There’s something so satisfying about pulling together a quick dish that doesn’t require too much fuss or effort. Inasmuch as I love my KitchenAid mixer, sometimes, I just prefer a recipe that allows me to give it a (much needed) rest. This easy zucchini cake …
Hummus can quite likely be considered one of the perfect snacks out there. It’s delicious, it’s filling and it’s considered healthy being packed full with all that protein and fibre. Eat it with some carrots, sourdough-discard crackers or with a spoon and you’ll have… well, …
I don’t know what the weather is like right now where you live, but for the past few weeks it here it has been blistering hot and I just did not want to spend any more time in the kitchen cooking than I had to. This salad was ridiculously quick and easy to pull together and did I mention that it is meat-free?
I think that couscous is one of the most versatile and easy to make foods out there. It’s light but filling and it can easily replace rice and pasta at almost any meal.
2cupswatercan use unsalted/ low sodium chicken broth as well
5tbspolive oilmore to taste
1 ½lemonsjuiced, to taste
2tsphoney mustardto taste
1mediumzucchinidiced
1 cupcherry tomatoescut in half lengthwise
1cupchickpeascooked, or one can drained
2tbspfresh sweet marjoramto taste
flaky sea salt and pepperto taste
Instructions
Bring the water to a rolling boil.
Pour the couscous in the boiling water and give it a stir.
Cover the saucepan, turn off the flame and remove from the heat.
Let the couscous sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. When the 5 minutes is up, remove the cover and fluff gently with a fork.
Pour about a tablespoon of oil in the frying pan and add the diced zucchini. Sauté until the pieces are tender – about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Turn the couscous into a large bowl.
Add one cup of cooked chickpeas OR one drained and rinsed can of chickpeas, the sliced tomatoes and the cooked zucchini to the bowl.
In a smaller bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and honey mustard until well combined and drizzle over the ingredients in the bowl.
Mince half of the marjoram leaves and leave the rest whole and add all to the bowl.
Gently toss everything together until the dressing is well distributed throughout. Taste and add more lemon, oil (if the mixture seems "dry"), salt and pepper to your liking.
Plate up and enjoy!
Don’t skimp out on the marjoram! It lends such a fresh note to this simple and easy dish. The chickpeas are full of protein and fibre, both of which gives you a satisfied and full feeling – sure to keep your tummy happy until your next meal.
I hope you’re able to give this quick meal a try, and if you do, drop me a line to let me know how it went.
Disclaimer – As of the writing of this post, I am very new to making sourdough bread – these are my suggestions for newbies who have been having difficulties with their starter/ bread. I am utterly late to this party, but boy am I glad …
Are you anything like me? You go to the supermarket and buy a whole bunch of healthy greens with the intention of making some sort of green shake or a delicious salad and when you get home… well when you get home, you toss the …
In my home, we are all bread lovers. Some more than others, but we all enjoy a nice slice of bread with cheese or jam as a quick snack. Couple that with the fact that I love to bake bread, and you’d imagine, quite correctly, that there is always a fresh homemade loaf at the ready.
One of our faves is what is known in our country as a Light Sweet/ Machine Loaf. The light sweet part is fairly self explanatory, but I have no idea why they are called machine loaves! That, however, doesn’t take away from the deliciousness that is this loaf. It actually makes two loaves that should last, say, a day or two in your home if you’re lucky. This bread makes the perfect sandwich and is good on it’s own.
Perfect delicious slices
To top it all off, it is very easy to make. There are many iterations of this recipe and this is but one that I found:
Mix together the warm water, milk, sugar and yeast and let stand for 10 minutes until bloomed.
In the bowl of the stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, mix the flour, spices and salt together.
With the mixer running, slowly add the yeast mixture and allow it to fully incorporate into the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the butter to the dough and mix in well. If the dough is too sticky, add flour, one tablespoon at a time until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Add the raisins and knead into the mixture until well incorporated.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few moments. The dough will be soft but not sticky
Place in a greased bowl and cover with cling wrap and then a damp kitchen towel. Place in a warm spot to rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
After the bread has risen, remove cling wrap, gently deflate and shape into two loaves of equal size. Place in greased tins and cover with cling wrap and allow to rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
After 30 minutes, the bread would have risen once more. Remove the cling wrap and gently brush with egg wash.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, watching to ensure the bread does not brown too quickly. Bake until golden brown in colour. The loaves are finished when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread to loosen before turning out onto cooling racks to finish cool down.
Slice and enjoy!
Try it with a slice of cheddar cheese, with jam, peanut butter or assemble a delicious sandwich with it – perfection in every bite!
Let me know if you give this a try and how it worked for you.
I think the first time I stumbled upon this spread was on instagram. I was scrolling through many a recipe and saw a lady making something called toum. The name alone captured my attention and for the ten minutes following my “discovery”, I sat rapt …
I think it was back in the nineties when I first was introduced to tiramisu while on my lunch break in a tiny Italian restaurant on the South Coast. I’d never heard about it and after being told what it was made up of, I …
Today was a good day to bake cookies. Actually… to bake a giant cookie. Outside was overcast, it was my day off, and it was the comfort food pick-me-up that I sorely wanted.
I felt like having cookies, but didn’t feel like going through the process of making 30 individual ones. So, I did some research and found a recipe that was absolutely perfect. It had all the ingredients that I have in my pantry and it involved a cast iron skillet.
I love using cast iron and didn’t hesitate to pull my trusty ol’ girl out to give baking a giant cookie a try.
And it was a success! This was super simple to make, short prep time and 25 minutes in the oven saw it done and ready to be eaten with a healthy serving of vanilla ice cream.
See how easy it was and how it came out:
First, grab your ingredients. My chocolate chips were in the the fridge and have “bloomed” but they are still good!After you beat the sugars and butter together, add youregg and vanillaPlop in your flour and mix until just combined. Add your chocolate chips and fold them in until nicely distributed. Don’t over mix!Should look something like thisPress it out in your 10 inch skilletIn the oven it goes!Et voilà! Perfection thine name is “Skillet Cookie!”Don’t be shy! Top that thing with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
A “staple” of sorts that you’d find baking in many a Caribbean home is coconut bread a.k.a sweet bread. Not to be mistaken for any keto baked bread or meat dishes known as sweetbreads. This bread is chocked full of grated coconut and most times, …