No Grain, No Gain!

Karina’s Super-Healthy Brown Rice Omelet Appetisers!

Ingredients:

– 1 cup brown rice (boiled for 30 minutes, then drained)

– 4 eggs, beated (1 egg for rice mixture, 3 eggs for omelet)

– Cracked black pepper

– 1/4 cup reduced fat cheese, grated

– 2 low fat, chicken sausages, cooked, then sliced into bite-sized pieces

– 1 handful of roasted sweet potato, cubed small

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C, for 15 minutes.

Combine cooked brown rice, reduced fat cheese, one beaten egg and one large pinch of pepper.

Lightly grease a large half-dozen cupcake tray, then mould your rice mixture into the cupcake moulds in the tray. Ensure you firmly pat the rice to form the shape of the moulds, so as to compact this rice nicely.

Once oven has been preheated, place the rice moulds into your oven for about 15 minutes, or until the rice is crispy and dry.

Once your rice moulds are ready, whisk your 3 eggs, with a pinch of pepper, then pour this mixture into your rice moulds. Top your egg mixture with the sliced cooked chicken sausage and your roasted sweet potato pieces, then place back into the oven for a further 10 minutes, or until your egg has cooked.

Compiling the beauty:

Arrange on a plate, to serve immediately, as an appetiser. If you are out and about, you can wrap these beauties in aluminium foil, then bring these with you. These are a very nutritious and convenient snack food.

Serves 6 as an appetiser.

Enjoy!

Karina x

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Say ‘Cheese’!

One, two, three: ‘cheese’ !

Ingredients:

– 1 kg natural pot set yoghurt

– 1 teaspoon of salt

– 1 giant new Chux cloth

– 1 large, thick stick, a rolling pin or a large wooden spoon

– 1 deep bowl

– Excitement

Method:

Use your excitement to do the following:

Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt into 1 kg of natural pot set yoghurt. Rince your new Chux cloth in warm water only, then squeeze most of the liquid out, ensuring the cloth is still slightly wet. Pour your entire salted yoghurt mixture into this cloth, then gather the Chux cloth, ensuring it surrounds the mixture securely. Hang your mixture on your wooden spoon, or other utensil, ensuring the sides of the Chux cloth are tied to the wooden spoon, to prevent falling. Ensure that the mixture is hanging, so that a nice even drip can be established. Keep this mixture hanging for about 8 hours, or until exactly half of the yoghurt mixture has dripped out of the cloth. This mixture is called ‘whey’. The cheese is called ‘Labna’.

Compiling the Beauty:

Essemble your large blob of cheese the way you like it, so this part is entirely up to you. For me personally, I love this cheese with some beautiful Crusty wholemeal bread or Crusty Pane Di Casa bread – just devine!

Serves six or more people as part of an antipasto platter!

Enjoy!

Karina x

I’ll have “olive” ’em!

Karina’s Super-Quick Cooking Tip: Curing Olives!

The above is a photo of the olives I bought fresh tonight, from my local Italian fruit shop.

I intend to cure these olives, over a course of less than one week. The way to accomplish this, would be to slit the olives on average of five times for each olive, in order to allow maximum water and salt to penetrate these beauties. Hence, my cooking tip is also a time-saving tip! If you wanted to leave your olives whole while curing them, by all means do so, however, they will take much longer to cure, than they would with my method as per my above photo taken today.

My process of curing olives the quick way, involves a simple process, as follows:

Rinse your olives under fresh, running water, then drain your olives. Place approximately 4-5 slits in each of your olives (4 slits for smaller olives and 5 slits for larger olives). Pour all your olives in your large stainless steel pot. Let your hot water tap run for a few seconds, until its hot enough to fill your stainless steel pot, so that it can cover the olives. Pour your rock salt into this pot, then mix well. Rinse, then replace this water with fresh water and salt daily, for up to one week, or until your olives are to the taste you require (olives should be much less bitter). Please note, you only need to soak your olives in hot water and salt for the first day only. For every other day, up untill one week, you will need to soak your olives in cold water and salt.

Once your olives have been cured over the course of one week or less, via my quick version of curing, you are ready to marinate your beautiful olives! Marinate your olives with whatever recipe you prefer, or simply make your own olive recipe up! You’ll love ‘olive’ ’em anyway 🙂

Have fun in the kitchen!

Karina x

Take a Dip!

Take a Dip!

Take a Dip!

Karina’s Roast Beetroot Dip!

Do you have left-overs after making my Roast Beetroot Salad from yesterday? Well, here’s an inventive way to use this up! Try my delicious Roast Beetroot Dip!

Ingredients:

– Leftover Roast Beetroot Salad

– Juice of 1 Lemon

– 2 tablespoons of Light Sour Cream

– Assorted Vegetables to serve (e.g. Carrots, Celery, Cucumber and/or Capsicum)

N.B. The ingredients above are based on 50% of Karina’s original Roast Beetroot Salad (2 servings). Add or subtract the amount of lemon juice and sour cream according to the amount of salad left.

Method:

Place your Leftover Roast Beetroot Salad into a large bowl. Place 2 tablespoons of Light Sour Cream, along with your lemon juice, into the same bowl. Use a stick blender to blend all the ingredients together, until lovely and smooth.

N.B. If you don’t have a stick blender, just pour all your ingredients into your blender to blend.

Compiling the Beauty:

Rinse your vegetables under clean, running water. Slice all your vegetables, then arrange onto a serving platter. Pour your smooth Beetroot dip into your serving bowl, or onto your serving platter.

Serves a tribe as an appetizer!

Enjoy!

Karina x