Crock Pot Steak Fajitas

I found this recipe here.
I, of course, didn't cook it to the exact recipe instructions.

Here's what I did ...

500g round steak or beef flank steak
2 medium onions, cut into strips
1 large jar of medium salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
juice of 2 fresh limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
A pinch of ground chillis
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 small green bell peppers, cut into strips
2 small red bell peppers, cut into strips

For serving: chopped avocado, shredded cheese, chopped tomato, chopped spring onion, sour cream and flour tortillas, warmed

Cut steak crosswise into thin strips; place in slow cooker. Combine onion, 1 cup salsa, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt in slow cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours.

The original recipe said to ...add bell peppers. Cover; cook on LOW 1 hour. BUT we didn't. We sauteed them in a cast iron skillet instead.

I first posted this recipe in 2009 but tonight I added something new to these tonight so thought I'd repost it with the addition ...

Garlic ... as much as you's like, diced

Jalapenos and assorted red chillies out of my garden, also diced

Fry these two in olive oil til garlic is browned.  

Remove from oil to paper towel and set aside.  Pop this into the fajita when serving.  So tasty!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

I found this recipe at A Year Of Slow Cooking. You all know about that blog right ? No ... well, you need to go check it out !! The blog author, Stephanie, made a new years resolution to use her crock pot EVERY DAY for the year 2008 !! And she did it ! So, yeah, no shortage of crock pot recipes over there !!!

I modified the recipe just a little ... here's how I did mine.

2.5 lbs (just over a kilo) potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pinch chili powder
1 quart chicken broth ( i used water and stock cubes)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, to add at the end
crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado to serve

Put everything minus the cream cheese, bacon, spring onions and avocado into the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. (I did high last night) The potatoes should be fork-tender. Add the cream cheese and put lid back on to let cream cheese melt.  I left it for about 20 minutes.

Cook the bacon.

Get your stick blender into the crock pot and blend everything together.

Garnish with crumbled bacon, spring onions and avocado !! Delish !!

My husband who "doesn't like soup" had two helpings of this last night and took if for lunch today !! Soon he will have to stop making the "i don't like soup" statement because he likes many many soups now !!

Simple Avo Tom Salad

 

The other night I was trying to throw together a meal from the fridge since I hadn't planned anything and I needed to shop.  I had made Japanese mince and rice as the main but I needed a veggie side. I found a few cherry tomatoes, an avocado and a spring onion.  I thought of the  simple cucumber salad that my sister taught me to make and decided to do a little variation.  This is it ...

Cherry tomatoes
Avocado
Spring Onions
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sesame Seeds

She added sesame oil to the cucumber salad, I didn't add it to this one. 

I'm not sure you need instructions but all you do is chop your veg, sprinkle with vinegar and sesame seeds. 

Delish.

Burrito Bowl

This is such an easy meal ... I love it.

We just throw everything on the table, or on the kitchen counter, and everyone

makes their own bowl to their own liking.

Here's what we have in ours, but you can do whatever you like, that' s the beauty of the burrito bowl !

Brown Basmati Rice, cooked and mixed with lime juice and fresh coriander (cilantro)
Black Beans
Grated Cheese
Spring Onions, Sliced
Black Olives
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Salsa (optional)
Jalapenos (optional)

That's it ... then just fill your bowl with whatever combination takes your fancy ...



My bowl.



Rory's bowl.

**

yum

40 Clove Garlic Chicken Pizza

We had leftover 40 clove chicken the other night and I decided to try a little experiment. Seriously ... I think that's pretty much all I do these days ... experiment ! I wanted to try and change up the dough a bit. Last time I made it, I found it a bit hard to roll out and I had read that adding a small amount of gluten flour will help with elasticity. So ... I made my dough like this ....

1 and 1/3 cup water
2 TBLS honey
2 TBLS olive oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole wheat spelt flour
1 TBLS gluten flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp yeast

This dough was really nice. It is much wetter and required more flour on the surface to roll but the taste was great ! I think I'll try adding half as much gluten flour next time and see what that does. I'll tweak it til it's perfect !! :)

Here's the pizza before we put the mozzarella on top ...

The toppings went like this :

Tomato Sauce:
2 TBLS tomato paste
1 TBLS thickened cream
Leftover garlic and onions from the 40 clove garlic chicken

Mix and spread on dough.

The Rest of It:
One small potato, unpeeled, uncooked and thinly sliced
Leftover 40 clove garlic chicken, maybe we used about 1/2 a cup ? Do it to your liking.
A handful of fresh baby spinach leaves
A dozen or so kalamata style olives
Three homemade sun dried tomatoes, defrosted earlier and cut into chunks
Red onion, sliced
Spring onion, chopped
Camembert cheese, slivered

And then top with mozarella cheese. Bake in oven 15/20 minutes on 400F/200C.

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS !!

Mango Prawn Salad {with} Chicken

I found the inspiration for this recipe over at the good mood food blog.
I made a few changes, especially since I'd spent the day cutting up mango and just couldn't resist adding it to this already delectable looking ensemble ! Here's what I did ....

Serves 2 (whopping huge salads ... we had ONLY this for dinner !)

spring onions , chopped
1 garlic clove,peeled and crushed
1 tbsp soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
10 uncooked king prawns, my fish shop has ones marinated in garlic and parsley ... I used those.
1 chicken breast
fresh spinach leaves
fresh rocket
watercress (don't know that I'll worry about the watercress next time !)
1 ripe avocado
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cup fresh mango, chopped into rather large pieces
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful of fresh basil, torn
olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. I used my big electric fry pan and was able to cook the chicken on one side and then the prawns on the other, only mixing them when they were cooked. Add the spring onions, crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper and chicken. Cook til chicken is just about done and then add the prawns. Cook til both chicken and prawns are cooked through. Arrange your salad ingredients on your plates ... I plated them onto two individual plates rather than doing in a big bowl. Top with chicken and prawns. Dress with lemon juice. Serve and enjoy !

Cold Soba Noodles

75g sesame seeds
250g soba noodles (in this instance I used somen instead)
2 tsp rice vinegar
5 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
2 tsp sesame oil
5 spring onions (green onions)

The original recipe said to toast the sesame seeds til golden, and set aside. I never bother. I just use them un-toasted. (or sometimes I used the already toasted ones)

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add soba noodles. Cook according to packet instructions. (til tender but not mushy) Have a bowl of iced water ready to put them into after draining. (so ... drain them and then put them in the iced water !)

In the serving bowl you will use, mix vinegar, soy sauce, honey and sesame oil. Finely slice spring onions, add to vinegar mixture. Drain noodles. Add them to vinegar mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add sesame seeds and mix again.

Leave for about half an hour to let flavours develop .. although this is not absolutely necessary.

Serves 4 as part of a meal ... or 2 when eaten on their own.

That's it ! Easy and really yummy !!!

Baby Pea Salad

My Mom gave me this recipe a few years ago. It is so yummy !
I can't believe I haven't posted it here before now !!

500g frozen baby peas
1/2 cup slivered almonds
a few chopped chopped spring onions
crumbled feta cheese - we like lots
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
black pepper to taste

Thaw peas. Combine with almonds (toast first if you like), onions, feta and mayo. Mix in vinegar and then season with pepper. This is better after it sits for a while. Try to make it at least a few hours before you want to eat it.

Excuse me, this is delicious, shrimp salad !

I got this recipe from Zested.
I didn't change it very much but I'll do a few things differently next time ... here's what I'll do.

3 T. peanut oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced (i used a few spring onions)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
2-3 Thai chilies*, with seeds, minced
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and cleaned

* I can't find these here. I've bought some seeds and am going to grow some, 'til they are ready though, I just use a jar of chili/garlic paste when something calls for these ...

Sauce
2 heaping teaspoons tamarind concentrate
3 T. sugar
2 T. soy
2 T. Asian fish sauce
2 T. lime juice

Salad
2 avocados, chopped
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 half sweet onion, diced
3 T. lime juice
1 t. sugar
1 t. Asian fish sauce
3 T. fresh coriander, chopped
Rice, cooked ... to serve

Make tamarind sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients.

Make salad from salad ingredients. I didn't know if you were supposed to combine the lime, sugar and fish sauce, I didn't. I just threw them on top.

Cook shrimp. Heat peanut oil in a heavy skillet and sauté ginger, shallot, garlic, chilies, stirring constantly ... for about 30 seconds, don't burn them ! Add shrimp and sauté until barely pink, about 2 minutes. Stir in tamarind mixture and simmer until shrimp are just cooked through, about 2 minutes more. ( I think this took me a little longer than 2 minutes ... )

Spoon shrimp and salad over rice.

Ps ... you'll notice the peaunuts in this photo ... I didn't think they added to the meal and I won't put them in the next time so didn't include them in the recipe I posted. If you think you'd like them check out the original recipe ...

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 ...

Israeli Cous Cous Salad

The recipe I used as a guide ... but didn't follow exactly, I found HERE.

I made this as a main. We're trying to eat light. This was maybe a bit too light.
Would be perfect beside a nice piece of fish ...

Here's how I made it ...

one bag (250g) Israeli cous cous (I think you could substitute Orzo/Rissoni if you can't find this)
6 spring onions, sliced
100g feta, crumbled ( I didn't measure ... I just crumbled some in )
24 or so black (I used Kalamata) olives, stoned and chopped
24 or so cherry tomatoes, chopped ( I didn't have cherry, oops ... I bought them but we had munched them away !! ) I just chopped up regular tomato.
50g toasted pine nuts
parsley
half a lemon & some good extra virgin olive oil


Cook the cous cous according to packet instructions. Drain and run under cold water. Combine with the other ingredients and dress with 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

My Yummy Asparagus Pastry

Oops .. I said I'd post this ages ago ...

This was so easy.

I just got out a piece of puff pastry, laid it out on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper.
To the top, I added :
Chopped Spring Onions
Chopped Garlic Shoots
Chopped Asparagus
Pine Nuts
Kalamata Olives
Feta Cheese

I think I drizzled with olive oil.

Baked in oven til pastry was cooked.

Easy.

Yummy.

Rory said it was even better for leftovers the next day.

Orzo Veg Salad

I got the original recipe for this from
"Moosewood Restaurants Low Fat Favorites"
... a cookbook I'd love to own.

I've modified the recipe and am posting that modified recipe here.
(if you want the original ... get the book !)

1 package of Orzo pasta (called Rissoni in Australia)
1 tble sesame oil
1 cup chopped red bell peppers (red capsicum)
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
grape or cherry tomatoes
mushrooms

Cook the orzo, til al dente. Drain. Rince with cold water. Toss with sesame oil and set aside. (I've just realized I didn't do that !! -- oops)

Chop all the veggies and add to the salad.

Top with this dressing :

3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese chili paste (I used Korean chili paste as I didn't have Chinese)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root (I used the stuff out of a jar)
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced (again, I used the stuff out of a jar)
salt and ground pepper to taste

Serve hot or cold. Delicious both ways !!!

Fish a la Bonnie

Rory had a big fat steak for dinner tonight.

The kids had sausages.

I had fish.

Gotta love the versatility of a BBQ dinner !

The fish I chose was called "Basa". A white fleshed fish.

I love fish wrapped in tin foil and cooked on the BBQ.

The way I made it tonight was delicious.

And easy.

All I did was put the fish in the tin foil.

Chopped a spring onion and slivered some garlic ~ put them on top of the fish.

And two spears of asparagus.

Then I topped with a bit of lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and sea salt.

Wrapped it up and Rory BBQ'd it.

I served it with an artichoke and patatas alioli !

DELICIOUS !!

My Puttanesca Photo !!

If you haven't tried my Mom's Shrimp Pasta Puttanesca, you need to ! NOW !! I made it last night and it was soooo delicious !! The smell as you cook it is enough to make you want to give everyone else a piece of bread and just sit down with the whole pot !!

~

I left out the anchovies because when I was chopping them up they had bones in them ! We decided we won't bother with them next time ! AND I used normal tomatoes because I couldn't find anything called Plum Tomato and I had normal ones in the fridge !! Oh, and I sliced, rather than chopped the garlic. I LOVE BIG BITES OF SLICED GARLIC !!

~

I served it with Asparagus/Spring Onions on a bed of fresh spinach.

Asparagus and stuff ...

This is a really yummy dish that I adapted from one Shay made while I was visiting her in Denver !

~

I just chop up a couple of bunchs of asparagus, and some spring onions. I line a baking dish with non-stick baking paper and just spray a bit of olive oil on top of the veggies before putting them in a hot oven. ( or you can do in the broiler but I find they are more tender done in the oven ) I just watch them but usually it takes about 10/15 minutes for them to be done (tender but not mushy !!). To serve, top with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds. I do this to taste, I start by filling half a cap full of each ... it's a subtle flavor, don't go overboard !

~

Variations.

1. I have served this on top of sliced grilled red bell peppers ! And topped with avocado !

2. I have served on a bed of fresh baby spinach or rocket (arugula) !

3. I'm going to try sprinkling with fetta cheese one time ...

4. I don't always add the sesame seeds to the top !