Salads and Side Dishes | Finding Feasts

Zucchini, Spinach & Dill Fritters

Zucchini, Spinach & Dill Fritters are a delicious pancake style dish that perfectly compliments a light salad or as a side dish to a curry buffet.

My family is still on our alternative day meat free lifestyle, which is going really well. Maybe more so for me as it now gives me a guideline to work with. There really is something to be said about having restrictions to help motivate and encourage new ideas and strategies; whether it be needing to include an ingredient for your diet or remove an ingredient due to allergies, or perhaps it’s even a budget necessity but each one means putting more thought into what you actually eat and stock your fridge and cupboards with.

I was thinking about this recently, as I was going through my ever growing cookbook library, about how, in our mother’s time they would have had two maybe three cookbooks. Cookbooks that would have been worked through thoroughly, family discussions about what was liked and what didn’t really work. Favourite family meals would have be discovered and made often – Sausage Casserole Tuesdays for instance. If you wanted to change it up you would open one of your favourite cookbooks (out of the three) and pick a recipe to make, it was certainly an easier time.

Now, everyone has so many books, so many recipes in printed form, most books of which would be lucky to get one recipe made from it … Perhaps I’m feeling the loss of the simplicity and romance of times gone by… perhaps I need to do a cookbook cull?

This recipe has probably been around in some form or another for many decades. It is full of flavour, especially with one of my most favourite herbs, dill, and can easily accommodate more herbs and spices depending on the style of meal you are serving.

Enjoy, Blondie 🙂

PS: I would never/ could never get rid of my cookbook babies… I think I just need a coffee!

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Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini

Wild Mushroom Mini Arancini or mini deep fried mushroom rice balls for the uninitiated are such a great food to have on hand in the freezer.

Not only are they a great ‘fast food’ to pad out a salad but they are also fantastic to have for emergency nibbles when friends or family pop around.

This volume makes about 60 arancini but this will depend on how big or small you make each ball. To freeze the remaining arancini you simply take the recipe up to the breadcrumb coating stage and then place them on a lined baking tray so they aren’t touching each other and freeze overnight. You then place them into a ziplock bag till required. Cook them from frozen, do not defrost.

Serve them with a garlic aioli and a harissa paste or similar spicy, hot sauce.

… would love to be serving these out of a food truck. You know what they say, put the wish out there, the dream may come true – Blondie 🙂

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Roast Vegetable Salad w/ Black Sesame Gomasio

Roast Vegetable Salad w/ Black Sesame Gomasio is a scrumptious salad that is on high rotation at our house. This salad is chock full of flavours and textures that will appeal to everyone… there’s the creaminess of the avocado, the zing and bite from the pickled beetroot, sweetness and softness the from the roasted vegetables, a mild earthy bite from the brussel sprouts, then dressed with a salty sesame seed sprinkle.

As a family we are currently into week 3 of our new lifestyle of going meat free every second day; one day on, one day off. I enjoy the challenge of coming up with delicious meals that will appeal to an almost 10 year old son, a hubby and myself. I’m very fortunate though that hubby regards salads as a dinner, I can happily serve a big plate of leaves and colourful additions knowing that it will sate his evening appetite … but man cannot live on salads alone, and most certainly not a 10 year old boy!

One trick that serves us all well at dinner time – especially since it’s now winter is to make a couple of dishes to go with it, such as a Potato Dauphinoise – this adds a real comfort food element to this salad (or any salad for that matter) with it’s warm, soft, creamy and cheesy potato layers, or a Broccoli and Cauliflower Mac’n’Cheese.

Another trick is to have some emergency foods ready to use at a moments notice such as mini Wild Mushroom Aranchini Balls, meat free dumplings or potstickers. Make a big batch of them when you do actually make them, then freeze. This way you can pull out what you need when you need them. Have them reheating while you make up the salad.

This ain’t no rabbit food, enjoy! Blondie 🙂

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Pumpkin & Cauliflower in Sweet Tamarind Masala

Pumpkin & Cauliflower in Sweet Tamarind Masala is a simple side dish that is full of flavour and tangy sweetness.

With both my mum and sister having ‘big’ birthday’s – 65 and 40 respectively, we all headed up to the family cabins on the Hawkesbury River for a weekend celebration. Six adults, four kids, two dogs and a cat.Friday was beautiful, and we only just made it in time for the sunset… always breathtaking as the colours cross the water, so a great start to the weekend. Dinner that night was mum’s special Moroccan styled Lamb and Pumpkin Soup with delicious sourdough breads and Pepe Saya Cultured Butter. Simple, clean, well developed flavours – you can never get her soup recipe though as she adds leftover ingredients to the soup through the week so it turns into something quite different from where it started, but always amazing. Anyway, that was the last of the beautiful weather, well actually, Seb and hubby got up for some early morning fishing. The weather was peaceful, Seb caught the first fish – a bream – everything was lovely, and then it all changed. The sun came up and brought with it the massive winds. The temperature dropped the winds were blowing a gale, and the skies were grey. There were fleeting moments of blue sky and sun (still windy as all hell) and the cousins would go back on the wharf for some more fishing. Continue reading “Pumpkin & Cauliflower in Sweet Tamarind Masala” →

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Cauliflower in a Coconut Curry

Cauliflower in a Coconut Curry…Years ago I was given an Indian cookbook by my sister, 1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra. It’s by no means a beautiful coffee table cookbook – there isn’t one photo in it, but a tome to 1000 Indian recipes. I have so many bookmarks in it and I’m slowly getting through them, but this one gets cooked the most. Cauliflower in a Coconut Curry is traditionally done with the whole head of cauliflower kept in tact. It certainly is a show stopper when done this way, but for an easy family meal, cutting it into smaller florets makes it a lot easier to manage.

It’s not strict to the recipe, only because I was missing a couple of ingredients (I replaced the 1/2 cup of yogurt and 1 cup of water with 400g of coconut milk and omitted the coriander and nutmeg) Both are equally amazing but have to admit that this version is OUTSTANDING! It will all depend on whether you feel like a tangy, yogurt base or a creamy coconut base.

Make a Indian flat bread such as a Paratha to help sop up all the delicious curry sauce.

Good eating…. Blondie 🙂

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Blondie’s Cauliflower Recipes

Fried Cauliflower Rice — Fried Cauliflower ‘Rice’

Blondie’s Cauliflower Recipes… At $1.75 for a head of cauliflower, you really can’t go past seasonal produce for price and quality. This can easily feed a good size family!
So with my cauliflower sitting on my bench I wanted to try some new recipes. I love my gratins and curries but needed something new.

I came across Cauliflower Rice, what a fantastic idea!

Rich in nutrients, low in calories and high in dietary fibre this a vegetable that is probably forgotten as it’s not a vibrant, lively colour or maybe it appears awkward to cook with, but with a beautiful texture and flavour this should really be included into your weekly meal plan.

Stir Fried Cauliflower ‘Rice’ – This would have to now be my most favourite and changeable dishes. No mater which country’s cuisine you are cooking, you will be able to alter this to the flavours of that country. I’m having Mexican tonight so have gone with chillies, tomatoes and paprika but if you wanted Italian flavours then throw in some basil, thyme and maybe some salami or sausage. Add egg or tofu for a protein hit…So easy and adaptable!

Kids Cauliflower Rice – an amazing way to get more nutrients into your kids meals. When cooked with rice, the blitzed cauliflower resembles rice grains. If you have an overly picky eater and they love Jasmine rice then the flavours combine completely and they won’t even know that they are eating far more than they ever suspected!

Enjoy – Blondie 🙂

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Warm Thai Style Beef Noodle Salad w/ Poached Egg

Warm Thai Style Beef Noodle Salad w/ Poached Egg came about with the influx of meat that hubby was winning at the Sunday meat raffle over the Christmas period.

So how do you make sure none of it goes to waste? Prep it first! I love preparing the meat in appropriate meal sizes and in different marinades and pastes prior to freezing, this way you can pull out a baggy in the morning and leave it to defrost while you are at work. It’s then ready to be cooked up at dinner time. Just keep some basics in your pantry like different types of noodles and some nice pre made dressings if need be, combine with fresh vegetables and leaves and you have a quick, healthy dinner.

Tip: Write the ingredients on the bag so you remember which marinade is which – I like to start with a base such as soy and honey for example and then divide that into 3, adding different ingredients to each batch.

Enjoy the ease! Blondie 🙂

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