Thai Fried Rice

This meal is now a regular part of our new meat-free Monday regime. It's a weight watchers recipe (7 pp for weight watchers peeps out there) so it's very low calorie but what I love about it is you still get a huge serving!

Time taken: about 30 mins including chopping (only 5 after the chopping is done and rice is cooked)

Ingredients

1 tbs peanut oil

4 shallots- sliced 

2 cloves garlic- crushed

3 cups brown rice (pre cooked)

1 1/2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs lime juice (you can use lemon juice)

1 medium fresh tomato- diced

500g fresh pinapple- cored and cut into small pieces

1 red capsicum- sliced

100g snow peas

3/4 cup fresh coriander (I leave this out as I don't really like it)

Method

1. Heat oil in a wok or large fry fan over high heat. Stir fry the shallot and garlic for 1 minute. Add the rice, soy sauce, fish sauce and lime juice, and stir fry until heated through. Add the tomato, pineapple, capsicum, snowpeas and half the coriander (if using) and stir until vegetables are just cooked.

2. Serve sprinkled with remaining coriander (if using) and a wedge of lime.

Lamb and Haloumi Sausage Rolls

Lamb and Haloumi Sausage Rolls

 

 



 

This is  the first time ever I have made homemade sausage rolls and they turned out great! Really tasty. They would be great for entertaining. It is a weekend meal as it takes 30 mins in the oven and about 20 mins to prepare, but you could probably prepare the meat mixture the day before and then just make up the rolls when you're ready to eat to cut down on prep time.

 

Time Taken?: 50 mins (20 mins prep, 30 mins to cook)

 

Makes 24 rolls (so would serve about 6 for meal and heaps more if entertaining and using them as a starter).

 

INGREDIENTS

 

500g lamb mince

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1/4 cup mint jelly

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint

180g haloumi, grated

2 garlic cloves- minces

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

3 sheets frozen puff pastry- thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

 

METHOD

 

Pre-heat oven to 180oC. Line a large baking tray with baking paper (I needed 2 trays).

Combine lamb, breadcrumbs, mint jelly, chopped mint, haloumi, garlic and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Divide mixture into 6 equal portions, then form each into a long sausage.

Cut each pastry sheet in half. Place a sausage lengthways in the centre of a halved sheet. Brush edges of the pastry with a little cold water, then roll up pastry around sausage, sealing edges.

Cut each length into 4 sausage rolls, then place, sealed side down, on baking tray. Repeat with remaining pasty and sausages. Brush with beaten egg. (You can sprinkle over some sesame seeds or nigella seeds at this stage if you like).

Bake for 30 mins or until puffed and golden.

The recipe suggests to serve these with a salad of tomato, onion and mint, which I did and which worked well. You could, however, serve them with any salad you like- or on their own if serving as a starter.

Lemon and Herb Crusted Chicken Drumsticks with my favourite Potato Salad

Lemon and Herb Crusted Chicken Drumsticks with my favourite Potato Salad

 

 

 

This is a great cheat meal and also a great budget meal that is perfect for a lazy weekend dinner. It takes a little while to actually cook but there is so little to do so it's so easy! I got the idea from Coles magazine, they suggested serving the chicken with a pre-made store bought potato salad, but I saw the opportunity to make my own favourite one. Warning: the potato salad is addictive! I could eat a whole bowl full on it's own!

 

Time Taken?: A couple of hours if you include cooking and cooling down the potatoes, but it really is a do a little bit and leave it meal. You can do it in little 5 minute bursts throughout the day.

 

The following serves 4.

 

INGREDIENTS

 

1.2kg chicken drumsticks

Masterfoods "Perfect for Chicken" Lemon, roasted garlic and oregano herb and spice mix (in the dried herbs section of the supermarket)

1 kg washed potatoes (note: you can peel these if you like, but I prefer to leave the skin on as I like the texture- the bit of crunch it gives)

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Olive Oil

White wine vinegar (you can use plain white vinegar if that's all you have)

 

METHOD

 

At least couple of hours before eating, cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces, put them in a pot and JUST cover with water. Lightly salt the potatoes and put them the stove on high heat (lid off) to boil.

Boil until you can pierce through them with a fork but they are still holding their shape. Drain well, place them in a bowl and allow to cool down to room temperature before putting them n the fridge for an hour or so.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees c (fan forced) or 200 degrees c (non fan-forced).

Place the drumsticks in a baking dish, sprinkle all over with the spice mix and rub the mix into the chicken.

Put them in the oven to bake for 45 mins or until cooked through and crispy on the outside.

While the chicken is cooking, add the chopped onions to the cold potatoes, season with salt and freshly ground pepper, and dress with olive oil and vinegar to taste (I like mine slightly vinegary- but you really must taste them as you dress them to get them right).

 

Serve the drumsticks and the potatoes with a green salad if desired.

 

 

 



Jamie's Chicken Pasta with 6 veg ragu

Jamie's Chicken Pasta with 6 veg ragu

 

This is another one from Jamie Oliver's 15 min meals, and again it did take longer than 15 mins but only because to save washing up. instead of using the food processor to finely chop all the vegies I did it by hand- which i'll admit actually did take AGES- it was a weekend though. I'd probably recommend just using the food processor- it will get the vegies finer and it will take less time to wash it up than it did to chop! I was missing a few of the ingredients but it was still yummy!

Time Taken?: About 45 mins- but about 30 mins to finely chop all the vegies by hand (there were a lot!) so it probably is a 15 min meal!

3 year old friendly?: I was hoping so, cause of all the vegies, but I think the fact that I didn't use the food processor meant the vegies were too noticeable so he didn't try it! Next time I'll get those vegies hidden!

INGREDIENTS
1 large leek (I didn't have a leek so I used a brown onion)
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
1 zucchini
3 jarred red peppers
olive oil
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
700g jar of passata
320g dried fusilli pasta (the ones that look like little cork screws)
300g skinless chicken breast fillet (diced to 2 cm chunks)
3 rashers of streaky smoked bacon
1/2 fresh red chilli (I left this out)
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 fresh bay leaves (I couldn't find any so left them out)
1 tbsp pine nuts
balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese to serve

METHOD
Pre heat 1 large stove top casserole pan to high heat, a medium frying pan to medium heat, and get a large lidded saucepan of water up to the boil for the pasta.
Finely chop the cleaned leek, trimmed celery, carrot, zuchinni and jarred peppers in a food processor. Add the chopped vegies to the casserole pan with 1 tablespoon oil, the thyme leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir regularly.
Add the pasta to the boiling water along with a good pinch of salt.
Add the diced chicken into the frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, tossing regularly until golden and cooked through.
Stir the passata into the vegetables and simmer.
Finely slice the bacon and chilli (if using) and add to the golden chicken, along with the crushed garlic cloves. Strip in the rosemary leaves, add the bay leaves and pine nuts, and fry for a minute or two until the bacon is golden, then drizzle with balsamic.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Drain the pasta when al-dente, reserving a cupful of the cooking water, then add the pasta to the sauce and toss through, loosening with cooking water if needed.
Scatter the chicken and bacon mix on top of the pasta and serve with a grating of fresh parmesan to taste.

 

Grilled meatballs (with hidden veggies)

Grilled Meatballs (with hidden veggies)

 

 

This is essentially a rissole recipe, but because I already have a beef rissole recipe on this blog and these rissoles are quite different, I have called it meatballs instead. Plus I cooked these as a way for Mr 3 year old to eat some veggies and he knows them as 'meatballs'. This is based on a recipe my mum does. I don't really measure my quantities, so apologies in advance to the measurers out there. I will try to estimate where I can!

 

Time Taken?: About 30 mins altogether. Super duper quick to make up the rissoles- so it's mainly the cooking time.

 

3 year old friendly?: Yes! Finally something fairly healthy that he ate!

 

This makes about 6-8 meatballs depending on how big you make them.

 

INGREDIENTS

500g beef mince

2 eggs

About 1 tablespoon tomato sauce (ketchup)

About 4 heaped tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Half a large carrot- finely grated

Half a large zucchini- finely grated

About 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

About 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Some freshly ground pepper

 

METHOD

Pre-heat your oven's grill to high heat.

Add all of the above ingredients to the mince and combine thoroughly. You should have a fairly wet consistency of mince that is easy to roll into balls. If too dry add more egg or ketchup, if too wet add some more breadcrumbs.

Roll the meatballs, using your hands, into your desired size of meatball (about 2/3's sixe of your palm) and press them so they're more of a round patty shape.

Spray your oven's grill try with canola or olive oil spray and place the meatballs onto it, then slide it under the grill.

Grill for about 15- 17 mins, turning them once.

Serve with a garden salad.

 



Chicken Breast Burgers with Mushrooms, Cheese and Bacon



Chicken Breast Burgers with Mushrooms, Cheese and Bacon

This is so easy that's it's not so much a recipe but just an idea as to what to put together to create something a bit different for dinner. It's a big hit in my house with the hubby, and very simple.

 

Time Taken?: About 30 mins to get all the elements together.

 

3 year old friendly?: He's not into burgers, but I used some extra chicken to make him some homemade chicken nuggets which are easy to cook while cooking the chicken for these burgers as long as you have a little extra prep time for them (recipe for that to come!)

 

The following makes 4 burgers (we only made two and used the left over chicken patties the next night to make BBQ chicken pita pizzas!)

 

INGREDIENTS
500g chicken breast

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon butter (or nuttelex)

4 pieces of short cut bacon

4 hamburger buns

4 slices low fat cheese

Some iceberg lettuce to serve on burgers

Some BBQ sauce, to serve (if wanted)

Olive oil or Canola Oil spray

 

METHOD

Pre-heat the grill on your oven to high heat.

Cut the chicken into 4 palm sized patties, about half the thickness of a regular breast piece (if it doesn't make 4 patties you can use smaller pieces and put them together in one burger, which is what I did with the tenderloins. The melted cheese sticks them together to make them into 1 patty). Spray them on both sides and cook them on a pre-heated grill plate or fry pan until cooked through.

In a separate fry pan, heat the butter and cook the mushrooms until tender.

Cook the bacon (I used the mushroom pan when was finished with it) until cooked to taste.

On an oven tray place the cooked chicken patties, top each with mushrooms and a slice of cheese and put under grill until cheese has melted.

Serve the chicken and bacon on toasted hamburger buns with lettuce and BBQ sauce.

 

Chicken and Spring Onion Stir-Fry

Chicken and Spring Onion Stir-fry

 

 

 

So after having a large period of time where I was busy and thus wasn't in the frame of mind to start trying any new recipes (instead just I was relying on this blog as a bank of tried and true recipes- which has been great too) I discovered that I could download Coles recipe magazine on my ipad FOR FREE! So I now have some new incentive and inspiration to start trying new recipes again for the blog! This is the first of I am sure many Coles recipes I will try. This recipe is quick, tasty and healthy- packed full of green vegies. And Asian food is something I love but have never really cooked a lot of so it's always good get some practice with cooking Asian flavours and ingredients.

 

Time Taken: Under 30 mins, depending on how quickly you chop (the chopping takes the longest!)

 

3 year old friendly? (yes Mr 2 is now Mr 3! Although he seems to be getting fussier with food in his old age): Couldn't get him to try this one- too much green I think! Anticipating this I used some of the chicken to make home-made chicken nuggets (just egged them, crumbed them with a mix of breadcrumbs and parmesan, and shallow fried).

 

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

500g chicken tenderloins (I cut these into bite sized pieces, but the recipe doesn't say to do this).

1 bunch spring onions, cut into 8cm lengths

150g snow peas, trimmed

1 bunch pak choy, ends trimmed, halved crossways

1 bunch buk choy, ends trimmed, halved crossways

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 long green chilli, sliced (I left this out- we don't like it hot!)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp chilli flakes (I left these out also)

 

METHOD

Combine oil and mustard in a large bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat. Stir fry chicken for 5-7 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove from wok.

Add spring onions and snow peas and cook for 1-2 mins, until just tender. Add pak choy, buk choy, ginger, garlic and chilli (if using). Stir-fry for 30 secs, until fragrant and leaves wilt. Return chicken to wok with lime juice and honey. Stir to combine and stir-fry for 30 secs.

Scatter with sesame seeds and chilli flakes (if using) and serve.

I served this dish with some steamed white rice.