Beetroot and Feta Pizza

To make this tastebud-jumping-for-joy meal you will need...

• 4 small uncooked beetroot (400g), peeled and sliced thickly
• 2 medium red onions
• 1 tbs of olive oil
• 2 tbs of red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp of brown sugar
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Thyme to sprinkle
• 100g of feta
• ½ cup, 140g, bottled pasta sauce
• 4 pocket pitas
• ¼ cup of finely shredded basil

Preheat oven to 200C or 180C on fanforced.

Combine the beetroot, onion, oil, sugar and garlic in lightly oiled baking dish. Sprinkle with thyme.

Roast uncovered for about 50mins, or until beetroot is tender, stirring halfway through the cooking time.

Spread pasta sauce over top of the pita bread, top with beetroot mixture and add some feta cheese on top. 

Cover a baking tray with double thickness of lightly oiled foil, place pizzas on foil, and cook, covered on medium heat for about 5mins or until pizzas are heated through.

Top with basil, and voila, serve with salad!

Baked mushrooms with tomato and basil

Thank you to Michelle for finding this recipe, and then making it for me! Delicious!

You will need…

• 8 flat Portobello mushrooms
• 100g enoki mushrooms, chopped coarsely
• 1 red onion
• 125g cherry tomatoes
• 125g cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup of coarsely chopped, fresh basil
• 1 cup of stale breadcrumbs
• 2 cups of bottled pasta sauce
• 1/3 cup (25g) of parmesan

Preheat oven to 200C or 180C on fanforced. 

Remove stems from Portobello mushrooms. Chop stems finely. Cook stems in medium heated lighly oiled frying pan, stirring until tender. Stir in the enoki, onion and tomato. Cool for 10mins.

Following this, combine the mushroom mixture in a medium bowl with cream cheese, basil and breadcrumbs, and then divide the mixture among the Portobello mushroom caps (essentially fill the hollows where the stems used to be).

Spread the pasta sauce in medium baking dish, place the mushroom caps on top and sprinkle them with parmesan.

 

 Bake uncovered for about 20mins or until the mushroom caps look tender.

Serve with your choice of salad!
Enjoy,
T

Sweet Potato and Feta Filo

Apologies for the photo…I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take a snap of the completed dish!
For this dish you will need:

• 750g of orange sweet potato
• 250g of feta (I like to use Danish), roughly crumbled
• Rosemary and Thyme
• Filo Pastry
• Spinach and Rocket Leaves
• 2 x Tomato
• 80g Parmesan cheese
• Half a Cucumber
• Half a spanish onion
• Olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to 200C.

Peel the sweet potato and cut into small cubes. Steam until soft and then mash thoroughly. Sprinkle in some rosemary and thyme and mash again.

Take approx. 3-4 sheets of the filo pastry (depending on how long the pastry is you may have to halve it) and dollop on 3-4 tablespoons of the sweet potato mix.

Press into the mix some of the crumbled feta (this can be as much or as little as you like). Fold the pastry sides in to make a square, and brush some olive oil over the top.

Pop into the oven for 15mins or until lightly browned.

Next - combine the remaining ingredients to make a salad!

Cut the tomato, onion and cucumber into small pieces, mix in with the spinach and rocket leaves and some parmesan cheese. I sprinkle on some balsamic vinegar, but it’s entirely up to you.
Serve the filos warm with the salad.

Serves 4-6, depending on the size you make the filos!

Enjoy,
T.

Creamy sundried tomato and roast pumpkin pasta

I found the recipe for this little gem right here: http://www.theveggiemama.com/2010/05/creamy-sundried-tomato-and-roasted.html
For this deeeeee-licious dish you need:

• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
• 200g pumpkin, cut into small cubes
• 1 cup stock
• 200ml cream
• pepper
• fresh basil leaves
• penne pasta

Put the pumpkin in a tray and spray with oil. Bake in preheated, fairly hot oven (200-210C) for 15-12 minutes until cooked.

Prepare pasta according to packet directions.

Meanwhile, simmer chopped sundried tomatoes in the stock about 10 minutes until plump. After 5 minutes, add the cream and pepper.

Add pumpkin to cream mixture, and tear basil leaves over. Stir to mix.

Pour over the pasta and prepare for amazing tastes!

Yummy Dahl!

So I found this recipe on my friend’s sister’s site. You can view it here: http://tessafinneybrown.com.au/detox-dahl-delicious/
However I tweaked it a tad. See my version below:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 red onion – finely chopped.
• 4 tsp turmeric.
• 4 tsp ground coriander.
• 2 cloves garlic.
• 2½ tsp dried chilli flakes (optional, for a spicy dish).
• 500g red lentils.
• 900ml water.
• 2 celery stalks – chopped finely
• Half a butternut pumpkin, chopped into small cubes
• Two medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped into small cubes
• Two carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• Half an eggplant, chopped into small cubes
• Black pepper.
• A spoonful of natural greek yoghurt

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat; add onion and garlic, sauté until translucent.

Add turmeric, coriander and chilli flakes and sauté for a further 2 minutes or until fragrant.

Rinse lentils and remove any that are discoloured.

Add water, lentils and celery to the pan and bring to the boil.
Turn down to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes.

During this time, steam the potato, carrot, pumpkin and eggplant. Add to the dahl.

Add small amounts of extra water if necessary, but dahl should not be runny.

Dish up, and add a dollop of greek yoghurt!

Love,
T.

Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous

An old favourite! It’s so easy to make and you can use your favourite veggie combinations. For this recipe I used:

• 1/2 butternut pumpkin
• 1 carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 whole Spanish onion
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup of small mushroom cups, halved
• olive oil
• rosemary and thyme
• salt and pepper
• garlic
• vegetable stock
• 1 cup of Cous Cous
• 1 cup of boiling hot water

Makes two hearty meals!

Pre-heat your oven on fan-forced to 180C and line two trays with tinfoil.

Take a small bowl, add approximately 5tbs of olive oil, 1tbs of garlic and a sprinkle rosemary and thyme. Mix together. Add mushrooms and allow them to marinate (ideally you want to do this at least 2hrs before you put them in the oven, but I did it 20 mins prior and they still tasted yum-o!)

Dice the pumpkin, carrot and zucchini into small cubes. Roughly chop the onion. Spread on a tray and sprinkle on some olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Pop in the oven.

Next, put the halved cherry tomatoes and mushrooms on a separate tray. Pour the remaining oil and garlic mix on the tomatoes (if you like). Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

If you couldn’t tell already, my approach to cooking is a little unrefined. I go by instinct on how many ingredients to put in. It’s a hit and miss approach, but I mostly find it’s a hit if you can take the time to be fully engaged with what you’re making. BUT like I said, this is a really easy dish to do…

So during this time you want to be continually checking on the pumpkin, carrot, onion and zucchini. How soft or firm you want them is purely personal preference!

Generally after around 10mins it’s okay to put the tomatoes and mushrooms in the oven. Remember that they cook faster so make sure their tray is below the tray holding the pumpkin, carrot, onion and zucchini.
Another 10mins cooking should suffice, but keep checking!

A few minutes before you take the vegetables out, combine the Cous Cous, water and vegetable stock in a large bowl and cover. You’re supposed to bring water to boil in a saucepan, turn it off, add the Cous Cous and then cover for a few minutes but I find this method also works in the same way. Leave for a few minutes and then give it a stir to ensure it’s cooked through and fluffy. From here you can mix in the vegetables and voila! Roasted vegetable Cous Cous.

As an alternative I sometimes use Moroccan spices on the veggies and in the Cous Cous, and add chickpeas, potato or eggplant - but it’s truly up to you!

Enjoy,
T.