Slow cooker winner... a seriously good Dahl

On Sunday I spent the afternoon parked around a wood fire pizza oven eating pizza and discussing food with friends.  As I have recently purchased a slow cooker I am on the hunt for good recipes.  This recipe came highly recommended by the hostess.  I tried it for dinner last night and it was very good.  Quite spicy so I'd recommend halving the chilli if you can't handle your spice, or eliminating it altogether if children will be eating too.   I ended up cooling down my bowl with some greek yoghurt.


Tomato and Coconut Dahl

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 diced carrot
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli for a medium curry (or 1/2 teaspoon for a mild curry or no chilli for children)
1 teaspoon garam masala
250g split red lentils
400ml stock
400ml light coconut milk
1 can chopped tomatoes

For serving
fresh limes for squeezing
chopped coriander
chopped toasted almonds
greek yoghurt
salt and pepper

Method
Fry the onion in the oil until soft.  Add the garlic, carrot, cumin, mustard seeds and ginger.  Fry for a few minutes.  Add the rest of the spices and fry for a further few minutes.  Transfer into the slow cooker.  Add the lentils, tomatoes, stock and coconut milk to the slow cooker.  Slow cook until the lentils are soft.

Serve in bowls topped with a squeeze of lime, toasted almonds, coriander and yoghurt

a lovely ladies lunch...

 

I enjoyed a fabulous lunch at my favourite cousin today.  It was so fresh and zingy, I just had to take a photo and get the recipe.  So here it is...


Lisa's Chicken Noodle Salad

Ingredients
2 cooked chicken breasts cut into bite size chunks
4 tablespoons Thai sweet chilli sauce
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 broccoli cut into florets
100g green beans trimmed
1 red pepper sliced
2 packs udon noodles
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1cm piece fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
fresh limes cut into wedges to squeeze over the top

Method
Blanch the broccoli and beans for 3 minutes.
Fry the red peppers in a little oil in a non-stick frying pan for a couple of minutes.
Cook the noodles for a minute in boiling water.  Drain the noodles.
In a mixing bowl combine the noodles, vegetables, chicken, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and sesame seeds.
Serve in noodle bowls with a wedge of lime for squeezing over.  Sprinkle coriander over the top.


After lunch we enjoyed a seriously good lemon tart which has for a long time been one of my favourites.

Thaislaw

It's mid-week and I'm trying to control my calorie intake as I seem to have overdone the naughties over the weekend. Had a peek in the fridge in the hope of finding some kind of healthy but tasty ingredients. Spotted a bag of coleslaw - ie ready shredded carrots and cabbage with a couple of sachets of dressing which inspired me to whip up some of my favourite asian flavoured coleslaw...

Thaislaw

500g shredded cabbage and carrot (ready bagged from the supermarket or do it yourself)

3 Tbs freshly squeezed lime juice

2 Tbs sweet chilli sauce

1 Tbs fish sauce

1 Tbs oil

1 handful coriander leaves

additional chilli if required

Open bag of coleslaw and empty contents into a mixing bowl. I discard the dressing sachets straight into the rubbish as they usually have that fake mayonaissy taste which I really despise. In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients to make a dressing. You will need to check the balance of salty/sweet/spicy flavours and adjust accordingly. If chilli is your friend, add more in the form of fresh birds eyes, or the dried variety. Toss the dressing through the slaw to thoroughly coat all the vegetables and leave to infuse for about 20 minutes. Serve with your favourite cold cuts. I find cold shredded roast chicken or beef works pretty well. Today I added some shaved beef from the deli. If you really want to posh it up, you could add some dried shrimp and crushed roast peanuts. This dish is reminiscent of my favourite thai green papaya salad.