My easy cooking by Nina Timm.

Sexy Salsa Breakfast Wraps on RSG

2012-05-30T21:46:00.001+02:00

Sexy Salsa Breakfast wraps ....I like the idea of sexy food, food that does a happy dance in your mouth and is packed with bursts of flavor. However, I receive so many requests and emails for healthy recipes and it seems as if most people associate healthy food with the words bland and uninteresting.
My guest blogger on RSG this week, puts a stop to the myth that healthy food should be bland and tasteless. She is according to her "an ordinary broad" on a quest for balance between healthy and tasty. She is ......
Monya Kilian Palmer, author of Broadbites, a qualified chef, a moonlighting artist ... and a well-traveled broad! She says: "For as long as I can remember I have had a love affair with food.
Preparing it, poaching it, cooking it, chopping it, baking it, boiling it, ordering it, shopping for it, reading about it, watching shows about it … and of course – eating it!"
Well, I think you will agree with me once you've read her blog.....her recipes are not all very healthy, but every single one of them looks like something I would love to make. I made these delicious sexy salsa breakfast wraps for supper tonight and with a few Air Fryer potato wedges on the side, they were delicious..
Sadly for us, but an amazing opportunity for them....Monya, along with her husband, comedian Mark Palmer and their two gorgeous dogs are embarking on a new and exciting adventure, which sees them relocating to the UK in June 2012. Monya will be taking up the position as a Development Chef at The Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen in Bray, Berkshire.We wish her well!!

Sexy Salsa Breakfast Wrap – serves 4

Ingredients

4 eggs
4 additional egg-whites
12 Mini Italian Roma Tomatoes (they are sweet & beautiful)
½ Red Onion
Handful Fresh Coriander Leaves – chopped
4 Weigh-less Whole-wheat Wraps
Salt and Pepper

Start by dicing your tomatoes and onions finely, and add the chopped coriander leaves.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place in a strainer over a bowl or the sink, as liquid collects from the tomatoes – which should be discarded (nobody likes a soggy wrap)
In a small jug, whisk together 4 eggs – and additional 4 egg-whites. Whisk and season.If you use a non-stick Teflon pan, you need not add oil or butter to make your scrambled eggs. I usually just spray with non-stick spray and stir continuously as I scramble the eggs.Prepare your wraps as per the packet instructions (requires about 10 seconds in the microwave) and assemble using your eggs and the tomato ‘salsa’ mix.
We added some slices of avocado to the wraps, which most probably added calories, but it was too divine...

Do tune in to RSG on Thursday mornings just after 9 when I share these delicious recipes.

More healthy recipes

Healthy Vegetable Springrolls

Warm Bean and Potato Salad

Low GI Fish Cakes

Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara

2012-05-28T09:16:00.002+02:00

The idea of a vegetarian Spagetthi Carbonara will surely send shivers down the spines of those who love this classic Italian dish. I know of one person in particular who will most probably put a ban on this post and that is Fritz from Real Men can Cook. After all he made a perfect Spaghetti Carbonara at the Cheese Festival this year....why would I want to mess with such a divine dish?
Simple reason actually, after tasting Fritz' version made with Guangiale, which is an unsmoked bacon made from the pig's cheeks, ordinary bacon was simply not going to cut it for me... Furthermore, after watching the ever-so-sexy Giorgio Locatelli in action at this year's Good Food and Wine Show I realized again that any dish made with top quality ingredients (even if only two or three) is better than adding ingredients just for the sake of adding it.... So because I did not have Guangiale, I decided to go virgin......meatless......... vegetarian! Can a pasta dish with just three ingredients taste good? Oh yes, I bet you it can, give it a go!!!

Vegetarian Spaghetti Carbonara
serves 4-6

500 g spaghetti or fettuccine
375 ml grated Parmesan cheese (Pecorino can also work here)
6 eggs
salt/pepper

Cook the pasta according to the instruction on the packet, taking caution not to over cook the pasta. "Al dente" is what we are looking for.
In the meantime, whisk the 6 eggs and the finely grated cheese together in a bowl.Season with salt and pepper. Once the paste is cooked, drain the pasta and immediately add it to the egg mixture . Toss the pasta, so that every strand of pasta is coated with the sauce. Serve immediately with more grated Parmesan and a few grindings of pepper.

Cook's Notes - If you want to add some bacon, 250 g bacon, chopped and fried until crispy, can be added to the pasta once all the sauce is on the pasta. 250 g mushrooms, sauteed in butter can also be added, but we loved the simplicity of this dish!

More Vegetarian Dishes

Thai Chickpea Curry

Curry Beans

Mexican Bean Crumble

Tangy Chicken Kebabs with creamy orange mayonnaise

2012-05-25T10:24:00.000+02:00

Making chicken kebabs in the middle of winter when it is cold and Cape Town is showing you her cold shoulder, seems like such a crazy idea, but enjoyed around a cosy fire with warm pitas and maybe even a light vegetable soup simmering somewhere, it could work..... oh, alright, soppy story doesn't work for you? Ok, the truth, I have a teenager son, he eats all the time and he is constantly hungry......I love it, but what do I feed him when he comes home from school? Chicken Kebabs.......
My children love chicken kebabs, I would love to think it is for the taste, but sadly I think the convenience factor wins here. Wrapped in a warm pita or a tortilla, it is good grub, healthy, affordable and kid-friendly...
I do however have a gripe about tough, dry chicken kebabs. Sometimes, when the man behind the braai (or woman.....let's not get personal he-he) over cook the kebabs, those nuggets get stuck in my throat, not a good feeling at all. I have a few tips to ensure soft, moist chicken kebabs every time.

Do not cut the chicken pieces too small, I like biggish nuggets - the size of an un-shelled walnut
Always marinade your chicken
It is a good idea to alternate the chicken pieces with something like a small tomato or dried fruit to help keep it moist.
Grill on low to moderate heat....
Baste while grilling

Tangy Kebabs with Creamy Orange Mayonnaise
serves 4

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts - skin and boneless
2 cloves garlic
juice and zest of one big orange
3 T vegetable oil
salt and pepper
2 cm piece ginger - grated

Cut the chicken pieces in nuggets ( size indicated above). Place in a plastic bag and add all the other ingredients. Marinade in the bag for at least 1 hour , overnight is better.
Place meat on 4 skewers and grill on griddle pan or on the open fire. Baste with the marinading liquid while grilling.
Serve in a warm pitta or tortilla with lots of fresh lettuce, a little coleslaw and the creamy orange mayonnaise

Creamy Orange Mayonnaise

125ml good quality mayonnaise
juice and zest of 1 orange
1 T chopped parsley

Mix all the ingredients together and serve with kebabs.

Grab one while you can!

More Teenage grub recipes

Beef Tacos

Mexican Spud Skins

Beer-battered Onion Rings

Lemon and Thyme Roast Chicken on RSG

2012-05-23T13:41:00.001+02:00

Lemon and thyme were by far the dominate flavors when I asked readers what their secrets are to the perfect roast chicken. Lemon juice in various forms......drizzled, stuffed up the bum of the poor chicken or simple added to the stock. With thyme there was a slight dispute, some prefer the herb and others swear by "time" as in "take your time with a roast chicken. Thank you all for all the emails and messages, we will continue this discussion on RSG tomorrow morning, just after 9.......
So you want to know my secret...... once again, my ancestors beat me to it. Yes indeed, my mom and grandma had method to their madness and I figured it out this week while making roast chicken for my family. You see, for as long as I can remember, my mother always rinsed her meat and chicken in a bowl of salted water. I was always told that it was to wash off all possible germs and impurities and maybe in their minds that was the only reason, but they also always produced the most incredible crispy and sticky chicken and braised meat. How? Why? I have tried so many methods, but nothing was quite the same..........until now...
Brining of meat before roasting has become quite a trend lately and with my mother's age-old method and this new technique, things were beginning to make a whole lot of sense to me.....brining before grilling.....that's the secret to moist, succulent meat and crispy sticky skin.... I will try and make it as simple as possible.

Lemon and Thyme Roast chicken
enough for two chickens

Ingredients

For the brine

2 liters water
60 ml salt
a few sprigs of thyme

Pour the water and all other ingredients in a stainless steel or glass bowl and leave the chickens to brine for at least 1 hour, but not more than 4 hours. Remove chickens from the brine, rinse under clean water and pat dry with kitchen toweling.

For the herb butter

125gr butter - room temperature
1 tbsp fresh thyme - use only the leaves, remove it from the woody stems
zest of l lemon - keep lemon and place one half in each chicken's cavity.
1 clove garlic - crushed
salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients and stuff underneath the chicken's skin, especially over the dry breast and leg areas.

Roasting
Preheat oven to 170 C. Place the chickens on a roasting rack inside a roasting tray and roast chickens for about 90 minutes or until the leg feels lose and comes away from the body of the chicken when you pull it. For the last 5-10 minutes of cooking time, sprinkle a little Maldon salt over the chickens and roast again. Some people adds stock to their roasting try, I don't and the meat is fall-off-the-bone-tender... In fact there is enough roasting liquid left in the pan to use as base for the gravy...

Tune in to RSG tomorrow (100-104FM) morning (Thursday)just after 9 when I share a different easy recipe from My Easy Cooking. You can also listen online here!

More Chicken Recipes

Gordon Ramsay's Chicken

Fruity Chicken Bake

Crumbed Chicken

Greek Honey Cakes

2012-05-20T21:11:00.000+02:00

I had these Greek Honey Cakes in my mind the minute I woke up yesterday morning. For a change we had no sport, no birthday parties and no shopping to do....just a chilaxing Saturday with my own little family. I also like to do a few recipes on Saturday mornings just to get ahead with my posts for the week. Hubby and the children normally watches a movie together and I get to spend a quiet morning in my kitchen......
My husband only laughs when I tell him this, but I swear, I "saw" these Greek Honey Cakes. In my mind they were this deep golden brown color with a honeycomb texture, absolutely drenched in butter and honey... I searched a bit for a recipe, but to no avail......it was then that I remembered my mom's vanilla cake recipe with the light honeycomb texture. I decided to go with that recipe and just added the "Greek" elements which was the lemon and honey....
The end result was everything I had hoped it would be. While busy styling and shooting(still in my pajamas), the doorbell rang and friends came over for a cup of coffee. Imagine how special they felt when they were treated to these delightful Greek Honey Cakes. (The truth is that they had to help me finish the shoot before we could devour these cakes)

Greek Honey Cakes
makes 8 small cakes

Ingredients
250 ml flour
125 ml sugar
20 ml baking powder
pinch of salt
125 ml milk
3 T butter (no margarine)
1 egg
zest of 1 lemon

For the syrup

3 T honey
2 T butter
juice of 1 lemon
lemon zest for serving
250 ml Greek Yogurt
2 T confectioner sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Heat the milk and butter so that the butter melts completely. Add the egg and whisk with a fork or ball whisk. Mix the egg mixture and the dry ingredients together. Add the lemon zest and spoon into 8 muffin moulds. I only filled each mould halfway to allow the cakes to rise. Bake for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, make the syrup, by melting the honey, butter and lemon juice together. When the cakes are done baking, remove from the muffin pan, turn upside down on a serving plate and pour the honey/butter mixture over the cakes.
Serve with Greek yogurt that has been sweetened with the 2 T of confectioner's sugar.
Enjoy with strong black coffee or an espresso or two.

More Sweet treats

Mini Butterscotch and Banana Pavlovas

Oatmeal and Almond Strawberry Crumble

Bread and Butter Pudding with Berries