FoodieChat

A seriously quick and easy (so quick that I didn’t have time to take a piccy) dinner is this roast vegetable frittata I made up from what was in my fridge and variation on a few recipes.  I made it low fat by substituting cream with skim milk; and using low fat mozzarella instead; and adding fresh herbs to compensate.

Ingredients (serves 4 for meal with salad)

• 1 eggplant, sliced into 5mm thick slices
• 2 zucchini, sliced lengthways into 5mm thick slices
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced into 5mm thick slices
• 300g sliced mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 6 free range eggs
• half cup of skim milk
• 1 cup grated (low fat) cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and/or basil; or pesto

Method

1. Grease a grill pan with olive oil and grill eggplant, zucchini and sweet potato and set aside (sweet potato may need to be parboiled first if you’re time poor)
2. In a wok or frypan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and on a medium heat, saute garlic and onion, until onion is caramelised and softened.  Add mushrooms and cook until soft.
3. Line a square cake tin with baking paper; and layer eggplant, followed by zucchini, then sweet potato.
4. Pour mushroom/onion mixture on top.
5. Beat eggs and herbs in a bowl. Add milk
6. Slowly pour egg mixture onto vegetables, allowing to seep in between.
7. Bake in a 180 degree oven for 25 mins until set.
8. Slice into wedges and serve warm or cold - perfect for a picnic!

I could live off this.  All your vitamin needs in a low fat, low carb, filling bowl of steaming hot soup. If you need carbs to satisfy - add a chopped potato or a half cup of pasta shells or even some couscous. 

Ingredients 

• 2 zucchini
• 3 sticks celery
• 1L chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 large carrot
• 3 tomatoes, quartered and deseeded
• 1 red capsicum
• 1 onion or leek
• Half cup of red lentils
• Salt and pepper to season (more…)

Ever since Boost came onto the scene, closely followed by Pulp and many others, Sydney became swept into healthy drink fever.  Smoothies are refreshing on a cool day, and also are a great meal replacement as they are so filling! But then I decided to delve into the nutritional information of these drinks after a tip off from a newspaper article and discovered these may contain as many calories as a high sugared soft drink!  And no wonder why.  They are made with fruit juice, fruit and frozen yoghurt or sorbet with no fresh milk in sight.  So that was the end of those drinks for me. Admittedly, some of these chains have introduced drinks with some milk component, but before that I already discovered my own trick of making a more nutritious and lower calorie version which is equally as delicious (and much cheaper!!). (more…)

This is a favourite dish of chinese and non-chinese alike. It’s so versatile. This recipe uses chicken mince, however you can substitute it with diced barbeque duck, pork mince, add in some prawns and omit the bamboo or water chestnuts. It’s great to cook for groups as you can make the filling ahead of time and prepare the lettuce - your food processor is your best friend. I made it as part of a 3 course meal for 90 people, as well as part of an 8 course chinese banquet for 8.

 Ingredients (serves 8 as an entree) (more…)

 Such an easy to make yet impressive looking entree!

Ingredients

• 2 - 3 field mushrooms per person
• Olive Oil
• Shaved parmesan
• Rocket
• Balsamic vinegar
• Butter

Method

1. Clean or peel mushrooms and place in a single layer on an oven tray.
2. Place half a teaspoon (or more if you can spare it!) of butter in the centre of each mushroom. I’ve seen Jamie Oliver use flavoured butter to do this - mixing herbs and chilli into it.
3. Bake in 200 degree oven for 20 mins or until the mushrooms soften and start releasing their juices
4. Meanwhile, wash the rocket leaves and toss with the parmesan. Then dress with the olive oil and balsamic. Toss.
5. Just before serving, stack the mushrooms on top of each other on a plate. Layer some rocket salad on top.
6. Drizzle extra balsamic around the plate if desired. Season with salt and pepper.