Idea’s to try at home !!!!!
Brunch in Port Fairy Victoria. Spanish eggs with Pumpkin.
A delicious stew of onion, garlic, red peppers, corn, fresh tomato, pinch of cumin and some chilli for heat. Topped with roast pumpkin, two poached eggs, feta, basil leaves and beetroot crisps. It was delicious and very filling.
I recently made a vegetable quiche for dinner using Quinoa flour for the pasty base. The Quinoa flour gave the pastry a sort of nutty flavour which was good. Using Quinoa flour made this pastry gluten and wheat free, and Quinoa is a good source of protein. The filling can easily be made dairy free by omitting the cheese on the top and using coconut oil instead of ghee to cook the vegetables.
Quinoa Pastry Crust
In a large bowl whisk together the quinoa flour, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Stir in the oil and the water and mix well until combined. The dough should be coming together and forming big clumps but it won’t come together like a normal pastry.
Press dough into tart dish. Try and make it nice and thin.
Bake at 200 degrees till the pastry is golden and firm – approx 15 minutes.
Fill with desired filling and cook a further 30 – 35 minutes until set and golden on top.
Basic filling:
You could use any vegetable (or combination of) you like and the process would be the same.
I used: 1 courgette halved and sliced, stem broccoli chopped, i clove garlic minced, 1 bunch spring onions sliced into thin rounds, 5 small tomatoes quartered.
Cook the courgette and broccoli in 1 tsp ghee until courgette has brown specks. Add garlic and quartered tomatoes and continue to cook on highish heat until moisture evaporates. Add spring onions and mix together.
Lay vegetables on pre cooked pastry base and pour egg mix over vegetables.
I added 1/2 cup strong tasty cheese sprinkled over top.
Cook 30 – 35 minutes till golden brown.
Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
We had the left overs for lunch the next day on the train to Warrnambool and it was very tasty cold !!
Here is another quinoa recipe, quite similar to the last one I posted, except this is vegetarian and has a teriyaki flavour. Also being in a rented house the utensils are limited, so I cooked it slightly differently and I think the result is actually better. This quantity fed the two of us with leftovers for lunch the next day !
Cook the Quinoa first and let cool while cooking the other ingredients (or you could use Quinoa already cooked previosuly).
I only had a small frypan so I put everything in a dish in the oven once I cooked it on the stove, whilst I cooked the rest of the ingredients in batches. It worked very well, better actually than trying to have everything in the pan. The oven was on low, just enough to keep things hot without cooking them.
Saute the pineapple in the coconut oil till it has brown bits – take out of pan and put in the dish in oven.
Saute the onion and ginger in pan till translucent (there may be enough oil left, if not add a little more coconut oil) – add garlic cook a little longer – take out of pan and put in oven with the pineapple.
Saute the celery, red pepper and broccoli – add the teriyaki sauce (not too much) to help steam the broccoli a little. Put a lid on to keep moisture in. Once broccoli is cooked to your liking (I like mine crunchy) take them out of pan and put in the oven.
Add grated carrot, the cooked quinoa and baby spinach leaves to rest of ingredients in the oven, give a good stir and put back in the oven for for 5 to 10 minutes, just until the spinach is wilted.
Serve and top with chopped corriander.
It was delicious. This dish provides you with good fats, protein, a rainbow of colors of vegetables for their antioxidants and leafy greens.
Happy Vegetarian Cooking !!!!!
Happy New Year Everyone ! I hope 2018 brings you all a very happy, healthy and safe year ahead.
I am back in Melbourne (until Easter) after spending three weeks in gorgeous Noosa Heads in Queensland. I am back in my home town as my daughter (who is in Transition Year) is spending one term at school in Melbourne. A very exciting experience for her and a wonderful opportunity for me to spend time at home.
As of New Year’s Day two of my children have decided to become vegetarian (my daughter being one) – until one of them capitulates !!!! As they are both quite determined, I can see it being a long standing arrangement. I also decided to try and change my diet to 80 % plant based and 20% animal based. I like fish and meat too much to give them up entirely.
However I have to be honest, as a newby vegetarian cook, it does take a new mind set and more work to produce a tasty and nutritiously balanced meal. I am sure as I get more used to not picking the meat first and then what to put with it, the process will become easier and less time consuming. It does not help that the way I like to eat is to have a few different tastes per meal and not just one big bowl of the one thing, so I know I am making work for myself.
I have been making some delicious vegetarian food since the new year, but unfortunately I have forgotten to take photos so I will have to make the best of dishes again and photograph them so I can share them with you.
In the meantime our first shopping expedition on arrival to Melbourne was to the Prahran Market and all I can say is WOW. It is fabulous. I am very excited to have this wonderful and extensive range of produce as my local shop!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Australia.
I have been in Melbourne for the last week and head off to Noosa Heads in Queensland tomorrow for Christmas and New Year. Will post some recipes and photos in the coming weeks.
As promised, a recipe using cooked quinoa. An easy mid week tasty quick dinner.
Add sliced chicken breast (allow one per person) to thai red curry paste (enough to cover the chicken well) and marinade chicken for a few hours.
Saute chopped pineapple in 1 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil. When caramelised, take out of pan and put to one side. Saute chicken pieces in the juices left in the pan from the pineapple until nice and brown, add a little more coconut oil if necessary.
Add 1 chopped red and 1 chopped yellow pepper, three cloves of garlic and two grated carrots. Saute until the vegetables are wilting a little bit.
Add in the already sauted pineapple and any juice that has accumulated. If you used tinned pineapple (in pineapple juice only) you will have quite a bit of juice and you can add some of this to get a consistancy you like, but you dont want it too wet.
Add your cooked quinoa and stir fry and lastly off the heat, add some chopped spring onions and corriander.
Serve and enjoy !!
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