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Roasted couscous and vegetable salad

October 24, 2012 in fresh, Herbs, Meatless Mondays, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian

“What is couscous?” No, this is not the Friday Food Quiz, this is the question my son asked recently when I made this salad. Hubs answered: “It must be made with mealiemeal (a coarse flour made from corn), because it tastes like putu pap (crumbly porridge) and that is why I like it.” My son’s answer: “That is why I DON’t like it!” 

So what is couscous? Actually, couscous is a pasta, not a grain. It is made by mixing semolina (coarsely ground durum wheat) and water, and then shaping into the little “grains” of pasta. The pasta is then coated with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. 

I told my son that it is a pasta and he still doesn’t want to eat it, because he does not like the texture! 

I have added both fresh coriander and fresh mint to this salad, which gave it a fresh taste. One would think that it will not pair well together because both these herbs have strong distinctive tastes of its own, but it worked wonderfully in this recipe.

Roasted vegetable and couscous salad recipe

You can serve this as a meatless main dish or as a side dish.

For the recipe, please go to PinkPolkaDotFood.

Couscous salad recipe

 

Aubergine and bocconcini salad for meatless Mondays

April 22, 2012 in fresh, Meatless Mondays, Salad, Vegetarian

I found the cutest baby Augergines at Checkers a couple of days ago! I was immediately inspired and knew that I would love to make a salad with this; something with cheese! So I went to the cheese counter and saw this mozzarella bocconcini cheese!! Bocconcini and Aubergine, what a delicious combination! 

Baby eggplant

Once at home, I just could not think of anything, so I searched the Internet and found a salad on Real food which inspired this dish! One of the ingredients were fresh basil and the other one fresh mint, which I have plentiful in my herb garden at the moment. Fresh basil in the garden

Mint in the garden

This was one of the most delicious Vegetarian meals that I have ever eaten! Serve this salad with some French loaf to get the most of the wonderful salad sauce!

Aubergine and bocconcini salad

please go to PinkPolkaDotFood for the recipe!

Eggplant salad

Meatless Mondays: Pasta salad with sweet red pepper Pesto

March 25, 2012 in fresh, Meatless Mondays, Salad, Salads, Vegetarian

In all the time that we have been living in Cape Town I have never experienced such a beautiful summer like this year!! 

We stayed at the Table View beachfront for 9 years and I always use to tell everyone that the wind is blowing 360 days a year in Cape Town. We moved to Pinelands for a year and I could not believe how amazing the weather was. This year we moved back to Table View, but not at the beachfront, and the weather has been wonderful with no wind!! 

This summer we have been eating mostly salads at night Al fresco. 

This Pasta salad is a wonderful dish for Meat free Mondays, but it can also be served as a side dish!

Please go to PinkPolkaDotFood for the recipe.

Vegetarian pasta salad with sweet red pepper pesto, olives and feta

 

Baby fennel bulb salad with oranges

December 6, 2011 in fresh, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian

Fennel bulb is something that people either loves or hate. It is highly aromatic and with its sweet mild licorice or anise seed flavour it either appeals to you or not.

Fennel bulb is apparently very healthy because it contains anethole which has repeatedly been shown to reduce inflammation and to help prevent the occurrence of cancer.  In addition, fennel bulb is an excellent source of Vitamin C. It is also a very good source of fibre which reduces elevated cholesterol levels and it also removes potentially carcinogenic toxins from the colon. This is useful in the prevention of colon cancer. Fennel is also a very good source of folate and potassium which assist in combating heart attacks and strokes.

I use the leaves often as a garnish and I also enjoy cooking the bulb, which can be seen with this Leg of lamb with fennel!

I enjoy the vegetable fresh, not so much for its flavour, but for its crunchy and refreshing texture!

 

In this salad I combined it with oranges and found it to be an excellent and refreshing combination! Serve it with fish, chicken, lamb or beef!

Go to PinkPolkaDotFood for the recipe!

CHICKEN CURRY, SWEET PEPPERS AND CORIANDER

April 16, 2009 in Chicken, Curry, fresh, Gardening, Herbs, Indian Food, Supper, Tables

  

I made my special Chicken Curry tonight. As usual my Family enjoyed it a lot. It is quite easy to make!

1. I mix 10ml of Turmeric, 5ml of Jenny Morris Jeera/Cumin, 10ml grounded Coriander, 2 large chopped Garlic Bulbs, 5ml grated fresh Ginger root and 10ml of Jenny Morris Volcanic Blend with 125 -150ml of water.

2. Marinate 8 – 10 pieces of Chicken in this mixture for a few hours.

3. Heat some Olive Oil and Butter in a heavy-based pot and brown the chicken Pieces, a few pieces at a time. Cut 1 – 2 peeled onions in large wedges and fry in the same pot till brown, return chicken to the pot, with all remainders of the marinate. (Wash-out the marinate with 250 – 300ml of water to ensure that you use all of the marinate spices in your dish and add to the chicken in the pot). Season to taste with Salt and Pepper. Cook for one hour, and then add some chunky veggies and cook for another half an hour.

4. I used 3 Baby marrows, 100g Mushrooms, 100g Baby Corn, 1 Red pepper and 1 Yellow pepper, but you can use any veggies that you like including butternut, sweetcorn on the cob, pattypans, carrots, etc.

5. Now you can either add a tin of Italian tomatoes and top with fresh basil or Parsley, or add a tin of Coconut milk and top with fresh coriander (which I personally dislike) or parsley. You can thicken the sauce with 20ml cornflour, mixed with 30ml Cold water and then mix into the dish and cook for a couple of more minutes. Serve with couscous or rice. Delicious!!
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This morning I worked in my garden. I have some lovely Red Sweet peppers at the moment, which were not planted but grew in my compost heap. We transplanted the small plants to our garden and tonight I could pick some red peppers for my Chicken Curry. Did you know?: “A sweet green pepper is a pepper that is not yet ripe. Let it grow, and it will turn red. The texture will change markedly, and the flavor will change as well.” – This is in accordance to a search that I have done on the Internet. It was not quite clear where yellow/orange/purple Sweet peppers come from. Some answers I got is that it is different varieties, and others suggested that Green peppers can change to any or all of this colours depending on the climate conditions, so I am still not sure?? Is there anybody that can educate me on this matter?

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Oh, and did I mention that my whole garden are taken-over by tomatoes, which also grew as a result of my compost heap and compost that I dugged into the garden from my heap. The fruit is still small, so I don’t know whether it is large, cherry or Rosatomatoes, or red or yellow, but they are growing everywhere!! 
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This brings me to another Question? Am I the only person that dislikes the taste of fresh coriander leaves? I love the seeds but just cannot stand the leaves. It is such a popular herb nowadays, and I have tried it quite often. I thought it might be an “acquired taste” and that if I expose myself to it more I might like it, but the taste stays awful to me???!!! In one of my Gardening Books, from Keith Kirsten called “Keith Kirsten se volledige Tuingids vir Suid-Afrika” he states about coriander “Die fyn verdeelde blare smaak taamlik onaangenaam…”, translated it states that the leaves does not have a pleasant taste?? Are we changing our tastes to what is in fashion? I wonder whether Keith Kirsten still dislikes coriander leaves.

Here is some photos of the Chicken Curry and my Table setting tonight:

 

 

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