Avo on greens with mustard vinaigrette

Basic green veggies with creamy avo and an interesting cheese makes a visually appealing salad. Drizzle with a tangy salad dressing to complement all these flavours for a beautiful summer side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

Mustard vinaigrette

• 30 ml (2 tbsp) Plain Avocado oil
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) Lemon-Flavoured Avocado Oil
• 10 ml (2 tsp) wholegrain mustard
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) white balsamic or apple cider vinegar
• 10 ml (2 tsp) honey
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh thyme
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) coarsely chopped fresh mint

Greens

• 300 g broccoli, cut into florets
• 3 baby marrows, cut into ribbons (see tip)
• ½ cucumber, cut into ribbons (see tip)
• 2 handfuls baby lettuce leaves
• 2 avocados, quartered and cut into chunky wedges
• 100 g ricotta or feta, crumbled
• pepper to taste

.
METHOD

Vinaigrette: Mix all the ingredients together.

Greens:

Place broccoli and baby marrow in a shallow dish and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand for a few minutes until just tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Place veggies on a salad platter with cucumber ribbons, lettuce and avocado and crumble cheese over. 

Serve with a drizzle of the vinaigrette and a grind of black pepper.

- From Avolicious Recipes

Asparagus Quinoa Salad with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves sliced
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

For the Dressing:

• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Put the quinoa, the sliced garlic, chopped onion, olive oil, and two cups of water in a medium sized pot. Bring the quinoa to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes until the quinoa is fluffy and the little ring around the quinoa has loosened.
3. While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the asparagus. Rinse the asparagus and remove the tough ends. Place the asparagus on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and chop each stalk into three pieces. Drizzle the asparagus with a little bit of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake the asparagus at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, until bright green and crisp tender.
5. While the asparagus cooks, prepare the dressing: combine the lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, sugar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small jar with a lid. Shake will to mix thoroughly.
6. Place the quinoa and asparagus in a bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Toss to coat.
7. Serve immediately.

This vegan recipe and beautiful photos are courtesy of The Pretty Bee.

Pynappel Koolslaai

2/3 koppie mayonnaise
2/3 kop suurroom
1 teelepel gerasperde ui
1 eet suurlemoensap
1 teelepel suiker
Sout na smaak
1 blik stukke pynappel (gedrieneer)
1 koppie grof gerasperde wortels
2 koppies grof gekapte (gerasperde) kool

Meng alles goed en bewaar oornag in die yskas

Chickpea salad

Ingredients
1 small red onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 fresh red chillies, de-seeded and finely sliced
2 handfuls ripe red cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 lemon
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chickpeas prepared as per pack instructions
1 handful fresh mint, chopped
1 handful fresh green basil, chopped
100g feta cheese

Method
Mix the chopped onion, chillies and tomatoes.
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Season to taste.
Heat the chickpeas in a pan, then add 90 per cent of them to the bowl.
Blend the remaining chickpeas and add these as well – they will give a nice creamy consistency. Allow to marinate for a while and serve at room temperature.
Just as you’re ready to serve, give the salad a final dress with the fresh mint and basil.
Place on a nice serving dish and crumble over the feta cheese.

::

The Ultimate Potato Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

For the potatoes:

• 2 pounds of Yukon Gold Potatoes, washed thoroughly and unpeeled
• Salt

For the dressing:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegenaise (or mayo)
• 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly grounded

For the salad:

• 1/4 cup dill pickles, chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 5 stalks of scallions, both green and white parts chopped
• 1/2 cup capers, drained
• 2 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Start by cooking the potatoes: Cover potatoes with salted cold water in a large pot over medium high heat. Bring them to a boil, turn down the heat to medium and continue to cook until potatoes are barely tender when pierces with a knife, 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander and set aside to cool.

To make the dressing: 

• In a small mixing bowl, whisk in the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
• Cut the now-cooled potatoes into small cubes and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add, pickles, red onion, scallions, capers, eggs, and chopped parsley.
• Pour the dressing over the mixture and give it a gentle stir.
• Taste for seasoning and add if necessary.
• Serve.

This recipe from Bloglovin'. I have tried it and it's absolutely delicious!

Sticky Mustard Grilled Sausages

Ingredients:

3 T wholegrain mustard
2 T honey
Juice of ½ lemon
2 t balsamic vinegar
1 crushed clove garlic
3 T olive oil
8 pork sausages
Sweet potato mash 

Cooking instructions:

Whisk wholegrain mustard with honey, the juice of lemon, balsamic vinegar, crushed clove garlic and olive oil. Season to taste, then use to marinate pork sausages for 30 minutes. Arrange on a baking tray and grill for 10 minutes, turning frequently to brown all sides. 

Serve with mashed potatoes and peas or sweet potato mash.  
 

Spinach, roasted tomato and tuna salad

Roast a handful of cherry tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and season to taste. Roast at 200°C until the tomatoes start to burst open.

Blanch a 200g packet of green beans in boiling water. Toss everything together with a big handful of baby spinach leaves.

Add a 170g can of tuna in brine, 100g packet of drained black olives and sprinkle seed mixor sprouts.

Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar and enjoy.

Coleslaw

2.5 cups shredded cabbage
3 large carrots, grated/shredded

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Greek yoghurt

2tbsn golden syrup

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2tbsn Tomato sauce (Ketchup)

2tsp Dijon Mustard

Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to coat the cabbage and carrots in the dressing.

Roasted Garlic & Herb Mushrooms

From CakesCottage.com

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
    •    2 Pounds Fresh Mushrooms

 

Marinade :
    •    2 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
    •    2-3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
    •    Salt & Pepper
    •    1 Teaspoon Fresh Chopped Basil
    •    1 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Rosemary
    •    1 Teaspoon Chopped Fresh Sage
    •    ¼ Cup Chopped Fresh Parsley
    •    1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar

Instructions
    1.    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

    2.    Wipe the mushrooms with a clean, damp cloth and trim stems.

    3.    Slice the mushrooms into pieces no larger than 2 inches in size.

    4.    In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and herbs.

    5.    Add in mushrooms and toss together to evenly coat.

    6.    Evenly spread the mushrooms on a medium baking sheet or ovenproof casserole dish large enough to fit all of the mushrooms.

    7.    Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through.

    8.    Remove mushrooms from the oven about halfway through and flip them a few times, then return sheet to oven.

    9.    Remove from the heat, and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar.

Savoury Omelette Roll

Ingredients

• 45 ml olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• ½ a small red pepper, finely diced
• ½ a small aubergine, finely diced
• 125 g brown mushrooms, finely diced
• 45 ml tomato paste
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Salt, milled black pepper and sugar
• 8 jumbo eggs (free range if possible!)
• 250 ml milk
• 30 ml finely chopped parsley
• 30 ml cake flour mixed with 30 ml cornflour
• 125 g diced mozzarella cheese
• 125 ml coarsely chopped basil leaves
• 250 ml cheddar cheese, grated
• 45 ml finely chopped parsley

Method

Heat the oil and lightly brown the onion. Then add the pepper, aubergine and mushrooms. Sauté until translucent then stir in the tomato paste and garlic. Add a little water if needed and simmer for about ten minutes or until the veggies are cooked but not mushy. Season to taste, remove from the heat and set aside until required.

Whisk together the eggs, milk and parsley. Mix the flour and cornflour with a little of the milk mixture into a smooth paste and stir into the rest of the egg and milk mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a roasting pan lined with baking paper that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake in a preheated oven at 180ºC for 20 minutes or until the egg is set. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the pan.

To complete, stir the mozzarella cheese and basil into the vegetable mixture and dollop spoonsful of the mixture all over the omelette. Spread out evenly and using the baking paper, roll the omelette around the filling. If the ratatouille mixture is too much for the roll, reserve the left over for an omelette, stew or soup later in the week. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese and parsley on top. Place the omelette roll in the oven for ten minutes or so or until warmed through and the cheese has melted. 

Remove from oven, slide onto a serving platter, slice and serve.

Serves 6 - 8

Cream of Mushroom Soup (Good enough to get you laid!)

So says Byron about this Mushroom Soup recipe and it certainly sounds mouthwatering, so it's next on my list to try! (Not to get laid, but cooking the soup!)

Image credit

INGREDIENTS:

Soup:

1. Mushrooms [lots]
2. Bacon [2x rashers]
3. 2x cups of Chicken Stock [which you put it into nearly all soups anyway]
4. 1x Onion
5. 1x Potato
6. Cream [600ml]

(BATARD - PICTURE COURTESY OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB)

Side Dish:

1. Parmesan & Onion Batard
2. Garlic

(Batard is a type of bread, of which there are many many variations)

PROCESS:

Soup:

1. Chop up everything into little bits, then fry it all in a large saucepan with a bit of butter. [about 5x minutes]
2. When everything has gone soft and mooshy, add the Chicken Stock and boil it for about 15 minutes.
3. Let it cool down a bit and then pour it into a food processor [or you could use a Bamix/Stick Blender] and puree it until it has a fine texture.
4. Back into the saucepan, add the cream and gently simmer for 10x minutes, but make sure it doesn’t boil.

Side Dish:

1. Slice the Batard and dry-fry it on the grill. (That sounds good enough to eat on its own!)
2. When the bread is nicely toasted with the grill lines criss-crossed [because that looks really cool], rub garlic onto both side of the bread and add a light “dusting” of ground black pepper – but not too much!

The perfect Burger patty

• Recipe By Abigail Donnelly
• Serves 6
• Difficulty Easy
• Prep Time 10 minutes
• Cooking Time 10 minutes

Ingredients
•    650 g beef mince
•    1/2 onion, finely chopped
•    2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
•    4 T parsley, roughly chopped
•    65 ml Worcester sauce
•    3 bread slices, crusts removed
•    190 ml milk
•    Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
•    2 T sunflower oil

Cooking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Combine the mince, onion, garlic, parsley and Worcester sauce in a mixing bowl.

Place the bread in another bowl and pour over the milk. Allow the bread to soak up the milk, then gently squeeze out any excess and add the soaked bread to the mince. Season and mix the ingredients together.

Heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Mould the mince mixture into 6 equal-sized patties, brush with sunflower oil and cook for 1 minute, then turn over and cook the other side.
Finish the patties in the oven for 3 minutes, taking care not to overcook them.

Cook’s note: This burger recipe works just as well when cooked on the braai over medium-hot coals. Do not use lean mince for this recipe as the patties will be dry. The higher the fat content, the juicier the patty.