Taste-and-Treats on the West Coast

Last Saturday was the annual Moonstruck charity event on 4th Beach Clifton. What a great event and thank goodness we went early and found a lekker spot against the rocks as it ended up being 36 000 people on that beach. The concert was organised by Radio 702 and one of the performers was Vivky Samson who finished her set with her signature song that makes every expat overseas homesick with a dose of "wet eyes" - My African Dream - brings goosebumps every time I hear it. No vino allowed unfortunately but we all brought some nice munchies. One of my friends had Coronation Chicken. I must say it was the first time I ate this really nice way of using up day-old chicken as with me having done my apprenticeship in a German kitchen,  there was definitely no coronation :):):):).... We had something similar and called it Hawaiian Chicken Salad.. So here goes with the South African version of Coronation Chicken: Ingredients: 2 either freshly cooked or day-old chicken brea...

It was only in the last couple of months that I have started to use beetroot in my recipes. This deeply red vegetable had always been relegated to opening a jar of pickled beetroot, and then I only ever opened one of those jars because the man in my house loves this stuff. I just could never get my head around it. However ...........  I then discovered roasted beetroot ( very yummy with creme fraiche and some balsamic glaze) and I was hooked !  so here in my pursuit of different ways of creating summer salads that are "skinny" is the Raw beetroot ! :) How to: Peel and grate about 4 beetroot Grate 2 large carrots Add 1 handful dried cranberries Add 1 handful pine nuts Add 1 handful sprouted chickpeas Mix:  Juice of 1 lemon 1 tbsp tamarind paste 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp soya sauce That's all..  It is a wonderful fresh tasting salad that can be eaten right away and even tastes nice the following day. ( Perfect for lunch boxes to take to the off...

For some reason I have not really ever used Ricotta before. I came across this recipe of baked Ricotta and as its very low in fat, decided it would make the perfect lunch. As I do a lot of times.. I read a recipe and then do "my own thing" w r t flavours. Hence I am not giving exact measurements here..  just guidelines. In a bowl  I crumbled the Ricotta and added the following: 2 tbsp chopped chives 1 tbsp Woolies Italien herb mix 1 tbsp tamarind paste dash of olive oil Salt & pepper Slightly oil a ramekin and push the Ricotta mixture into it. Bake at 180 deg C for 25 minutes. Arrange your favourite salad ingredients on a plate, carefully turn out the baked Ricotta ( ooops mine crumbled a bit) and lightly season salad and Ricotta with Olive oil and  good balsamic. I really liked the taste of the Ricotta together with a salad and will definitely do it again. I guess one can even become more creative as to the herbs and spices one is using when mixing the Ricotta....

Having eaten this wonderful Thai inspired salad last Saturday at the Stellenbosch Slow Food Market, I went and got all the ingredients this morning and made a similar salad for lunch today. I read this recipe first at the  Rawlicious recipe book. Its a whole bunch of grating here..  but definitely worthwhile the effort The quantities  given here is enough to invite 4  people for a lekka lunch :) 2 c red cabbage grated 2 c green cabbage grated 2 c carrots grated 2 c courgettes grated 1 med red onion (chopped) 4 spring onions sliced 1 c loosely packed coriander handful cashews handful roasted nu-seeds 2 Tbsp sesame seeds (should have been black ones, but didn't have) Thai Salad Dressing  The following goes into your blender: 1 red pepper 1 c olive oil ( I used 1/2 cup) 1 heaped tsp chilli flakes Juice of 1 lemon 3 tbsp rice vinegar 3 tbsp tamarind paste 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp honey ( I used Advantage artificial sweetener) 3 garlic cloves 3 cm fresh ginger 1...

Being on "The Diet" :)   here is another snack that is low low fat and high in protein... |Very simple roasted Pumkin Seeds How to : Heat a heave bottom frying pan , chuck in the pumkin seeds,  turn them over and over until they are nicely roasted. Don't just let them sit or they will burn.. Once they are roasted add quite a bit of cinnamon and let the flavour grow while the seeds are very hot still. Take off the stove, cool down and then add Salt and either Xyletol or in my case I use Advantage which is also Aspertame free. Eating pumkin seeds is also brilliant to preven pancreatic cancer I am told...

When downloading some pics just now to do a skinny snack recipe, I found I still had my favourite potato salad on here. I guess I cannot let it go to waste..  so today I'll post the salad and the skinny snack tomorrow.. I normally find potato salads very stodgy if it is just made with potatoes and mayonnaise..  I do however love potatoes and have made "my" version of this salad  since the year dot ...... its light and fresh and NOT stodgy :) Ingredients: Woolies Mediteranean potatoes about 1 kg not too soft boiled and cut into slices. They must still be a bit warm when you make the salad English cucumber -  1/2 of a big one very finely sliced 2 red onions finely sliced 6 hard boiled eggs  in 1/4 chives chopped If  too lazy to do home-made mayonnaise, use Hellmans and mix with a gluck of olive oil, white balsamic, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, juice of 1 lemon plus salt & pepper. Mix all together and do not put into fridge before...

What a wonderful Saturday in Stellenbosch it was yesterday ! perfect spring day with 25 deg C, the slow food market buzzing, and with the great company of girlfriends wandering through the market trying out food, clothes and all, buying goodies to come home to make a lekker lunch. Before heading to my place, we stopped off at one of my favourite wine estates Muratie. Muratie still has the charm of yesteryear compared to the glitz and glamour of the newer estates. So after sampling some of their best, we left with a car full of cases of their fabulous wines. For lunch a made a huge salad of fresh vegies, topped with slices of spicy pieces of pork fillet and accompanied by fresh Fairview bread baked in this dark crust which so reminds me of the farmers bread in Basel, Switzerland where I grew up. Ingredients for the Salad: Mixed green lettuce leaves cocktail tomatoes Israeli little cucumber sliced on a Mandolin Celery also finely sliced on Mandoline Yellow pepper sliced mushrooms bi...

Last year I had the good fortune of travelling with amazing women through Morocca. What an experience it was, from wandering through ancient riads to riding on a camel into the desert and spending the night under the stars ! Morocco  is an amazing mix of different cultures and flavours. I was especially always taken by the incredible colours in nature, in their fabrics, mosaics, leather and also the food!. The way Moroccans eat salads is mostly with veggies that have first been cooked. So here is one of those delicious cooked salads made with cauliflower. I have done it with Cauliflower and Broccoli mixed to have a more colourful result.   ½ head cauliflower ½ head broccoli 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp ground cumin 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 cloves garlic 1 tsp salt 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley Boil the cauliflower and broccoli for about 15 min...

I have the urge to eat more healthily .. no I’ll rephrase it .. Summer in on the way and I better get myself together and don’t eat any more puddings and home-baked bread..  JJ So here starts a series of very healthy, skinny, crunchy et al sort of salads, veggies, smoothies and mains.. watch this space ! Black Bean with lots of other goodies salad 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained I used fresh ones from the Natural Health shelf 3 mielies, cooked, cooled and kernels cut off the cob 2 red peppers, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons minced shallots 2 teaspoons salt ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 2  Tsp sugar 9 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice   1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest limes before juicing them) ½ cup chopped coriander , plus more to garnish 2 avocados, diced Either open 2 cans or if using dried beans soak them for 6 hours and then boil for 2 until soft. Rinse   with cold water Cut up all the goodie...

Salad Nicoise Butter Lettuce Baby Potatoes Young Green Beans (blanched) Eggs hardboiled Celery (very thinly sliced) Yellow Pepper ( very thinly sliced) Red Tomatoes ( quartered or even better use cocktail tomatoes Cucumber also slice very thin Tuna Anchovy Capers Garlic Chapatti Vinaigrette  made with : Olive Oil Good Balsamic Dijon  Mustard Garlic Sugar Salt & Pepper Definitely a salad to please the eye ! That is why it is nice to arrange on individual plates in order for the different ingredients to be seen. Nigella once even arranged all ingredients in a row on a platter for guests to makeup their own flavours which is quite a nice idea! It is obviously best to use fresh seared tuna but canned will do just as well. I lay the anchovy over the potatoes and the capers over the eggs and tuna to marry these flavours. The garlic is just used in the dressing and should not be too overpowering I also prefer to use butter lettuce for this as the other kinds are too hard...