Spiced Eggs

It has been a busy couple of weeks! Three weeks ago, Hungry Male and I flew down to Dunedin for my Nephew's first birthday. It was really nice being able to go back home and see everyone, since they were all together for the birthday party. We had a Hairy Maclary theme, and my sister made an amazing Hairy Maclary cake!

We had a weekend to ourselves and then for the following week we had house guests, as Hungry Male and some friends were taking part in the 90 Mile Classic IRB race. For those of you uneducated in Surf Life Saving language, this was an event where they raced one of the orange surf boats 88km down 90 mile beach, with a couple of transition stages in between. I was the support driver and had to follow them down the beach and make sure their petrol was ready at the transition stages. It was really nice getting to head further north for a weekend, even if it was quite a busy one, as I have never been up that way before and we even had enough time to go to Cape Reinga.

Because I was trying to catch up from a hectic weekend, necessity was the mother of invention when it came to lunches, as it was mostly a case of trying to figure something out from what I had in the cupboard and fridge. These eggs were one of my creations. 

I was actually a little obsessed with eggs this week and I had these on crackers, in salads and on toast. They were really a bit of a life saver. I boiled up a bunch of eggs on Monday night and that did me for almost the rest of the week.

Now I haven't quite perfected the easy-to-peel boiled egg yet, so if anyone has any tips please tell me! This batch I added a little baking soda to the water and peeled them under cold water, however, the shell still took a bit of the egg white off with it.

So if you are stuck for lunch or snack inspiration, give these a go!

Ingredients

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Place the eggs in a saucepan with a pinch of baking soda and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and boil the eggs for 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat then put the eggs immediately into cold water. Once the eggs are cool to touch, gently peel them while holding under running water.

On a small plate, place the paprika, sesame seeds and cumin seeds. Roll the eggs in the spice mix until well coated. Serve on toast, on crackers or in salads.

Enjoy xx

Tank-Style Raw Energy Salad

Aargh! It's been so long since I last did a proper blog post! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram then you won't be feeling quite so abandoned, but in terms of blog posts I've had a bit of an inspiration block for the last month or so. It's not that I haven't been making and eating any good food, but none of it seemed very blog-worthy.

However, I have been doing some inspiration gathering (looking at food blogs seems to help the creative food-juices flow) and I have a list of recipes that I want to work on over the next few months. This recipe is the start.

I really enjoy tank food. I know that the dressings are probably full of sugar, but in general they are at least a healthier grab and go option than most other fast food places. In particular, I really like their Raw Energy Salad/ Wraps. This salad is jam-packed full of wholesome ingredients including leafy salad greens, beetroot and quinoa.

While I am a foodie, I am also very budget conscious, so while Tank is great, paying $10 or so for a salad just isn't my thing. So i did what I love doing and got in the kitchen to recreate it. Now I haven't had these salads side by side to compare, but I do think that I have got something pretty close and just as delicious.

I also really enjoyed making this salad as I got to play with my relatively new food processor and its shredding attachment. This attachment is definitely my new best salad-making friend as it can julienne all of the vegetables I need for several salads in about 30 seconds! I shredded mt carrots and beetroot up on the Sunday and put them in separate glad containers, and then during the week all I had to do was throw together the salad ingredients. A food processor can be quite a costly investment, but I definitely think that you could use a normal grater and still enjoy this salad.

Easy, healthy and delicious.

Enjoy xx

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
3 large beetroot
3 carrots
4 cups leafy salad greens
1/2 cups almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut

4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp runny honey

Place quinoa in a saucepan and cover with water until it sits about 2cm above the quinoa. Bring to the boil, then simmer for around 10-15 minutes or until water has evaporated and quinoa is cooked.

Peel the carrots and beetroot. Using a food processor with a shredder attachment, or if you don't have one a grater, shred the carrots and beetroot. Roughly chop the almonds, or place in a bag and hit with a rolling pin until the almonds are roughly broken up.

In a large bowl, toss together the salad greens, almonds, coconut, quinoa, beetroot and carrot. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, balsamic vinegar and honey. Drizzle over the salad and toss.

Then sit down and enjoy!

Black Rice and Chickpea Salad

I'm heading up to Auckland to try to find somewhere for me and the boyfriend to live next year so this will just be a short post today.

I popped into an Asian food store the other week as I wanted to grab some sushi rice and seasoning. As I was wandering round (which I love doing in foreign food stores) I spied some black rice. I remembered reading somewhere that black rice has a great nutrition profile, so I thought that I would grab some to make myself some lunches for the week. This salad was my first go using black rice and I absolutely loved it. It has a lovely nutty flavour, with a slightly chewier texture than white rice. Black rice is also full of amino acids and antioxidants from the black colour.

When it cooks up it turns more of a purplish colour, and as you can see in the photo, it does turn other things a bit purple too. This salad is bulked out with chickpeas, avocado, red capsicum, celery and baby spinach, making for a perfect take-to-work lunch.

Ingredients
1 cup black rice (sometimes also called forbidden rice)
2 cups water
1 red capsicum
1 avocado
2 stalks celery
2-3 spring onions
400g tin chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or you can use any dressing that you like)
Few large handfuls of baby spinach to serve

In a pot place the rice and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook the rice for around 20 minutes or until almost all of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

In the mean time dice the red capsicum and avocado. Slice the celery and spring onions thinly.

Once rice is ready add the apple cider vinegar or dressing, vegetables and chickpeas and mix well.

Serve on top of baby spinach.

Lunchbox Solution- Leek and Blue Cheese (or feta) Mini Quiches

After a few painful weeks of waiting, I have finally gotten back the results for my honours dissertation and also my overall results. I am so happy to tell you that I will be graduating with first-class honours! It feels so amazing that all of the hard work, long hours and occasional melt-down has really paid off for me. So now I suppose I really need to get focused on my move away from my hometown to the big smoke of Auckland to start my marketing career. Apart from the excitement of starting this next stage of my life, I am also very excited to have a huge, huge range of places to eat my way around..... taste buds and camera, get ready!

Continuing on this exciting note, I also seem to be getting my food inspiration back! For quite a few weeks after finishing, I would look into the pantry and instead of my brain kicking into overdrive about all the potential things that I could make, all it saw was a bunch of random ingredients that just seemed like a hassle to put together. Anyway, I have been putting this creative streak to good use, so in the next few weeks you can expect to see recipes for Homemade Japanese Rice Bowls, Walnut and Almond Butter, Lentil Bolognaise with Zoodles, along with a post on budget-friendly $2 lunches and a spotlight on strawberries, since they are available in abundance at the moment in New Zealand (sorry Northern Hemisphere, but you can just dream of warmer times).

Onto these quiches! I had something similar at a cafe the other week and really enjoyed the flavour combination. I also thought that it would make a really fantastic portable lunch meal. You could prep some of these for the week and just grab and go in the morning.

I understand that blue cheese is one of those polarising foods. I used quite a mild, creamy blue cheese in this recipe and I really liked the flavour, but if you are really hating on blue cheese, some feta would also work really well in this recipe.

Ingredients
1 leek
1 tsp butter or olive oil
4 eggs
100g mild blue cheese or feta
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup baby spinach (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease around 10 muffin holes, or line with baking paper.

Cut the leafy end off the leek, cut in half lengthwise, and then give it a really good run under the tap to get rid of any remaining dirt. Slice leek into thin half rounds.

Heat butter or oil in a medium frypan and add the leek. Over a low heat, gently sauté until beginning to soften. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, self raising flour and milk until well mixed. Crumble in the blue cheese and feta and give another good whisk. Add the leek and baby spinach if using and give one final mix to combine.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pans and then place in the oven for around 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and cooked through (they should spring back when you press the top).

Serve warm or cold with salad.

Pear, walnut and blue cheese salad

We are getting chilly here in Dunedin!! I suppose that it is now June and we are nearing the shortest day of the year but I think I forget just how bitter Southern winter days can be. It also doesn't help that my best friend is currently sunbathing in the Greek Islands, so I keep seeing pictures of clear blue skies and picturesque white-washed walls. Oh that and my grandparents have just jetted off to Rarotonga. I suppose all a girl can do in these sorts of situations is dream of beautiful warm weather and eat some delicious warming food.

Oh and keep warm by going shopping. I do love winter fashions.

I am still on a bit of a break from uni at the moment working on my dissertation so it is easy to snuggle up on the sofa with a cup of tea and do some research. Today Mum had the day off work so we went out for lunch up to Coffee Culture in Roslyn. For anyone who lives in Dunedin or is visiting you should definitely check it out! They have converted an old fire station which has some amazing views out over the city, the food was tasty and importantly the coffee was excellent.

Speaking of warming foods, winter isn't exactly what I would consider salad time of year, but in my opinion it just means that you need to change up the type of salads you have. Pear, walnut and blue cheese isn't exactly a ground breaking combination, but they go so well together that I thought I would share my version of this winter favourite. The delicious pan-fried pears help to warm it up a little, while the raspberry vinaigrette adds a lovely tang.

I'll add a wee note that I used Raspberry Vinegar in my dressing. This is a little bit of an investment type vinegar as it is more difficult to find and a little more expensive, but I absolutely love it!! It really does make a great alternative to apple cider vinegar. I haven't tried it, but if you don't want to go out and find raspberry vinegar, apple cider vinegar should work in the dressing.

Ingredients
2 pears, cored and slice thinly
Approx. 1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup shelled walnuts, roughly chopped (or put in a snaplock bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin Jamie Oliver style)
Approx. 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (just use however much you like really)
Couple big handfuls mixed salad greens

3 Tbsp raspberry vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
Grinding of salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pan and lay the pear slices flat. Pan fry for around 4-5 minutes or until golden and then flip over. Fry the other side for a following 3-4 minutes adding a little more butter if needed. You may need to do this in 2 batches.

In a jar, shake together the dressing ingredients (vinegar, honey, oil and salt and pepper) until well combined.

On a large serving plate (or bowl if you prefer), spread out the salad greens. Drizzle with some of the dressing and toss a little to coat. Sprinkle over the blue cheese, add the cooked pear and then sprinkle over the walnuts.

Voila!

Store the remaining dressing to enjoy over the rest of the week. Just give it a bit of a shake up before you use it.

Quinoa Salad with Super Green Dressing

We are just coming into Autumn here in New Zealand and the weather seems to really be reflecting that! One day it will be a beautiful day full of sunshine and the next it is hailing.


My university studies are also getting into full swing. By full swing I mean I seem to have been given a lot of work straight away. With a combination of a very busy timetable and extremely changeable weather, I decided that it was time to clean up my eating a little bit to avoid getting sick and tired. I came up with 5 eating goals.


1. Up my vegetable intake- My fruit intake is already really good so I decided to focus on including lots of vegetables into my meals. My aim is for my dinner to have half a plate of vegetables.
2. Green tea or lemon water first thing every morning- Both green tea and hot water with lemon are supposed to have really good detoxifying effects on your liver. Very important to keep a clean liver in order to stay healthy.
3. Ground flax seed or chia seed every day- I don't eat a whole heap of fish so both ground flax seed and chia seeds are a really good way to include some more omega 3 into my diet (and cheaper than fresh fish). I have a coffee grinder dedicated to flax seeds but I seem to have gotten very slack at putting it on/in my meals.
4. 1 serving fish every week- Fish is really great for protein and nutrients. This will probably be in the form of tinned tuna or salmon as it is what I can afford. I may even become brave enough to give sardines a go... Anyone have any great recipes?
5. At least 2 bottles of water a day- I am aiming to drink 1.5 litres of water per day on top of other fluids i.e. green tea, juice. 


My hope is that if I can follow these goals I can keep myself in peak condition. I'll just have to wait and see how I go.


Anyway here is the recipe that I promised in yesterday's WIAW post. It combines superfood quinoa with some great vegetables and a pretty tasty green sauce.


Makes 2 servings


Ingredients
2 cups cooked quinoa (I cooked mine in my rice cooker)
1/4 small head broccoli
1/4 small head cauliflower
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup baby spinach
30g sharp cheddar cheese


1. Chop the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets.
2. Spray with cooking spray and then roast in the oven at 180 degrees C for 15-20 minutes or until they are tender and the cauliflower is beginning to go golden.
3. Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, whizz the yoghurt, baby spinach and cheddar until smooth.
4. Toss together the quinoa, roasted vegetables and cranberries, then drizzle with the dressing.

Roast Beetroot Sub

I came up with this recipe last wee when I was having a particularly inspired foodie day. For some reason I really had a craving for a roast beetroot salad, so on my way home from uni I picked up some beetroot. I also got some really nice sweet onion cheddar on special.

At home with beetroot roasting away in the oven, I discovered some wholemeal baguette lurking in my freezer. I had originally just planned to add some croutons to my salad to make it a little more filling but then an idea popped into my head. Why not just cut out some work and put the salad into the baguette? After whipping up some balsamic dressing I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed this lunch.


Serves 1


Ingredients
1 small baguette or long roll (I used 1/3 of a long, wholemeal baguette)
1-2 small beetroot, washed and cut into 1cm cubes
Cheese of your choice (I used sweet onion cheddar but feta or goat's cheese would also be great)
1 Tbsp sour cream or greek yoghurt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salad leaves

1. Spray the beetroot with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil.
2. Roast at 180 degrees C. for 20-30 minutes or until tender.
3. Meanwhile, slice open the baguette.
4. Fill with the salad leaves and cheese.
5. Once beetroot is roasted, add it to your sub.
6. Finally. mix together the sour cream/greek yoghurt and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.
7. Drizzle over the top of the sub.
8. Eat now, or wrap it up for later.

McD's style Sausage and Egg McMuffins

I am quite happy this afternoon as I am now half way through my exams. I'm also happy because dad treated me to coffee and pastries after my exam. I had a few recipes to choose from today and I settled on this one. McDonald's breakfasts were always a treat but most of them are really simple to recreate at home. The benefit of this is you know exactly what you are putting into your body and can make them much healthier without all that sodium. So, while I catch up on last nights episode of the Borgias you can start drooling over this weekend's recipe.

Ingredients
4 small buns or English muffins
4 eggs
2 large, or 4 small sausages (not precooked)
BBQ sauce
4 slices cheese

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Break the eggs into a greased muffin pan.
3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until set.
4. In the meantime squeeze the sausage meat out of the casings.
5. Shape the sausage meat into 4 small patties.
6. Cook the patties in a pan for about 3-4 minutes each side or until cooked through.
7. Toast the muffins or buns.
8. To assemble, spread the BBQ sauce onto the muffins and place a sausage patty on the bottom half. Run a knife around the edge of the eggs and carefully remove from the muffin pan. Place the egg on top of the sausage patty. Top with cheese to complete your McMuffin.

Flower Egg Toast

I havn't had the chance to post in over a week as I have been so busy!! I am still really busy so today's post is just a quick wee recipe that makes a great breakfast, lunch or snack.

Serves 1 ( The amount depends on how hungry you are)
Ingredients
1-2 pieces grainy toast
1-2 eggs
Tbsp favourite chutney
Handful baby spinach leaves

1. Using a flower shaped cookie cutter (or whatever shape you have, or just cut a circle), cut a shape into the middle of your bread.
2. Spray the bread with cooking spray and then place in a heated pan.
3. Carefully break the egg into the hole in the bread.
4. Cook over a low heat until the edges and bottom are set and the middle is starting to cook, about 5 minutes.
5. Carefully flip the bread over and cook for about 30 seconds, until egg is completely cooked.
6. Serve on top of baby spinach with the chutney.

Potato and Parsnip Fritters

Its Fathers day soon here in New Zealand, but who says that Fathers day breakfast/brunch/lunch has to be expensive and unhealthy? These wee babies are neither, but can still look a little bit flash with just a little effort. I made these for my Dad's birthday lunch in the weekend. I had three birthdays in the weekend so I spent a good portion of the weekend eating!

So what makes these fritters so good for you? First of all potatos are a source of Vitamin C and fibre and help protect against heart disease and cancer. Potatoes sometimes have a rep as being a high GI food, but not to worry as this recipe is balanced out with parsnip. Parsnips add a nice sweetness to this recipe and are low GI and a good source of folic acid. For my fritters I peeled the potatoes but left the skin on the parsnip for added nutrients.
(From Recipes +)

Ingredients
250g floury potatoes, peeled
250g parsnips
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp herbs such as parsley or chives
1/4 cup flour
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1. Grate the potato into a bowl.
2. Mix in the lemon juice, then squeeze the excess moisture from the potatoes (This is important to help crisp up the fritters)
3. Grate the parsnip and add it to the potatoes.
4. Add the other ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
6. Add a large spoonful of batter and flatten into a circle.
7. Cook until golden then flip over.
8. Serve with some nice bread. These would be really nice with a poached egg on top or some ham and salad greens

What to do with that leftover roast

 

You made a beautiful roast earlier in the week. Chicken, vegetables, the works. Now, however, what is left is sitting looking sad in the fridge. Sure Roast Chicken sandwiches are nice, but surely you can do better? You surely can with this frittata.

This recipe was adapted from New Zealand's Healthy Food Guide and makes sure that that leftover roast doesn't go to waste. It doesn't have to be chicken, any type of meat would work in this. It can be a lunch or dinner and is great served with some tatsy sauce, relish, or maybe even leftover gravy. Vegetarians can still enjoy this, just leave out the meat.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

350g leftover roast vegetables, diced

200g cooked meat

2 cups cabbage

2 tsp paprika

Grating nutmeg

6 large eggs, beaten

1. Find a large saucepan that can go in the oven. If the handle is plastic, wrap this tightly in tinfoil.

2. Over a medium heat, cooki the onion and garlic until soft

3. Add the roast vegetables and cook for a few more minutes

4. Throw in the meat, cabbage, paprika and nutmeg and mix well.

5. Push down the mixture until it sits flat.

6. Pour over the eggs, swirling the pan until it is evenly distributed

7. Cook the mixture over a medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the edges and bottom are set and the top is firm.

8. Place the pan in the oven under a grill at 200 degrees C.

9. Leave under the grill until the frittata is set. When you poke the centre of it there should be no wet mixture coming out.

10. Cut into slices and serve with a tasty sauce.

Roast Tomato Soup

Tomatoes are so expensive at the moment! However, I picked up a bag of cheap cooking tomatoes at the supermarket and then looked for a use for them. Its the middle of winter in Dunedin, so pretty chilly and the perfect time of year for soup. Cold weather + bag of tomatoes = Roast Tomato Soup.

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe and it calls for fresh basil, but, being the middle of winter I didn't have any of that so I used dried and it still tasted great. Roasting the tomatoes really enhances their flavour and the sun dried tomatoes make this soup taste even better.
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 Tbsps Olive Oil
1 kg tomatoes
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
2 tsps dried thyme
2 tsps dried basil
1 tsp caster sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
3 sundried tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.
2. Place the oil in a large roasting dish and let it heat in the oven for a few minutes.
3. Chop the tomatoes in half and carefully tip the tomatoes, onion rings and garlic into the pan.
4. Toss to coat with the oil.
5. Sprinkle over the herbs and sugar and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture caramelises, stirring a few times during cooking.
6. Tip the contents of the roasting dish into a large saucepan.
7. Heat the stock and pour over the tomatoes.
8. Bring to the boil, add the sun dried tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
9.Strain the stock into a bowl and place the tomato mixture into a blender.
10. Blend the tomato mixture until smooth, gradually adding the stock.
11. If you like a chunky soup, serve now. If you want a smooth soup, pass the soup through a sieve into a large bowl.
12. Season to taste

Lemony Zucchini Spaghetti

While I wish that I could just eat yummy baked things all day I do have to eat some other food. The idea for this recipe came from a Marie Claire recipe book that I had and is great for a lunch or a light meal. The egg on top is optional, but I think that it really makes the dish.

Note: The ingredients for this are only for one serving

Ingredients
1 serving of spaghetti (I'll let you decide how much you want that to be)
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp capers
2 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp grated parmesan
1 tsp dried oregano
Few gratings lemon rind (optional)
1 egg (optional)

1. Gently fry the garlic in the olive oil until it turns brown.
2. Add the grated zucchini to the pan and gently cook until most of the moisture has gone and it starts to catch on the bottom of the pan, this takes around 10 to 15 minutes.
3. While zucchini is cooking, cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions.
4. Once the zuchinni is finished toss with the spaghetti, capers, lemon juice, parmesan and oregano, keep warm.
5. To poach the egg first make sure that it is at room temperature (This is so so important!!). Bring a small pot of water with a dash of vinegar to the boil. Once boiling turn the heat down until it is gently bubbling. Get a spoon ready!! Crack the egg into the water and gently spoon the egg whites over the yolk (This helps keep it together neatly). Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or longer if you don't like runny yolks.
6. Place the spaghetti mixture onto a plate and sit the egg on top. Grate a little lemon rind over the top if desired and a little more parmesan.

Poaching eggs can be a little tricky but it just takes a bit of practice. I would say the the most important part is to have your egg at room temperature, other wist they just seem to break up.