Archive for the ‘Monthly Meal Ideas’ Category

Monthly Meal Idea: Grilled Millet Rissoles

Wednesday, August 1st, 2007

Serves 4:

  • 1 cup millet
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 medium sweet potato
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger
  • ½ cup fresh coriander, chopped

Toast the millet in a heavy pan until it starts to smell fragrant. Leave aside. Put the water, sweet potato, mustard seeds, curry and ginger into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the toasted millet.

Cover and reduce heat and cook for 25-30 minutes or until the millet has absorbed all the water. Allow to cool.

With your hands, mix the coriander with the mixture. Form into small rissoles and grill over a medium heat, until each side is golden. Can be served with a salad and/or a green vegetable like broccoli.

Monthly Meal Idea: Hummus

Sunday, July 1st, 2007

Hummus is a great food and can be bought in most good health food shops and supermarkets. It is even possible to organic hummus now. But there is nothing to beat home made hummus.

Serves 6-8

  • 450g/1lb chickpeas or 2 tins (400g/14oz) of organic cooked chickpeas, drained
  • 4 large garlic cloves
  • 2 hot red chillies (optional)
  • Juice of about 3 lemons
  • About 150ml/¼ pint tahini
  • 85g/30z pitted black olives, plus a few for garnish
  • 2 tsps ground cumin
  • 1 tsp of sea salt
  • Organic virgin olive oil, to dress
  • A little paprika, to garnish
  • Chopped flat-leaved parsley, to garnish
  • Warm wholemeal pitta bread, to serve

If using dried chickpeas, soak them overnight in water. Next day, discard the water, cover with fresh water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, add one of the garlic cloves and the chillies and simmer for one hour, until just soft. Drain, reserving the water and discarding the garlic and chillies.

Reserving a few whole chickpeas, put the rest in a food processor with the lemon juice, tahini, olives, cumin, 150ml/¼ of the reserved water (or plain water if using tinned chickpeas) and sat. Chop the remaining garlic, add to the processor and blitz to a coarse puree. The consistency should not be too smooth, with pieces of chickpeas giving texture. Add more water if too dry. Adjust the flavouring with more tahini and lemon juice.

Spread the hummus on individual plates, forking circular ridges on the surface. Pour a little olive oil over and arrange a few whole chickpeas and olives on top, dust with a little paprika and garnish with the flat leave parsley. Serve with warm pitta bread.

Monthly meal idea: Avocado Dip

Friday, June 1st, 2007

Avocado dip(Enough for 4)

This is a lovely summer dip and can be eaten with raw carrot, celery and cucumber sticks or used as a filling in wholemeal pitta bread.

  •  1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 6 tablespoons of mayonnaise — either use an egg free mayonnaise or an all natural mayonnaise — both should be without sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 3 hard boiled organic eggs
  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1 teaspoon clear honey or maple syrup
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste (optional)

Put all the ingredients in the blender and switch on.