This food blogging is all consuming and takes up a lot of time but what a great ride it is. From the cooking to the styling to the photography, it is a true joy. But the best part is the people you meet online who have the same passion. I have been doing quite a few gluten-free meals lately and it's mainly because there are so many great blogs out there that concentrate on gluten-free and they fascinate me. I suspect I feel better when I am not throwing a lot of wheat down my throat but it's not clear cut enough for me to make the leap to wheat-free or gluten-free. Anyway, tomorrow is visiting-Mum day and she is gluten-free so I went looking at one of the best blogs for healthy cakes and desserts which are often also gluten-free. You have met her before - Chocolate Covered Katie and that's where you will find this recipe. It is similar to this cake I made of hers a few weeks back with the big difference that this one has almost no sugar because it has a whole pile of dates in it … [Read more...] about Chocolate Chip Pie – Gluten-free
Spicy Potato & Pea Patties – vegetarian meal
If you are in need of a little spice in your life, cook these patties for dinner tomorrow night. As soon as I saw them on the Flavors of Mumbai blog, I knew I had to cook them. They are a nice surprise for the family if they don't see you preparing them because when they cut into what seems like a potato patties, they will find this delicious spicy pea mixture inside. This is not a low Fodmap recipe. Spicy Potato & Pea Patties - vegetarian meal Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Serves: 4 Ingredients 2 tbsp oil for shallow frying + 1 tbsp butter 1 onion chopped finely 1 carrot chopped finely 10 to 12 cashew nuts chopped quite finely 1.5 tbsp flour 6 potatoes medium sized 1 cup boiled green peas 2 green chillies chopped finely 1 tbsp cumin seed 2cm piece of fresh ginger 2 cloves of garlic 1 tsp turmeric ½ tomato chopped finely 1 tbsp garam masala powder Breadcrumbs for coating the chops Salt Method Firstly boil potatoes and green peas until tender. … [Read more...] about Spicy Potato & Pea Patties – vegetarian meal
Mushroom, Polenta & Tomato Tapas – Vegetarian & Gluten-Free
I have been thinking about tapas recently. Everyone loves small cocktail food and that is essentially what tapas are. But what about for dinner? Why not, I thought? I went to Foodgawker and searched for tapas but wasn't inspired - not for dinner anyway. In fact some photos had no relationship to tapas at all. I guess some keywords weren't entered very carefully. Then I saw something with possibilities but I went to the end of the four pages of tapas and found nothing and so went back and now, having just eaten dinner, I am very glad I did. These worked out really well. They look good and with the special dressing, they tasted like a million dollars. I found the idea at the She Eats Bears blog. This is not a low Fodmap recipe. Mushroom, Polenta & Tomato Tapas - Vegetarian & Gluten-Free Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Ingredients 400g polenta 3 big tomatoes 8 Portobello mushrooms 50g feta Cheese Small handful of parsley A lug of olive oil 1 clove garlic … [Read more...] about Mushroom, Polenta & Tomato Tapas – Vegetarian & Gluten-Free
Chicken Panzanella Salad
Chicken Panzanella Salad Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Ingredients 2 chicken breasts 2 tomatoes - cut up 1 avocado – diced or scoop out lumps with a small spoon 3 spring onions - sliced up Yellow pepper – diced 2 sticks of celery – sliced up small Parsley, chopped – not too finely A handful of green salad leaves 100g feta cheese – crumbled 1 loaf ciabatta or thick toast bread 1 red chilli – chopped up small 1 cup pumpkin puree ¾ cup coconut milk 1 tsp dijon mustard Juice of 1 lemon 2 cloves garlic - crushed Salt & pepper to taste Method Turn the oven on to 350°F/180°C. Slice the chicken breasts in half lengthwise and cook in a pan or on a grill with a little olive oil. Season after the heat has sealed them so they don’t lose too much liquid. Cube the bread and place on an oven tray and bake 15 minutes. You could drizzle them with olive oil but the dressing will do the job. Once the chicken is cooked, cut it up and let it cool while you prepare the rest of the … [Read more...] about Chicken Panzanella Salad
Jamie Oliver 30-minute Meatball Sandwich and Pickled Cabbage
I had already decided on this Jamie's 30-Minute Meals recipe and given Adriano the shopping list when I went online to see if there was a video of Jamie making this meal and found quite a turn up for the books. Jamie has been slammed for this recipe for the high fat levels in it. Double a Big Mac, if that's possible. I'm not sure where it all is but it does have mince meat, cheese and bacon. The rest is all vegetables. So I cut out the cheese and reduced the bacon. The coleslaw with the purple cabbage was really good but I felt the sandwich was a bit dry though Adriano liked it just the way it was. I would still make a tomato sauce and add it for the moisture. This is the first Jamie meal that I didn't completely enjoy. He also included a salad with salad leaves, tomatoes, avocados, basil and feta cheese - this was really good but then again I love most salads. I have put the original recipe below. Jamie says it serves 4 but we had only one ciabatta loaf and it was plenty. This is … [Read more...] about Jamie Oliver 30-minute Meatball Sandwich and Pickled Cabbage
Pumpkin, Almond, Chocolate Granola Bars – fat, salt and gluten free
Granola bar day today. The verdict on last week's bars was a little divided. Adriano thought they were too hard and gave him a belly ache. Dario just grunted. You'd think after 21 years, I would be able to interpret his grunts but I guess a chap has to keep a little mystery. The bars agreed with me - no belly ache - but I have to scratch them from all future menus for the sake of my husband's stomach. Today I was determined to add plenty of moisture along with the goodness. Somewhere I saw that a recipe used pumpkin puree along with apple sauce as the liquid and I used that base. I added all the nuts, seeds and dried fruit to make a true granola bar and threw in some healthy wheatgerm for good measure. This was a triumph, even if I do say so myself. They are moist and delicious. No salt or fat either. That has to be good. I am looking forward to morning teas this week. I don't know how to top this recipe. [print_this] Recipe: Pumpkin, Almond, Chocolate Granola … [Read more...] about Pumpkin, Almond, Chocolate Granola Bars – fat, salt and gluten free
