• 500g ling or other white firm fish
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 5 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons splenda or equiv.
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 150g asparagus or snake beans, finely sliced
• 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1.5 tablespoons splenda
• ½ Thai chili minced
• 1 red shallot, finely sliced
• 1 small cucumber

Preheat your oven/deep fryer to 180ºC

To make the fish cakes place the fish in a food processor with the curry paste, lime leaves, fish sauce, egg and splenda. Blend until a fluffy mouse forms. Stir in the asparagus or snake beans.

Place half the mixture in a large mixing bowl. Using your hands, form the mixture into a ball and ‘slap’ it against the edge of the mixing bowl to allow the mixture to bind and incorporate air.

Divide the mixture into 4 patties and place the patties on a flat, lightly greased tray. Repeat the slapping and patty making with the remaining mixture.

Bake the patties in the oven for 20 minutes, turning them over half way through cooking. or deep fry until golden.

To make the cucumber relish.
Combine the vinegar, splenda, chilli and shallot in a bowl. Set aside. Peel the cucumber and divide into quarters lengthways. Remove the seeds and then, using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of cucumber to make ‘noodles’. Combine the cucumber with the relish ingredients and toss. Drain any excess liquid from the relish. This could be used as a dipping sauce.

If you keep hard boiled eggs in your fridge for snacks, and if you don’t, you should, these recipes area breeze.  The first filling is a traditional hummus recipe, a great stand by for any occasion if you have tinned chickpeas in the pantry. While the second filling is the true star of the show. Avocado and wasabi ‘cream’ and was deemed ‘better than mayonnaise’ .

Ingredients

• 12 hard boiled eggs (see note)

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon tahini (Sesame paste)
• juice of half a lemon
• 2 tablespoons  extra virgin olive oil
• a pinch salt
• 1-2  tablespoon water
• a pinch of sumac

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of smokey Spanish paprika or chipotle powder

Remove the shells from the eggs and slice in halve. Scoop out  the yolks from the eggs, setting aside 4 for the avocado cream. Discard, store or feed to your pets the remaining yolks.

To make the hummus filling combine the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, oil and salt in a food processor and blend to a paste. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to make a thick creamy paste consistency.

To make the wasabi avocado filling.Take the reserved yolks and place them in a food processor  with the avocado, lime juice, wasabi paste and salt. Blend until smooth. Add a small splash of water if the mixture feels a little thick.

Use a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle to fill each of the halved yolks.  Sprinkle sumac over the hummus filled eggs and paparika or chipotle powder over the avocado filled ones.

Note: How to hard boil an egg
Place the eggs in a saucepan just big enough for the eggs to cover the bottom with room for one of two more eggs. Cover with cold water to double the height of the eggs and bring to the boil, uncovered. As soon as the eggs come to the boil, place a lid on the pan and remove it from the heat. Stand for about 15 minutes and then rinse under cold water. Having your eggs cold before peeling them will make it much easier to remove the shell.

• can have favorable effects on brain function and memory
• soothes the stomach, and may help prevent ulcers
• suppresses the bacteria that causes urinary tract infections and the fungus associated with yeast infections
• reduces cholesterol levels – in particular, lowering bad cholesterol while leaving good cholesterol the same
• reduce blood sugar, and increase insulin levels.

Sounds pretty good, huh? A Google Scholar search show up all sorts of interesting articles, particularly related to the last item. Insulin sensitivity.  This could surely come in handy over the Christmas holidays; would it not? With a little tweaking my family’s traditional German Christmas biscuits can pack a healthy dose of cinnamon, egg white and almonds. Yum

• 3 egg whites (fresh, not pasteurised)
• 1 cup splenda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 drops almond essence
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 400g almond meal

Preheat your oven to 130ºC

In a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold in the Splenda.

In a seperate bowl combine the remainig ingredients. Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the almond mixture. Fold another third in. The mixture should start to form a dough. Gradually add in a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is workable but not sticky. You should have at least 1/4 cup of egg whites left over.

Roll the dough to 8mm thick  You may need to lightly dust your rolling pin with icing sugar to prevent it sticking. A silicone baking sheet is handy to stop the dough sticking to the bench, otherwise the bench will require a light dusting with icing sugar also.

Use a star cutter to cut out the biscuits. The dough can stand being re-rolled once without too much cracking. Use a pastry brush (or the corner of a clean Chux) to brush the remaining egg white mixture onto the top of the biscuits. Place on trays and bake for 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are firm and the tops set. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 100 biscuits.

Per biscuit:
Calories: 25
Fat: 2.2g (77%)
Carbs: 0.4g (9%)
Protein: 0.8g (14%)

Firstly, the timing is crucial. Stephanie Alexander, in her Cook’s Companion,  suggest that the recommended time which accompanies most turkey breasts is way too high. Instead suggesting 30 minutes per kilo to be adequate. Stephanie Alexander also highlights the need to rest the meat properly.

Resting meat allows the muscles to relax and all the juices which are trying to escape are then allowed to run back into the flesh. You should always rest a roast for at least half of the cooking time in somewhere warm.  If you have a grill/broiler in a separate compartment above your oven, this is the perfect place to rest meat. The heat from the oven below will have created a warm enough environment. Simply remove the grill rack.

Finally, a technique I picked up from my Dad a few years ago, who in turn pilfered it from a supermarket brochure, is to protect the breast of the turkey with rashes of bacon. The bacon will turn too black and crispy to taste very good, but will impart a lovely smokey flavour into the turkey. If you have dogs, the bacon can then be their Christmas treat. Alex and Kevin love it!

NB. If you have a frozen turkey roll, you will need to begin thawing 48 hours before you plan to cook.

Sage and rosemary roast turkey breast roll

• 1.5kg turkey breast roll
• 5 sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 clove of garlic
• salt and pepper
• 7 shortcut rashes of bacon

1. Finely chop one of the sage leaves.
2. Combine the oil, lemon zest, rosemary, chopped sage and garlic. Massage the mixture over the turkey and season the turkey lightly. Lay the remaining sage leaves over the top of the roll.
3. Place the bacon rashes over the top of the breast, slightly overlapping each slice. Set aside for 1 hour for the flavours to develop.
4. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200ºC.
5. Place the turkey on a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for 45 minutes (or 30 minutes per kilo). 10 minutes before the roasting time is up, remove the bacon rashes. When the cooking time is completed, insert a metal skewer or sharp knife  in the thickest part of the turkey and if the juices run clear the cooking process is complete.
6. Cover the turkey loosely with foil and place in a warm place to rest for 20-30 minutes.

To find other Christmas recipes, follow the Christmas tag.

While browsing a ‘free vegetables’ list. That is, list of vegetable who are fibrous or low enough in calories and sugar to be included in a serious ‘leaning out’ diet I spotted rhubarb. Ever since then I’ve been eyeing off the rhubarb at the farmers markets and at my organics shop. It’s thick stalks and strange colour taunted me ‘You’ll never make anything out of me’. Finally, on Friday I picked some up from Wilson’s Organics. The guy who always serves me and I both commented on how we’d never cooked it before. He’s quite used to me buying mystery ingredients each week and I report back whether they’re a success or not. Upon leaving the shop I broke a small bit off a stalk and had a taste. ‘PWFATTSST!’ Don’t do that. How anyone would ever think of eating this stuff after a raw taste is beyond me. However, I persevered and with a bit of scanning of my cookbooks concocted a plan.

Nutrition Data has this to say about Rhubarb:

It is also a good source of Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.

However, further research suggests that

… while it’s true that 1 cup of diced rhubarb contains about 10% of the daily value for calcium, it is hardly bioavailable at all, owing to the presence of these pesky natural compounds called oxalates, which bind to the calcium in the vegetable and prevent us from being able to absorb it.  So in fact, rhubarb is NOT actually a good non-dairy source of calcium…

Coconut Custard with Rhubarb compote

Rhubarb Compote

• 6 stems of rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces
• the zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon, freshly squeeze orange juice (or water)
• 1 teaspoon Splenda®

Coconut Custard

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 165ml of light (coconut) milk*
• ½ teaspoon vanilla essense
• 1 tablespoon Splenda®

Place all the ingredients for the compote in a small fryingpan/skillet over a medium heat and cook, stiring occasionally, for 8 minutes.

To make the custard, heat the milk until almost boiling. Either 2 minutes in the microwave or on the stove, stiring until bubble form at the edges.

In a large metal or glass bowl combine the eggs and Splenda®, while whisking add in the hot milk. Place the bowl over a saucepan with about 5cm of simmering water in the bottom of it. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Continue to stir until the mixture thickens. If lumps form, it’ll still taste good but it might not be dinner party material. Once the mixture is at the desired thickness it can be allowed to cool and reheated again gently in the same manner. The slightly scrambled version in the photo was very delicious, so if it’s just your Sunday breakfast don’t worry, you haven’t ruined it.

Divide the rhubarb amongst 2 ramekins and place the custard on top. Use a small spoon to give the mixture a ‘half-turn’ to make a pretty swirl.

*Plain low-fat milk works fine also.  I always buy TCC light coconut milk (like at the bottom but in a green can)

Nutrition per serve (makes 2 serves)
Calories: 180
Fat: 10.8g
Carbs: 13.8g
Fibre: 3.7g
Sugar: 3.4g (mostly from the OJ- replace with water to reduce)
Protien: 8.4g (you could boost this by adding in a scoop of vanilla whey to the custard mix)

Fluffy, light and tasty

You really can hide vegies ANYWHERE. Cauliflower is my favourite hidden vegetable because it tastes reasonably neutral and is great in both sweet and savory dishes. It also hasn’t got any sort of colour to it so the kids won’t spot it.

Steph, gave me the idea for this one. While she was preparing for her last comp she was mixing cauliflower in with her oats and eggs. I suggested she made the mix into pancakes and the idea took off.

• 2 cups of cauliflower, cut up stems are fine to include (don’t use FROZEN)
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)
• 2 scoops/60g pea protein*
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg**
• 3 egg whites**

Place the cauliflower in a saucepan with the coconut milk or equivilant water. Cover the saucepan and place over a medium heat to steam for 15-20 minutes or until very soft.

Place the cauliflower in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add in the egg and egg white and whizz a little longer. Add in the pea protien, salt and baking powder and puree until smooth.

Lightly grease a non-stick frying-pan/skillet and cook the mixture in 1/3 cup batches, flipping once the mixture has set.

*Pea protien can be replaced with plain soy protien or your favourite (gluten free) flour such as wholemeal, amarenth or besan.
**Or 2 whole eggs

I wouldn’t be suprised if these tasty Kale Chips and Cauliflower Popcorn don’t elicit the exact same respnse. I polished both off in under 5 minutes!

Parmesan Kale Chips and Pizza flavoured Cauli-Pop

• 1 bunch kale (either curly or flat), cut into chip sized pieces
• 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into popcorn size peices
• 10g finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
• 1.5 teaspoons dried oregan0
• 1 teaspoon smokey paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• a big pinch salt
• a splash of olive oil
• extra Parmesan, grated (optional)

Preheat your oven to 160ºC/320ºF

Combine the cheese, herbs, spices and salt in a small bowl.

Place the cauliflower in one bowl along with half the cheesy spice mix and toss to coat.

Combine the Kale, olive oil and cheesy spice mix and massage the leaves.

Place each mixture on a seperate baking sheet making sure nothing is overlapping.

Bake the kale chips for about 15 minutes or until crisp.

Bake the caulflower for about 30 minutes.

For crunchier pop-corn cook the cauliflower at your oven’s lowest temperature for 8 hr’s with the door slightly ajar.

I had leftover ‘cauliflower mash’ and woke thinking something warming was in order, but that I didn’t need the carbs of quinoa or oats. The creaminess of the cauliflower and coconut paired perfectly with the slight crunch from the apple, while the egg whites made this a substantial feed.

1/2 cauliflower
1/4 cup light coconut milk
1 ts natural peanut butter
2 tb cashews
1 apple, grated
1 1/2c egg whites
cinamon

1. Cook the cauliflower until soft (3-4mins in microwave).
2. Place in a blender with the coconut milk, nuts and nut butter and blend.
3. Stop at this point and you’ve got creamy rich mash.
4. Place the mixture in a small non-stick frying pan and stir in the egg whites and apple.
5. Continue to stir as if it where scrambled eggs until the egg whites are just cooked.
6. Sprinkle on the cinnamon and drizzle with maple syrup.

Image: Ian Britton

Devil’s Food Shake

• 1 cup chocolate tea
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 scoop chocolate protien powder (ladybird rice for me)
• 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (makes it creamy)
• 1 teaspoon maca powder
• 1 1/2 cup chopped beetroot leaves
• 2 small plums
• a dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

Make the tea and whisk in the cocoa. Allow to cool slightly so the protein powder doesn’t clump and blend with remaining ingredients.

This image was originally posted to Flickr as Red hot in Sukawati. by Farl

Base
1 (30g) scoop pea protein powder
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 ts baking powder

Thoroughly combine all the base ingredients in a mixing bowl. It should be the consistency of thick pancake batter.
Generously spray a 9″ non-stick frying pan and heat it to a medium heat. Spread the batter evenly across the pan and wait until bubbles form. Flip and cook for about 1 minute more. Remove from heat and allow to cool on a wire rack if not using straight away.

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF

Toppings
2 tablespoons pasata
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup low fat mozzerella
1 1/2 slices of proscuitto (parma ham), sliced into thin strips
about 8 marinated artichoke quarters
1/2 sliced onion
1/2 cup small broccoli florets
a handful of rocket
1 ts olive oil
a few shavings of aged Parmesan cheese

Place the base on a oven proof tray and spread the pasata evenly on top. Top with garlic, oregano and mozzarella. Layer on the proscuito, artichoke hearts, brocoli and onion.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and add the rocket. Drizzle on the olive oil and sprinkle on the shavings of Parmesan.

I ate half because I wanted the other half for lunch tomorrow. The whole recipe is probably 1 1/2 small serves.