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

Thermomix Asian chicken salad

Thanks to Karen Martini for the inspiration ... here is the original recipe if you don't own a Thermomix.

I thought I would work through this, add some tweaks and calculate the Weight Watchers ProPoints and run with it at Cafe Disarray.

So for the salad:

1 cooked chicken

2 cucumbers sliced into ribbons

couple handfuls bean sprouts

couple handfuls sugar snaps topped, tailed and halved
two spring onions sliced diagonally

handful mint 

handful Thai basil

Ribboning the cucumber is actually quite challenging. I used a good sharp vegie peeler but if you are a bit of a control freak and expect symmetry, then you should give up before you start. The ribbons are very pretty though. After eating it I have decided that next time I will use cucumber batons and wombuk cabbage.

And for the dressing I went off to the Aladdin's cave that is my local Asian supermarket, we came home with a heap of other random stuff, noodles with no English on the packet, a butter size tub of chili paste and steamed pork buns (yum!) You don't need any of my impulse buys to make this salad.

For the dressing:

1 clove garlic

a thumb of fresh ginger

6 kaffir lime leaves sliced finely

green chilli halved and seeds removed (this is so more people in my house will eat it, you can leave in if you like)

Put these all in TM31 and blitz at speed 7 for 3 seconds

Scrape down and add:

2 teaspoons Tom Yum paste

Juice of 2 limes

2 teaspoons fish sauce

60g light coconut cream

30g almond paste (my newest fetish)

Mix speed 5 for 15 seconds, or longer if you want a smoother consistency. Eew my fingers smell like fish sauce.

Assemble the salad on a platter - greens and some herbs on the bottom and chicken pieces on top. Scatter remaining herbs over the salad.

Pour dressing over, garnish with 4 tablespoons fried shallots (more goodness from the Asian store)  and enjoy!

This has a total of 60 Weight Watchers ProPoints and will serve about 6 people. Ten ProPoint dinner - what's not to like?

Raspberry frangipani cake

This is a Thermomix version of a couple of recipes pulled out of magazines or library books - I think it is pretty well perfect. Deliciously perfect anyway

Place 200 g white sugar and the rind of 2 lemons in the Thermomix grind 5 seconds at speed 10. I take the rind off using a vegetable peeler.

Add 200 g unsalted butter (I use the groovy Western Star 100g portions) cut into cubes
Blend 30 seconds at speed 5
Add 4 eggs one at a time blend 5 seconds at speed 5 after each egg is added

Scrape down the sides, add 200 g almond meal and 30 g cornflour blend 20 seconds speed 5
Scrape down the sides again and blend 20 secs at speed 5

Pour into a wide shallow dish - I use the Chef's Toolbox pie mold which sadly appears to be discontinued - the slice tin would do the trick...

Then decorate the top with sixteen raspberries - I just use frozen ones

And bake at 175 for about 25-30 minutes till just starting to brown around the edges

Turn out and leave to cool - I turned it out by using two plates and flipping it quickly.

This is great with yoghurt cream...
To make yoghurt cream just whip cream and then fold through an equal quantity of yoghurt

last night we had it with Weight Watchers Raspberry Dessert Sauce which is seriously yum! Serves 12

9 ProPoints per serve and worth every mouthful!

Cauliflower, zucchini and butter bean soup

It is so hot here that we are eating soups and salads all week long

I just made a batch of this heavenly Roast Tomato and Zucchini soup for tomorrow, and while excavating in the depths of the vegetable drawer I located half a cauliflower. Seeing they are back to $5.00 each in the shops I decided to make sure this didn't go to waste.

Place the cauliflower (cut into florets), a zucchini and a can of butter beans (drained) in the TM31. Add a generous pinch of sea salt and 600ml water.

Cook 15 minutes 100 degrees speed 1

Add 1 level tablespoon plain flour, olive oil and almond meal

Cook 5 minutes 100 degrees speed 1

Blend 1 minute speed 9

Season with salt and pepper

4 serves of 4 PP velvety goodness - and 2-3 of your daily vegetables wow!

Cauliflower, sweet potato and chick pea soup

It is SO hot here I cannot be bothered to cook. So I whipped up this silky smooth soup - thanks Weight Watchers and Thermomix for the inspiration!

Place one onion and two cloves of garlic in Thermomix - chop at speed 7 for 3 minutes
Add 15 ml oil (I used rice bran oil) and cook 3 minutes 100 degrees speed 1

While that is happening roughly chop 2 small sweet potatoes, half a cauliflower and drain a can of chick peas. Add to Thermomix with 1000ml water, 2 tablespoons stock paste, 2 teaspoons powdered cumin and a shake of tabasco. Cook 25 minutes 100 degrees speed 1. Then blend at speed 9 for one minute. That's it!

Total WW ProPoints per serve? Based on 6 serves that is a handy dandy 2 PP per serve!

Creamy tomato and chicken with pasta

I wanted something creamy and filling but low in WW ProPoints so I made this up on the spot - based loosely on the Chicken Fricassee in the Travelling with Thermomix book

Take two chicken breasts and halve them lengthways and place in the veroma tray
Halve 250g button mushrooms and place in the bottom of the veroma
Pour 500ml water into the TM and cook for 25 minutes on Veroma speed 1

While this is cooking gather your other ingredients and put the pasta on to cook

Set steamed chicken and mushrooms aside. Pour cooking liquid into a bowl or jug.

Put 2 cloves garlic (peeled) and an onion (peeled and halved) into the TM for 3 secs speed 7
Add a large handful of basil leaves and whiz for another 3 seconds at speed 7

Pour in 20 ml oil (I used rice bran oil) and cook 3 minutes 100 deg reverse speed 1

Scrape down and add cooking liquid, 300 ml passata, 15 ml worcestershire sauce, a good shake of tabasco, 100 ml cream, a teaspoon of sea salt and a good grind of pepper. Cook 2 minutes 100 deg reverse speed soft
I decided to use the cream this way as we have had SO much cream in the house over Christmas and New Year

While this is cooking cut the chicken up into bite size pieces

Add 100g baby spinach, chicken and mushrooms to the TM
With the help of the spatula cook 3 minutes 100 deg reverse speed soft

Drain pasta and pile into serving dish. Pour chicken and sauce on top and enjoy!

I used 400g of small penne and this made 5 delicious serves at only 13 ProPoints each!

Sixty second salad

Actually I think it took less than that...

I wanted something not too boring to have with cos lettuce.

So I wizzed one clove garlic for 3 seconds at speed 7
(Non thermomixers could chop it finely)
Add:   

2 ripe tomatoes (halved)

good handful of fresh basil

2 tablespoons of tomato sauce (from the EDC)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

large pinch salt

wizz for 4 seconds at speed 7

At this point it is really not very pretty. Mum was  quite rude about it.
Tear your washed cos lettuce into large pieces and pour dressing over. Mine looks drowned because we only put enough out for three but I think a big bowl of baby cos would look lovely
Sprinkle with  about 40g feta cheese. We use danish feta because it is creamy and delicious.

Tonight we are having barbecued chops and sausages, marinated mushrooms, chat potatoes with harissa cream and sixty second salad.

check out the gorgeous BBQ plate one of my kids made in kindy!

NB - harissa cream is just light sour cream with a spoonful of harissa paste stirred through (I will post the harissa recipe another time)