I was once again reminded this week of how much we are what we eat and that many of us of heading down a very slippery path just because we eat badly and way,  way too much.  The Australian health stats came out this week - two thirds of us are overweight or obese and one third of us are obese.  That is scary stuff - knee replacements, hip replacements, wonky ankles,  sore back and an escalating reliance on increasing doses of pain killers is what two people out of three can expect. And that is only the joint problems!! Perhaps I should have been an orthopaedic surgeon.  Business will be booming.

 Then I listened to Jamie Olivier's TED talk
www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html Teach every child about food 
which confirmed the confronting data worldwide.  Millions and millions of us will die decades before our time just because of the food we eat.  So sad because it is easy to cook, there are wonderful ingredients around and no need to be dependant on Maccas et al.

So tonight after visiting  our wonderful Farmer's markets on a crisp early morning,  this was our dinner tonight - no preservatives, no hidden fat, no horrible e numbers, just fresh food from our local producers. This is what I  cooked. 

Poached chicken, broccoli and quinoa

An interesting dish.  I had not poached chicked before and definitely was a bit sceptical - would it be bland and this is chicken - WOULD IT BE COOKED!!!   And then quinoa - I have both red and white which added colour contrast, -   a pseudo grain from Peru, being seeds from a plant related to spinach.  It has a very diferent taste texture from other grains.  This was full of texture and colour - bright green of the brocoli, dark shiny green brown of roasted pepitas, the softness of the white chicken in the red and white quinoa.  Will be cooked again.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 4 chicken brast fillets
• Olive oil
• ½ cup Pepitas
• 30mL lemon juice
• broccoli

Method:

1. Place chicken in a pan of simmering slated water.  Simmer for 5 minutes, remove from stove, cover and stand for 20 minutes until fully cooked. Drain and shred chicken
2. Place quinoa and stock in a saucepan over medium heat – bring to boil then simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and leave standing for 5 minutes.
3. Place broccoli in boiling water and leave to blanch for 5 minutes then drain
4. Heat olive oil in a pan, add pepitas and cook until golden brown.
5. This can be served hot or cold.  If serving hot timing is important so that everything remains warm
6. In a serving dish combine chicken, broccoli, quinoa and Pepitas.  Add lemon juice, toss to mix thoroughly and serve immediately

 This was with:

Roasted vegetables with chickpeas and haloumi



 No haloumi, so I used another cheese and did not fry, just added to the vegetables and it worked well.  I am still on the mission to use up all that I have in the grocery cupboards and fridge and freezer.   In month two now and still going strong, though the cupboards are becoming emptier.  New menu strategy each week.  Look in cupboards for things to use up and then find an appropriate recipe.  The second mission is to cook two new things each week and to try and find one new ingredient or method ( poaching chicken!)

I have discovered potkin pumpkins - recommendation from a very local grower, almost a neighbour  from the Largs flats.  What great pumpkins definitely an improvement on the old Jap and because they are a smaller pumpkin ideal for just the two of us.

Ingredients:

• 4 large flat mushrooms
• 1 red onion quartered lengthways
• 400g pumpkin (I use potkin)  2 cm pieces
• Olive oil
• Oregano
• 250mg cherry tomatoes
• 400g chickpeas cooked
• 250g haloumi sliced
• 1 tsp capers
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Flat leafed parsley

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180^oC. place mushrooms, onion and pumpkin on baking tray, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with oregano
2. Roast for 20 minutes,  add tomatoes and roast for 15 minutes more until pumpkin is tender, tomatoes are soft and onion  and mushrooms golden
3. Heat chick peas
4. Cook haloumi in a pan 1 minute each side
5. Make dressing with lemon juice and zest, mustard, capers and olive oil
6. Place roasted vegetables in a serving dish, add chick peas and haloumi.  Drizzle with dressing and top with parsley.
7. Serve immediately

grains and greens an interesting salad

The farmers' market today.  Everything looks so good.  I bought some red and green orka inspired by the recipe at the stall.  That journey will be the next post.  There are so many different grains and pulses with a multitude of taste, colour and texture - life is interesting.  Tonight I used red and white quinoa which swells up into a little winged creation with a nutty centre as the base for a warm salad with a braise of pumpkin, potato and sausages.  It was a good dinner.

Quinoa with greens and pesto

 

Ingredients:

 

• 80g of each white and red quinoa
• 450ml vegetable stock
• 200g leaves – baby spinach, rocket, basil etc mixed or alone
• 200g broccoli
• 100g peas
• 1 avocado chopped into small pieces
• 100g pumpkin seeds toasted
• 100g feta crumbled
• Pesto of your choice

 

 

Method:

 

1. Add quinoa to stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat  and cook for 20 minutes until water is all absorbed.  Quinoa should be soft  but not mushy
2. Add broccoli to boiling water in a pot and cook for three minutes.  Add peas and cook for one to two minutes then drain
3. In a big mixing bowl mix peas and broccoli into quinoa.  Add two good dollops of pesto and toss.
4. Add leaves and pumpkins seeds.
5. Transfer to serving dish and crumble feta over the top.
6. May be served warm or cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day off today with lots of time for cooking - such a wonderful way to relax.  So tonight we had Southern Chicken, which I have been making since the early nineties with brown rice(I am on my bi-annual mission to empty all the storage containers, so now am down brown rice, white rice, arborio rice down and just jasmin and basmati to go).  This was accompanied by roast pumpkin and rocket salad and zucchini and avocado salad.  I  have just discovered how great and versatile grated zucchini is in salads.  What a find as is the roasted pumpking salad - so easy and delicious and really great for a crowd of people.


At the begining - such great fresh ingredients from the Newcastle Farmer's markets



Southern chicken in the making

the yummy meal complete

roasted pumpkin and rocket salad



zuchini and avocado salad

 

 

 

 

And then the recipies

 

 

Roast pumpkin and rocket salad

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin chopped into chunks
• Chilli flakes/powder and or cumin and or cardamom
• Olive oil
• Rocket
• Flat leaf parsley chopped
• Feta (optional)
• Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) toasted
• Balsamic vinegar

 

Method:

 

1.   Preheat oven to 180^oC

2.   Place pumpkin on a baking tray lined with baking paper and drizzle with olive oil

3.   Season and sprinkle with chilli or alternate spices

4.   Bake until tender but firm and slightly coloured

5.   Make sufficient dressing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar in proportion of three parts oil to one part vinegar

6.   When cool toss pumpkin in a bowl with rocket, parsley, feta (optional) and dressing

7.   Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and serve

 

 

Southern Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion
• 6 chicken pieces skinned
• 1 eggplant sliced finely
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbs tomato puree
• 400g tomatoes
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 zucchini sliced
• 1 small red capsicum chopped finely
• ¼ cup parsley chopped
• margarine  / oil
• 1 cup white wine

Method:

1. Heat oil in frying pan
2. Add chopped onion and garlic and fry until soft
3. Add chicken pieces cook until brown
4. Add all vegetable except parsley and cook for five minutes
5. Add tomato paste, wine and parsley
6. Put in oven proof dish and add sufficient water
7. Cook for 1-2 hours at 180°C

 

 

 

 





Food is so central to most of our lives, sustaining and emotive and there in good times and bad.  Creating and sharing food has been so central to my life and a link I have always felt I shared with my maternal half Italian grandmother, who sadly died when I was a todder.  I am told she was a wonderful cook.  So this weekend for this great religious feast of Easter we have Freddy the fish - a small whole snapper for just the two us served simply with salads.



 




 

Freddy the fish at the start

 

 



Baked snapper with tomatoes and chat potatoes

 

Ingredients:

 

• Whole snapper
• 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 cup water
• Half a lemon sliced
• Butter and flour to make roux
• Parsley



 

Method:

 

1. clean and scale fish
2. place fish in shallow greased baking dish with lemon in the cavity surrounded by chats
3. put tomato, celery, sugar, onion, paprika and water in a saucepan and cook for 15 minutes
4. melt butter in a pot and add flour to make a roux.  Add some water – 50- 100ml, then gradually add tomato mixture and cook for a further 10 minutes until thickened
5. pour tomato mixture over fish and bake at 170^oC for 45 -60 minutes
6. garnish with parsley and serve with salad