“LETTUCE” EAT BETTER!

Healthy Cooking Tips!

Hosting lunch or dinner parties can be rewarding. Hosting lunch or dinner parties with a walk-in garden, can be even more rewarding, as the fruits of your labour have finally paid off. You and your guests can eat outside in the sunshine, alongside all your herbs, fruits and vegetables, picking them as they please. This is the concept of a ‘walk-in’ eatery, which I created the other day when I had relatives over for dinner. The guests were able to help themselves with as many herbs and vegetables as they wish, piling them on their plates whilst eating that greek salad or while BBQ’ing all the meat.

This is one of the great rewards of taking the time to look after your herbs, vegetables and fruits.

Have fun in the garden and have fun in the ‘walk-in’ eatery!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2016 by Karina Teuma

 

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YOU’RE “SWEET” ENOUGH!

Karina’s Sweet Potato Pan Haggery with Wholegrain Mustard and Fresh Curry Leaves!

Ingredients:

• 1 small bunch fresh curry leaves (leaves pulled off the stalk, then chopped finely)
• 6 medium-sized brown onions, peeled, then sliced medium thickness
• 1.7 kg golden sweet potatoes, peeled, then sliced thinly
• 7 cloves of garlic, peeled, then crushed
• 1 tablespoon of french wholegrain mustard
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil (for cooking onions)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil for lining bottom of baking tray, then 1 tablespoon of olive oil for topping the top layer of the bake
• 200 g reduced fat tasty cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 large pinch of cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of salt to top the potatoes, to make them crunchy

Method:

Preheat a fan-forced oven to 200°C.

Using a very large frypan and on high heat, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil for a few seconds, then carefully place all your onions into that pan. Wait for 2-3 minutes before stirring. Once 2-3 minutes are up, stir, then let it sit for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat this process about 2 more times, or until the onions are transparent.

Once the onions are transparent, add your garlic, then sauté for one minute, or until aromatic. Once aromatic, add the wholegrain mustard, along with the curry leaves and cracked black pepper. Give this mixture a very good stir, then turn the heat to off.

Using a large lasagne baking tray, drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil evenly along the base of the tray.

Line the tray with 1 layer of sweet potato slices. Top this layer with 1/3 of the onion mixture, followed by 1/3 of the grated cheese. Repeat this process for two more layers. Once the last layer has been completed, evenly drizzle the last layer with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, followed by 1 teaspoon of salt. The salt will give the potatoes a lovely crunch for the top.

Cover the tray with aluminium foil, then cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Once 20 minutes are over, carefully peel off the aluminium foil, then place back into the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the top is crispy and the cheese is slightly golden. Once cooked, turn the oven to off.

Compiling the beauty:

Carefully ladle the Pan Haggery onto a plate. You can eat this on it’s own as  good light meal or vegetarian meal, or, you can accompany this dish with your favourite roast meats.

Have fun in the kitchen!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

“FRET NOT” FRITTATA!

Karina’s Mini Sweet Potato Frittata Cupcakes!

Remember my last recipe called ‘Silly “Dill”y,’ where I used roasted sweet potato to make a healthy and delicious Low GI sweet potato salad? Well, there were some leftovers from the salad, so I used all the leftovers as prime ingredients for this recipe. If using the leftovers in this manner, this is an ultimate time-saver, money-saver and food-saver recipe, where all leftovers are used, so there is no waste! This recipe is also environmentally friendly, due to re-using of ingredients to eliminate waste.

Ingredients:

• 300g leftover roasted sweet potato salad (refer to previous recipe)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup thickened light cream
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 birds eye chilli, chopped finely

Method:

Preheat oven to 200° C.

Using a large bowl, beat your eggs and cream together, until well combined. Once well combined, mix all other ingredients together with your beaten egg, until evenly incorporated.

Using non-stick 12 mini-cupcake moulds, pour this mixture into each mould, then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Once 10 minutes are over, turn the oven to ‘off.’

Compiling the Beauty:

Take the Mini Frittata Cupcakes out of the oven, then place two cupcakes on each plate.

Serves 6 as an appetiser.

Enjoy!

Karina x

Copyright © 2015 by Karina Teuma

Having a ‘ball’ of a time!

Environmental Tip: Making Seedballs, thanks to http://www.milkwood.net !

On the 31/05/15, Milkwood held a free class on making seed balls and talking permaculture. I was engaged the whole time and even got to make my own seed balls, then take them home! What an awesome day!

All credit goes to http://www.milkwood.net for showing me how to make Seedballs, what they are and how good they are for the environment.

Seedballs are made from the below ingredients:

– 3 parts clay

– 1 part compost

– 1 part seeds (we used a combination of lettuce seeds and parsley seeds)

– Enough water (just to make it damp enough to roll into balls)

The method:

Mix three parts clay, with one part compost, then one part seeds (whichever vegetable seeds you like), then pour just enough water to make the mixture moist.

Using your hands, roll the mixture into tiny balls (about 1.5 cm in diameter).

Lay out to dry in a sheltered/shady position for approximately 2 days, then store with plenty of ventilation, until you’re ready to use them.

Using the Beauty:

Simply roll these little beauties into your veggie garden, on the ground wherever there is soil, or simply on the grass in your backyard. It really is this simple.

How these Beauties Work:

Once these beauties make contact with the soil, all they need is a heavy downpour of water, be this by the rain, or man-made rain i.e. the tap. The idea behind these Seedballs, is that the seeds within the Seedball, become protected right until they germinate. This means that birds will not be able to peck at these seeds, as the seeds become protected within this clay/compost/seed/water mixture, allowing the plant to fully develop and to become resilient to wildlife.

Now this, people, is such a clever idea! I’ve got a few at home ready to simply roll into my garden!

Now, you can say you have had a ‘ball’ of a time!

Have fun in the garden!

Karina x

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

See-Food!

Karina’s Super-Easy and Super-Quick Prawn Laksa!

One of the reasons why I titled my recipe ‘See-Food,’ is because, once you ‘see’ it, then you won’t! A super-fast recipe to make and you’ll gobble it up even quicker!

Ingredients:

– 125 g dried rice noodles

– 1 heaped teaspoon of vegetable stock powder

– 1 teaspoon of hot chilli paste (or you can use one large fresh chilli, thinly sliced)

– 1.5 cups light coconut milk from can

– 1 heaped tablespoon of Penang curry paste

– 2 Shallots (scallions), roughly snapped into large pieces

– 300 g raw peeled prawns, kept whole

– A fine sprinkling of paprika, to garnish

Method:

Soak your dried rice noodles, as per your packet directions. Drain, then rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

Place the following into your medium-sized saucepan: coconut milk, curry paste, stock powder, chilli paste and shallots (scallions). Bring this mixture to the boil for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally until all ingredients have dissolved into each other.

Add your whole prawns, then simmer for 3 minutes (5 minutes if frozen). Ensure your prawns have turned a blushed pink-orange colour, so you know they’re cooked.

Compiling the Beauty:

Pour your cooked noodles into the base of your soup bowl. Take your Prawn Laksa broth and pour this into your prepared bowl, ensuring you scoop your prawns into your bowl last. Sprinkle your completed Prawn Laksa with Paprika, for presentation and a smokey flavour.

Feel this classic comfort soup make your belly happy!

Serves 2

Enjoy!

Karina x

Freeze, Busta!

Breakfast, Busy family, Convenient, Cooking Tip, Dinner, Emergency Food, Frozen Foods, Lunch, TIME-SAVER, zerotohero

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Freeze, Busta!

Karina’s ‘Cool’ Cooking Tip!

There are many ways you can save time in the kitchen. Although I always like to cook fresh from the garden and the butcher, there are times when one may need an emergency supply. Emergency supplies can be a real blessing and you may like to use your emergency supplies more often than originally planned!

The following is my abbreviated list of food categories, which are all freezable:

– Most fruits, provided you will only use defrosted fruits for baking, cooking, or making fruit drinks such as milkshakes. If you eat frozen fruit defrosted, without cooking it, it will stay soggy and not taste very palatable.

– Stock, frozen in small portions (freezer-proof containers or freezer-proof bags). Freezing in small portions allows you to readily take a portion out every time you need it, which saves you a tonne of time! From this, you can make stews, sauces, curries and more!

– Some vegetables are better than others at maintaining some food-integrity after freezing. Examples of vegetables that freeze well are: Carrots, Broccoli, Corn and Green Beans.

– Meat of all kinds: raw or cooked. I prefer to only freeze raw meat, however, if you’re a busy parent, freezing cooked food will save you a bucket-load of time!

– Baked goods of many kinds.

N.B. with all the above mentioned food and food products, it is recommended to ensure the frozen particles do not enter your food. One way to ensure this does not happen, is to firstly place your food into a freezer-proof bag, then into a freezer-proof container, followed by popping it straight into the freezer!

Personally, I prefer to not freeze my cooked food, unless I am in a hurry. These tips will save you loads of time!

Enjoy!

Karina x

Curry in a Hurry!

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Curry in a Hurry!

Karina’s Cardamom Chicken!

If you need a curry in a hurry, you won’t be sorry when you try this one!

Ingredients:

– 1 kg Chicken Breast, cut into 3 cm pieces

– 30 Cardamom Pods, seeds removed

– 5 Garlic Cloves, peeled

– 1 1/2 Inch Piece of Ginger, peeled, then finely grated

– 300 ml Light Thickened Cream

– 2 teaspoons Cracked Black Pepper

– Grated Zest of Two Small Lemons

– 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

– 1 x 400 ml can of Light Coconut Milk

– 2 long Red Chillies, thinly sliced

– 3 tablespoons of chopped Coriander leaves, or 1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds, grinded, using a mortar and pestle

– 4 tablespoons Lemon Juice

– 2 cups Brown Rice

Method:

The Night Before: 

Place the seeds from your cardamom pods into a mortar and pestle or a spice crusher/grinder. Crush your cardamom seeds into your chosen device (spice grinder or mortar and pestle). In a mortar and pestle or your blender, crush the garlic and ginger until this forms a smooth consistency. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be too smooth. Blend, or use your mortar and pestle to mix your garlic and ginger, with 5 tablespoons of your light thickened cream, until a lovely paste has formed. Add your crushed cardamom seeds, pepper and grated lemon rind to this fragrant mixture. Spread this beautifully flavoursome curry base, over the chicken pieces, then cover and leave in the refrigerator overnight, for the flavours to infuse!

On The Day:

Grab a large pot, then add approximately 2 litres of water to this pot. Bring the water to the boil. Once the water has boiled, add the rice. Get on with your curry, while stirring the rice every 5 minutes until the 30 minute brown rice cooking time is up.

Heat your olive oil in a very large saucepan, over medium heat. Brown your chicken breast pieces on both sides. Add the remaining light thickened cream and light coconut milk to the very large saucepan. Bring this to the boil, then add your sliced long red chillies, along your coriander leaves. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until cooked and the sauce has completely thickened. Stir in the lemon juice.

Once your brown rice has been simmering for approximately 30 minutes, drain the rice, then set aside for serving.

Compiling the Beauty:

Place your Curry into one bow, then your brown rice into another bowl. Alternatively, layer your brown rice onto a large plate, then scoop your lovely curry to go on top of your brown rice.

Serve immediately 🙂

Serves 4

So, if you’re in a hurry, make a curry!

Enjoy!

Karina x