We were supposed to go to a Pot Luck lunch today (Tuesday) but we ended up not going because Todd had had a bad night's sleep. I ended up with a big bowl of this delicious salad, but no worries. I won't mind having it for lunch for a few days. Its quite healthy, and low in fat, high in fibre and well, just really tasty!
I love salads made with Israeli couscous. Also known as Ptitim , Israeli couscous is a type of toasted pasta shaped like rice grains or
little balls developed in Israel in the 1950s when rice was scarce.
Outside Israel, it is typically marketed as Israeli couscous, Jerusalem
couscous, or pearl couscous.
When we lived down South, I used to pick up a butternut squash, couscous and rocket salad at one of the local shops that I really, really liked. It just really lends itself to these types of salads.
The recipe is one that I adapted from a newsletter I get from Simple Nourished Living. It is a weight watchers friendly recipe as well as being very high in fibre and diabetic friendly. She used Orzo pasta. I did not have any orzo pasta, and used the Israeli couscous instead. It worked perfectly.
I also didn't have any feta cheese, so I used coarsely grated Parmigiano Reggiano, which worked very well, and it lower in fat than the feta. It has a lovely salty, cheesy flavour also.
Marinated artichoke hearts. Yum. I adore artichokes. I rinsed mine under hot water so that I could get rid of as much oil from them as possible. Doing this in no way affects the flavour. You don't need to do this, its just what I always do.
She used whole plum tomatoes, but I chose to use baby plum tomatoes. I picked up some really lovely ones in M&S yesterday that were lovely and sweet. I love the vegetables you get at M&S. I know you pay more, but they taste better. Sometimes its worth it, especially when you are talking about tomatoes. These were fabulous!
I got my spinach at M&S as well. Look at that beautiful colour!
With some spring onions or a bit of sharpness, and a punchy lemon and tarragon vinaigrette, this is a fabulously tasty salad. I confess, I kept dipping my fork into the bowl, for one more bite. Naughty me!
*Couscous Salad*
Serves 6
Combine the tomatoes, artichoke hearts, spinach and spring onions in a large bowl. Add the capers and couscous. Toss together well. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the couscous and vegetables. Sprinkle on the cheese and toss together again, until everything is well coated and mixed together. Serve at room temperature.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.
I am pretty sure that this recipe could very easily be cut in half. You are just going to love it. Any leftovers can be refrigerated, but bear in mind the lemon juice will cook the spinach leaves a bit. No worries, its still pretty tasty! Bon Appetit!
After eating meat free for several weeks now I found myself really craving chicken this weekend. I went to the shops to buy a roasting chicken. (Who doesn't adore roast chicken. Not me!)
They didn't have any that looked particularly tasty to me. (I like free-range organic and in a roaster, corn-fed.)
They did have some free-range organic corn-fed chicken leg quarters however, so I picked them up and brought them home.
I once knew a person who couldn't eat chicken on the bone. Chicken on the bone has never bothered me per se, but I cannot stand cold chicken on the bone.
Once it is cooked, I have to take it off the bone. I really don't like the flavour of re-heated chicken on the bone.
If we are in a restaurant and I order chicken, I can always tell if it has been pre-cooked and then re-heated on the bone. That is a HUGE turn-off to me. Just one of my quirks I guess.
There is a trinity of flavour that goes very well with chicken, on or off the bone. That is . . . lemon, garlic and herbs.
Fresh lemon, both the zest and the juice . . . minced garlic . . . and herbs like garlic and oregano. Mix them with any piece of chicken and you have a marriage of flavours that is heaven-sent!
This is what I used when I cooked my chicken leg quarters . . . that and a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, which I both pushed beneath the skin of the thigh portion of the quarters and then all over the outsides of the chicken.
After that it is as simple as roasting it in a hot oven to begin with and then a moderate oven to finish. Oh boy but these are some tasty!
We like them with baked potatoes and vegetables. But I don't think it really matters what you put them with. The chicken is the star here!
*Lemon, Garlic & Herb Chicken Quarters*
Serves 4
4 large chicken leg/thigh quarters
2 TBS olive oil
Mix together the oil, thyme, oregano, minced garlic, sea salt, black pepper and lemon zest. Loosen the skin from the thigh portion of the leg quarters and rub a bit of it in under the skin, pushing the ckin back into place after. (Make sure you don't use it all up) Place the leg quarters into the baking dish and rub the remaining herb mixture all over the legs, top and bottom. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over all.
Roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4 for a further 20 to 25 minutes until the chicken is golden brown and the juices run clear. Serve hot.
We like these with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables.
Note - for additonal flavour you can slice some peeled onion and place in the bottom of the baking dish and lay the chicken leg quarters on top of that prior to baking.
I was really naughty on this day and had a whole baked potato all to myself, topped with some sour cream, spring onions and bacon bits (soya ones) . . . just like I used to be able to get in one of my favourite restaurants back home. Full disclosure here . . . I would have been over the moon with just the potato. That was a real treat for me! Bon Appetit!
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In all truth my favourite flavour of all baked goodies has to be lemon, followed closely by chocolate . . . I would actually be very hard pressed to choose between the two, but I (hand to heart) have to admit that lemon has a slight edge over chocolate.
This means that I will choose a lemon slice over a brownie, lemon cake over chocolate cake, lemon muffins over chocolate muffins, and lemon meringue pie instead of chocolate cream pie . . . every time. YES, every single time. It brings a slight tear to my eye that I would ever have to choose between the two, but alas, you really cannot have it all.
Lemon Slices are my absolute favourite of all baked squares. ABSOLUTE.
And no wonder . . . with their crisp shortbread cookie type of base . . . and that wobbly lemon curd topping. What's not to totally love about that combination!
These are fabulous and are really simple to make. The crust is a buttery crumb that you press into the pan and bake . . . the lemon filling a simple mix that you pour over top of the baked base . . .
Blackberries and lemon are a fabulous combination . . . both in flavour and colour.
Today I chose to add a layer of blackberry flavour in between the crust and the topping by way of some blackberry conserve . . .
Not only does this add colour and interest, but it also adds an additional layer of flavour . . .
Just look at that . . . with its crisp buttery base and that lovely lemon topping . . . with that ribbon of blackberry in the middle. Oh boy . . .
Beautiful for a special tea party if you are planning one, and beautiful just enjoyed as a part of your weekend indulgence . . .
Oh, I do love to pull out the stops a tiny bit at the weekend, and these were the perfect way to do just that. I think you will agree.
*Lemon & Blackberry Slices*
Makes 15 squares
Makes 15 squares
A butter, almost shortbread type of base, topped with sweet blackberry conserves, with a tangy lemon curd topping baked on top. Delicious.
For the base:
280g of plain flour (2 cups)
225g of cold unsalted butter (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
42g sifted icing sugar (1/3 cup)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
For the jam:
6 heaped dessert spoons blackberry conserves (about 3/4 cup)
For the lemon curd topping:
281g of granulated sugar (1 1/3 cup)
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 TBS plain flour
3 large free range eggs
the juice of 2 1/2 lemons (1/3 cup)
Icing sugar to dust
Preheat
the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 11 by 7 inch baking
dish, Dust with flour, shaking out any excess. Set aside.
(Alternately you can line with foil and butter and dust the foil,
leaving an overhang to lift the slices out when done.)
Whisk the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and drop it in. Rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs. Press this mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, just until it is firm. Remove from the oven.
Whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and flour for the lemon topping. Beat in the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Set aside.
Stir the jam together in a bowl with a fork to loosen it. Spread this over the warm base. Pour the lemon mixture over top and return the pan to the oven. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until it is set and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the pan. Dust with icing sugar. Cut into squares to serve.
Of course you can leave the jam layer out altogether and you will still have a pretty darned tasty slice. If you are not fond of blackberry, you could do raspberry or strawberry, both go very well. These are a crisp buttery, unctuously tart, sweetly ribboned taste sensation that nobody will be able to resist! Bon Appetit! (They scream spring to me!)
As you know we love feeding the Missionaries. The last few months has seen a slow down in that area due to problems with our dishwasher and my health, but thankfully both of those issues seem to have been sorted, with a new dishwasher (courtesy of our appliance insurance) and some changes in my medication and diet! Win/win! So happily I signed up to have each set of Missionaries over for tea this month. The other night we had the first set and this was the dessert I made for them!
Stuffed Baked Apples. Such an easy dish to make and oh-so-delicious! Almost like an apple crumble but much, much easier.
The recipe is set up for four servings, but I did six (easy when you know the math) because I always like to have extra's just in case.
You can use any good eating apple. I used Jazz apples, which had a lovely flavour. (They are like a sweet delicious apple.) They did take a bit longer than some other varieties might take, so do bear that in mind when you are baking apples. Not all varieties are equal, some take longer to bake than others. You just have to keep testing them. When done a sharp knife will slip in easily.
You begin by hollowing out/coring the apples. I use my melon baller, but you can use whatever you have to hand. The thing to remember is, you don't want to core them all the way to the bottom. You will need to keep the bottom end intact so that the filling doesn't leak out from there.
The filling is very simple . . . old fashioned large flake oats, brown sugar, chopped pecans and raisins, some butterscotch or white chocolate chips . . .
Warm baking spices . . . ground cinnamon, cloves (just a pinch because cloves can be very overpowering) and freshly grated nutmeg. Oh, I do love the smell of freshly grated nutmeg, don't you? I always use my fine micro-plane /grater-zester to do this job. I wouldn't be without it.
You could also add some aromatics such as grated orange or lemon zest. This mixture gets stuffed down into the apples . . . and then you top each with a tiny bit of butter, add some hot water in the baking dish around them, cover and bake.
Covered for the first half hour or so, and uncovered for the last. The end result is a very delicious, simple, homey dessert that will have the whole family oohing and aahing. Todd really loves these. You can serve them with pouring cream as I have here, custard (very good) or vanilla bean ice cream (My favourite!). They are lovely served warm. You can bake them earlier in the day and then just pop them back into the oven to re-heat while you are eating your main course. These are real family pleasers!
2 TBS chopped raisins
2 TBS chopped pecans
2 TBS vanilla chips (or butterscotch)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
4 tsp butter
To serve:
Vanilla ice cream, custard or pouring cream
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a baking dish large enough to hold your apples in a single layer.
Wash and dry your apples. Working from the stem end down, core the apples making about 1/2 inch space, leaving bottom intact. A melon baller works great for this.
Mix together the sugar, oats, raisins, pecans, chops, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Pack one quarter of this mixture down into the hollow of each apple, packing it in firmly. Arrange in the baking dish in a single layer, cut side up. Dot the top of each with 1 tsp butter. Pour the hot water into the dish around the apples. Cover loosely with aluminium foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, until the apples are soft and the filling has nicely cooked.
Serve warm with ice cream, custard or pouring cream.
Note - depending on the variety of apples it may take a bit longer. When done, the tip of a sharp knife should easily penetrate near the base of the apples.
Simple desserts like this really are the best. These went down a real treat with everyone! Bonne Weekend!
When we recently made our decision to eat mainly a plant based diet, we decided at the outset that we would still each chicken occasionally as well as fish. Basically it is red meat that we have decided to stop eating, at least for the time being.
When I do buy chicken I always buy free range organic, and corn fed if possible. I can do that as there are only two of us. Had I a larger family I might not be able to afford to do that.
I totally understand the difficulties of feeding a large family on a limited budget, having raised five children myself. You can't always afford to do things according to your conscience.
Chicken breasts are one of those meats that it is really easy to over
cook, and there is nothing more unpalatable or blah than an overcooked,
dried out chicken breast.
There is no saving it really.And when you are using expensive chicken breast meat you want to make sure you don't over cook it and dry it out for sure.
I have a chicken marinade that I like to use which gives the chicken a really nice flavour. Its filled with lots of lovely chopped herbs, lemon and other seasonings that results in a well flavoured juicy piece of chicken.
I often marinade chicken breasts and then cook them on my electric grill to have in the refrigerator for use in salads and sandwiches.
I love salad myself, and could be quite happy with just this. Todd, he-man, likes a potato with his and could happily forego the salad altogether, which is okay.
I can just bake him a potato in the microwave, and cook him some peas and he is a happy camper. Myself, I am thinking that with the salad I am getting the better deal!!
To me there is nothing nicer than a beautiful piece of perfectly cooked moist chicken, sliced and laid out on top of a salad filled with lots of lovely vegetables.
That is what makes me happy. On this particular day I created a delicious spiced creamy dressing to have with my chicken and salad. I was in chicken salad heaven.
*Herb Marinated Chicken Breasts*
Serves 6For the dressing on the salad I made a lovely creamy spiced dressing, which goes very well on chicken salads, or a hearty cobb salad, etc.
*Creamy Spiced Salad Dressing*
Makes about 2 cups
Printable Recipe
This is a delicious dressing that I often use for salads that I am using meats or chicken in. It's spicy and delicious.
220g of good quality mayonnaise (1 cup)
80ml of milk (1/3 cup)
80mof buttermilk (1/3 cup)
1 tsp dried coriander leaves
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
Place all ingredients in a very large jar and shake together until well combined. Chill for several hours to allow the flavours to meld before using. Shake again prior to using.
Mmmm . . . this was some good. I could eat this every day. Happy Friday the 13th. I hope you aren't superstitious! I'm not, I was born on a 13th day of the month (August) and the number 13 has always been lucky for me. Hmm . . . maybe I should buy a lottery ticket for tonight! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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