My work colleague, Manuel gave me this recipe verbally after Lexi raved about it’s goodness. I got one instruction wrong. Manuel says he uses crushed chilli so I’ll give that a go next time, but I do think it tastes good with fresh.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:
Spaghetti pasta
1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
A few good lugs of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Rocket to serve (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook pasta al dente
2. In the meantime, get chopping until the chilli and garlic are finely chopped
3. Heat a pan and add the olive oil, then chilli and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the flavours are infused in the olive oil. Do not burn the garlic.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain.
5. Combine pasta and the oil sauce while still warm.
6. Eat immediately, or serve cool with rocket for lunch.

Serves: 2
Prep: 15 min
Cook: Optional (add grilled seafood, beef or chicken)

Ingredients:
2 handfuls of baby salad leaves
1 small Lebanese cucumber
½ red capsicum
1 mango (consider nectarines or oranges)
½ Spanish onion

Dressing:
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 small red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
2 limes juiced
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of soy sauce

1. Begin with mixing the dressing together to allow it time to mature. I like to begin with dissolving the sugar into the lime juice and adding the garlic. The longer the garlic is in the citrus the more will cook slightly in the acidity.
2. Add remaining ingredients and set to one side.
3. Wash and chop together the main ingredients in a separate bowl.
4. Dress just before serving.

I took the aioli spread for this dish out of a book called Veganomicon. A book I’d brought for Ann’s birthday. I like the idea that an element of the picnic food I had prepared for her celebration would reference her gift. But I truly fell in love with this vegan aioli because it is versatility and because it is totally not substitutive. I know the name suggests so, but at the end of the day, it is all food and not boxed or labelled not “not” stuffs.

So, I’d already decided to make falafel with a pumpkin cameo. The aioli made sense as an afterthought. It worked superbly well to provide extra moisture, garlic and that tad a tad of tang.

Serves: A picnic
Prep: 25 min
Cook time: 25 min
Construction: 25 min

Falafel:
1 can of chickpeas
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of coriander
½ Spanish onion finely chopped
1 handful of parsley chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Plain flour for dusting

1. Crush or blitz the chickpeas so they become like a thick paste
2. In a bowl, add remaining ingredients and combine well.
3. While you are heating a pan with some olive oil begin to form the balls by rolling and flattening in the palm of your hand. Coat in flour and place in the pan.
4. Fry for approximately 3 minutes on each side.
5. Remove and place on a plate to cool.

Vegan Aioli:
1 can of white beans
2 garlic cloves finely chopped (or more to taste)
½ lemon juice
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place all ingredients in a in a bowl and blitz until smooth

Constructing the sandwich:
Mountain bread
Roast pumpkin
Baby Spinach

1. On a single piece of mountain bread construct the sandwich by spreading the soft roast pumpkin first. Then drissle a little of the aioli on top, lay down baby spinach and then three of the falafel balls as shown.
2. Roll each into a pocket with the ends tucked in so that when you cut them in half through the middle a nice base to each sandwich stops the guts falling out of it.

Because I’ve had this delightful salad a few times, I remember the core ingredients (tuna, potato, eggs, lettuce, beans, and olives) and I improvise with the rest. I never remember how to do a traditional dressing, so today I went part inpro and part reference. For the dressing I took it straight from Damien Pignolet’s book “French”.

Serves: 2
Prep: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:
6 cos lettuce leaves washed and cut into 2 inch wide pieces
6 baby potatoes pealed and halved
2 eggs boiled and cut into quarters
A handful of beans (I’ve used butter beans, but you can use green beans)
¼ capsicum thinly sliced lengthwise
12 kalamata olives
½ Spanish onion sliced thinly (rings halved)
6 semi sun dried tomato’s cut length wise into three
6 anchovy fillets cut in half

Dressing:
3 lugs of olive oil
1 lug of red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put two eggs on the boil – cook so they are firm, but still a dark yellow in the centre. Don’t overcook.
2. Meanwhile make your dressing so that the flavours can develop while you are cooking. Squash a garlic clove with the flat of your knife and use the inner flesh to rub the inside of a bowl and discard the debris. Add olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper – then whisk together. Taste. Ensure it has a sharp but not over powering vinegar flavour.
3. Once your eggs are out you can use the boiling water to get the potatos started.
4. Meanwhile, chop the other ingredients you need and begin to combine. Get the olives in, the anchovies, sundried tomatoes, cos lettuce, capsicum, and Spanish onion.
5. Get your tuna out and oil it, rub salt and pepper on it then leave for a few minutes until your ready.
6. Chop the ends off your green beans and when there is only a few minutes left to go for the potatoes throw them in a steamer and pop it on top of the potatoes.
7. Peal the egg and cut into quarters, set aside. You should place these on the plate at the end as they will break up if tossed into the salad.
8. In a really hot pan sear the tuna for about three minutes each side ensuring there is a crust on the outside, but that it remains quite rare inside but heated through. Take off the heat, then pull together the last few steps while allowing to rest.
9. Meanwhile, you should have taken the beans and the potatoes off the stove and given them a few minutes to cool (only slightly so that they are not steaming). Now is time to mix the potato and beans with your salad and the dressing.
10. Slice the tuna longwise.
11. Compile the final touches of the salad by placing the fresh salad ingredients onto a plate, lay the quartered egg pieces around the side and then layer the sliced tuna into the center.
12. Done. Eat.

I’m going for a sweet flavour by focusing on pumpkin and fresh peas. This one takes slightly longer because of the roast pumpkin, but that leaves you with plenty of time to prepare accompanying dishes.

Serves: 4 as a side
Prep: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients:
1 cup cous cous
Half a Japanese pumpkin
Half a cup of peas
¼ red capsicum diced
¼ yellow capsicum diced
1 shallot finely diced
1 small red chili, seeds removed and sliced
1 teaspoon of veggie stock
1 handful of lemon thyme
1 lug of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Start out by roasting the pumpkin, you want nice pieces, a little smaller than bite sized. You will need to cook this in a moderate oven for about half an hour or so, turning once or twice during this time.
2. Prepare the red and yellow capsicum, the chili and the shallot and place it in a medium to large bowl. Add the lemon thyme leaves, cous cous, veggie stock, salt and pepper.
3. When the pumpkin only has about 10 minutes to go get 1¼ cups of water on the boil. Add the peas and cook for three minutes, then toss over the cous cous salad mixture. Cover allowing to steam for five minutes until the cous cous is soft then fluff and combine with a fork.

No recipe title shows your not sure what you’ve done than naming it after an entire region of the world. Eh.

Serves: 4 as a side
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 0 min

Ingredients:
1 tin of lentils (organic ones are worth it)
¼ cup of kalamata olives with pips removed and halved
¼ red capsicum diced
¼ yellow capsicum diced
6 sundried tomatoes sliced
1 shallot finely diced
1 small red chili, seeds removed and sliced
Small handful of flat leaf parsley
½ lemon juiced
Lug of good quality extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to serve

1. Prep ingredients
2. Combine and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes so the flavours can combine

As a main, brown rice with sautéed onion steamed bok coy and tuna is lovely with sesame oil and soy sauce. Good dish for a week night.

So, thinking of this dish – I decided to make this vego version of a dish I enjoy as a salad to share. I pulled back on my usual flavours so that it could work as a dish to serve with a cous cous salad and lentil salad.

Serves: 4 as a side
Prep: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min

Ingredients:
1 cup of brown rice
1 Spanish onion
1 broccoli head
¼ cup of almond slithers
A lug of sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Get the rice on first up, that is going to take the longest as brown rice takes longer to cook than your white variety. For a cup of brown rice your going to need about a one and a half cups of water. (Check the pack for the particular variety you have.) Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and cover leaving to cook for 25 or so minutes. Let rest for 5 – 10 minutes to avoid ending up with mushy rice.
2. In the mean time sauté your Spanish onion and steam the broccoli.
3. In medium bowl combine the onion and broccoli with some almonds slithers. To intensify the flavor of the almonds you may want to toss them around a dry pan for a few minutes or shove in the oven.
4. When the rice is ready and has rested combine with vegetable mix and throw in a lug of sesame oil and your salt and pepper to taste.
5. Stir and serve. This dish tastes good warm or at room temperature.

Quick and easy. Sorry about the picture. I’d already eaten most of my dinner when I realized it was so good that I should do an entry!

Serves: 1 or more
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast ( you won’t need all of this but may as well cook it)
1 large mushroom
½ Spanish onion
1 ½ handful of rocket
½ handful of oregano
1 garlic clove
1 small red chili
Lemon myrtle infused olive oil
½ lemon
Grated halloumi to serve

1. Cut the chicken into strips and marinate in the finely chopped chili and finely chopped oregano with a lug of lemon myrtle olive oil and a teeny bit of that lemon as we need most of it in the dressing. Leave for half an hour
2. In a seperate hot pan begin to cook the chicken pieces until nice and brown
3. In the mean time, begin to cook the mushrooms. Slice them and throw into the pan with plenty of olive oil. Once half way through cooking add the onion and garlic continue to cook until just golden on each side on a medium heat.
4. In a bowl combine rocket the remaining juice of the lemon
5. Combine the cooked mushroom and chicken with the rocket. This will wilt it a little. Stir to combine and garnish with halloumi and pepper.

What a quick after work snack. I blew myself away with this one – it was soooo yummy and fast.

Serves: 1 or more
Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 7 min

Ingredients:
Guacamole
Gourmet Rissoles
Sweet Potato (kumara)
Button mushrooms
Cream cheese

1. Slice some sweet potato rings really thinly and char grill
2. Fry rissoles
3. Make guacamole
4. Sauté mushrooms
5. Toast bread
6. Pull it all together. Spread on the cream cheese, top on mushrooms, sweet potato, rissole on top and the guacamole to finish it off.
7. Delish!

A wonderful meal with variety, lots of nutrition and it is easy to make vegan or add some meat too. I love this because it is so fulfilling and easy to accommodate to many different eating requirements because most of this food is cooked separately.

Serves: 2 or more
Prep: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients:
French green lentils
Roasted vegetables – potato, sweet potato (kumera), pumpkin, carrot, cherry tomatoes, beetroot, zuchinni, whole small onions
French beans and butter beans
Herbs
Lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Natural yogurt

Optional:
Grilled halloumi
Poached chicken breast.

1. You need to get your roast veggies on first. Obviously smaller pieces cook quicker, but generally beetroot will take the longest followed by potato, then carrot, pumpkin, onion and zucchini and cherry tomatoes at the end.
2. Cook up some French green lentils by cooking in boiling water for 30 minutes or so.
3. When you have ten minutes to go (just after throwing in the zucchini and cherry tom) Drain the green lentils rinse in hot water and add combine with freshly chopped herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
4. Pop some water on the boil for steaming the beans
5. Grill off the halloumi or poach the chicken or both
6. Serve with a dollop of the yogurt on top of the lentils.