This recipe is Spanish and it’s a really tasty way to cook cauliflower. It’s got lots of garlic and chilli so it’s a fantastic side dish to cook with baked fish or with other salads. It’s also got healthy lemon and parsley so it’s packed with vitamins and also very low carb. It can be served hot or at room temperature.
Moqueca is a super easy traditional Brazilian fish stew which is creamy and tangy all at once because it has the brilliant combo of lime juice, coconut milk and chilli. It will warm your cockles even on an autumn evening and take you to somewhere a little bit more exotic if you are not there already. You can also use fresh squid, sea bream, haddock, clams, mussels, scallops, crab or whatever is available or whatever you fancy in it. It’s up to you. Its really delicious with basmati rice or crusty bread if you are not low carbing it. Perfect for a dinner party or just a dinner for two.
Kale crisps are really crunchy and really tasty. My friend Amanda has been making these for years and I said I would do a version for her. Everyone is mad about Kale. I love peas, but kale is a another delicious superfood that’s incredibly popular. I bake mine in coconut oil because coconut oil doesn’t become toxic when heated, unlike other oils. These kale chips are delicious as a low carb, high fibre snack that’s packed with vitamins and minerals. They are also perfect sprinkled on salads and other savoury dishes as a healthy garnish. I added truffle salt to mine to give them a bit more va va voom. Garlic salt will add a stronger flavour too as would a grating of Parmesan.
This salad is just an assembly job and only takes a few minutes to make. It originally comes from a low carb cook book I covet called Easy Low Carb and the recipes are complied by different authors. I think it’s out of print now, but it’s full of recipes to inspire anyone who wants to cook low carb or low G.I. but wants to keep it interesting and delicious. I have tweaked this recipe a bit to suit my tastes. I replaced the vinegar with lemon juice and added a tad of sweetness and lemon zest because lemon zest from organic unwaxed lemons is a really healthy addition to your food as well as super tasty. This salad is perfect with fish or meat or with other salads or just as a snack.
I love this delicious Madur Jaffrey dairy free creamy fish curry recipe and have been cooking it for ever. It’s perfect for Friday night dinner, a dinner party or as an antidote to all the Christmas fare at Christmas. It’s great served with a wedge of lime and fantastic to serve on Christmas eve to guests as a simple supper with basmati rice or with whatever you fancy.
Recipe
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
A thumb size piece of ginger
3 green chillies
7 cloves of peeled garlic
400ml can of coconut milk
250ml carton of coconut cream
4 tablespoons of coconut oil or olive
3 medium onions finely chopped
8 small tomatoes halved
800g of white skinless fish (haddock, cod, monkfish), cut into big chunks
¾ teaspoon of turmeric
¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
A handful of coconut chips, toasted in a dry pan (optional)
A bunch of finely chopped coriander (optional)
Salt to taste
I have never met anyone that doesn’t love Melanzane Parmigiana. This is pretty much the recipe my Italian grandmother passed on to her children and with nearly all of my recipes I look at loads of versions of them and take the best bits from each one to create what I think is the perfect hybrid, and that’s what I’ve done with this Sicilian recipe. I really love aubergine and this version of melanzane parmigiana that I have created is great because it’s spot on in the flavour department. It’s low carb and great with meat and/or salad because its really satisfying as well as delicious. You could also serve it with pasta. Tonight, I’m testing it on friends (cooked the night before and reheated in their oven) I’ll get back to you on what they think.
Yes! They really really loved it……
Serves 6 (but you can halve the ingredients)
Ingredients:
4 aubergines sliced into thinish slices , approx one pound coin thick which can be lengthwise or in discs
2 tablespoons of olive oil plus more for the aubergines
1 red onion finely sliced
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
2 400g tins of plum tomatoes
a sprig of oregano or a teaspoon of dried
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
200g of thinly sliced mozzarella
100g of freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper
How:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Oil a baking tray, place the slices of aubergine on the tray in a single layer and make sure the upper side of the aubergine is sprayed or brushed with oil too.
Bake for 20-30 minutes until brown, you may have to do this in batches. Then set aside.
In a large saucepan, fry the onion gently in the olive oil for about five minutes.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, maple syrup and red wine vinegar.
Gently bring to the boil and let it gently bubble for about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Like a lasagna, in a deepish baking dish layer the aubergine in a single layer first and then sprinkle with some Parmesan and slices of mozzarella then a layer of tomato sauce, repeat until all the ingredients are used up.
To get a crispy top, finish with a layer of the aubergine topped with the Parmesan, bake at 180°C for 40-50 minutes or until getting brown, you might want to put tin foil over the top for the first 20 minutes if you don’t want it too crispy, however I like it a bit burnt as the cheese goes a bit Welsh rarebity. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Note: if you want it a bit less oily, you can boil the aubergines whole for 20 minutes, allow to cool and then slice and put them in the recipe.
A delicious starter or light main course the walnuts add a bit of crunchiness and the mint makes it delicious. It’s lovely on its own or with crusty bread and other salads.
