Toasted cheese, spinach and avocado

2 slices of multigrain bread
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated cheese
2 leaves spinach
1/2 avocado

Layer the cheese, spinach and avocado in the sandwich. Brush the bread with olive oil. Toast sandwich in a non stick pan or thawa.  Serve with salad and chips

Artichokes, lentils and Hysteria

I have always loved artichokes, especially on pizza and in rissotos but I have never tried cooking them at home. 
I recently found fresh ones at the store and of course I had to buy them.

They looked very different to what is served at a restaurant.

I bought four of these but kept them in the fridge, having no idea how to prepare them.
Eventually I watched a couple of youtube videos and finally attempted cooking them.

Cleaning artichokes is a bit of a chore, you have to cut off all the inedible bits and at the end you are left with a very small piece of artichoke.  It is well worth the trouble, though.

Here is an easy to follow video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF78n_DvMWE

I boiled the clean artichokes in some salted water in which lemon juice and olive oil has been added.  It was delicious and looked like this:

I also made some soup using a mixture of lentils and barley:

Isn't that pretty?

I watched a very funny movie last week.  It is called Hysteria and is about the invention of the vibrator.  Maggie Gyllenhaal's character was charming and the movie was light hearted and entertaining. 

Coffee

I usually take my tea and coffee without milk or sugar, but the other night I  had a strong craving for sweet,  milky coffee.  I added some spices to it and it was amazingly good.

Spiced Coffee

2 teaspoons coffee
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon coffee creamer
milk (according to your taste)
dash of nutmeg
1 small stick of Cinnamon
water

Place coffee and a piece of Cinnamon into a cup and pour in boiling water.  Add the nutmeg, honey, coffee creamer and milk, and allow to steep for a minute or two.
Remove the Cinnamon stick and enjoy! 
For more  increased decadence, I will add a tot of brandy next time.

Roasted Vegetables, lentil and vegetable soup and Yoga

After my success with the patty pans, I decided to try roasting other vegetables.  I have also been too busy to mess about with the steamer  - cleaning it is a bit of a hassle.  

Assortment of Roasted Vegetables

250 g brussel sprouts
250 g butternut pieces
1 large red onion, sliced
3 small cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
splash of lemon juice
fine salt
pepper

Coat the brussel sprouts in some olive oil and splash with vinegar, coat the other vegetables in oil, (I used my hand) and place in a roasting dish, making sure that the onions are at the bottom of the dish. Season generously with fine salt and pepper.  Roast for 45 minutes at 180 degrees.
They were delicious and the brussel sprouts were especially nice.

Lentil and Vegetable Soup

1/4 cup soup mix (peas, barley lentils and groats)
1/4 cup red, yellow, brown and green lentils
250g baby marrows, slice
250g eggplants, sliced
250g green beans, quartered
1 medium red onion
1 medium white onion
2 large cloves of garlic
6 medium tomatoes
2 hot jalepeno peppers
1 tablespoon oil (I used olive)
2 tablespoons hot sauce (I used bandito's habenero sauce)
Aesfoetida powder.
1 tsp oreganum

In a large pot, boil the soup mix and lentils once and add 200 g baby marrows, 100g eggplants and all the green beans. The green beans I used was quite tough and that is the reason why added it at the beginning. Boil for 30 minutes.

In a seperate non stick  pan, cook the onions, garlic, remaining baby marrows, eggplants, tomatoes and jalepeno peppers in water  until the tomatoes have cooked down, about 20 minutes. Add the oil and oreganum from the top and allow to cook for 5 more minutes. 

Add this mix into the soup mix, add salt according to taste, hing, hot sauce and simmer for 30 minutes. 

This soup can be refridgerated for up to a week. I found the soup mix in the store and it seems to be popular because it is always available. I have posted a variation of this recipe before, but that was the winter version.This soup is high in iron and light enough for summer. I love it.

I have been attending yoga classes regularly, not sure if I am more flexible or if my chakra's are being balanced.  But it certainly relaxes me.

Patty Pans and Rainbow Plates and Tarot Update

This week I decided to have rainbow plates,  veggies of all colours in one plate.  I used the usual purple cabbage, butternut etc. 
In the past, one ingredient I stayed away from is Patty Pans.  I have always found them to be bitter and nasty. 

However, yellow veggies are not that easy to find so I confronted my fear and triumphed:)

Oven Roasted Patty Pans
Olive Oil
Powdered Nutmeg
Salt
Pepper

Wash the patty pans thoroughly and coat with olive oil, sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper.   Place in a roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

Roasting the patty pans decreases the bitterness and it has a lovely caramelised flavour. I just added nutmeg on a whim and it was not a bad choice at all.

I also found a diluted version of tahini sauce and harrisa sauce at the store and they go great on sandwiches.

So I have been making good progress with tarot and have been reading tarot for people. I  am now getting referrals.  So fun!

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.