Pastas are also quick and easy! I cooked some macaroni and then fried the topping...
I fried a chopped onion with some chilli paste, garlic and bacon (you don't really need to add extra oil because bacon is so fatty), 2 choppped tomatoes and a pimento pepper. I added a teaspoon of paprika and some frozen spinach from a bag. One that had fried for about 10/15 minutes, I added it to the pasta and it was delious!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
butternut couscous salad
Because couscous is so quick to make, I've been making quite a few meals with it lately.
For this salad, I roasted an onion, large yellow pepper and a butternut (all sliced) with some olive oil on 180'C for an hour. Once the couscous was cooked, I added the vegtables and then some fresh basil leaves from the garden. It was very simple, but very tasty.
For this salad, I roasted an onion, large yellow pepper and a butternut (all sliced) with some olive oil on 180'C for an hour. Once the couscous was cooked, I added the vegtables and then some fresh basil leaves from the garden. It was very simple, but very tasty.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
red pepper and tomatoe cous cous
(Serves 3)
Fry half a red onion with a bit of fresh basil, a tspn of chilli paste and some baby tomatoes (careful not to pop them) and a big red pepper.
Add this to the cous cous (250g raw) once both look cooked and then mix it all together.
Add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with crumbed feta and fresh basil.
For extra flavour, some garlic, cumin and coriander would go well frying with the tomatoes. To add bulk, add a can of chickpeas or kidney beans.
Fry half a red onion with a bit of fresh basil, a tspn of chilli paste and some baby tomatoes (careful not to pop them) and a big red pepper.
Add this to the cous cous (250g raw) once both look cooked and then mix it all together.
Add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and top with crumbed feta and fresh basil.
For extra flavour, some garlic, cumin and coriander would go well frying with the tomatoes. To add bulk, add a can of chickpeas or kidney beans.
Ginger Juice Syrup
Today I made ginger juice syrup with left over stumps of ginger that are hard to peel (you don't NEED to peel them for this). Wash them and then add them and equal amounts of water and sugar. Dissolve this over the heat in a saucepan. At a half-sticky/half-watery consistency, remove this from the heat and add to water to make a tasty 'juice-concentrate'.
If you want to make real syrup to use on flapjacks and whatnot, bring it to a gentle boil until sticky. Hmmm. I think this is the best use for this. You get the most out of the taste.leaves or You could use this sugar-water in a saucepan idea for any flavourings you like... try adding mint, lemon juice... or both. Or pineapple sage.
Sesame Pita Bread
Pita bread, as it is know in Southern Africa, is a flat wheat bread of Mediterranean origin with a pocket into which one can put various delicious fillings. It's very tasty! Pita can also be healthy as one can substitute the flour for whole wheat flour!
Upon seeing the price of pita bread in the shops, I suddenly decided it might be cheaper to make my own. I thought it should be fairly easy since there are so few ingredients.. I found a great recipe at www.thefreshloaf.com. For me, a great recipe is one that's quite easy to follow and apply. The recipe helpfully explains why each of the ingredients is important and how they work together.
The amount of preparation is huge (a LOT of waiting and waiting), but results are pleasing and well worth it. This was my first time making any sort of bread and it came out well even though I deviated from the recipe a bit.
To make it extra tasty and extra browned, I thought sesame seed oil would be a good substitute for normal/olive oil and treacle (sugar) for normal sugar. I think these ingredients where a bit heavy because some of my breads where just flat (with no pockets). But they were GOLDEN and slightly sweet. They also had that lovely extra Mediterranean taste...HMMMM!
I say that because tahini, one of the main ingredients for humus, is a sesame seed paste (which I also tried to make but didn't quite succeed). And they're always putting sesame seeds into Mediterranean salads and so on. Anyway, although my pita's were a bit heavy, they tasted fine!
Another reason why some of my breads might've come out flat is because I might've made them too thin before I put them in the oven. The thicker ones seemed to rise easier. So, I'd say er on the side of thickness.
AND... washing up is so easy! I used one bowl for mixing and a large cutting board on which I rolled, kneaded and let my delicious dough rise. The pan you turn upside-down and it hardly gets any dirt on it.
Upon seeing the price of pita bread in the shops, I suddenly decided it might be cheaper to make my own. I thought it should be fairly easy since there are so few ingredients.. I found a great recipe at www.thefreshloaf.com. For me, a great recipe is one that's quite easy to follow and apply. The recipe helpfully explains why each of the ingredients is important and how they work together.
The amount of preparation is huge (a LOT of waiting and waiting), but results are pleasing and well worth it. This was my first time making any sort of bread and it came out well even though I deviated from the recipe a bit.
To make it extra tasty and extra browned, I thought sesame seed oil would be a good substitute for normal/olive oil and treacle (sugar) for normal sugar. I think these ingredients where a bit heavy because some of my breads where just flat (with no pockets). But they were GOLDEN and slightly sweet. They also had that lovely extra Mediterranean taste...HMMMM!
I say that because tahini, one of the main ingredients for humus, is a sesame seed paste (which I also tried to make but didn't quite succeed). And they're always putting sesame seeds into Mediterranean salads and so on. Anyway, although my pita's were a bit heavy, they tasted fine!
Another reason why some of my breads might've come out flat is because I might've made them too thin before I put them in the oven. The thicker ones seemed to rise easier. So, I'd say er on the side of thickness.
AND... washing up is so easy! I used one bowl for mixing and a large cutting board on which I rolled, kneaded and let my delicious dough rise. The pan you turn upside-down and it hardly gets any dirt on it.
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