Soba Noodles with Broccoli and Peanut Sauce

I know I've been awfully quiet on the blog lately, but it seems that the Festive Season is catching up with me! I've been so busy I haven't had the time to cook anything new! Anyway, today I am sick in bed so thought I'd catch up with a little recipe or two.

I made this delicious soba noodle dish over the weekend. Soba noodes are made from buckwheat flour and have many great health benefits. They are naturally gluten free, low GI, low in fat and cholesterol and fairly high in protein compared to other grains.

 I buy my soba noodles at the local Chinese supermarket, but I have also seen them at Pick 'n Pay. If you are following a gluten free diet, be sure to check that they are 100% buckwheat, as some do contain wheat.

Ingredients:

2 blocks soft tofu, cut into bite size pieces (squares about 1cm thick)
1/2 pack soba noodles
1 medium head broccoli, cleaned and cut into florets
1 tbs coconut oil
1 large spring onion, white part thinly sliced - set green part aside for garnish
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 handful peanuts
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp corn flour
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs crunchy peanut butter
1/8 cup boiling water
5-6 radishes
pinch salt

Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add your noodles and a pinch of salt. Boil for 5-6 minutes. If you have a bamboo steamer, use it to cook the broccoli atop the pot of water. Otherwise, put the broccoli in the boiling water 2 minutes before the noodles are done and then drain the whole lot through a colander and rinse with cold water.

In a large saucepan on medium to high heat, fry the tofu pieces in coconut oil until they are crispy. Turn the tofu and repeat on the other side. Once the tofu is done, add the sliced garlic, spring onion and chilli and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.

For the sauce, use a fork to dissolve the peanut butter into the boiling water. Add the soy sauce/tamari, mirin, corn flour, sugar and sesame oil and stir.

Return the saucepan with the tofu to the heat, add the noodles, broccoli and the sauce and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and coated all the ingredients.

Serve with thinly sliced radish, chopped spring onion greens and a sprinkling of peanuts.

Makes about 4 servings. Enjoy!

Baked Zucchini Falafel with Garlic Aioli Dressing

I felt like making something fun for Sunday lunch today, so tweaked one of my favourite nibbles and turned it into a very healthy and uber delicious meal. Falafel, as much as I love it, is usually deep fried and full of unhealthy oil. My version is packed with fresh, nutritious ingredients and is baked to a golden crisp, and the lightly toasted pumpkin, cumin and sunflower seeds give these falafel balls their traditional nutty crunch.

My garlic aioli dressing is made using aquafaba (brine from a can of chickpeas) and is creamy, tangy and super easy to make.

For the Zucchini Falafel

 

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained (keep the liquid aside)

8 baby zucchinis (400g)

1 clove garlic, finely crushed

1/2 small purple onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 heaped tbs pumpkin seeds

2 heaped tbs sunflower seeds

2 tbs chia seeds

4 tbs chickpea brine

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tbs olive oil

Black pepper

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Clean the zucchini thoroughly and grate them all into a bowl. Place the grated zucchini into a sieve or muslin nut bag if you have one, and squeeze as much of the water out of them as possible. Try to catch the liquid in a bowl, it is full of green goodness and you can drink it as a shot or add it to a glass of ice water with lemon for a healthy drink. 

In a small bowl, mix the 4 tbs chickpea brine and 2 tbs chia seeds and set aside. This will be your egg replacement.  

Toast the pumpkin, sunflower and cumin seeds in a dry pan until they are lightly golden. Transfer to a blender and blitz for a few seconds so that they are roughly chopped, but not too fine. You want to retain their crunchiness. 

Place all of the ingredients, i.e. zucchini, chickpeas, seed mix, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, olive oil, spices and chia egg in a large mixing bowl and, using a potato masher, mix them all together. Using the potato masher helps to break the chickpeas and get all the ingredients to more of a doughy consistency. 

Line a large oven tray with wax paper and roll the "dough" into balls. I made them palm sized and got about twelve out. Bake for about 40 minutes, and in the last few minutes place the tray closer to the top grill and turn the heat up to 250 degrees to give them a golden crisp on top.

For the Garlic Aioli Dressing

Ingredients: 

Brine from 1 can of chickpeas (minus the two tbs you used for the falafel)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp cream of tartar

Place the brine, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and cream of tartar in a blender and blend at high speed for a minute. The liquid should be a whitish colour and slightly frothy. Slowly add the olive oil while blending and once it is fully incorporated, keep blending for another minute.

Serve the falafel with a simple salad of baby spinach,  julienne carrots and beetroot and drizzle with copious amounts of the delicous garlic dressing. Enjoy! xxx 

 

 

Roast Mexican Salad

I'm all about roasted salads at the moment. They're hearty, flavoursome and comforting for the Wintery weather. I've learned, with all my roasting of late, that there are a few important tricks to making perfect roast veggies; the most important being not to overcrowd your tray. I have quite a large oven tray and find that I get the best results when I roast my veggies in smaller, sparsely spread batches. I put the grill on its highest temperature (250 degrees Celsius) and roast each batch near the top of the oven for a quick 10-15 minutes, depending on the type of vegetable. This way, you retain the crunchy freshness of the vegetable, get a nice charred outside and you don't waste too much time and electricity cooking one big batch for a long time.

 To contrast the savoury roast corn, green pepper and mushrooms in this salad, I made a vinegar based dressing with purple onion, brown sugar and fresh herbs. The acidity of the vinegar works beautifully with the olive oil coating of the vegetables.

For the salad:
2 ears of corn
1 green pepper, diced
1 punnet button mushrooms, halved
1 purple onion, roughly chopped - keep 1/4 aside for the dressing
1/2 cucumber, diced
10-15 baby plum tomatoes, halved
4 tbs olive oil for roasting
Himalayan salt and black pepper for seasoning

Turn your grill on to 250 degrees Celsius. Cut the nibs of the corn directly into your oven tray and coat with 1 tbs olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 5-10 minutes. Repeat with the green pepper and onion in one batch and then the mushrooms. The mushrooms may need a little more than a tbs olive oil as they are very absorbent, though I try to use as little as possible where I can. Allow the veggies to cool before combining in a medium-large bowl with the cucumber and tomato.

For the dressing:

1 tbs Sriracha sauce (or any chilli sauce you have available)
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 purple onion very finely chopped
1 small handful cilantro, finely chopped
1 small handful basil, finely chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Toss the dressing through the salad and allow to sit for 15 minutes so that the flavours are absorbed into the vegetables.

This makes two large servings or four side servings. Unfortunately I don't have any ripe avo's at the moment, as a couple slices on top would be a great addition. This would also be fantastic served as a side with a slice of toasted ciabatta with avo.

Happy Winter salad making!

Brocolli Stem & Baby Fennel Soup

I always feel guilty throwing out the stem of my brocolli. I know its full of goodness, but I just can't bring myself to eating that big tree trunk of green fibre. So, what better way to mask an unwanted veggie than to blend it into a smooth, tasty soup - the master of disguise.

Ingredients:

1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tbs coconut oil
stems of 3 broccoli heads, chopped (I chop the florets off, rinse and keep for easy use in salads etc)
3-5 bulbs baby fennel, sliced
2 large carrots, chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 litre vegetable stock
1/4 tsp salt

On a low to medium heat, saute your onions and garlic in the coconut oil. This should be done slowly so that they don't burn quickly - approximately 15 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium, add the sliced broccoli stems, fennel, carrots, salt and garam masala and continue to saute for 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and cook for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before blending with a stick blender. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh herbs and sprouts.

Note: my brilliant chef brother taught me that soups and broths are always more flavoursome when served the next day. Since soups do take a little longer to cook, I like to make them on the side while preparing a quicker meal for the night. It's a little extra effort, but means I have instant, healthy meals for the next two nights.