Instant French Vinaigrette
In France we learnt to make a fresh vinaigrette every night with our salad entrée. Its so quick and easy and is lovely knowing that its fresh every time! This one really makes the salad for me! You can adjust the amounts depending on your preferred taste!
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper
3 tsp vinegar or lemon juice (or a mix of both)
2 tsp olive oil
Mix together the mustard, honey and salt and pepper. Add the vinegar or juice and mix well until combined (it is best to mix this before adding the oil as the acid helps the other ingredients to combine properly), add the oil and drizzle over a freshly made salad.
This works well for a simple green salad of lettuce only or for mixed salads with a whole range of vegetables. Add a can of tuna, strips of pan friend chicken breast or a few boiled eggs to make a whole meal!
Morrie’s Tuna Pasta Bake
This has become a family favourite in our house, especially when there’s nothing out defrosted and you want a quick yummy tea!!! (That’s a great balanced healthy meal too!)
(No packet mixes required!)
Serves 4
Ingredients
2-3 cups pasta (sprial or penne is good)
1-2 garlic cloves (optional)
2 large (185g) cans of tuna
1 can chopped peeled tomatoes
1 cup mixed frozen veges
1-2 Tbsp Sweet chilli sauce
½ cup grated cheese
Put the pasta on to boil.
In a large frypan, heat a little oil and add finely chopped garlic, stir 2-3 mins. Add tuna, tomates, veges and sweet chilli sauce, cook on medium, stirring until all heated through.
Once pasta is cooked and drained, combine this with mixture into a baking dish and cover with grated cheese.
Grill on approx. 180 until cheese is well melted…voila! Serve while hot. This is also a great meal when reheated, use it for lunch the next day or pop some in the freezer!
Scrumptious Smoked Hoki Chowder
Soups & chowders are a great food option in winter as they’re warm, filing and nutritious! This is a lovely one with lots of yummy flavours and fresh veges full of minerals and nutrients as well as fish which is a great lean source of protein and also contains lots of good omega oils, essential for brain function and vitality!
Ingredients:
•1 tsp margarine
•1 Large onion, sliced
•1 carrot, sliced
•½ cup peas
•3 celery sticks, chopped
•1 Large golden kumera, thinly sliced
•1 cup boiling water
•2 cups trim milk
•2 fillets smoked hoki (available in supermarket deli’s)
•corn flour in cold water – to thicken
Heat margarine in a pan and fry onion until browned, add remaining veges and continue cooking until browning sticks to the bottom of pan. Add water to bring flavour off the pan followed by milk. Crumble the fish into small pieces ensuring there are no bones or skin remaining, then add to the mixture and cook for 10-15 mins or until veges are done. Thicken with a little corn flour dissolved in cold water as desired. Serve hot with grainy bread as a side. Enjoy!
Left overs can easily be turned into a great fish pie by topping with mashed potato
Moist Carrot Cake
This delicious dessert is rich and moist while being a better alternative than some other butter and chocolate filled, highly processed white flour cakes & slices.
Give it a go and enjoy the results!
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups raw sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs (remove 2 yolks)
3-4 cups grated carrot
2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 baking soda
½ tsp salt
Heat oven to 180’ C and line a 20 cm baking tin. Mix sugar and oil, add eggs and beat well. (The 2 spare yolks can be fed to the cat! )
Add carrot, then sift in remaining dry ingredients. Mix until all combined, pour into baking dish and cook for approx 40 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
Icing:
125gm low fat cream cheese
1-2 cups icing sugar
Combine cream cheese with enough icing sugar to create thick consistency and ice when cold!
Apple Cinnamon Muffins
2 1/2 cups oat bran
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup skim milk
3/4 cup apple juice concentrate
2 egg whites
1 medium apple, cored and chopped, with the skin on
Preheat oven to 180. Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Blend together, stir in apples. Bake until the muffins spring back and a skewer comes away clean.
Note: you can also add either 2 mashed bananas or 1/2 cup stewed apple to make the muffins moister. Any fruits are great in these: peaches, pears, berries, etc.
Low-Fat Blueberry Bran Muffins
Most low fat recipes are dry and bland without butter or oil, but these muffins are scrumptious because the applesauce keeps them moist. They’re very low in fat, high in fibre and give a good serve of carbohydrates. They take about 15 minutes to make and are great heated up for 10 seconds in the microwave before serving.
Ingredients
1 1/2 c wheat bran
1 c skim milk
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c frozen blueberries
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease muffin tins.
Mix together wheat bran and milk, and let stand for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together apple- sauce, egg, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat in bran mixture. Sift together plain flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into bran mixture until just blended. Fold in blueberries and scoop into muffin tin. Sprinkle brown sugar on tops if desired. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until tops look crispy. (This is a very wet mix, so the bottoms will need a while to cook through.) Take out of oven
and let stand for 10 mins before turning onto a
cooling rack.
