Strawberry poppy seed dressing

While talking to a friend this week who was talking about the salad she was making for dinner I wanted to run to the store and get all the ingredients for the  salad she was making.
Instead we had Indian food that night ;)
The next day and I went out and bought all the ingredients  I would need for the salad and came home and made a completely different salad!

I remembered the poppy seeds in the herb and spice cupboard  (which is normally only for lemon poppy seed cake)
So I decided it was poppy seed dressing and a salad. Biggest problem was most of the recipes required mayonnaise which I just didn't want to add. Then I found some berry dressings, hence the strawberry poppy dressing.
I have to tell you normally dressing aren't my thing and a bit of fruit in a salad is ok…but if I wanted a fruit salad I would order one or make one…..
Well this has me converted.

*The dressing will last up 2 days if stored in the fridge. You'll need to take it out about 15 minutes before using it.

What you'll need

olive oil ~  just under 1/4 cup
white balamsic vinegar ~ 1/4
chopped strawberries ~ 1/4 cup
1 small clove of garlic
Sugar ~ 2 1/2 tablespoons (I used real sugar)
red onion chopped ~ 1 heaped tablespoon
poppy seeds ~ 3/4 tablespoon
Salt ~ 1/8 teaspoon

Put everything in the blender EXCEPT the poppy seeds
Blitz for a couple of minutes
pour into a container. add your poppy seeds, shake so mixed well

I served this with a salad of Spinach, grilled turkey, snow peas/mange tout, celery, red/bell peppers,
blueberries, almond flakes and a few mild blue cheese crumbs

Asian flavoured Salmon

We don't actually eat a lot of fish in our house, but this is one dish I make and everyone eats with no complaining.

I normally make a lot bigger salmon with enough for leftovers

This is a really easy dish that I thrown into a dish around lunch time and then trow in the oven at dinner time.
I find that the longer it marinates the better and its better to go back a few times and spoon the mixture over the salmon.

I used to make this dish originally with brown sugar.
You can also make this dish with dried/ground ginger and garlic

What you'll need

Salmon fillet, boneless and skin removed
sesame oil  ~ 1tablespoon
soya sauce 1/4 cup
freshly grated ginger ~ about 1 teaspoon
small garlic clove
honey ~ 1 tablespoon

Throw salmon in an oven proof dish

add all the other ingredients into a bowl and mix
pour over salmon and leave to marinate.
Then if time spoon the mixture over the salmon a few times

Bake at 180/350 degrees.
I baked this for about 18 minutes

Enjoy!

Smoke Haddock kedgeree

I loved this meal when I was a kid.
After looking at  many different  recipes I couldn't exactly find what I wanted. Not that I had ever made it.
All I knew mine had to have peas in in it
I didn't really care what else it had as long as there was peas and smoked haddock :)

Finding the smoked haddock was the challenge while I knew a shop that sold it, it was finding it on the shelf…Well finely I got some!

So last night was Kedgree night.

What you'll need

2 cups of uncooked basmati  rice (cup and drain and leave to cool)

Smoked haddock (I could only find dyed)
2 bay leaves
milk
white onion ~ 1 medium sized chopped
2 eggs  ~ hard boiled and chopped
butter ~ 1 tablespoon
peas ~ 1/2
curry powder ~ 1 teaspoon
salt and pepper
Fresh parsley


Cook your rice, drain and leave to cool ( the colder the rice the better it wont stick together)

cook your eggs until hard boiled

In a pan ut the haddock and bay leaves and cover with milk and leave to simmer until fish starts flaking
This took about 10 minutes

Remove fish and flake

chop up eggs

in a pan add the butter, curry powder and chopped onion
add the peas.

add the rice and mix well

add the flaked fish and egg and mix REALLY well

serve with fresh parsley

Enjoy

* I use a white onion as its milder than a brown onion but just a bit more flavor than a red onion normally

What you'll need + peas which I forgot to picture :)

In a pan at the haddock and bay leaves
cover with milk and leave to simmer
This took at 10 minutes

Remove the fish and flake

smash, chop your eggs

In a pan add the butter, curry and white onion

add the peas

add the all rice and mix all together

add the flaked haddock and chopped egg

Serve with fresh parsley

Enjoy!

Mushroom Dinner

Yesterday I made another meatless meal.

I had seen a recipe not so long ago and thought it looked lovely with the red and green peppers

After buying the fresh ingredients and thinking I had everything else I needed I went to get everything together. 

….well the recipe I liked the look of was nothing like I thought and I really didn't want those flavours for dinner

So I made this instead. 

So easy and basic!

…….and So good!

What you'll need

Mushrooms ~ I used portabella, chestnut and white mushrooms

2 small onions ~ chopped

green beans ~ 1/2 cup

1/2 red pepper/ bell pepper

1/2 green pepper/bell pepper

Fresh ginger ~ 1/2 tablespoon

garlic ~ 2 cloves minced/grated

soya sauce ~ 2 tablespoons

sesame oil ~ dash 

fresh coriander/cilantro 

sesame seeds

Black pepper

cook green beans, when cooked, drain and set aside 

In a pan/wok/saute pan add the oil, grated ginger and garlic

when onions have started to soften and add the chopped peppers

add the soya sauce stir well

Peel and slice mushrooms and add to the pan.

Add the green beans (your only really heating these up)

stir and cook until mushrooms are cooked through

Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro and sesame seeds and add freshly ground black pepper

Enjoy!

Another stuffed mushroom

I love crab stuffed mushrooms and I thought I would make these recently.
You normally find that they have cheese also. As cheese can be a big NO NO in our house I needed to find something to replace the cheese.

What you'll need

Mushrooms wiped and stalks removed

Tin of crabmeat

mayo ~ 1 tablespoon

horseradish ~ 1/8 teaspoon
garlic powder ~1/8 teaspoon
cayenne pepper ~ 1/4 teaspoon
onion powder ~ 1/4 teaspoon

Prepare the mushrooms and lay them in an ovenproof dish
then mix together the crab, horseradish, garlic powder, mayo, cayenne pepper and onion powder
spoon the mixture into the mushrooms.
Bake at 180/350 degrees for about 15 - 18 minutes

Sorry no finished picture as I forgot :(

*The horseradish needs to be used very sparingly as it can really over power the crab

One of my favourite dips

I love dips and chips, bread or veggies.
As the weather gets warmer I tend to make more dips and spread and sandwich fillings in advance.

This is one of my favourites

What you'll need

Mayonnaise ~ 1/4 cup
sour cream ~ 1/4 cup
dried mint leaves 1 - 1 1/4  tablespoons
small red onion finely diced
sugar  1/4  teaspoon depending on your taste

Something else you can add to this is 1/4 a teaspoon of onion powder if you find this sweet

Add everything to the bowl

mix well

Enjoy!

No meat meal ~ Tomato Savory Pie

I recently brought up no meat meals again in our house for ALL of us.
The looks I got were quiet funny!!!

I mean they both like and even love lots of meatless food.

Well…….After seeing this recipe and seeing similar versions I keep coming back to it.
Remembering when I lived in Japan I bought some small throw away pie dishes.
The only pie dish I have are big deep dish or family sized or a small square dish and the thought of the putting the pastry in the square dish was already causing me problems :)

This really was a tasty dish. I surprised myself using the jalapeño's  (I also surprised myself just finding that funny N)


It was really nice, I think i'll add just a slightly less basil next time


What you'll need

Pie shell cooked
tomatoes
basil ~ I used just under 1/4 cup
jalapeño chili ~ 1 without the seeds
2 types of grated cheese ~ 1/2 cup of each
mayonnaise ~ 1/4 cup
salt

I made the pastry and blind cooked it while preparing all the other ingredients

Cut and slice the tomatoes and then sprinkle with a little salt and leave for 20 minutes
rip the basil into smaller bits
chop the jalapeño
mix the cheese and mayo

with kitchen paper dab away the salt on the tomatoes and layer them into the pie shell
add the basil and jalapeño
cover with the cheese mix and bake at 180/350 degrees for 30 minutes

 *I used a mozzarella pizza cheese and a gouda

what you'll need

sprinkle a SMALL amount of salt on
the tomatoes for 20 minutes

mix cheese and mayo
mix well

with kitchen paper dab the salt off the tomatoes
Then start layering the tomatoes 

Rip the bail and add on top of the tomatoes

add the jalapeño chili

add the cheese and mayo mix
making sure to not go over the edges

bake at 180/350 degrees for 30 minutes

Enjoy