Lemony Blueberry Muffins

My cousin found a recipe for AIP/Paleo Lemon Blueberry Muffins.
I have reintroduced a few foods so was able to modify these a bit to suit what I'm eating these days.

Here is my modified version ...

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 eggs

zest and juice (about 1/4 cup juice) of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ... I use my homemade stuff
2/3 cup coconut flower

1/4 cup arrowroot flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

a pinch or two of salt
1 cup fresh blueberries (I have also used frozen)

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  Line muffin tins with preferred liner.

Combine wet ingredients using a whisk.  Reserving blueberries til the end, combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add dry ingredients a little at a time to the wet ingredients, whisk each time until the batter is no longer lumpy.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon batter equally into 12 muffin cups.

Bake 20 minutes, rotate, bake another 10 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean.

PS.  I sprinkled some cacao nibs on top of a few of these to see if they would be a yummy addition.  I didn't love them.  BUT ... next time I am going to stir the cacao nibs through a few of them and see if it's better that way ...

Lemon Thyme Ricotta Gnocchi

 

I've made gnocchi with ricotta before but this gnocchi was a case of 'use up ingredients in the fridge and don't go buy more' so I didn't do the one I usually do!  I was really happy with how this one turned out though.  I'm not sure on the exact measurements as I was sort of adding a bit here and there but it seems to be pretty forgiving!  So, if you are comfortable with that sort of cooking, here's where you could start ... 

This recipe didn't make a whole lot.  For our family of four, we were all full but we also had a veggie and some garlic bread.  There were no seconds ... and we were all wishing there were!  Next time, I'll double the recipe!

250g ricotta (I didn't have quite 250g as I was using up an open ricotta!) 

1 cup of flour, or more

fresh thyme, leaves picked off ... as little or as much as you like.

rind of one lemon

30g finely grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

I read somewhere that it's good to get as much moisture out of the ricotta as possible when using it for gnocchi so I spooned it all into a small colander/strainer and put that in a bowl in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour before I started making the gnocchi.  Don't know if it was necessary but a fair bit of liquid did drain out so I'd probably do it again next time.

Mix the flour, thyme, Parmesan cheese and lemon rind in a large bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add the ricotta and egg.  I used my fingers to mix everything together until it became a dough.  I did add a little bit more flour as I went because it was really really sticky!  Make sure you don't overwork the dough or it will become tough and no one wants tough gnocchi!

Put the dough onto a well floured surface and form into a square ... well, mine was more like a rectangle, but I was aiming for square!  (Add flour as needed so the dough doesn't stick to your hands or your work space!)  Cut that into four segments.  Roll each segment into a long snake ... you know, like you used to do with playdough?! Cut each snake into small pieces which can be boiled just like that or rolled out on a gnocchi board or back of a fork. 

Add gnocchi to boiling water and cook until they float.  Normally, we'd stop there but last night I tried frying them in garlic butter as well.  YUM!  I drained them in a little colander and then popped them straight into a fry pan with butter and three smashed but whole garlic cloves.  I shook the pan around and coated them in the butter.  It gave them a little extra flavor and a bit of a crispy coating!  So good.  I did half the gnocchi that way, half just boiled.  We liked them both ways. 

 

Top with your favorite sauce.  We love Craig's Bacon Mushroom Sauce and Winter Veg Sauce as two options!  YUM.  The one pictured above is a creamy roasted tomato sauce. 

Roasted Garlic & Eggplant Dip with Almond Crackers

I picked an eggplant out of my garden this morning and went looking for a recipe to make a garlic eggplant dip. I found this recipe on pinterest ... I watched the video, took a couple notes and had it in the oven 10 minutes later !

While the eggplant was roasting, I went back to pinterest (my starting point for any recipe search these days!) and found an interesting looking recipe for crackers made out of almond meal. They looked easy to make. They were. 

I'll just write down the steps for the eggplant and then I'll tell you how to do the crackers.  Watch the video for the dip ... it's quite good and it's easier to understand than the written instructions will be.  And it cracks me up at the end when they just stand there munching on the crunchy crackers !

For the dip ... no real measurements as you'll see in the video.
Eggplant
Garlic cloves
Green chilli, I took the seeds out of mine and sliced them long
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon, for squeezing
Red Onion, finely diced
Fresh Coriander (Cilantro), chopped

Preheat oven to 230C/450F.

Make four long slits down the length of the eggplant.  Don't cut all the way through but go down far enough that you can stick stuff inside it.  I had to slice my garlic to fit inside the slits but in the video they leave them whole.  Put garlic and green chilli into the slits.  Put eggplant on a piece of foil and then drizzle eggplant with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Wrap up foil tightly.  Place in a small casserole dish and bake for 1 hour.  

When done baking, immediately remove eggplant from foil and put into the casserole dish.  Score skin on underside and then mash everything with a potato masher ... yep, skin and all !  Set aside to cool.

When cool, add red onion and coriander.  Season with salt and lemon juice til it's to your liking.

For the crackers ... 
I found this recipe on Home Cooking In Montana and she found it on Caveman Food.

1 cup almond meal
1 egg white
salt

Preheat oven to 350F/180C (although, I think I might go a bit cooler next time ... maybe 160/170)

Mix almond meal, egg white and pinch of salt.  Mix with a fork.  Roll into a ball.  If it's too sticky, add a bit more almond meal.  Put ball between two pieces of baking paper and roll out thin.  Cut (I used a pizza cutter) into squares and then lay on a baking tray.  I used the baking tray upside down because the crackers hung over the edge a bit ...

Bake 5-8 minutes or til crackers are golden.  Watch them towards the end because they brown up real quick !

Brown Sugar, Lemon and Orange Salmon

This was delicious !

We love salmon around here and I'm always looking for new ways to cook it.

This was simple.  And tasty.  We'll have this one again for sure.

I based my cooking on this recipe but I added a bit, changed quantities, and didn't use it as a 

marinade but rather just reduced it down to be a nice thick sauce to pour on top !

2 salmon fillets (we ate 1/2 each)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 a fresh lemon - it was quite a big lemon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 spring onion, chopped small

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh ginger, minced (to taste)

juice of one orange

a few drops of sesame oil

Place all ingredients, besides the salmon, into a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until your desired thickness is met.  This took maybe 5-10 minutes for mine.  Stir and taste while cooking.  You may need to add more lemon, do this to taste ...

Cook salmon as you prefer.  Usually we BBQ but last night we cooked them in a bit of olive oil, with salt and pepper, in the cast iron fry pan.  

I topped each piece of salmon with a slice of fresh avocado, the sauce and a sprinkle of spring onions.

So yummy.

A New Challenge & Pearl Cous Cous

I mentioned in my post on Sunday that I was going to start feeding us out of what we have here.  I said it like this:

Every now and then I decide that we need to try and eat out of our pantry, freezer, fridge and garden. There are often a few factors that go into my deciding this. One is that sometimes when we are extremely busy, I feel like planning a menu and then going to the grocery store could send me over some sort of imaginary 'edge' ! Two is when we've made a large purchase (like putting solar panels on our house!) and not shopping for a week would help pay for them. Three is when I look into my pantry and freezer and see that what's in there could probably feed a family in Africa for a month. And so, I get creative .... 

Then yesterday I was looking around on the internet and I stumbled upon this challenge ! It starts Monday and I'm going to join them !  It goes for four weeks and basically it's about eating out of your freezer and pantry in an effort to save money.  Tomorrow I will make an inventory of what I have in the house ... I will share that with you.  At the end of each of the weeks (I'm going to do the whole four week challenge) I will share with you what we ate (as per usual) but I will also share with you what I had to buy (I do plan to keep feeding my family fresh fruit, veg, milk etc ...)  and how much I spent each week.  My grocery budget, including toiletries, is $350 a week.  I do pretty well keeping within that most weeks.  I'm very interested to see how much I can save over the four week challenge !  And also what interesting meals we will come up with ...

Tonight's meal was just something I threw together in a hurry.  It was nice.  Simple. Easy.  I had all of the things in my fridge, pantry and garden.  I made it in the afternoon and refrigerated til we were ready to eat.  It was only the kids and me tonight.  Had Rory been here, I probably would have grilled some chicken to go with it.

Pearl (Israeli) Cous Cous

1 Roasted Red Bell Pepper, chopped small

1 Tomato, chopped small

1 Spring Onion, sliced

A couple spoonfuls of sliced black olives

A small handful of salted capers

Garlic, chopped,  to taste

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or more to taste)

Boil cous cous according to package instructions.

Sautee garlic in olive oil til golden brown. (maybe 1/2 tablespoon of oil)

Drain cous cous.  Mix cous cous with other ingredients, including oil you cooked the garlic in.  Squeeze lemon juice on top and mix. 

Can be served hot or cold.

PS ... If I'd had feta in the house, I would have put that in too ...

LEMON SUGAR COOKIES

For every season there is the perfect cookie. Molasses for fall, Mint for winter...etc. Today I found the perfect one for spring! An easy recipe with a delicious taste.

 You will need:
- One stick (8T) softened butter
- One cup sugar
- One egg
- One Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- One teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups flour

And 1/2 cup powdered sugar to roll the cookies in before baking.

 Preheat oven 350. In a stand mixer (or hand held) cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, lemon juice, zest and vanilla. Mix until combined. Scrap the sides of the bowl and beat again for another 30 or 40 seconds. Next, add the dry ingredients: salt, baking powder and soda, flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Scoop dough into rounded balls, maybe a little bigger than a rounded tablespoon.(Don't worry if the dough is sticky.) Roll them in the powdered sugar and bake for 9-11 minutes. You want them to be golden brown on the bottom but not the top! Perfect for afternoon tea!

Lemony, Garlicky, Cuminy Grilled Eggplant

I picked our first eggplant out of our garden the other day. I got this recipe over at Fine Cooking. I changed it a bit. Omitted a few steps and ingredients. Here's what I did ...

For the vinaigrette:

1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Juice of a small lemon
1 small shallot, very finely diced

1.5 tsp sugar (may not need this but my lemon was very, very sour)
3 TBLS olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin

For the eggplant:
1 eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
Olive oil
Kosher salt.
Feta cheese
Fresh cilantro 

Make the vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients and adjust to taste.  Set aside for flavors to combine.

Grill the eggplant: Salt both sides of eggplant.  Prepare a medium-high charcoal or gas grill fire. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with olive oil.  Grill 3 to 4 minutes each side.

To serve: Top grilled eggplant slices with vinaigrette, feta, and herbs.  Serve immediately.

Guac Salad

 

This salad is so yummy and fresh.

 And it's just guacamole ingredients, just not chopped and smushed !

So ... just make as much as you need depending on how many people are eating it !

avocado, chopped

cherry tomatoes, halved

red onion, slivered

fresh coriander (cilantro)

a squeeze of lemon

salt and pepper

DONE !  YUM !

A Nutty Cous Cous

I've been wanting to use the pistachio dukkah that I made the other day but we've been trying to eat lower calorie meals.  Sitting down to a bowl of dukkah, olive oil and turkish bread doesn't really qualify.  Then I saw this recipe over on Taste, I had to try it !  It is so yum.  I love the flavor that comes through from the dukkah !  And the subtle hint of lemon ....

**This is way too much couscous for our family.  After making it a few times and eventually throwing away leftovers, I decided to come put a note in here ... Next time I make it, I will halve the stock and couscous.  I will keep the same proportions of everything else.

4.5 cups chicken stock
500g couscous, I used whole wheat
2 lemons, halved
100g slivered almonds, toasted
2 tbs pistachio dukkah
a handful of parsley, I used flat leaf, chopped

Bring the chicken stock to the boil.  Add cous cous.  Cover and remove from heat.  The liquid will absorb in about 5 minutes.  Gently stir with a fork to separate the grains.

Cook lemon on grill (or in fry pan like I did last night when it was pouring down rain !) for 2 minutes each side or until charred.

Put cous cous in a large serving bowl.  Add the almonds, dukkah and parsley to the couscous and stir. Squeeze lemon on top.  Serve.

(just for our records ... this serves 8 and is 205 calories per serve)

Cheesy Prosciutto Chicken and Asparagus

Modified from a recipe in Jamie's Ministry of Food cookbook. (one of my all time favorites !) I don't have any real measurements for this recipe but you don't need them.

4 chicken breasts
pecorino romano cheese block
fresh thyme
fresh ground black pepper
1 lemon
8 slices of prosciutto
olive oil

Score the bottom side of the chicken breasts. Sprinkle with thyme leaves, pepper and lemon zest. Grate cheese on top of that. Put two pieces of prosciutto on top of that. (so, two pieces per breast) Cover with glad wrap (saran wrap) and them bang them with the frying pan to flatten them.  

Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan.  Put chicken in, prosciutto side down.  Cook til chicken is cooked through.  Serve with lemon (that you zested) on the side.

I served this with asparagus and slivered garlic sauteed in olive oil and topped with toasted almonds ! Soooo good.

We had leftovers and I put them in a salad the next day. Amazing.

**

Ps ... sorry about the photo ! I'm making a lightbox this week so that I can take photos in the poor evening light !!

Kale, Avo & Asparagus Salad

I have kale growing out my ears in our garden ! I've done the Roasted Kale a number of times and last night tried Khrista's Raw Kale and Avocado Salad for the first time. It is DELICIOUS ! I can't wait to make it again ! In fact, I might be making more for my lunch today ...

I changed it a bit though ... I made this to serve four.

A colander full of kale from my garden, stems removed & shredded
A punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, chopped
Asparagus, 2 bunches
Olive Oil
Juice from 1 small lemon
Sea salt, to taste
Sesame seeds

Put the kale in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and sprinkled with salt to taste. Now get your hands in there and massage it a bit. This softens the kale (and according to Khris, makes it tastier and easier to digest)

Saute asparagus in a bit of olive oil til cooked to desired tenderness.

While that is cooking, chop your tomatoes and avocado and mix into kale leaves.

Top with sauteed asparagus and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

YUM YUM YUM !

Pumpkin Salad w/ Lentils and Brazillian Beef

I found these recipes in a magazine.
Of course, I changed them just a bit to suite our tastes ...

For the salad:
1 kg chopped pumpkin
3 small onions, peeled and chopped in 1/2
ground cumin
400g can lentils
dried cranberries
pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
fresh lemon thyme leaves
baby rocket (arugula) leaves
lemon

Coat pumpkin and onions with olive oil then sprinkle with ground cumin. Bake on 200C for about 30 minutes ... In a bowl, make your salad. Throw together a few handfuls of rocket leaves, a few sprigs of lemon thyme leaves, a handful of dried cranberries, and the same of the toasted pepitas. Grind in the rind of a lemon and then squeeze it's juice on top. Rinse and drain the lentils, add them. When the pumpkin and onions are cooked, add them too.

Super simple and I LOVED THE TASTE of this salad !!

For the Meat:
1 kg beef rump steak chunks
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup orange juice (I used the pulpy kind)

Mix everything but the steak in a big glass bowl. Then add steak. Let marinate for a few hours. I only had about an hour last night and it was delicious even after that amount of time. You can thread these onto skewers and BBQ them but last night I just did them in a hot non stick fry pan. I pretty much just cooked one side, flipped it and cooked the other side.

Delicious. Even Alia and I, who don't generally go for steak, loved this.

Serve with lemon wedges ... but I squeezed them onto my salad rather than onto the meat ...

Lemon Soda ... on Lime

Andrea posted this photo on her facebook page on Christmas Day.
I took one look at it and HAD to KNOW what it was !!

Lemon Soda is an Indian drink called Nimbu Pani (thanks for that little bit of info, Gareth!) and all I can say is thank you India ! And thank you Andrea ! It is refreshing and oh so smoooooth ....

For one 16 oz glass:
3-4 tablespoons simple syrup
One muddled lime (sometimes more!)
Fill the rest of the glass with soda water (club soda) or tonic water.
Sprinkle salt.

Put in the freezer for a bit to chill.

You can drink them like that or you can add a "blub" of tequila, gin, vodka or ... whatever floats your boat. Last night, I added tequila to ours.

Do you need to know how to make simple syrup ? Yeah ... I did too ! It's simple ! (imagine that !) All you do is boil one cup of water. Add one cup of sugar. Take the pan off the heat. Stir and let cool. Simple, right ?!

Mmmmmm ! I want to make some more !

Rosemary Chicken Pizza

I found this recipe and just had to try it ! It was delicious ! Alia had requested pizza for her night of helping me cook ... she made this and also funky lime pizza.

You'll need Lemon Grilled Chicken for the pizza and it needs to marinate. Like this ...

2 chicken breasts
juice of one lemon
1 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano

Marinate chicken overnight or for several hours. Grill.

Make your favorite pizza dough ... see how Alia rolls it out !

1 large lemon grilled chicken breast, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped (for 1 tsp. dried)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Toss all ingredients together with 1 1/2 cup cheese.
Spread mixture over dough and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

Bake on 200C for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

My Lemon Thyme Fish

The photo isn't much to look at but this simple piece of fish was absolutely delicious.

I used Basa, but any white fish will do. I did one piece per person.

Whole Lemons

Lemon Pepper

Fresh Thyme

Garlic, Thinly Sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 400F/200C. Lay each piece of fish on individual sheets of tin foil. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto each piece of fish, sprinkle with lemon pepper, garlic slices and plenty of fresh thyme. Top with lemon slices. Wrap up. Put in oven for about 15/20 minutes ... or until cooked through.

Lemon Rosemary Carrots

I've been trying to find new ways to use rosemary as we have an enormous bush of it in our garden ! The other night I had 1/2 a cauliflower, decided to roast it but needed another veg as that wouldn't have been enough. I had carrots so went with that. I just threw them in a baking dish (with baking paper on the bottom, of course !), squeezed the juice of 1/2 a lemon on them, added a bit of olive oil, a few cloves of sliced garlic and then heaps of fresh rosemary. Unchopped. Just pulled off the branch ! Baked for probably 15/20 minutes. And it was soooo tasty ! I'll be doing carrots like this more often ! Much more often !!

Lemon Tea Cookies

What could be better on a cold night? Or any night really!

Tea and Cookies!

I had another cooking night tonight with some of the girls from youth group and couldn't believe it when I realized that this recipe has never been posted on here. These are probably my favorite cookies of all time. You must drop everything and make them RIGHT NOW!

Lemon Tea Cookies

1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar


1/2 cup milk


1/2 cup butter


3/4 cup sugar


1 egg


1 teaspoon shredded lemon peel


1 3/4 cup flour


1 teaspoon baking powder


1/4 teaspoon baking soda


1/4 teaspoon salt





Stir vinegar into milk. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and peel. Sift dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk; beat after each addition. Drop dough from teaspoon 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes (I discovered tonight that small cookies work better at altitude, but I cut the cooking time down a lot. I baked 5 minutes, then turned the pan and baked another 2 minutes - perfect fluffy cookies!). Remove at one; brush with lemon glaze (Lemon Glaze: combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice).

Enjoy!!

Salmon Salad

I found this in a magazine.
I modified it.

Here's my way ...

1 package of risoni (orzo) ... cook, drain, set aside

2 nice pieces of salmon ... cook in fry pan (i use cast iron) with olive oil
season with salt and pepper while cooking

when just about finished ... add one bunch chopped asparagus
cook to desired tenderness

whisk together 1 tablespoon each olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and fresh squeezed lemon juice

a mixture of baby spinach and rocket (arugula) as much or as little as you like

fresh basil ... thinly sliced

mix all ingredients, top with dressing, serve with lemon on the side

Lemony Chicken and Israeli Couscous Salad Deliciousness

We had this tonight and I couldn't even wait til tomorrow to share it with you.

DE.LIC.IOUS with a capital D !!!
So freaking good !!
Even the kids were raving about this one !

I loosely followed a recipe from this book for this recipe ...

4 chicken breast fillets (this made enough for dinner and lunch !)
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 lemons, halved
2 cups Israeli couscous
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shredded lemon rind
2 tablespoons salted capers
dried parsley
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Brush the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook in a hot, preheated grill pan (or on BBQ) til cooked through. Set aside. Place the lemons in the pan, (or on BBQ) cut side down and cook for 1 minute ... I cooked a bit longer.

Make the couscous according the package directions.

Heat butter in fry pan over medium/high heat. Add lemon rind, capers, parlsey and almonds and cook til almonds are slightly toasted. Add cooked couscous and toss to combine.

To serve, top couscous with chicken and grilled lemons. We squeezed the lemon juice from the lemons onto both the chicken and the couscous.

Mmmmmm ... I'm lickin' my chops just thinkin' about it !!

Tangy Olive Salad

This was a tangy little salad that I think would be fabulous as a bruschetta ...
on top of a nice piece of toasted turkish bread !!

I enjoyed it the other night as a side dish to tortilla espanola.
Rory thought it was a bit tart.
The kids ... well, my two are such little troopers.
They really do eat everything I put in front of them with very little complaint.
I was surprised to not hear one complaint about the raw onion in this ...
Alia did ask if the red stuff was tomato or capsicum.
Once she knew it was tomato, she had no other issues !!

I used this recipe as a base but adapted it because I couldn't find fresh parsley and had fresh chives in my garden ... Also, I used olives with pimento in them ... next time I won't.

Here's how I made it this time ....

1 cup green olives
1/2 a red onion
a few small spring onions
fresh herbs
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tomato ( I may add two next time)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Chop tomato, onions and herbs and place in bowl with olives.
Squeeze the lemon into the bowl ... preferably using your handy dandy citrus press.
Pour salad onto a plate add olive oil and pomegranate molasses.

Serve ...