Thursday, March 20, 2014

Pork and coriander stirfry with black rice



Black rice is packed with nutrients and adds a great favour to salads or stirfries. This is a simple stirfry with the added pleasure of black rice. I like cooking up black rice and freezing individual portions (50 gr) so that I have them ready for a quick meal when I have been at a meeting late. This recipe serves one and can be prepared very quickly so it provides a quick and nutritious meal if you come home late (1862 kJ).



Ingredients

1/2 cup broccoli flowerets
30 gr pak choi
1/2 red capsicum
1 baby carrot
1 pork butterfly steak (175 gr)
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp sambal oelek
1/2 bunch fresh coriander
50g (raw measurement) cooked black rice
Olive oil

Mode

Quickly seal the pork on the grill basting with a little olive oil
Meanwhile chop the broccoli, pak choi, capsicum, carrot and coriander
Crush the garlic
Heat oil in a wok
Cut the pork into thin slices
Add vegetables, pork, coriander, garlic, ginger, and chilli to the wok
Stir fry quickly to desired crunchiness
Stir though the black rice until heated

Lentil and egg salad



The hot Melbourne summer this year called for lots of fresh, crisp salads.  This is one that I made for lunch one day.  I love the combination of the lentils, hard-boiled eggs and crisp vegetables.  There are so many lovely textures and colours. I often soak dry lentils overnight before I cook them but it is not strictly necessary.  They will just need cooking for longer. If you don't want to cook lentils, you can easily add canned lentils to the mix.  When I buy fresh basil leaves, I always seem to have some over.  I hang them to dry and enjoy the intense taste of them in salads or when grilling meat.

Ingredients

100gr French style lentils (puy)
12 red and yellow cherry tomatoes
1 Lebanese cucumber
1/2 red capsicum
2 hard-boiled eggs
1 clove Garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Dried basil leaves


Mode

Soak the lentils in a saucepan of water overnight
Remove water and rinse lentils
Add fresh water to the lentils and boil until tender
Boil the eggs
Cool the eggs
Strain lentils and add to a salad bowl
Peel and roughly chop eggs
Half cherry tomatoes
Roughly chop cucumber and red capsicum
Add egg and vegetables to the lentils
Add dried basil leaves to taste
Add crushed garlic, ginger, and olive oil
Toss all ingredients
Eat for lunch with a crusty loaf of bread



Almond chia pudding with raspberries


It is probably a misnomer to call this a pudding as that implies a bit more effort going into the making.  But it is a pudding. I am a chia seed novice and bought some for the first time this week.  So this is really playing.  I have seen people with fabulous chia breakfasts and that's what I wanted too.  It was yummy.  I'll be continuing to experiment.



Ingredients

1 cup almond milk
3 tbs chia seeds
1/4 cup raw almonds
45 gr frozen raspberries
Cinnamon


Mode

Add chia seeds to almond milk in a bowl
Put in the refrigerator overnight to allow the seeds to absorb the almond milk
In the morning remove from the refrigerator
Add almonds and frozen raspberries
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Enjoy!