Roast Veggie Frittata and Shortcrust Pastry

For some bizarre reason, I got it into my head last week to make shortcrust pastry from scratch, even though I had to be at uni 30 minutes later. I remembered the cookbook that came with my Kenwood food processor had a recipe in it and it was actually even easier than I expected, despite the fact that we (at that stage) did not own a rolling pin –
A half empty wine bottle works just as well, in case you were wondering 😉

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Chocolate Fondue

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Chocolate Puddle Cookies

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Basic crepes

Believe it or not, despite enjoying numerous crepes during our time in Paris, I have never attempted to make them myself.  For some reason, I always assumed that crepes would be difficult to make.

Over the weekend I felt like something decadent for breakfast, but we had very little in the fridge and desperately needed a grocery shop.  A quick google made me realise that crepes are actually very simple, and really are a basic that I should know how to make.

Indian feast: Red Lentil Dahl, Yoghurt and Chickpea Salad & Herbed Naan

Indian is one of our favourite cuisines and especially on a lazy Friday night in, we tend to pick up takeaway from our local Indian place (and they do an amazing student deal so we are regular customers!).  Unfortunately, I have never really been able to recreate the same type of flavours in my own kitchen, despite numerous attempts.

I recently decided to try again, using a recipe from my parents collection of favourites: Spinach and Red Lentil Dahl (recipe below).

A quick internet search yielded the perfect accompaniment: Yoghurt and Chickpea salad

Some crazy part of me decided that I wanted to make naan bread from scratch (though we ate the left overs with store bought chapattis, which were also delicious).  I altered the recipe to use half wholemeal flour and half white flour, and they turned out just the same as using 100% white flour.

If you have a pizza stone that would be ideal for cooking, but otherwise you can turn an oven tray upside down and ensure it is placed in the oven prior to preheating.  Just remember to start the naan early, as it requires a couple of hours for the dough to rise.

Top with melted ghee or butter, and an assortment of herbs (I used coriander and parsley).  Garlic would be fabulous too if you want to scare away some vampires!

Autumn-Inspired French Toast

We woke up on Easter Sunday to a torrential downpour and came to terms with the fact that the Gold Coast has probably seen the last glimpse of summer for the time being.  Despite the ridiculously long weekend, we decided to stay in, relax and enjoy some well deserved down time.

Although it would have been easy to eat chocolate eggs for breakfast, the windy weather got me thinking of autumn foods, so I whipped up a batch of french toast, topped with grilled pear, toasted pecans, cinnamon and maple syrup.

The pears were perfectly ripe and just as good for eating on their own, but I couldn’t help but grill them to put atop our Easter morning feast.

Pumpkin and Feta Mini-Tarts

Last week Kris was rostered on to bring some food to share with his tutorial group at uni, so rather than buying a bag of chips or cookies, we got into the kitchen and whipped up some semi-healthy snacks, including mini pumpkin and feta tarts.

These are super easy, so much so that Kris had no trouble making them on his own, with a small helping hand from me.

BBQ Veggo Skewers

One of the biggest challenges as a vegetarian can be what to take when invited to a BBQ.  For me, fake sausages, aka. ‘fausages’,  just don’t hit the spot, and though a veggie pattie can be a pretty good option, I find my veggo skewers to be the biggest crowd pleaser.

The newest addition to our house is ‘Wesley’, Richard’s new baby , a Webber BBQ.

Of course once he was all set up we immediately wanted to utilise his barbequ-ing power, so I quickly whipped up some veggo options in addition to the typical carnivorous BBQ fare.

For the veggo skewers, I included onion, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, green and red capsicum, cherry tomatoes and halloumi that I had marinated in lemon juice, crushed garlic and olive oil.  Of course, you could use any type of vegetable that you like, and substitute the halloumi for marinated tofu if you prefer.

After chopping up a variety of veggies into regular sized pieces, pierce them with a pre-soaked skewer and intersperse with chunks of halloumi, and marinate in Nandos peri peri sauce for about 30 mins.

I continued to brush the sauce onto the skewers during that time, as well as after they were barbequed, when I put them in the oven for a little while to continue cooking/keep hot.  Unfortunately the halloumi can be a bit of a pain to keep on the skewers, but it is so delicious that it is worth the hassle!

Corn on the cob on the BBQ is one of those things that you just have to try.

Try to buy the corn that is still in its skin, and then you can either soak it in water and put it on the BBQ directly in the skin, or (if you forget to soak it like I did) you can wrap it in foil, add a little water, butter and a squeeze of lemon and throw it on the BBQ.

There is something so good about peeling off the charcoaled silk to reach the perfectly cooked corn on the cob.

Although the weather is slowly cooling down, I expect that we will come up with plenty more veggo BBQ ideas.  Any suggestions?

Soba noodle and avocado salad

I generally find lunch so uninspiring.

Sandwiches, wraps and salads quickly become a bore, and there is normally so little time before uni or in our break to get creative that we end up falling into a rut of repetition when it comes to lunches.

Today we had a day off uni, which was a great chance to catch up on study and all the other little things that have fallen by the wayside, and gave me a chance to make something a little different for lunch.

I have had soba noodles sitting in the pantry for months now, with all good intentions of using them for something, but not knowing exactly what.  A flick through The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook left me inspired to make a soba noodle salad, but lacking a few of the ingredients I adapted the recipe to suit.

The combination of the salty noodles, creamy avocado and crunchy snow peas, carrot and cashews made for an exciting and satisfying lunch, perfect to fill a gap in a day full of study.

Recipe follows…

Vegetarian Sushi and Inari

The best thing about moving to a new area is discovering all the little things that there are on offer.  The other day while grocery shopping, I discovered a little Japanese supermarket right next to Woolworths.  Though some of the items were a bit of a mystery (especially for a vegetarian), I picked up a few ingredients and headed home to make sushi for dinner.

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