A few of our favourite things...

Becs: Winter salad inspiration - no, not made by me, but enjoyed for lunch at Med Foods recently.  A simple salad of honey roasted yams, crispy bacon, baked ricotta, toasted pinenuts and dressed salad greens.  Sweet, salty and delicious, and one I will be recreating at home.

Asian-style chicken salad

I may have eaten one too many barbecued sausage over the Christmas break because since coming home I've been felt like cooking anything but barbecued food. I've been making lots of curries, with loads of fresh garlic, ginger and whole spices and tonight, for a change from barbecued food and curries, I made this chilli-spiked, salty-sweet Asian-style chicken salad. It's inspired by this recipe here from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty and a recipe from Oamaru's Riverstone Kitchen that was in this week's Sunday Star Times.

I know the ingredient list below is a reasonably long one but you're missing something just swap it for something else or leave it out. It's more a list of suggestions than a recipe. I used iceberg lettuce because I love its refreshing crispness but finely sliced cabbage, baby spinach or any other salad green will work just as well as iceberg. The pineapple could be swapped for mango or left out altogether if you don't like the meat-with-fruit combo. Similarly, cashews or plain peanuts would also be delicious instead of honey roasted ones. Or if you're feeling extravagant make the caramelised macadamia nuts in the Ottolenghi recipe linked above. They are truly delicious so make enough to nibble a few while you cook.

Asian-style chicken salad

2 chicken breasts

400ml can coconut milk

dressing

2 pinches chilli flakes

1 large clove garlic, crushed

1tsp flaky sea salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tsp fish sauce

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 capsicum, deseeded and thinly sliced

1/2 pineapple sliced into thin batons (or a finely sliced mango if available/affordable)

1 cup bean sprouts

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

to finish

1/2 cup honey roasted peanuts, finely chopped

4 tablespoons crispy shallots

Place the coconut milk and chicken breasts in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and simmer for 8-12 minutes - until chicken is cooked all the way through (if your chicken breasts are fat ones allow more time). Leave the chicken to cool in the coconut milk. Once cool, shred and place in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Bring the coconut milk to the boil and add the salt, chilli flakes, garlic and sugar. Simmer for a minute or so to dissolve the sugar then remove from heat and add the lemon juice and fish sauce. Pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the chicken and set the rest aside to cool.

While the dressing is cooling prepare the salad ingredients and place in a large bowl. When ready to serve, add the chicken and an extra 1/2 cup of the coconut milk dressing and mix. Serve topped with the fried shallots and peanuts.

Serve with rice noodles or plain steamed rice and extra dressing on the side.

This recipe makes enough for four people. Adjust the quantities as required.

A winter salad

This salad is for anyone who wants feels like a mid-winter raw vege hit but doesn't want to pay $8 for a squidgy red capsicum and its out-of-season friends. (Yes, capsicums are roughly $8 a piece at the moment, I don't know this because I bought one myself but because I know someone who actually paid $8 for a single capsicum last week.)

I was inspired to make mayonnaise after reading this post here on the Kitchenmaid blog which has lots of fabulous DIY recipes for the kind of things you'd usually buy - bread, tahini, mayo etc. Once I had my mayonnaise made I needed a use for it so added a little smoked paprika and thinned it down with the juice of half a lemon and used it as a dressing for this red cabbage, carrot & spinach salad.

This salad is a lot like one we make with red cabbage, apple & celery with smokey mayo (from Dunedin-based cook/food writer/tour guide Judith Cullen) but with spinach and carrot instead of celery and apple. You could add a julienned green apple to my version below if you want a little sweetness.

I guess it's more a "coleslaw" that a salad but I'm calling it a salad as I can't stand the word coleslaw. Especially when it's mispronounced "coldslaw"! Either way, it just doesn't sound like something I want to eat. But salad, especially this salad, I do want to eat. And have done so for the last two nights.

The quantity below would make a big bowlful - enough for 6-8 servings - and use the entire amount of mayonnaise. Adjust as necessary to feed the number of people at your table.

Red cabbage, carrot & spinach salad with smokey mayo

1/2 red cabbage, very finely shredded

1 bag baby spinach

2 large carrots, julienned (or grated)

2-4 tablespoons finely chopped mint and/or flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 quantity of mayonnaise with 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika & juice of 1/2 a lemon whisked in.

Toss the finely shredded cabbage, spinach & cabbage in a large bowl. Mix though the smokey mayo, just half at first and then add a spoonful at a time until the vegetables are lightly coated. Save a little to dollop on top if you like. Sprinkle over the walnuts and serve.

dinner date - roasted chicken, leek and pear salad

This tray-baked wintery salad has been doing the blog rounds, so I am sorry if it looks a little overly familiar...but I still wanted to share it as it is SO tasty, not to mention quick to throw together.  Chicken, pears and the much underrated leek make such good friends, especially accompanied by crunchy garlicky chunks of bread (they are too rustic to be called croutons!) and dollops of melting goats cheese.  A most satisfactory dinner, especially after a rather tiresome afternoon of yet more nasty earthquakes.

A little trick I have for the goats cheese - for cooking I love the flavour and texture of the soft, creamy french chevre de bellay logs, however these are pricey  - so I buy a NZ goat feta and blend it up in the food processor with some softened cream cheese.  It takes the harsh edge off the feta but still lets the fresh tang of the goats cheese shine through,  giving a result pretty similar to the french stuff. It is definitely easy on the wallet too so can be used with great(er) abandon. If you use a whole pack of both it will make loads, but it freezes beautifully. Lovely on pizza too...

Scoot over to Millie and Mel's blogs if you like for their versions of this salad (which originally appeared in Cuisine mag last year) but here's what we ate for dinner last night - 

roasted chicken, leek and pear salad with goats cheese (for 4)

6 x chicken thighs

1 tbsp yellow and black mustard seeds (or a dollop of grainy mustard)

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 leeks, diagonally sliced 1 cm thick

drizzle of olive oil

splash of red wine vinegar

s and p

chunks of old bread, ciabatta, focaccia etc

soft goats cheese, or feta

salad greens

Preheat oven to 200c. Place the chicken, mustard, herbs, garlic, leeks in a large roasting tray, drizzle over some olive oil and red wine vinegar, s and p, and toss well to combine, then cook for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done ( I used boneless thighs which cooked really quickly).  Once the chicken is nearly done scatter the bread over the other ingredients, drizzle with a little more oil and return to the oven for another 10 minutes so the bread crisps up.  Remove from oven,  throw over the goats cheese and let it melt a bit.  Serve warm in bowls with the salad greens tossed through.

dinner date - bulgur wheat salad

I've been a rather absentee blogger of late. I had been doing a psychology internship and much of my time over the past couple of months was spent finishing (or starting) assignments and preparing for oral exams. Hence my lack of blogging. Thankfully all went smoothly with my exams and I am now qualified as a Health Psychologist, with two new jobs at North Shore and Middlemore hospitals.

Now that I have reclaimed my weekends and evenings, I'm hoping to try out new recipes and keep up the blogging. Thanks Libby and Becky who have keep the blog ticking along nicely in my absence.

This bulgur wheat salad was not so much a new recipe but rather a freestyle creation made using whatever I found in the cupboard, pantry and garden.


After the above harvest of courgettes and fresh herbs I inspected the pantry and fridge and found a few veges that would roast well (including onions from the garden, potatoes, kumara, red pepper and some rather sad looking mushrooms). These seemed fitting to some sort of salad, so chopped up the veges and coated them with olive oil, some macadamia paste, salt and pepper and roasted them until cooked.

There was a packet of course bulgur wheat in the pantry which I soaked hot water for around 20 minutes until cooked. I stirred through the roast veges along with the fresh herbs and generous amounts of some basil pesto I made earlier in the day. The salad was garnished with sunflower and pumpkin seeds and extra pesto.

This was a delicious throw together kind of meal, with great textures, flavours and colours. The seeds add a lovely crunch and the nutty flavour of the macadamia paste also adds a nice dimension. I really rate bulgur wheat as a base for salads (far more than buckwheat which always tastes to me like it's not quite cooked properly). Although we ate this for dinner it would be a great salad to take to work for lunch.... lucky I made lots so there was leftovers for lunch.

pork lettuce cups

Libby made these for our dinner on Sunday night. This is a nice 'throw-together' kind of recipe, that can easily be adapted depending on the contents of your fridge. It's carb-free if that's your thing - it's not ours but we had been pre-dinner snacking on a bowl of homemade refried beans and corn chips so weren't overly hungry. However you can add some rice noodles to the pork mix to bulk it up a bit.

Pork Lettuce Cups - based on an Annabel Langbein recipe

500g pork mince
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp kecap manis
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 cm fresh ginger, grated
1 red pepper, finely diced

2 c mung bean sprouts
1/2 c fresh coriander or mint, roughly chopped

1 iceberg lettuce, washed and separated into individual leaves
1/2 pineapple, finely diced
1/2 c cashews or peanuts, roughly chopped

Cook mince in a frying pan with the sesame oil, sauces and ginger. Once cooked add the pepper and beansprouts. Sprinkle with herbs and serve at the table, spooning the pork mixture into the lettuce cups and topping it with the pineapple and nuts. Enjoy.

dinner date - star anise chicken and noodle salad

This summery dinner was inspired by a couple of new cookbooks - the noodle salad is from Ripe Recipes, and the chicken is from Belinda Jefferey's 100 favourite recipes. The braised star anise chicken is apparently her most requested recipe. It is a similar recipe to a chicken nibble marinade, but the star anise makes the flavour more complex. It was a fairly easy dinner, the chicken takes a while to cook but there's no major prep involved. Perfect for hot weather!

This meal would make great picnic fare too, if you shredded the cooled chicken through the salad for easy eating, or cooked drumsticks or nibbles in the marinade. Reducing some of the marinade at the end to make a sticky glaze to brush over the chicken skin is an optional step but one that is well worth it in my opinion; the finished chicken with its high-gloss skin looks rather impressive, a bit like peking duck. (The photo above didn't exactly capture the chicken's best side...) It would actually be pretty good served Peking duck style, rolled up in pancakes with spring onions and hoisin.

The salad would be delicious with some toasted peanuts or cashews tossed through it, or crispy fried shallots. It would also be a great base for some stirfried chicken, beef or asian style marinated salmon. If you don't have the ingredients below it is an easy one to freestyle - just be sure to include something crunchy like the bean sprouts, or some shredded cabbage.

Belinda Jeffery's Star Anise Braised Chicken

1 c kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 c soy sauce

1 c water

1/3 c brown sugar

2 whole star anise

2 tbsp sherry

2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed

2 chucks of ginger (the size of a 20c piece)

1 x 2kg chicken

Preheat oven to 180c. Put all ingredients except the chicken in a large flameproof dish (I used a scanpan wok) and bring to the boil. Place chicken breast side down into the liquid, cover with lid or foil, and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, turn over (Belinda suggests using a wooden spoon handle shoved into the chicken...which worked well) and bake a further 45 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the poaching liquid for at least half an hour. Boil some of the liquid in a small saucepan until it forms a thick syrupy glaze and brush over the chicken. The cooking liquid can be recycled next time - keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks or freeze.

Rice Noodle Salad - adapted from Ripe Recipes

250g pkt rice noodles, cooked in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, and refreshed in cold water

200g green beans, blanched and refreshed

1 head broccoli, cut into small florets, blanched and refreshed

1 red pepper, cut into fine strips

1 c fresh mung bean sprouts

1 c podded edamame beans (Asian stores often sell frozen packs of these), blanched etc

1 c fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

1 c fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Combine all ingredients and toss with the dressing.

Dressing

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp sesame seeds, dry toasted

1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

juice and zest of 2 lemons

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Place all ingredients in a jar and shake until well combined.

dinner date - nutty rice salad

This week's post comes courtesy of Sarah.


This simple and tasty salad is based on a recipe given to us by good friend Mary Bollard. After all the rich food over the summer holidays, this salad was fresh and delicious. It can be served as a side salad but is also substantial enough to eat a bowl full on its own. I also thought it would be a good thing to take to a BBQ to keep the vegetarians happy.

Nutty Rice Salad
1 cup uncooked brown rice
¼ cup soy sauce
3 spring onions, chopped finely
1 red capsicum, diced
½ head broccoli, steamed
½ cup chopped dates
½ cup cashews, chopped coarsely
½ cup each of roasted sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds

Dressing
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsps lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp honey

Cook rice, mix the soy sauce through and leave to cool. Put ingredients for dressing in a jar and shake together. Add all remaining ingredients and the dressing to the rice and mix well.

Dinner date - chorizo tray bake salad

This is not so much a recipe as ingredient assembly. Inspiration for this quick but very tasty dinner comes courtesy of Chloe. Simply fill a roasting tray with chunks of potato, garlic cloves (skin on), chopped up good quality sausages, handfuls of stale bread, and chunky pieces of any other veges that take your fancy. Drizzle with olive oil and season with chopped rosemary, salt and pepper, and roast at 200c for 30 minutes or so until everything is well cooked.

I used my favourite chorizo, and roasted it alongside potato and garlic, red pepper, courgette and ciabatta. (I added the bread nearer the end of cooking so it didn't cook to a complete crisp...) After letting everything cool slightly I tossed through handfuls of salad greens, and we ate it as a warm salad. Such an easy dinner and really delicious.

dinner date - Vietnamese chicken salad

Ok so sadly this post is coming to you from Christchurch not Vietnam...however the fresh flavours of this salad are perfect for spring when you are over casseroles and other rib-sticking dinners. The recipe is a bit vague, just make it up as you go along, depending on what you have in the fridge and how many you have to feed. I think one chicken thigh per person is plenty but suit yourself.

The dressing is fantastic, make a jar up at a time, it will keep forever in the fridge, and just needs to be diluted to serve. Use it as a dipping sauce with fresh spring rolls too.

The crispy fried shallots can be bought at Asian supermarkets, they are cheap as and addictive. Possibly not very PC (hmmm not really loving that palm oil...) but so tasty, adding a sweet crunch to this salad. This salad is all about texture so the crunchy mung bean sprouts, nuts and shallots are essential!

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

chicken thighs

vermicelli noodles

mung bean sprouts

cucumber, deseeded and julienned

red pepper

carrots

fresh mint and coriander

peanuts, roasted and chopped

crispy fried shallots

dressing

1-2 red chillis, finely chopped

1 tbsp white or wine vinegar

1/2 c fish sauce

1/4 c fresh lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c sugar

Poach the chicken thighs by placing in a roasting dish, covering with water and baking at 180c for about twenty minutes or until the juices run clear when pierced with a knife. Cool and shred.

Blend all dressing ingredients in bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Store in a jar in the fridge. Dilute with one part dressing to one part water before serving.

Toss chicken through the cooked noodles with the prepped veges of your choice. If I use carrots and red peppers I blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds or so just to make them a bit easier to eat. Toss through with dressing to taste.

Serve bowls of fresh mint, chopped peanuts, crispy shallots and extra dressing on the table for people to add as they like.

a few of our favourite things...

Miriam: I first tried this salad at a family BBQ a year or so ago and just loved it. I've never written the recipe down so it tends to be a bit different every time I make it, but the concept is the same. This version used pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds and peanuts, roasted with turmeric, cumin and coriander seeds (keep a careful eye on the nuts and seeds as it's very easy to burn them). Stir this mixture through some chickpeas, chopped celery and beetroot. Dress with balsamic vinegar, and add fresh coriander if you so desire. This is a robust salad with great flavour and texture, which we now call the 'lets go nuts salad'.

Becs: I think the best ciabatta in NZ is made by artisan baker Rachel Scott. She bakes just twice a week, but the ciabatta keeps quite well, freezes perfectly, and toasts up beautifully. Rachel's bread is freighted nationwide, and at around $5-$6 a loaf is I think value for money when you compare the quality to most other bread marketed as 'ciabatta'. Try it toasted and filled with caramelised onions and thinly sliced rare beef for the ultimate steak sandwich.

Libby: With the temperature in the 30s and high humidity here in Hoi An, I have been enjoying fresh watermelon juice as a lovely refreshing drink. It's just like a slice of fresh watermelon but without all the annoying little black pips! I have no idea how much watermelon is required to fill a glass and doubt I'll ever be making this myself at home but it's been a delicious treat on hot days.

dinner date

This is my version of a cassoulet, a French slow-cooked stew with beans and meat - most often confit duck and pork sausages. Using canned beans and chicken thighs (instead of confit duck!) speeds things up and makes it more of an everyday meal. We ate the cassoulet with mashed potato which was completely unnecessary (as beans make the cassoulet quite substantial), but delicious all the same.

4 chicken thighs
4 good quality pork sausages
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, finely diced
2 sticks celery, sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup tomato passata
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (drained and well-rinsed)
Bay leaves & fresh herbs (rosemary, parsley, thyme)

Heat a heavy based lidded pan over a medium heat. Add a little oil and brown chicken and sausages. Remove chicken thighs and sausages from pan and slice each into 3-4 pieces.

Turn down the heat and add onion to pan. Cover with lid and cook until soft. Add garlic, carrot and celery and cook for a few minutes until carrot and celery starts to soften.

Turn heat up to medium, add white wine and leave it simmer for a minute or two before adding passata, tomatoes, bay leaves and any fresh herbs you have handy. Put the meat back into pan and cover with lid. Leave to simmer over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Add the beans and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Season with salt & pepper

Serves 4 hungry people.

We followed the cassoulet with a colourful winter salad of salad leaves, shredded red cabbage, finely sliced apple and toasted walnuts dressed with a mix of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and brown sugar. Yum!

packed lunches

It's always a struggle to think of something to take to work for lunch.... I find sandwiches just oh so boring. In an inspired moment, we decided to make this delicious red rice and quinoa salad with orange & pistachios (Lewi actually made it, although I did go to the supermarket to get the ingredients).


This salad is great for lunch, being both delicious and nutritious. And the lovely mixture of colours makes it especially attractive. I was the envy of everyone in the lunch room! Here's the recipe:

Camargue red rice and quinoa with orange and pistachios

(from Ottolenghi The Cookbook)

60g shelled pistachio nuts
200g quinoa
200 Camargue red rice
1 medium onion, sliced
150ml olive oil
grated zest and juice of one orange
2 tsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 sprigs onions, thinly sliced
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
40g rocket
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 170C. Toast the pistachios for about 8 minutes until lightly coloured. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly and then chop roughly. Set aside.

Fill 2 saucepans with salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer the quinoa in one for 12-14 minutes and the rice in the other for 20 minutes. Both should be tender but still have a bite. Drain in a sieve and spread out the 2 grains separately on a flat tray to hasten cooling.

While the grains are cooking, sauté the white onion in 4 tablespoons of olive oil for 10-12 minutes stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Leave to cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl combine the rice, quinoa, cooked onion and the remaining oil. Add all the rest of the ingredients, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve at room temperature.