Preheat oven to 180C. Place mushrooms in a large baking tray, dot with butter and scatter over thyme sprigs. Add wine, stock and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tray with foil and cook for 15 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring two cups water to the boil, add quinoa, reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff the quinoa with a fork.
To serve, spoon the quinoa over the mushrooms, add a dollop of goat’s feta and scatter over the micro herbs. Season with extra salt and pepper if required.
At its simplest, this traditional Lebanese dish is made with lentils, rice, onion and water. I have added spices. The onions should be cooked really well with lots of blackened, crunchy bits. To make a creamy, thickened yoghurt, drain through a colander or sieve lined with muslin or a new Chux kitchen cloth.
Serve this simple, traditional Lebanese dish with thick yoghurt and mint.Photo: Marina Oliphant
Ingredients
6 tbsp olive oil
6 onions, halved and finely sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
5 cups water or vegetable stock
1 1/2 cups brown lentils, washed and drained
1 cup long grain rice, washed and drained
1 cup plain yoghurt, drained through muslin-lined colander for 30 minutes
Fresh mint sprigs, to garnish
Method
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large saucepan over medium heat.
Add one onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon and allspice and saute for four minutes until onion is softened and lightly coloured.
Add water (or stock) and lentils and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in rice, return to boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook until liquid has been absorbed and rice and lentils are tender, about 15 minutes.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in pan and cook remaining onions until soft, well coloured and beginning to caramelise and blacken at the edges, about 30 minutes.
Arrange rice and lentils on a platter and sprinkle with caramelised onion. Serve with yoghurt and mint.
This is a great dessert to share with friends around the barbecue, as the pomegranate sauce can be made well ahead, leaving only the mangoes to be sliced and cooked for a few minutes before serving. Scarlet pomegranate seeds add an exotic tart crunch. Buy firm mangoes and leave to soften for a day or two in the fruit bowl.
Combine caster sugar and water in a jug and stir until sugar dissolves. Add pomegranate molasses and Grenadine and stir well. Rest at room temperature.
Heat barbecue to medium. Cut cheeks from each mango and brush cut sides with melted butter. Cook mangoes cut side down on barbecue, for about 3-4 minutes or until golden.
To serve, place mango cheeks on serving plate, drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
I’ve been exploring the idea of becoming a broccoli magnate and what that would take. Michael Moss explored the idea of updating broccoli’s image in the NYTs recently with some interesting results…
brocquet (it’s a flower)
broctober
in 2010, diet surpassed smoking as the biggest US risk factor for disease and death
nutritionists now consider fruit juice to be in the same category as soft drink
Nurses Health Study: 5 servings of vegetable/day = 28% reduced heart disease risk
DASH study: Plant-heavy diets achieve equivalent blood pressure drop to medications
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s Family Heart Study (2004): High vegetable and fruit consumption (4 or more servings a day) resulted in significantly lower LDL.
Less definitive evidence exists for a “buffering effect” on cancer (PN: vs. vegan?)
Health messages are overwhelmed by junk food messages
Jeffrey Dunn (former Coca-Cola president who now markets baby carrots) told a crowd of more than 1,000 at the Produce Marketing Association convention: “We must change the game. We can help solve the obesity crisis by stealing junk food’s playbook, by creating passion for produce, by becoming demand creators, not just growers and processors.”
Drewstar introduced me to Kale Chips. Made my first batch last night after noticing kale stocked in the supermarket for the first time. Very simple. Very quick. Very tasty. Very healthy. Where have they been my whole life?
Ingredients:
Kale (1 bunch)
Olive/Macadamia Oil (1 tablespoon)
Salt (1 teaspoon)
Directions:
Preheat an oven to 175 degrees C. Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the kale leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces.
Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner.
Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.
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