My First Risotto

You have to try something new every now and then. You know, just to keep it interesting. I decided to make my first Risotto. This is a high in starch meal, so try not to overdo it :)

 

Mushroom Risotto

250g Mushrooms thinly sliced

1 large onion thinly sliced

1l of vegetable stock

1 Pack of mushroom soup powder

400ml Low fat Milk

250ml Pasta Rice

Firstly gently sweat the onion and mushroom until the onion is soft.

Add the rice and some of the stock; keep adding the stock little bit at a time waiting for the rice to absorb the liquid. Do this until all the stock is absorbed or the rice is nice and soft.

Lastly add the soup powder to the milk and add to the risotto, stir until it thickens.

Let it gently cook for about 10 minutes.

You could serve this with a bit of parmesan cheese if you like.

Lasagne

I love pasta, especially lasagne. The problem is it’s always fatty, and you end up having way to much starch. Of course it was challenge accepted! I set out to make a low fat guilt free lasagne. It’s high in protein, low in fat, and the starch is just enough to make it your favourite pasta dish.

   

All my recipes can be adapted, if you want to add more layers, feel free. :) This recipe makes about 6 servings.

Lasagne with salad = LOVE!

Lasagne

Ingredients:

400g of mince

½ cup of rinsed lentils

1 one big onion roughly chopped

1 small green pepper roughly chopped

150g mushrooms thinly sliced

500g can chopped tomatoes

100g tomato puree

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon Chutney

Some lasagne sheets

Some Cheddar to top it off

Cheese sauce:

300ml milk

2 tablespoons corn-starch

40g Mozzarella grated

Method:

1. Start by frying your mince in a pan, add the onion, green pepper and mushroom.
2. Add the canned tomatoes and lentils, let it cook for 5 minutes.
3. Lastly add the tomato puree, sugar and chutney.
4. Cook it for another 10 minutes.
5. Next make your cheese sauce. Add the corn-starch to your milk whisk well and microwave on high for a few minutes. Take it out regularly to whisk. It will start to thicken. Now add the mozzarella and mix well.
6. You can now layer your lasagne, start with your mince. Add one layer of lasagne sheets. Add one layer of the cheese sauce and top it off with some grated cheddar. (If you would like to add more layers, you can add half the mince, then one layer of lasagne sheets, followed by the rest of the mince and then another layer of lasagne. Top off with the cheese sauce and grated cheddar.)
7. Bake your lasagne in a 180 degree Celsius oven for 25 minutes, or until the cheddar is golden brown.
8. Leave to cool slightly before serving.

Let me know what you think!

Butternut and Chicken Quiche

It’s almost summer time again. The time of year where you never feel like cooked food, and you definitely don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen when you could be enjoying the sun. This is why I think quiche is the perfect summer dish. Its light and you can serve it hot or cold. You can keep it in the fridge and just add salad to complete the meal.

Quiche is versatile, you can add almost any combination and it will still taste divine! My favourite combo’s are spinach and feta, and butternut and chicken.

Today I want to share my Butternut and chicken recipe.

You’ll need to start with the crust. They say woman are better pastry chefs, because their hands are colder :). Cold is indeed the trick to a light and flaky pastry. Try to have all your ingredients as cold as possible.

Butternut and Chicken Quiche

 

Pastry - You will need:

220g Cake Flour

Pinch of salt

180g Room temperature Butter

1 egg yolk

Cold water

Sift flour and salt, and the butter. Gently rub the butter unto the flour using your fingertips, don’t overwork it.

Add the egg yolk and just enough cold water to make a stiff dough. Shape into a ball and wrap your pastry in cling wrap and leave in the fridge to chill for at least half an hour.

Again the key is not to over work the pastry, and to keep it chilled.

Now is the time you can start cooking the butternut and chicken for the filling.

Take the pastry out of the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface.

Lightly flour the pastry and gently start to roll the pastry out.

It should be about 5mm thick, and big enough to fit a 24cm pie dish.

Place it in a dish, prick it with a fork and bake blind, (this means put some wax paper over your pastry and fill the dish with some beans or rice, it will help to keep the pastry’s shape) for 10 minutes in a 200 degrees Celsius oven.

Uncover the pastry and bake for another 7 minutes.

Your pastry is now ready to be filled with yummy ingredients.

Filling - You will need:

200g of cooked butternut,

2 Cooked chicken breasts flaked,

Some mushrooms thinly sliced,

1 fried onion,

Some chives, salt and pepper,

3 eggs + the left over egg white used in the pastry,

400ml of low fat Milk

Start by placing the fried onion all over the bottom of the pastry. Now layer the butternut, chives and chicken. Make sure that there’s an even spread of ingredients.

Now mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Pour this mixture over the filling ingredients.

Now bake the quiche in a 180 degrees Celsius oven for 30min or until golden brown.

The quiche will need to cool slightly; this will just help it set better.

There you have it, a basic quiche recipe. You can now make your own combination by replacing the butternut and chicken with your own ingredients, add more spices, try different things. You can even replace some of the milk with cream for a richer quiche.

Have fun!

Chicken Snitzel

One thing you need to know about my hubby and I is, we both LOVE chicken! We eat loads of white meat during the week, and you can only eat your favourite dish so many times before you get bored with it.

Yesterday I decided to try something new. The challenge was to take something that is usually high in fat and calories and make a low fat alternative.

I think I might just have achieved this goal, and it tasted as good as it looks!

Chicken Snitzel

Ingredients for chicken

2 Chicken Breasts (flattened)
Some Corn starch for dipping
Some Plain flour for dipping
1 Egg whisked
Salt and paprika
Olive oil

Ingredients for roasted zucchini

• 500g of Zucchini/baby marrow
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Ingredients for mushroom sauce

• 250g of thinly sliced mushrooms (the thinner you slice it, the more flavour it will give to your sauce)
• 1 table spoon of corn starch (and more if you want the sauce thicker)
• ½ cup of water
• 1 cup of milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius
• I started off by tenderizing my chicken (you need it to be the same thickness over the whole breast for even cooking)
• I then created an assembly line, first a bowl with some corn starch, second a bowl with the whisked egg, lastly a bowl with plain flour. I added some salt and paprika to the plain flour; this helped to flavour the chicken.
• I first dipped the chicken in the corn starch, followed by the egg and lastly the spiced flour. Make sure you get and even coating of all three.
• Now place the breasts in a baking tray.

Zucchini

• Next you need to cut the zucchini in halves, lightly brush it with some olive oil. Add your salt and pepper and place the veggies in the baking tray with the chicken breasts.
• Place the tray in the oven for about 12 min, take it out and lightly brush the chicken with olive oil. Place it back in the oven for another 5 min, or until it starts to brown.
• Flip the chicken breasts and repeat the step above.

Mushroom Sauce

• While the chicken is cooking start on your sauce, cook the mushroom in half a cup of water, the water turn brown with all the lovely mushroom flavour.
• When the mushroom is cooked mix the corn starch and milk and add it to the mushrooms in the pot. Stir continuously, until the sauce thickens.
• Flavour with salt and pepper.

The chicken was soft and tender, with just the right amount of flavour. Paired with the mushroom sauce and a bit of grated cheese it was a hit. I will definitely make this again!

Enjoy making your own combinations!