Olive & Basil Shell Pasta

Olive Oil
3 garlic cloves
1 large tin of crushed tomatoes
Italian herbs to taste
Oregano to taste
Chopped Stuffed Olives 1/2 cup
Salt and pepper
Dried chilli to taste
Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup
1/2 cup fresh chopped Basil

Method.
Heat oil, add chopped garlic and chilli stir until garlic softens, add tomatoes, olives, herbs, salt & pepper.

Simmer for 30 minutes while cooking Shell pasta. ( I like small shell pasta for this sauce call me kooky ).

Stir in Parmesan cheese and fresh basil just before serving.

Serve with some French bread and some more parmesan cheese on top.

Beans & Rice

This is a quick easy meal. It is quite popular in the West Indies. Give it a crack and I'm sure you will like it. Heck you don't even miss not having the meat!

1 1/2 cups long grain rice
1 can red kidney beans
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 cloves garlic
3 green onions chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
chili to taste
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; add garlic, thyme, chili, salt and pepper. Sauté a few minutes add rice stirring to coat the rice in the oil.

mix coconut milk and chicken stock together add to rice, then bring to a boil.

Cover; reduce heat to low; simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat Stir through kidney beans and green onions keep covered for 10 additional minutes to allow the steam to finish cooking the rice.

Serve hot.

Mum's Pavlova

Ingredient's
4 large egg whites room temperature
1 cup of Castor sugar
1 tsp of white vinegar
1/2 Tbsp of cornstarch
1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
strawberries, raspberries, passion fruit, blueberries, kiwi fruit
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method
Preheat the oven to 140c place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking tray with foil.

Beat the egg whites in a metal bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Beat until the whites form soft peaks.Gently sprinkle in the sugar into the egg whites, a little at a time while still using the mixer. Egg whites should now be glossy stiff peaks.Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on the mixture and fold in gently with a spatula. Add the vanilla and gently fold in the mixture again.Gently spread the meringue mixture in a circle on the foil about 7" in diameter.

Bake the meringue for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until it goes a very pale, pink color.Turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringue cool completely. As the meringue cools, it will crack slightly.

Just before serving, take the meringue out of the oven and remove it gently from the foil and place on a plate. If the middle is slightly higher that the edges crack down gently with the back of a spoon. Whip the cream with the vanilla extract until it stiff. Gently spread the cream to the top of the meringue with a spatula and arrange the fruit on top.

Fennel Roasted Potatoes, Honey Almond Carrots & Brussel Sprouts with French Style Peas

Note:  There are 3 dishes to be served together.  Requires a bit of multi-tasking to finish all 3 at the same time.

Ingredients:
Potatoes:
1/2 fennel (sliced)
5 large potatoes cut in 1/2.
1 clove garlic
salt/pepper
2 tsp Italian herbs
1 tsp dried chives
1 tsp parsley
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter

Honey Almond Carrots & Brussel Sprouts
1 tbs butter
1 tbs honey
hand full of sliced almonds
2 tsp sesame seeds
500g brussel sprouts cut in 1/2
4 carrots peeled & sliced

French Style Peas
3 c frozen peas
1 c vegetable stock
salt/pepper to taste
handful of sliced lettuce

Gravy
1 vegetable stock cube
1 chicken stock cube (If you are vegetarian, Massel chick stock cubes have no animal products)
1 tbs flour
1.5 c water


Directions:
Potatoes:

1. Preheat oven to 220c
2. Put potatoes in baking dish
3. Cover with other ingredients and mix through the potatoes.
4. Bake for about 1-1.5 hours at 220c, turning potatoes every 20 minutes until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Honey Almond Carrots & Brussel Sprouts

1. Boil or steam carrots and brussel sprouts until just tender.  Drain and sets aside
2. In frying pan, melt butter with honey, garlic,1 tsp of sesame seeds and almonds on medium heat.
3. Add cooked brussel sprouts and carrots to frying pan and mix through.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp sesame seeds before serving.

French Style Peas

1. Simmer peas in vegetable stock until ready.
2. Increase to a boil and toss in lettuce.
3. Quickly stir and pour into serving dish.

Gravy

1. Put ingredients in a jar with lid & shake until dissolved.
2. Remove roasted potatoes from baking dish, leaving liquid & crispy bits in bottom of pan.  
3. Stir in gravy mixture and heat on stove until it thickens.
4. Pour over potatoes before serving (or put in gravy boat to serve along side meal)

Vegetarian Stew with Cheese & Chive Dumplings

Ingredients:
1 onion (sliced)
2 celery stalks (sliced)
3 c sliced cabbage
5 large potatoes cut in 1/2
4 large carrots
2 turnips
 1/2 fennel
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1tbs olive oil
1.5 litres of vegetable stock
salt & pepper to taste

Dumpling Ingredients:
2 c self raising flour
pinch of salt
2tbs parmesan cheese
Approximately 3/4 c water
2 tsp dried chives

Directions:
Dumplings:

1. Put dry ingredients together in a bowl
2. Add water as required until you get a thick sticky mixture.  Set aside for later.

Stew:

1. Heat oil in saucepan on high.
2. Add fennel, onion, garlic & celery.  Stir until they start to soften and lightly brown.
3. Pour in vegetable stock & bring to a boil
4. Put in carrots, potatoes , turnips & salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add cabbage and simmer for another 10 minutes.  
5. Spoon dumpling mixture on top of stew.  Put lid on and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve

Sushi

Ingredients
1.5 c sushi rice
1 tbs white vinegar
water (enough to cover rice by 1/2" in saucepan)
1/2 avocado
1 tuna steak (thinly sliced)
wasabi
good quality soy sauce
seaweed paper

Directions:

1. Cover rice with water, add vinegar & bring to boil
2. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed (top up with water if needed)
3. Let rice cool.
4. (Option 1) Wet hands and roll rice into 2" long rolls.  Smear top of rice with wasabi & place thinly sliced tuna on top.
   (Option 2) On seaweed paper, spread rice 3 1/2-4" wide.  Leave 1/4" gap at each end.  Lay avocado and thinly sliced tuna in the middle of the rice.  Use bamboo sushi mat to roll tightly (this can be difficult).  Use a wet knife to slice in 1" portions.
   Here's a youtube clip to help you with your sushi rolling.
5. Serve with soy sauce and extra wasabi

Potato Chips!

This isn't really a recipe but I thought it was note worthy. I was shopping for a drink bottle for Evelyn-Rose's school lunch and near the isle that has the lunch boxes/drink bottles was a Micro Chip Crisp'r.  It's a potato slicing device with a tray to put the potato slices in.  You then microwave for 5 minutes to create your own potato chips.  I was really surprised at how well it worked!!  Fresh potato chips with no oil or added fat!

It does say not to season before you microwave but if you try to add salt afterwards the salt doesn't stick.  I added salt to the potato slices before microwaving and it worked much better.

Great healthy treat for the kiddos!  The microwave tray only holds about 1 potatoes worth of slices so making chips for a family of 5 can get a bit tiresome.