Pomegranate Chicken Quinoa

June 4, 2013December 27, 2024 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

You know me … always on the look out for all things quinoa – so I was quite pleased when this was so well received by my family – and my parents … who aren’t quite accustomed to all of the weird ingredients currently in their pantry and my ‘alternative cooking’!

I got the base of this recipe from my clever sister-in-law then made some additions.

4 large chicken thighs, fat removed and cut into strips
Olive oil for cooking
1 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
2.5 cups quinoa (I would normally use white but could only buy red today – tasted just as yummy but didn’t look quite as pretty)
80g slivered almonds (optional – but gives a great texture if your diet allows)
handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1.5tbsp olive oil
1.5tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp coconut aminos
Flaked salt
the seeds from 2 pomegranates

In a large pot, set the quinoa to soak in plenty of water (ideally for at least an hour).

Optional step: Toast the almonds over a gentle heat, in a dry frying pan Watch them carefully – they burn quickly! Then set them aside to cool.

Take my advice - wear an apron!! — Take my advice – wear an apron!!

Seed the pomegranates. This was a first for me and boy did it make a mess! There are apparently all sort of tricks you can use for getting them out more easily – but I have also heard that you can buy jar of the seeds … so I may just investigate this option for next time 😉 Set the seeds aside.

Heat another 2 tsp oil in the frying pan and add the chicken, sprinkling with the stock powder then allowing to cook until golden brown. Set aside.

Drain and rise the quinoa then cover in 9-10 cups of water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Drain the quinoa and add the olive oil, aminos, lemon juice and salt. Stir well. Then add the pomegranate seeds.

Just before serving stir through the mint.

Top with the chicken (and sprinkle with the almonds if your diet permits).

This makes a lot! Enough for about 6 adults. It doesn’t freeze well but you could just freeze the plain, cooked quinoa to defrost for next time.

We ate this warm because it is cold here at the moment, but you could also leave out the chicken and almonds and serve cold as a yummy Summer side salad.

Enjoy!

Banana Custard

May 11, 2013February 10, 2015 ~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

We have recently been offered and accepted a job back in Perth, so we are in the midst of packing to leave Roxby Downs. It is a time of very mixed emotions – we are very sad to be leaving behind our lovely friends and small town lifestyle here but also very excited to be moving closer to family and friends …. and not to mention the excitement of being able to have loads more choice for our foods!!

One of the things I like least about moving is the process of running down the pantry and fridge/freezer. I discovered heaps frozen overripe bananas in the back of my freezer the other day (that I had totally forgotten about!) so I have been experimenting with ways to use them up. Custard was the best of the bunch 😉

Banana Custard

3 defrosted overripe bananas
500ml oat milk
2 heaped tsp of No Egg powder
50g coconut sugar
30g pure Cornflour
good pinch of cinnamon

Place the Bananas, sugar and cornflour in the food processor and process until smooth. (Speed 6 for 10 seconds for a thermal cooker, then scrape down).

Add in the No egg, milk and cinnamon and process again until well mixed and very smooth. (Start low and gradually build up to speed 6 for 20 seconds in a thermal cooker).

Transfer mix to a saucepan and place over medium heat, stirring for about 12 minutes until the mixture thickens. (for a thermal cooker, mix on speed 1, 100C for about 20 mins).

Serve warm or cold, topped with extra sliced banana or sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Makes about 6 serves.

I kept the left overs for a couple of days in the fridge in reusable squeezy containers.

If you want to make a chocolate variety, just add 1 tbsp of cocoa when you are adding the cinnamon.

If you don’t have frozen bananas just use fresh overripe ones.

🙂

Hope you enjoy your baking – I’ll be back in a few weeks from Perth!

Pea and Ham soup

May 7, 2013March 18, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

This is one of my favourite winter soups. I make a huge batch of it, eat it for dinner, then freeze some and eat the leftovers for days afterwards for lunch. Yum!

It is a very imprecise recipe but very forgiving!

Not a nice job, but there is plenty of meat on the hock.

1 ham hock (about 800g)
3-4 celery sticks, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, chopped, skin on is fine (OR 1 large sweet potato, peeled)
2 cups of dry soup mix (see below)
approx 2 L water

The dry soup mix is one I make up in bulk at the start of winter. It is made up of 1 quarter each of green, red and yellow dried spilt peas and 1/4 barley. It is actually the background picture for our blog 🙂

Place the ham hock in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add in the veggies and the soup mix.

Add water to cover the hock and to the capacity of the slow cooker.

Cover with lid and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Then (this is the bit that almost makes me go vegetarian each time I do it!), remove ham hock from the pot and replace lid.

Pull ham off the bone and finely chop.

Return to the soup, stir well and cook on low for a further 1-2 hours.

You made want to add salt depending on the hock you have used (some are less salty than others).

Enjoy 🙂

Mum’s minestrone

April 27, 2013October 9, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

We have just returned home from an 8 day family camping trip through the interior of Australia. It was just amazing …. but after 8 days of camping food I have been hanging out for some serious serves of veggies!

And since the weather is finally getting a little cooler, soups are back on the menu- Hooray!

This is my mum’s minestrone, the one that I have eaten since childhood and I still adore it … I am just sad that I can no longer sprinkle it with cheese while it’s hot!

1tbsp garlic olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
4 rashers of short cut bacon, diced
10 cups Masssel chicken stock made with boiling water
4 celery sticks, finely sliced
4 carrots, finely sliced
2 tins corn kernels
2 tins kidney beans
4 ripe tomatoes, finely diced (or 2 tins diced tomatoes)
spiral pasta of choice (we use a GF one)
2tsp fresh ‘Italian’ herbs*, finely chopped

* I use whatever is growing in my garden; rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley etc. You could also use a tsp of a dried Italian herb mix.

Heat oil in the base of a large saucepan (I am luck enough to own an 11L saucepan so I love making a huge batches) and fry the onion and bacon.

Add the herbs.

Add the stock and bring to the boil

Add the veggies and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add a few handfuls of pasta and cook until it is soft.

Serve hot (and sprinkle it with grated cheese if you can!).

This makes enough for about 10-12 serves and keeps in the fridge for about a week.

This one can easily be made vegan by removing the bacon

If you make huge batches of soup like I do, it’s helpful to refrigerate them individually. If you want to freeze, it is best to stop the recipe before you add the pasta as it tends to absorb too much water and get quite soggy on defrosting. Just add the pasta part when reheating.

Enjoy 🙂

Chicken Nuggets

April 4, 2013November 10, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

If we go out for dinner or lunch and my kids ask for chicken nuggets, it makes my toes curl. I really don’t like them eating the super processed ones, but they do seem to really love them. For me, fast food nuggets belong firmly in the category of ‘wouldn’t eat them if you paid me!’.

But my revulsion aside, the kids love them …. So I was determined to make some home-made ones for them that snuck in a bit of extra goodness on the side.

These ones are packed with veggies but my kids don’t notice in the slightest – Mummy win!!

4 Chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
1 tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
1 large carrot
1 piece (first sized) pumpkin
1 400g tin chic peas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup GF bread crumbs
1/3 cup GF flour
1/2 tsp pink salt flakes

Place the carrot and pumpkin in the food processor and blitz well until quite fine. (Speed 6 whilst you drop through the top chute them up to speed 8 for 10 secs)

Add in chick peas and blitz and until all combined (speed 7, 12 seconds)

Add in aminos, 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast and herbs and mix to combine (speed 4, 6 secs)

Add in chicken thighs, one at a time through the top chute on to spinning blades then process until chicken is totally minced and mix is quite smooth (speed 5 whilst adding the chicken, then up to speed 6 for 10 secs at a time, scrape down in between).

Mix together the crumbs, flour, salt and other tbsp of nutritional yeast.

Take a heaped tsp of the chicken mix, roll it in the dry mix and press down into a lined baking tray. Spray lightly with olive oil.

Place into a pre heated 200C oven for 20 mins.

Turn the nuggets and return to that oven for a further 7-8 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

2-April 2013 015 — You can try these if you’d prefer

Serve with more salad or veg if you like … we often take ours out to share at a parties or picnics … with just tomato sauce and there are no complaints 😉

Nuggets and sauce for dinner at home?! My children were thrilled!

I cook in bulk as often as I can, in order to have meals to freeze, so I often make a double batch. I sometimes make them bigger than the store bought ones too by using a dessert-spoonful of the mix – and tell the kids that they are ‘Monster Nuggets’. If I don’t have time to cook them all, I freeze half of the meat mix to defrost and crumb next time there is a nugget demand! The left overs also re-heated well for lunch the next day.

She snuck back to get into the left overs while the boys weren't watching! — She snuck back to get into the left overs while the boys weren’t watching!

Enjoy 🙂

(Ex) Shepherd’s Pie

March 26, 2013May 31, 2018 ~ desertcook ~ 4 Comments

This was a standard in our house while I was growing up.

My maiden name was ‘Shepherd’ so every time my mum made this dish, she’d tease us, and say that she’d need to take fingers or toes from us kids to go in to it and we’d run off squealing 🙂

It’s been a long time since I was a Shepherd but Mum cooked it for us while we were in Perth over Christmas and I was surprised to find that it was a mince meal that I quite enjoyed. So here is my version of my mum’s pie.

2 tbsp garlic oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
approx 500g beef mince**
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce if your diet allows)
1 tbsp vegemite (or a GF, soy free miso paste)
1/3 cup water
1 heaped tbsp Orgran’s gravy mix powder (or use homemade gravy and omit the powder and the water)
3-4 grated carrots
1.5 cups frozen peas
1 (or 2) tin brown lentils, drained and rinsed
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
6 large field mushrooms (see notes at bottom of recipe)
2 cups spinach – optional
1 tsp nuttelex (or coconut oil)
good pinch salt
1 tsp chopped rosemary

**For a more traditional pie, use your left over roast lamb here (Shepherd’s did look after sheep after all!), finely chop it and just add it to the vegetable mix to simmer for a few minutes before you transfer it over to the casserole dish.

In a large frying pan heat the garlic oil, the add the onion, cooking until it begins to soften.

Then add the mince and break it up as it browns.

Add in the sauce, paste and vegemite mix well.

Add the lentils and then add in a about 1/3 cup water. Allow to simmer very gently for about 15 minutes.

While this is simmering, bring potatoes to the boil in another saucepan and boil until very soft. (If you’ve used a thermal cooker to do the veg … you can easily do the mash in it too. Drop chunks of potato onto speed 4 spinning blades through the hole in the lid. Turn up to speed 6 for about 10 seconds after adding. Turn off, scrape down, add about 1/4 cup water and cook on Steam Temp, Speed 2 for about 8 minutes, scraping down once during cooking time. Blitz on Speed 5 until roughly smooth, then add oil, rosemary and salt then mix again on speed 4 for about 8 seconds).

Add to the meat mix, the carrot and peas and bring back to a simmer for 5 minutes. (To prep the veggies in a Thermal cooker, Drop chunks of carrot onto speed 4 spinning blades through the hole in the lid. Turn up to speed 6 for about 10 seconds after adding. Set aside then add the mushrooms and blitz on speed 5 for 10 seconds. Set aside – you can even blitz the frozen peas if you’d like to hide them a little more!). Blitz the spinach and add it here too if you’re using it.

Mix the gravy powder together with a couple of tbsp on water to make a paste then add to the meat and mix well. You don’t want the meat mix to be too runny, so be careful not to add to much water here.

Transfer for meat mix to a casserole dish.

Drain and mash the potatoes together. Make sure the mash is very smooth, then add the nuttelex, salt and rosemary.

Top the meat with the potatoes. Because it is quite thick, I find it easiest to place blobs of the potato around the dish and then spread from there. Use a fork to spread it so that you get raised lines that go lovely and crunchy in the oven.

Place in a pre-heated moderate oven for about 20-30 mins, turning on the top element of the oven, or placing under the grill for the remaining 5 minutes.

This was very well received at our house and it made enough for all 5 of us for dinner and a couple of yummy lunches too.

If you would like to bulk this meal up enough to make enough for 2 large family dinners, I add a second can of lentils and 4-6 large grated field mushrooms.

Enjoy 🙂

*if you love a Shepherd’s pie but you want or need a vegan version check it ours here.

Macaroni ‘Cheese’

March 23, 2013January 20, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

Mmmm …. pasta and creamy sauce – so many memories from my childhood and the ultimate comfort food.

I know that most of you would be horrified – but I’m pretty sure that if I could, I’d still be happy to attack a box of the scarily orange Kraft stuff!

But sadly, not a very allergy friendly meal (or one that’s very helpful when you are caring for your body! ) … until now!!

I saw this idea on the Stay at Home Mum site and have adapted it from there.

See below the recipe for a more simple cheese sauce idea. UPDATE: this is the one I use most of the time now, simply because it is quick!

In a large saucepan, cook

2 cups of GF pasta until al dente (I used a rice and quinoa blend pasta for a bit more protein)

Then drain, rinse with cold water and place into a large bowl.

Then in the same saucepan add

1 small potato, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
1 brown onion, finely diced
4 cups of water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the veggies are soft.

Drain the veggies and set aside, but retain about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a food processor blitz together, until smooth;

1 heaped tbsp Nuttelex
1 heaped tbsp tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried mild chilli powder
1/4 tsp dried paprika
1/2 tsp minced garlic
pinch of black pepper
1 heaped tsp of nutritional yeast flakes’
4 tsp nutritional yeast flakes’

When this mix is smooth, add the vegetables and then about 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. Process until smooth. You want this mixture to be a thick sauce so add a little more water if necessary. I used almost 3/4 of a cup in the end.

Add this sauce to the pasta and mix well. Then transfer to a baking dish.

Cover the top of the pasta mix with,

3/4 of a punnet of cherry tomatoes cut into eighths.

In the now empty food processor add the following and process until it turns to a crumbs;

1 heaped tbsp Nuttelex
1 heaped tsp of Nutritional yeast flakes
2/3 cup cornflake crumbs

Sprinkle the crumb mix over the top and then bake in a pre-heated moderate oven for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling hot.

I grew up with Mac cheese being served with bacon so there is no way I could serve this without it! I diced 5 rashes of shortcut bacon and fried them, then added to the pasta at the same time as the sauce.

This made enough for all 5 of us for dinner and 2 extra lunch serves.

This is one meal that I make into 2 versions – I usually add some extra veggies, like mushrooms and asparagus for the grown ups.

For a quicker, more simple cheese sauce recipe, but one that still hides veg, I now use this one from my lasagne.

It freezes and re-heats well.

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. Next time you make a roast, have a go at using this ‘sauce’ mix to top your broccoli and cauliflower to make a ‘Cauliflower cheese’.

Prawn salad rolls

March 21, 2013 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

I recently made the 2 and a half hour drive from Roxby Downs to Port Augusta. One of the highlights of the trip, for this desert dweller, was being near the water … and therefore fresh seafood, again!!

So I stocked up on some beautiful king prawns, and made my ‘happy salad’ when I got home! So many of my favourite foods in one place 🙂

It is a very quick, super easy and healthy summer meal … I particularly enjoyed mine with half a glass of pear cider 🙂

6-8 king prawns, cooked, peeled and cut in to 1 cm lengths
1 avocado, cut into small chunks
1 orange, peeled and cut into small chunks
2 tbsp Thousand Island dressing (I used the Praise fat-free one as it’s made with a maize thickener)
2 finely chopped mint leaves
4 large iceberg lettuce leaves

Mix together the prawns, avocado, orange, mint and dressing, spoon mixture in to the lettuce leaves and then roll. Too easy!

The only way this gets better in my book is when it’s mango season and I can swap the orange for fresh mango!!

This one is best made and eaten straight away. If you leave it too long the lettuce goes soggy and tends to tear.

Serves 2 adults.

Chicken Wraps

March 9, 2013March 9, 2013 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

So often I have tried store-bought wraps that are gluten, egg, dairy and soy free in the hope that ‘this time they’ll be acceptable’ but every time I have been disappointed as they have been tasteless and they crumble as I’ve tried to wrap them around my dinner.

We have had a really long, hot summer and I have been really hanging out for some salad wraps so I began to experiment and the other night we had a total victory!! These wraps are a bit time-consuming to make, but they were worth it; soft and flexible and yummy.

They are adapted from a recipe that you can find at: http://www.kerstenskitchen.com.au

1/2 a cup each of white rice flour, brown rice flour and Arrowroot
1 tsp guar gum
1 tsp GF baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp oil
1 1/4- 1 1/2 cups water
1 dessert spoon of nutritional yeast flakes

Mix together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Add the oil. Then slowly add small amount of water at a time.

Take time to combine with a wooden spoon after each addition.

Stop adding water when the batter is smooth and glossy, with a consistency a bit like a thick pancake.

Add a heaped wooden spoon full of mixture to a cold frying pan then use a spatula to spread it out so that there is a thin layer covering the base of the pan. Don’t grease the pan – the oil in the batter is sufficient.

Turn stove on to high heat and place the pan on the element.

Cook for about 2 minutes – turn when the mixture is firm and bubbles/puffs a little. Cook for another 2 minutes on this side.

Place on a plate and cover with tea towel. Stack each wrap on top and keep covered. The steam softens the wraps and makes them nice and pliable.

Cool off the pan in between each wrap by running cold water over the back of it. This stops the mix cooking straight away and allows you to spread it more evenly.

We served ours with ginger chilli chicken and salad.

To make the chicken, I used

4 chicken thighs, skin removed and thinly sliced
2 tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce if you can have it)
1 tbsp rice bran oil
1/2 finely chopped red chilli
1 heaps tsp minced ginger

Mix the chicken with the aminos and allow to sit for about half an hour. Heat oil and add ginger and chilli, cook stirring for 2 minutes. Then add chicken, stirring occasionally until cooked.

Lay the fillings in the top, centre of the wrap and top with fresh crunchy salad. (It’s best if you roll over one side, then fold up the bottom then wrap the second side over the top).

I think I will make this again when we next have a curry, but I will make it smaller and a bit thicker then top with my home-made garlic butter, for a naan type bread – mmm!

Enjoy!

Chewy muesli bars (Superhero Slice)

March 5, 2013October 6, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

Most kids love muesli bars – but the ones from the shops are often filled with additives, preservatives and refined sugars. So home-made is a great option. ‘Hugh’s muesli bars’ that I have previously posted about don’t hold together so well when they are out of the fridge for long periods of time, so they aren’t the best for lunchboxes. After a bit of tinkering, I think I’m on to a delicious and chewy winner 🙂 We call this one ‘Superhero slice’ because of all the great stuff in it to give you great energy!

100g dried apple
100g dried apricot
6 medjool dates, pitted
4 tbsp each of chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and rolled quinoa
2 tbsp psyllium
250g Sunflower seed butter (half vegan butter and half seed butter works well too)
zest 1 lemon, finely grated
Juice of half a lemon
70g oats or puffed rice

Mill the seeds, quinoa and pysllium together until you reach a consistency that resembles almond meal …. don’t go too far or you’ll get a paste! Set aside.

In a food processor blitz together the apple and apricots (speed 8 for about 15 seconds in a thermal cooker), then add the dates one at a time through the chute at the top (speed 4 while you are adding then up to 7 for 15 seconds).

Add the milled seed mix to the fruit and process until well combined (speed 4 for 20 seconds).

Add the sunflower seed butter, zest and juice and process again until well combined (speed 4 for about 30 seconds).

Add the oats or puffed rice and process until evenly distributed (Speed 4 15 seconds).

Press down very firmly (I used my hands and then back of a fork) into a lined tin and place in a 160C preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden.