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by bitsofcarey

Butternut lovin’ – Rustic roasted butternut with bacon and sage

May 7, 2013 in Meatless meals, Pasta, salads, vegetables

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Rustic Roasted butternut with bacon and sage

Simply cut 1 small butternut into thin wedges – leaving the skin and pips intact (skin and pips are edible and a great source of fibre).
Wrap each wedge with 2 – 3 slices of streaky bacon and top with some sage leaves. Drizzle with a little olive oil and lightly season.
Roast for 50 minutes at 180°C until caramelized and crispy.
These are delicious torn up and added to a salad of preserved figs, rocket and maybe some blue cheese…oh my heavens, that’s pure deliciousness right there!

Anyone that reads my blog will know that I am obsessed with butternut.  I can’t get enough of this humble vegetable and when Women’s Health asked me to share a butternut recipe, I was quite happy to do so.  In this mag’s May issue, there’s a stunning feature with 4 of SA’s top chefs showcasing their mouthwatering dishes with butternut as the core ingredient.

It was interesting to see what the chefs came up with. I have to say,  Pete Goffe-Wood’s dish appealed to me the most – he did a caramelized butternut and goat’s cheese rotolo. I’ve always wanted to know how to make rotolo, by the looks of it, it’s pretty much a pasta roulade. Looks yum hey?
(Image by Russel Smith, Women’s Health May 2013 issue)
So now after all this butternut porn, I’m sure you’ll want to get into the kitchen and cook that butternut that’s been sitting in your vegetable basket for a while now. I suggest you go check out what Margot, Reuben and Luke did too!

In the meantime, here are some of my most popular butternut recipes:

Butternut soup infused with cumin and orange

Butternut, sage and pine nut penne

Lush winter salad

Butternut gnocchi with blue cheese sauce

 

 

 


 

 

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by bitsofcarey

Grilled chicken and charred sweetcorn salad

October 10, 2012 in Chicken, salads

1 Comment »

You may have read my previous post about J and I trying to eat salad suppers during the week. I can’t say it’s going 100% according to plan, but we’re getting there. With the last of the season’s soft and velvety avos, I’ve really been eating them when and wherever I possibly can! They are just perfect in this salad. Think spicy grilled mini chicken fillets, charred corn, cucumber, feta, spring onions and coriander together with soft creamy avo. The flavours have a bit of a mexican vibe which I absolutely love. Try it and see what I mean, get ready for a flavour explosion!

Here’s what you need:
2 – 4 corn cobs, peeled and washed
+ – 200 g mini chicken breast fillets
olive oil
Spicy chicken seasoning(Peri Peri)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cucumber, seeds removed and sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
100 – 200 g feta cheese, crumbled
100 g greens of your choice
1 ripe avo, cubed
a handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Dressing: fresh lemon juice andextra virgin olive oil

Heat the griddle pan until smoking hot. Grill the corn until bright yellow and slightly charred around all sides. Allow to cool and then cut the corn off the cob.
Mix the chicken with a generous amount of spice, lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil.
In the same hot griddle pan, grill the mini fillets until they have some good colour and are cooked through in the centre( +- 5 minutes a side). Allow to cool slightly.
Gently toss all the remaining salad ingredients together.
Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with some lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

Mmm…I wonder what my next salad should be…

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by bitsofcarey

Crispy bacon, avo and roasted butternut salad

October 2, 2012 in salads

6 Comments »

J and I have challenged ourselves to eat salad suppers during the week and over the weekend, we eat whatever we like (go “bossies!”). So far it’s going pretty well. Some salads are healthier than others but the main objective is not to eat too many carbs. There are, however, two things that I can not give up and that has to be bacon (the streaky kind of course), it’s like a vegetable in our home. Secondly, butternut, yes it’s basically starch, but in my mind, I feel better because it’s not potato. I also like to use a sharp, flavourful cheese in my salads because in theory, you use less because it’s big on flavour.

In this particular salad, together with the crispy bacon and charred butternut, I also include creamy avo, ripe baby rosa tomatoes and parmesan shavings all on a bed of crisp cos lettuce ( I do this salad with baby spinach too, good stuff!). To serve, simply drizzle with balsamic reduction and parmesan infused olive oil or even a creamy blue cheese dressing. YUM.

Crispy bacon, avo and roasted butternut salad
Serves 4
250 g streaky bacon
500 g cubed butternut,
125 g baby tomatoes
1-2 ripe avos, peeled and cubed
2 heads cos lettuce, roughly torn
Parmesan shavings
Dressing:
Balsamic reduction and olive oil or creamy blue cheese dressing

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Place butternut onto a roasting tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Roasted for 40 minutes until soft and charred. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven grill.
Lay slices of bacon onto a roasting pan and grill until crispy turning once. Allow to cool slighly before assembling salad.
Arrange all the salad ingredients into a serving bowl. Drizzle with dressing just before serving.

TIP: Replace parmesan with feta or goat’s cheese.

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by bitsofcarey

Lush winter salad

June 18, 2012 in Meatless meals, salads, vegetables

1 Comment »

I dont know about you, but we have been eating alot of meat, starch and fat lately. It’s like we innately want to put extra padding onto ourselves or something.  Hub and I are trying to be healthy, although we need to cut down on a few things, we wont can’t entirely.  I for one still need something that fills my belly and satisfies my tastebuds. This lush winter salad hits the spot. Enjoy as a meatless meal or serve with grilled chicken or fish fillets.

Lush Winter Salad
Serves: 2 main meals or 4 sides

500 g butternut cubes
Olive oil, salt and pepper
+- 250 g ready cooked beetroot cubes (or boil with skin on until soft, then peel and cut into wedges OR roast with the butternut)
4 spring onions or 1 small red onion, sliced
100 g mixed seasonal salad greens
Handful of basil leaves
100 g chevin or danish feta, broken into cubes
1/4 cup mixed seeds
To serve:
Parmesan infused olive oil for drizzling
Balsamic reduction

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Place butternut onto a roasting tray. Drizzle with some oil and season. Roast for +- 40 minutes until softened and slighly charred.
Gently combine all the salad ingredients and serve drizzled with olive oil and balsamic reduction.

Other variations:
Add ripe cubes of avo
Add parmesan shavings
For something meaty, add slices of prosciutto or crispy bacon

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by bitsofcarey

Easy cool food: Roasted butternut and Parma ham salad

January 25, 2012 in salads

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We’ve been eating alot of salads over the last few weeks. With this hot weather we’ve been having, the last thing you feel like is a rich meal. I find myself craving things like crunchy iceberg lettuce with caesar dressing,  room temperature spaghetti with grassy olive oil and fresh lemon or another big love of my life, crispy Cos with parmesan shavings and toasted pinenuts. I could easily not eat meat during these hot months but I do have to keep the hubby happy and throw in some “vleis” every now and then.

This roasted butternut and Parma ham salad is one of our all time favourites at home. Sweet roasted butternut, salty parma ham, creamy Danish-style feta and nutty parmesan all enjoyed tossed with Cos.
Serves: 2-4

500 g cubed butternut
2 cloves garlic, chopped and a drizzle of olive oil
12 slices of Parma ham, prosciutto or presunto
2 sticks of danish-style feta, crumbled
Parmesan shavings
1 Cos lettuce, roughly torn up
To serve: Parmesan infused olive oil and balsamic reduction

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
Place the butternut onto a baking tray with the garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Season and roast for +- 30 minutes.
When the cooked butternut has cooled to room temperature, arrange onto a platter with the remaining ingredients. Drizzle with infused olive and reduction when ready to serve.

Enjoy the rest of your week peeps and keep cool ;-)
C xx

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by bitsofcarey

Pan-fried halloumi and peppadew salad

January 18, 2011 in Meatless meals, salads

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Ever wake up in morning and just start craving an ingredient? No I’m not pregnant – although I could be suffering from sympathetic symptoms because so many friends of mine are preggos! The other day I could not stop day dreaming about peppadews, it completely took over all the recipes I had yet to develop, I wanted to add peppadews to everything!  On my way home, I headed straight to a disgustingly busy supermarket JUST to get a jar of these tangy little babies. What satisfaction it was to hear that popping sound when I twisted the jar open! I must of eaten about 12 peppadews while making this salad.  It’s best made with wild rocket and watercress, but I completely forgot to get these while at the shop having peppadew on the brain, so I simply served it on a bed of mixed greens tossed in the peppadew vinaigrette and the whole lot drizzled with some balsamic reduction. So simple and so full of flavour! I kid you not, this is a really filling, may I say, “meaty” salad. I just love the chewiness of halloumi and how it squeaks between your teeth. Halloumi is one of Hub’s fave things to eat, so he was super excited about this one! He couldn’t get enough of it!

You will need:

+- 200 g halloumi, thickly sliced and dusted with seasoned corn flour

olive oil

peppadews(piquant peppers) as much and as hot as you like as you like(mild or hot)

wild rocket and watercress mixture or mixed salad greens

peppadew vinaigrette(liquid)

balsamic reduction

black pepper

Coat the halloumi with the corn flour.

Heat a little oil in a non stick frying pan and fry the halloumi until golden on each side(about 2 minutes).

Coat the greens with the peppadew vinaigrette and a bit of olive oil.

Arrange the halloumi and peppadews on a bed of dressed greens.

Finish off with black pepper and balsamic reduction.

Done!

 

If you want to grill the halloumi, coat with olive oil and dust with seasoned corn flour, do not grease the griddle pan though.

 

So there you have it, a very satisfying summer salad!

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by bitsofcarey

Holiday Food – 3 delish recipes for you x

December 22, 2010 in Eggs, Pastry, salads, vegetables

5 Comments »

I’ve been on leave since last week, so most of my time has been spent “starfishing” on the couch watching bbc lifestyle (when the christmas foodie specials are on…Jamie, Gordon and Nigella), christmas shopping and glorious afternoon naps to recover from the shopping. It’s almost like my my brain has switched off and a little “reciped” out for this year!  Looking forward to the upcoming christmas festivities and our 2 weeks away! Hopefully I’ll get my mojo back from all the inspiration around me!

Lately, my cooking has been very simple and minimal, but I do have 3 winners to share with you, they are not “christmassy”, but more, holiday food.

The first dish was inspired by Nigella(from all the telly watching, you see). My healthier version of Stuffed potato skins.

You will need: serves 4

4 large floury potatoes

Coarse sea salt

olive oil

Freshly ground pepper

2 spring onions, sliced

1 tub fat free smooth cottage cheese or sour cream(Nigella way)

1/2 cup grated mature cheddar

extra grated cheese to sprinkle

Place a handful of salt onto a baking tray(this helps crisp up the skin), prick holes into the washed and dried potatoes and place them on top of the salt. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Roast the potatoes in a 200 degrees preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours or until the skin is crispy and the inside in tender.

Cut them in half and scoop the flesh out of the skins and into a mixing bowl. Place the skins back onto the baking tray. Add the remaining ingredients to the flesh and mix until well combined. Season well. Spoon mixture into the skins and sprinkle with cheese.

Pop back into the oven the heat through and to crisp up the topping, +- 15- 20 minutes.

Serve with roast chicken and a light salad.

TIPS:

You can assemble these in advance and just pop in the oven when ready to serve!

Try adding tuna, bacon or ham to the mixture – to make up a complete meal.

Top with crispy bacon bits(Nigella).

 

Smoked Chicken and forelle pear salad

This fresh and vibrant salad hits all the right notes! Try it x

 

You will need: serves 2

1 smoked chicken breast, thinly sliced

1 firm forelle pear or any other pear of your choice, thinly sliced

1 spring onion, thinly sliced lengthways

100 g salad greens

125 ml smooth cottage cheese

olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

freshly ground pepper and salt

 

Arrange the chicken, pear, spring onion and greens onto a plate/platter.

Place dollops of cottage cheese onto the salad.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with zest, salt and pepper.

Delish with baked potato or crusty bread.

 

Bacon, spinach and feta quiche

Homemade pastry, no blind baking and major crowd pleaser!

You will need: makes 1 large quiche

Pastry

250 ml cake flour

3 ml baking powder

pinch of salt

50 g cold butter

1 egg yolk

+- 45 ml cold water

Filling

250 g shoulder bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

300 g spinach(swiss chard), trimmed and chopped or use baby spinach

15 ml cake flour

100 – 150 g feta cheese, cubed

egg custard

2 large eggs

125 ml cream or milk or smooth cottage cheese

100 ml milk

salt and pepper

 

250 ml grated cheddar cheese

 

Pastry:

Sieve the dry ingredients together into a bowl.

Grate the butter into the bowl and rub into the flour to form a fine texture.

Combine the egg and water and slowly add to the mixture using a knife to combine/cut in. It should from a ball of dough. Flatten slightly, wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes(this gives you time the prep the filling).

Filling:

In a non stick pan, saute the bacon until cooked then remove and set aside. In the same pan, fry the onions until golden, then add the spinach and continue frying until it wilts. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour to absorb the excess liquid from the spinach. Add the feta and set aside.

Combine the egg custard ingredients together and season well.

To assemble:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

Roll the pastry out and place into a greased quiche pan. Sprinkle the base with half of the cheese, followed by the filling. Pour the egg custard over the filling and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for +- 25 – 35 minutes depending on how deep your dish is.

 

Eat this dish as is, it’s a meal on it’s own!

Best served at room temperature.

 

I suspect that this will be my last post for this year, so I had to make it worthwhile! I wish you all a blessed christmas, happy holidays and a splendid new year!

 

See you in 2011 – Looking forward to sharing many more recipes next year!

 

C xx

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by bitsofcarey

3 awesome summer dishes

December 7, 2010 in Crush mag recipes, Pasta, Pizzas and flat breads, salads

4 Comments »

These are my 3 favourite dishes featured in Crush 4, my Cooking Monday to Sunday insert. I thought I’d share them to show you what has been occupying my blogging time lately!  Pop over to CRUSH for the recipes!

These babies scream summer! They are festive, easy, seasonal and most of all delicious!

BACON, BRIE AND CRANBERRY JELLY FLAT BREAD!

CHICKEN LEMON AND HERB SPAGHETTI

Perfect for left over chicken or turkey

GORGEOUS GRILLED PEACH AND PARMA HAM SALAD

AKA  “5 P”  salad – see how many ingredients starting with P you can find in this salad!

Perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon lunch or as an accompaniment to a braai. STUNNER!

Hope you like them! Now go and check out my other 4 recipes!

Now that all my deadlines are done for full time and part time jobbies, I will be baking cheese and marmite muffins tomorrow and will soon tell you the tale of how it came about! gripping stuff! hahaha!

‘Til then..

Over and out in sunny beautiful Cape Town!

C xx

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by bitsofcarey

Coronation chicken salad

October 20, 2010 in Chicken, salads

13 Comments »

Coronation chicken is another dish that takes me back, way back to the days when I lived in my bentley belt and spent hot summer days swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool with our cousins, while the dads stood next to the braai and the moms prepared salads in the kitchen. Those were good times…

What can you not love about this salad? it hits the spot if you feel like curry, the sweetness of the peaches work, it’s cool and refreshing and most of all easy! It’s great for the times when you have left over chicken in the fridge too. So here’s my coronation chicken salad…

 

You will need:

 

Dressing:

 

Olive oil

1 small onion chopped

10 ml medium curry powder

2 ml turmeric

15 ml tomato paste

juice of 1/2 lemon (20 ml or so)

Reserved peach juice(+-125 ml)

45 ml hot chutney

+- 180 ml(tub) bulgarian yoghurt

125 ml mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (+- 3 cups) 

1 tin of sliced peaches, reserve all the juice for the sauce

1/2 green pepper, chopped

Cos lettuce or shredded Ice berg lettuce

4 slices low GI seed bread, sliced into 4 fingers.

Heat some oil in a pan and saute the onions until soft, then add the spices, tomato paste and lemon juice and continue frying over a gentle heat for +- 5 minutes, allowing the raw spices to cook.

Deglaze the pan with the peach juice, add the chutney and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Fold in the yoghurt and mayo, season to taste.

Add the shredded chicken, peaches and green pepper, stir until well combined and refridgerate when needed or eat as is. I prefer cooling it down completely as I do not want my lettuce to wilt!

Arrange the cos in a serving bowl(or individual ones), top with a generous spoonful of the mixture and place a few fingers of bread around the salad.

And if you want to be cute, slice a little tomato up like I did! ha ha!

 

Variation: You could add a chopped grannysmith apple and a handful of raisins instead of the tinned peaches using apple juice instead.

To see other dishes that brings back some good memories…see my chicken stroganoff or lemon meringue pie 

 

Lovies  Cx

 

 

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by bitsofcarey

A very generous Caesar salad

October 18, 2010 in Chicken, salads

21 Comments »

I love a good Caesar salad and because it’s my salad of choice at most restuarants, I have become quite the fussy one. I spent the whole day dreaming about my perfect Caesar salad and before I knew it, I was at the shop buying my essential ingredients and back home in my kitchen preparing this heavenly salad. This one is really generous, I don’t hold back on the crispy streaky bacon! But if you are worried about the calories, just see how I do the bacon and croutons, you will be rather pleased. As for the dressing, I’ve reduced the oil in that too! But believe me, the flavours are just as( I would say even more) intense! And let’s not forget about the sweet and juicy rosa tomatoes, soft boiled egg, tender chicken and crispy cos lettuce. Sound good to you?

 

 

You will need:

 

Serves 2

 

2 chicken breasts, roasted or poached and shredded

2 eggs, boiled for 4-5 minutes, peeled and quartered

+- 12 rashers of streaky bacon

olive oil

2 slices of best of both white bread, crusts removed and but into batons

salt and pepper

125 g baby rosa tomatoes, halved

1 cos lettuce, washed well and broken into leaves

a few shavings of parmesan( as little or as much as you like!)

 

DRESSING:

1 tin of anchovies(I used the ones that are rolled with a caper), finely chopped, reserving the oil for the dressing

6 capers, chopped(if you have plain anchovies)

juice of 1 lemon

30 ml extra virgin olive oil

50 ml plain yoghurt

2 cloves crushed garlic

ground pepper

 

Start by making the dressing to allow the flavours to develop, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Mix all the dressing ingrdients together until well combined, cover and refridgerate.

 

 

For the bacon: Put your grill element on in your oven and adjust the shelf to the highest level.

Place the rashers onto a drip rack and grill under the elements until slighlty crispy on the one side, then turn them over and grill until dark and crispy. Dab with paper towel, cool and chop up. This is the best way to get ‘em nice, crispy and non greasy!

 

For the croutons: Add +- 45 ml olive oil to a non stick pan, when hot add the bread and brown bothe sides until golden and crispy. Season with salt and pepper.

 

To assemble: Place a the cos into a large bowl, followed by the chicken, bacon bits, tomatoes, croutons, eggs and parmesan shavings. Drizzle with the dressing or serve on the side. I love drowning the salad in the dressing when ready to eat, because the bread and cos absorbs and holds the dressing so lovingly!

 

Deeply satisfying and oh so delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great week everyone! C x

 

 

 

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