Old Fashioned Beef Curry

There are days when I crave rather plain childhood dishes, and one memory I have of good substantial food was the Maggi 'hotpot' curry that mum would cook for me after dance class. I made this dish earlier this year and it tasted pretty much exactly the same! Huge sigh of relief :) This recipe was originally for a slow cooker but I tend to think you don't need to simmer the !@#$ out of it. If you have extra time, all good, but don't worry too much.

INGREDIENTS

800g lean stewing steak, such as chuck, gravy beef or blade
1 tablespoon chutney (any sort)
2 onions
1 tablespoon apricot jam (if you are worried about sugar, some fruit puree would do)
2 carrots
1 1/2 cups water or stock
1/2 small parsnip
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon coconut flour (optional)
Steamed greens for serving

METHOD

- Trim all visible fat from the meat and dice
- Spray a pan with oil and brown meat, one small batch at a time
- Peel and dice the onions. Peel and slice the carrots and parsnip
- Mix the curry powder, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, chutney, jam, stock and salt, stir well to combine
- Place all in a large saucepan with a lid
- Simmer with lid on for 1/2 an hour minimum, preferably 1-2 hours, top up liquid with water or stock as required
- If necessary, mix the coconut flour with approximately 2 tablespoons cold water to a paste and use a little or all of it to thicken the dish
- Add salt and pepper to taste
- Serve with steamed greens

Adapted from: http://www.abc.net.au/local/recipes/2009/09/22/2693077.htm

Roast Eggplant and Bean Salad

I don't make salad quite enough and normally save it for the height of Summer... usually it's easier to zap some frozen peas in the microwave, knowing that all will be ok and my husband will clean his plate. This salad however, was a pleasant surprise! So I'm parking it right here so I can find it easily.

INGREDIENTS

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
Olive oil spray
1 smallish eggplant, sliced (say, around the size of 2 tennis balls)
1 tablespoon whie wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
Handful fresh mint leaves (larger leaves chopped or smaller leaves left whole)
Handful green beans, trimmed
Handful fresh basil leaves
Sliced lettuce (I used butter lettuce, but any would do)

METHOD

- Spray eggplant slices with olive oil and grill over high heat until a little charred on both sides, then place in a large bowl. Mix together extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and toss through the eggplant, along with the mint. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and set aside for the flavours to develop for a little while, say a minimum of 20 min.

- Cook green beans in microwave for 2-3 minutes or until just tender. Add tomatoes, beans, lettuce and basil to eggplant mixture. Gently toss and serve.

Adapted from: http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/food/recipes/recipe/-/5346887/roast-tomato-green-bean-and-eggplant-salad/

Silky Caulifower and Chicken Soup

I wasn't well yesterday and after getting over the worst of it I needed something fast and nutritious. I'm a big fan of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and adapted this recipe to my needs.

INGREDIENTS
1 head cauliflower
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
4 cups of chicken stock
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan (I buy Grand Padano from Fratelli Fresh)
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
- Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower, coarsely chop, and reserve.

- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes.

- Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes.

- Remove from heat and, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup

- Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth

- Stir in chicken breast, season with salt and pepper

- Keep warm until ready to serve.

Roost

As you might notice my blog right here is a 'slow burn' project for me; it's more a place to store the healthy recipes in my life where they belong (together)!

Occasionally I hop across someone else who is doing a much better and more regular job of it all, some beautiful photography and description can be found here on this blog.

More focused on a gluten/lactose/starch/grain free diet, there are lots of goodies and inspiration to be found on this website.

You can visit Roost here.

Chicken Larb

I love chicken larb because it's all about the fresh and spicy flavour. It's also great to eat in Summertime when you don't quite feel like a salad, you still want to eat something warm and a little more substantial. It also doesn't heat up the kitchen too much!

INGREDIENTS
Olive oil spray
500g chicken mince (I just buy a tray from Woolies)
1 stem lemon grass, pale section only, finely chopped
2 tsp of minced chilli
1 lime, juiced
Grated rind of 1 lime
1 tbs fish sauce
Pinch of brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
1/3 cup chopped mint leaves
1/2 small red onion, thinly chopped
40g (1/4 cup) finely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts (if I have time I toast them in a pan)

Lettuce of your choice, to serve.

METHOD
- Heat a large heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mince, lemongrass and chilli and cook, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until the mince changes colour. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and set aside for 15 minutes to cool.

- Combine the lime rind, lime juice, fish sauce and brown sugar in a small bowl. Add to the mince mixture along with the mint leaves, coriander leaves and onion. Gently toss to combine.

- Serve on a bed of leaves. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately.