Red Lentil Dahl

 About 2 years ago, as i was aimlessly scrolling through Facebook, i stumbled across a post about Kimi Magazine. Intrigued by this magazine i'd never heard of, i kept reading. All i could really gauge was that it was based in Melbourne, it had a little food section and all the profits from the magazine were given to Eating Disorders Victoria. In my daily endeavours at the time to expand my blog audience, i immediately contacted whoever i could about Kimi Magazine and said something along the lines of "Hi, love what your magazine is about, love where the profits are going. I write a food blog, are you interested in some recipes?"  and voila! I must have been in the right place at the right time because as it turns out, Kimi had only just released their first issue and WERE interested in some recipes.

I went along to the signing of the first issue and discovered that the driving force behind Kimi, was just one girl, my age, doing something really special for a very sick best friend. After a few chats with Ciara (creator of Kimi) we agreed on a recipe for the next issue- "The World Issue".

Sticking with what i knew i decided to make a warming dahl recipe that i learned when i first went vegetarian. It's super simple and yummy!

Red Lentil Dahl
2 -3 tbs peanut or sunflower oil for cooking
1 onion, diced,
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cm ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 cups red lentils, rinsed and drained
4 cups boiling water
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
salt to taste

Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in cooking oil until transparent. Add the turmeric, and then the lentils. Stir to coat the lentils. Cover with 4 cups boiling water, bring to the boil and lower the temperature to a simmer. Partially cover and stir occasionally for about 40 minutes. You may need to add more water depending on the cosistency you like. When the lentils are soft, add in the salt, garam masala and chili powder.

Serve on basmati rice with yoghurt and fresh coriander.

Perfect Rice
I generally measure rice by 1/2 cup per person you are feeding.
Rinse and drain rice.
In a saucepan, add the rice and double the quantity of water - e.g 1 cup rice = 2 cups water.
Bring to the boil. Once the rice is boiling, stir and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting.
Cover and leave to cook for 12 minutes. DO NOT LIFT THE LID!
Your rice should be soft and fluffy when the 12 minutes is up!

These photos are taken  by the wonderful Daniele Martinie who spent hours with us, trying to make something as sloppy and yellow as Dahl look as wonderful as it does above!

Thanks so much to Ciara and Dani for the opportunity.

I'll be seeing Ciara again tomorrow for the photo shoot for the next issue of Kimi which is coming out towards the end of the year! 

Mini Wallaby Burgers with Homemade Chili Jam and Beetroot Relish

 This is my first ever meaty recipe to feature on my blog. I'm feeling pretty excited to share it with you because i think it marks a big movement in my vegetarianism.

For the last 8 and a bit years i have been a non-meat-eater. Quite strict for the majority of that time and at some points, vegan.
In the last year i have been questioning my morals, working out why i choose to eat what i eat and challenging why I've started to eat some meats.

I'd like to say i consciously live a sustainable lifestyle. My main issue with the meat and dairy industry IS the industry itself and the impacts it has on our environment. The scale of meat consumption and the farming practices involved are pretty frightening. Whilst eating meat is not currently sustainable, i believe that if everyone had the same attitude towards meat and dairy as myself and a lot of others do, then meat-eating probably wouldn't be so hideous. For all those vegos out there- please continue. It's always going to be true that when you eat an animal, it has to die first and a plant-based diet is always going to be more sustainable. I don't eat meat often and i'm very picky about it too.

If you are at all interested in reading about meat the Sustainable Table website have some incredible resources to read.

So without, writing a lengthy ethical essay, I'd like to share with you my Mini Wallaby Burgers with the Homemade Chili Jam and Beetroot Relish that we were given as Christmas gifts yesterday.

Wallaby Burger
500g Wallaby Mince
Half White Onion, diced
1 Handful Fresh Parsley, chopped fine
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Egg, beaten

Stir the onion, parsley, salt, pepper and egg in to the mince and leave to rest for at least half an hour.
Roll in to small patties (my mix made 9) and grill on the BBQ or fry lightly in oil for about 3 minutes on each side.

I served my burgers on mini sourdough rolls with shaved Parmesan, homemade chili jam, beetroot relish, fresh salad greens and sprouts.
You can't serve burgers without some sort of potato. We had rosemary and smoked paprika wedges with a garlic aioli. Oh and a beer!

Spicy Bean Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

I have been craving tacos since last week. During my cooking class at camp last week i asked the kids what their signature dish would be if they were on a cooking show. One boy proceeded to tell me all about these incredible tacos he would make. Since then i haven't stopped thinking about making taaaaccccos so tonight was the night to satiate that craving.

My cousin (second cousin actually) from Scotland is visiting at the moment and like me, she's very much food obsessed. This recipe is a joint creation from the both of us.

*Note- You will need lots of limes for this!
   
Spicy Beans
2 tbs. cooking oil
1 large clove garlic
1 red onion
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 large capsicum, diced
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan and add onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the spices, tomato paste, beans, capsicum and diced tomatoes. Cook on a medium heat until the flavours are incorporated. Squeeze lime juice and season with salt.

Cabbage Slaw
1/4 Red Cabbage
2 carrots, grated
handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 zucchini, grated
1 cucumber, grated
Half onion sliced thinly
Juice of 1-2 limes
1 tbs. red wine vinegar
pinch raw sugar
2 tbs. sesame seeds, toasted

Combine all the vegetables and coriander in a large bowl. Dress with lime juice, red wine vinegar, raw sugar and sesame seeds.

Goats Cheese Guacamole
1 large avocado
few sprigs fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 tbs. goats cheese
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Mash avocado and add all other ingredients.

Garlic Mayonnaise Sauce
1/2 cup good quality mayonaise
1 clove garlic
juice of half a lemon
fresh chives, chopped

To Serve
1 packet gluten free corn tortillas
Chopped fresh chilies or jalapenos 
More chopped limes for serving

Heat tortillas in a pan on a low heat or in the microwave and assemble as desired!

Mushroom, Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tartlets

Good Morning All!
Posts may start to become scarce over the next few weeks because I'm headin' back up to the hills for work again. It's been nice to bypass a lot of winter work and enjoy some down time in the warmth of my own kitchen, pottering away at my own pace. There's been a lot of room for creativity over the last few months, but now it's back to reality. The kitchen where i live on site at work is small with minimal bench space and and an old, electric stove stop. I'll also have a lot less time for cooking, but I'm going to see what i can do!

Today i thought I'd leave the sweets for some cute little lunch-time (or dinner time, or anytime) Mushroom, Caramelised Onion and Goats Cheese Tartlets. They're a perfect meal size and it means there's no fighting over who got the bigger piece of pie because everyone gets a tartlet to themselves!

Ingredients

Spelt Shortcrust Pastry
makes 4 x 12cm tartlets or 1 small tart
1 cup Wholemeal Spelt Flour
50g Salted Butter
5-6 Tbs. Ice Water

1. In a food processor combine the flour and butter. Slowly add the water until the dough starts to form a ball. Careful not to add too much because the dough will become sticky and hard to work with.
Cover and put in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Caramelised Onions
3 Onions
3-4 Sprigs Thyme
1 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

2. In a heavy based pan and add the onions and thyme. Cover and leave on a very low heat stirring occasionally. If the onions become too wet take off the lid. I tend to take the lid on and off during the process. The onions will take about 40 minutes to caramelise. Half way through stir through the balsamic.

The Mushrooms
500g Mushrooms
1 Garlic Clove
Salt and Pepper to taste

3. In a frying pan, heat some oil and add 1 clove of crushed garlic. add the mushrooms and fry until soft.
 
The Filler and Topper
1 Egg beaten
Splash of Milk
1 Small Handful Chopped Parsley
Small Handful Pine Nuts
30 g Goats Cheese

4. Combine eggs, milk and parsley in a a bowl.

Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees.
Grease your tart form/s. Roll out pastry dough thinly on a floured bench.
Cut out 4 circles about 15cm wide and line each form with pastry.
Add some mushrooms to each tartlet, then onions. Divide your egg filler in to 4 and pour over each tartlet.
Sprinkle each tartlet with Pine nuts and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
When the pies are done, crumble the goats cheese over the warm tartlets.

Serve warm

Parsnip, Fennel & Leek Soup

It's soup season and i can't get this song out of my head.

Soup, soup
A tasty soup, soup
A spicy carrot and coriander
(Chilli chowder)
Crouton, crouton
Crunchy friends in a liquid broth
I am gazpacho
Oh
I am a summer soup
Mmm
Miso, miso
Fighting in the dojo
Miso, miso
Oriental prince in the land of soup

If you don't know what i'm talking about you should watch more Mighty Boosh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xDKt82kgzY

This is souper easy to make (haha get it?...) and doesn't really take much looking after. Chop, cook, boil, blitz, eat!

Ingredients
Butter or olive oil for frying
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 parsnip
1 fennel bulb
3 potatoes
half bunch celery
1 leek
1/3 bottle dry white wine
1 veggie stock cube or just salt and pepper to taste
natural yoghurt or cream for garnish
chives, dill and parsley for garnish

Chop all of your veggies up roughly. Fry onion and garlic until transparent and add in veggies in no particular order.
Pour in white wine, add stock cube and cover the rest with boiling water.
Allow to boil and then cover and simmer until the veggies are soft. About 20-30 minutes.
Blitz with a stick mixer or blend in food processor until smooth consistency.
Add salt and pepper to taste. (You can add yoghurt or cream while you're blitzing for a rounder flavour.)
Garnish with yoghurt/cream and chopped dill, chives and parsley and cracked pepper.

I ate mine with some caraway rye sourdough and loottts of butter!

Enjoy and stay warm!