From WWII to my kitchen table. This a healthy, wholesome nibble when you are looking for something to fill that four o’clock spot. Anzac slices originated during the second world war. They were sent with the Australian and Nieu-Zealand soldiers (ANZAC forces) to the front. There is no need to take out your electric mixer, a wooden spoon and a thrifty forearm will do.
This a healthy, wholesome nibble when you are looking for something to fill that four o'clock spot.
Prep Time10mins
Cook Time25mins
Resting Time10mins
Course: Snack
Keyword: biscuits, oats
Equipment
Stove or Microwave
Oven
Ingredients
3CRolled Oats
2CFlour
2CCoconut
1CSugar
250grMargarine / Butter
4tbspGolden syrup / Honey
4tbspWater
1tspSalt
1tspBicarbonate of soda
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160'C.
Grease a standard sized baking tray.
Combine the oats, flour, sugar, coconut, salt and bicoarbonate of soad in a bowl.
Place butter, syrup and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until butter has melted. Alternatively place butter and syrup in a microwave container and melt in the microwave until the butter has melted.
Stir in the butter mxture through the oat mixture.
Place the mixture into the tray and press down firmly.
Bake for approximately 25 min or until lightly golden brown.
Leave in the baking tray to cool for 10 minutes. Cut in squares before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Flavour Herbs and spice Spice profile Life is about flavour Acidity The tartness kick Acid profile Tart but not sour Fresh Made from scratch Fresh profile Fresh is better Floor Main starch base Floor profile Base or starch Frugal Living better Frugal profile How …
I looked at this recipe and thought: You gotta be kidding! A raw, cold avocado pasta sauce? Made with very little ingredients?
But the two ripe Has avocados were winking at me. Either this or avo toast for breakfast. And I am delighted that I did it. The entire recipe took as long as the pasta took to cook. 8 minutes. Talk about fast food, all ye junkies! Cannot be better than this.
The secret of this recipe is freshness. I had a good bag of fresh basil – with some spectacular thick stalks. I had two perfectly ripe avocado. I had bought fresh garlic this afternoon. And I had excellent extra virgin olive oil from Italy. (Never, but never skimp on your olive oil!)
The one thing I learned from my grocer is to buy Has avocado. For some reason, they ripen from the centre out, which means that when it is soft to the touch, it is perfectly ripe. Other avocado apparently do the opposite. It ripens inwards, which means that when soft, it is still unripe in the centre. Also, the Has has a smaller pip and more flesh, which is what you want here.
The pasta is equally important. Buy good quality imported Italian pasta. It will easily cook “al dente” – “with a bite” – which is soooo much better than cooking something that suddenly falls apart and becomes a stodgy mess. You need bite here, trust me. I used large penne for this dish, as I wanted surface area to cover with all that creamy green goodness. For me, spaghetti woudl not have worked as well, but you are welcome to try. Post some feedback on how it worked out.
There is another recipe – pickling your own bell peppers – that has a delicious pickling liquid recipe. However, this recipe focuses on the peppers. Someone asked me recently why I buy a box of peppers at a time. Well, as a box costs …
After a comment by my daughter that everything I cook in my vegetarian journey is Indian, I decided to do something fresh and delicious. And not Indian. Well, almost. I did make an accompanying dal Tadka as a meat replacement. But the inspiration came from a chickpea recipe.
So, looking at recipes and finding that most of the high rated ones were in fact Indian, I found an interesting recipe in cookieandkate.com (lovely website). This sparked a few ideas which matched the content of the pantry. A quick trip to our favourite Lynnpark Market, and I had some fresh dill, spectacular rocket and a lovely variety of fresh paprika chilies of various types, shapes and sizes.
What I loved about the recipe I read was the dressing of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. Sounded fresh and tasty. Also, when added in similar proportions, it made a wonderful silky emulsion.
I decided that the star of the dish should be the chickpea. Wonderfully meaty and chewy, but sometimes lacking in taste, this was a great way to elevate it.
The ingredients are simple and humble – chickpea, black beans, celery, cucumber, paprika chilies and dill. Together, they hugged and sang a few football songs. For the meat eaters, add a simple minced beef recipe. For the Indian lovers, add a dal Tadka. The one thing that just works very well is to squeeze some lime quarters over the dish.
This is a fresh and lovely vegetarian meal that is quick to prepare and delicious to keep for the next day.
Prep Time15mins
Cook Time20mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: black bean, chickpea
Servings: 5people
Ingredients
1canChickpeas, drained and rinsed
1canBlack beans, drained and rinsed
2stalksCelery, finely sliced
15cmOf a large English cucumber, diced
2wholePaprika chilies
½cupDill, finely chopped
¼cupOlive oilextra virgin
¼cupLemon juice
4clovesGarlic, minced
1tspSalt
1tspRed chili flakes
1lemonZested and squeezed
1bunchFresh rocket
1cupBasmati rice
2cupsWater
1tspSalt for rice
2ripeLimes, quartered
Instructions
Put your rice and water into a steamer, add the salt and let it cook. Basmati takes 10-12 minutes and "stand up" when ready.
Drain and rinse the canned Chickpea and Black Beans properly. No-one wants the gooey liquid in a fresh dish.
Chop the cucumbers finely and add
Finely slice the celery and the Paprika chilies and add. The Paprika should be sweet and tasty, not hot.
Add the olive oil, garlic and lemon juice to a small bowl and whisk until creamy and emulsified. Add the chili flakes and whish in. Set aside to get the garlic to infuse the oil.
Finely chop the dill (only the fine leaves, not the stalks) and add.
Add it all together and let it rest. Zest the lemon into it and, as per your taste, squeeze the fresh lemon over the dish. This adds extra acidity that is lovely.
By now the rice should be cooked.
Combine the meal by scooping a mound of hot rice into the middle of the plate. Line the plate with the fresh rocket on the side and add the chickpea and black bean salad.
For the meat-eaters, my son made a lovely Mexican beef mince to scoop onto the rice.
For the non-meat-eaters, I made a quick dal Tadka (red lentil curry) that was tempered with delicious green chili, cumin, and garlic oil. Scoop this on the rice.
Or, as the dish is so tasty, do not scoop anything on the rice.
Pep up the whole dish by squeezing a lime quarter or two over it. You will be so happy you did.