Zucchini Soup with Fennel and Basil

This soup takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and about 15 minutes to cook so you can be eating a steaming bowl of this within 30 minutes of being home. It is really fast food that is really good.

4 zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 fennel, quartered and finely sliced

vegetable stock

Large handful of fresh basil leaved, shredded

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and sauté fennel til tender (about 5 mins). Add zucchini and a generous amount of salt and pepper and toss to combine. Pour over stock to almost cover zucchini. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer until zucchini is tender. Add basil and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with toast with goats cheese and more fresh basil.  

Middle Eastern Meatballs (Two Ways)

There is nothing better for dinner on a cold night than these deliciously tender meatballs fragrant with middle eastern spices with a tangy lemon sauce. Enjoy them alone or serve on a bed of cous cous, quinoa or rice. For an alternative you can make the meatballs without the sauce and bbq them like small kebabs and serve with hummus, pita and fresh parsley and tomato.

Meatballs

500g mince beef

½ red onion, diced

2 tbspn parsley

2 slices of bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces

1 egg

zest of ½ a lemon

1 tspn salt

½ tspn cumin

½ tspn cinnamon

½ tspn paprika

½ tspn pepper

Sauce

1 tbspn olive oil

½ red onion finely diced

½ tspn paprika

½ tspn ground turmeric

½ tspn cumin

½ tspn cinnamon

¼ tspn cayenne pepper

1½ cups chicken stock

2 tbspn coriander leaves, chopped

Garnish

handful parsley leaves, finely chopped

handful coriander leaves, finely chopped

juice of half a lemon

preserved lemon (skin only) or lemon zest (both optional)

For meatballs, put onion and parsley in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add bread and egg and pulse again. Add meat, zest and spices and process to a thick paste.

Moisten hands and shape into small ball and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

To make the sauce, heat oil over low heat and slowly cook the onion until soft and golden. Add the spices and stir for a minute. Add the stock and coriander and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs to the pan, gently shaking so the are immersed in the sauce. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Transfer to a platter or bowl, drizzle with lemon juice, scatter over parsley, coriander and preserved lemon or zest if you desire.

Note – if you are making the meatballs to bbq, finely dice the onion and fry it in a tbspn of oil until it is soft and golden. Finely chop the parsley. Omit the bread. And mix everything in a bowl by hand instead using a food processor. Moisten hands to roll the mixture into balls, small patties or kebab shapes and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before putting them on a well oiled bbq.

Slow Cooked Chilli Brisket

I won’t lie, this is not a dinner to make when you only have half an hour until dinner time. It needs a long time to cook, the longer the better. It is however, a great dish to make it the morning and leave on the stove or in a slow cooker all day. The brisket literally falls apart it is so tender, and the spices, vegies and tomato all meld into each other to make a wonderful sauce. This is great in winter as a stew served over polenta, rice or mash, but I love it most in summer, served in tortillas with guacamole and loads of fresh coriander to cut through the richness. I got the idea from a Jamie Oliver recipe but changed it to suits my tastes so much that it has become altogether different.

1 -1.5 kg piece of beef brisket (ask your butcher to score it across and down so it looks like a checker board)

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tbspn smoked paprika

1 tbspn cumin

1 tspn ground coriander

1 tspn cinnamon

½ tspn cayenne pepper

3 tbspn olive oil

1 tin chopped tomatoes

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped (you can substitute with another can of tomatoes)

1 cup of beef or vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

1 heaped tspn brown sugar

2 tbspns balsamic vinegar

2 red onions thinly sliced

2-3 capsicums (red, orange or yellow) cut up into strips

½ bunch coriander

2 chillies, split

Season the brisket well and rub with the spices. Heat a large fry pan to medium, add olive oil and sear the brisket til brown and juicy. Meanwhile in a heavy saucepan or slow cooker, add tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, sugar, vinegar, capsicums and coriander and bring to the boil.

Once brisket is done, put it in the tomato sauce. Then fry the onions and chillies in the pan that the brisket was in and once they are tender, add to the tomato/brisket pot. Put the lid on the pot, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 5-7 hours (the longer the better). Check occasionally to make sure the meat is immersed in the sauce. When it is ready the brisket should fall apart when you pick it up.

Use tongs and a fork to get the meat out and shred it. Ladle on some veggies and sauce and either serve with rice, or top tortillas with guacamole and brisket and fresh coriander and roll up to eat. Be warned, you will need lots of serviettes!

Roast Carrot Salad with Farro, Feta and Spiced Citrus Vinaigrette

This is another visual beauty, and it tastes even better than it looks. The saltiness of the feta, combines perfectly with the spiced dressing and the faro and carrots ground everything. The mint and parsley add a fantastic freshness to the whole dish.

Farro is a grain available at delis or middle eastern stores. Cook it like pasta, in boiling salted water til al dente, then drain well. You can substitute the farro for quinoa, barley or freekeh.

1 bunch dutch carrots or 3 large carrots cut into sticks

2 cups spinach

1 cup cooked faro

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

½ cup chopped pasley

½ cup shredded mint leaves

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

½ cup pomegranate seeds

150g feta cheese, sliced or crumbled

dressing

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup orange juice

½ tbspn cinnamon

½ tbspn orange zest

½ tbspn lemon zest

2 tspn maple syrup

¼ cup olive oil

good pinch sea salt

good grinding of pepper

Combine ingredients for dressing and set aside. Preheat oven to 200 degrees and roast carrots for 40 mins or until golden and tender. Combine all ingredients except feta. Pour over dressing reserving 2 tbspns. Toss salad. Scatter over feta and drizzle with remaining dressing.