Middle Eastern Fruit Salad

This is a beautiful way too make fruit salad, especially over winter. You can serve it warm or cold and it makes a wonderful accompaniment to porridge, muesli or yoghurt. It also makes a wonderful dessert, served warm with ice cream, custard or yoghurt. You can use any dried fruit that you like.

100-150g of each of dried apricots, dried peaches, dried nectarines, dried apples, and prunes .

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves or 1/2 tspn ground cloves 

a pinch of saffron

1 tspn of honey

1.5 tspns of real vanilla (if you have a vanilla pod, split that and use that)

Put all the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan. Add enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to the boil slowly and then turn heat down and let it simmer uncovered for about 15/20 minutes or until the water is mostly gone and everything is soft and stewy.

You can serve it like this, warm or cold or cool it completely and add some chopped pistachios and a sprinkling of rose water. You could also add a piece of orange or lemon rind when boiling it if you desired. 

Bircher Muesli

I have never been a fan of bircher muesli. I generally find it too sweet and mushy, but I had this at a friend’s house the other day and I am converted. The key is to use a natural yoghurt (as opposed to vanilla or flavoured) and she swears by organic apple juice. I serve it with extra yoghurt on top with a sprinkling of mixed seeds and dried fruit, but my friend served it with raspberry coulis mixed with thawed frozen raspberries – yum!!

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup yoghurt

½ cup apple juice

¼ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup currants

grated green apple to serve

Mix oats, yoghurt, juice, almonds and currants in a bowl. Refrigerate overnight. To serve grate half a green apple per person and mix through oat mixture. Top with a dollop of yoghurt and a drizzle of honey, coulis or fruit and nuts.

Turkish Delight & Pistachio Biscotti

My sister and I can both cook, but her talent shines through in baking. This is her recipe for biscotti studded with jewel like turkish delight and pistachio. These crisp biscuits are totally addictive and mouth wateringly delicious. Try this combo first (because it’s amazing!), but on another day, substitute the turkish delight for chopped dates and the pistachios for walnuts for another delectable treat.

2 cups plain flour, sifted

1½ tspn baking powder

¾ cup dark brown sugar

¾ cup pistachios

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 cup chopped rose Turkish delight

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, pistachios and turkish delight in a bowl and mix to combine. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well until a soft dough forms. This takes a while by hand so it is best to do it with the dough hook attachment on a KitchenAid. Knead dough til smooth and then divide into 2 logs and flatten slightly. Place logs on a lined baking tray and bake for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Slice the logs into 5mm slices and place on a lined baking tray. Bake for 10-15 mins or until biscotti are crisp. Store in an airtight container.  

Breakfast Smoothie

This is a breakfast for champions that takes one minute to make. If you feel a bit like Rocky including the raw egg, you can leave it out or just use the egg white (and think meringue), but adding it gives you the protein element that makes you feel full and satisfied. I also like using ½ tspn of instant coffee for a bit of a buzz and to cut through the sweetness of the date. If you don’t have frozen bananas, you can use a fresh one but add ½ cup ice.  

1 frozen banana

1 date

2 tbspns almond meal

1tbspn chia seeds

¾ cup of milk

1 egg

Blend until combined or until iced crushed.

Variations – add ½ tspn coffee, 1 tbspn shredded coconut, 1/2 tspn raw cacao, 1 scoop of protein powder, 2 tbspn yoghurt

To freeze bananas, cut banana into pieces, place in a snap lock bag, seal and freeze.

Persimmon, Fennel and Candied Pecan Salad

With the sweetness of the nuts, the zing of the lime, the crunch of the fennel and glorious hue of the persimmons, this salad is a winner no matter what you serve it with. If you can't find finger limes, you can substitute with a teaspoon of lime zest added to the dressing.

200g baby spinach leaves

1 firm persimmon finely sliced 

1 baby fennel finely sliced 

2 finger limes

100g pecans

2 tspns castor sugar

dressing

¼ cup olive oil

2 tspn maple syrup

2 tbspn apple cider vinegar

Dry fry pecans in a non stick frying pan for a couple of minutes until they begin to toast. Remove nuts and sprinkle sugar in the frying pan. When sugar has melted, return nuts to pan and stir through the sugar. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.

Arrange spinach, fennel and persimmon in a dish. Cut open finger limes and squeeze pulp out over the salad. Add pecans. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over.