BLT Pizza

I LOVE trying new pizza recipes.  When I found this recipe, I knew it was one we needed to try.  I did exactly what she said to do, except I added red onions and I didn't measure at all.  That's one of the best things about making pizza ... you can just throw whatever you want on top.  No measurements needed.

Ingredients:
Dough - use your favorite recipe or store bought.  (There are a few recipes on the beans blog that you could try.  I'll be posting my go to recipe soon ...)
Alfredo sauce, I used store bought but you could totally make it if you wanted to
Tomatoes, sliced
Red onion, thinkly sliced
Bacon, cooked
Rocket (arugula if you are in America)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Method:

It's not complicated.

Roll out your dough and spread alfredo sauce on it.  Top with tomatoes, red onion, bacon and mozzarella cheese. 

We cook our pizzas in a outdoor pizza oven but you can do it in the oven on 200C/390F for about 10/20 minutes.  You just want the dough to be cooked through and the cheese to be melted and golden.

Top cooked pizza with arugula.

Delish.

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!

Caprese Avocado Boats

I've looked at this recipe quite a few times and finally made it the other night.   I didn't do it exactly like she said because I was in a bit of a hurry.  I didn't make the basil garlic oil sauce maybe I will try that next time. But only maybe ... because this way was so easy.  Here's what I did.

Avocados (one per person, but I only did half each for the kids)

Baby Bocconcini, 225g (8oz)

Cherry Tomatoes, 250g, quartered

Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Fresh Basil, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Good Quality Balsamic Vinegar

Cut the avocados in half, take out the seed and carefully peel off the skin.

Mix bocconcini, tomatoes and fresh basil (as little or much as you like) with a good drizzle of the Garlic Infused Olive Oil.   Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When ready to serve, spoon bocconcini mixture into avocado halves.  Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar and serve.

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.

Tomatoey Spinach and Couscous Bake

Found this recipe on a new blog that I've recently discovered called The Naked Kitchen.  I was going to make it just the way the recipe called for but it had some specialty ingredients that I didn't have, a few steps I thought unnecessary and I thought it could use some mushrooms.  So ... here is my version.  

Ingredients:

1&1/4 cups dry whole wheat couscous

2 cups water

Panko Breadcrumbs (I didn't measure but I'd say it was less than 1/4 of a cup)

5 cups raw baby spinach leaves, (I roughly chopped mine but that's personal preference)

2 cans (400g each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

olive oil, for sauteing 

fresh oregano, basil and parsley ... a handful or so of each, washed and chopped

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

salt, a couple of pinches

3 sliced mushrooms ... unless your kids love 'em and then you can use more.  (mushrooms are the one thing that both of our kids despise and I often, but not always, take pity on them and do half with, half without ... tonight was one of the times I decided to go half and half.)

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C 

Saute onions and garlic in a blub of olive oil til onions are soft and beginning to be see through. Add cans of tomatoes, juice and all.  Add herbs.  Cook maybe 8 - 10 minutes, til sauce has reduced and thickened just a little bit.  Add spinach and stir through sauce ... remove from heat.  This is just to get the spinach to wilt a little bit. 

While the onions and garlic are sauteing, put the water in a separate pot over high heat and bring to the boil.  Add couscous and a pinch of salt, give the pot a little shake to stir it, cover and remove from heat.  Let sit a few minutes, fluff with a fork and set aside.  

Mix couscous and tomato mixture together in a baking dish.  Lay mushroom slices flat (if using).  Top with cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered 25 minutes (or til cheese is melted and starting to brown).  Serve hot.

Super Easy Salsa

 

I've been trying to cook out of the pantry this week and I needed some salsa to go with our burrito bowls the other night.  I did a bit of research on line and then threw this together ...

2 x 400g (14oz) cans of tomatoes

1 small can of green chillies

1 small red onion, cut into 8chunks

whole garlic cloves, to taste

1 cup fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

1/2 tsp cumin, more or less to taste

juice of one lime

1/4 tsp sugar

Put everything but the tomatoes and chillies into a food processor or blender.  Pulse it til it's chopped up.  Add the tomatoes and chillies and pulse til it's as smooth or chunky as you like.  That's it.  So easy.  So yummy. 

Used the leftovers in chicken chimichangas last night !

Winter Veg Sauce

I made this for the first time a year ago and LOVED it.  I have modified it a bit to suit our own tastes.  You can find Tribeca Yummy Mummy's Winter Vegetable Tomato Sauce over on her blog.
Here's how I do ours ....

1 big red onion, diced

4 carrots, peeled & shredded

2 parsnips, peeled & shredded

5 cloves of garlic, diced (adjust to suit your garlic tastes)

olive oil

pinch of salt

dash of garlic powder

fresh herbs ... oregano, basil, thyme

4 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes

2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes

salt and pepper, to taste

brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon (or more)

honey, to taste

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil, in a large, heavy bottom pot, until garlic begins to brown and onion is translucent. Add carrots and parsnips, pinch of salt and cook til veggies are soft. Add herbs.  Let cook just while you open up the cans of tomatoes.

Stir in the tomatoes and garlic powder. Bring this sauce to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low and partially cover. Let simmer for an hour or longer, stirring every 15- 20 minutes. Taste as you go. After a while, once the sauce has cooked down some, add the brown sugar and/or honey.  You don't want it super sweet but the sugar/honey give a great flavor and cuts down on the acidity in the tomatoes. 

Season with salt and pepper.

Done.

Serve over pasta, gnocchi (that recipe coming this week !), in a calzone, as a pizza sauce, on a baked potato !  The options are only limited by your imagination ...

 

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 ...

Slow Roasted Pasta Sauce with Meat

 

Sometimes, when you throw something together, it just works OUTSTANDINGLY. 
This was one of those times.

It was a tag team effort.

I cooked a package of ground beef (mince).  Just in a fry pan with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Rory roasted a big roasting tray full of tomatoes (halved), garlic cloves, and red onion. 
Again ... with olive oil, salted and peppered. 180C/375F for one hour.

When the tomatoes were done, I threw them in the blender, whizzed them up til they were done.
Oh ... yeah ... we added some fresh herbs to the blender too.
Oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme.
Maybe a bit of basil too ...

We put that in a small pot with the meat. 
Probably only left it on the heat for 10 or 15 minutes. 

Rory added a bit of water to thin it out.
(We thought about wine but we didn't want to mess with the flavor because we loved it !)

Served on pasta with fresh Parmesan.

Delish !

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 !

Fresh and Delicious Quinoa

I found this delicious looking recipe on pinterest and had to try it. I'm glad I did too ! It's amazingly delicious !  I did almost everything the same ... really, the only things I changed were that I roasted the red bell pepper, how I added the garlic, a few measurements and a bit of the how to assemble.  Here's my version ...

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 tbsp coconut oil (but I think any oil would do)
1 & 3/4 cup water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, chopped into chunks
a punnet of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper
small handful coriander/cilantro, diced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste

Roast your red bell pepper, set aside.  Here is a little tutorial on how to roast peppers, if you need it.

Put the coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s hot add the rinsed quinoa and toast for a minute or two. Add water, stir once, cover, and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes.  Watch it though and turn it off as soon as the liquid is absorbed ! (I like my glass lid for this !)

Mix the lime juice, oil, cumin, minced garlic and salt. Stir. Set Aside.  This is the dressing.

In a big bowl ~ tomatoes, beans, & onion.  Remove skins from red bell peppers, chop and add to bowl. Chop avocado but don't add it yet.

When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from heat and fluff with a fork. Let cool for a few minutes, then add to the bowl with the other ingredients and stir.  Add dressing.  Stir.  Add avocado and coriander/cilantro, gently stir.

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 !

Breakfast Burritos

My sister Ellie taught me how to make these ...
although, I've added a few little homemade salsa's of my own to the mix ....

There are lots of components ... and no real measurements, it depends on how many you are cooking for ... you'll work it out !

Potatoes: Chop 'em small and shallow fry with garlic powder and salt in a bit of olive oil. Fry til crispy (or done to your liking) These take a while so get them started and then do everything else.

Bacon: Chop and cook til crispy.

Eggs: Scrambled. Do these at the end so that they are hot when you serve !

Tomato Salsa: For this one I diced two tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 1 clove of freshly minced garlic, 2 handfuls of fresh coriander, salt, pepper and the juice of one lime. Mix.

Green Chili Salsa: 1/4 of a red onion (finely diced), 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 2 tins of fire roasted green chilies, 1/2 cup chicken stock. Sautee the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Add the chilies and the chicken stock. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Keep it going til the sauce thickens up.

Cheese: Cheddar. Grated.

Flour Tortillas: Warmed

Top the tortillas with whatever combo of ingredients you want ... add Sour Cream too. Fold it up and eat it ! So good !!

I was going to add Avocado this time too but I forgot. I think it would be really good ....

Bonnie Salad

One of my go to, throw together salads that I love ...

iceburg lettuce, i love it's crunch !
chopped tomato
chopped cucumber
chopped avocado
crumbled feta cheese
pine nuts
usually there would be sliced red onion but i don't see any in the photo

topped with a vinaigrette or italian dressing
or like this one ... just a sprinkling of your favorite vinegar, olive oil and rock salt

easy peasy
yummy yummy

Guacamole

My Mom gave me her guacamole recipe years ago ... I'm still making it the same way. (Except she doesn't like cilantro so I'm not sure she actually puts that in hers ...)(Do you, Mom?)

2 avocados, one mashed, one chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
red onion, diced
garlic - to taste, I use about 4 or 5 cloves - crushed
splash of lemon juice
fresh cilantro ( coriander )
jalapeno (optional)

Mix all those things together. EASY DONE ! Very Tasty !!
Do ahead if possible because it's yummiest after the flavors all infuse !!

Triple Tomato Sauce Pasta

Mom posted this a while back ... I'm re posting it because it had kinda gotten lost.
I just tried it tonight ... here's my photo.
It's delicious.
AND
SUPER EASY to make !
Try it ....

Here is a super easy recipe I tried last evening. It was yummy! It took only the time needed to cook the pasta. A side caesar salad and dinner was ready!

Penne with Triple Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
1 pound penne
2 medium tomatoes (5 ounces each), cut into 1-inch dice
4 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste (I had half a can, so used it all...then needed an extra drizzle of olive oil to make the blender whirl it all)
4 large basil leaves
1 garlic clove (I of course used more!)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne until al dente.
Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, garlic and olive oil. Puree until smooth. Drain the pasta, put it back into the hot pan. Pour the sauce over it, add the salt and pepper, and toss well to coat. Serve the pasta piping hot. (If you are going to serve it in a bowl, I'd suggest heating the bowl in the oven first.)

I grated lots of fresh romano cheese to lavishly sprinkle on as it was the only protein of the meal. Good call, I thought!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/august-2007-penne-with-triple-tomato-sauce This is the site where I found the recipe...I'll visit there again!

Fancy Toasted Sanga

So ... some nights, due to our crazy schedules, we need to all eat at different times. I hate cooking twice, and I hate serving Rory (who is usually eating last) something cold or re-heated. I mean, that's ok for leftovers but I have this thing about the first serve of something being totally amazing but that's just another of my oddities ... let's move on.

I have been trying to plan not only meals but specifically for our crazy schedule. So ... on this particular night, we did toasted sandwiches ... aka, grilled cheese. The kids had grilled ham and cheese and then later, much later !, Rory and I had these ...

I liked them, although the basil I chose was a bit strong. Next time I'm going to try the Opal Basil. We have about 4 varieties of basil growing in our garden so I'll give them all a go maybe and see which one I like best for this ...

Super simple. Heat up your sandwich press.

Between two pieces of bread ... Sliced Tomato. Basil Leaves. Thinly Sliced Red Onion. Salt and Pepper. Provolone Cheese.

Toast til it's Toasted.

And I served it with a handful of plain Kettle Chips. My favorite.

Quick and Easy Spicy Tortilla Soup

I found this recipe here.

I didn't change much...

1 green pepper

1 medium sweet onion

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (you won't need all of it unless you like your soup ON FIRE!)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and pepper

4 cups chicken broth

1 can can diced Mexican style tomatoes (I used these...cause they are so awesome)

1 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed.

1/4 cup..or so of chopped up fresh cilantro

1 chicken breast, diced

Tortilla chips, for topping

sour cream, for topping

Monterey Jack, shredded, for topping

limes

few slices of avocado

1. In a large pot heat the oil on medium heat and saute the onions. Add bell pepper, jalapenos (I added two or 3 thin slices...diced.), salt and pepper. Cook until the onions become translucent. Add the cumin and stir until fragrant.
2. Add Chicken. Cook for a few minutes.
3. Add chopped cilantro and chicken broth, tomatoes and corn.
4. Cook for about 15 minutes (until chicken is cooked through)
5. Add salt to taste

Pour into bowl

Crush a handful of tortilla chips on top of soup. Sprinkle cheese, dollop sour cream, squeeze lime and throw a couple slices of avocado on top (We forgot the avocado on ours! But added a spoonful of pico de gallo!)

Enjoy!

We served ours with an amazing Steak Cobb Salad!

GRILLED TOMATOES

--1 medium tomato, not over ripe, per each person (or as many as yoy think people will eat)
--equal amounts mayonaise and grated parmesan cheese (the kind you shake out of a can), about 1T per tomato

Cut each tomato in half (along the equator, with the north pole being the stem end) and put them on a baking sheet.

Mix the mayonaise and cheese together, it will form a thick paste. (Add a little more cheese if needed)

Spread a nice layer (at least 1/8" thick) of the mix on each tomato half, spread it clear to the edge. Use all the spread.

Put it under the broiler about 3 inches away from the element, broil till it is beautiful brown and a little bubbly. It will only take a minute, so watch them.

Enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable Moussaka ~ With Meat

Rory and Jono were watching a cooking show the other day, saw Moussaka being made and promptly requested that I add it to the menu ... I'm glad they did because this is a delicious discovery !! I found the recipe here but of course, made a couple of changes ...

Ingredients:

3 large eggplant, thin round slices
3 large potatoes, thinly sliced
3 large zucchini, thinly sliced lenthwise
extra-virgin olive oil - for grilled veg
5 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
5 cups milk
1 pinch ground nutmeg
salt to taste
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 kg beef mince (ground beef)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
large can of diced tomatoes
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Fire up your BBQ. Brush eggplant, potatoes, and zucchini lightly with extra-virgin olive oil. Grill until just tender and golden brown.

Layer potatoes into the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Next layer in the eggplant, followed by the zucchini; set aside.

Preheat oven to 190c/375f. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add the flour, cook until the flour smells slightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Gradually add in milk, about a cup at a time ... if you haven't worked it out, you're making a white sauce here ! Add nutmeg and salt. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes.

Place the egg yolk into a bowl, and quickly whisk in 1/4 cup of the white sauce, Quickly stir the egg yolk mixture into the white sauce, mix until smooth, then set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef and onion. Stir in the oregano, parsley, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Turn heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To assemble, spread the meat mixture over the vegetables, and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Pour the white sauce over the top. Bake moussaka in preheated oven until bubbly and golden brown, about 30 minutes.