Easy tomato salad

Sorry about the long break folks

We have had a really hectic month with one child completing Year 12, illness, performance rehearsals and general all round busy-ness

So although I have been cooking I have reverted to some old favourites, like macaroni cheese made with my special awesome cheese sauce and Jo Whitton's chicken soup

I have taken some photos but simply have not had time to blog

So tonight we have a quickie for everyone who has ever had a tomato glut.

Our tomato plant is currently so tall that yesterday I tied the top of the plant to the carabiner which connects the shade sail to the back of the house I kid you not! And our home is not a hobbit hole it is a regular height house.

Anyway the recipe. I used grape tomatoes tonight but this looks fantastic if you mix up some yellow, sriped or black tomatoes.

Halve the tomatoes, about 250g, chop a generous bunch of parsley and mix through then pour over 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar and a generous grind of fresh salt and pepper. That's it. Easy.

Tonight we are serving this with greek lamb fillet, baby potatoes and green beans (green beans and tomatoes are a match made in heaven if you have not eaten them together you must try some time.) And yoghurt mint sauce. Fresh mint and parsley from the garden, yum!

Asian inspired rice wraps

A friend sent me this recipe a few years ago and it has become a real favourite I use skirt steak, trimmed and sliced very thin against the grain. This week my lovely butcher did it for me. A whole 1.5kg but you can adjust quantities to suit yourself Mix marinade in a glass or ceramic bowl. I use my old 1960s Sunbeam mixmaster bowl. The mixmaster is long gone but both bowls are still going strong.

Marinade:

2 teaspoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon each chopped garlic and ginger

1 tablespoon each mirin, soy sauce and fish sauce

add beef, mix well and refrigerate for at least two hours

By the way if you have never tried using chopsticks to mix stuff - do - they are excellent!

Heat about a teaspoon of oil in a frpan or wok. I used my Chefs Toolbox wok which is a dream tool. I actually threw out the wok I got for my sixteenth birthday after 6 months using this one!

Cook the beef in batches so it goes nice and brown and crispy not grey and soggy.

Put the beef aside. It's OK - it doesn't need to be served hot. You can do this in advance and was up BEFORE dinner if you like!

But this bit has to be done at the last minute. Boil a kettle and while it is boiling unpack some rice vermicelli. I always chop mine up with scissors a little bit to make the length of the strands more manageable

Pour the boiled water on and soak for two minutes, then drain.

At some stage you prepare your vegetables. Clockwise from front - baby spinach leaves, cucumber batons, fresh mint from the garden, finely grated carrot, shredded letuce (use cos or iceberg), bean sprouts and in the middle there is a mix of chopped spring onions and red chilli

Put the beef, noodles and vegetables on the table with one or two large flat bowls and some soy and sweet chilli sauce. Fill the bowls with boiling water while you search for every pair of teeny tiny tongs you own.
Each person makes their own wraps. Soak each wrap till it softens.

Fill with beef, noodles, salad and sauce. Don't overfill.

And roll. You don't have to close both ends, although if you are doing some extra for tomorrows lunch it is best to seal both ends. You can also make a vermicelli salad for lunch the next day out of all the leftover bits.
No idea on the ProPoints but if you go easy on the noodles it won't be too many.

Steak and salad

Actually we had steak and four salads. And we ate outside because it was heavenly - this is what it was like:

How lovely is Townsville this time of year?

So anyway FOUR salads - I was on such a roll this afternoon!

Salad 1: French Cabbage Salad

This is fantastic for people who are a bit over coleslaw. 

You need:

1/4 white cabbage

1 red apple (I used a pink lady)

1/2 cucumber

1-2 sticks celery

a big handful of garlic chives or spring onion tops

Slice the cabbage thinly (you can use a mandolin for this if you like) 

Peel the cucumber but leave a tiny bit between each strip of peel you remove because it is just prettier that way. Slice thinly (again with the mandolin) and halve the slices

Slice the celery thinly too

Cut the apple in four, core it and then cut each piece into 8-10 depending on the size of the slices

chop the garlic chives

Throw it all into a bowl - a bigger bowl than you intend to serve in nd toss together. Hands are the best tools for tossing.

Then mix the dressing in the high tech dressing machine (a vegemite jar)

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil (I used the lemon infused oil)

pinch seasalt

pinch raw sugar

Shake well and pour over salad - this one is fine to be dressed in advance

French Cabbage Salad

Salad 2: Fennel salad with mint

one head baby cos, washed and dried

one baby fennel

1/2 cup mint

Let me just say that any salad that treats mint as a vegetable rather than a garnish will be worth a try

Chop the cos roughly into pieces that are bite size

tear the mint from the stalks and add

Slice the fennel as thinly as possible

Mix dressing in aforementioned hi tech gadget

1/3 cup lemon juice 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon baby capers

seasalt

fresh ground pepper

Pour over salad just before serving

Fennel salad with mint

Salad 3: Baby spinach with citrus

1/2 bag baby spinach leaves. If you have time to pick the stalks off this makes it a whole lot more appetising

1/4 red onion sliced very thinly

1/2 can mandarin segments

1 lebanese cucumbers cut into batons

Mix spinach, cucumber and onion together in a large bowl. Tip into serving container and top with drained mandarin segments.

Serve with a lemon and balsamic dressing - I used the one from here 

Check out the vintage Tupperware - this is a relic from my wedding shower in 1982

Baby spinach with citrus

Salad 4: Balsamic asparagus and tomato 

2 bunches asparagus

1 punnet grape tomatoes

2 dsp parmesan (15 ml spoon size)

Grind the parmesan in the Thermomix if you have one or grate it finely

Halve the tomatoes

Snap the woody ends off the asparagus and cut into 3-4 pieces. Cook in boiling water for 3-4 minutes then plunge into iced water and drain.

combine vegetables in a bowl and mix your dressing

100ml orange juice

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

a pinch of seasalt

Pour dressing over and sprinkle with parmesan. This one can be dressed in advance too.

Balsamic Asparagus and Tomato

Find a man to barbecue the steak for you 

There are 12 ProPoints in the four salads combined - 5 each in the salads with oil in the dressing and 2 in the parmesan. We served three and had lots of leftovers so I think you could eat your fill and track 2 PP plus your steak. And of course this knocks over the vegetable part of the Healthy Checks!

Just YUM!

Weight Watchers Tuna and White Bean salad

Tonight we tried a tweak on this recipe

Variations? Of course - I don't think I am capable of following a recipe to the letter.

I spread a bed of mixed spinach and rocket leaves on a large platter - some salads just look fabulous on a plate rather than in a bowl

Because there were only two of us and we were keeping one serve for lunch tomorrow I reduced the tuna - I used one 85g can and one 185g can. I also didn't measure the lemon juice - just squeezed in a whole nice juicy one I had nearby.

Dill and parsley from the garden - put them on the plate after the beans - the flavour spreads through so much better - next time I will chop the dill even though this recipe said tear it.

Only 6 Weight Watchers Pro Points in less than 10 minutes - how good is that?

Pretty isn't it?

PS Weight Watchers says it is in one of their books - can anyone tell me which one? I can link to the book then too. I have not managed to locate it in any of the seven Pro Points books I have here.

Spicy turkey skewers

These are SO quick and easy and SO delicious! Serve with a salad of your choosing and yoghurt sauce - I used garlic chives, parsley and mint with 125g yoghurt a pinch of sugar and a shake of tabasco.
Start with a good size handful of flat leaf parsley

Chop on speed 7 for 3 seconds

Add half a red onion 

Chop on speed 7 for 3 seconds again

Now it's time to get spicy! What do you think of my expensive spice canister collection?

Add:

500g turkey mince

the insides of a stale bread roll pulled into small pieces

2 tblsp sweet paprika (not hot)

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tblsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1 1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp sea salt

a generous grind of pepper

Mix 10 seconds on speed 5

Turn onto a board

form into a loaf and use the TM spatula to divide it into 16 

roll into torpedo shapes and leave to stand for 1/2 hour or longer if possible

Grill on skewers for 8-10 minutes. Serve with grilled haloumi, yoghurt sauce and lime and mint quinoa salad

These are 2 Weight Watchers ProPoints each - so you can have 4 if you like! Or have 2 and fill up on squeaky creamy haloumi!

Lime and mint quinoa salad

Look at natures bounty - all except the tomatoes picked 2 minutes before the photo!

I have 6 tomatoes - not cherry tomatoes - the slightly bigger ones, 2 limes, parsley, thai coriander and mint.

Take a cup of quinoa and cook with 2 - 2 1/2 cups of water, covered until all the water is absorbed and the rains are puffed up

Before

 I forgot to watch the clock so I have no idea how long it was cooked for 

After

While it cooks chop up the tomatoes and herbs, add half a red onion and one clove of garlic chopped fine. Squeeze over the juice of both limes and add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. I used lemon infused oil but regular would do.

Then toss gently through the cooked quinoa. Serve warm or chilled, today or tomorrow - it doesn't matter

6 serves at 5 Weight Watchers ProPoints a serve

This is a really zingy salad - makes a great side dish or lunch

Zucchini and baby leeks with pasta

I was planning to cook this recipe but as usual I had not paid a great deal of attention to the quantities in the recipe when shopping. So when I got it out tonight and saw 250g pasta, feeds 4 I thought - well I am going to have to upscale this - might as well adapt it to suit myself.

Put the saute pan on a low flame to preheat. Then add 1 teaspoon rice bran oil and brush it over the surface.

I had zucchini (lots of zucchini) and some baby leeks I had bought. I decided to use a red onion to add colour to the dish. So I gave my new vegie twister a run. Zucchini ribbons - done! Cut up the leeks and onion and chop the garlic finely.

I cut up 175g of ham and measured out 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese I had previously grated in my Thermomix

The pan should be hot by now. I put in the onion and leeks and fried for about 5 minutes until starting to soften.

Then add the garlic and zucchini and fry for 2-3 minutes longer

Add ham and keep cooking on a low heat

While you are doing all this have the pasta cooking in another pan

Whisk a can of evaporated milk with an egg and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.

 Add to pan and wait till it is bubbling. Then add 2 teaspoons cornflour you have mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water. Never mix cornflour with warm water - it will go lumpy

Stir for about a minute more and then add pasta to the sauce and put the whole lot into a serving bowl.

This served eight and calculated out to be 8 ProPoints per serve and 2 serves vegies. We had it with a big bowl of green salad.

8 ProPoints per serve