Fried Aubergine & Killarney Honey - A Spanish Tapa Killarney Style

I was chatting with a good friend of mine the other day about going on holidays and I was recommending the lovely resort town of Costa Teguise in Lanzarote as an option for her to go now that she has a young family. I went there 3 times in 12 months recently! The food there is amazing!! It is here that I discovered the Spanish tapa of fried aubergine with honey. I feel in love with it. Even my husband who is 'afraid' of every type of vegetable couldn't say no to these tasty morsels.

As I was reminiscing about all the wonderful meals we had in that resort, I remembered those gorgeous bite size aubergine slices and all of a sudden I got a mad craving for them. So instead of my usual salad for lunch, I decided to change things up today and make the fried aubergines.

We are incredibly lucky here in Killarney that  there are amazing honey producers close by - Killarney Honey. However, any really good honey will suffice to sweeten up these deliciosus treats.

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine, peeled and sliced into round discs
• Sea salt
• Table salt
• 1-2 tbsp of flour
• Good runny honey
• Good quality  balsamic syrup
• 5-6 tbsp of rapeseed oil (or other flavourless oil)

Method

1. Place the aubergine slices in a plate and sprinkle with the table salt and leave for 10 minutes.
2. Using kitchen paper, press down on the slices to release and remove all the water that seeps from the slices.
3. Put the oil on a high heat.
4. Place the flour on a plate and dip each slice of abergine into the flour, making sure they are completely coated. Shake off the excess flour.
5. Carefully place each disc of aubergine in the hot oil, and cook for 2 minutes, before turning and cooking for a further 2 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Remove the slices from the oil and place on kitchen paper to allow the excess oil to drain away.
7. Place the disc of aubergine on a plate and drizzle generously with your honey, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and finally drizzle for balsamic syrup over the aubergine.

Super Fast Super Healthy Thai Beef Stir Fry

I'm  a huge Thai food fan, and luckily most Thai dishes are healthy! This dish is one of the healthy ones, perfect for guilt free dining mid week. You can really put any veggies with this dish, but I find that green peppers always pair beautifully with beef. There can be alot of calories in peanuts but a small amount are good for you and they help curb any 9pm hunger pangs that I sometimes experience with healthy stir fries.

Once you have all your ingredients prepped, this dinner can be made in a matter of minutes. Cut all your vegetables into even slices so they all cook at the same time.

Ingredients

• 3 minute steaks, cut in strips
• 1 carrot, sliced thinly
• 5 mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1 green pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 red onion, sliced thinly
• 2 tsp of cornflour
• Stir fry oil, for cooking

Marinade

• 1 tbsp of fish sauce
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil
• 2 tbsp of light soy sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 lemongrass, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, diced
• 1 tsp of chili flakes
• 2 tsp of sugar

To serve

• 2 tbsp of peanuts
• Wholewheat noodles
• Lime wedges

Method

1. First marinate the beef. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour over the sliced beef. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Cook the noodles and set aside.
3. Put the wok on a high heat and pour in some cooking oil.
4. Stir fry the vegatables for 1-2 minutes and remove.
5. Drain the beef from the marinade, reserving the liquid.
6. Add the cornflour to the liquid marinade and stir to dissolve.
7. Add more stir fry oil to the wok and fry off the steak, this should only take 1 minute. 
8. Pour in the marinade liquid and stir to heat and cook the cornflour out.
9. Re-introduce the vegetables to the wok and stir fry for 1 minute.
10. Serve with hot noodles, scatter over the peanuts and serve with a wedge of lime.