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Tag Archives: vegetables

Beets with Garlic, Yogurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin) – A Guest Post!

10 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Meatless, Pies, Quiches, Frittatas

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

au gratin, beet, beet greens, beetroot, cheese, egg, Greek yogurt, vegetables, vegetarian, yogurt

Beets Au Gratin
Well, it’s done. The new blog is up. The Foodie Corner is live! Would you like to take a look? Yes it will all be Greek to you, but I’d love to hear what you think of the site!
 
Now I said I would try my best to keep Spaghetti going, and I will. And a few weeks ago I had a brainwave. Why not ask my friend and fellow blogger Artemis from Wonderfoodland, to step in with a guest post? She is the first Greek food blogger I ever met in person, and we clicked right away. I love her blog (which by the way is bilingual); from the recipes that always have a bit of a twist to them and her writing that discreetly reflects her wicked sense of humour, all the way to her gorgeous photos (putting mine to shame right here…). She has really come up with the goods here. This recipe is feeling right at home on On Top Of Spaghetti. So, enjoy!

§§§

There is this thing.
When I’m invited to write a guest post by another food blogger, I’m a little bit anxious.
What will it be?
Will my recipe “fit” properly into another blog?
Will the fellow blogger like it?
Will her/his readers like it too?
What do I have to write?

In this case, I guess my recipe choice was easy: Eleni is a beet lover. I know that. I’ve seen that. I’ve tasted that. I could never forget her beet chocolate brownies at the Food Revolution Day picnic.

My writing thing was easy also: I was lucky to get to know Eleni before her food blog adventures. And I’m really glad to know that another one follows her daring heart and does what she loves; cooking, writing, shooting, styling, sharing, communicating -not only through web and not only with food bloggers- but with anyone out there who loves food. In any way.

And I was really excited to see her beautiful “newborn”, The Foodie Corner, coming to life at last!
Beets Au Gratin
So, here I am, writing about beets myself too, finding the chance to get experimental and cooking something else rather than boiling them one more time!

These beets are for you, my dear Eleni!
Beets Au Gratin

Beets with Garlic, Yoghurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin)

Adapted recipe by Aglaia Kremezi

Ingredients

1 kg beets (leaves and half of the roots. The rest of the boiled beetroots eat them with some nice balsamic vinegar and olive oil)
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3 Tbs of olive oil + extra for greasing the baking dish
1 ½ cup milk (any kind of milk you love)
1 cup yoghurt (any kind of yoghurt you love)
3 garlic cloves mashed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cup grated cheese (use any kind of cheese you love that melts. I used a mix of several leftovers -Greek gruyere, gouda and kasseri, a yellow melty cheese)
3 stale slices of bread processed into crumbs (or rusk crumbs which is what I used)
salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the beets: remove any not-so-good looking leaves, cut the roots from the leaves, cut the small “nose” of each beet on its other end and put them all into water baths to get washed very well -at least 3 water baths. Strain them and leave them aside.
2. Put a big pot full of water on to boil. When the water boils, put the beets in (leaves and roots). The leaves will boil quicker than roots, so in about 5 minutes check the leaves out. If they’re soft enough, take them out, but leave the roots in until they get soft too. Drain them, squeeze them (the leaves) with a fork to get most of their liquids out and set them aside.
3. Prepare the light béchamel: into a small pan, pour the 3 Tbs of olive oil on medium heat. Add the flour and start stirring quickly with a whisk until it gets slightly brown.
4. Add milk and keep stirring quickly on low heat. When it turns into a nice cream, remove it from heat and add garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well.
5. Add yoghurt, eggs and cheese too while still stirring well.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Grease a baking dish that will fit the beets in a not very thin layer. I used several small baking dishes (one portion each).
7. Chop the beet leaves a little bit and the roots to very small cubes like dice. Mix half of the cream with the chopped beets (leaves and roots).
8. Spread breadcrumbs all over the dish, add the beets all over and cover with the other half of the cream.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you get a golden crust. When baked, leave to rest for about 15-20′ before serving.

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot and a Simple Lentil Salad

12 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Meatless, Slow Cooker

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

beetroot, crockpot, feta, lentils, salad, slow cooker, vegetables, vegetarian

Slow Cooker Roast BeetrootThe main recipe in this post hardly even merits the name “recipe”. It’s so easy and so simple. Roast beetroot in the slow cooker. I’m sure it’s been done before, but I haven’t researched it. So I can safely say it’s my idea! For as long as I can remember (or as long as it’s been on the blog) my most popular post is the Slow Cooker Jacket (Baked) Potato. I was pondering on this a few days ago, when the thought struck me. If you can just plop potatoes in there and bake to perfection, why can’t you do the same with beetroot? Many recipes call for roast beetroot, and the method they suggest is wrapping in foil and cooking in the oven for about an hour. Sound familiar? So instead of heating up the house and wasting loads of electricity, maybe it would be possible to use the mighty Crockpot for this. That was my reasoning. And I was right. As always.

I used the method without tinfoil, as using all that foil is wasteful and totally unnecessary. Just a bit of olive oil, some salt and that’s it. After six and a half hours on low, mine were cooked to perfection. They might have been ready earlier but that’s when I checked. The skins just slipped off with a tiny bit of help from the side of a knife. Gorgeous. If you can get your hands on some organic beets then you can probably eat the skin as well. I tasted a bit and it was not bad at all.

Can I just say here that I have absolutely nothing against the vacuum packed cooked beetroot from the supermarket. I have been buying this for ages (well, for the few years since I discovered I actually like beetroot). However, here in Greece you can easily find huge bunches of fresh beetroot, greens and all. This is even cheaper than the packaged version (which is not expensive) and the greens are really tasty in my Beet Green and Red Pepper Frittata. Now that cooking the actual beetroot has become so easy, I might be opting for the fresh more frequently. And if I can’t be bothered with using up the greens, the horses at my riding club will be very very appreciative!

Finally, because I really can’t post this without feeling I’ve cheated you out of a proper recipe, I’m including a salad I made with my cooked beetroot. Beetroot, lentil and feta salad! I’m thinking this might even be good with some canned tuna in it…
Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot

Ingredients

Fresh beetroot, as many as you like or as many as will fit in your slow cooker (you can stack them)
A little bit of olive oil
A little bit of coarse salt

Instructions

1. Cut the greens from your beetroot, leaving a bit of the stalks intact (about 2cm or an inch). Leave the tails intact. This is so that the beetroot doesn’t “bleed” while cooking. Wash them well, rubbing any dirt off but being careful not to break the skin. Dry with kitchen paper.
2. Using your hands, rub each beetroot with a bit of oil, and a little salt (don’t use too much salt as it is absorbed quite well).
3. Put into the slow cooker insert, cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Time largely depends on quantity and size of beetroot. They are ready when easily pierced by a knife.
Lentil, beetroot and feta salad

Beetroot, Lentil and Feta Salad

Makes enough for one big main course salad, or two side salads.

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown lentils, rinsed
1 small onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
2 cooked beetroot, medium-sized, cubed
100g feta cheese, cubed (or more, to taste)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
pinch of dried thyme
black pepper to taste
pinch of salt (optional – if your feta is not salty enough)

Instructions

1. Put lentils in a small saucepan with the (whole) onion and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer for 15-20 minutes till soft but not mushy.
2. Drain and set aside to cool. Throw away the onion and bay leaf.
3. Add the beetroot and feta to a salad bowl. When the lentils have cooled add those too. Dress the salad with the oil, vinegar and thyme and season with pepper and salt if needed.

Note: This is a basic, quick and easy recipe. You can mix and match as you like, using any ingredient you fancy! Next time I will definitely try adding tuna, or maybe smoked trout.

So I’ve cooked them. What do I do with them?
Lazy, Luscious Spiced Beetroot Relish, by Not Quite Nigella
Beetroot, Leek and Walnut Salad, by Lisa’s Kitchen
Beetroot Raita – Lightly Seasoned Beetroot and Yogurt Salad, by eCurry
Beetroot Brownies, by Yours Truly
Beetroot and Feta Dip, by Yours Truly

Spanakopita Muffins

28 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Breakfast, Cakes and Baked Goodies, Meatless

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

baking, feta, Greek, greens, muffins, spanakopita, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian

A row of spanakopita muffins lined up on a pretty plate, placed on a red and white striped table clothThis is my 50th post so in order to commemorate the occasion, I thought I would create an index page with all the recipes. I didn’t do one from the beginning because it would look a bit sad with just a few lines under each category. 50 posts in over a year is not really that great, but it’s ok considering it’s just a hobby. Food blogging is very time consuming, it’s not like other types of blogging. You have to find the recipes (either by researching or waiting for inspiration), do the shopping, do the cooking and plan very well so you can take photos before eating everything (this is not easy as artificial light is not a food photographer’s friend – which pretty much rules out dinner time pics). Then you have to try and make the photos look decent (in my case), then write something to go with the recipe, and finally, research other similar recipes from blogs in order to “share the love”. This is not compulsory, but it was suggested to me by an experienced blogger and I agree that it’s a great idea. One thing (of the many) I love about this world is how non-competitive it is. Everyone is encouraging, friendly and helpful, without the “if I help you then you will steal my readers” type attitude. Fellow bloggers, thanks for being lovely people!

So, take a moment to glance at my recipe index. The recipes have been grouped according to blog category; if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can make my categories more user friendly, I am open to ideas. (Update: Oh, and a quick word of advice, don’t leave it till there are 50 posts. My hand aches…)
A long pretty plate with spanakopita muffins lined up
Of course I couldn’t post an article without something yummy attached, so here are the Spanakopita Muffins I mentioned in my previous post, served at The Mister’s surprise party. They are ridiculously easy to make, and offer with each mouthful a burst of spanakopita wonderfulness – minus the hassle of pastry. Don’t get me wrong, I adore pastry of all kinds. I could live on pastry alone (that’s probably why I’m now on a diet again…) but I don’t adore making it. It’s kind of intimidating… Anyway, moving on… This recipe is based on one by Eleni Psihouli, a well known Greek journalist turned cooking show hostess and food blogger. She made this as a cake, with double the ingredients.

Spanakopita Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

180g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
125g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
100g Greek yogurt – I used 2% fat
1/2 cup olive oil
1 spring onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped dill weed
200g feta cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C and place paper muffin cases in a 12 hole tin.
2. Heat a non stick frying pan on medium high, add the spinach and cook for a few minutes till just wilted (without oil).
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and nutmeg. I find the best way to do this is to use a whisk.
4. In a medium bowl mix the eggs, yogurt and olive oil till incorporated. Add to dry ingredients and fold in.
5. Add the onion, dill and spinach, and crumble in the feta cheese (keeping the pieces fairly big so they don’t melt during cooking). Mix till just incorporated.
6. Scoop into muffin tin (best way is to use an ice cream scoop) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (double check in case the toothpick went through a piece of feta!).

Notes:
– Instead of all spinach you can mix in other greens such as kale or chard too. Whatever you fancy! The original recipe had parsley in as well, I didn’t have any.
– These muffins come out quite oily! I wondered if it would have been best to use less oil, but in the end I think this helped them keep really well. Plus, proper spanakopita has tons of oil.
– Don’t expect them to rise much.
– The spanakopita muffins freeze fantastically well.

More mini spanakopita treats from other blogs
Spanakopita Strudels by Alexandra’s Kitchen
Broccoli Spanakopita by Steamy Kitchen
Spanakopita Triangles and Then Some by Smitten Kitchen (some gorgeous looking fillings there)
Easy Spanakopita Bites by Iowa Girl Eats (I can’t get over the ready-crumbled feta!)

Red Pepper, Feta and Oat Frittata Cake – A Power Breakfast!

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Breakfast, Meatless, Pies, Quiches, Frittatas

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

baking, cake, eggs, feta, frittata, low fat, oats, red pepper, vegetables, vegetarian

An orange plate with three pieces of frittata on it, a glass of milk and the frittata cake in the backgroundThe other day I was looking through an old stack of magazine cutouts and pages printed from the internet, all containing recipes of course. I have a few of these stacks, waiting to be “sorted out”. They’ve been waiting a while and, let’s be honest, they will continue to do so for a good long time. There are always more pressing matters to attend to, like watching Law & Order.

This recipe jumped out at me. It has 5 main ingredients and can be thrown together in minutes, literally. That coming from me is something, as I can never complete a recipe within the time mentioned. Written in Greek, the page had no reference to a site, meaning it was from my pre-blogging days when recipes were saved just to cook and eat, not to share online! A quick search remedied that and I found that it’s actually from one of the biggest food related sites in Greece called “Nistiko Arkoudi” which means Hungry Bear.

Its title on the site is Oat Cake, but that just confuses things in English (oatcakes being an entirely different thing), and it’s not really a cake as it doesn’t contain flour of any kind! What it is, is a frittata baked in a loaf pan. So it looks like a loaf cake. Anyway, all that is besides the point. This frittata/cake/loaf is very tasty, and very healthy. It is especially good eaten for breakfast or as a snack, as it has loads of protein (eggs and dairy) and good carbs that release energy slowly throughout the day (oats). With the addition of a veggie (red peppers) you couldn’t make it more balanced if you tried! It will keep you full for ages.

I added a bit of freshly cracked black pepper and a pinch of oregano to the mix, as I thought these flavours would suit it, leaving out the salt as I expected the feta to make it salty enough. Next time however I will add half a teaspoon to give it a boost. This of course largely depends on the type and brand of feta used. I might also experiment with other herbs as well, like rosemary for instance. Come to think of it, sumac might be interesting; I’ve heard it goes really well with eggs. One thing is for sure, I will definitely be making this frittata cake again, whatever the combo. Stored in the fridge it will last for at least 5 days, but it’s nicer served warm (I warmed it up on my toaster rack, worked a treat).

Red Pepper, Feta and Oat Frittata Cake

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
4 eggs
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup oats, rolled or quick cooking (I used quick cooking so they would blend better)
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
A pinch of dried oregano

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan). Grease a loaf pan (mine was 23.6×10.3cm – approx. 9”x4”) and sprinkle with a bit of flour. Move the pan around so the flour coats the bottom and sides, then empty it of any excess by tapping the bottom. This is an important step as egg tends to stick to pans.
2. Heat the oil in a small frying pan on medium and add chopped pepper. Gently cook till softened. I added some water when some pieces started to blacken. You could probably soften the pepper in a bowl in the microwave with a tablespoon or two of water.
3. While your peppers are cooking, lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl.
4. Add the feta, oats, seasoning and herbs, and then the peppers (without the liquid from the pan – I used that in a salad). Mix till incorporated and pour into the prepared baking pan.
5. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean and the frittata cake is starting to turn golden on top.

More eggy goodness in other frittata recipes
Beet Greens and Red Pepper Frittata, by me!
Baby Peas and Cheese Frittata, by Family Fresh Cooking
Kale and Goat Cheese Fritatta Cups, by The Kitchn
The Secret to a Perfect Frittata and Chickpea & Rosemary Frittata, by Stonesoup

Dukan Moussaka – Fabulously Healthy Protein and Vegetable Dish

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Beef, Dukan Diet Friendly, Meat, Slow Cooker

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

aubergine, beef, cauliflower, crockpot, Dukan diet friendly, eggplant, Greek, low fat, meat sauce, protein, red pepper, slow cooker, vegetables

A piece of moussaka on a pretty blue plateThis is a complicated recipe. It’s not at all difficult, but there are many steps to it. It’s not a throw-together-right-after-work meal, but you can make it in stages over a couple of days; and that makes life a lot easier. The seed for this idea was planted when I made the Healthier Mac & Cheese using a cauliflower béchamel. I started wondering if I could use this sauce in a lasagna, but then it occurred to me that it’s actually Dukan friendly. So my thoughts turned towards adapting a classic dish to suit this protein and veg based diet. Lasagna was out due to the pasta, so what else could I make? Moussaka of course! Sadly the potato had to be replaced, but layers of red peppers compensated by lending their sweetness and bright colour to the dish.

On my first go at this experiment I tried to dry fry slices of aubergine (no oil is allowed in the diet) so as to keep with the traditional layering of meat and veg. That didn’t really go too well; aubergines like their olive oil. Also, I made the cauliflower sauce based on the mac & cheese recipe, which turned out a bit too watery and meant the top layer was very thin. So the second time round, I cooked the aubergine (eggplant) together with the meat in order to overcome the dryness issue, and made a thicker cauli sauce without the addition of water. There were less layers than traditional moussaka, but everything held together much better, and the result was tastier and much prettier!
view from the top of the moussaka's creamy cauliflower topping
I used the slow cooker to make the meat part, since this is by far the best method for cooking without oil or any other kind of fat. It’s also a great way to make minced meat sauces in general, as they always benefit from long simmering on low heat. I always leave my Bolognese on for a good 10 hours. If you don’t have a slow cooker I’m sure it would work just fine on the stovetop. Use water to gently cook the onion, then add the meat, and don’t forget to drain the fat before adding the rest of the ingredients. You want the result to be quite thick so watch the amount of liquid you add.

Before it’s cooked , the aubergine needs a bit of alone time with a good sprinkling of salt (don’t worry, it’s rinsed off!). This helps get rid of the bitterness that sometimes comes with this vegetable. I recently heard an interesting tip for those who grow their own aubergines; apparently if you plant them next to basil they’ll be less bitter to begin with!

As regards the preparation of this dish, what I did was make the meat sauce the first day. Then in the evening I made the cauliflower puree. Both went in the fridge overnight. The next day I made the peppers, mixed the puree with the rest of the topping ingredients, layered it all up in the baking dish and baked it. Broken up like that it’s not that big a deal really. And it’s well worth it! Oh, you could also use store bought roasted red peppers, but since they are usually preserved in oil it would be cheating a bit.

If you are not on the Dukan Diet, this is still a recommended recipe. It’s super healthy, low in fat, and very tasty. I suggest you sprinkle some grated cheese on top before baking! (Also allowed in the Consolidation phase of the diet)
My Dukan Moussaka in the baking dish, straight from the oven!

Dukan Moussaka – Fabulously Healthy Protein and Vegetable Dish

Step 1

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce with Aubergines (Eggplant)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs water
500g minced lean beef
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
400g chopped tomatoes with juice + 2 Tbs water to rinse tin
1/2 cup tomato passata
2 medium aubergines, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1 bay leaf
Salt

Instructions

  1. Prepare aubergines by putting the chunks into a colander and sprinkling with salt. Give them a shake and sprinkle again, so that all the pieces have salt on them. Leave for 20-30 minutes (on a plate, as the veg will release a bit of water).
  2. Sautee the onion in the 3 tablespoons of water on medium low heat till softened. Add to the slow cooker. Or just put the raw onion in the slow cooker and save yourself a step – to be honest I doubt it makes much difference to the end result.
  3. Put the pan back on the heat, turn it up to high, and add the 2 tablespoons of water followed by the minced meat. Stir continuously breaking up any clumps. The meat will release fat and juices and start bubbling. When it’s brown all over with no pink showing, add the vinegar. Stir well and let it all bubble till the liquid in the pan has reduced. Transfer meat to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon and discard the remaining fatty juices (this is a diet dish!).
  4. Add the tomatoes, passata, cinnamon, bay leaf and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir well.
  5. Rinse and strain the aubergine well. Add to the slow cooker and stir into the mixture.
  6. Cook on low for 10 hours (I imagine it would be fine after 8, but I was out so I don’t know for sure!). If you are around give it a stir halfway through.

Step 2

Red Pepper Layer

Ingredients

2 red peppers (I used the long Greek ones, but bell peppers would be fine)

Instructions

  1. Cut one side of a pepper from the stalk down to the bottom, then do the same on the opposite side. You want to end up with two big pieces, as wide and flat as possible. These will make up the layer that separates the meat from the topping. Don’t worry about the bottom or sides curling in, they will flatten a bit after they are softened. If necessary, measure the pepper pieces against the baking pan or dish that you will use. If needed, use another pepper.
  2. Take a large frying pan with a lid, cover the bottom of the pan with water, lay the pepper pieces in it and turn the heat to medium. Cook covered till the peppers are well softened, turning once. Mine took about 30 minutes. My mum suggested that I try doing this in the microwave next time. I wish she’d said it earlier… Anyway, make sure they don’t catch on the bottom of the pan. If necessary turn the heat down a bit or add more water. Set aside.

Step 3

Cauliflower and Yogurt Topping – The Fake Béchamel

Ingredients

1 smallish head of cauliflower (I forgot to weigh it – I think it was probably about 600-700g). You want it to produce 2 cups of puree.
1 Tbs vinegar
1 tub (200g) Greek yogurt (2% fat)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and put in a pan with a fitted strainer. Add water to the bottom of the pan (don’t let it touch the bottom of the strainer), together with the vinegar. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam the cauliflower till very soft. (Vinegar helps with the smell!)
  2. Remove the cooked cauliflower and blend it well, till it’s very smooth. Let cool a little. You want two cups. If you have some leftover, use it as a healthy sauce for meat or fish (you can thin it out with milk if necessary).
  3. Add the yogurt to the cooled cauliflower puree while stirring continuously, followed by the eggs, pepper, nutmeg and salt. Make sure it’s all well incorporated.

Step 4

The Dukan Moussaka – General Assembly!

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a baking tin or dish, evenly spread the meat and aubergine sauce.
  2. Lay the peppers on top, creating a layer and trying to cover the meat as well as possible.
  3. Spoon the cauliflower mixture on top of the peppers and level it out. The dish I used is 16x25cm and everything fit perfectly.
  4. Bake in the hot oven for 50-60 minutes, till it’s bubbling at the sides and firm on top. It will probably start to brown on the top, but mostly around the sides. I couldn’t get mine to brown all over. It didn’t matter!

Other Moussaka recipes – but none of them Dukan!
Moussaka by Brown Eyed Baker
Vegetable Moussaka by The Shiksa in the Kitchen
Leek Moussaka by The Perfect Pantry
And something a little different… Mussaka by FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Slow Cooker Giouvarlakia – Meatballs in Egg-lemon Sauce or Soup

12 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Beef, Meat, Pork, Slow Cooker, Soup

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

avgolemono, crockpot, egg lemon sauce, Giouvarlakia, Greek, lemon, meatballs, minced meat, potatoes, slow cooker, soup, vegetables

A purple plate with meatballs in a creamy egg lemon sauceFor a while now I’ve been meaning to try and adapt this classic Greek recipe for preparation in the slow cooker. It’s one of those things I usually remember at the wrong time, like when I haven’t defrosted the minced meat. Finally, on Saturday I remembered to take the meat out of the freezer, buy parsley, and properly plan my experiment for Sunday. This had to be a weekend endeavour for me, as I knew the meatballs wouldn’t need all day in the slow cooker, and my working hours have me away from home for at least 9.5 hours on weekdays.

Giouvarlakia are meatballs made with rice in the mixture, cooked in water or stock and served (traditionally) in egg-lemon soup (Avgolemono). If you don’t fancy soup, this version makes the juice just thick enough to act as a sauce (albeit a runny one), ideal for being mopped up with fresh crusty bread. Chips (French fries) are also good vessels to use for plate cleaning in this case. The resulting meatballs are similar to the insides of these stuffed courgettes, but are much easier to make.

I started by prepping the veg, cutting it into fairly small pieces to cook quicker, and getting it going in the Crockpot. I then made my Giouvarlakia, slightly on the large side so as to delay cooking time a bit and allow enough time for the potatoes and carrots to soften. They were bigger than golf ball size, with about 3-4 level tablespoons of mixture in each one. The amounts stated below gave me nine meatballs. I used a 4 quart Crockpot and the meat, perched on top of the veg, was partially submerged in the 3 cups of water.

Slow Cooker Giouvarlakia

Serves 3

Ingredients

1 medium sized potato, cut into smallish pieces (approx. 3-5 cm or 1-2 inches)
2 small carrots, sliced
1 celery stick cut into chunks
3 cups of water or stock
500g minced meat (I used a mix of beef and pork, you can use just beef if preferred)
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 Tbs parsley, chopped finely
5 Tbs rice for risotto (Arborio or similar)
2 tsp salt, divided
¼ tsp pepper (I used white)
1 tsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 large lemon, juice

Instructions

1. Place potatoes, carrots and celery in the bottom of the slow cooker insert and pour in the water. If you want to help things along and maybe shorten cooking time, you can use boiling water. I used 2 cups cold, 1 cup boiling. Sprinkle one teaspoon of salt over veg and water. Turn on slow cooker to low.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, onion, parsley, rice, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and oil. Mix well with your hands till it comes together, but don’t over mix so the meatballs aren’t too dense.
3. Shape the mixture into meatballs and place on top of the veg in the slow cooker. Some won’t be completely submerged, that’s fine.
4. Leave them to cook for about 6 hours and check for doneness. You can use a thermometer or break one in two and take a peek. I find that the thermometer is best, as sometimes meat in the slow cooker keeps a sort of pinky colour, even if it’s well over the required temperature. Mine were in for 6 ½ hours on low and were done, as was the veg. During cooking (after about 3 hours) I also turned them upside down once, using barbeque tongs, but I’m sure they would have been fine even if I hadn’t disturbed them at all.
5. When the meatballs are ready take them out of the slow cooker with a slotted spoon (keep them warm as best you can, but don’t worry too much). In a mixing bowl beat the eggs and lemon juice till well combined. Place the bowl next to the slow cooker, and using a ladle, slowly add small amounts of hot juice into the egg mixture, beating continuously. Start with about one tablespoon at a time, and gradually increase the amount of juice added to the bowl. This is called tempering the eggs and it needs to be done so they don’t scramble. When most of the juice from the Crockpot has been transferred to the egg mixture, and the bowl feels warm to the touch, pour the mixture back into the insert. Take the insert out of the base and move it round a bit, so the sauce goes all round the veg, and place it back into the slow cooker.
6. Put the meatballs back into the sauce (or soup!), cover and leave for about 5 minutes till it’s all warmed through again. Keep an eye on it so the egg doesn’t misbehave!
7. Serve with fresh crusty bread and feta cheese.

Note: If you want to enjoy this as a soup, I suggest you use 4 cups of stock instead of the 3 cups of water.

Slow Cooker Meatball Mania!
Slow Cooker Meatballs with Orange Marmalade, by The Chic Life
Slow Cooker Asian Meatballs, by Taste and Tell
Apple, Turkey and Cheddar Meatballs Crockpot Recipe, by A Year of Slow Cooking
Almost Dukan Friendly Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs, by On Top of Spaghetti

Greek Green Bean & Tomato Stew – Shark is Optional!

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Dukan Diet Friendly, Fish & Seafood, Meatless

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

dukan, Fasolakia, Greek, green beans, stew, tomato, tomato sauce, vegetables

One of the traditional Greek dishes my mum learnt and used to make often when we were kids, is Fasolakia. The word translates to “little beans” and refers to the long green ones. The way they are cooked here in Greece is in a tomato sauce, often with potatoes and carrots. It can also be made with beef but we never had it that way in our house. This was a great kid-friendly meatless dish, always eaten with loads of feta cheese and bread to mop up the sauce! It’s very good.

The other day I thought I’d make us some Fasolakia as it’s so easy and healthy, and Dukan friendly too (if made without potatoes). Following a recent success, when I decided to serve fish alongside a tomato based dish, I thought I’d try this out paired with the leftover shark in my freezer. My intention was to make the Fasolakia and then fry the fish lightly and serve them together. When I got the packet out of the freezer I glanced at the recipe on the back and saw that it was for something quite similar cooked in a saucepan. So I decided I would experiment some, and lay the fish on top of the beans half way through cooking. Since fish cooks so quickly and easily I thought the steam and heat from the veg would do the trick. Sure enough, the fish cooked beautifully and gave lots of flavour to the beans beneath it.

The resulting dish was definitely not traditional, but it was tasty nonetheless. Next time however I’ll be sticking to the original green bean stew, but that’s purely because of objections from a certain Mister, whose favourite food was apparently vandalized by this foreign concept of experimenting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, that’s his motto!

Greek Green Bean & Tomato Stew (Fasolakia) – The Original
Serves 3

What you need:
3-4 Tbs olive oil (if you’re on the Dukan Diet use a tiny bit of low calorie non-stick spray)
1 small onion, finely chopped
500g frozen green beans (you can use fresh if you can face prepping them!)
1 carrot, sliced
1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
1 Tbs tomato paste diluted in 3-4 Tbs of water
1 tsp sweet paprika
Salt & pepper to taste (I use about a tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper)
½ tsp sugar (or sweetener of choice)

What you do:

  1. Add the oil to a medium-large size saucepan (that has a good fitting lid), and warm it over medium heat (or just heat the pan and then add the spray if you’re using that). Cook the onion gently, until translucent. If you want you can sprinkle some salt on it to prevent it from browning.
  2. Add the carrots and stir until coated with oil. Cook for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the frozen beans (no need to defrost), turn the heat up to medium high, and stir well so they all get coated in oil. Cook until the beans have become shiny and wet looking, about 4-5 minutes. They should now have started to soften.
  4. Add the tomatoes (with juices from the tin) and tomato paste mixture. Don’t worry if the beans aren’t completely covered by the liquid.
  5. Add paprika, salt & pepper and sugar. Give it a good stir and wait for it to come to the boil.
  6. When it boils, turn the heat down low, cover the pan, and simmer for about half an hour, stirring a few times. You might find that it’s simmering pretty wildly (mine does even on the lowest setting), in which case after the first 20 minutes tilt the lid to the side leaving a small gap, this helps.
  7. From now on you want to be checking the liquids fairly frequently. If it’s looking very soupy, leave the lid off. If it’s more saucy looking and thick, leave the lid on with the gap and add a little water if and when necessary (no more than a ¼ cup at a time). Cook for approximately another half hour, stirring well once in a while.

Note: Here in Greece most people like the beans very soft, almost falling apart. If you prefer they have a bit of bite, start taste testing them after about 45 minutes of total cooking time.

Shark Infested Variation

What you’ll need:
All the above plus 3 pieces of white fish. Choose a sturdy one that won’t disintegrate in the pan, Blue Shark is what I used, Cod and Swordfish fillets might also be good options. Or any other type of fish fillet you feel would hold well.

What you do:

  1. If you want to try this variation, start with steps 1 to 5 as above.
  2. While the beans are simmering, rinse and pat dry your fish pieces, using paper towels. Sprinkle them with some salt, and pepper if you like it.
  3. At step 6 open the pan, take some beans and tomato sauce out and pop them on a plate. Make sure the bottom of the pan is still completely covered with veg and sauce. Gently place your fish on top of the beans, and cover with the rest of the beans from the plate. Stick the lid back on the pan (no gaps).
  4. Let the fish cook like that (with the lid closed) for about half an hour. Check once in a while to see what’s going on under there. If it’s looking short of juice add some hot water carefully, trying to miss the fish. It shouldn’t need it since the lid will be on and the steam will stay in.

Whichever variation you choose, make sure you eat this with lots of crusty bread. Unless you’re on the D word diet. Then just be patient because the day will come again…

Other recipes using green beans:
Green Bean, Tomato, and Feta Salad Oreganato {by Kalyn’s Kitchen}
Roasted Parmesan Green Beans {by Skinnytaste}
French Onion Green Bean Casserole – It’s Soupy! {by Food Wishes}
Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme {by Simply Recipes}

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken & Summer Vegetables – Starting the Dukan

01 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Chicken, Dukan Diet Friendly, Meat, Slow Cooker

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

balsamic, chicken, crockpot, diet, dukan, slow cooker, vegetables

Last week I finally made a decision – to lose some weight. For a while now I’ve been complaining about how over the past 5 years of so my weight has crept up and how yucky it’s making me feel. I’m not overweight, but at the moment I’m suffering from a seriously challenging wardrobe. I’ve also felt the difference in my horse-riding, with low energy levels and too tight jodhpurs. So the moment came when I felt strong enough to step away from the chocolate cookie and do something other than whine. In the past I’d heard about the Dukan Diet, but thought it was a bit too drastic for my few extra pounds. However, it’s summer (shorts, bikinis etc… you know) and generally I’m much better at following exact instructions than just “watching what I eat”, so I read his book. It makes so much sense! I found myself really interested in the theory and actually quite excited to start.

Well, I’m now 6 days into it. The initial excitement has somewhat evaporated, but my resolve has not. For those of you who know a bit about it, I’m now on the Cruise phase, so I’m eating pure protein one day, and protein plus vegetables the next. This is how it goes on now, with alternating days, until I reach my desired weight. I’ve no idea how long it’s going to take but I’m hoping it won’t be too long.

To be honest when I started last Monday, I was a bit worried that my blog was going to suffer. But looking into it a bit more has eased my mind, as there seem to be many interesting recipes that have been designed especially for this diet, as well as others that by chance suit it perfectly. Like this one! Chicken is one of the main foods of this diet, as it is a lean meat and has plenty of protein. Ok, ideally you should eat it grilled, so any fat drains away, but I think I can get away with cooking it in the slow cooker since you don’t need any oil to do so. In this recipe by Stephanie O’Dea (the CrockPot Queen in my opinion), the chicken and veg are cooked in balsamic vinegar and a bit of Worcestershire sauce. So simple and yet so flavourful. Vinegar is allowed, as are certain condiments in small quantities. So this seemed an ideal choice. I made a few adjustments to suit our taste and the result was really good, especially the vegetables which were absolutely gorgeous. The chicken was good too, and the vinegar even gave it a slight brown colour which was quite appealing. It was very tender and tasty. The remaining sauce was a bit bland, but that’s because vegetables release a lot of water so the stock was largely diluted. I didn’t have any of it because the meat and veggies were juicy enough and I was worried it might have a higher fat content since the chicken had cooked in it. For The Mister however I saved some of the liquid, brought it to a boil in the microwave, and stuck a teaspoon of gravy granules in. That did the trick and voila… a lovely sauce to go over his chicken and rice. I really enjoyed this dinner, even though I was eyeing The Mister’s rice with envy the whole time!

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken with Summer Vegetables
Serves 3

What you need:
3 chicken legs, bone in (skin on or off, it’s up to you. I think the skin keeps the outer layer from drying out, but a lot of people don’t like the idea of the skin cooking in the slow cooker)
2 red peppers (I use a Greek type that’s a bit longer than bell pepper, but bell would be great)
1 green bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 large courgette (zucchini)
1 onion
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

  1. Rinse the chicken pieces, pat dry with kitchen paper, and put in the slow cooker.
  2. Chop the veggies into large pieces and put them in a bowl.
  3. Mix the balsamic vinegar with the Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and pour over the veggies.
  4. Toss vegetables in the vinegar mix till they are well coated.
  5. Place the veggies on top of the chicken in the slow cooker and pour the vinegar mix over it all.
  6. Turn slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours.
  7. Serve with rice, quinoa or mashed potatoes, or eat as is if you’re on the Dukan Diet.

Note: Feel free to experiment with the vegetables. You could also try aubergines (eggplant) or summer squash. Carrots would be nice but I’m not sure if they’d soften in time. If you try them maybe put them under the chicken and let me know how it turns out!

Stuffed Courgettes (Zucchini) with Egg Lemon Sauce – My Slow Cooker Success

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Beef, Meat, Pork, Slow Cooker

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

avgolemono, courgettes, crockpot, egg lemon sauce, Greek, slow cooker, vegetables, zucchini

A couple of weeks ago I decided to experiment with another slow cooker adaptation. I had prepared myself towards a possible flop because after all, I was trying something quite tricky. I started by looking for a traditional recipe for this dish as it wasn’t something I knew off by heart. I’d only ever made it once, the regular way, a few years ago. I found one I liked the look of, and kept the quantities to a minimum, just so that if it was going to be a disaster, I wouldn’t end up hyperventilating at the waste of good food! Well. I needn’t have worried! After the first taste test I was high fiving myself, punching the air and doing a little victory dance round the house. Yes, I was mighty proud of myself, and I still wear a bit of a smug expression when I look at the pictures!

So, Stuffed Courgettes (or Zucchini if you’re reading from the US) in an Egg Lemon Sauce. Delicious. Ok, I admit, anything in egg lemon sauce is delicious for me, but this dish really is good. Here in Greece, up until a few years ago, you could only get the long green courgettes. Recently though, you see these really cute variations that have the same colour and taste, only they look like they’ve swallowed a tennis ball! Seriously, I find their almost perfect round shape hilarious, I don’t know why. When I saw some in the supermarket I thought right, I am going to try these stuffed, in the slow cooker. Actually they are ideal for stuffing as they have so much flesh, thus lots of room for filling, once the flesh is removed.

Now I must warn you, this isn’t a throw-everything-into-the-slow-cooker-and-turn-on type of recipe. It takes some prepping. But it’s worth it, and you do avoid the whole palaver of trying to boil the stuffed zuckes with an upside-down plate lying on top of them (yes, I know, weird – I think it’s to stop them moving around).

I’m not big on taking photos of each step when trying a recipe, usually because it’s what’s for dinner and needs to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. Also, more often than not, I’ll forget to snap a step or two and then it’s all messed up anyway. This time however, I couldn’t resist a couple of extra photos during the preparation of the courgettes – they are just so pretty. And I thought it might help readers to visualise certain aspects of the process (i.e. gutting the zuckes). And they’re so pretty.
So, here they are. See I told you they were cute (ok, sorry, I’ll stop now). You start by slicing the tops off, to make little lids. Keep them aside. To get the insides out I suggest the following tools: a knife (smallish, you want good control) and –ideally- a melon scoop (at least I think that’s what that is). What a useful contraption. It came in a set of three, a citrus zester, an apple corer and this spoon-like thing that looks like a mini ice cream scoop with a hole the middle. I gather it’s for making little balls of melon or watermelon. It’s great for scooping out the courgette flesh because it’s sharpish around the edge and you can position it at a good angle inside. So, you start scooping leaving a wall around the bottom and sides of the veg. You want them to be sturdy enough to hold, but you also want room for a decent amount of filling. I left just under one centimeter of flesh. It’s a good idea to lift the courgettes and hold them in your hands while scooping; this way you can sort of feel how close you’re getting to the sides. If you’re using regular, long zucchini you might find an apple corer useful, at least in the beginning. After you get the first chunks out continue with a small spoon.

Remember you need to keep the flesh. Some of it goes in the recipe, some of it you can keep for something else. I made the most unbelievable zucchini bread and was planning on doing a double post today; then I promptly ate the two last pieces before I’d taken any photos of it. I do that often, I think I’d have twice as many posts up already if I remembered to take pictures of all the things I make. Aaanyway. The two round zuckes gave me 1 ¼ cups of flesh. This of course largely depends on the size of the vegetables.

After I made the filling and stuffed the two courgettes I discovered that I had quite a bit of filling left over. I rummaged through the produce drawer in the fridge and discovered this lovely white aubergine (eggplant), so out it came. The two zuckes fit perfectly in my slow cooker (it’s only a small one), leaving no room for anything else. So now I also had to employ the services of my second slow cooker! Now that the extra room issue was solved I decided to plop some potatoes and carrots in with the aubergine as well. All set.After they cooked for about 5 ½ hours on low and were pretty much ready, I decided to make the egg lemon sauce. This is easy, but needs some attention when it’s transferred back into the slow cooker. I tempered the eggs (for more details on this see my Egg Lemon Chicken Soup) and then poured the sauce into the slow cookers with the veg and left it for about 5 minutes on low. I then tested the sauce with a food thermometer and it was well over 140F which is the minimum for cooking eggs, so I turned the cookers to warm and served shortly afterwards. The total cooking time was about 6-6 ½ hours.

Result? Gorgeous. Really tasty. And I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t fall apart when I took them out of the slow cooker. The courgette skins had cooked to a perfect consistency. Not pull-apart-with-your-fork soft but cut-with-the-side-of-your-fork soft. The eggplant was also just right, as were the potatoes and the carrots. Success!

Slow Cooker Stuffed Zucchini in Egg Lemon Sauce
Serves 2-3

What you need:
2 large or 3 medium round courgettes (zucchini). You can use long ones, I’d say probably 4 large (I suggest you have one or two extra on hand in case you end up with lots of leftover filling. Don’t gut the extras till you know you need them, to avoid waste)
200g minced/ground meat (I used a combination or beef and pork)
½ medium onion, minced
2 Tbs fresh chopped parsley
2 Tbs fresh chopped dill weed
¼ cup risotto rice (like Arborio)
Salt and pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup olive oil
1 ½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 egg
Juice of ½ lemon

What you do:

  1. Slice off the top of the courgettes in order to form little lids. Scoop out the insides as described above, leaving a wall of flesh around the inside of the veg.
  2. Keep ¼ cup of the flesh and chop it up. Put the rest away in the fridge till you find a good recipe for it.
  3. Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan, over medium heat. Gently cook the onion being careful it doesn’t brown or burn, till it’s translucent.
  4. Add the meat to the pan, and turn up the heat to medium high. Break up the meat clumps with a wooden spoon and keep stirring till you don’t see any more pink bits.
  5. Add the parsley, dill weed, courgette flesh, rice and salt & pepper, turn down the heat a bit and continue to gently sauté over a medium heat, for about 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
  6. Add ¼ cup water to the pan, and let it reduce, stirring the meat mixture frequently.
  7. When the water has reduced almost completely, take the mixture off the heat and leave to cool slightly. Use a spoon to fill the vegetables with the meat mixture, leaving a couple of centimeters space from the top.
  8. Replace the lids on the vegetables and put them in the slow cooker.
  9. Add 1 ½ cups of vegetable stock to the slow cookers, so that the liquid comes up the sides of the courgettes by about 1/3.
  10. Turn slow cooker on and cook on low for about 5 ½ hours. We have mostly cooked the meat, so the only thing that needs cooking really is the rice.
  11. After 5 ½ hours try prying open one of the lids, and lifting out some filling. You will see it will have increased in volume and may now reach the top. If the rice is cooked and soft you can go on to make the egg lemon sauce.
  12. Beat the egg and lemon juice in a medium/large bowl. Slowly add spoonfuls of the cooking liquid into the egg mixture, one at a time, being careful that the egg doesn’t scramble.
  13. As you add the warm liquid you can slowly increase the size of the spoonfuls. When the mixture in your bowl is quite warm, with lots of the juice in it, take out the insert of your slow cooker and set it somewhere heat-safe. Carefully pour the egg lemon mixture back into the slow cooker, lift it and swirl it around to mix it.
  14. Put the insert back into the slow cooker and leave on low for about 5 minutes. This should do it in terms of egg cooking time.
  15. If you want to be sure, test the sauce with a thermometer; it should be over 140F.
  16. Take out the veggies, spoon some sauce over them and enjoy with fresh bread and feta cheese.

For ideas on what to do with the leftover zucchini flesh, take a wander over to Kalyn’s Kitchen. She has lots of lovely recipes for this wonderful veg, including these gorgeous Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Green Chiles and Cheese. I’ve made these and they’re yummy.

Quinoa Stir Fry with Chicken

12 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Chicken, Meat

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

chicken, quinoa, stir fry, vegetables, wok

It’s only been a few months now since I discovered a new favourite ingredient; quinoa. I vaguely remember seeing it in health food shops during infrequent visits over the years, but I never gave it much attention. Here in Greece it’s not available in supermarkets yet, but I’m hoping people will catch on to how great this little seed is and hopefully it will be easier (and cheaper) to find eventually. Maybe by then we’ll be getting the name right as well! After reading on many websites the story of its origin and how the word is pronounced, it was funny to see the package with the name translated phonetically in Greek, reading the equivalent of KEENOA. I should get in touch with the importers and tell them 🙂 Apparently this little gem originates from South America, and was grown for human consumption as long as 3-4,000 years ago. Impressive!

So a few months back, I started coming across various recipes involving quinoa in all the blogs I read. The first one that actually made me go out and buy some, was this post on With a Side of Sneakers. It may sound strange, but a bit of cooked quinoa stirred into porridge just before it comes off the heat, gives it a gorgeous nutty taste and makes it an even better “fuel” for the day ahead due to the heaps of protein it provides. If you add a spoonful of honey or maple syrup… well that could be dessert for me! I love it.

Since then, I have found loads more recipes I really want to try, and no doubt they will all be making an appearance here at some point. When I made the chicken soup a few days ago (previous post), I left some of the cooked meat aside, with the intention of trying a very tasty looking stir fry dish from one of my favourite blogs, The Perfect Pantry.  I’m so glad I did! What a fantastic dinner. I used slightly different vegetables, because these are what I had in the fridge on the day I made it. And that’s the great thing about stir fry, it’s a great user-upper of odd bits of veg lurking at the back of the crisper drawer! Well, one of the great things. The main one being it’s just plain yummy. So, thank you Lydia for a wonderful recipe. (You should all take a visit to her site, it’s full of really interesting stuff!)

Quinoa Stir Fry with Chicken (slightly adapted from The Perfect Pantry’s Chicken and Vegetable Quinoa Stir-Fry)
Feeds 2 hungry people or makes a side dish for 3.

You’ll need:
½ cup quinoa
1 cup chicken stock or water
1 Tbs vegetable oil + 1 tsp toasted sesame oil (or use the same oil)
½ carrot, julienned (i.e. cut into matchstick-like strips)
½ red bell pepper, julienned
1 cup of broccoli (florets and julienned stalks)
3-4 small mushrooms, sliced
½ courgette (zucchini), julienned
½ tsp dried ginger (or use 1 or 2 tsp fresh, if you have it)
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ tsp fresh black pepper
1 egg
100gr cooked chicken cut into bite sized chunks (er, no bones obviously!)
Juice of ½ a lime
1 spring onion or scallion, chopped
1 tsp dried coriander (cilantro) (or 1/4 cup fresh if you have it)
2 Tbs soy sauce

What you do:

  1. Bring the stock or water to the boil in a small saucepan, and add the quinoa (check the packaging to see if you need to rinse it first). Give it a stir, turn the heat to low, and cover the pan leaving the quinoa to simmer for about 20 min, or until the water is absorbed. The quinoa is ready when it is soft and the little tail thingies come out of the seed. You’ll know what I mean when you see it! When it’s ready, take the pan off the heat and put a paper towel (or clean dish cloth) over it, and cover again with the lid. Set aside.
  2. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a wok or non stick frying pan on medium high. Add the bell pepper, carrot and broccoli, and cook stirring occasionally till they soften a bit.
  3. Add the mushrooms and courgette and stir fry for a bit longer (about another 2 minutes, depending on how soft you like your veg).
  4. Add the ginger, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Continue to stir fry for a few seconds to release the aromas.
  5. Remove the veg from the pan and set aside. Add the teaspoon of sesame oil (or same oil you used before) and return the pan to the heat. Add the cooked quinoa and break the egg over it. Stir so the egg cooks, about 30 seconds to a minute.
  6. Add the chicken, veg, onion, coriander, soy sauce and lime juice. Mix well and continue to cook for a while, till the chicken warms through (about a minute or two)
  7. Serve and enjoy!

For me, this made enough for one good dinner and one good lunch the next day!

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