Sensational Salads & Veges

Decadent Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

stuffed mushroom recipeThese bacon wrapped mushrooms are seriously mouthwatering morsels of goodness that will have any mushroom fan begging for more. We have these quite regularly as a side dish, although they went down a treat when we had friends over for dinner recently when I made them as pre-dinner nibbles!

Get creative with these: You don’t need to use a cream cheese/feta mix, if you are a blue cheese lover, why not use that? Instead of using chopped fresh herbs, why not use a heaped teaspoon of pesto? Like things spicy? Add some chilli flakes to the cheese. You get the idea. (more…)

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Roasted Cabbage Recipe – Better than it sounds!

roast cabbage recipeThis roasted cabbage recipe is one that’s definitely worth a go:  The result is a side dish that will impress… It’s absolutely scrummy.  Talk about taking the humble cabbage to a whole new level!

You can get creative with this recipe – I’ve made lots of variations now, including adding a touch of grated parmesan, using different herbs and spices (any of the Masterfood seasonings are great, i.e. Moroccan Seasoning or Tuscan Seasoning), or roasting it simply with olive oil and drizzling it with balsamic cream at the end. Our favourite version is below. Quietly, I’m high-fiving myself at finding a vegetable recipe that Hubby requests.  Give it a go – I reckon roasted cabbage is one of the most surprising vegetable dishes ever!

 

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Cauliflower Rice Recipe – A game changer for carb lovers

cauliflower rice recipeI love carbs and stodge. There it is, I’ve said it. Very un-PC of me, I know. Bread, potatoes (including hot chips), crackers, kumara, couscous, pasta, rice… Oh yes, rice. I love all stodge: It makes my heart sing. Unfortunately stodge also make my bum large and my jeans shrink. Don’t worry, this isn’t another blog post where I’m going to rant about my weight and vow to drop to a size 10 before spring (and subsequently commence blogging my weight loss journey and exercise regime). I am a curvy girl, I happen to like most of my curves, I just wish last winter’s jeans fit – and dammit, they will be worn again someday soon! So why have my jeans shrunk? Simple case of more ‘input than output’. I take responsibility – I know my love of stodge is partly to blame!

Hang on, I can hear you thinking, where do carbs and shrinking jeans fit in with a recipe for Cauliflower Rice? That’s easy! I’ve been trying to cut down on carbs (particularly at night time) in a quest to reclaim my shrinking jeans. Being a lover of pasta and meat in a sauce, I was really struggling with relinquishing these, but then my Aunty Angie, who has lost a truckload of weight recently, asked me if I’d tried “cauliflower rice” as she partly attributes her weight-loss to knocking carbs on the head at dinner time. That was enough to motivate me to go and buy a cauliflower and get in the kitchen and started playing. It turns out that I might have been living under a rock: I’ve since been hearing about cauliflower in the place of rice/couscous everywhere! It’s hugely popular with the Paleo way of eating. Anyhow, I’m now really happy to share with you this gem of a recipe that has seen us eating, with gusto, this guilt-free rice-like substitute. Cauliflower rice is easy, delicious and, importantly, it’s a great way to consume more veges and add bulk and density to a dish, without the calories. I hope you enjoy! (more…)

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Roast Vegetable Salad Recipe

roast vegetable salad

This is the roast vegetable salad that I took to a pot luck dinner on Saturday. I shared the photo on my Facebook page and it got a fair few thumbs up, as well as requests for the recipe. No worries – here you go!

As I made this roast vegetable salad (it’s a recipe that’s in my head), I realised I’ve never never made this the same way twice…  That’s because I always make it with whatever vegetables I have on hand and this will vary from season to season.  Sometimes I fold baby spinach leaves or rocket through the cooked and cooled veges at the end. Sometimes I use blue cheese instead of feta,..  Sometimes I use pinenuts or even dukkah instead of cashew nuts as a garnish.  You get the idea! Go with the  flow and tailor the recipe to suit your taste buds. Nevertheless, below is the recipe as I made it, exactly, on Saturday!  

This is a great addition as a side salad to a number of main courses, like a roast joint of meet, or even as a side with chicken breasts. I’ve also been known to use leftover roast vegetable salad in a frittata or in an omelette the next day. Super versatile: My kind of food.

Enjoy 🙂 (more…)

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Quinoa Salad with Chargrilled Veges and Garlic Yogurt Dressing

Quinoa Salad with Chargrilled Veges and Garlic Yogurt DressingI think this Quinoa Salad with Chargrilled Veges and Garlic Yogurt Dressing could be my best quinoa salad recipe yet. This is actually the third salad recipe on this blog featuring this yummy and healthy ‘wonder grain’ on this blog.  Seeing as the other two recipes have been super popular I thought “why not?”  Indeed, this dish is high in WOW factor. Get in quick and rustle this up before the price of capsicums and eggplants skyrocket Downunder as we scurry into autumn.

Low in fat and high flavour this salad ROCKS as a lunch dish on it’s own, or, it is the perfect accompaniment to a beautifully cooked piece of meat (we’ve had it with steak as well as roast chook) and there’s always lots left for lunches for the next few days (this recipe feeds 6-8 but we are a family of three!).
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Mexican Eggplant Salad

SAMSUNG CSCI went to the gorgeous Mamacita Mexican restaurant in Havelock North.  I can’t decide what I like best… Their food, their service, or their decor:  All top notch, go check it out if you are in the area!

Anyhow, we ordered the most fantastic eggplant salad. It was so good I took a photo, made mental notes and tried recreating it the next night at home. The result? I was chuffed with how it turned out (just quietly, I reckon my freestyle version with the addition of mint and feta took it to a whole new level!).

So, here’s what I did (the photo is my version, by the way, not Mamacita’s!)

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Mexican Chopped Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

imageI’ve been making this recipe for the last month or so, playing around with different combinations to get it just right. I’ve finally cracked it.  This delicious salad is the perfect accompaniment to BBQ or pan fried chicken breasts (rubbed in Mexican seasoning) and Mexican Street Corn.

If you are looking for a salad, or a meal that’ll impress, you can’t go wrong. Enjoy! (more…)

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Crunchy Carrot, Date, Almond Salad

SAMSUNG CSCThis is one of the salads that’s made it onto our Christmas Day menu this year!  Every time I’ve taken this salad somewhere, I’ve left the recipe behind.  It’s always a winner and it’s light, nutritious and utterly yum and it makes a great alternative to a leafy green salad.  My friend Kitrina gave me this, recipe, she knows me well and knew she I’d love it.  She got it from the Revive Café Cookbook.  As usual, I can’t help myself: I’ve fiddled with it and given it a mini makeover…. (more…)

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