Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Quiche #1

Quiche #1

Got too many eggs?  Too many left over veg? A lot goes into this vego-herb quiche, but it's damn worth it. I invented this recipe on a day when I had too many eggs and vegetables, and no idea what to do with them. Well, I sure did find a solution, and it's become a favorite.

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 eggplant, cubed
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, finely diced
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves off stem, diced
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves off stem
4 sage leaves, sliced, diced
2-4 mushrooms, diced
5 eggs, whisked
3 tbsp sour cream
1 cup of cheese, grated
1 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 carrot, grated
1/2 zucchini, grated
1 sheet of puff pastry
1 tomato, finely sliced


Method
1)  Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
2) Salt the cubed eggplant, allow to sit for 3-4 minutes until moisture appears. Dab dry with paper towel, and shake off excess salt.
3)  Heat butter and oil together in fry pan to a medium high temperature, and fry off onion and garlic until golden.
4) Add herbs to pan, along with eggplant and mushrooms. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with sour cream, half of the grated cheese, and the flour. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5) Add the carrot and zucchini to fry pan, and fry off briefly until any liquid evaporates. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
6) Grease a pie tin with some of the olive oil, and line with puff pastry.
7) Add the vegetable mixture into the egg mixture and pour into the pie tin.
8) Spread over remaining cheese, and lay sliced tomato over the top
9) Bake for 40-45 minutes, until not wiggly, and a knife comes out clean.


Smokey BBQ Eggplant and Zucchini

Smokey BBQ Eggplant and Zucchini 

What does a vegetarian have at a BBQ? Enter the smokey BBQ Eggplant and Zucchini burger! Instead of eating a sausage in bread (we are Australian), try the smokey BBQ Zucchini in bread, topped with onions and BBQ sauce. Australian AND vegetarian. Bring on the BBQ!

Ingredients

Dry spice rub
1 1/2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
2 tsp smoked paprika

Spice sauce
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp smoked paprika

Other
1 eggplant, thickly sliced
2 zucchinis, thickly sliced
salt
oil oil

Method
Mix the Cajun seasoning, paprika and oregano to make a dry spice rub.
Salt the eggplant and zucchini and leave for 5-10 minutes, until drops of water appear.
Dab dry with paper towel, and shake off salt
Rub the eggplant and zucchini with dry spice rub.
Mix the BBQ and tomato sauce with the paprika.
Preheat oil on BBQ grill or a pan.
Fry off eggplant and zucchini until soft.
Baste with the sauce to taste.



Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Balsamic Beetroot and Feta Salad

Balsamic Beetroot and Feta Salad

Feta and balsamic beetroot is a delicious balance of sweet and tart. This recipe is adapted from Taste.com.au: Orange and Balsamic Beetroot. I like to turn it into a salad with the addition of feta, spinach and rocket.

Ingredients

Balsamic Beetroots
4 Beetroots, peeled, thickly sliced or quartered
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

Salad 
1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed
1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup rocket leaves


Method
1) Preheat an oven to 190 degrees Celsius.
2) In a bowl, add balsamic vinegar, orange juice, brown sugar, and oil and stir to combined.
3) Add beetroots to a baking dish.  Pour balsamic mixture over beetroots in baking dish.
4) Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until beetroots have softened. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Either have the balsamic beetroots as a side to a roast dinner, or turn into a salad:

Feta Salad
5) Toss the feta and leaves in a bowl. Add the beetroots and use the remaining sauce as a dressing. If sauce is too thick, add another dash of balsamic vinegar.

Tuesday, 17 May 2016

Beetroot 'Red Velvet' Cupcakes

Beetroot 'Red Velvet' Cupcakes

I make this one for the kids, and then end up eating most of them. Yum!

Ingredients
2 large beetroots, peeled and grated
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of almond meal
4 tbsp cacao powder
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup brown sugar


Method
1) Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius
2) Grease a 12 cup cake tray, or line with cupcake cases
3) Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix with a blender. Spoon into cupcake cases.
4) Cook for 40 minutes, or until skewer comes out clean.

Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Eggplant Parmigiana Burger

Eggplant Parmigiana Burger

The eggplant parmigiana is great with pasta, smothered with a home-made tomato sauce, and topped with mozzarella cheese melted under a grill. This recipe is a twist on the vegetarian eggplant parmigiana, turned into a delicious burger.

Ingredients
1 large eggplant, thickly sliced
Salt
1 cup plain flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs (or panko breadcrumbs for crunchier result)
Oil (canola, vegetable or olive)
1 tomato, thickly sliced
Mixed herbs
1 large onion, sliced
Cheese, preferably mozzarella
Tomato sauce
bread roll, buttered


Method
1) Slice eggplant into large burger sized slices. Salt the eggplant and leave for 2-3 minutes until moisture is present. Dab dry with paper towel and shake off excess salt.
2) Roll eggplant in flour, then in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs.
3) Heat oil to medium high temperature in a pan. Fry the eggplant slices until golden. Remove from pan.
4) Sprinkle the mixed herbs on the tomato slices.  Fry the tomato slices until soft. Fry the onion slices until soft and colored.
5) Assemble burger with eggplant slices, tomato slices, onions, sprinkle of cheese on the bread roll. 6) Grill in the oven until cheese has melted. Add tomato sauce to taste.

Alternatively, enjoy the eggplant instead of a sausage on bread, with BBQ sauce and onions


Tuesday, 3 May 2016

Broke AF Uni Student Banana Bread (Vegan Version)

Vegan Banana Bread

This is a recipe I have cooked many times. I was given this recipe when I was at uni, from the Griffith University Vegetarian and Vegan Society. It is fail-safe go-to for a delicious banana bread treat that is also kid-friendly.

You can add yummy extras to the bread, such as chopped walnuts, almonds, pecans, blueberries or mixed fruit.

You can also substitute the vegan friendly ingredients for vegetarian friendly ingredients, such as normal milk and butter. I just use whatever is lying around. Enjoy.

Ingredients
2 cups of Self Raising flour
1/2 sugar (brown sugar can also be used)
2 very ripe bananas, smooshed
1/3 cup Nuttelex (or any other vegan butter/margarine)
1/2 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

Also, you can add...
Vegan chocolate chips
Berries (Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries ect)
Chopped up nuts (Macadamia nuts, cashews, ect)

Method
1) Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2) Grease a loaf tin, or grease and line a loaf tin with baking paper.
3) Sift flour and sugar in a bowl. Create a well
4) In another bowl, add margarine, soy milk, vanilla and any other extras to the smooshed banana.
5) Add the banana mixture into the flour, and fold until combined.
6) Spoon into the loaf tin, and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Storage
Store in the fridge
Best had the next day. 
Heat it up by toasting in a toaster.
It can also be sliced up and frozen. Defrost in the toaster.


Banana bread with diced dark chocolate & blueberries




Honey Carrot Cake

Honey Carrot Cake

My son asked for a carrot cake for his 9th birthday. His birthday fell on May Day, which is a public holiday, so all of the shops were closed. I had to substitute a number of ingredients but the cake turned out beautifully. My son loved this one for his birthday.

Ingredients
2 large carrots
1/2 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tbsp baking soda/bi-carb soda
1/2 tsp cinamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Ingredients for the icing
1/2 tsp vanilla essence 
1/2 cup icing sugar
250g cream cheese

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 150 degree celcius. Grease a 20cm cake tin and line with grease proof paper.
2) Peel and finely grate the carrots.
3) Sift the flours, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl.
4) In a seperate bowl, add the sugar, oil, honey, and vanilla. Mix until well combined.
5) Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and fold until combined. Add carrots and stir in. Do not over mix or cake will be tough.
6) Pour the cake mixture into cake tin. Bake for 1 hour or until skewers come out clean.
7) Leave cake to cool for 5 minutes in thetin, then turn out onto cooling rack, remove grease proof paper. Leave to cool.
Icing Method
8) Add the vanilla and icing sugar to a mixing bowl and stir until combined.
9) Add the cream cheese and mix until icing sugar and vanilla is well combined through the cheese.
10) Spread on top of cake.

Notes
*When I made this cake, the original recipe used golden syrup instead of honey. I was out of golden syrup and honey. So I substituted the golden syrup with 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup honey.