauce:
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
¼ cup sherry
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs wholegrain mustard
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

With a sharp knife, make cuts parallel to the edge on the meaty side of the pork, 1 cm apart. Don’t cut all the way through – less than halfway. Make similar cuts in a diagonal direction on the skin side of the pork, also about 1cm apart and just cutting through the skin, not right through. Mix the salt and spices and use the mixture to coat both sides of the pork, rubbing it into all the cuts.

Place pork on the tray of an air fryer, skin side up, and cook at 200°C for 25 minutes then at 160°C for a further 30 minutes. By this time the pork should be cooked through and the crackling crunchy.

Meanwhile place all ingredients for sauce in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 3-4 minutes until reduced and sticky.

Slice pork and serve with the sauce underneath or spooned over. Garnish with some fresh herbs such as coriander leaves.

Serve with rice and a steamed green vegetable or a simple coleslaw.

Serves 4-6

Note: if you don’t have an air fryer, cook in the oven in a roasting pan for half an hour at 220°C then turn the oven down to 160°C for a further 10 minutes or until pork is tender and crackling is crunchy.

Brussels Sprouts with Honey & Balsamic

Posted on 28 June 2023 by Linda Peek

Brussels sprouts, love them or hate them?

Nightmares of these over-cooked, soggy vegetables have haunted generations of children. Back then everybody boiled them for far too long, leaving them grey and unpalatable.

But have you ever tried them roasted? With the addition of olive oil, salt and pepper and about 20 minutes in a hot oven, sprouts take on a whole new persona.

Before serving, you might like to add a touch of honey and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. In the second photo I’ve added some cooked peas and crumbled feta cheese.

Let me know in the comments if this recipe convinces you to give sprouts another go!

500g brussels sprouts
2 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp honey
1-2 tsp balsamic glaze
1-2 cups frozen peas, cooked in boiling salted water and drained (optional)
100g feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Trim sprouts and halve vertically. Mix with oil and seasoning. Spread out on a shallow tray lined with baking paper and roast for about 20 minutes or until al dente and starting to brown on the edges. Alternatively, cook in an air fryer for 10-15 minutes.

Drizzle with the honey and balsamic glaze. If liked, mix in the peas, top with the feta and drizzle with a little more olive oil.

Serves 4-6

Lamb with Hummus, Roasted Veggies & Mint Pesto

Posted on 21 June 2023 by Linda Peek

This is a delicious way to serve roast lamb.

1 leg or shoulder of lamb, boned or not
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup water
2-3 tsp Za’atar spice mix (or spice mix of your choice)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups hummus (home-made or bought)
1 batch oven roasted veggies
Mint Pesto:
1 cup mint leaves, firmly packed
½ cup pistachios or pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp honey
Olive oil
Salt to taste
To serve:
Toasted pine nuts

Pre-heat oven to 150°C. Place lamb in a large heavy casserole with a lid. Season with the Za’atar, salt and pepper. Add the balsamic vinegar and water and cover. Cook for 2- 3 hours, turning the meat over halfway through. If when you turn the meat the liquid has all dried up add a bit more water – half a cup or so. If the meat is boned it will take less time. Cook to preferred doneness.

Prepare the roast veggies.

For the mint pesto, place all ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Process until chunky then add the oil through the feed chute with the motor running until you have a thick sauce. Scrape down the sides halfway through. Scrape out into a bowl.

To serve, spread the hummus on one large plate or divide between individual plates. Top with sliced lamb, then the roasted vegetables. Top with some mint pesto and sprinkle with a few toasted pine nuts – which as you can see from the photo, I forgot! If liked drizzle some of the cooking liquid from the lamb over the top and around the edge of the plate.

Serves 6-8

Crunchy Beans with Humus and Feta

Posted on 14 June 2023 by Linda Peek

This healthy dip or shared plate is delicious and easy to make. Even the grandkids loved it.

1 can white cannelini beans, drained thoroughly
1 good pinch chilli flakes
1 Tbs cornflour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried rosemary or another herb (optional(
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs olive oil
1- 2 cups humus (bought or home made)
100g feta cheese, crumbled
Chopped fresh herbs to garnish or spring onion slivers
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat ovento 200C. Mix beans with chilli flakes, corflour, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic powder and olive oil. Line a shallow baking sheet with baking paper. Spread the beans over the paper in one layer. Bake for 20-30 mins or until golden and crunchy. Move them around a bit halfway through cooking.

Meanwhile spread humus over serving plate. Sprinkle feta over the top, then, the crunchy beans and a few fresh herbs. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve with nice bread.

Serves 4-6 as a shared plate

Salmon with Ginger and Sweet Chilli Sauce

Posted on 7 June 2023 by Linda Peek

This recipe is so easy, I have never bothered to include it in this blog.

I’m going to do so today, for two reasons. Firstly it’s a favourite in our house, so I make it at least once a fortnight and sometimes once a week. Secondly, if I serve it to guests they invariably ask for the recipe.

2 portions salmon, skin on or off
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (see note below)
1 Tbs Thai sweet chilli sauce
Lemon to garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a shallow baking tray with baking paper.

Pat the salmon fillets dry and arrange on the tray. Mix ginger and chilli sauce and spread evenly over the tops of the salmon. Bake for 8-10 minutes. We like our salmon pink in the middle. If liked, cook longer.

Serve garnished with lemon, with an Asian Coleslaw or steamed green vegetable.

Serves 2

Note: Peel half a kilo or more of fresh ginger, then chop very finely in food processor. Freeze in ice cube trays, pressing down to fill. When frozen, tip into a ziplock bag or container and freeze. Just take out one cube at a time. Perfect for stir-fries and marinades.

Stuffed Peppers

Posted on 17 May 2023 by Linda Peek

Stuffed peppers or capsicums are delicious served hot or at room temperature.

The filling is flexible. This version has a vegetarian filling, but if preferred you can add some browned minced beef, chicken or pork, or some chopped ham.

4-6 small to medium capsicums (peppers), red or yellow
Filling:
1 cup rice, quinoa or pearl (Israeli) couscous
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
½ cup pine nuts
Olive oil
½ cup home made breadcrumbs
To garnish:
1 long green chilli, thinly sliced (optional)
Or fresh parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Cook the rice, quinoa or pearl couscous in boiling salted water until al dente, drain well.

Cut capsicums in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Place cut side up in a large oiled baking dish in one layer. Mix ingredients for filling, except for the olive oil and saving a bit of the feta and pine nuts for the topping. Fill the capsicum halves.

Mix the saved feta cheese and pine nuts with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle on top. Drizzle generously with olive oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the capsicums are starting to char a bit – see photo.

Garnish with the green chilli – or some fresh parsley leaves – and serve hot or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Chicken with Spinach, Pine Nuts and Raisins

Posted on 10 May 2023 by Linda Peek

We have six perpetual spinach plants in the garden. It’s a great leafy vegetable to grow because you just break off the leaves as you need them and it keeps on growing.

Ours are in a raised bed which we can cover at night in the cooler months, like a greenhouse, so the plants don’t get damaged by frost.

This is a healthy, quick and easy dinner for two, but easily doubled for four. If liked serve with rice, potatoes or Israeli pearl couscous

1 large or two small chicken breasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Herbs or spices of choice (paprika, thyme etc)
2 Tbs olive oil
1 bunch spinach, washed, stalks removed
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbs pine nuts
2 Tbs sultanas or raisins
Balsamic glaze

Cut chicken into six or eight lengthwise fat fingers. Season with salt and pepper and a good pinch of any spices or herbs you fancy. Last time I added a good pinch of curry powder. Place sultanas in a small bowl, cover with hot water, leave 3 minutes, then drain.

Pour boiling water over the spinach and leave for 2 minutes. Drain, squeeze out all the water and if spinach has large leaves, chop roughly. If using baby spinach, no need. Leave in a sieve to continue draining while you cook the chicken.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a frying pan and cook chicken on both sides for 8-10 minutes, turning a couple of times, until cooked through. When chicken is cooked, remove from the pan. To the pan add the second Tbs of oil – you might not need it – spinach, garlic, pine nuts and sultanas or raisins. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes then season to taste.

Divide spinach among two serving plates. Top with chicken, then garnish with olive oil and balsamic glaze.