Pink Quinoa

Thank-you to my Manchester Mamamigas Sam and Leah for introducing me to this nutritious, delicious recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
Grated or chopped beetroot (grated from a jar works well)
Olives
Feta Cheese
Other salad ingredients of your choice.

To make:
Cook the quinoa - it's easy peasy. Use one part quinoa to 2 parts water (so in this recipe 2 cups water), put in a covered pan, bring to the boil. Cook for 15 mins undisturbed then turn off the heat and leave for another 5 mins.
Mix in all the other stuff when the quinoa has cooled.
It tastes good with balsamic vinegar on it too.

Potato wedges

To go with homemade fishfingers and homemade baked beans!!!

• Heat up oven to medium.
• Cut a load of potatoes (washed but with skins) into similar size wedges.
• Parboil for 7 mins
• Drain and return to pot they boiled in.  Add a glug of olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, a bit of curry powder, oregano, and juice of half a lemon (adjust all of these according to palate). Jiggle pot with lid on so they get evenly coated.
• Put in oven tray and bake in oven for at least 40 mins or until crispy.

Freshly made fish fingers and snitzel

The best fish for Fish Fingers is Percha (that horrible one from Lake Victoria, see scary 'Darwin's Nightmare' documantary) - its firm and fleshy and doesnt crumble. It's also cheap.

• Cut into fish finger size fingers. 
• Get 3 plates: one with flour, one with beaten egg, one with crumbs. Do the 'conveyer belt' thing: roll in flour, dip in egg, roll in crumbs. 
• Shallow fry until golden each side (careful the egg tends to burn easily).

You can also make Snitzel in a similar way (my Greek yaya used to make this for me when I was little, even though I suppose it must be German by the name).

• Tenderise fillets of chicken or pork by covering in clingfilm and bashing with a rolling pin.
• Do conveyor belt thing.
• Shallow fry.

Total comfort food!

XZ.

Roasted veg and chickpea bake

Just invented this yesterday, i'm proud to say. yummy and easy.

Ingredients: Assorted veg, roughly chopped (i used an onion, half a red pepper, some green pepper, a potatoe, a fresh tomato, a courgette, and about half  aheda of garlic, chopped in half wiht the skin still on). Half cup raisins (any dried fruit like apricots, dates, prunes, dried pears would probably be nice too). About a cup of tomatoes sauce (I used homemade but im sure bought would be fine), a big cup of cooked chickpeas (im sure any other bean would be a good substitute), oil, salt, pepper, herbs/spices, half tsp brown sugar, cup of water.

Method: Mix it all together in a  big ovenproof tin, making sure its all coated with oil and herbs/spices. Cook in medium oven, check after an hour. This dish can be reheated and it's even better for ebign left and reheated the next day, like most 'oily' dishes (that's what we call oil-cooked oven dishes in Greece).

Xzoe.

Amazing Alien Sauce!

Born of the necessity of no cow dairy, no tomato, no tuna, here's a little something I knocked up to go with pasta which turned out to be a great success! It's essentially espinacas a la catalana with pesto ;-)

Ingredients: all quantities are approx, adjust to taste

• Spinach - I use about half a bag of the frozen spinach pellets from Mercadona which defrosts really quickly and is already blended, so perfect for sauces.
• Basil - dried, fresh, in a squeezy tube...
• Peeled sunflower seeds - pipas - or pine nuts
• Raisins
• Bouillon powder
• Goats cheese, one big disc
• Olive oil
• Pesto if you can do dairy, but even without and enough basil it tastes good

1. Toast the  pipas in a dry frying pan then set aside
2. Throw spinach in frying pan with dash of olive oil, stir until it defrosts
3. Stir in a good shake of basil and a teaspoon of bouillon powder and a handful of raisins
4. Crumble in the goats cheese until its all melty
5. Take off the heat and stir in a couple of tablespoons of pesto and the toasted pipas

Et voila!!!

Crust-optional leek and corn quiche

My tía Laura made this last time I was in Uruguay, and it is really easy and yummy.

1 red pepper
6 leeks
1 can of corn
5 eggs (3 of them hard boiled)
Grated cheese (amount and kind up to you)

Lightly sauté the chopped red pepper, and add sliced leeks. Add can of corn (or healthier still, some fresh or frozen corn). Turn off the heat, and mix in the 3 chopped hard boiled eggs, and 2 or 3 eggs to bind the whole thing. Add grated cheese to taste. Take that to the oven until set and golden on top.

Fainá de calabacines

If you want to know what a fainá is, buy a plane ticket to Uruguay, or to Italy, or just look it up in Wikipedia.
Here's a veggie twist on the recipe, it's super easy, quick, and yummy.

Mix or blend:
3 eggs
3 tablespoons oil
1 1/3 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt, pepper

Add and mix in:
1/2 kilo raw grated courgettes
1 cup grated cheese.

Pour into a buttered large pan. Bake at 350ºF/175ºC for 20 minutes.

Raw Choconana Pudding

1 avocado
1/2 ripe banana
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine in food processor until pudding-like. May add water