Tag: recipe

Broccoli Cheese Tater Tots

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria2 Comments

Hi all, I trialled a new recipe this past week for my daughter and I am happy to say it was a success. She loves broccoli, but you still never if she’s going to eat it if I’m not there. I tried them for afternoon tea and then again for her school lunch and she ate them no problem both times. Her dad also loved it, so I thought I better share this recipe.

I adapted this recipe from Baked Cheddar Broccoli Tots by Sabrina of Dinner then Dessert. I never intended on altering the recipe but made a few minor changes to suit my family and my style of cooking. Firstly, I blanched the vegetables instead of microwaving them. I don’t have a microwave in my kitchen. I don’t like using them at all. We do actually have one, but my partner has to go into the garage to use it on occasion. I prefer to use my stove or a small oven. I also added fresh grated carrot, red onion and Nutritional yeast. My family are more accustom to these ingredients and the Nutritional yeast gives a nice cheesy taste with extra health benefits. I also preferred to use my homemade breadcrumbs, since the panko crumbs and other breadcrumbs in general from the supermarket, are full of nasty ingredients. My homemade breadcrumbs are so quick and easy to make and they really do makes a difference the flavour of anything I add them too. They are also not so dry, so I don’t need to add spray oil to whatever I coat them in. Lastly, I had to add a little olive oil, as my batch of tots were way too crumbly. The oil made them lovely and moist and probably helped brown better when baking.

These tater tots are delicious on their own, but they also pair well with a good quality tomato sauce. They are perfect for lunchboxes, kids meal, appetiser or as party food. They also freeze well. If serving them re-warmed, I recommend placing them in the oven or air-fryer for a few minutes. This will keep them crisp, opposed to the microwave, which seems to make things soggy.

Broccoli Cheese Tater Tots

(nut free, gluten free option)

Ingredients:

2 cups of broccoli florets, don’t include hard stems

1/4 cup finely grated carrots

sea salt

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1 cup good quality store-bought or homemade bread crumbs (sourdough, garlic, lemon zest, sea salt), or use gluten free breadcrumbs if you prefer.

1/2 cup organic shredded cheddar cheese or other shredded/grated cheese

2 organic free-range eggs, lightly beaten.

1-2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and prepare a baking tray with parchment paper
  2. Place broccoli in a small pan with a tiny bit of water. Cook for 2 minutes, add a pinch of sea salt and add carrot and cook for 2 more minutes. The broccoli should be tender and bright green in colour.
  3. Strain the broccoli and carrot in a fine mesh strainer and press lightly to remove any excess water and allow to cool a little.
  4. Place the broccoli and carrot mixture on a chopping board and mince, so that the broccoli is in smaller pieces. Then add to a large mixing bowl.
  5. Add red onion, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, nutritional yeast and olive oil. Mix until combined
  6. Take about 1 tbsp size of the mixture into your hand and squeeze into a tater tot shaped ball and place the baking tray.
  7. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the tater tots. Return to the oven and bake for a further 7 minutes.

*Makes about 26 tater tots

*If freezing, wrap in small batches in an airtight bag or container and defrost overnight. If you want to serve them hot, reheat in an air-fryer or small oven. Serve immediately or place in a thermos.

One-pot baked beans stew

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria2 Comments

Hi all, I hope you’ve had a good start to the week. Today I have a recipe inspired by another that I really wanted to cook, but lacked the main ingredients. This happens to me all the time because I’m not great at planning when I’m food shopping. I have a standing order for fresh fruit and veg that is delivered weekly. So when I go to the supermarket I don’t think about recipes to try or create. I just want to get in and out of there.

More recently, my favourite book is Dinner: Changing the Game by New York Times food editor, Melissa Clark. This book is fantastic to elevate your usually diner fare. Most recipes don’t require too many ingredients and more often then not, I have the same or similar ingredients on-hand. So the recipe I was inspired by was Tomato-braised White beans with Chorizo. Since I had no white beans, chorizo, fresh herbs or canned tomatoes, I tried to elevate a couple of cans of baked beans. I love baked beans, but the healthier, BPA free ones are often really flavourless. I end up having to add more salt, sugar or maple syrup when I cook them for breakfast or I get complains that they don’t taste like Heinz. I have been curious for a while what I could add to my baked beans to make them a more complete meal. So what eventuated tonight was a delicious stewed, with a few more simple ingredients and a lot of flavour. It went perfectly with the Skillet Brown-Butter Cornbread, also from the same book. Luckily I had everything ready to go for that recipe.

For this recipe, you can alter the vegetables for what you have on hand. You can also make it vegetarian by omitting the ham for a vegan ham or just leave it out completely. You can also add more sweet smoked paprika if you like that smokey flavour. Cornbread goes really well with this, but keep it more savoury because this stew is quite sweet. Alternatively, you could have it with crusty bread or mash potatoes. My partner loved this recipe for the sweet and savoury flavour of the stew and the buttery cornbread. My daughter wasn’t so sold, because she likes her dinner completely savoury and her ‘cake’ sweet. My child does not like sweet potatoes, peas, carrots or any other sweet vegetable or sauce. I think her biggest gripe was that the cornbread was not a sweet cake and contained corn. However, I know three other young cousins who love sweet vegetables and cornbread. So this may be a better dish to make for them when they visit.

One-pot baked bean stew

(gluten free, nut free, vegan option)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

150 g organic/free range leg ham (nitrate & gluten free) or vegan ham substitute (optional)

1 onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 small red capsicum, diced

2 cloves of garlic diced

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground smoked sweet paprika

2 cans organic baked beans (BPA and gluten free, no added salt – I used Absolute Organic)

1 can-full of filtered water

1/2 tsp sea salt or more to taste

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1-2 handfuls of baby spinach

Method:

  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot and place on medium heat. Then add ham and cook for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Removed the ham from the pot and place in a bowl to the side.
  2. Then add tomato paste, cumin, and smoked sweet paprika to the pot. Cook for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant and be careful not to burn it.
  3. Immediately add onion, carrots, celery, red capsicum and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.
  4. Then add baked beans, a can full of water and salt. Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and add the ham and maple syrup. Cook for 25-30 minutes, to allow the stew to thicken.
  5. Take off the heat and stir through the baby spinach. Once it has wilted you may serve.

*Serves 4-6

Lunchbox Ham, Cheese and Veggie Quiche

Published on by Vanessa GregoriaLeave a comment

Hi all, hope you had a wonderful summer holiday. Since my last post, we did our road trip in Tasmania and got through our first week of Prep. I have been so pumped up, getting up around 4-5 am. I’ve never been an early riser, but these pregnancy hormones are making me a bit of a Stepford wife. I don’t think I’ve ever been so productive in the home, but I have been getting a little burned out by the afternoon. So I’ve been a bit slow to get back to blogging and colouring. On the bright side, my fridge and freezer are loaded with healthy meal prep for everyone.

I spent most of last week preparing healthy homemade goods for my daughter and partners lunches. I’ve made chicken and veggie sausage rolls, baked chicken nuggets, spinach and feta scrolls, chicken and veggie meatballs and mini banana blueberry cupcakes. My little family really loved all of these homemade baked goods, but I didn’t think to photograph and take notes of my creations. However, I just prepare a healthy kid-friendly quiche that was also a hit with the family, so I took a few pictures before it was all gone, so I could share it with you all.

This quiche is really quick to prepare. It only took me about 10 minutes to put together before baking. It is perfect for a lunchbox, quick dinner or meal prepped breakfast. You can alter the vegetables depending on what you have on hand. I used broccoli and zucchini because they are my daughter’s favourite vegetables and they go well with eggs. However, steamed sliced potato or roasted pumpkin would also go really nicely. Ham is of course optional. I normally stay clear of deli meats, but my local organic butcher makes their leg ham. It is a good alternative treat for my ham-and-cheese loving child, as it doesn’t contain nitrate or preservatives. Since I try to keep dairy consumption low in my home I try to use alternatives that are more easy to digest. So I prefer to use natural sheep’s yogurt (Meredith Dairy), which will give the quiche a more creamy texture. As for cheese, you can go with what ever you like. I normally would go for freshly grated Pecorino Romano, which is made of sheep’s milk. But I found Barambah Organics Cheddar Cheese Shredded from the health food store, without preservatives and anti-caking. Although this quiche looks small, it is quite dense. It can cut into 4 serves or be halved again, as a protein snack. It is also unnecessary and not recommend reheating this quiche, simply because it’s not the healthy to reheat eggs. If you’re wondering why, see this article: 8 Foods You Shouldn’t Reheat (Because They Could Poison You).

Lunchbox Ham, Cheese and Veggie Quiche

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

4 slices of free range nitrate free leg ham, chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped broccoli florets

1/2 medium zucchini grated

5-6 organic free range eggs

2 tbsp organic natural sheep/cow yogurt

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup organic shredded or grated cheedar/mozzarella/pecorino cheese

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
  2. Heat olive oil in a small pan, then add the ham. Saute for a few minutes until it’s cooked through.
  3. Add broccoli and zucchini and cook for a couple more minutes, until the broccoli is bright green and tender.
  4. Evenly spread out the ham and veggies into a prepared baking dish. I used 20cm x 24cm ceramic baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and yogurt and add a pinch of sea salt.
  6. Sprinkle half the cheese on top of the ham and veggies, then spread evenly with egg mixture and lastly top with leftover cheese.
  7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.
  8. Remove from the baking tray and once cool enough, slice to serve or store.

Pumpkin Pikelets

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria1 Comment

I’ve got quite a stockpile of root vegetables in my pantry at the moment, and its way to hot to make soups and heavy starchy foods. I’m the only pumpkin fan in my house, so I thought I would infuse some of that pumpkin sweet flavour into our morning breakfast. Little O was really not interested, so I made these after taking her to kindy for Marco and I. We both really enjoyed them and they were a nice change to our mundane morning routine of avocado on bread. I did try them with the little one later, but she still wasn’t a fan. Unlike other children, she despises sweet vegetables, like sweet potato, corn and peas. Zucchini pancakes and broccoli frittata are much more welcome on her breakfast plate. Perhaps, next time I can sway her with some maple syrup, since she still loves sugary condiments. Anyway if you’re open to the deliciousness of sweet pumpkin, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with these pikelets.

Pumpkin Pikelets

Ingredients:

1 small butternut pumpkin

Olive oil

sea salt

1 cup organic plain flour

1/2 cup plant milk, plus more

1 large egg

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4-1/2 ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice

coconut oil, to cook

real maple syrup to serve

Method:

  1. First, you need to roast your butternut pumpkin, which should be done ahead of time. Just chop the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt. Roast in 180-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin flesh is soft. Then scope out, mash and allow to cool in the fridge, until your ready to use. You should have at least a 1 cup of mashed butternut pumpkin.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add mashed pumpkin, flour, milk, egg, coconut sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of sea salt. Whisk until combined and add more milk if the batter is too dry.
  3. Heat your hot plate or crepe pan on medium heat and drizzle with coconut oil. Once the oil is hot, drop the batter into a pan, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup and try to flatten it out a little. Cook on one side, until you start to see little holes appear on the top, or when the sides crisp up and then flip and cook on the other side. They only take a couple of minutes to cook in total. Continue until you have used all of the batter.
  4. Enjoy the pikelets with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Makes 10 pikelets.

Fried Zucchini

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria3 Comments

I’ve been trialling recipes for O’s big party day this weekend and Fried Zucchini is on the menu. I was inspired by my fellow Calabrese friends that post a lot of delicious photos of traditional fried dishes in our group. This recipe is pretty easy and very quick to prepare. I hope my friends and family liked it as much as my little family did.

Fried Zucchini (vegetarian, nut free, soy free)

Ingredients:

  • 3 medium zucchini, sliced in thin rounds
  • 1/2 cup or more flour
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 2 large pinches of sea salt, more to serve
  • Olive oil for frying

Method:

  1. First organise your three bowls of flour, beaten eggs and a combined mixture of bread crumbs, grated cheese and sea salt.
  2. Dust the zucchini with flour, this will help them accept the batter. Dip them into the egg and lastly coat with bread crumb mixture. Set aside on a plate or baking tray, until all the zucchini are battered.
  3. Now heat the olive oil in a fry pan, it should be about 1.5-2 cm high. To test if the oil is hot enough put a little breadcrumb in and see if it sizzles. Now you can start putting your battered zucchini rounds into the pan. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan and cook each for about a minute on each side or until golden brown. Place the zucchini on paper towel on a plate or tray to drain the oil.
  4. Once all the zucchini has been fried, place on a serving tray with a pinch of good sea salt to serve.

Mushroom Carbonara

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria5 Comments

Carbonara is a dish that I grew up on and nobody makes it like my mum. Sadly I had to give it up several years ago when I stopped eating dairy. Although I now do eat a bit of dairy here and there, I still avoid creamy based pastas sauces. I have read that traditional Roman Carbonara is made with just eggs, pancetta and Pecorino Romano and no cream. Although I think nearly every dish of Carbonara Marco ordered when we travelled around Italy was cream based. In the past, I had tried to make Carbonara without cream (or creamy substitute), but it just wasn’t very good. The egg would scramble, it wasn’t creamy enough and the taste just wasn’t there.

However, I came across this video of Molly from Bon Appétit making a more traditional Carbonara with Mushroom. It looked so creamy and delicious and the perfect way to celebrate Octavia and my love of mushrooms. You can find the recipe here, but I recommend also watching the video below. Molly does a great job of showing how easy it is to make and gives some great tips along the way. It made me realise some of the little mistakes that I had been making, which made my own Carbonara so terrible.

So I tried my hand at Molly’s Mushroom Cabonara and it was so good. I did switch a few of the ingredients for things I already had. I used white and shiitake mushrooms, farfalle pasta, Pecorino Romano, scallions instead of shallots, and basil instead of parsley. These changes didn’t matter so much because the key ingredients are what brought it all together. These include plenty of egg yolks, perfectly seasoned pasta water, hard Italian cheese and flavourful mushrooms. It was also little things like adding pasta water to the eggs before adding to the pan and pushing the mushrooms to caramelise that really made the difference.

The result was a light creamy sauce that perfectly coated the pasta, which was right on point in terms of flavour and seasoning. I honestly didn’t expect it to taste this good and no extra salt was needed to bring out the flavours. My little family also really enjoyed it, which was a bit surprising. O isn’t a fan of pepper and Marco doesn’t love mushrooms, but they both gobbled up the two serves.

Have you tried making traditional Carbonara? What do you think of this recipe?

Baked Eggs with Mediterranean Hash

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria6 Comments

It’s been a while since I have posted any recipes. I haven’t been as passionate about cooking recently, while I’ve been juggle uni, a testy toddler and constant onslaught of the flu. Cooking has been more a chore of late, but I’m hoping that now I’m on holidays I can experiment with some new recipes. I’m really excited to make some homemade pasta after watching the new docuseries, Salt Fat Acid Heat. If you have Netflix you must check it out and have your passion for food renewed.

So this recipe is just a quick lunch I prepared for myself and my partner, while our daughter was having some Nonna time. I was inspired by Spinach and Potatoes Baked with Eggs from Scandinavian Comfort Food. Since I was missing some of the key ingredients, I italianized it with what I had on hand. I also got to try out my new Lodge caste iron skillet, which I bought as an non-toxic alternative. It was a great to cook with and easy to clean.. Well easy for Marco to clean, since I’m the cook.

This dish can serve two hungry people or three, if you add another egg. I served it with a fresh green salad coated with my new favourite ingredient, Cobrum Estate Lemon Infused EVO. I also used this oil in the hash to infuse it with a fresh lemon flavour. If you watch the first episode of Salt, Fat Acid Heat, you will get why I’m a bit obsessed with EVO right now.

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Banana, Date and Chia Bread

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria15 Comments

Hi everyone, I recently got back from my trip, but I am still dealing with jet lag and getting my toddler into routine. Plus it’s my birthday tomorrow! I will update you on my trip very soon.

In the meantime I am sharing this recipe with you today that I adapted from an previous recipe I posted on my old blog. I made this banana bread for a wonderful friend that has been visiting us over the past few months to do yoga with us. I was really happy that he enjoyed it. I am look forward to making some more sweet treats when he visits us again since I have been really inspired to bake since my recent trip to the Nordic countries.

 

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Orecchiette with Tofurky Sausage and Broccoli

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria13 Comments

Orecchiette is one of my favourite pasta since I was a child. It actually means ‘small ears’ and originated from the Italian region of Puglia (the heel of the boot). It is traditionally paired with rapini (Orecchiette alle cime di rapa) or a tomato based sauce with horse meat (Orecchiette con ragu’ di cavallo). However, since these ingredients are rarer and/or not appetising, I often see it paired with sausage, broccoli and chilli.

This is a veganised version of a recipe by Jenn Segal of Once Upon a Chef, which was adapted from Lidia Bastianich’s recipe found in  Lidia’s Italian Table. I used Tofurky Sauage in place of Italian sausage as well as a salted organic vegan butter and vegetable stock. Jenn also uses Pecorino Romano, which is my favourite Italian cheese, but I held back, as I’m trying to go completely dairy free right now. There is plenty of flavour in this dish, so you really don’t need cheese or even a vegan cheese substitute. Of course, I tested this recipe on my meat and dairy loving partner, who approved of the flavours and didn’t add any sneaky cheese when I wasn’t looking. This recipe is quick and easy and of course delicious as well.

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Ginger Anzac Biscuits

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria15 Comments

Last Wednesday we celebrated Anzac day in Australia and New Zealand. This day commemorates and remembered the soldiers fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It also celebrates all Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. Anzac Biscuits originated from WW1, as these biscuits were originally made by women’s groups and wives and sent to the soldiers. They were specially made with ingredients that would travel well, which typically included rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and desiccated coconut. It still remains a tradition to make Anzac Biscuits for this national holiday, but they are also popular to consume throughout the year as well.

Anzac biscuits are usually quite hard. I have never been a huge fan of them, as I prefer softer biscuits that don’t break a tooth. Homemade Anzac biscuits are a little softer then the hard commercial ones, but they do have chewy whole oats, which I’m also not a fan of. Most people do love them though, so I guess its a preference for me.

I never make Anzac biscuits myself, but we were having a BBQ with the family for the day and I really wanted to make something sweet. My intention was to use up the Buderim Crystallised Ginger, which I bought by accident when I was looking to replenish my Buderim Naked Ginger snack stash. I have been addicted to dried ginger since Marco’s Feast of the Seven Kingdoms. They are a great substitute for late night chocolate cravings and nobody likes them except me, so win win. I asked the kids if they prefer muffins or cookies and cookies won, so when I was looking for some inspiration I thought why not spike some Anzacs with a ginger infusion.

My recipe is a little different to the original. Most modern recipes call for butter, whole rolled oats, boiling water, golden syrup or treacle, and white or brown sugar. I wanted mine to be soft and chewy, but without raw oaty flavour and overly sweet taste. So I grind the rolled oats, skipped the golden syrup and traded regular sugar for coconut sugar. I also added some ground ginger and crystallised ginger, which gave a pleasant ginger flavour, that even the kids liked since the baking took away the ginger burn. These are also vegan, which is you can share with your vegan and dairy intolerant friends. I’m pretty happy with this recipe so I think this will be a tradition that I will continue every year.

 

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Coriander Pesto Noodle Bowl

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria17 Comments

We aren’t huge fans of coriander in my household. It’s not a herb we cook with a lot or use as a garnish. One way that I do like to use it is when I make Coriander Cashew Pesto, to serve with potatoes (eg. Roasted Potato Salad with Coriander Pesto Aioli). Something magical happens when you blend it with cashews and the taste transforms into something really different delicious. Another way I love to have it is with noodles and sauteed vegetables.

This is a delicious 15-minute meal that you can make when you hangry and need to get some healthy greens in your body asap. I whipped this up last night after my toddler was put to bed and I finally had some peace to make something without complaints. After it was made and eaten I figured the rest of the family would probably have enjoyed this too. I just won’t mention its coriander next time…

You can make this dish gluten-free, by changing the noodles. I really like the crunch of green beans and bok choy, but you can use any quick cooking greens. If you don’t have cooked or can chickpeas,  swap for tofu or some whole cashews. The Coriander Pesto can be made ahead of time. I also used this batch for in a chicken schnitzel and salad sandwich, on top of brown rice crackers and dollop on homemade veggie pizza.

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Mini Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Jam Frosting

Published on by Vanessa Gregoria15 Comments

For Octavia’s 3rd birthday this year, I made some special cupcakes for her big party, with her favourite fruit of the moment, blueberries. These mini cupcakes are a great size for little people and dessert tables with a few options.

This recipe is similar to the cupcakes I made last year for her Trolls 2nd Birthday. This year I changed the fruit, shrunk them down, used less sugar in my frosting and organic butter inside of Nutlex. I found that the butter did better in the heat since Nutlex seems to melt and separate. If you have a better dairy-free butter alternative in your country then feel free to make them vegan. If you can’t get a good quality vegan butter then an organic grass-fed butter is the healthier option if you really want to include the frosting.

Continue reading “Mini Blueberry Cupcakes with Blueberry Jam Frosting” →