Another Quick Salad

Creating a healthy meal in a hurry does not have to be complicated. This salad incorporated what I had on hand at the time, as well as including beetroot and pear, two things that (according to practitioners of Chinese medicine) are very good for the skin. As I have had rosacea for years, I try anything and everything to give my skin a helping hand.

Steam 1 whole beetroot in the microwave (skin on or off, up to you). Trim roots and cut into wedges.

Place a heap of baby spinach leaves on your plate, and top with beetroot wedges, chopped pieces of ripe pear, chopped avocado, bits of cheese of your choice (I used torn bits of shaved Jarslberg as that’s what I had, but I also like feta or blue, or sauted cubes of yummy haloumi) and a sprinkling of walnuts.

For a dressing, just whisk together some extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar (use balsamic if you can’t find sherry vinegar, which is expensive but lovely for this kind of thing) and a bit of dijon mustard – drizzle over the salad and tuck in!

Happy Summer Fooding!

Restaurant Review

I’ve been in Melbourne for a few days, to celebrate my son’s 21st birthday. I took he and my daughter to Counting House, a French restaurant in Mornington, for a birthday lunch. The restaurant is a heritage-listed, huge old weatherboard house – room upon room with hallways and a big front verandah/decking. The weather was lovely so we were able to sit out the front, very pleasant indeed.

We chose the $30 per head, 2 course + glass of wine option. I went for an entree and a main, and both of the kids had a main and a dessert. My entree (duck liver parfait) was delicious, a light and creamy pate with homemade brioche slices and a very rich caramelised onion chutney.

For main I had the Moroccan vegetable tagine – it looked small but was super filling – carrot, pumpkin, onion, parsnip, on top of a bed of couscous.

Both of the children (I say children, but they’re 21 and 24!) had the steak, and pronounced them to be perfectly cooked and tender. I tasted the celeriac puree (doesn’t it look great – full marks for presentation!) and it was divine. Celeriac is something I’ve never really used in my cooking, but I am going to try it out after this tasting.

Dessert chosen was the cheese platter x 2 – small but elegant and apparently the French triple brie was delightful.

I didn’t have a dessert but I did have a second glass of wine…..it was a special occasion, after all.

Happy Fooding!

Flavour Combination From Heaven!

We had this divine “horse’s doover” the other day at a friend’s bbq, so I had to replicate it for our NYE party. Amazing combination of flavours. The feta is a mushy soft Persian style one – I don’t know if it would work as well with the firmer type fetas. Thinly sliced pears, topped with the soft, creamy feta on a water cracker……this must be tried to be believed.

Below is what mine looked like -not as good as Jodie’s but I couldn’t find the same brand of the Persian feta, so I had to use a different one. I think I drained too much of the oil out of it. Still amazing, but you know sometimes things are never as good as the person who first made them, makes them!

My blog is exactly a year old today, so happy blog birthday to me, and Happy Fooding!