Prawn & Mango Red Curry - Quick & Healthy Mid Week Supper

When you are up against it, stir fries are a great speedy dinner option, not to mention healthy. Here's the fastest stir fry I've made in ages and tastiest. The sweetness of the mango with the prawns works so well, along with the spicy red curry paste.

Ingredients

• 100g raw prawns
• 1/2 a fresh mango cubed
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 red onion. thinly sliced
• 1  lime, quartered
• 10-15 fine green beans
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1cm piece of ginger, diced
• 3 tbsp of coconut milk
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of soy sauce

Rice to serve

Method

1. Put a wok on high heat, and heat the coconut oil. Fry off the onions, garlic, & ginger. Add the red curry paste, and cook it out for a minute or so.
2. Add the mushrooms and the prawns. Cook until the prawn turn pink. 
3. Add the mango cubes and the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
4. To thicken the sauce, pour a tbsp of water into a container with a tsp of cornflour and stir to make a loose paste. Add to the gently simmering sauce and it should thicken. 
5. Finally add the green beans to warm through, but they still retain their colour. To taste add the fish sauce and the soy sauce.
6. For freshness and zing, serve with a wedge of lime and some brown rice.

Aubergine, Sweet Potato & Chickpea Balti - A Low Fat Balti Hit

So my obsession with sweet potatoes is clearly continuing. I've been trying to maintain a healthy diet lately with the run up to Christmas well and truly here.However last Monday to Friday was a real dieters struggle was a series of dull boring low calorie dinners, and left me longing for the weekend to hurry up for my treats.

This week I decided I couldn't face another week of roast veggies and quinoa for 5 days on the trot. I don't think I can actually face roast veggies and quinoa again for a very long time. I wanted to make a meal I could look forward to, so I set about making this delicious, sweet and spicy vegetable Balti curry. It's gorgeous.
The perfect amount of fiery heat and the long slow stew of the vegetables lent a sweet and delicate flavour to the dish. The addition of spinach was because, 'why not'! It's super healthy, and packed with iron. I had half a tin of chickpeas leftover so decided to bung them into the mix too. They are a great source of protein and help you stay fuller for longer, or so I'm told. I must say they did the trick as I was completely stuffed at the end of my meal and didn't long for the chili con carne I had made the rest of the family.

I have enough for tomorrows dinner also and I'm looking forward to it already. Of course leftover can also be frozen if you are unable to take the same dinner two days in a row. I myself get like that sometimes, but I suppose it depends what the offering is. In this case, I'm certainly not dreading it. I can't wait.

Serves 4ish

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine, cubed
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1/2 can chick peas
• 500g of passata 
• 1 tbsp balti paste
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1 ginger piece, diced
• 1 large handful of baby spinach leaves, washed
• 1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil
• 2 tbsp of low fat natural Greek yogurt

To Serve
1 Small portion of brown rice per person

Method

1. Get a heavy based saucepan on a medium heat and add the sliced onions, garlic, ginger and oil.
2. Fry them for a minute or so, then add the balti paste.
3. Fried off the paste for another minute or so and add the aubergines & sweet potatoes.
4. Add the passata and stir well to combine.
5. Partially cover and simmer on a low heat for 40 minutes.
6. Add the chickpeas and one table spoon of yogurt and stir well
7. Simmer for another few minutes.
8. Season well with salt and pepper and add the spinach leaves. Turn the heat off immediately and gently stir the spinach leaves through until wilted. The add the parsley.
9. To serve, top each portion of curry with the second table spoon of yogurt and serve with a small portion of brown rice. (Mine is flecked with a small bit of black quinoa)

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I love Gnocchi, those gorgeous pillowy potato dumplings Italy made famous! They are so versatile and a fantastic change from regular pasta every once in a while. You would be surprised how simple it is to make your own. Plus making your own has the added benefit of no preservative or additives. Just a few simply ingredients and you are done!

Ever the health conscious, well I like to do a little balancing act of 20% bold awesome treats, and 80% sinless tasty meals; I've decided to make gnocchi even healthier. Normally made with white potatoes and white flour, I'm mixing things up a bit using whole wheat flour, and sweet potatoes instead. I love how by making little grooves in the gnocchi, your sauce sticks to them, making for a very tasty vegetarian meal. I like to go meat free on a Monday after maybe over eating at the weekends. This is the perfect antidote to a weekend of over indulging, but still packed with goodness and flavour!

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 cup of whole wheat flour
• 2/3 tbsp of olive oil, extra virgin
• Salt & pepper
• The sauce of your choice,  My Parsley Pesto, is a particular favorite

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and bake the sweet potatoes for 50 minutes. If you are short on time, prick each sweet potato many times, wrap in kitchen paper and microwave for 6-7 minutes.
2. Once baked, slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the soft potato, discard the skins. Allow to cool. 
3. Add salt, pepper and the oil, and mash the potatoes well.
4. Add the flour to the mashed potato and knead to a well formed dough, add more oil if too dry or more flour if too wet.
5. Dust your work surface with flour and turn out the dough, giving it a brief knead. 
6. Roll the dough out to a sausage rope.
7. Cut the rope into 1 inch intervals.
8. Using a wet fork, stamp each gnocchi, to give a slight indent.
9. Place a pan of water on to boil with a generous pinch of salt.
10. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cool for a couple of minutes. When they float, they are cooked.
11. Stir through your sauce/pesto of choice and enjoy.

Red Quinoa & Smoked Salmon Sushi - A Low GI Alternative to Sushi Rolls

Nori Maki is my favorite sushi!! I adore the taste of the nori seaweed paper and the sweet and tangy rice vinegar soaked sticky sushi rice! I've been hooked ever since my Sushi for Beginners class in Ballymaloe (see previous blog post here). I've been obsessed lately with trying to eat foods with a low GI, and trying to pair the correct foods together. I was shocked to see sushi rice so high on the glycemic index (89). Not one to say good bye to my beloved nori maki rolls, I set about trying to find an alternative for the high GI rice. After all, every other part of the rolls are extremely healthy.

That's when I discovered that the awesome quinoa could do the same job as the rice. I have developed quite an obsession for red quinoa, I love the crunchier texture over white quinoa, but they both still have the same nutrient make up more or less. I'll admit that white quinoa is fluffier and probably be easier to work with from a 'sticky' perspective, but I think that the red quinoa just has more flavor, dammit!! :)

There is something so satisfying about rolling nori maki rolls. I can't put my finger on it, it's reminds me of make and do as a child and has a fun playful aspect to it. It's actually childsplay to make and you'll find that you become more confident and accomplished as you progress from rolling your first roll to the final one.

I have an endless supply of gorgeous fresh smoked salmon in my kitchen from the Bed and Breakfast so I robbed some for my dinner to make these rolls. We get our salmon delivered to the door from a local supplier and it's definately worth buying your smoked salmon locally. There is no comparison with the cheaper supermarket alternatives. If you don't like/have smoked salmon you can use pretty much anything, prawns, crab, or go completely veggie, and have a rainbow of peppers and cucumbers. There are no rules!! Afterall, I'm not even using rice!

I will say you can't have sushi without wasabi, pickled ginger or soy! Now that's a deal breaker! I love the hot hit you get from wasabi, so I spread it on my salmon in the roll, but if you're not that hard core, just plant a blob of it on the side of your plate and dip in the roll after. The 'hot hit' though is an addictive feeling.

Here's the recipe to my favorite, but use this as a guide and substitute in the ingredients you like

Makes 4 Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup of red quinoa
• 2 cups of water
• 4 tbsp japanese rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 4 nori sheets, try to source a sushi rolling bamboo mat also. They are usually sold along side the nori sheets. It makes rolling so much easier.
• 50g of smoked salmon, sliced thinly
• Thinly sliced variety of peppers, carrots, and cucumber
• 1 tube of wasabi
• soy sauce
• pickled ginger

Method

1. Firstly you must cook you quinoa. Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan, bring to a boil, add the the quinoa and cook on a simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Drain well.
3. Spread the quinoa out in a dish and mix in the vinegar, salt and sugar and make sure everything gets well coated.
4. Allow the quinoa to cool.
5. Get your bamboo rolling mat and place in front of you.
6. Wave a sheet of nori over the hob, careful not to burn, but just to heat slightly to make the sheet more pliable.
7. Place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down.
8. Spread a thin layer of quinoa over the the whole sheet, out to the edges, leaving a small space at the top side of the sheet to seal it. 
9. Lay the smoked salmon and the vegetables (whichever combination you prefer) on the side nearest you. Careful not to over fill as the roll will burst if over filled. I know this from vast greedy experience.
10. Dab the empty edge of the nori sheet with rice vinegar using your finger. This is your glue.
11. Carefully , as tight as you can, start rolling the the roll, away from you.
12. I like to cut the ends of the sushi rolls normally for a cleaner finish, and these ends are cooks treat.
13. Cut the roll in half, and then cut those halves in half, and finally , cut those pieces in half. You should have eight pieces, for small bites. you can make them bigger, but the sushi etiquette is to be able to eat your roll in one mouth full, and I don't know about you, but my mouth isn't big enough for anything bigger than 1/8 of a roll at a time.

To serve, put a 'blob' of wasabi on the side of the plate, soy sauce in a dish and pickled ginger on the side. Dip and enjoy.

Nigella's Italian Steak n' Chips - A New Take on a Classic

In my hungover state yesterday I found myself indulging in my ultimate guilty pleasure - watching hours of the Food Network. I love Nigella Lawson, so I  was delighted with a double bill of Nigellisima. In the episode I watched, she made Tagliata and Tuscan Fries. I was positively drooling. And knew that that would be the hangover cure meal for the coming evening, So I pulled out my Nigellisima book and sent my husband off to the shops to get the ingredients.

This is her Italian take on steak and chips, and I'm completely converted and actually very excited to recreate it again next weekend for our Valentine's dinner. I do not have a deep fryer, so I opted for her style of making the chips in a pan with hot oil. I was absolutely terrified making the chips as I can be quiet clumsy in the kitchen and it requires the utmost concentration, so as not to scald yourself. But it is most definitely worth it. Though in hindsight, with a crazy hangover and a hyper toddler running around the kitchen, it was a bold choice.

The idea of marinating the steaks after cooking is sheer brilliance, resulting in an extremely tasty steak, full of flavour and punch. In  Nigella's book, she states that one steak is plenty for two people. In fact stating this is a wonderful way of stretching a steak to two people. Now if Nigella tells you something is enough, then I should have believed her. Greedy guts here cooked two steaks (it would have certainly done four people at a dinner party).  In saying that, me and my husband had no trouble eating everything.

I didn't have the herbs she called for in the Tuscan Fries recipe, but I substituted the sage with basil, and it worked really well, especially seeing as this is an Italian recipe anyway.

With Valentines approaching, this is a stunning elegant steak and chips recipe to make for that someone special.

Serves - 2 greedies/4 adults

Ingredients

For the steak

• 1/2 tsp of dried chili flakes
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 2 tsp of red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 2 sirloin steaks

For the chips

• 4 large rooster potatoes, skins on and cut into thin chips
• 2 litres of vegetable oil
• 4 cloves of garlic in skins
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 4-5 fresh basil leaves

To serve

5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bag of rocket (or designer leaves as Nigella would say)

Method

1. Start by putting the chips in a deep pan of oil, cold oil. Turn the heat up high and cook for 15 minutes. using a tongs and oven glove to stir every so often. Some of the chips will stick to the bottom of the pan. Stir frequently so you don't loose too many to this fate.
2. After 15 minutes, carefully drop in the garlic and herbs and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so. The chips tend to float to the top with cooked. Try to get a really brown crispy finish.
3. Transfer the chips to a warm oven to keep hot while you cook the steaks. The steaks go cold quickly so that's why I suggest making the chips first and keep warm. As trying to keep the steaks warm whilst trying to wait for the chips to cook, will only result in an over cooked steak.
4. Heat a grill pan until searing hot.
5. Combine all the steak ingredients, except the steaks, in a shallow baking dish.
6. Lightly oil the steaks and sear in the pan, 2 minutes a side. The steak will be rare but this is what we want. 
7. Transfer the steaks to the baking dish with the marinade and let them rest for 2 minutes a side in the marinade.
8. Remove the steaks to a board and slice very thinly on the diagonal. Meanwhile, put the cherry tomatoes, cut side down. in the marinade and stir them around a bit.
9. To serve, scatter a serving dish with the rocket. And randomly scatter the slices of steak over the rocket, along with the cherry tomatoes. Pour the remaining marinade over the dish, not wasting a drop of flavour.
10. Serve with the crispy Tuscan fries.

Tip for the Fries: Chips in my opinion cannot be eaten without salt and vinegar. For these chips, I recommend coarse salt and balsamic vinegar. Delish!!!!!!

Thank you Nigella, as always, you rock!!

Indonesian Style Roast Pork

As much as I love a Sunday roast, sometimes I like to do something a little less traditional with my Sunday dinner. I bought a pork loin for my Sunday dinner and thought I would try something a little different with it than roast potatoes & apple sauce (not that there is any thing wrong with roast potatoes and apple sauce). I love Asian flavours, so I decided to try to recreate the flavours of the food we had whilst in Indonesia...( I'm always cooking Thai, so I thought Indonesian might be some fun).

 I loved my time in Indonesia, especially the food. Here's my slow baked Indonesian Pork Loin, that requires very little effort at all, once the marinade is made. You could then serve this with potatoes, but I decided on a Pea and Raisin Pilaf Rice. I think when I make this again, I will cover the meat in foil (To prevent the marinade from turning too dark and burning), until the final 30 minutes, and also perhaps serve it with a satay noodle side.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg of basted Pork Loin
• 4 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of smooth peanut butter
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp of Chinese 5 spice
• 2 tbsp of water
• 1 onion

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
2. Combine all the ingredients (except for the pork of course) in a blender and blitz to a sauce consistency.
3. Pour the sauce over the pork and allow to marinade for a few hours at least, ideally over night.
4. Cover the pork with tin foil and bake in the oven for 3 hours, remove the foil for the final 30 minutes and turn up the oven to 200 degrees.
5. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Tomato Baked Orzo

I've taken a time out from the blog for last two months, a little maternity break, as we welcomed a new addition to our family on Sept 2nd. We now have a gorgeous baby boy called Fionn!! I took the break as time is precious with a newborn, plus I also have my little two year old angel Aoife to consider. So whilst getting used to the lack of sleep and the little time to prepare meals, I had made a decision not to let the blog, diet, exercise;or lack thereof all 3, bother me. Instead I've been getting to know my new little man and sleeping when he's sleeping (only when Aoife is sleeping too which is not too often). So basically, I have my hands full.

Fionn is six weeks old already, so hard to believe. We have been living in our own little bubble since his arrival. He's getting so big and alert and already outgrown 2 sizes in baby wear. The six week milestone is a big one for him, he can now focus on us and he's smiling a lot, which melts my heart!!!

But the six week milestone is also important for me. It marks the beginning of me getting back on track, with diet, exercise, and a few sneaky blog posts (when time allows).

I mentioned diet!!! I'm on a mission to loose the baby weight, or at least most of it in time for Christmas.  This will involve, a lot of exercise, mainly walking with the double buggy and my Kayla Itsines 12 Week BBG.

As today is a Monday, I have decided to start the week with a meat free Monday recipe. I'm making enough for 2-3 meals. It's all about batch cooking these days for us. I'm easing myself into the diet so the first recipe is a pasta style dish.

Orzo pasta is a Greek pasta, which resembled rice, but tastes like pasta. If you can get wholemeal, please do, though it is difficult to find. This dish is packed full of flavour, veggies and herbs. It's all made in one pan, making it a true one pot wonder. By baking the dish in the oven, it intensifies the flavours.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

• 500g passata
• 150g orzo pasta
• 1 tsp Italian herbs
• 1/2 diced red onion
• 1/4 red pepper, diced
• 1/4 yellow pepper, diced
• 1/4 green pepper, diced
• 5-6 mushrooms, diced
• 2 tbsp of chopped mixed herbs (flat leaf parsley, basil, & mint for example)
• 6-7 olives
• 2 tomatoes, sliced thinly
• 100ml of stock
• Salk & Pepper
• 2 tbsp of olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. In an oven proof dish, add the oil and onions and saute for a minute.
3. Add the dried herbs, peppers, mushrooms and orzo.
4. Saute for a few minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients, except for the tomato slices.
5. Place the tomato slices on top of the stew like mixture and place the dish into the oven for 40-50 minutes until, all the liquid has been absorbed. 

Tip: I'm serving mine with a green salad, but to make the dish even tastier, you could add slices of mozzarella on the top of the dish before placing it into the oven.