Thai Beef Salad

This has become one of our favourite meals, especially since we got the Thai basil and mint well established in the garden.

so for us step one is go outside,  enjoy the sky, and pick mint, coriander, thai basil, limes and chilli.

Then come in, fill a glass and do this:

Make the salad base:
2/3 cup Thai basil
2/3 cup mint
1/3 cup chopped Thai coriander
1 bag salad leaves
1 punnet cherry tomatoes (halved) I am looking forward to picking our own again soon

mix these together using your hands in a large bowl or on a platter

Top with
1 lebanese cucumber cut into ribbons using a vegetable peeler
3 spring onions chopped on the diagonal
1 large red chilli de seeded and sliced

Then slice your beef into thin strips. I buy skirt steak especially for this kind of recipe as it is beautifully tender when cut right. I used 400g skirt steak

put all the meat in a bowl and top with the marinade ingredients:
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
juice of one lime
1 tablespoon oil (I used rice bran oil)
Mix through.  I use chopsticks to mix, as it helps build strength and dexterity when using them. All the marinade stays on the meat too, I find if you use a spoon the marinade sticks to the spoon rather than the meat.

For the dressing shake these ingredients together in a jar.
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
juice of one lime
2 tablespoons palm sugar (chopped finely)
A shake of sesame oil

Cook the meat in batches in a fry pan or on the barbecue

this is Taff's hand, not mine

Assemble at the last minute

pile on the meat then pour on dressing then sprinkle 1/2 cup fried shallots (from an Asian supermarket) over the salad

Enjoy. This is another 6 propoint meal, if you use a Chef's toolbox pan and only brush a teaspoon of oil over it for cooking. And it's OK to go back for seconds...

Lamb, pomegranate and roasted vegetables

Take 2 small sweet potatoes, a red onion and half a cauliflower.
Cut them into small pieces and place on silicon sheets to bake in the oven
Drizzle each tray with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and a little chopped garlic

Bake 25-30 minutes until browning nicely, take out, combine gently and dump on a bed of baby spinach

While that is cooking roll some lamb backstraps in oregano rub

And grill or barbecue them till they are done. Slice and place on top of the salad. Squeeze the juice of one lemon and two pomegranates over the top. If you bang the pomegranate with a wooden spoon the seeds will come out and look really pretty

Enjoy! This is definitely WW friendly - only 6 ProPoints per serve based on a 400g backstrap for 4 serves

Oregano rub

Take the following:

3 tablespoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons sea salt
3 tablespoons white peppercorns
1 tablespoon sichuan pepper

Turbo 3-4 times until ground to your preferred consistency

That's it!

Makes a great rub for lamb or chicken

Put a tablespoon in a plastic bag and shake quartered baby potatoes in it then roast them

Tasty fat free goodness!

The BEST Thermomix bouillabaisse

This is just what I used to make on the stove top adapted for the TM31
We have it instead of take away as it is quicker and nicer

So on a chilly Friday you buy some good quality marinara mix and either make or buy some nice bread to go with it. Tonight I have 450g fish, scallops, mussels and prawns.
Grab your veroma and spread the fish evenly through the dish

You also need

a large onion, peeled and halved

2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 red chilli, deseeded and halved

a handful of fresh basil

Place these in the TM31 and chop for 5 seconds speed 5

Then add

6 tomatoes quartered

1000 ml water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2-3 tablespoons stock paste

1/2 cup of white wine

pinch saffron

salt and pepper

Place veroma on top. Cook 20 minutes Veroma speed 2

While it cooks you can set a fancy table or have a relaxing drink or three with anyone else eating with you

When it is done you won't believe how little the seafood has shrunk - it's all plump, juicy and tasty

Spoon into bowls and top with the soup which is absolutely delicious

That's it. Serves 4 or 2 as a complete meal. Preparation time less than 5 minutes, Cooking time 25 including prep. Weight Watchers points 5.

Comfort food - Beef pot roast

Although there is not much call for comfort food in sunny North Queensland some comfort food principles can be applied to give you back part of your weekend.

I grabbed my CT saute pan and browned a piece of blade roast in it

While it is browning coarsely chop 2 brown onions and when you turn it throw them in the hot pan too

Then add:

1 sliced carrot

250g mushrooms (halved or quartered depending on size)

1 red capsicum roughly diced

1 green capsicum roughly diced

3 cloves chopped garlic 

In a separate jug or bowl mix:

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup red wine

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pour over roast and bring to the boil. 

Put lid on with vents closed, turn heat right down and simmer for 2 hours Top up with water if necessary - my beef sprung up and lifted the lid so I have just switched it for the tagine cover to stop evaporation.

About 20 minutes before you want to serve add 3-4 tablespoons of red lentils to thicken the sauce. I put 3/4 cup frozen peas in then too - to save cooking veg separately.

Remove beef and carve

Serve with a green vegetable and mashed potatoes. My potatoes were done in the Thermomix with a teeny piece of pumpkin

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Capsicum and Chorizo pasta

A lazy meal for a busy day

take 

2 red capsicums

1 chorizo sausage

1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes (I used kumatos)

slice capsicum and chorizo and halve tomatoes 

Place on a Chefs Toolbox silicon sheet and drizzle with olive oil - I used the Cobram Estate Lemon infused oil 

Cook in preheated oven at 200 deg for 20 - 30 minutes - take out when it begins to char

Meanwhile cook 500 g pasta in a large pot of water 

We chose orecchiette 

Toss roasted vegetables and chorizo together

Drain pasta, toss vegetables and chorizo through with 1 tablespoon capers and 2 big handfuls of fresh basil

Serve with grated parmesan and fresh ground pepper

Baked cauliflower and harissa salad

I haven't posted for quite awhile - we have had a hectic time lately, a lot of travel for work and our food has been old reliables or other people's recipes.
This week I had an urge to clean out the vegetable drawer and found that the two must use things were half a cauliflower and some pumpkin so I made soup and two salads to have for an alfresco dinner with steak.
It's easy to moroccan up the steak part of the meal - just mix a couple teaspoons of harissa paste (I make my own) with some sour cream and serve in a bowl.

Anyway I created a salad that was too good not to blog about. Start with:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon harissa paste

1/2 teaspoon salt

 Then cut up your cauliflower I only had 1/2 but this would work equally well with a whole cauliflower without doubling the quantities. Toss the cauliflower in the olive oil mixture

Spread the cauliflower on an oven tray lined with silicon. I just used my Chefs Toolbox silicon slice pan. Put the bowl aside - don't wash it up.

Bake at 175 fan forced for about 30 - 40 minutes until the cauliflower is tender and delicious.
While it is baking take:

1/4 cup sultanas

1/2 cup cider vinegar

pinch salt

 Mix together in a small bowl. Then leave to quick pickle while the cooking continues

 Place 1/3 cup slivered almonds, a pinch of salt and 2 tablespoons honey (I used some gorgeous Tasmanian unheated honey I have in the pantry) in a small non stick frypan

Heat gently while stirring until the nuts just start to change colour.

 Remove from the pan immediately

 Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the bowl you had the olive oil in and chop 10 -12 mint leaves
I found the almonds turned to toffee as they cooled so I spent some time drinking wine and breaking them into teeny pieces again

Drain the sultanas. Add cauliflower, mint, nuts and sultanas to the lemon juice and toss through.

The finished product was absolutely delicious