RECIPE: Tomato and Mozzarella Stack Salad

I have recently learnt how to make one of the easiest, the most delicious and very impressively presentable salads on earth! Thank you so much for sharing the original recipe of Like a Breath of Fresh Air, my friend, Shirley. Originally, it was made using the ingredients of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, asparagus, basil and balsamic vinaigrette, and I must say, it looked amazing in their photo but we made it using the ingredients we had at home at the time and it was still fabulous!

Here is our ingredients list for you:

- Tomatoes (I wish I could say from the garden but unfortunately store-bought just like all the others on the list)
- Mozzarella cheese
- Fresh basil leaves
- Some salt (we lightly salted each layer of tomatoes)
- Pomegranate sauce
- A drizzle of olive oil

Enjoy something delicious today!

TUTORIAL: Rolled Stuffed Leaves

Just recently, I was talking to someone about what we stuff. We stuff, zucchinis, zucchini flowers, capsicums, silverbeet, dried eggplants and vine leaves. I am now looking forward to trying my hand at stuffing cabbage and leek. I wonder if there is anything else that we could stuff that we haven't tried yet.

The last time, I shared with you a tutorial to show you how you can stuff your (silverbeet) leaves in a triangular shape. To access to the tutorial which includes the preparation of the leaves, the stuffing, the cooking method and more, you can click here.

This time, I am sharing the easiest method of stuffing leaves with you; rolling. The pictures say it all but if you have any questions, please ask in the comments section below.

Enjoy!

Homemade Cereal Mix

My children love their weetbix bars for breakfast and at least 3-4 times a week, they have them. I always try to mix them with some fruit and nuts but it can get quite time-consuming especially when in a hurry. Instead, I have recently made a mix that I add to their weatbix bars along with milk. I often change the variety but just to give you an idea, here is one of our homemade mixes.

Ingredients of the mix in the picture above (from top to bottom):

Pine nuts
Spelt flakes
Peanuts
Goji berries (wolfberries) (you can read more about them here)
Quinoa
Pepitas/pumpkin seeds (read more about them here)
Sunflower seeds
Almonds
Oats
Raisins and cranberries

Enjoy!

Triangular Shaped Stuffed Silverbeet Leaves

As I have mentioned here in my stuffed zucchini recipe post, we truly enjoy a variety of stuffed vegetables, dolmas, as a family. Just recently, a lovely lady from our local community, who has become a friend, happily shared some of her delicious vegetables from her plot in the community garden with us. The colours and the smell of all those vegetables and herbs were just divine. I just had to put everything aside and make something with the fresh produce as soon as I was given them. The first thing I did was to make something that my mum used to make for us when I was a child; triangular shaped stuffed silverbeet leaves. I actually make our stuffed leaves in two shapes and this is the harder shape to form. Stay tuned for a tutorial on the other way of stuffing leaves. 

Ingedients:

Silverbeet
Onion
Tomato paste or diced tomatoes
Medium grain rice (about 1.5 - 2 teaspoonsful of rice for each leaf)
Ground mint
Fresh parsley (optional)
Water (boiled)
Salt
Black pepper (optional)
Olive oil

Method:

Wash your silverbeets. Separate your silverbeet leaves from their stems as shown in picture below. Don't throw away your stems, they make and add flavour to many delicious meals, which I will be sharing with you at the end of this post.

Dice your onions and cook in some olive oil and tomatoes or tomato paste until the onions are nice and soft.

Wash your rice well.

Chop your fresh parsley.

Add your rice, salt, pepper and herbs (mint and parsley) to the onions and mix well. Add a small amount of boiling water, close the lid, turn off the stove and let it absorb the water.

In the meantime, boil a generous amount of water in a large pot and then put your silverbeet leaves in it. It takes only some seconds before the leaves soften. Once the leaves are softened, (approximately 30 seconds) put them in a strainer to drain the excess water off.

When the leaves and the stuffing are cool enough for you to touch comfortably, you can start making your dolmas. The pictures below show you how to make them step-by step. Just a reminder though that you will need to cut the leaves in half lengthwise, following the stem line. In other words, each leaf will make two triangle dolmas (if the leaves are really big, you can them in half and that will make four triangles from the same leaf).

Now, here is the details of the arts of making triangular shaped dolmas:

1. Put about a teaspoonful of stuffing on top of the 'wrong side' (the one with the more visible veins, the back of the smooth side) of the leaf close the larger end (which is where the stem was originally).

2-3-4. Fold the outer side of the leaf and place it on top of the stuffing, all the way to the inner edge (from right side to left side of the leaf).

5. Fold the leaf back onto the outer edge (so, it is folded from the left side to the right side).

6-7-8-9-10. Keep repeating the folding action each time to the opposite side (first towards the inner edge, then towards the outer edge and so on). This action is crucial in making the triangle shape.

11. If there is any small bits sticking out, fold them in and keep going as usual until the end.

12. Congratulations! Your first triangle is ready. I know it sounds like hard work but once you get the hang of it, it actually is enjoyable and is not really that hard. It also looks so much more pleasantly different to the usual rolled stuffed leaves.

Note: You can either cook your dolmas soon after you make them or pack them into freezer bags and store away in your freezer until you are ready to use them. They make great 'fast' food as it only takes about 20minutes to cook after this stage. When you come home later than expected or are too tired to cook something, instead of opting for nutrition-poor alternatives, you can just take this out of the freezer and while you are washing up and changing, your delicious and healthy meal will be pretty much ready. 

To cook your dolmas, place them in a pot. Add boiling water to it about an inch or two below the dolmas' level. First cook in high heat until the water boils. When you see that the water is boiling in the pot, turn the heat down and let it cook for approximately 20 minutes and then voila! Your meal is ready. Natural yoghurt compliments it really well. 

Before I say goodbye for now, let me quickly give you some ideas on how you can use the stems. I am sure there are many people over the world who could give you many recipes for them but what I generally use them for is as follows:

A) Dice and add to stir-fries.

B) Dice and add to vegetable soups.

C) Dice, lightly boil and make a mixture with some ricotta cheese to cook in pastry.

D) Dice, lightly boil and leave in the freezer until needed.

E) Dice and leave in the freezer until needed.

F) Dice, boil until soft, and leave aside while cooking some onion in oil and some tomato paste until the onions are soft. Once they soften, add the stems, add some salt and chilli flakes and cook for about 5 minutes. You can either eat it as is or you can crack some eggs on it and eat after the eggs are cooked. This particular recipe is one of our favourite silverbeet stem recipes. 

Enjoy some nutritious homemade food today!

RECIPE: Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Here is a delicious mushroom sauce recipe for you. It may not be the lightest sauce but is sure to become your favourite once you taste it. 

Ingredients: 

2 medium sized diced chicken breast

Approximately 500gr finely sliced/grated mushrooms

1 tub of cream (500ml)

A generous tablespoonful of mustard (We used a combination of two mustard sauces (Australian and Dijon) in this recipe today. However, you can choose one of your favourite mustard sauces and just use that)

Some crushed garlic to taste (you can omit garlic in this recipe if you like but it enhances the flavour)

50-60g butter

Olive oil

Salt to taste

Method: 

First, cook diced chickens well in some oil and salt. If it becomes a bit watery, then pour out the water and keep stirring it until it cooks well. In another pot, melt some butter and cook your garlic in it. Then, add some shredded mushroom to it, add a little bit of olive oil into it and keep stirring until all the mushrooms are nice and soft. After that, add your mustard sauce(s) and cook until you are happy with the thickness of the sauce. If you would like your sauce to be runny, then cook less. Otherwise, keep cooking until the sauce forms the thickness that you like. Once your mushroom mixture is ready, combine it with the chickens cooked earlier and serve this delicious creamy mushroom sauce on top of your choice of pasta. Enjoy!

Note: The photos below show you the images of step-by-step instructions. I took these photos when we were making this sauce for 5 adults and 2 children. You can make it in a smaller size. (We used the whole cream container for this recipe). 

RECIPE: Zucchini Pancakes

Recently, our garden has been very generous. We have had a great success particularly with our tomatoes and zucchini (courgette). The tomatoes have been much easier to consume than the zucchinis though as the zucchinis are in large sizes and the weather has been hot recently, which has made it hard to make or eat cooked meals. However, I have recently discovered a new recipe with zucchini that became a family favourite even in this heat.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine and I met up for a picnic at one of the beautiful gardens of Melbourne city. She had her gorgeous daughter, who is 4 years old with her and I had my two children, aged almost 2 and 4. That is where and when we were introduced to the 'zucchini pancakes/frittas' as it was something that my friend had brought and Mr. Junior (Miss Junior was too busy eating blueberries and dancing to no-music around the park!) enjoyed it and even asked for a recipe. (Remember my son who can bake homemade breads? See, I wasn't joking then. As I have mentioned it there too, he has shown a lot of interest in the kitchen duties and cooking in the recent months and if he enjoys a certain type of food, he asks for a recipe too!)

A few days ago, we had another huge zucchini in the garden that we wanted to utilise and my friend's recipe (with a little bit of a change from the original recipe) came in very handy. We used our big fat zucchini from the garden in ours but the recipe below is for the usual medium sized zucchinis that you can buy at most greengrocers.

Ingredients:

1 zucchini
2 eggs
Dill (finely chopped)
Salt
Pepper
Herbs (we used oregano) (optional)
Flour (the amount depends on the consistency of your mixture. It is added until a 'pancake-like' consistency is formed)
Oil (for shallow frying)

Shred your zucchini. Add all your ingredients except for flour and mix well. Add flour and stir until it forms a semi-runny dough similar to a pancake mix.

Put some oil in a pan for shallow frying and heat until hot. Using a spoon, take some of your mixture and put it in the pan. Fry in medium or high heat (I used medium heat most of the time). Cook each side  and you are done!

This food can be served both hot and/or cold. Some crispy and juicy lettuce compliments it well.

Enjoy something healthy today!

RECIPE: Red Lentil Koftas

Red lentil koftas

Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan or an omnivore, this easy to make, healthy and filling recipe is something that you will enjoy and benefit from. It makes a great high protein and fiber dish for your family, or for your guests. It can stay in the fridge for a few days after you make it which makes it even more desirable especially if a busy day is ahead of you or you are a person who would like to get organised  in advance when hosting. 

Ingredients:

Red lentils

 Red lentil (3 cups)

Fine bulghur/cracked wheat (2 cups)

4 cups of cold water

Some oil (2-3 tablespoonsful) 

Tomato paste (2 tablespoonsful)

Lemon (to taste) (1 medium to large sized lemon would do well)

Parsley (about a small bunch)

Spring onion (approximately a small handful)

Salt to taste (2-3 teaspoonsful)

Chilli flakes/hot chilli powder (optional) 

Washed and drained fine cracked wheat/bulghur

Method:

Wash and drain lentils and put in a pot with 4 cups of cold water. Let the lentil boil well and when the water is mostly absorbed, turn off the stove, add your washed bulghur in it and close the lid. 

While they are resting on the side, start making the rest. Put some oil in a pan and add the tomato paste to it. Heat them up for a minute or so and then add this mixture to the lentils. Squeeze some lemon on it, add your chopped parsley, spring onion, salt and chilli powder and mix well with your hands. Make koftas and serve with some fresh juicy lettuce while cold. You can either serve them as is or wrap them in lettuce leaves.

Note: This recipe is for a large quantity (perfect when hosting a party/lunch/dinner). You can only use half of the ingredients if you like. 

BREAD RECIPE WITHOUT A BREAD MAKER

A good friend of mine was to the rescue once again. She is a very practical person and is quite knowledgeable too. The other week, she told me on the phone that she had found a new bread recipe and after trying it for herself, she shared the recipe with me as well. 

I cannot thank her enough for this recipe as it is such a winner. Easy to make, hard to go wrong with and is delicious. We have been enjoying our homemade bread on a regular basis since trying this recipe for the first time almost a month ago. 

Here is how we make our bread without the use of a bread making machine these days. 

Ingredients: 

4 cups of plain flour (or you can mix it with some wholemeal flour, which is what we have been doing recently)

2 cups of warm water

1 tablespoonful of olive oil

10g of yeast (or one and a half sachets)

1 small teaspoonful of salt

1 large teaspoonful of brown sugar
Seeds (optional) (linseed, pepittas, sunflower seeds etc)

White Bread: Plain flour, warm water, yeast, sugar, salt and oil

Ingredients: Some wholemeal&some plain flour, warm water, sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, linseed, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and make a soft and non-sticky dough. Place it in a bowl or a container, put a clean kitchen towel on it and leave it to rest until the dough doubles the size. Since it is nice and sunny here in Melbourne these days, I just leave it outside in the sun for a few hours and it works really well. 

Once it doubles the size, work it just a little bit once again and put it in a container that you will be baking it in. Don't forget to lay some baking paper under it. I also make some little cuts with a knife at an angle at this stage because it adds to the professional look of it at the end.

Put a cover over it again and leave it to rest once more. Again, I have the luxury to put it in the sun. However, if you don't, you can turn on your oven for a bit, then put it in there leaving its door open. The warmth of the oven will work just fine too.

Once it is ready, which is when it grows as big as you would like it to grow (it generally takes 2-4 hours for me in the sun), bake it in an oven set to high or 180C until the top is nicely pink and then turn down the heat (to low or around 160C) and let it bake until it has a beautiful bread colour.

The smell that it gives away while cooking is priceless. We enjoy every step of it and are definitely happy with the result we have each time. Mr. Junior has been involved in the process as well and for the last three times, he has been the main cook and I have only been helping him with little bits and pieces. Believe it or not, my four year old son, also known as Mr. Junior, now knows how to make bread and does a pretty good job of it even though there is some room for improvement! Here are a few pictures from one of Mr. Junior's bread making experiences.

Lunch with Mr. Junior's bread

Note: Depending on the type of flour you use, the water absorption level may differ. You may have to alter the water amount depending on your needs. Make sure that your dough is soft but not sticky.

Appreciate something homemade/handmade today!

A SUMMER TREAT: YO-S-CREAM

We are in summer here in Australia and we are trying to make the most of it, sensibly. As I have written here as well, our kids' diet is almost sugar free. They have good amounts of natural sugar in their foods such as fresh fruit but we have chosen to exclude the added sugar as much as we could in their early years in life. Mr. Junior has tried some sugary foods this year as his taste buds are pretty developed and he knows the difference between good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, all-time and occasionally. However, Miss Junior is still at a stage where she is not introduced to sugar including icecream. 

On hot days, we have come up with our own version of sugar-free icecream and we like calling it 'yo-s-cream'. In the pictures below, you can see our plain 'yo-s-cream'. You can also make it with fruit (such as berries and mangoes) mash. 

The plain yo-s-cream has only one ingredient; natural yoghurt. (You can add your choice of fruit to it if you like). The materials used are a small freezer-safe container and a toothpick or a quarter of a skewer. Simply, just put some yoghurt into the container, put the toothpick in the middle and place in the freezer until frozen. You can serve it as is or with some fruit.  

Enjoy something cool today!

DELICIOUS HOMEMADE VEGETARIAN FOCACCIA

Here, I will be sharing one of our family favourites today. It is our speciality and an all-time-winner for picnics and family outings specifically. It is a bit time consuming because of all that peeling and cutting as well as cooking; however, it is a dish that you cannot go wrong with and it is also great because you can make a big batch and store in the fridge for later use (to be used within the following week). It can be used as a cold salad with or without the addition of some baby spinach leaves or you can make focaccia or a sandwich with it. We often use cabatta but you can use whatever type of bread that tickles your fancy.

By the way, if you ever see some people anywhere in Victoria drooling over and eagerly biting into some huge homemade sandwiches as a family of four at a park, it is probably us :-) 

While I am full and even though my mouth has already watered can still handle looking at the photos here, I should get going with the recipe. 

Ingredients: 

• Your choice of vegetables that can be roasted (we often use whatever we have at home at the time. Our favourite vegies for this recipe are pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini, and red and green capsicums. You can also use some beetroots, carrots and onion rings too. You don't have to have them all at once, you can pick and choose according to your taste and the amount of each also depends on your choice and availability of them at the time). 
• Some olive oil 
• Herbs (we prefer using Italian herbs but you can use your favourite herbs. Oregano, basil, garlic, thyme and rosemary particularly go well with this dish). 
• Garlic cloves (optional. Goes well if you are going to make a salad with this dish but if you are going to use it as a sandwich filler, then I would skip it). 

Method:

Wash, peel (if applicable) and slice your vegetables. The slices can be large in size but they should not be thick as it would make the cooking time longer. It is also important that the thickness of different vegies is similar to each other so that they cook evenly. Once your vegies are all sliced, place them in a baking tray. I prefer placing some baking paper on the tray before putting the vegetables but it is optional. Then, drizzle some generous amount of olive oil and sprinkle your herbs over them. This dish does not need any salt. Cover the top with some aluminum foil and roast in a hot oven until they cook. Once they are caramelised, voila!

Enjoy something special with some loved ones today!

Note: The pictures below show how much fun Mr. Junior and I had while getting our vegetables ready for roasting.