Recently produced by munch

Roasted butternut, caramelized balsamic onion and brie quiche

Roasted butternut, grilled chicken, wholewheat couscous,
date, almond and baby spinach salad in a citrus dressing

Tossed garden salad with a wholegrain mustard vinaigrette

Mixed platter of small lime cheesecakes with coconut crust, diced mango and  shredded  mint,
and blueberry frangipane tartlets

Blue cheese and walnut shortbread rounds topped with
caramelized pear and crisped Black Forest ham

Leek and potato rosti topped with seared rare sirloin
and roasted baby tomatoes

Mini beef burgers with balsamic onion confit, mature cheddar
and rocket

Roasted bacon-wrapped asparagus

A Munch-style Christmas lunch

Chevin, brie and oak-smoked Stanford with grapes, salted roasted almonds,
roasted nectarines and port and onion jam

Roasted baby vegetables with red pepper pesto and
beetroot hummus

Black Forest ham, Parma ham, coppa, and various salamis with
herbed olive oil crackers, roasted onion,
cinnamon and black pepper pickled red grapes and pickled baby vegetables

Mixed greens with Christmas-spiced roasted nuts

Julienne carrots with harissa, feta and fresh coriander

Seared sweet potato gnocchi with crispy bacon and baby spinach
in a sweet, tangy dressing

Ginger-and-marmalade-glazed gammon with fresh cherry salsa

Seared rare beef fillet wrapped in pancetta and stuffed with mushroom duxelle

Seared rare Chinese-five-spice-crusted yellowfin tuna
with a soy, lime and honey reduction

Seared sweet chili steak salad

I used to be a vegetarian, and while I do now eat meat, my diet still consists mostly of vegetarian food. Until recently, that is. For some unknown reason I've been craving red meat in the past few weeks. It's strange, but I generally go with what my body seems to need. More red meat it is, then.

This salad is a recent attempt to feed the new red meat craving. It's so simple that I honestly didn't expect much of the result, but it surprised me by being utterly delicious. And if you're interested in this kind of thing, it's also very high in protein, high in fibre, and low in fat.

Seared sweet chili steak salad
Makes enough for 2

100g good quality steak (preferably fillet), cut into strips
3 tbsp plus 1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
juice of 1 lemon, halved
2 tbsp canola oil, halved
1/2 of a small head of broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
1/2 cup cooked quinoa (or other grain such as couscous or bulgur wheat, if you prefer)
big handful wild rocket (baby spinach would also be good)
salt

Toss the steak strips with 3 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce and half of the lemon juice and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium sized pan over high heat, till it starts to smoke slightly. Add the broccoli florets and toss around the pan for a few minutes, until the florets are cahrred here and there but still bright and crunchy. Remove the broccoli from the pan but keep the pan on the heat.

Add the steak strips and all the chili-lemon juices to the pan and stir fry for abot five minutes, until the strips are just cooked through and the juices have caramelized. Be careful not to overcook as that would make the steak tough and chewy.

In a medium bowl, toss together the broccoli, steak strips, and all remaining ingredients, including the remaining sweet chili sauce, lemon juice and oil. Toss and taste, adding as much salt as needed.

Recently produced by munch

Here are some pictures of what I've been making lately. Most of what I've made recently has completely escaped my camera, so this collection is just a small and relatively random sample.

Red velvet cupcakes as a wedding cake

Cold noodle salad with shrimp, marrows and spicy peanut sauce

Sweet-spicy pulled chicken tostadas with fresh tomato salsa and sour cream

Mini pita pockets with lamb koftas and tzatziki

Sweet-spicy pulled chicken salad with fresh pineapple salsa,
radishes, cornbread croutons and coriander

Black bean salad with fresh pineapple salsa, radishes,
cornbread croutons and coriander

Rosemary and garlic roasted nuts

Arancini stuffed with taleggio

Assorted cupcake box - devil's food cake with minty meringue frosting, chocolate chiffon with fresh strawberry buttercream, cinnamon with honey buttercream, vanilla with Nutella frosting, plain vanilla, vanilla stuffed with granadilla curd and topped with white chocolate ganache, lemon stuffed with lemon curd and topped with meringue frosting, and coconut with cream cheese frosting

And more assorted cupcakes

Yet another salad

Sweet things are coming soon - a vanilla angel's food cake with sweetened mascarpone and fresh berries, to be exact. But in the meantime, here is another light but substantial summer salad.

From the top left corner, going clockwise, we have:

1. brown basmati rice and green lentils, simmered together slowly till tender, drained and cooled
2. half a lemon
3. beetroot, sliced thinly, tossed in olive oil and salt and roasted at 180 C for about 25 minutes
4. parmesan, shaved
5. little baby carrots, topped and tailed, tossed with olive oil and salt and roasted at 180 C for about 25 minutes
6. fresh baby spinach

Squeeze the lemon to get its juice, toss that with everything else above, and add some salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. If you're a determined carnivore, some cold roast chicken is good in this mix.

Summer salads

Cape weather is notoriously fickle, so I'm hesitant to say this, but it does seem like summer is arriving - for now, at least. When it's hot, I really don't want to keep the oven and stove on any longer than absolutely necessary, which means Andrew and I tend to eat salads for the duration of summer. Here is last night's inaugural summer salad:

It might look all innocent (and very green) in that picture, but there is a lot going on in that salad. If I'm going to eat salad for dinner, it has to be both interesting and substantial. Luckily, as I've mentioned before in this post, I tend to have lots of bits and pieces of already cooked leftover components in my fridge most of the time, so often I cobble hearty salads together using those bits and pieces.

Even if you don't have that advantage, though, it's easy enough to cook a big batch of one or more grains, chop and saute or roast a few vegetables, maybe cook some bacon or chicken over the weekend, and keep all of this in the fridge to use for salads during the week. Then it's just a matter of throwing these cooked ingredients together with fresh, raw ones in different combinations, and with different dressings.

Of course, this sometimes works out better than other times. Luckily last night's salad was a winner.

Inaugural simmer salad

about 1 cup cooked bulgur wheat
half a small head of broccoli, chopped and sauteed
5 small courgettes, sliced and sauteed
about 1 cup peas, sauteed
1/4 cup roasted cashews
3 rashers streaky bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 log garlic and herb chevin
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
squirt of honey
salt and pepper

Everything tossed together, except the chevin, which I crumbled on top. Dinner in less than five minutes.

Bacon or cheese?

Salad with bacon

And salad with cheese

Which would you choose - bacon or cheese?

Potato salad with green beans, rocket, and bacon or Parmesan
Serves 4

16 baby potatoes, quartered and steamed till firm but cooked through
handful fresh green beans, steamed for just a couple of minute
200g rocket
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
3 tbsp fruity olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp honey
salt
pepper
6 strips streaky bacon, crispy and crumbled, OR:
as many shavings of good Parmesan as you like

As you can see, most of this recipe is already written out in the ingredients list. You'll have to quarter and steam the potatoes, stem and steam the green beans, cook and crumble the bacon or shave the Parmesan, using a vegetable peeler.

Then you put the yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the potatoes and green beans and toss to coat well.

Now divide the rocket between four plates, in nice little piles on each plate. Top the rocket with the potato mixture. Finally sprinkle the crumbled bacon or Parmesan shavings on top, and you have what I consider to be a very nice lunch.

I'd have the bacon :)

City Bowl Market recap

Here are a few pictures from this past Saturday's market; it was as always a lovely day.

Roasted baby potato, green bean, and sugar bean salad  in a creamy yoghurt dressing

Arancini stuffed with black olive and herb cream cheese

Blue cheese and walnut shortbread

Roasted plum tomato and feta muffins

Bacon and cheddar cornbread muffins

Almond, cashew and date granola

The munch table

Munch menu for City Bowl Market tomorrow

June18, 2011

Nutty granola with almonds, cashews and dates

Cheddar and bacon cornbread muffins

Roasted plum tomato and feta muffins

Green bean, white bean, and roasted baby potato salad

with rocket, in a creamy yoghurt dressing

Arancini stuffed with black olive and herb cream cheese

Savoury walnut and blue cheese shortbread squares

City Bowl Market recap

Saturday at the City Bowl Market was once again a success, and lots of fun too. The Munch table was moved to a different spot from last week's, so I had the chance to meet even more lovely fellow stallholders. Here are some pictures!

New addition this week - blackboard made by Andrew

The table all set up

Caramelized onion, feta, and thyme muffins

Arancini stuffed with taleggio

Apple and gruyere muffins

Parmesan biscuits stuffed with black olive cream

Courgette and walnut muffins

Wild rice salad with roasted cauliflower, dried apricots, almonds, parsley, and coriander

Peanut butter chocolate chunk granola

Salted chocolate chunk cookies