Citrus, Fennel and Avo salad

I am not a big believer in taking artificial vitamins. In fact I don’t take them at all. When it comes to vitamins I believe in turning to real food. Food can have amazing medicinal properties in its purest form! Why not opt for fresh fruit that is packed with healthy vitamins rather than swallowing a pharmaceutical (the size of a horse tranquilizer) that claims to have all the supplements your body needs?

Mmmm I’m not convinced. With winter banging down the door and our bodies needing extra support, this dish is one for the whole family to keep their bodies strong. 

One of the most effective cold and flu fighters is Vitamin C. 
I paired up with Woolworths on an exciting dish that is packed with this winter warrior and bursts with the fresh flavour that so many of us crave after weeks of consuming bowls of stew brimming with meat and potatoes. 
Woolies have such a great variety of fresh citrus in store. This salad pairs perfectly with a delicious fresh piece of fish, which will offer you protein, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.

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Ingredients:

Dehydrated Orange:

• 1 orange halved and thinly sliced, about 4mm

Salad:

• 4 oranges, peeled
• 2 grapefruit, peeled
• 75 grams pomegranate seeds
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (do not use the leaves)
• 3 avocado
• 6 sprigs of mint

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 small lemon, juiced 

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Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 100 degrees Celsius.

Place the thinly sliced oranges on a cooling rack and pop them in the oven for 1 hour. Keep an eye on them as this can vary due to slice thickness and oven accuracy. You want them to still be tacky but crisp!  

Using a sharp knife segment your oranges and grapefruit. Remove the membrane from each individual piece. Put the segments in a bowl. Don’t be too rough with them, as all the juice will escape!

For this recipe I used the Woolworths pomegranate seeds (A lovely cheat!)

If you bought your pomegranate whole, cut the top off and score 2cm down the side. Get a big bowl of water and crack the pomegranate open under the water. This will help with the mess. Release the seeds from the compartments. Once done, the seeds will sink and the husk will float! Set the seeds aside.

Peel and slice your avocados. Drizzle with lemon to prevent browning.

On a large platter you are going to layer your salad.

This salad does not do well tossed, as it will become too soggy. Layer your citrus and your fennel with your avocado and pomegranate and top with your mint leaves and dehydrated citrus chips for decoration!

For the dressing, mix all the ingredients together and drizzle just before serving!   

Serve with a prefect piece of fresh fish!

-Melissa 

*This blog post was sponsored by Woolworths. All opinions are my own.

tea poached asian chicken salad

This salad embodies two of my favourite things, crunch and Asian flavours. It’s fresh and healthy and the poached chicken its just so juicy! I've always wondered how patient a chef is to julienne vegetables but to be honest, with the invention of a peeler that julienne’s that fascination has disappeared. I can how ever confirm that it is a lot of fun grabbing your veg and slicing them into tiny perfect strips for this salad. 

The dressing for this salad takes me straight to Thailand. I can picture myself standing in the street food markets in Kopanghan dunking my chicken satay into the sauce. Some of the best memories of my life were had in Thai food markets. Perhaps that’s why this salad has such a special place in my recipe heart. We hired a scooter and whenever we wanted, nipped to different parts of the island we were on. After feeding an elephant a few bananas we stumbled across this amazing little food court, out in the open, where all the locals got their fill. From fresh sushi, chicken satay’s and fruit shakes this place was like mecca. I'm very open to the fact that I might of ate myself into a food coma that day but I can assure you that it was worth every. Single. Bite. 

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serves: 2

Ingredients:

• lapsang suchong tea
• 2 chicken fillets
• 1 carrot, finely sliced on the length
• small handful of fine green beans
• 1 cup red cabbage, finely sliced
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 cup coriander leaves
• 1 cup thinly sliced cucumber
• ½ cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
• ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

Asian dressing:

• 3 tblsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• ½ tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 2 tblsp honey
• 1 tblsp mint, finely chopped
• ½ cup olive oil or sesame oil
• salt and pepper

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Instructions:

Bring 500ml water with tea to the boil in a saucepan. I usually use a small strainer and fill that with the tealeaves, and just put in straight into the water. Add your chicken fillets and simmer for 12mins. You can turn the chicken around at the 6-minute mark. Remove and let cool.  Once cool slice chicken and toss with the rest of the ingredients (that you have julienned by knife or by slicer) and dressing, season with salt and pepper and plate.

Asian dressing:

Blend all the ingredients together and season to taste. 

Serve on a hot summers day with some fresh infused waters! 

-Melissa 

quinoa salad

This is one of my all time favourite party tricks. Yes, this salad. For those of you who are not that familiar with quinoa, it is a grain that is very high in protein, simply delicious and easy to make. It has a marvelous nutty flavour to it and it is tastier than most rice’s and healthier to serve. 

This salad is my go to salad when I have my vegetarian friends come over. When I make this salad I more often than not don't make meat, although you can serve it with pan-fried moist chicken breasts if you want. It’s beyond filling and decked out with so many flavours that it will leave you wanting more. It’s the salad I take with to a braai (South African barbecue) and impress everyone with, or it’s a great salad to make for lunch, work or to nibble on at home.

The amazing thing with this salad is that once you get the hang of it and its ingredients you can start playing around with what you add to it, making it your own symphony of flavours. 

Here is my version of this healthy, delicious and colourful salad! 

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Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 butternut, medium, peeled and sliced
• half a head of broccoli 
• 1 red onion 
• 1 baby red cabbage
• 50g pine nuts 
• 100g rocket 
• 100ml balsamic vinegar
• 100ml water 
• olive oil to dress the salad 
• 40g parmesan cheese

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Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 180℃

Place your peeled and sliced butternut on a roasting tray and drizzle it with olive oil. Making sure all the pieces are covered. If you do not want them to char, cover with foil (shiny side down) and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until soft when pierced with a fork. 

While your butternut is roasting slice your red onion into rings. If you find it easier you can also slice it in half and slice half rings from there. Put the water and balsamic into a pot over a low heat. Put the onions in and let them simmer and reduce. It should take about half an hour depending on your heat for them to become sticky and be fully reduced. Once the onions have reduced set them aside. 

In another pot put your one-cup of quinoa to two cups boiling water and a pinch of salt. Make sure the water is boiled before adding it. Cook over a low to medium heat for 30 minutes. If the water disappears before 30 minutes just turn the heat off and put the lid of the pot on. The moisture and residual heat will continue to cook the quinoa. Don’t add more water. Keep an eye on it so that the bottom doesn't burn. At the 25-minute mark just lightly fluff the quinoa with a fork. If you give the quinoa a taste it should still have some crunch but not be too hard-al dente one could say. Once ready set aside. 

In a large bowl grate the broccoli head (tree top bits), the Parmesan cheese and the baby red cabbage. Once they are all in add the rocket to mixture. 

Place your pine nuts in a small pan and over a low heat. Make sure you tend to them and watch them. When roasting nuts they can go from zero to burnt in two seconds. just keep turning them until they are golden brown and toasted. 

Grab your butternut out of the oven and add to your salad bowl. Add your quinoa and balsamic onions. Salt and pepper the salad to taste. Give the salad a good mix and drizzle with a great olive oil. My favourite is Rio Largo olive oil and you can shop it here. Once everything is mixed in and the salad is dressed, sprinkle the pine nuts on top.

This salad is great served hot but just as delicious cold! 

-Melissa

rustic tomato soup

Every body loves a fresh and delicious Caprese salad. Everyone except me. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the common tomato. I've tried but my taste buds simply do not agree. I recall being a young girl and my father even offering me money to eat a slice. Needless to say he kept his money and his tomatoes. Now that I am older I often wonder what it would be like to snack of cherry tomatoes. They seem like the perfect treat and they are so healthy. Unfortunately they along with many other tomatoes simply do not go down well. Then I discovered this soup. It’s simple, cheap and cheerful but bursting with flavour. It’s bold and sweet all at the same time! Its a winter warmer that I really recommend. On this day I decided to share the recipe with a good friend of mine who happens to be a health coach. I was rather proud when Nikita from Zesty Mannequin gave it the seal of approval on not only being simply delicious but also a winner in the eating healthy department. I have put a slight twist on the soup serving it with a pesto mozzarella toasties. These flavours sing of a warm Caprese salad and the twist allow me to enjoy the flavours I lose out on with the cold fresh version. 

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serves: 4

ingredients:

• 12 large tomatoes
• 2 red onions 
• 1 garlic bulb
• 4 twigs of rosemary 
• 2 tsp brown sugar 
• olive oil 
• mozzarella
• pesto 
• slices of your bread of choice-mine is brown seeded loaf

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instructions:

Preheat your oven to 170°c

Give your tomatoes a good wash and place them into your roasting tray. Remove the rosemary from the twigs and put it in with the tomatoes. 

Peel and slice your onions in half. Place them in the roasting tray with the rest of the ingredients. Pour your olive oil over all the ingredients and mix it together with your hands, making sure everything is covered in oil before roasting. 

Sprinkle your sugar over all the ingredients, cover the tray with foil and pop the roasting tray into the oven for 40 minutes or until the onions and tomatoes and soft.

In the mean time we can get cracking on the pesto and mozzarella toasties. 

Place your bread on a roasting tray and drizzle olive oil over your slices. we are going to toast the bread in the oven.

When the tomatoes are ready take them out of the oven and pop your bread in. your bread will only need 1-2 minutes each side until its golden brown and just toasted. 

While they are toasting take all your ingredients and put them in a blender. Yes its that simple! Make sure you don't leave any juices behind! 

Blend it all up until it becomes a delicious thick tomato soup. Add the soup to a pot and put it on a low heat. i usually add two to three cups of water at the stage and salt and pepper to taste. 

Don’t forget to keep checking up on your toasties. Once they are golden brown, slice your mozzarella and place it onto the toast. Put your oven onto grill and put them under the grill for 4 minutes or until the cheese has melted to your satisfaction. Once out of the oven smear the pesto onto the cheese and slice into soldiers. 

While you are busy with this your soup should be blipping away over the heat. 

Serve your soup with your toasties-nice and hot and ready to delight!

-Melissa

wild mushroom soup

They say time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time. I have to agree.

Winter is starting to come around for its yearly visit and I can't say I am much impressed. I truly could of done with another month of summer. I suppose the best I can do in light of my disgruntled view of winter is embrace in my cooking and all that comes with it.

I must admit no one is grumpy at the thought of a piping hot chocolate or soup in front of a fireplace, wrapped in a blanket and playing board games with a loved one.

If the thought of lazy days cuddled under a blanket and a good book appeal to you, then so will this recipe. Nothing as good as the earthiness of mushrooms coupled with the taste explosion that is truffle oil.

Take your time building the flavours of this wholesome soup. Have a glass of wine while staying warm in front of your stovetop and definitely above all else, share it with loved ones.

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serves: 4

ingredients:

• 2 brown onions
• olive oil
• 3 tsp crushed garlic
• 5 twigs thyme
• 350g wild mushrooms (variety)
• 3 potatoes
• 1 sweet potato
• 2 vegetable stock concentrate sachets or roast chicken stock sachets
• boiling water to top up
• salt pepper
• 2 Tbsp truffle oil
• 250ml cream

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instructions:

To start boil the kettle.

Dice your onions and put them in a pot with your olive oil over a medium heat.

Sweat your onions down and add your garlic. Make sure to stir continuously as you don't want it to burn and give a bitter taste in your soup

Wipe down our mushrooms and chop them into chunky large pieces. Don’t make them too small or else when you cook them they will shrink into nothing.

Add them to your onions and turn up the heat slightly. Keep stirring.

At this stage take your thyme off the twigs and add it to the pot. I enjoy fresh herbs so you can even add extra to taste-depending on what you love.

Peel and dice the potatoes. I dice them small, as I want them to cook into the soup and not remain chunky.

Add the potatoes to the pot.

Add the vegetable stock to the soup. If you want you can use roast chicken stock concentrate depending on if you are serving to vegetarians.

Add your boiling water until you fill the pot to the top. Bring to boil and leave to boil checking every 20 minutes. As it reduces top up again with more boiling water.

Never add cold water to something that is boiling. i repeat for about two hours letting all the flavours develop.

Once you have reached the two-hour mark and the pot is 3/4 full with the mushroom soup add 250ml of cream and your salt and pepper to taste.

Let simmer for a further 20 minutes.

Just before serving fold in the truffle oil. 2 Tbsp. is usually a great starting point but again, do this to your palette, as you taste your soup along the way.

Serve with croutons and while its hot.

-Melissa