Un-Recipe – A bowl of pasta

I cannot remember when I last shared a un-recipe and this one couldn’t be easier.  I am starting to think I am craving so much pasta because of the running as I wasn’t that much of a pasta eater before.  I must confess to not making my own pasta for this dish, I simply opened a packet of store bought, well wouldn’t be much of an un-recipe if I had.

Un-Recipe – Bowl of Pasta

Ingredients

Pasta of choice
Olive oil
Garlic crushed
Coriander chopped
Salt and black pepper
Cheese of choice grated

Method

1. Boil pasta as per package instruction.
2. Stir in a good glug of olive oil with the garlic and coriander.
3. Season with salt and black pepper and top with cheese.

Advertisement

Cob in foil on the fire

A friend of ours rang us up the other day and offered us a fish which he had just caught.  How can one refuse such a generous offer.  Even better was the gift of it being scaled, gutted and filleted.  BONUS!  Thanks Bernie, you are a star.

All ready to be wrapped up an put on the coals

With having Pete home the last while and the weather being so lovely in the evenings, it is no surprise that we braai (barbecue) just about every other night and enjoy dining al fresco.

This cob was so moreish that we have enjoyed it twice in one week.  Now to wait for another kind offer of more fish or get on the river and catch one ourselves.  You can substitute the cob with any other fish – the simple flavours will compliment anything from sole to stock fish.

There really is no recipe for this, more a guideline, a un-recipe if you like.

Fish in Foil

Ingredients

Fish fillet of choice
Butter
Olive oil
Coarse salt
Black pepper
Lemon zest
Fresh Dill

Method

1. Place the fish on a piece of tin foil.
2. Place all of the ingredients over the fish.
3. Wrap the fish in the foil tightly.
4. Hand the package to your husband to cook over the coals.

No prizes for this pic but the fish was delicious!

Warm winters day clean out the fridge salad

Now how’s that for a title!  Quite apt if you were in our kitchen yesterday just before lunch time.   As we do, I have been storing a few bits and bobs in the line of leftovers the last couple of days and thought it time to use them up plus there were little dregs of sauces which I just don’t have the heart to throw away – I always think I can add them to something else but in reality never do, so, it was time to clean out the fridge.  What resulted was a taste bud tantalising and very satisfying lunch.

My salad consisted of crispy baby gem lettuce, onion, cucumber, tomato, coriander, roast chicken and gammon with a drizzling of mayo, sweet chilli sauce and black pepper which I enjoyed in a nice cosy sunny spot in the lounge.

There was a little more motivation to emptying the fridge but you will have to wait to see why.  Sadly no, we are not getting a new fridge, well not yet anyway.

Un-Recipe – Roasted Sweet Potato

I nearly forgot about our un-recipes – can’t remember when I last shared one with you.  Yesterday was one of those “suckers-on-my-butt” kind of days and didn’t leave the computer until it was nearly supper time.  I know, I know – I should have planned ahead.  I needed food but wasn’t much in the mood for cooking so a quick non complicated meal was required.  These tasty sweet potatoes were the perfect accompaniment to some left over roast pork.

Un-Recipe – Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

Sweet potatoes
Grapeseed oil
Salt
Ground cinnamon
Ground ginger

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel and slice, dice or wedge sweet potatoes.
3. Place sweet potatoes on a baking tray and drizzle with a little oil salt and the spices.
4. Bake until sweet potatoes are cooked.

Weight…

This is what my dinns consists of most evenings of late, with a variation of fish and chicken so there hasn’t been a recipe the past couple of weeks.  Apologies for the bad quality photograph.

T-Bone steak and salad with a yoghurt and sweet chilli dressing 

I have over the past while gained a few unwanted kilos, which wasn’t too difficult to accomplish however trying to get rid of them aint so easy!  It is very true the older you get, the more difficult it is to shed a few kilos.  So in light of an important birthday coming up in May, I thought I would get a head start before I am officially, well let’s just say a little older.

Anyhoo, without dwelling on the unwanted weight, I have been a very good girl the past couple of weeks watching my calorie intake, increasing my portein, using minimal fat and have for the most part cut carbs out all together – something I didn’t believe was possible, but here I am a couple of weeks in and I am still here to tell the tale.  I have never really had much of a sweet tooth so I haven’t cut  back on my sugar intake except for consuming very little fruit.  I am not officially dieting as I don’t believe in diets, I am just being concious of what I am eating.

An average breakfast consists of an egg or two usually scrambled or an omelet of sorts and occasionally a wee cheat with brown bread French toast.  Lunch is a salad with protein of sorts and supper pretty much consisting of the same alternatively stir fried veggies with protein.  I have not deprived myself of my wine (yip, I have forgone the gin and tonics) and enjoy a spritzer (which also helps with the calories) in the evenings with my meal.  If I get peckish through the day, I will have a yoghurt and I drink lots of water with lemon and still quite a few cups of tea.

I don’t anticipate I would be this successful in winter, although, I could survive on soup and carb free hearty stews.

So here’s to me reaching the point (soon I hope) where I feel comfortable again – I have no idea what that equates to in kilos as I am not particularly concerned with what number the scale throws out at me.  Once “there” I will slowly incorporate the foods I have cut out so I can maintain my comfort level.

Baked Spuddy with left over Roast Chicken

Well, this is a bit of a cheat as you bake the spud in the microwave so you don’t get that beautiful crispy outer skin but it certainly satisfies the hunger pang a lot quicker than baking it in the oven.  This is one of those meals which should really qualify as an Un-Recipe and one I enjoy all too often when Pete is away.  As you know, I have my butt planted on my office chair for too many hours in a day which means I need a satisfying meal in minutes.  It’s not because I have not thought ahead of time, it’s just that turning what I took out in the morning into a meal would just take too long.

Ingredients

1-2 potato/s per person
Butter
Thin slices of onion
Crushed garlic clove/s
Left over roast chicken cut into pieces – proof that I cooked the night before
Mayonnaise
Chopped parsley

Method

1. Pierce the potato a few times and bake for 3 to 6 minutes (depending on the size) on high.
2. Cut the potato as desired and top with the remaining ingredients.

Un-Recipe – Sardines on Crackers

It has been over 3 months since I last shared an un-recipe with you, so thought it high time to share another favourite.  I remember eating sardines on toast for Sunday evening dinners growing up.  Mom would always cook a huge roast for Sunday lunch with all the trimmings and extra so all we needed was something to top up until Monday morning breakfast.  I enjoyed this tasty snack on crackers instead of toast for a change as my lunch yesterday, half of which I had to share with my fur children – minus the crackers and vinegar that is.

Ingredients

Tin sardines
Vinegar
Onion finely chopped – regrettably I was a touch lazy and skipped this
Salt & pepper
Crackers of choice – I used poppyseed crackers

Method

1. Lightly mash the sardines with the other ingredients.
2. Spoon onto crackers.

Un-Recipe – Lazy or Busy Day Cucumber Sandwich

It has been a long while since I shared an un-recipe with you and yesterdays lunch was very much just that, an un-recipe sarmie.  It was another one of “those” days where I could not pull myself away from the computer until it was too late to make anything more than a quick sandwich for lunch.  A very satisfying and very moreish sarmie mind you, one which I quite often enjoy.

Un-Recipe – Cucumber Sandwich

Ingredients

2 slices of brown bread
Butter
Mayonnaise
Cucumber slices
Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Butter the bread.
2. Spread a layer of mayonnaise on one slice.
3. Top with the cucumber, salt and pepper.
4. Place the second slice of bread on top and cut in half.

Pork Sausage Salad

The festive season is in full swing and with lots of family catching up to do so quick lunches are definitely the way to go, especially when there is a nice sunny day – they have been very few and far between of late so taking full advantage is a necessity and on these days, a lunch that comes together in a matter of minutes is paramount – and so the pork sausage salad was created.  Quantities will depend on the amount of people you are feeding.

Ingredients

Pork sausages cooked – left over from the braai (barbecue) the night before are perfect
Tomatoes chopped
Cucumber chopped
Garlic chives chopped
Parsley chopped

Dressing
Homemade Mayonnaise
Whole grain mustard

Use a ratio of 3:1 respectively

Method

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy.

Un-Recipe – Chicken and Tomato Sandwich

On occasion when Pete is away, I have been known to get carried away and seem to get suckers on my butt as I never leave my computer for very long.  Recently was such a day (and night) which meant cooking supper was not top priority and I only thought of it when my worm was awake and needed to be fed immediately!  Seriously quick and easy would have to do – hence the Chicken and Tomato Sandwich was born, which made for a delicious light supper and was perfectly balanced with a Gin and Tonic 🙂 which I enjoyed at my desk.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast slightly flattened with the heel of your hand
Smoky barbecue spice
Butter
2 slices of brown bread
Homemade Mayonnaise
Homemade Guinness Mustard
1 tomato sliced

Method

1. Fry the chicken in a little butter sprinkled with the spice.
2. Butter the bread and spread the mayonnaise on one slice and the mustard on the other.
3. Top one of the slices  with the sliced tomato.
4. Once cooked cut the chicken breast into slices and place on top of the tomato.
5. Top with the second slice of bread and cut in half.

Un-Recipe – Bacon and Mushroom Omelet

For some peculiar reason, I had just two rashers of bacon left over in the fridge.  Stranger things have been known to happen though.  I could not live with myself if I let them go to waste so very quickly whipped them out of the fridge along with 2 mushrooms, and egg (which had 2 yolks :-))  and some cheddar cheese and turned it all into a lovely little omelet.  This was the ideal super quick, tasty and easy lunch.  Think I may have to always keep 2 spare rashers of bacon going forward.

Ingredients

2 rashers bacon chopped
2 mushrooms sliced
Vegetable spice
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Method

1. Fry the bacon and mushrooms until browned and sprinkle on vegetable spice.
2. Add the egg and grated cheese.
3. Fold sides into the middle and turn.

Un-Recipe – Banana Milkshake

It has been quite a while since I posted an un-recipe and this family loved Banana Milkshake is great for the beautiful days we are enjoying at the moment.  Summer is almost here – YAY!  🙂  The measurements of ingredients depend on the size of banana you are using and if you use a very ripe or not so ripe banana.  I like bananas that are just ripe so some times add a little bit of sweetness to enhance the flavour of the banana.  If you prefer your bananas very ripe, I am sure you could omit adding any additional sweetness.  You can jazz it up by adding ice cream or even a dash of whiskey.

Ingredients

1 banana peeled
2.5ml honey or brown sugar
5ml vanilla essence
250ml milk

Method

1. Place all the ingredients in a beaker and blend using a stick blender.

Un-Recipe – Egg and Tomato Sandwich

I love un-recipes for a quick and tasty lunch.  Un-recipe’s also fall into the comfort food category for me, which is a double bonus.  The last short while, whilst sorting out our home and garden, un-recipe’s of sorts has been on the cards for lunch – either that or leftovers from the previous evenings dinns.  I love eggs and tomatoes together in a sarmie or on a slice of hot buttered toast, especially when the egg yolk is still lovely and runny – there is something magical that happens with an egg and tomato – not sure what but it’s yummy.  Please let me know how you enjoy this moreish sarmie if you give it a try.

Ingredients

2 slices fresh white bread – brown just isn’t the same for this
Butter
Sliced tomato
Salt and pepper to taste
Fried egg

Method

1. Butter the bread and top the one slice with the sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste.
2.  Add your fried egg and top with the second slice of bread.
3. Cut and enjoy.

Un-Recipe – Egg on Toast

I have fond memories from my Primary (Junior) School days when my Mom would make fried eggs on toast with sliced tomato for breakfast – it was, well, still is a hit with me.  My version today is with baked beans but if you are not so inclined, creamed sweetcorn is also very nice and I enjoy my fried eggs cooked in butter, over easy and sprinkled with salt and white pepper.

Ingredients

Toast
Butter
Baked Beans warmed
Fried Egg
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Butter the toast and top with the baked beans followed by the egg.

Un-Recipe – Cheese under the Grill

I got this fun idea from The Comfort of Cooking a short while ago and thought I would share with you one of my many un-recipes, one which I enjoy for a quick and tasty lunch.  I am not sure if the un-recipe is supposed to be limited to 2 ingredients, if so, I went over the limit with an additional 2 ingredients, plus an optional one – oh well.

Ingredients

Toast
Mayonnaise
Onion sliced
Cheese thinly sliced or grated
Chutney – optional

Method

1. Spread the mayonnaise over the toast.
2. Top with the sliced onion and cover with the cheese.
3. Place under the grill until the cheese is melted.
4. Serve with chutney on the side.

I would love for you to share your un-recipes too as we all need new ideas for a quick snack or light lunch. 🙂