All posts tagged: salad

Prawn sushi bowls

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Avocados are back in season, baby. It’s time to GORGE. This recipe features my current favourite way to eat avocado: Cut in half, flesh scooped out. Topped with a dollop of mayo, a rosette of pickled ginger and a sprinkling of black and white sesame seeds. Measurements below are rough. Tweak to your own taste, appetite and preferences. I’ve made a quick sushi vinegar rice but you can totally use plain rice, brown rice or black rice. Prawn sushi bowls 15 mins prep  |  30 mins cook Difficulty: Easy  | Serves 2 Ingredients 1 cup raw peeled prawns 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups cooked sushi rice 4 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 teaspoons sugar 1 perfectly ripe avocado 2 tablespoons mayonnaise Pickled ginger* Black and white sesame seeds 2 to 3 cups fresh vegetables, sliced, diced or cut into batons Vegetables: radish, capsicum (bell pepper), carrot, red onion, shelled edamame beans, cucumber, daikon, bean sprouts, tomato, cabbage. Sliced spring onion for garnish. 2 tablespoon sushi/sashimi soy sauce with sliced chilli (optional) Preparation Bring a saucepan of …

Poké face

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Poké (pronounced “po–kay”) landed in Auckland last September in the tired underground IMAX food court on Queen Street. My fork buddy and I hit up Poke Time on opening day: bright and little tacky, as Hawaiian-themed things can be, the experience has a Subway vibe and is essentially a build-your-own raw fish salad bowl. You pick whatever you want, although it can be too many decisions for the uninitiated. If you’ve never tried poké before, it can be overwhelming but if you know what you are doing, Poke Time is great value. With heaps of options including salmon, two types of tuna, and trevally, they also have token vegetarian options, but that’s probably not what most will come here for. Tip: go for the seasoned fish, the non-marinated options are essentially sashimi bowls, rather than poké bowls. Poké means “chop” and is a Hawaiian dish influenced by Japanese cuisine. Poké is raw fish (such as tuna, salmon or octopus) is cubed and seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, seaweed. Poké is often served served with fresh vegetables and rice …

Festive Lamb Salad

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Hope everyone had a delicious Christmas! We’ve just spent four nights at a bach (kiwi for holiday home) for some family time. We were just a short downhill walk to the centre of Akaroa, a sleepy French harbourside settlement surrounded by dramatic hills. There were barbecues, lots of salads, a glazed ham, whitebait fritters, chocolates, cookies, desserts and just enough chilled beer and wine to wash it all down. I adore glazed ham (call me the queen of ham) and we finished the last of the ham leftovers the night before departure. I am not all hammed out at all. In fact, I’ve been contemplating buying a post-Christmas ham for the two of us to snack on. Maybe after that I shall be satiated. In any case, this festive salad I made earlier this month with lamb steaks could be switched for leftover ham if you happen to have any still left. Just top with sliced ham instead of sliced lamb. Festive lamb salad (or leftover ham salad if you happen to have leftover ham) Serves 2 Ingredients …

Around the world with Lisa’s World of Flavours (and a giveaway)

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I haven’t eaten EVERYTHING…but it’s on my list. Food tourism is on the rise and eating one’s way around the world is a legit pastime. New flavours, ingredients, and cooking techniques are my favourite travel souvenirs to bring home. I love being inspired by cuisines from around the world and until my next overseas adventure, I bring little slices of the world into my kitchen through food. Lisa’s new World of Flavours range takes iconic flavour combinations and re-imagines them as dips. Lisa’s Hummus is already a household name in NZ and the new range is made with beans instead of chickpeas and is gluten free and vegetarian. These dips make it easy to add an exotic touch to some of your favourite meals. There are 3 flavours in the World of Flavours range (so far): Greek Yoghurt Dip – lightly creamy with the fresh taste of mint and lemon. Great on sandwiches or burgers, as a spread or topping, perfect for summer barbecues. Thai Sriracha Dip (my favourite) – with sweet chilli and roasted capsicum, this …

Fish at work

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It doesn’t matter if your co-workers love fish, zapping a fish lunch in the staff microwave is just bad manners. I love fish, especially smoked fish but I’ve always been careful not to have bring fish to work. Smoked fish pie and fish curries – while delicious – are dishes I enjoy at restaurants or at home. This smoked fish recipe is work-place appropriate. Because it is served cold, no one else needs to know you’re enjoying some yummy smoked fish. Kahawai is a firm white fish commonly found in New Zealand and most of the time is served hot smoked. Reasonably priced at around $25NZ per kilo for boneless sides, a 250gram (half pound) fillet will set you back less than $7NZ. If you can’t get a hold of smoked kahawai, feel free to use any smoked fish fillet – hot smoked trout would be a great substitute. Spring is just around the corner here and in my garden, the rosemary bush and onion weed is flowering so I’ve used these as garnish along with …

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Ribbons

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This simple recipe makes a light lunch or summery starter. I used the Peri Peri flavoured hot smoked salmon because the yogurt sauce is nice contrast for the chili kick but you can use regular hot smoked salmon if chili flavoured salmon is unavailable. The chili salmon was actually milder than I anticipated. Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Ribbons Serves two Ingredients 150 grams hot smoked salmon (peri peri flavour) Half a cucumber A handful of fresh mint 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 1 clove garlic 1 tablespoon capers 1 tablespoon black olives, sliced Preparation Using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber into ribbons. Aim for a small strip of skin on each piece (for aesthetic purposes). Arrange the ribbons on two plates. Finely grate the garlic (I use a Microplane zester), chop the mint and mix into the yogurt. Dot the yogurt sauce on top of the cucumber ribbons. Break up the smoked salmon into smaller pieces and add to the plate followed by capers and black olives. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Enjoy! …

Smoked salmon sushi bowl

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A bowl of yum For those who don’t know what a sushi bowl is, it’s just a bunch of chopped sushi and salad ingredients served on a bowl of rice. You have a mouthful of this, a mouthful of that and in the end, it pretty much tastes like sushi in your mouth. This recipe is great for either lunch and dinner. I should know, I’ve eaten this for lunch and dinner this week. Thanks to Sealord, I’ve got a summer prize pack to give away. The pack includes a Sealord chilly bag, a stainless steel lunch box, a picnic blanket and Sealord’s Manuka Hot Smoked Salmon vouchers. To enter, fill in the form at the bottom of the giveaway post here. Sealord recently won the Supreme Award at the New Zealand Food Awards for their Manuka Hot Smoked Salmon. The flavours in their Manuka Hot Smoked Salmon range: Natural, Peri Peri (bird’s eye chili) and Tuscan. Au Natural I usually buy unflavoured smoked salmon. I find it to be more versatile and I enjoy adding my own flavourings …

Tofu Tuesday: Yet another tiny carrot

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Another salad fit for a rabbit. Another tiny carrot from our garden. At this rate, we won’t be eating any of these. I haven’t eaten a single carrot from our garden yet, not even a nibble. They’ve been going to Tofu only who loves the tops as much as the tiny bottoms. They smell very sweet and delicious. Tofu the bunny doesn’t like to share. Also, dandelion leaves, bright lights silverbeet (rainbow chard), cos lettuce, sage leaves and coriander (cilantro). Tofu approved.

Autumn is the best.

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Autumn is the best. I relish the crisp air, warm scarves and feijoa laden trees. Green leaves turn to red. Red wine replaces cold beer. Comfort food replaces chilled food. I’ve been feeling a little run down this week and my clothes have been feeling a little taut. You know, when your skinny jeans feel a tad too skinny and you worry what might happen to the shape of your middle when you attempt to sit down. I’m sure it is just the change of season and I’ll accuse daylight savings of lighting trickery. Before we dive into comfort food territory, I think it’s a good opportunity to revisit some of my favourite blog recipes. Light and bright food porn to tickle your fancy. For those heading into spring, this should be good inspirational fodder for you too. All thumbnails jump to relevant posts.

Caprese Salad

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event I have started to encourage us to try new food related things. If you have a blog and have tried something new this month, come and join this event. I put Caprese Salad on my Summer To Do List because I always loved the simple, contrasting ingredients. Summer tomatoes + soft milky mozzarella fior di latte + green fragrant basil. It looked easy but I’d never made it before. Since I just made mozzarella fior di latte from scratch, Caprese seemed to be the perfect way to enjoy it. The gist of it: Cut the mozzarella and ripe truss tomatoes into thick slices. Alternate slices on a platter. Tuck fresh whole basil leaves here and there. Finish off with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and black pepper. Dig in with forks 🙂 Check back tomorrow to see what I made with the rest of the mozzarella.

Humpty Dumpty and the King (of Salads)

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We don’t eat salads over winter, but now that it is spring, it’s supposedly time for lighter eating. That bikini body isn’t going to appear from nowhere. Just kidding. This is not that kind of blog. I invested in a one piece last year and I don’t think I’ll be getting a bikini any time soon. Caesar salad is a gutsy dish that should not be reserved for summer. It’s odd that while I love Caesar salad, I’ve never tried to make it before. The anchovy mayo is inspired by this rich anchovy mayo from The Fridge, Kingsland. Caesar salad is one of those salads that shouldn’t really be classed as a salad in case it gets confused for rabbit food or something else particularly healthy. It tastes amazing because of all the kick ass ingredients like parmesan, Worcestershire sauce, bacon, olives and anchovies. Parmesan and anchovies When it comes to pungent foods like anchovies and parmesan, buy the best quality version you can afford. I always thought I hated parmesan, but I’ve recently realised it’s cheap parmesan …

Out Standing

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On a beautiful Saturday morning, Parnell Farmers’ Market celebrated their “Hello Spring” event with face painting, Walnut the clown (making super balloon animal hats), Old Macdonald’s barnyard petting zoo and the main course: Julie Biuso’s Out Standing In Their Fields cooking demo. With 14 books under her belt and a 15th due out next month, Julie wears various foodie hats including writing, radio, television and teaching. I’m a subscriber to just one food magazine and Julie happens to be their food editor. Julie is well known for her accessible style of cooking and Taste magazine is my favourite for that same approach to food. Food shouldn’t be fussy! The first dish, a hot and sour pork salad was zingy and smart. Using asian exotics like lime, palm sugar, coriander, mint and fish sauce it has punchy flavours that bring out the freshness of the produce. Julie’s handy tips:  Use soft brown sugar as a substitute for palm sugar Refrigerate onions to save your eyes Don’t be scared about using fish sauce as a seasoning This …

Orzo Salad – Day 1

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I’ve never made orzo salad before but I figured it was worth giving a go. I think of orzo as rice shaped pasta and at $4 for 2 x 500g bags at Nosh last week, it was worth a whirl. 250g of orzo made enough for 2 nights dinners for 2 people and a lunch. So in theory, my $4 of orzo will be enough for 20 portions. Yowzers! I just boiled the orzo for about 7 minutes in salted water, drained and mixed with pesto, halved cherry tomatoes and avocado. Served with a grilled mushroom topped with cheese and herbs and a sexy slab of marinated rump. It’s a fast, easy weekday dinner that gets me excited about the warmer weather.

The secret to making Vietnamese Spring Rolls

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Vietnamese spring rolls (or summer rolls) are one of my favourite things to eat and I always order this as starter when we visit a Vietnamese restaurant. The light, refreshing roll contrasts with a punchy sauce and I feel like I never get enough of these things. The beauty of making food at home is you can have as many pieces as you like. You can eat as many as you like for a main course without confusing your poor waiter. I’ve made these rolls once before but it was a messy failure. My mistake was to soak the rice paper in hot water and for too long. By the time you roll up, it disintegrates and you can forget about trying to eat them with any ounce of dignity. I have found the secret which I will share with you below. When we were eating in Hanoi, Vietnam at the start of this year, I noticed that the rice paper rolls were a tad under softened. That led me to believe that the rolls …

Whitianga Scallops

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The seafood people came bearing scallops that had been plucked fresh from Whitianga. I can’t resist a fresh scallop so I bought a bag of them for $26. I was hungry and fresh seafood is a weakness. When they are fresh, the are sweet, tender and not at all fishy. They have this this flavour that reminds me of oysters and lobster. I wish there were more words in our vocabulary to define the difference. Scallops are one of those seafoods that I have yet to overindulge in. Even when we’ve travelled to destinations where scallops are plentiful, we haven’t eaten to our limit. In New Zealand, we eat both the white adductor muscle and the orange/white coral. They are sold as one. Both the orange and the white part are equally delicious. I would feel cheated if I were served scallops with only the adductor muscle. I might eye the server suspiciously and impore, “Where is the rest of my scallop?!”. Scallops in the morning? I woke up thinking about scallops. The Koala asked, …

Salad, pie and pudding

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Easy mid week 2 course dinner. This is the second Maketu Pie I’ve had and like the mussel pie, this smoked fish pie is flavoursome without being too salty. Salad Lay down a handful of spinach leaves, top with 2 slices of peppered havarti and 2 sundried tomatoes. Drizzle with french dressing. Pie Unwrap a Maketu smoked fish pie. Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C. Pudding Pear Pudding: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 1 cup of milk. Sift 1 cup of self raising flour and about half a teaspoon of cinnamon, mix with half a cup of sugar. Mix liquid with flour. Beat in 1 egg. Pour into 2 buttered ramekins. Slice 1 ripe pear and arrange in a circle on top of batter. Sprinkle with more sugar if desired. Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C. Since the pudding will take longer in the oven than the pie, you can put the pie and the pudding in the oven at about the same time. Serve with custard or ice cream or be greedy like us and …