Home Made Pizza

I made a tasty vegetarian pizza.  The base was a little thick. Next time, I will make more pizza’s with the same amount of dough.

·         1 cup grated cheese (mozzarella or cheddar)

·         2 cups mushrooms

·         1 cup sliced peppers (green, red, yellow)

·         1 onion sliced

·         2 cups whole wheat flour

·         1 package active dry yeast

·         ¾ tsp salt

·         1 cup hot water

·         1 tablespoon vegetable oil

·         1 tablespoon sugar or honey

·         tomato sauce (onions, oregano, salt, chilli flakes and  tomatoes fried in 1 tsp oil)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

To prepare the pizza dough combine flour, yeast and salt.  Blend in the water, oil and honey or sugar.  Stir vigorously until all the ingredients are well mixed.  Place the dough in the bowl, cover and leave aside to rise for about 30 minutes.

Roll out dough into pizza shape, about 3 mm, place in the greased  pizza pan or round baking dish, and press the dough down. Add tomato sauce and decorate the pizza with the remaining ingredients and bake for 15 – 20 minutes   or until the crust is golden brown.  The remainder of the dough can be used to make more pizzas or refrigerated for a couple of days.

Banana Bread and Disaster

I recently tried making a proper Thai Green Curry and it was an unmitigated disaster.  The reason for that, of course, was that I could not bring myself to use coconut milk in a dish.  The thought of all those calories freaked me out, but I will try again with some sort of reduced fat coconut milk.

I did manage an  awesome eggless banana bread.  I sneaked in some mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and linseeds) for added nutrients.

Banana Bread

2 cups sugar

125 g butter/margarine

4 mashed bananas (over-ripe ones are preferable)

½ cup mixed seeds

2 tablespoons lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups self-raising flour

½ cup lukewarm water

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease a loaf tin. Cream the butter and sugar well. Add the the mashed bananas mixed seeds, lemon juice and salt and mix well.  Fold in the flour.  Mix the bicarbonate of soda into the warm water and add to the mix once it has reached a doughy consistency.  Load the dough into the loaf tin and smooth out the surface.  Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

Cashew nut balls and spaghetti and an assortment of vegetables

I love devising my own recipes using ingredients that are in my fridge.  In its original form this would have been some sort of stir fry type thing.  I am a fusion cook :-D .  I decided to use both the fresh veg and some frozen veg and used up the last of the thai green curry paste that I  had in my fridge for ages.

2 teaspoons sunflower oil

8-10  cashew nut balls and/ soya prawns

1 medium onion, sliced

2 baby marrows, sliced fairly thin

1 radish, sliced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 chilli, sliced

1 medium tomato, diced  

250 grams of frozen mixed veg (I used an Asian stir fry which consisted of carrots- julienned, cut  baby corn,  sugar snap peas,  sliced red peppers and bean sprouts)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon hing

25 g of thai green curry paste

Salt to taste

1 cup boiled spaghetti

 

Fry the cashew balls in a non-stick frying pan using 1 teaspoon of oil and leave aside. 

Fry the onion in one teaspoon oil until the onions have browned.  Add the baby marrows, garlic, radish, celery, chilli, and tomato and cook for about 5-7 minutes.  Add the frozen veg, and cook for 10- 15 minutes and then add the cashew balls/soya prawns, hot sauce, mixed herbs, pepper, hing and salt.  Stir in and cook for 2 minutes .  Add the spaghetti and thai green curry paste and cook for a further 5 minutes.

While preparing the vegetables, boil the spaghetti in a big pot of fast boiling water in which you have added a big handful of salt and a tablespoon of oil.

Next time I will try this with Chinese noodles and substitute the thai green curry paste with  soy sauce.   

 

 

 

Bread and Betroot Chips

Fresh Bread

Last night I decided that I wanted my home to smell of freshly baked bread. I made brown whole wheat bread and  not only did my house smell great,  but I  also have some healthy bread in my cupboard.

500g brown bread flower
about 300 ml warm water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons barley/poppy sees/sesame seeds

Mix the dry ingredients together and then add water until the dough has a craggy consistency.  Add the oil and knead the dough until smooth.  Cover the dough and leave to rise for an hour in a draught free area.   Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Once the dough has expanded to about twice its size, shape the dough, and place in a loaf tin.  Firmly place the seeds of your choice on the bread and allow to rest for a further 25 minutes in a warm place.
Bake for 30- 40 minutes.

Beetroot Chips

During the week, I had an awesome  version of burger and chips using a soya patty and betroot chips.

3 medium beetroots
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Slice the betroot as thin as possible and coat in olive oil. Add salt to tase.  Place on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes and turn over to bake  for another 10 minutes.  Be warned that they burn easily so keep a close eye on the chips. The betroot chips tasted wonderful but I didn't slice it as thin as I would have like to achieve a very crispy texture.  I am now convinced that I need a mandoline slicer.  Any  combination of winter vegetables can be used. I will try butternut and carrots next.

Cabbage, low iron, LOTR and bonus: poem

Recent events in my life have served as a sharp reminder of why I started this blog.

I got really sick, super - can’t stand up, my life is ending sick.  At first, I thought it was a serious case of the sads.

 

 due to an emotional and unexpected break up and other stuff.  

After some time I decided to see a doctor who prescribed happy pills.

 

I reluctantly tried them but they were no help at all and I got to a point where it was an undertaking just to get out of bed and shower. 

 

 

So I went to a second doctor who in one go  - did a blood test and saved my life.  Turned out my redblood cells count was really low. I got sick because I wasn't paying attention to my food and that, for a person who doesn't eat meat, is apparently life threatening! After getting injections and taking the iron tablets I immediately felt better.

In fact I feel so much stronger that the awful feeling of depression and  fatigue seems like a distant memory. It was only two months ago.   I feel so fine that somebody asked me if I am on Prozac.

I guess this means that I will be updating more often now that I have been (rudely) reminded about the importance of a balanced diet. Right now I take an iron supplement every three days and I add a teaspoon of boiled methi seeds, which is supposed to be very high in iron,  to all my meals. 

Cabbage and Potato

1 small cabbage, sliced

1 potato, quartered

1 small onion, diced

1 teaspoon oil

2 dried chillies

half a teaspoon of methi seeds

1 small tomato, diced

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

Salt to taste

Fry the onions, mustard seeds, methi seeds, dried chillies in oil until the onions are quite brown. Add the cabbage and the potatoes, allow to cook for 5 minutes then add the tomato. Allow to cook for 20 minutes you may add some water if you need to. Cook until potaotes are softened and all the water has dried out .

During my illness, all I would do is watch movies and I have become a huge fan of anything Lord of the Rings. It all started after I watched the Hobbit and fell in love with Gollum who reminds me that we all have a piece of him inside us. I then watched the trilogy attentively, loved it and I even ended up reading the books. More on that in another post.
 

Here's a little poem:

 

You said, then I said, then you said.

You got the final word though.

I fell down,

then I got up.

I grew my garden

The peppers were good that year.

I looked around,

I don't know where you went.

 

Chicken Curry with Saffron

I made chicken curry recently but got a little bored of using the same old recipe. At the Indian spice shop (to which I went for kajal) I found a small bottle of saffron and fresh chillies. 

 

1 small chicken, cut and skinned

1 medium potato, peeled

1 medium onion, diced

I bay leaf

1 piece of cinnamon

1 piece of star anise

1 clove

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon garlic, crushed

2 tablespoon masala

1 tablespoon oil

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of mixed herbs

3 chillies (depending on taste)

3 strands of saffron

 

Place the onions, bay leaf, cinnamon, clove, and star anise into a pot and turn on the heat. Once the onions have heated up add the oil until the onions are golden brown. Add the garlic and fry for a minute then add the masala.  Allow everything to fry and then add the chicken and potatoes.   Let it cook for a few minutes and then add the salt,  thyme, mixed herbs and chillies. By this time the curry would have dried out a bit. Place the saffron strands into some boiling water for 3 minutes and add to the curry. Allow to cook for 40 minutes. The curry is ready once the potatoes are soft. I served it with a pepper, cucumber and onion salad and fresh rotis. 

My heart is like a ripe red tomato

My heart is like a ripe red tomato

When it gets bruised, the vegetable scent rises up, fresh, too much fragrance

When it is crushed, the ruby red juices flow, like blood. Dripping everywhere.

Don't be alarmed, its a good thing

think of the abundance of a harvest,

soil and water mixed with sunshine

I am a child of the earth.

I love and I cry.

And once, maybe it happened already

One day, maybe its coming

My tomato heart will meet that one,

that chef with a knife

that does not bruise,

that does not crush.