Meatless Monday - Jewelled Couscous Salad

The multi-coloured glossy peppers make this salad look jewel-like so it is beautiful on a buffet. It is also a great thing to have in the fridge over a couple of days as it goes with just about anything and as well as being tasty, it is good for you too. Peppers and other roast vegetables are full of anti-oxidants and although couscous it isn’t a whole grain, it contains protein, some B vitamins and fibre. (You can buy whole grain varieties of couscous now, but I have to confess I prefer the taste and texture of the traditional sort. But please do use them if you prefer.) The couscous that you normally buy here in the West is an ‘instant’ variety, and does not require the long steaming that traditional couscous does, making it quick and easy to cook.

Once again, I use my favourite go to ingredient, Roast Vegetables, in this dish, but I cut the pieces smaller and roast them for less time.

1 onion (red if possible), cut in small chunks

1 zucchini, top and tail removed, cut in half lengthways and then cut in half moons

(If you cannot get a zucchini, use a sweet green pepper instead.)

1 red pepper, de-seeded and cut in small chunks

1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and cut in small chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil plus a bit more for dressing the salad

2 to 3 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar plus a bit more for dressing the salad

2 cups couscous

4 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flatleaf parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 375℉ or about 190℃.

Place the vegetables in a roasting dish and toss in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 to 3 teaspoons of Balsamic vinegar. Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften and turn golden on the edges. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable stock in a saucepan until nearly boiling. Place the couscous in a large, heatproof bowl and pour the stock over top. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside for about five minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Stir through with a fork and set aside to cool.

Mix the roast vegetables and the couscous together, adding a bit more oil and vinegar just to dress the salad and bring everything together. (You won’t need more than about a teaspoon or so of oil and a few sprinkles of vinegar.) Grind in some black pepper and taste the salad. Add salt if necessary. Stir in the parsley and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Mediterranean Chicken Cassserole

This healthy, economical and delicious one pot meal has become a favourite at our house. I used chicken breasts as my family prefers them, but it would be absolutely delicious with boneless chicken thighs. For a milder flavour, just replace the smoked paprika with ordinary paprika, but do consider trying the smoked as it really does give the dish a wonderful depth.

You need a casserole dish with a lid that goes from the stove top to the oven, or failing that, you can use a frying pan for the first part of the recipe, and then move the ingredients to a large casserole that can go in the oven.

To serve four people, you need:

2 tablespoons oil (I use olive oil)

1 red onion, cut roughly in eighths

1 red or green pepper, seeded and cut in chunks

1 cup quartered white or button mushrooms

1 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise, and then in fairly thick half moons

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8 boneless thighs, preferably pasture raised, free range or organic, cut in fairly large chunks

about ½ cup cube pancetta or chopped bacon slices, preferably pasture raised, free range or organic

1 can (about 14 ounces) tomatoes, preferably organic

3 tbsp basil pesto, homemade if possible

½ teaspoon oregano

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

1 clove garlic

salt and pepper

1½ cups of small pasta shapes (I used tubettini)

1½ cups boiling water, cooled a bit

chopped or dried parsley to garnish

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (170℃ or 160℃ for a fan oven). Heat the olive oil in a large stove-top safe casserole oven medium heat. Add the red onion, pepper, mushrooms and zucchini and stir fry for two or three minutes.

Add the chicken and stir through.

Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, just until the chicken starts to lose its pink colour. Stir in the pancetta or bacon and continue to cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, smoked paprika, about a quarter teaspoon of salt and an eighth of a teaspoon of pepper. Finely grate in the garlic. Put the lid on the casserole and transfer it to the oven. (If using a frying pan, transfer the ingredients to the casserole now and then put it in the oven.)

Cook for about twenty minutes if using chicken breasts, or thirty minutes if using chicken thighs. Remove from the oven. Take the bay leaf out and add the pasta.

Add the boiling water and stir through carefully. Return to the oven for about ten minutes, then check to see if the pasta is done. If it is not, and all the liquid has been absorbed, you can add a bit more water. You may need to return the casserole to the oven for five minutes or so - you want the pasta to be al dente. Make sure that the chicken is cooked as well, with no pink remaining inside.

When the pasta is cooked, check for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. Garnish with chopped or dried parsley. You can serve this from the casserole at the table, and it is lovely with some fresh hot rolls served alongside.

Orange and Raisin Challah Loaf

Ok, I promise, just one more bread machine bread post for now! I’ve saved the best for last, as this is one of my very favourite recent experiments. It’s based on the delicious Challah bread recipe I posted last Friday.

When I first made Challah bread using my bread machine, I only used it for the dough setting because I wanted to attempt the traditional braided shape. However I was so pleased with the texture and flavour of the bread, I wondered what it would be like made entirely in the machine for everyday.

Challah is a traditional Jewish bread, and raisins are often added at times of celebration. Now I love raisin bread, so I thought I would incorporate them into it. In fact, I used some beautiful California crimson raisins, and while I need to apologise for the food miles, they really did make it extra special. And then I got to thinking about orange peel and how good orange can taste with raisins and, well, the rest is history. I love it when a plan comes together.

Makes 1 bread machine loaf.

2 eggs, at room temperature

water

2 generous tablespoons of olive or other mild vegetable oil

3 cups strong white bread flour

grated rind of one orange

½ cup raisins or sultanas

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon caster sugar

2 teaspoons fast acting dried yeast

Mix the raisins and the orange peel together in a small bowl.

Break the eggs into a measuring jug and beat lightly. Make up to 1¼ cups with water. Beat together lightly. Pour into the bread maker bucket.

Add the oil and half the flour. Sprinkle with the sugar and salt and top with the remaining flour. Mound the yeast in the centre.

Fit the bucket into the bread maker and set to the raisin bake setting. If you have an automatic raisin dispenser, you can put the raisins and orange peel into it now. If you don’t, you will need to listen for the ‘raisin beep’ and add them then.

When the loaf is cooked, remove the bucket from the bread maker and carefully shake it out of the bucket onto a cooling rack. Wait at least a half an hour before slicing.

This bread is gorgeous spread with butter and jam, and it tastes lovely toasted too.

Delicious Nut Bread

I seem to be following a bit of a bread theme this week, but let’s face it, we all need a bit of post-holiday comfort – and what better comfort food is there than fresh homemade bread?

This recipe is loosely based on a Toasted Macadamia Nut bread recipe from Sonia Allison’s The Complete Bread Machine Book, and I do use macadamia nuts in it often. I don’t bother to toast them though. However this bread is also delicious with any other chopped nuts you might like - walnuts, pecans, even cashew or pistachio nuts - and of course you can also make it with a mixture of nuts as well. 

If you don’t have an automatic raisin and nut dispenser on your bread machine, you will need to listen out for the ‘raisin beep’ so you can add the nuts. I use olive oil in this recipe, but I have used walnut oil when I have made this bread with walnuts in the past - it gives a really walnut-y flavour hit. This bread goes really well with just about anything, and makes a great side for a hearty stew. It’s also delicious lightly toasted and spread with butter and jam for breakfast or at teatime.

¾ cup chopped nuts

1¼ cups water

3 tablespoons vegetable or nut oil

3 cups strong white bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 teaspoons instant or fast-acting dried yeast

Pour the water into the bread maker bucket. Add the oil and then sprinkle half the flour over top. Sprinkle with the salt and sugar and then put the rest of the flour on top. Mound the yeast into the centre.

Fit the bucket into the bread maker and set it to the cycle recommended in your bread maker manual - the raisin or fruit loaf setting is a good one. On some bread machines this is called the ‘special’ setting.

When the bread is ready, carefully shake it out of the bucket on to a wire cooling rack and stand right way up. Leave the loaf for at least an hour before cutting (and removing the paddle if necessary).

You can brush this loaf with a little melted butter while it is still hot if you like, or with a bit of warmed jam or honey. Apricot jam glaze tastes amazing on walnut nut, and honey makes a great glaze if you have used pecans in this bread.

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Bread

As you may already know, I love my breadmaker. I do make bread from scratch, but like most people, I just don’t have time to do it most of the time, and this fantastic little gadget means that I rarely have to buy store bought bread. That has to be a good thing because homemade bread not only tastes better, but it is better for you. I know exactly what goes into my bread, and it isn’t a lot of additives, salt or flavour improvers. It also makes the house smell fabulous when it is baking, especially when you bake a spiced bread like this. 

I’ve been making this recipe for some time using ordinary bread flour but when I was at Masterchef Live last autumn, I found a new flour supplier who makes an Apple Cinnamon flour. Wessex Mill offer a huge range of speciality flours and each bag of flour is completely traceable. The farms the grain has come from are listed on the back. I love this, and I had such good results from the Apple Cinnamon variety, I can’t wait to try some of the others (which include spelt, pumpernickel and rye).

But back to the recipe. Be sure to use “strong” or “bread” flour when you make bread as it makes a huge difference to how your loaves will turn out.

1¼ cups apple juice at room temperature

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (walnut oil for preference)

3 cups strong white bread flour (or Wessex Mill’s Apple Cinnamon Bread Flour)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (omit if using Wessex Mill’s flour)

2 tablespoons milk powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons instant or fast acting dried yeast

½ to ¾ cup nice juicy raisins

Pour the apple juice into the breadmaker bucket. Add the oil and half the flour. Sprinkle with the milk powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Cover with the remaining flour and mound the yeast in the centre.

Fit the bucket into the breadmaker. Put the raisins in the raisin and nut dispenser if you have one - if not you will have to listen out for the ‘raisin beep’ part way through the cycle and put them in then.

Set the breadmaker to the programme recommended in your manual - usually the ‘Raisin bread’ setting. (I have to select the “Basic” setting on mine and then choose the option for “Raisins”.) Turn the bread maker on. And if you don’t have a raisin dispenser remember to listen out for the beep!

When the bread is done, remove the bucket from the bread maker using oven mitts and carefully shake the bread out on to a cooling rack. Wait until it has cooled off a bit before attempting to remove the paddle if it has become stuck - and also before slicing. You can slice this when it is still warm, but if you don’t let it cool off for at least 30 to 40 minutes it will be very difficult and possibly ruin your bread. Be careful, because the apple cinnamon smell is very seductive, so if you do give in before then don’t way I didn’t warn you!

This loaf is really delicious spread with some real butter. It’s also nice with a touch of honey. You can serve it plain or toasted.

Challah Bread using a Bread Machine

I did a lot of experimenting with my bread machine a few weeks ago, and one of the breads I made for the first time was Challah bread. Using a recipe from Sonia Allison’s The Complete Bread Machine Cookbook, I made the dough in the machine and then shaped it by hand. After letting it rise for a second time, I baked it. The shaping part does need a little work. In fact, I joked my ‘plait’ was more like a ‘splat’ - but that will come with practice. Regardless of how it looked, the bread tasted wonderful.

Challah bread is Jewish Sabbath bread, and is traditionally glazed with beaten egg and sprinkled with poppy seeds. The plait shape is also traditional, although the dough is sometimes shaped into a circle, particularly at Rosh Hashana when it may also be glazed with honey to symbolise a sweet new year. I went with the idea of sweet when I made this loaf, glazing it with beaten egg and sprinkling it with cinnamon sugar. It was gorgeous spread with soft butter, and also delicious when we toasted it a couple days later. This bread does keep fresh longer than most other breads, and stayed lovely and soft.

It’s easy to make in a bread machine, and I like to think that the eggs make it more nutritious than other breads as well. This is definitely going to become a bread that I make regularly. I think the version with poppy seeds, or even just a  simple egg glaze, would make fantastic sandwiches.  I am going to try making both sweet and savoury rolls with this dough as well.

2 eggs, at room temperature

water

2 tablespoons oil (I used mild olive oil)

3 cups strong white bread flour

1½ teaspoons salt (I only used 1 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons white sugar

1½ teaspoons instant or fast acting dried yeast (I used 2¼ teaspoons)

beaten egg yolk to glaze

poppy seeds for sprinkling (optional)

(I used cinnamon sugar -1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Break the eggs into a measuring cup, beat them lightly and make up to 1¼ cups with water. Beat together lightly. Pour into the bread maker bucket. Add the oil and half the flour. Sprinkle with the salt and sugar and then cover with the remaining flour. Mound the yeast into the centre.

Fit the bucket into the bread maker and set the machine to the dough setting.

When the dough is ready, remove it from the bucket and knead it quickly on a floured surface. With floured hands, divide into three sections. Shape each into a 12 to 14 inch rope, tapering the ends so that each rope is thicker in the middle.

On a large greased baking tray, loosely but neatly plait the three ropes together, pinching the ends with fingers dipped in water. Cover with greased paper and let rise until doubled in size. (This took about an hour in my warm kitchen.)

Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with poppy seeds or cinnamon sugar (if using) and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 375℉ or 190℃ (I set my fan oven to 170℃) until the loaf is brown and crusty. Cool on a wire rack.

Cauliflower Cheese with Broccoli and Bacon

This is a delicious and nutritious recipe that can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon or pancetta.  Sadly it is not a one pot meal, but it is so delicious the extra dishes are well worth it - and as the recipe steps can be done concurrently it doesn’t take very long to put together. Do use whole wheat pasta if you can as it makes this dish higher in both fibre and vitamins. Don’t worry about using extra oil with the bacon. It’s healthy oil and you need it to make the roux for the cheese sauce.

To serve four to six people generously you need:-

about 2 cups small broccoli florets

about 2 cups small cauliflower florets

2 cups whole wheat pasta shapes

(penne or fusilli work well, but any will do)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use olive)

1 large onion, finely chopped

½ cup chopped bacon or pancetta (Italian bacon)

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup grated cheese (I use cheddar or gruyere)

1½ to 2 cups milk

2 to 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard


In a large saucepan of boiling water or in a steamer over boiling water, cook the broccoli and cauliflower florets until just tender crisp. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. 

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over moderate heat, and gently sauté the onion until it begins to go translucent. Add the bacon or pancetta and fry for about five minutes until it is almost cooked.

Sprinkle the flour over the onion and bacon and stir to coat. Begin to gradually add the milk, whisking after each addition, working to make a smooth sauce. Stir in the cheese and allow it to melt, adding a bit more milk if necessary. Whisk in the mustard.

When the pasta is cooked, reserve a ladle full of pasta water, and then drain the pasta, returning it to the pan. Add the drained broccoli and cauliflower, the cheese sauce and just enough of the pasta water to make a light sauce. The sauce should just coat the pasta, and not be too runny. If it is still too thick after adding all the water, just add a tiny bit more milk.

Heat through and serve. This is lovely with hot rolls or crusty bread.