All in Savoury
Isaac woke up so unwell this morning. It's not really surprising because he has worked his butt off the last couple of weeks and both of us have been jetting back and forth to Sydney for work over the last fortnight. One of us was bound to get run down.
What a battle getting a picture of this roasted tomato soup! Little Frankie (my 11 week old kitty) thinks anything that moves is purely for her attention and enjoyment. So laying out fluttery basil leaves and gangly spring onions was a whole big game to her!
One of my favourite ingredients since studying Ottoman cuisine has been dukkah. It's smoky, slightly spicy, crunchy and fragrant. It teams perfectly with anything from fish to chicken to veggies and I even love rolling boiled eggs into it or sprinkling some onto my hummus for extra flavour.
This week there's been a few weird-weather days here in Melbourne. Even though it's summer, we went through a bit of a rainy, cold-snap and I felt like nothing more than soup. However, because it is summer, I didn't have any of the usual suspects in my fridge, like celery, pumpkin or broccoli. Luckily, I had the right handful of ingredients to make this delish Turkish red lentil soup that I learnt to make last year.
Did you know that more than 3.8 million Australians skip lunch thinking they will get more done? But by 12pm blood sugar levels begin to drop leaving you feeling tired and having trouble concentrating. Taking a few minutes for a light lunch helps to re-fuel your body and get you ready to take on the afternoon. Good choices for lunch are quality carbohydrates, protein, good fats and some vegetables or fruit.
Nothing beats brunch on the weekend especially after a little exercise, it's such a relaxing way to ease into my days off after I've got my work out done and dusted. Before I workout, I always have a pre-workout snack and The Bar Counter is perfect. It's delicious, all natural and packed with nuts and dried fruit. Peanut butter is my absolute fave at the moment!
My first introduction to tarragon was when I was in year 7 home economics or cooking class at high school. My home eco teacher needed extra help to prepare a staff lunch during my maths class so naturally, I jumped at the chance. I don't remember any other dish I helped to make that day, just this chicken tarragon sandwich filling.
It's the second day of Summer but this morning felt like a big throwback to winter again. One day I'm sure I'll live in a city that doesn't have multiple personalities..ahem Melbourne I'm looking at you. 'Four seasons in a day' the saying goes about my home city and it couldn't be truer!
Well what a day! Today marks Isaac and mine's 8th anniversary together. We met in high school, year 7 to be exact when I had changed schools and ended up in Isaac's class. I made a great bunch of friends, a lot of whom I still call great friends today but Isaac wasn't one of them right away. His locker was above mine but we never spoke to each because you know - high school. So the silence continued for term after term until one day we had a 'battleships' competition in maths class.
If you follow me on Instagram you'll know that I've been sharing some of the recipes that are in the book but I thought it was high-time to give you guys a complete preview of what is included in From my Little Kitchen!
It's finally here! Pre-sale has begun on my very first recipe book - From my Little Kitchen: The Holiday Edition! I created this book with all of you in mind, and there are recipes for every taste and preference.
As many of you who follow me on instagram know, I have been working on something so special for what seems like AGES now! I wanted you to be the first to know that I have spent the better part of the year trying, testing, photographing, and building my FIRST EVER recipe ebook! And what's better?
So if I'm being honest, I can barely be bothered cooking dinner most weeknights because, like everyone else in the world, I'm tired. When I don't cook dinner, I will either have a breakfast meal like muesli and yoghurt, a toasted cheese sandwich, cheese and biscuits, or prawn pad thai from my local thai restaurant.
I came up with this pumpkin bread recipe quite a few months ago after many, many failed attempts. Now that I've got it right, it's something that we make every fortnight and keep in the freezer for breakfasts and morning teas. It's a really nice alternative from the usual sweet/dessert-style breads that you normally see and I reckon it's one of those things that just goes with anything.
There's this cool little lebanese bakery in my end of town. it's always bustling, always full of lebanese and turkish people (this is the seal of approval i reckon), and it's dirt cheap. they do lebanese pitas, manoush, pides, sweets, thick coffee, and my favourite salty yoghurt drinks (ayran in turkish). they make these triangle pastries filled with lemony greens and onions, then you can sprinkle red pepper chilli into the parcel once it's cooked.
Last night i was eating pizza in front of the tv (WHAT?! but you're a nutritionist!) because i was tired and so was isaac and i couldn't be bothered cooking. so i did one of my favourite things, ordered a semi-healthy pizza (wholemeal base, not much cheese, plenty of veg etc.) and watched SBS because i knew they'd be showing something more worthy my time and my retinas than family feud or a current affair.
The cupboards were pretty much bare when i made this chicken soup. i have zero cooking experience in asian cuisine because it's so daunting - i mean i grew up watching iron chef where they could chop shallots perfectly in a blink and made foam from livers. crazzzzzzy stuff.
The inspiration for this recipe came from a cooking show i saw on tv, i don't watch tv very much at all and this show only reiterated that for me. they made zucchini slice, it was disgusting. they only used egg-whites (WHY?!), used cottage cheese instead of tasty or parmesan, and used the fattiest bacon i've ever seen.
I used to always think that dips were just for the adults at parties i went to when i was little. they seemed to love dip. the women with the double-denim and too-dark-for-them bob haircuts were always chatting, laughing, and slapping each other's thigh when a joke was told all with a jatz cracker in their hand topped with french onion dip.
Last year i went to borneo, malaysia to study and undertake a community health project in a few of the communities. even though the communities were not super far away from each other, the food and culinary practices varied incredibly! in the village that was farthest away, lacked transport, and had the lowest socioeconomic status came the most amazing food!
