Quick and tasty broccoli muffins

Mix the following in a blender, pour into paper cupcake cups and bake at 200oC for 40 mins or until beautifully golden brown.  I thought this would make a great healthy and fun variation on the broccoli patties by baking rather than frying them.

• 2 boiled (or shh… microwaved) potatoes
• 300g steamed broccoli
• 100 g grated cheese of your choice
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1.5 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 beaten eggs
• 6 tbs ground flaxseed – for a great healthy twist

Serve with fresh green salad and a side mix of half ketchup, half mayo – although I found the muffins tasty enough not to require the latter.

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Easy pesto, made even healthier with flaxseed

Pesto is extremely easy to prepare, and I added ground flaxseed to this version for those extra health points.

Blend together in a food processor or a blender:

2 cloves garlic, peeled
50g ground (or let grind in the food processor with the rest) flaxseed
50g lightly roasted pine nuts
50g grated parmesan cheese
150ml extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt, to taste
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
large bunch fresh basil, leaves plucked
some lemon juice, optional and to taste

Easy Lasagne Salad

This is one of my favourites, easy to make, looks great and can be eaten cold, so excellent if you have friends over and juggling time with other dishes.

• packet of basil, lightly cut in pieces
• approx. one garlic clove (pressed)
• 8 tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 6 tasty tomatoes cut in thin slices
• 2 mozzarellas, also in thin slices
• 1 packet lasagne pasta
• 1 pack rucola or any other fresh small salad

Mix the basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and tomatoes and allow to stand.  Cook the pasta for around 8-9 mins in salty water.

Starting with a layer of pasta apply the basil mixture followed by the mozzarella and rucola.  Apply another layer of pasta and do the same.  Finish up with a pasta layer, seasoned and topped with cheese of your choice, preferably parmesan.

For those who are lactose intolerant, you can replace mozzarella with goat cheese and works just the same.

Serves 4, as a starter.

 

Very easy roasted pumpkin

Pumpkin can be bought any season these days.  I enjoy it in many ways, but the easiest tends to be also one of the tastiest: roasting.  Cut into slices and then divide each in 3 pieces, sprinkle heavily with extra virgin olive oil and add some herbs of your choice; fresh rosemary, sage and melissa works great.  Fried or roasted sage always adds that extra spark to many foods.

Sprinkle with lots of pepper and sea salt and let roast in a 230oC oven for 50 minutes or until the pumpkin softens as to your taste.  Ten minutes or so before add some cherry tomatoes and black beans and serve on a bed of slightly wilted spinach.  You can get this effect by microwaving for 60 seconds on 900.

I added some soya substitute chunks for a complete dish.

Tip:  How to cut pumpkin into slices with little effort?  Put the whole pumpkin in hot water for 10 mins to soften.  In this case, reduce the oven cooking time.