Breakfast for Grumpy Husbands!

Just a bit of fun - LOL!

This is what I gave my husband for breakfast the other day when he was a bit grumpy! That made him laugh, anyway!

(He's not really too grumpy, he's just not a morning person!)

Fish Cakes with Creole Mayonnaise

A delicious fish cake recipe using fresh fish. You can use any inexpensive, coarsely grained fish in this recipe. (Adapted from Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions".)

1. Fill Thermomix bowl with 500g water, then steam fish in the Varoma on top for 15 minutes, Varoma Temp, sp 2 (or until just cooked - depends on thickness of fillets):
- 700g (1 1/2 lbs) fresh white fish
Empty water from Thermomix bowl and dry. Set fish aside.

2. Grind up bread, cilantro/parsley and lemon zest on speed 9, until fine:
- 1 slice wholemeal spelt bread (or gluten free bread)
- 1 bunch cilantro or flat leaf parsley
- zest of 1 lemon

3. Add remaining ingredients, chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds, and season to taste:
- 2 eggs
- 2 small onions, halved (or onion & shallots)
- 2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
- cayenne pepper (to taste)
- sea salt or fish sauce and pepper

4. Add fish and chop 3 seconds on speed 3:
- steamed fish

5. Form mixture into patties. Saute until golden in butter/ghee and oil:
- about 1/2 cup butter/ghee
- about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
(or can be steamed in Thermomix steamer)

6. Serve with Creole Mayonnaise:
Place ingredients into food processor/Thermomix and blend thoroughly on speed 7:
- 2 egg yolks (room temp)
- 2 Tblspns fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tblspns whey (opt.)
- 2 tspns raw honey (opt.)
- 1 tspn Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 1/2 tspn sea salt
- 1/2 tspn dried thyme
- 1/2 tspn dried basil
- 1/2 tspn dried oregano
- 1/4 tspn paprika
- 1/4 tspn tabasco/chili sauce
- 1/8 tspn cayenne pepper
Scrape down lid and sides.

7. Insert the butterfly, and with Thermomix running on speed 4, slowly drizzle in oil:
- 2/3 cup oil (olive oil / sunflower oil / grapeseed oil or mixture)
Season to taste - may need more salt or lemon juice.

If you added whey, let sit (well-covered) 7 hours before refrigerating. Will keep at least 5 weeks refrigerated. Without whey, will keep about 2 weeks.

Mexican Beans & Refried Beans

Here's my version for beans cooked in the crockpot, and how to use the leftovers as refried beans. Of course, you can cook them on the stovetop too, just simmer pre-soaked beans for a couple of hours until tender. This is just a basic bean recipe - if you are cooking beans with tomatoes, vinegar or sugar in them, don't add them until the beans are completely cooked as they prevent the beans from cooking.

1. Sort and wash the beans. Soak overnight if cooking on stovetop or with pressure cooker, to make beans more digestable, and cook quicker. If using a crockpot, you don't really have to soak them. If soaking, rinse and use fresh water for cooking.

Tip: if you're worried about beans causing digestive discomfort and gas, add to the soaking water one of the following - 3 Tblspns fresh chopped green chilies or 1 tsp fennel seeds; and add garlic and cumin to the cooking water.

2. Place in crockpot and cook on low overnight, or for about 9 hrs, until very tender:
- 5 1/2 cups (2 lbs) dry pinto or black beans
- about 3 - 3 1/2 litres (quarts) water, as needed
- garlic powder
- ground cumin
Drain most of liquid off beans, and reserve. (Leave a little in so they're not dry, or if you want a bean soup, leave it all in.)

3. Chop onions, garlic & chilli on speed 6 for 4 seconds, then saute in Thermomix with oil & butter (or ghee) for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup butter (or ghee)
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
- chopped fresh chilies, to taste (optional)

4. Add to beans in crockpot and leave to cook a little longer:
- Sauteed garlic & onion (& chillies if using)
- 1 Tblspn cayenne pepper or 3 Tblspns chili powder (if not using fresh chilies)
- 4 tspns ground cumin seed
- 2 tspns dried oregano
- 2 tspns sea salt, to taste

Variation: you can also add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup honey, although not if using for refried beans.

5. Serving idea: serve beans on brown rice, topped with:
- red onion rings
- minced fresh parsley
- wedges of boiled eggs
- smoked paprika

6. To make Refried Beans, drain beans, mash roughly in Thermomix (speed 3), adding some reserved liquid until they reach desired consistency. Serve in burritos or tostadas, or as a side dish, topped with some grated cheese and salad if desired.

How to Save Money on Food

A lot of people tell me they can't afford to eat healthy. I think the problem is not that the unhealthy, pre-packaged foods are cheaper, it's just that people don't want to bother cooking from scratch, or maybe they don't know where to start. You can save a lot of money by making your own pizzas, breads, dinners, desserts, etc... You just have to be a bit more organized.

I make the following as much as possible from 'scratch', using my Thermomix (which saves me heaps of time and money) - tomato sauce (ketchup), pasta sauces, mayonnaise, vege stock paste, meat stock/broths to freeze, baked goods, rice & nut milks, custards, desserts, juices, pizzas, breads, snacks, crackers, meals (limit fast foods!!!) - this saves so much, and is so much better for you. I also make my own pasta (noodles) when I have time. I buy my grains bulk and grind my own flour too (in my Thermomix). I don't bother looking at the grocery store 'specials' catalogues - they're mostly junk food or stuff I don't buy. I just make my menu plan, and buy what's on it, except if something I use is on special, then I buy lots of it.

I also buy bulk as much as possible! (Don't pay for packaging if you can avoid it.) I probably do most of my shopping through co-ops and local growers, not the grocery store. Get a few friends together and start your own wholefoods co-op, if you can't find one near you. We have one for organic grains, flours, beans, dried fruits, oils, & natural sweeteners. We have another for nuts & dried fruit (also has organic flours, etc). We have another for organic veges - part of the year they are locally grown (a CSA), but during the wet season we get them from further south. By doing my shopping for organic wholefoods and fruit and veges this way, I usually pay much less than what is charged in the shops, and usually less than the non-organic fruits & veges cost!

So don't be afraid to try eating healthy - you can do it on one income - we do!

Menu Plan Monday - February 23rd

I've ended up with heaps of organic broccoli this week, as well as carrots, so I'm going to be using them a lot! (I'm going to have to blanch some broccoli and freeze it!) I'm also cooking extra when I can to freeze for another meal.

I try to use sweet potato instead of English potato whenever I can, or at least use a mixture of the two. The kids don't notice so much if I use the white fleshed ones, especially when they're mashed!

I've also added a list of lunch ideas - I didn't put them on particular days, as it just depends what we're doing, and whether there are leftovers from the night before, etc. Check out orgjunkie.com to see more menu planning ideas.

Monday: Broccoli & white sauce bake, steamed carrots, tossed salad.

Tuesday: Fish Cakes with homemade Creole mayonnaise, baked potatoes, broccoli & carrots.

Wednesday: Mexican Beans (slow-cooked with onions, chillies, cayenne, cumin & oregano) and brown rice & salad. (Make extra brown rice to be used for rice pudding, & extra beans to be used for refried beans next day.)

Thursday: Baked Chicken with Cashew Satay Sauce, steamed veges & basmati rice. (Make extra sauce to freeze for another meal.)

Friday: Spelt Spaghetti with ground beef and tomato-vegetable sauce; salad. (Make extra sauce to freeze for another meal.) Supper snack: Rice pudding.

Saturday: Lamb Shanks (marinated & slow-cooked) with carrots, broccoli and mashed potato.

Sunday: Roast Beef (marinated & slow-cooked), gravy & veges. (Refrigerate leftovers for tomorrow.)

Lunch Ideas:
- tinned salmon/mackeral patties & salad
- tinned tuna/salmon/mackeral & salad sandwiches/wraps
- pasta with tuna, tomato, & black olive pasta sauce
- potato wedges & raw vege sticks
- tortillas with refried beans & salad
- sauteed mushrooms on toast
- fritatta/omellette made with leftover veges (broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, carrot, onion, capsicum, herbs, mozzarella)
- leftovers made into soup, or in fried rice, or with pasta
- quinoa/pasta/rice salads (eg: Quinoa Caprese)

Soltero de Queso

This recipe is from Sue Gregg's 'Lunches & Snacks' cookbook. This is a great book for teaching children to cook, and helping them learn the basics of good nutrition. It even comes with a CD-rom with step-by-step picture instructions for the recipes. The kids will be making this meal themselves this week. I can't get lima beans, so I'm going to try broadbeans.

1. Soak onion in salted water 10 minutes (to mellow it); drain and combine with remaining ingredients in large salad bowl:
- 1 med. to large onion, chopped
- 250g (10 oz.) corn kernels, fresh or frozen (rinse off chill)
- 400g (16 oz.) green lima beans, rinsed
- 1 large tomato, chopped
- 200g (8 oz.) feta cheese, coarsely chopped (or goat's cheese/soy cheese)
- 100g (4 oz.) sliced black olives
- 1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper), chopped
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed/olive oil
- oregano
- parsley
- sea salt

2. Mound salad into lettuce cups on salad plates.

Blender-Batter Brown Rice Waffles or Pancakes

Brown rice waffles with pure maple syrup and strawberries

This is the best waffle and pancake recipe ever - so light, and the waffles are nice and crispy - and they're healthy too! They are dairy free, and gluten free if you use brown rice and/or buckwheat. They can also be made nut free and egg free. You can use all sorts of grains in this recipe (see variations below), so have fun experimenting! 

Pancakes with Rapadura and lemon juice

You use the whole, raw grain to make these, not flour, so it's best to start them the night before so you can let the batter sit overnight to increase digestibility.  Notice how light and white they are - like white flour pancakes, but much healthier. Everyone who tastes them loves them, even people who usually only eat wheat!

The method for this recipe is similar to the 'blender batter baking' method outlined in Sue Gregg's Breakfast cookbook.  I've made my version dairy free, but instead of using rice-almond milk I've gone back to the basic ingredients and added raw almonds and water to the rice flour, so it makes its' own milk. If you can't have nuts, just use 330g of your preferred milk instead of the almonds and water and skip step 2.

1. Place in Thermomix and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute or so until fine:
- 250g raw brown rice (see variations below for other grain options)


2. Add nuts and grind for another 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 30g raw almonds (or raw cashews)
   Scrape down lid and sides of bowl with spatula.

3. Add and mix for 30 seconds on speed 9:
- 300g water
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 30g macadamia oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature overnight. (Or pour into a glass bowl and cover.)

5. When you're ready to cook them, add and reblend on speed 9 for 1 minute:
- 1 large egg (optional - works fine without)

6. Blend in quickly but thoroughly on speed 5-6:
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

7. Preheat waffle iron, wiping surface with some oil. Bake waffles until crispy, and serve immediately with butter and/or pure maple syrup. Or cook as pancakes in a little coconut oil in frypan. Delicious!

Variations:
You can use all sorts of grains in this recipe, not just brown rice...
try a mixture of rice & rolled oats, or spelt & oats (1 cup rice/spelt, 1/2 cup oats), or buckwheat (hulled) and/or spelt.

Any of these grains will work: spelt, oats, brown rice, kamut, millet, buckwheat (hulled), barley (hulled), corn (whole dry, not cornmeal), quinoa... corn takes more grinding and is very noisy, but it works well.

You can also add 1 tablespoon linseeds if you like.

And of course, if you want you can stir in some chopped pecans/walnuts/sunflower seeds/berries/banana pieces into the batter - we love blueberries and banana!

Have fun :)

Menu Plan Monday - February 16th

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day - we had a lot of fun. I decorated the kitchen, made homemade, scrapbooked cards for my DH and kids, and bought them little treats which were by their plates at breakfast time. I also made some yummy love-heart shaped waffles - check out the recipe for these very light and crispy brown rice waffles! And go see Organising Junkie for more menu plans. Have a great week!


Monday: (afternoon tea - visitors coming) Gluten-Free Coffee Cake & Sweet & Salty Nuts; (dinner) Chicken cooked in homemade tomato sauce (crockpot) on rice with veges


Tuesday: (afternoon tea - more visitors!) Applesauce muffins & Raspberry/Banana Jelly; (dinner) Fish cakes, baked potatoes & sweet potatoes, salad


Wednesday: Vege Quiches (didn't make them last week as we were out) & salad


Thursday: Steak & veges cooked in crockpot


Friday: Steamed marinated chicken & steamed veges on quinoa with coconut milk sauce (all made in Thermomix)


Saturday: (lunch) Gluten-Free, Dairy Free Pizza; (dinner) Soltero de Queso & Potato Wedges


Sunday: Roast Beef & veges in Crockpot

A Very Versatile Quiche Formula!

This is a great recipe for using up leftover veges, or whatever veges are in your garden or fridge... I've adapted it from a recipe in Mollie Katzen's cookbook, "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest". Hope you like it!

1. First you need a crust. If you have a favourite crust recipe, go ahead and make that, or you could use one of these:

Basic Spelt Crust (makes 2 crusts)
Place in food processor or Thermomix:
- 2 cups (300g) spelt flour (mixture of wholemeal & white)
- 2 t baking powder,
- 3/4 cup butter/lard or 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 t salt
Mix until looks like crumbs, then add and mix until a ball of dough forms:
- 1/4 cup icy cold water (approx.) 
- squeeze of lemon juice
Roll out on bread mat or floured board and place in buttered pie/quiche pans. No need to prebake.

Crumb Crust (makes 2 crusts) - easy - doesn't have to be rolled out.
(I use this when I've had a failure with my bread! I grind the whole thing up into crumbs and freeze them.)
Mix in food processor/Thermomix:
- 2 cups (300g) wholemeal spelt bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup wholemeal spelt flour
- 1 cup raw spelt/rice bran
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 t salt
- few dashes of italian herbs
- 1/2 cup melted butter or oil
Press into buttered pie pans and prebake in moderate oven for 10 mins.

2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

3. Okay, now for the easiest part. There are only three steps to go.
First, The Cheese. (If you can't have cheese, leave this part out, or replace it with a dairy-free substitute.) The cheese goes first, as the fat in it melts and forms a moisture-resistant layer between the filling and crust, so the crust doesn't go soggy. I usually use:
- 1 cup shredded mozarella cheese (divided between the two crusts). You can also add come crumbled fetta cheese if you like. It just needs to be enough to barely cover the bottom of the crust.

4. The Filling: place the filling of your choice over the cheese. There's so many options for this part - steamed/leftover veges, leftover cooked, chopped meat, tuna/salmon... Try a different one for each quiche - here's a few ideas...
- Spinach/Silverbeet/Bok Choy (a few handfuls, chopped and sauteed with chopped onions, dry mustard and nutmeg)
- Mushrooms (a few handfuls, sliced and sauteed with shallots/green onions, garlic, oregano and thyme)
- Asparagus (sliced and steamed, or tinned, with herbs)
- Broccoli (one large stalk, chopped and steamed, with lemon juice and garlic)
- Tomato (1-2 tomatoes, sliced and sauteed gently in olive oil and/or butter, with italian herbs)
- Fresh herbs (marjoram, thyme, basil, dill, chives, parsley - snipped and sauteed with onions and capsicum/peppers)
- Marinated artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
- Mixed veges (steamed/leftover broccoli, carrot, corn, etc, with sauteed onion and garlic, and slices of tomato on top)
- Tuna/salmon (tinned, with steamed broccoli, sauteed onion or fresh shallots)
- whatever else you can think of!

5. The Custard -beat together and pour over the top:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups rice/almond milk
(or you can use a mixture of sour cream and milk, or buttermilk instead of rice/almond milk.)
Dust the top with paprika or herbs.

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes in moderate oven, or until set.

If you end up with too much pastry and filling, make some mini quiches in muffin cups. Or if you have some scraps of pastry, roll them out and bake them on a tray for the kids to eat like crackers.

I hope these amounts are right - I'm notorious for altering recipes and not writing it down!

Spelt Tortillas

Once you've eaten homemade tortillas, you won't want the bought ones! We have them quite often, especially when I haven't had time to make bread, and suddenly it's lunch time and everyone's starving! They are quick to make - you can make enough for six people in twenty minutes once you get the hang of rolling out the dough. If your kids are anything like mine, they'll be practically grabbing them out of the pan as they cook! 

Makes approx. 20 tortillas

1. Mix together in food processor or Thermomix until blended:
- 300g (2 cups) unbleached white spelt flour, plus extra for rolling out (if you use wholemeal they'll be crumbly - up to a third wholemeal is ok though)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp baking powder (optional, but I think they're nicer with)

2. Add and process until completely mixed:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil

3. With Thermomix running on speed 6, add water in a slow stream, until dough forms a soft, sticky ball. Let it process for about 5 seconds more.
- approx. 1/2 cup water (may need more or less, depending on type of flour and humidity)

4. Poke dough with your finger - it shouldn't be overly sticky, but it should be nice and soft and stretchy (see picture) - if it's too bouncy, the tortillas will be thick and tough. (And if it's too sticky they'll be hard to roll.) Add more flour or water if you need to.

5. Heat up your pan - you can use an electric frypan, or a large iron skillet. It needs to be quite hot - start with high heat and turn down if you need to. Don't put any oil in the pan.

6. While the pan's heating up, sprinkle some flour onto a silicon baking mat (or the counter-top) and pinch off a ball of dough, about 1 inch or so in diameter. Squish it into the flour, coating both sides, then roll out with rolling pin, flipping it over back and forth to keep it from sticking. (You'll use quite a bit of flour for rolling them out.) Don't worry if they're not pretty circles - rectangles are fine, all tastes the same. Roll it as thin as you can.

7. Dust it off a little if it's too floury, carefully peel off silicon mat, and place in hot, dry pan. While it starts to cook, begin the next one, reflouring the mat first... but keep an eye on the pan, turning the tortilla over once it starts to bubble. It should have little brown spots on it. It only takes a few seconds per side - if the heat's too low, they'll be hard and crunchy, so cook them hot and quick for nice soft ones. (I use a wooden spatula to turn them over, or just grab the edge with my fingers and flip them over.)

8. As the tortillas cook, put them on a dinner plate inside a tea towel, covering after you put each one in. This keeps them soft and warm until you're ready to eat. (That is, if the kids don't eat them all as you make them!)

9. Spread with butter/dairy-free cream cheese/mayo/avocado, add fillings, roll up and enjoy!

If there are any left over, store them in a plastic bag in the freezer - they heat up good as new. 

Tips for soft tortillas!

- When you make the dough, it should be stretchy and a little bit sticky; if it's not, add a little more water. (See photo)

- When rolling them out, roll as thin as possible - almost paper thin! (See photo)

- Cook quickly on high heat - as soon as you get a few brown spots on one side, turn it over and cook the other side, as quick as you can. If it's easier, get someone to help you by cooking them while you roll them, until you get quicker at it.

- Place them in the tea towel to keep warm, then wrap the whole tea towel filled with tortillas in a plastic bag and tie it up tight so air can't get in. The steam in there will keep them soft.

- If freezing for another day, freeze in an airtight plastic bag, or two (double bagged) - thaw (or rewarm) either wrapped in foil, or you can even put them in the varoma in the foil packet and steam them to warm them. I thaw first then rewarm.

Here's a quick Youtube clip showing how to cook them... (Sorry about all the background noise - it's never quiet here! Or completely tidy... lol!)

Filling ideas - mix and match:
refried beans
mexican beans
beef or chicken fajitas
mexican rice/quinoa
spicy lentils (use this recipe, add Mexican spices & chilli)
grated cheese/mozarella
chopped tomatos
avocado/guacamole

dairy-free cream cheese
sour cream or dairy free sour cream
roast lamb & toum

homemade mayonnaise
shredded lettuce
thinly sliced red onion
shallots
sauteed onion and capsicum (pepper) strips
grated carrot
bbq chicken shredded and mixed with salsa sauce
beef cooked in crockpot, then shredded and mixed with salsa sauce
leftovers!

Never-the-Same-Curry (in a hurry!)

"No one could ever cook the same meal from one recipe. Recipes are suggestions, verbal guideposts. Words can only be a finger pointing toward food on a plate."

- Shauna James Ahern (aka Gluten Free Girl)

That is so true! My recipes hardly ever turn out the same way twice, because I just can't help changing them, tweaking them, trying a couple of different ingredients, and (most often) adding something out of the fridge that needs to be used up!

Today I ended up making a quick curry for lunch, as my husband was working late shift and needed a decent meal. So I quickly thawed out some turkey mince, scrounged out what veges I had, got the leftover rice out of the fridge, and this is what I came up with... by the way, the measurements are only suggestions! :)

Never-the-Same-Curry!

1. Chop in Thermomix on speed 5 for 3 seconds, scrape down sides, and saute for 2 minutes, 100 degrees, speed 1:

- 2 T olive oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1-2 cloves of garlic (or garlic powder if you're in a real hurry!)

2. Add and cook at 100 degrees for 2 minutes, speed 1:

- 1 Tblspn lemon juice or vinegar

- 2-4 tsp curry powder (depending on how hot you like it)

I make my own curry powder in the Thermomix, grinding up the spices from whole ones - makes the flavour so good!

3. Add ONE of the following:

- 500g turkey mince or beef mince

- 1000g chicken pieces or 500g chicken breasts cut in 1" chunks

- 500g beef steak, cut in 1" chunks (or stewing beef if you've got plenty of time)

- 500g lamb, cut in 1" chunks

- 1 1/2 cups any leftover cooked, diced meat

OR see variation below for meatball or fish curry using the Varoma...

4. If using uncooked meat, stir fry it first to cook it - 100 degrees, 5 minutes, reverse, speed soft.  If using leftover cooked meat, go on to the next step.

5. Add liquids and veges to bowl and cook at 100 degrees, 20-25 minutes, reverse, speed soft (or until veges and meat are cooked through and tender - depends on what meat you're using):

- 250g tomato juice, or puree, or homemade tomato sauce (ketchup) mixed half and half with water 

- 1 t salt

- 250g broth (vege, beef, chicken - whatever matches) or water and stock paste

- some chopped veges, however many will fit, up to the 2 litre mark. Eg: choko, potato, sweet potato, carrot, peas, pumpkin, tomatoes... whatever you've got. (If you want to add leftover veges, add them towards the end, and stir through to heat.)

6. If you'd like your curry thicker, add a couple of tablespoons of cornflour mixed with a little water and cook another 2 mins on 100 degrees, reverse, speed soft. You can also add some chopped boiled eggs at the end and gently stir them through if you like.

7. Serve over steamed rice.

Meatball or Fish Curry using Varoma:
Instead of placing meat in the bowl, place 500g meatballs or 500g cubed fish into the Varoma tray leaving holes for the steam to get through.  After sauteeing the onion and garlic, add the tomato juice/puree/sauce, salt and veges to the bowl, but add 450g of stock instead of 250g, and cook on Varoma temperature for 20 minutes.  Add the meatballs/fish to the bowl and stir in gently, then serve.

Meatless Variation:

Try making this curry with boiled eggs in it, instead of meat - it's yummy! Just replace the broth or water with more tomato juice/puree, and add about 6 -8 chopped boiled eggs at the end. Or leave out both the meat and eggs and have a vege curry, sprinkled with chopped cashews or sunflower seeds.

Meat Curry:

You can leave out the veges and have just meat (with the onion, garlic and spices) and serve it on rice/quinoa with a salad.

Mexican Quinoa

 

Mexican Quinoa in a spelt tortilla

We love quinoa, and I use it a lot as an alternative to rice and other grains. So when I made a Mexican meal the other day I decided to use quinoa instead of rice in the Mexican Rice. It worked beautifully!

I cook quinoa in my Thermomix in one of three ways - in the bowl with liquids, a little like a risotto (method below); in the rice basket just like you would cook rice (see my Garlic Quinoa recipe); and steaming in the varoma just like you would steam couscous, on baking paper (soaked for a few hours first).

It's best to soak quinoa before using it, as it is naturally coated with bitter tasting saponins, which are removed by soaking and rinsing. Toasting quinoa before cooking it is another way to remove the saponins - either in a dry frypan on the stove, or in the Thermomix as in the method below.

1. Weigh quinoa in to Thermomix bowl and cook without oil for 10 mins, Varoma temperature, reverse, speed 1:
- 370g quinoa
Remove from bowl and set aside.

2. Add veges to bowl and chop on speed 5, 4 seconds:
- 1 small onion, halved
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 carrot, quartered (opt.)

3. Add oil and cook for 2 mins, 100 degrees, speed 1:
- 30g extra virgin olive oil

4. Add toasted quinoa, stir for 1 minute on reverse, speed 1, until well coated in oil.

5. Add puree and stock, and cook for 25 - 30 mins at 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1, or until liquid is mostly absorbed and quinoa is tender:
- 500g tomato puree (or 100g tomato paste concentrate + 400g water)
- 750g chicken or vege stock (or water + 2 tablespoons vege stock concentrate)
- some semi-dried tomato strips

(If it's a bit soupy, that's okay - it will absorb liquids as it sits. I put it into my Thermoserver with the lid on to soak up a bit more of the liquids, then serve.)

Serve with spelt or corn tortillas and salad for a complete meal, or as a side dish with Mexican food.

 

Mexican quinoa served in a spelt tortilla with salad and toum

(a kind of garlic aoli) or dairy free sour cream.

To see a short video clip on how to make spelt tortillas, go to my YouTube page.

Menu Plan Monday - February 9th

Well, we had an interesting holiday - it was very wet as a cyclone hit the coast not far from where we were staying, causing torrential downpours! Never mind, at least we got home again without getting hemmed in by flooded roads.

The shops are pretty bare here in North Queensland at the moment, due to all the flooding... thankfully I was pretty well stocked up with organic veges (which we buy bulk), as well as all the grains, nuts, and meat I buy bulk and freeze. And there's always eggs from the chickens and chokos and sweet potatoes in the garden. Plus someone's always giving us bananas or potatoes... it's such a blessing to live in the country.

Monday: (leftovers) Beef Salsa Burritos with homemade spelt tortillas (the beef was leftover from a pot roast on Sunday, re-cooked in the crockpot all day on low with beans & salsa sauce).

Tuesday: (vege) Raw Pasta Sauce on homemade spelt Gnocci (I've got lots of potatoes and tomatoes to use up).

Wednesday: (fish) Tuna & Broccoli Pasta Salad with homemade spelt bread rolls.

Thursday: (vege) Baked potatoes, sweet potatoes & pumpkin & salad.

Friday: (meat) Ragout (made with turkey mince) & salad.

Saturday: (vege) Vege quiches with crumb crust & salad.

Sunday: (meat) Spicy Sausage & Black Bean Soup (crockpot) with homemade bread.

Can the Canned Soup!

I was discussing with some friends today how so many recipes these days call for a can of soup... and those of us who are trying to avoid additives and preservatives and too much salt (and dairy in a lot of cases) don't use canned soup. As Doris Longacre says in the "More With Less Cookbook" (one of my old favourites):

"Contemporary casserole recipes all seem to call for a can of soup . . . Will there finally be only three flavours identified at a carry-in dinner - cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and cream of celery? Buy a wire whisk and break the mushroom soup cycle. Save money and cans by returning to the basic five-minute white sauce. Variations are as infinite as the herbs and seasonings on your cupboard shelf and the cheeses, broths, and vegetables in your refrigerator."

One of the first practical things I learnt to cook was a basic white sauce (by hand) - it's so easy even kids can do it! I make this recipe in the Thermomix, as it's so quick and easy. It makes over 500mls of sauce, which can be substituted for cans of soup in any recipe (make with rice/almond milk for a 'cream of' soup, or with stock for a clear 'consomme'). To make a smaller quantity, halve the recipe and reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes. Check out the many variations you can make - you'll never need to buy tinned soup again! If you don't have a Thermomix, use the basic version below.

The photo above is a mushroom sauce made with this recipe - mushrooms and some red capsicum are sauteed first in oil, then butter/ghee, flour, chicken broth, and rice milk are added, with a dash of worcestershire sauce and a pinch of Rapadura, and cooked as outlined below. Delicious served over baked potatoes!

Thermomix version:

Place in bowl and cook for 7 mins at 90 degrees on speed 4:
- 500g rice/almond milk
- 50g plain spelt flour (or corn or rice flour for gf)
- 30g butter/ghee/olive oil
- 1/2 t salt
- other optional flavourings (see below)

Flavour Variations . . .

Parsley Sauce - Chop a handful of parsley first, on speed 7, then add rest of ingredients.

Cheese Sauce - Add 60-70g strong flavoured cheese chopped in cubes, and 1/2 tsp each mustard powder and paprika.

Tomato Soup - Use tomato juice as liquid, add dash each of garlic powder, onion powder, basil & oregano.

Mushroom Soup - Chop 1/4 of an onion or a stalk of shallots on speed 5, 3 seconds. Add a good handful or two of mushrooms and chop on speed 3, 10 seconds. Saute in the butter/ghee/oil before adding remaining ingredients.

Cream of Celery Soup - Chop 2 stalks celery, quartered, and 1/2 an onion, on speed 5 for 3 seconds. Saute in butter/ghee/oil before adding remaining ingredients.

Cream of Chicken Soup - Use chicken broth or stock powder in water as half of the liquid. Add 1/2 t sage, a dash of tamari or worchestershire sauce, and diced cooked chicken if available.

Creamed Corn or Chicken & Corn Soup - Make as for cream of chicken soup, adding a cup or two of fresh or frozen corn and leaving out the sage. If making creamed corn, leave out the chicken pieces.

Vary flavour with any of the following:
- curry powder
- garlic, onion or celery salt/powder
- grated nutmeg
- lemon juice
- Worchestershire sauce
- Tamari sauce
- chili powder
- chopped or blended vegetables
- chopped parsley/chives
- chopped boiled eggs

(If you want to add veges, put them in bowl first, chop on speed 5 for 3 seconds, and saute with the butter/oil - 3 mins, 100 degrees, speed 3; then add other ingredients and cook as above.)

Basic White Sauce (Traditional Method) - makes approx. equivalent to one soup tin.

Melt in heavy saucepan:
- 3 T butter or ghee or olive oil

Blend in, cooking and stirring until bubbly:
- 3 T plain spelt flour or plain GF flour
- 1/4 t salt

Using wire whisk to prevent lumps, stir in:
- 1 c rice/almond milk, or stock, or combination
(of course, you can use cow's milk instead if you can handle it)

Cook, stirring, just until smooth and thickened.

Vary as above.