thefoodwife – Page 58 – The Food Wife

Quick and Easy Flat Breads

14th July 201825th September 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 9 small flat breads

This is such a great recipe that you can fling together in just a few minutes and is so simple itâ€™s basically impossible to go wrong.

I have included a basic version here but there is nothing to stop you adding some flavourings such as spices or herbs. These would be great served with a variety of salads such as my Halloumi and Courgette Salad with a Lemon and Chilli dressing, or my Spiced Butternut Squash, Feta and Pomegranate Salad.

You can scale up and down the recipe as required. Youâ€™re probably aiming for two or three of these per person at this small size. Of course there is nothing stopping you making fewer but larger ones.

Ingredients:
6 heaped tbsp self-raising flour
6 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
A pinch of salt

Step 1: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a metal spoon to make a soft, spongey dough.

Step 2: Heat a non-stick frying pan on a medium high heat.

Step 3: Dust your hands with flour and take a heaped tbsp of the mixture and flatten between your hands until about 3mm thick.

Step 4: Place in the heated pan and cook on each side for about two minutes per side. It should expand slightly and brown slightly.

Step 5: Repeat with the rest of the mix and serve warm.

I found I could cook about three in the pan at once – just keep your hands dusted to ensure they donâ€™t stick.

N.b. I used a Greek yogurt in the flat breads which is very thick, if you are using a runnier yogurt you may well need to add more flour to create a doughy consistency that is not too sticky. Add a little extra at a time until you have a workable dough.

Veggie Kebabs in a Japanese Style Marinade

11th July 201811th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Makes 6 kebabs

When providing vegetarian or vegan fare for a barbecue it’s nice to offer something a little different to your standard veggie burgers and sausages. This marinade has Japanese flavours from the soy, mirin and seaweed and the orange adds a citrus hit (although if you can find it, try it with some yuzu juice instead).

The seaweed is really powerful in the marinade and holds up against the other flavours well. It gives off a definite seaside scent but don’t worry, this transforms when cooked.

If you want to go meaty, this would be nice with cubes of pork on a kebab too.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:
3 tbsp mirin (gluten-free if required)
3 tbsp light soy sauce (gluten-free if required)
Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp dried nori flakes

For the kebabs:
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 red onion, quartered and separated into petals
12 mushrooms
12 cherry tomatoes
You will also need 6 kebab sticks (if wooden, soak in water for a couple of hours first)

Step 1: Combine the marinade ingredients in a dish or sealable bag and mix.

Step 2: Add your prepared vegetables and leave, covered, to marinate for about 2 hours.

Step 3: Take your kebab sticks and skewer your vegetables on, ensuring you have different pieces next to each other. Start and finish with a mushroom to ensure things don’t go AWOL. Have two mushrooms and two tomatoes per skewer. N.b. The onions will have softened in the marinade; this will make them extra sweet when cooking.

Step 4: Cook on a hot barbecue for a couple of minutes on each side, turning to ensure they don’t burn.

Pesto

9th July 20189th July 2018
by thefoodwife

This weekend we hosted a family barbecue and one of the side dishes was a large pesto pasta salad. Whilst pesto from a jar is convenient, making your own is so straightforward and tastes so much fresher. Plus you get the bonus of filling the house with the beautiful smell of basil.

You could toast the pine nuts in a dry pan to intensify their nuttiness, and you could also reserve a few of them, along with some of the basil leaves, to garnish the salad.

I used pecorino, an Italian cheese similar to parmesan but made with sheep’s milk, as I was catering for someone with an allergy to cows milk, but you could use either. And of course you don’t have to serve this with pasta, it would be good with fish, chicken, roasted vegetables or anything you fancy!

I’m pretty confident this went down well based on the spoonfuls my nephew was shovelling onto his plate. And the good news is it will keep a few days in the fridge.

Ingredients:
40g pine nuts (toasted if you like, and you could reserve a few for decoration)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
40g pecorino or parmesan, roughly chopped
40g basil leaves (reserve a few for decoration if you like)
6 tbsp olive oil
A pinch each of salt and pepper

Step 1: Place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until they are in a thick paste. Alternatively you could use a pestle and mortar. Add more olive oil if you want a looser consistency.

Serve immediately, or store in the fridge in a sealed tub, with a little extra olive oil over the top.

Bolognese Sauce

6th July 20186th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 8

Many families will have their preferred bolognese sauce and I am a big fan of adding lots of vegetables to mine, but I do it in a sneaky way. So sneaky that my husband, who cannot stand mushrooms or courgettes, doesnâ€™t mind me jam-packing them into my bolognese as even he admits he canâ€™t taste whatever he finds so offensive normally!

I find the addition of lots of finely minced vegetables (I do mine in a food processor) makes a better sauce than one simply using tomato and onion. I have used red wine, but you could use white. I used dried oregano but a little rosemary would also work well (I actually used an oil that had been infused with rosemary). Basil added at the end of cooking would also make a good addition.

And a note on the chicken livers; this is optional but Iâ€™d urge you to give it a go – it makes a richer, more flavourful sauce. It may be that you just donâ€™t mention theyâ€™re in there, much like my mum used to when we were growing up!

Ingredients:
Olive oil
2 celery sticks
2 red onions
1 large or 2 medium carrots
1 courgette
1 red pepper
4 fat cloves of garlic
250g chestnut mushrooms
500g lean beef mince
200g chicken livers
1kg passata
1 glass red wine
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (gluten-free if required)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
1 tsp caster sugar

Step 1: Begin by finely chopping all of your vegetables (I used a food processor).

Step 2: Heat some oil in a large pan (about 2 tbsp), on a medium heat. Add the celery, onion and carrot and soften for about eight to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 3: Next add the red pepper, courgette and mushrooms along with the garlic and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 4: Remove the softened vegetables and set to one side.

Step 5: Add some more olive oil to the pan (about 1 tbsp) and then add the beef mince, and cook until browned, about five or 10 minutes, then add your chicken livers (if using) and stir now and again for a couple of minutes.

Step 6: Reintroduce your vegetables along with the passata, herbs, bay leaves, wine, Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and then lower the heat and cover with a lid and allow to cook for 45 minutes.

Step 7: Now season to taste and check if it needs a little caster sugar; a teaspoon should be enough.

Serve with pasta or you could use this as the meat layer of a lasagne.

Mexican-Style Salad

4th July 201816th July 2018
by thefoodwife

Serves 2-3

So this week we had one of my quesadillas (using leftover chicken breast from one I roasted at the weekend) and I wanted a Mexican-inspired salad to go with it. The lime juice made it really fresh and the jalapeÃ±os give you spikes of heat whilst the addition of sweetcorn give it a lovely sweetness.

Ingredients:

For the salad:
1 head of gem lettuce, larger leaves sliced, smaller leaves left whole
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 carrot, peeled into ribbons
1 small avocado, peeled, stoned and cut into cubes
1/2 small tin of drained sweetcorn
1 tbsp red jalapeÃ±os from a jar, chopped
1 tbsp coriander, chopped

For the dressing:
1 lime (juice only)
Olive oil

Step 1: Combine all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Step 2: Squeeze over the juice of a lime and a small drizzle of olive oil.

It is best to make this as soon as you are planning to eat; the lime juice will stop the avocado from discolouring but you donâ€™t want the salad going limp from the dressing.