Asian Sesame Noodle Salad

500g thick egg noodles

Greens - spinach, mesclun, lettuce, watercress, whatever.

Mixed fresh vegetables – Mushrooms, aubergines, asparagus, beans, snow peas, broccoli, capsicum, spling onions, carrots, etc (sliced)

Asian Style Dressing

¼ cup sweet chilli sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

¼ cup balsalmic vinegar

1½ T sugar

1½ T sesame oil – or just use more olive oil, but it does have its own distinct flavour

1/3 cup olive oil

To Garnish

¼ cup sesame seeds – toasted in an ungreased pan on a medium-low heat

¼ cup firmly packed fresh green herbs - coriander, parsley, basil, whatever you have

Boil noodles until just tender, then rinse under cold water and drain.

Steam or sauté any vegetables that need it until just tender (snow peas, broccoli, mushrooms), rinse under cold water and drain. Leave other veges raw, as you so desire.

Combine dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and shake, or stir vigorously in a cup or bowl.

Arrange a green base on serving plates of spinach, watercress or whatever.

Combine all other salad and dressing ingredients + sesame seeds + mix well, then pile on top of spinach.

Garnish with fresh herbs.

Penne Primavera

Make sure you cook the vegetables until just tender but still crunchy.

2T olive oil

Penne pasta for 4 people

1 large onion – chopped finely

2 cloves garlic – crushed

4 baby carrots (or 2 big carrots?) – chopped finely, lengthways into sticks

250g fresh green beans – trimmed + sliced into long sticks.

250g asparagus – chopped coarsely

1T fresh oregano – or ½T dried oregano

2t fresh thyme – or use dried

400g tomatoes in juice

1 ¼ cups grated edam cheese or shaved parmesan.

Cook pasta in hot water with 1T olive oil to prevent sticking together.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large pan over a low heat + cook onion until soft but not browned.
Add garlic and carrot and cook 1 minute. Add beans and cook until they’ve changed colour, then stir in snow peas and asparagus and cook until they are also changed in colour.

Add herbs and tomato, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat + simmer until heated through and thickened slightly.

Add a little sugar if the sauce tastes bitter.

Toss pasta through the sauce and serve with cheese.

Asian Style Pumpkin and Almond Salad

Whether hot or cold the next day in your lunch, this salad is freakin’ awesome. Serve as a main course with couscous.

1 pumpkin

¼ cup olive oil

1 cup roasted almonds (these really make the difference, yum!)

200g feta

1 fresh red chilli

1 bunch coriander (if you don’t have coriander, other green herbs or spinach)

Asian Dressing

4 cloves garlic

Zest and juice of 4 limes (or use lime juice from a jar and don't worry about the zest)

2T fish sauce

2T soy sauce

2T palm or brown sugar

2T olive oil oil

3t sesame oil

1 fresh red chilli

Salt and pepper

Cut pumpkin into 2 cm cubes and roast with olive oil at 180°C for 30 minutes.

Mix with crumbled feta, finely sliced red chilli, roughly chopped coriander and dressing.

Make Asian dressing by finely slicing garlic and chilli, then shaking all ingredients together in a jar.

Dahl

Dahls = protein.

Serve as an addition to any vege curry, poured over roast veges, or by themselves with brown rice, chappatis or vegetables.

Basic Yellow Dahl

Olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2t turmeric

1 cup split red lentils

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add turmeric, lentils and water. Bring to the boil then reduce to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until lentils are cooked.

Tomato + Red Lentils

2t olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

2T curry powder

1 cup red lentils

2 t chicken stock powder

3 cups water

400g can tomatoes

2T tomato paste

1T coriander

2t cumin

2t sweet paprika

½ t cracked black pepper

Sauté chopped onion + garlic in oil, then add curry powder.

Add lentils, stock, water, tomatoes + paste. Bring to boil + simmer 20 minutes or until lentils are soft.

Add coriander + serve.

Limbu Dahl (Red lentils with lime and cheese, Bangladesh)

180g red lentils

1 small onion

¼ t ground turmeric

2T olive oil

4 fresh, hot green chillies – 3 slit down one side but left whole, and the last chopped finely

1T lime juice (or lemon if you’re skimping)

2 ½ cm piece fresh lime rind (“ “ “ “)

2-3T grated cheese

Boil lentils with 1L water, chopped onion and turmeric, but be careful to keep an eye on it until you turn the heat back down, as lentils boil over without warning and make a heck of a mess.

Skim off the scum that rises to the surface, partially cover and simmer 30-40 minutes until cooked.

Heat oil in a small pan until very hot, sizzle slit chillies for a few seconds, then pour over the lentils and snap lid back down to trap the aromas.

Put the lime juice, lime rind, torn lime leaves, cheese + chopped chilli in a warmed serving bowl, pour lentils over, stir and serve immediately.

Geeli Sabut Masoor (Red lentils with garlic + mint)

3T olive oil

2 cloves garlic – crushed

½ t cayenne pepper

185g sabut masoor – whole red lentils, or just use split ones

½ t turmeric

3-4T fresh mint

3-4 fresh, hot green chillies

2 cloves garlic – sliced lengthways into 3 wide slivers

Set a pan containing the oil, crushed garlic and cayenne on a medium-high heat.

When pan begins to sizzle, stir and add 750ml water, sabut masoor + turmeric, stir and bring to the boil.

Partially cover with lid, reduce heat to low and cook approx 55 minutes (for sabut masoor, 30 minutes for split lentils), until cooked.

Add chopped mint and chillies, stir and simmer another 5 minutes.

Sauté garlic slivers over medium-low heat, until they begin to turn golden-red, then add to lentils and serve.

Potatoes with Ginger

Like a yummy Indian hash brown that isn’t made into cakes!

675g small waxy potatoes (eg. Red potatoes or new potatoes)

3T olive oil

½ t whole cumin seeds

½ t whole brown mustard seeds

2 medium onions

¼ t salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ t cayenne pepper

2t fresh ginger – peeled and finely grated

Boi l potatoes until tender, cool completely then cut into 1-2cm cubes1

Heat oil over medium heat.

When hot, add cumin and mustard seeds.

When mustard seeds begin to pop (within seconds), add potatoes, chopped onions, salt, pepper + cayenne.

Stir and cook until potatoes are browned, add ginger and cook for another minute or so.

Indian-Style Curried Omelette Pie

This is freaking awesome. Serve with 'potatoes with ginger' and a dark green salad with spinach leaves and vinaigrette.

12 large free-range eggs

50ml light reduced milk + 2T skim milk powder, OR 50ml water mixed with skim milk powder, flour or cornflour to make a paste.

1T olive oil

½ t cumin seeds

10 button mushrooms

6 spling onions

2 fresh hot green chillies

4T fresh coriander leaves

10 cherry tomatoes

2T hot curry powder

Beat eggs lightly and stir in milk paste.

Heat oil over medium heat in a large non-stick pan (preferably with a metal handle, as it will be going under the grill. If you don’t have one, you can just leave the handle sticking out and keep an eye on it to see if it’s melting…), add cumin seeds when hot and sizzle 10 seconds.

Add sliced mushrooms, spling onions, chillies, coriander, cherry tomatoes (cut into 8^ths) and curry powder.

Stir 2-3 minutes, add egg mixture and stir slowly from the bottom of the pan with a flat spatula until you have lots of thick curds, but the top of the pan is still covered with liquid.

Leave to cook for another minute or two without stirring, until the bottom seems set but there is still some liquid on top.

Place the pan under the grill until the eggs are set and the top is golden brown.

Loosen the edges of the omelette with a spatula and try to slide it under the bottom, before turning a plate upside down over the top of the pan and flipping the omelette onto it.

Aubergine Boorani

(India/Afghanistan) This recipe takes a bit more effort, as it uses 3 sauces, all of which can be made a day in advance, and only the tomato-chickpea sauce needs reheating. It's really good though!

3 large aubergines

3T salt

Olive oil

Tomato-Chickpea Sauce –

1T olive oil

2 whole dried hot red chillis

1t whole brown mustard seeds

3 cloves garlic

2x 400g cans tomatoes

10 fresh curry or basil leaves, if available

410g can chickpeas, or 350g cooked and drained chickpeas (see below)

1/4t salt

1t cumin

1t coriander

¼ t turmeric

Yoghurt Sauce –

10T natural yoghurt

¼ t cumin seeds

Tamarind Chutney (buy premade, or make your own) –

2T thick tamarind paste – get the kind without the tamarind skins mixed in – it’s a pain in the arse trying to separate them.

2T sugar

¼ t cumin seeds

Trim aubergine – slice off top and bottom, then cut crossways into slices approx 3-5cm thick.

Place aubergine in a colander and sprinkle cut slices with salt. Leave ½ hour, rinse and pat dry (this step stops the aubergine from soaking up so much oil as it cooks).

Brush aubergine slices with olive oil and grill on both sides until golden brown and cooked through (it should be very melt-in-your-mouthy, with no sponginess).

Tomato-chickpea sauce –

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy lidded pan, when very hot add chillis and mustard seeds.

When mustard seeds begin to pop (within seconds) add crushed garlic.

Stir once, then add tomatoes, curry/basil leaves, chickpeas, salt, cumin, coriander and turmeric.

Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Remove the 2 chilies before serving.

Yoghurt sauce –

Heat ½ t cumin seeds without oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Stir until seeds are a few shades darker and smell roasted – but do not burn (easy to do if the heat is too high)! Grind seeds in a mortar + pestle or electric spice grinder. Use half for the tamarind chutney.

Beat yoghurt lightly with a fork of small whisk until smooth, then stir in roasted cumin.

Tamarind Chutney –

Mix tamarind paste, sugar, salt + roasted cumin in a cup.

If aubergine needs reheating, spread in a single layer and bake at 160°C until hot (about 15 minutes).

Spread aubergine slices in a single layer on a large platter or individual plates, pour a small ladle-full of tomato-chickpea sauce on top of each slice, top with yoghurt and tamarind chutney.

Serve with brown rice and any other curries, vegetables, roti, chapattis, poppadoms, etc your heart desires.

To Cook Chickpeas –

Cover with boiling water and leave to soak overnight.

Change water and boil for one hour before adding to the recipe (it is important to change the water between soaking and cooking legumes because of the chemicals that leach out during soaking. The water used during cooking is fine to save and use as a stock though).