What to eat. What not to eat
An amusing article about being a vegetarian and omnivore-herbivore relations.
Meatless Like Me
I may be a vegetarian, but I still love the smell of bacon.
By Taylor Clark
Degustation breakfast
I’ve been experimenting with portion sizes and eating lots of whole foods. This weekend I made Thomas a five course meal for breakfast with under 350 calories. It was fun having lots of little things to eat.
1. Feijoa
2. Cumin gouda cheese with plum tomato
3. Manuka smoked salmon with cream cheese on wholemeal bread
4. Hard-boiled egg
5. Apple and pear salad with yoghurt and walnuts
Kiwi Berries
I was quite surprised to come across Kiwi berries in the supermarket. Have these been around for a while?
Unsurprisingly the are very similar to kiwi fruit. The differences are that you can fit all of one all in your mouth at once, there is no fur and it has a slightly more berries texture. Firm outer layer which when you bite through you get a burst of kiwifruit goodness. I think I prefer them.
Vegetables
Got a random vegetable in your pantry that you’re not sure what to do with?
http://vegetables.co.nz/ may come in handy as it has a search for recipes by vegetable option.
(I saw a hot air balloon with the URL flying past and just had to check it out, I’m going to give a few of the recipes a try. Pity about the slogan – “Be inspired”. It makes me want to throw carrots at them.)
Guacamole Pizza
For the past while I’ve been fixated on adding olives, feta and pesto to nearly all my savoury meals. Everything tastes better with olives/feta/pesto right? Well, yes and no. After realizing that my last three meals had included all these ingredients I decided it was time to branch out again.
So, I present to you pizza without the OFP combination.
The base spread is tomato salsa with left over Guacamole, topped with chargrilled capsicum, red onion, chillies, cheddar and mozzarella.
A delicious combo. I didn’t miss OFP one bit.
For general pizza making instruction view:
Broccoli or Mushroom Simple Pizza
For other yummy pizza toppings view:
Zucchini and Onion Pizza.
Peach, Banana & Mint Smoothie
I love going to the gym as gym means that when I get home it’s time for smoothies! (yes, really everything is about food).
This is the smoothie of the hour. I think it’s the mint leaves and dash of lemon which give this smoothie the edge.
Put the following in your blender.
- A ripe banana
- Two ripe peaches (stones removed of course!)
- Dash of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of yogurt
- A couple of small mint leaves finely cut
Then add milk. For two people I add milk till the total of ingredients in the blender is 750mls.
Drink. Mmmmmm.
I’m currently not going to the gym as I broke my finger. Damn. I’ll probably make the smoothie again soon anyway though I’ll need to get Thomas to do the chopping for me.
Parnell Chocolate Boutique
Kim at the Parnell Chocolate Boutique with chocolate denso.
Aucklanders, Heaven in a cup is waiting for you.
Chai
The Auckland contingent of Polly Put the Kettle on had a Chai making get together the other day. We made chai, ate food, sat on the back deck and watched ducklings.
We’ll be providing chai as well as other refreshments at KiwiBurn next year. We were thinking that we’d have to try out a few different recipes before finding the perfect chai. Not so, this one is great. Using soy means it’s also vegan friendly (anyone know if vegans eat honey? If not I guess we could replace the honey with brown sugar).
Rowena served the chai on a cute little tray in cute mugs purchased at an Op shop.
Put the following in a pot:
1 Tbsp anise seed
6 green cardamom pods
12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1/4″ ginger root, sliced thin
1/4 tsp black pepper corns
2 bay leaves
1/2 cinnamon pod
7 Cups water
Boil 5 minutes, then steep 10 minutes:
Add:
2 Tbsp Rooibos tea (or your favourite) then bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes:
Add:
6 Tbsp honey or brown sugar
1 Cup soy
Serve!
Tuna and Cream Cheese Dip
This is a lovely and easy starter. Even Thomas who is normally the anti-tuna thinks it’s delicious. Thanks to Clarissa for the recipe.
Tuna and Cream Cheese Dip
1 x medium tin plain tuna (in spring water)
1 x pot of cream cheese (250gms)
Good bunch of fresh mint
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of half a lemon.
Loosen the cream cheese in a bowl (until smooth and easy to stir), flake the tuna into it and stir through, add the mint and stir, then salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Serve with carrot sticks.
Tip: If the cream cheese is at room temperature it makes it easier to deal with :)
Roasted Asparagus Rolled in Pesto.
This is a wonderful and extremely easy way to do something different with asparagus. The pesto adds a slight crispy crust to the asparagus (as well as a yummy pesto flavour of course).
Roll the asparagus in pesto. Put in a roasting dish with a little oil and cook at around 200 C for 5 to 10 minutes.
I like to use it as an addition to my Big Breakfast style Vegetable Hash Stack