Monthly Archives: September 2014

Sep23

Baked sweet potato with feta and olives

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My mother in law sent this recipe in the mail. If you like sweet potato and feta (which I love), then this recipe is for you.  

Ingredients

4 smallish sweet potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup Kalamata olives
1 cup coriander leaves roughly chopped
200g feta cheese roughly crumbled
1 red chilli chopped or to your taste
1 tsp fennel seeds roughly ground
1 tsp cumin seeds ground
1 tsp coriander seeds ground
1 1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/4 olive oil for dressing

Method
Place the sweet potatoes on a lined baking sheet. Prick them a couple of times ( to stop them from exploding in the oven). Lightly oil them and season well. Roast in a 200 deg C oven till tender – about 40 mins.
Meanwhile combine olives and coriander in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl combine feta and remaking ingredients. One the sweet potatoes are cooked, slice it lengthwise, season. Spoon in a portion of feta mix and top with olive and coriander.

Tip: Cut the sweet potato into cubes and then roast add baby spinach and cherry tomatoes to turn this into a salad.

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Sep23

Saudi Spinach with Chickpeas

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Ingredients

3 tbsp ghee
1 tsp yellow asafoetida powder
1 cup tomato purée
3 cups cooked chickpeas
450g spinach leaves blanched, drained and chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp baharat **
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp chopped parsley for garnish

Method

Heat the ghee in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Sprinkle in the asafoetida and fry.
Pour in the tomato purée and cook for 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally until slightly reduced.
Fold the cooked chickpeas into the tomato purée, along with blanched spinach, the salt, pepper, sugar and baharat.
Reduce the heat and cook for an extra 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot,garnished with drizzles of ghee, lemon juice and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

***Baharat – you can buy this from a middle eastern grocery store.

Sep16

Spinach with Mushrooms and Red Peppers

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Ingredients

450g fresh or frozen spinach
2 tbsp oil
2 small onions chopped
6-8 curry leavesOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
1 tsp garlic crushed
1 tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp onion seeds
1 large red pepper seeded and sliced
1 1/2 cup mushrooms roughly chopped
1 cup low fat fromage frais (see below)
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped

 

Method

If using fresh spinach, blanch it briefly in boiling water and drain. If using frozen spinach, thaw and drain. Set aside

Heat oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the onions and curry leaves and onion seeds for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic,ginger,chilli powder, salt and ground ginger. Fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add half the red peppers and mushrooms and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the spinach and fry for 4-6 minutes, then add the fromage frais and fresh coriander, followed by remaining red pepper slices. Fry for another 2 mins before serving, garnished with coriander leaves.

 

NB: Fromage Frais – we can’t buy this in supermarkets in Aust, so use 1/2 cream cheese and 1/2 natural yoghurt. I made this twice – using fresh spinach as well frozen – refer pictures.  For an alternate taste i used cream instead of fromage frais.