Add it to your meal plan: Fresh and crunchy loaded chicken salad

Whilst I was in Manila I got quite a good appreciation for the local food, but so much of it is fried or contains a lot of sugar, and a lot of it isn't served with vegetables or salad as I was used to.  When there were salads on the menu I would usually order - a caesar at least.  But this one I've attempted to copy from the Californian Pizza Kitchen salad I loved in Manila.  I'm flying back there today for a few days, it's a shame I won't have time to head down to the Fort for one of these.. but I made one over the weekend instead!

It's fresh and filling, all the kids ate it - tick tick TICK!

Salad ingredients:

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 small wombok, sliced into ribbons

2 stalks of coriander (or cilantro) chopped

1 carrot, peeled into ribbons

1 lebanese cucumber, diced

1/2 barbequed chicken, shredded

1/2 cup peanuts

1/2 cup fried noodles

Dressing ingredients:

2 tb smooth peanut butter

2 tb white vinegar

2 tb soy sauce

1/2 tsp fish sauce

2 tb white sugar

juice of one lime

1/4 cup water

Method:

Add all ingredients to a large salad bowl with the exception of the fried noodles.  Then you'll need to mix it with your hands, 

Make your dressing by combining all ingredients

Just mix it up with  fork, it comes together quite easily.

Put the dressing over your salad and then of course, add your noodles!

This fed us five as a main with some to spare.  Bookmark it to have in this warm weather or take to your next barbeque - just add the dressing and the noodles just before serving.

My kind-of-sort-of Family Friendly Salad Nicoise - and a little giveaway...

My kids are getting really fussy with their salads these days - they aren't particularly fond of dressing, they are a bit 'over' our regular garden salad or green salad with vinegar.  Potato salad seems off the menu at the moment too which is a huge disappointment also as it's one of my favourites.  But I think we've found our new favourite salad.  It's always nice to discover a new salad as the warmer weather arrives.

It's filling enough for lunch on it's own, but we had it with jazzed up snags for dinner and I had the leftovers for lunch the next day.  This is down to a few things:  from our leftover roast I used up our potatoes (love using leftovers!), the pancetta gives a lovely crispness but the eggs soften it out and balance the saltiness.

If you're a little challenged on boiling an egg - there's some instructions below in the recipe.  I know that sound ridiculous right?  Everyone knows how to hard boil an egg surely?  Sometimes I have to look it up!

According to Australian Eggs, only 25% of Australians actually know the correct amount of time to hard boil an egg - although 93% of people claim they believe their answer is correct...  The same study identified that 81% of Aussies have eggs for breakfast 1-2 times a week but usually will fry or scramble their eggs.. what happened to egg soldiers!?

Ingredients:
Salad
5-6 cos lettuce leaves, roughly torn
4-5 cold baked potatoes, quartered
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
50g tasty cheese, cut into thin squares
4 eggs hard boiled, peeled and quartered.
100 grams pancetta (substitute with proscuitto or bacon if you prefer)

Dressing
3 tb mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tb lemon juice

Method:
Hard boil your eggs (directions below)
Grill your pancetta but placing aluminium foil in a slice tray or shallow baking dish and placing under grill.
Mix the dressing ingrdients together with a spoon.

Assemble the rest, layer with your eggs and pancetta and drizzle with dressing and serve!

How to hard boil eggs:
Start with a room temperature egg put it in a saucepan and cover with cold water and put the lid on the bring it a boil, then simmer for 8 minutes.  Remove with slotted spoon and cool for a few minutes before serving. (Aussies can call 1800 800 024 any time to get the egg-spert tips on how you can also boil a soft or medium boiled egg too)

To celebrate World Egg Day today - Australian Eggs are giving one reader with an Australian address a prize pack worth $100 - including:

• 'How to boil an Egg' cookbook by Rose Bakery - written by Rose Carrarini who owns and runs the famous Rose Bakery in Paris.
• Gorgeous pair of Portmeirion by Sophie Conran Egg Cups
• A cute chicken egg timer (also doubles up well as a time-out monitor, believe me!)
• 'Easy as' apron 

To enter tells me by commenting here or on the Frills Facebook page how you like your eggs? OR Do you have a favourite dish that features eggs? Quiche? Caesar salad? Eggs Benedict?  Let me know by next Wednesday midnight (16 October)!

Alfresco dining - Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

I must tell you - this past weekend the weather was glorious - it was fraught with activity for us, but I did manage to steal some time in the sunshine and left the windows open and let the warm, fresh air circulate the house... just what the doctor ordered!

We also had our first outdoor meal since winter began, and it was lovely.  And although this salad isn't a quick 'throw-together-affair' it is something you could make in advance and assemble last moment.

The star of this salad is the dressing - peanut satay-ish - and with the combination of crunch from the beans, bean shoots, cucumber and carrot, and the substance of the potato and egg, it's light, but filling and personally I don't think you need to have is as accompaniment, but as a meal in itself.  Although, leftovers can easily fit that purpose or you could make it to feed a crowd at a barbeque.. (I've advised hubby the barbeque will be getting a workout next weekend!).

Ingredients:
Salad:
4 small cobs of corn, boiled for 5 minutes, and cut into disks
1 lebanese cucumber, thickly diced
6 eggs, hard boiled and crumbled
1 1/2 cups bean spouts
20 or so fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched
2 large white potatoes, diced and firmly cooked
1 medium carrot, grated with a potato peeler

Dressing:
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup roasted peanuts
3 cloves garlic
1 small red chili, finely chopped, seeds removed
2 tb lime juice


Method:
Chop, cook and grate ingredients as necessary

In a food processor add all dressing ingredients

Process until smooth, then add water (about 1 1/2 cups) to make it 'drippable'.

Arrange all your ingredients on a large tray or bowl (I prefer it on a tray.. easier to get the sauce on as much as possible..)  Get the kids to help with this bit!

Drizzle sauce over the top and any leftover sauce, put in a bowl, you'll want more I promise!

So put it on your meal plan for the week or even the weekend!

Fresh, quick and yummy - Yabby salad

Yabbies you say?  Yabbies?  Are you sure?

If you grew up near or have holidayed near freshwater creeks, odds on you may have been yabbying.  Yabbies I would describe as like a mini-lobster with the taste or a gamey-like prawn.  You cook them similar to a lobster - if they are fresh - freeze them first to put them to sleep and then straight into boiling water for a minute - two tops!  If you've bought them cooked, just peel them similar to a prawn.

image credit

They are actually beautiful barbequed - just the tails - with butter and garlic.

Today, I just made a salad - because I felt like something refreshing and I love the taste of the yabby with the dressing and the crunch of the lettuce - let's call it a 70's deja-vu moment to a prawn cocktail perhaps....

But my kids ate it - they love their seafood and particularly prawns - when they are prawns on the table - there's a scramble - now we can add yabbies to that list also.


Ingredients:
1/2 iceberg lettuce, roughly torn
3 truss tomatoes, cut in eight pieces each
1 lebanese cucumber, diced
1 kg yabbies, cooked, peeled and de veined
Dressing
3 tb mayonnaise
2 tsp tomato sauce
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce


Method:
Mix contents of your mayo and mix well.

Layer the lettuce, then tomato, cucumber, yabbies and lastly dressing.

Low Fat Friday with Lucy: Crunchy Vietnamese Style Salad

Thanks to Lucy for this wonderful (and flavoursome) recipe today - great for these hot nights!  Hope you enjoy and see you on Sunday for the Baking Project! xxx


Lucy writes:

This salad is a wonderful favourite of mine, and my husbands. Especially during spells of really hot weather - the flavours are gorgeous and it is so easy. And so healthy. But so tasty.  Plus, of course, it's low in fat. High in protein. Very low in processed carbs. And low GI. A perfect diminishing recipe!

This salad can also be made with beef, cooked prawns or sliced cooked chicken breast or simply without meat at all. To enjoy the fresh flavours combine the ingredients just before serving.


Crunchy Vietnamese Style Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients:
250g bean sprouts
400g beef steak, grilled to medium rare OR grilled chicken breast OR cooked prawns
Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh coriander
Handful of small basil leaves
1 carrot, chopped into sticks
200g snow peas, sliced into strips
1 Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 fresh red chilies, finely sliced
½ cup roasted peanuts or fava beans*, roughly chopped
Juice of two limes (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 tablespoon Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce

Method:

Pull the leaves from the mint and coriander stalks. Place in a large bowl with the bean sprouts, cucumber, garlic, chili and nuts.

Mix remaining ingredients, whisk well to combine. Pour over salad mixture and toss gently to combine.

Divide the salad mixture amongst four deep plates, top with sliced beef/chicken or prawn.

* I use roasted fava beans as they are much lower in fat than peanuts, and much higher in protein. And they are low GI.

If you do try this, let me know how you enjoy it? And whether you used chicken, beef or prawns?

Spanish Pasta Salad

I don't know about you but I've been feeling like a melting ice-block - complete with stickiness this week.   I cannot be bothered cooking so we've gone out for dinner one night and had BBQ meals the rest of this week.  I like to make a few salads in the early morning (the ones that can be kept) so I don't have to do it when my energy is flagging at the end of the day.  Curried potato salad has done the rounds, risoni salad, tabbouleh and this, my spanish pasta salad.  All can be prepped ahead.  Another good one would be the warm thai beef salad if you don't have time in the morning because you can cook your beef on the BBQ and assemble very quickly.


Salad Contents:  Combine -
4 stalks of rocket, cut up with scissors
250g grape tomatoes, cut in half
4 cups cooked penne (or spiralli)
1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 chorizo sausage, sliced thinly, fried and drained on kitchen paper

Dressing
In a food processor combine say 10 olives with 80g pinenuts and 2 tb olive oil

Mix well and serve - or chill and eat!  Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.

Salad days: Salad as a meal - smoked trout salad

My hubby scoffed when I told him we were having salad for dinner.  Well not exactly scoffed but there was a pause and one eyebrow raised.  He is a country boy and was raised on meat and three vege and sometimes I forget this because he's an adventurous eater these days and does eat vegetarian meals but somehow I don't think salad as a meal is really his idea of a meal.   The exception to this rule of course is my thai beef salad - I was not sure if I could tempt fate twice.

So I bulked it up - some potatoes.  Crossed my fingers... and no dice.  But it filled me and girls up - I just think my man needs 'cave food'  - there needs to be meat sometimes (takes me back to My Big Fat Greek Wedding)



It's really simple to make and the kids can help put it together - it's perfect for the end of a hot summers day I think!


Liss's smoked trout salad
500g desiree  potatoes, diced into 2 inch portions (approx) steamed or boiled until cooked, but firm
100g green beans, steamed or boiled until just cooked, but firm (rinse in cold water once cooked)
1 lebanese cucumber, chopped
100g cherry tomatoes, roasted and cooled
500g smoked trout, removed from bone and flaked (I buy it whole from woolworths in the fish section - it's pre-packed)


Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees c - place your tomatoes on a roasting tray or small ovenproof dish and be generous with some pepper and salt - roast for about 15 minutes until lovely and soft.  Set aside

Steam/boil your potatoes and beans, rinse in cold water as soon as they've cooked and set aside

Arrange your salad by layering the potatoes, beans, tomatoes and then cucumber.  Flake your trout and then mix just before serving.

The tomatoes become super-sweet and the potato has the substance and the beans and cucumber has the crunch.  You don't need a dressing but if you want one - just try a small amount of lemon juice.

If you haven't had trout before - try it - it's like a stonger tasting salmon - a little bit goes a long way so this salad is bursting with flavour!  It's very easy to lift from the bones too.

Step one- don't forget the memory card! 2 recipes today!

I'm having a wonderful time on our 'at home' holiday this year.  All of the insane 'to-do lists' of December are ticked off, Christmas is done and dusted, now it's time to enjoy the days off.   Hubby is home until next Monday and we've been busying ourselves with pleasurable things - homey things and today, we had our besties over to chill out and enjoy this glorious (albeit short-lived) weather.

We haven't had time to catch up properly for ages - and it's a shame but we are all so busy with every-days.

I had planned to cook, and I did - three new glorious things to share - and had it all organised, took photos - and then realised after my first drink hours later - there was no memory card in my camera!

So let me give you the layman's recipe and photos for 2 recipes I made today - and the last I managed to get all the pictures, so I'll share that one tomorrow!

The first one is a good ol' Greek salad.  Nothing too formal about his one but I love it.  Eloise is a huge olive freak so needless to say this is her favourite!

You'll need to combine:  4 large tomatoes, diced, 2 lebanese cucumbers, diced, 1/4 large red onion, finely diced, 200g feta, diced and 1/2 tsp dried or 20 or so leaves of fresh oregano finely chopped, plus lastly 3/4 cup kalamata olives - drizzle some olive oil over bowl and crack some pepper on top... couldn't be easier!

The one that I'm really kicking myself about the photos on is this Nigella Lawson London Cheesecake. It's honestly delicious - and if you're a bit of a cheesecake snob like me I'm sure you'll love it.  I prefer a baked cheesecake and Nigella's New York is my favourite but I didn't have 4 hours to spare so I made the London one - and it's still baked, just takes a portion of the time.

I have 'aussiefied' it a little with a few changes..

1 packet 'rich tea' biscuits
75g butter, melted
500g cream cheese
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 whole eggs and 3 extra egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tb lemon juice

plus, 150ml sour cream, 1/4 cup caster sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract.


Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees, non fan forced.
• Process or crush biscuits until fine crumbs, mix with butter and press into springform pan - place in the fridge
• In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese until soft and fluffy.  Add sugar and combine well.
• Add eggs, one at a time, and then egg yolks, vanilla and lemon juice, whip until fluffy.
• Remove the springform tin from the fridge and wrap from the bottom up around the sides with aluminium foil - two layers should be fine.
• Fill the springform with the cream cheese mixture and place the whole tin in a roasting tray.  
•  Pour boiling water from a kettle in the baking tray until it reaches about 1/2 way up the tin.
• Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes - it should be a little browned on top and spring back when you touch it.   Having the water around the pan ensures that the cheesecake stays moist.
• When cooked, remove from oven and carefully remove the spring form outer - you may need to put a knife around the edges to dislodge it.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes
• Meanwhile combine sour cream, vanilla and sugar in a bowl.
• When cake has cooled, put the outer back on and pour the sour cream over the top.  Return to the fridge until ready to serve (at least 30 minutes).
• Cut with a hot knife

So after a lovely early dinner, dessert - we got down to hanging out in the garden and I managed to get some shots of the lovely J, L and C - L and C are the same age as our girls - so they are like cousins - their Mum and I were pregnant together both times... lovely how life works after 26 years of friendship.     J was our flowergirl - and well I have a soft-spot for her.  I used to love shopping for clothes for her before my frills came along!

Beautiful kids no?

The great holiday meal - quickie dinner with leftovers that convert into salad!

Happy boxing day! I hope your Christmas was fabulous, Santa was good to you and you got to sit back and relax and enjoy the day with your family.

This Christmas and indeed summer I find I want quick and easy meals because there's so much rushing around but I still do like to cut my effort in half sometimes and have some leftovers.  This recipe is currently a favourite I've been knocking out of the kitchen since spring and recently tasted the leftovers cold and I jazz it up into a salad.


Chorizo Pasta / Chorizo pasta salad
Ingredients:
5 smoked chorizos, diced in roughly 1cm pieces
1 large or 2 medium red onions, roughly diced
1 clove garlic
leaves from 1sprig rosemary
2 x400g tin diced tomatoes
2 tb tomato paste
1 cup sliced mushrooms
5 cups cooked pasta of your choice (I used spiralli)

For salad
1 1/2 cups rocket


Method:
In a heavy based saucepan or large frypan heat some oil in the bottom of the pan and cook untils until tender.

Add chorizos, garlic and rosemary and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes until chorizos soften slightly.

Add tin tomatoes plus 1 tin of water and tomato paste, simmer for about 10 minutes until lovely and saucy...

Lastly add pasta and simmer for a little longer until the sauce hugs the pasta.

Delicious.

Now for your salad, cool completely and mix through your rocket... double delish!

Middle eastern feast #1 - Easiest tabbouleh in the world!

Well almost, the easiest tabbouleh to make in the world, because we all know actually the easiest tabbuleh in the world in the one you buy...  right?  This one takes so little time it's fabulous, especially when you're like me and have a lot of parsley to use.  And it's so refreshing.

Cost wise it's a winner too - even if you bought all the ingredients, I estimate it would cost less than $5 for a large bowl.  Growing mint and continental parsley like weeds mine cost less than $1.  You just can't beat that can you?

Cracked wheat too, cost me only $2.50 for 500g, and you need so little of it, it goes a long way.  These lebanese people were very clever.  Easy, flavoursome, healthy and CHEAP.  We like that.  We like it a LOT.

I've used the-gadget-du-jour - the Braun Multiquick 7 cordless - it made it so quick and easy, but you can chop up the ingredients too - no problems!


Ingredients:
1/4 cup cracked wheat
1 medium brown onion, peeled and finely chopped
large bunch continental parsley, chopped finely (about 1 cup)
about 10 mint leaves, chopped finely
4 medium tomatoes, chopped finely (doesn't matter how messy it gets!)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tb lemon juice


Method:
In 125ml boiling water, pour in the cracked wheat.  Allow the wheat to asborb the water, should take about 5 minutes.

Add to your salad bowl.  Then add the onion, parsley, mint, tomatoes, garlic and mix well with a spoon.  

Add salt to taste (I used about 1tsp sea salt) and lemon juice. 

Serve!  This keeps well overnight if you use firm tomatoes - so you can make ahead for lunches or to entertain.

Curried potato salad

Don't wince.  Don't!!  I know this sounds like some kickback to those curried egg salads of the 70's but this is really, really nice.  Honest.  When I was working in North Sydney there's a salad and soup bar where I got addicted to this.  I would order it along with mulligatawny (which I love too, must make that!) and never,ever got sick of it.  I haven't had it at all since summer before last and I got myself a craving so I made it and I know I'll be making it again and soon.

Great news is it's made quickly and is even nice warm, so unlike a lot of potato salads you don't have to wait around alot.  There isn't any 'far out exotic' ingredients either.  You can make it as mild as you like too!


Ingredients:
1 kg potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch chunks (ish)
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tb curry powder
1 stalk coriander, roughly chopped
3 boiled eggs, sliced

Method
Steam or boil your potatoes until they are cooked, yet still hold their shape

Mix mayonnaise with curry powder

Stir through potatoes, add onion, coriander and eggs, mix well.

Serve!