Category Archives: Main meal

Lunchbox Love: Roast Pumpkin, Mushroom, and Brown Rice Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing

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This salad is absolutely delicious. Please forgive my immodesty, but I have a deep and abiding love for the soy-sesame combination, and for anything with roasted pumpkin in it. Not only is this salad delicious; not only does it last three days in the fridge (cook once, eat lunch all week long); but it’s also full of healthy, energy-enhancing, tummy-filling ingredients. Given my semi-nomadic lifestyle I even had the chance to test the appropriateness of the salad in different locations.

I had it for dinner on Tuesday night after a long night at university talking about travel writing and the dirtiness of Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale. I ate it curled up next to Chris while watching The Colbert Report and reading A Clash of Kings (so in love).

I packed this lunch on Wednesday when I headed into my internship at the Australian Writer’s Marketplace and ate it at my desk while I lost myself in articles about the winner of the 2013 Stella Prize (Carrie Tiffany), the daily routines of famous writers, and dealing with being a book abandoner (I got most of the way through Gone Girl but I just couldn’t finish it).

I packed this lunch on Thursday when I went to work at the research centre and it powered me through data analysis, meetings, and talking to patients (along with a cookie and a coffee), and gave me the energy to go running after work and make orange and poppyseed cupcakes for Chris to take to work.

Wherever you find yourself eating lunch, remember to take a moment to pause in the middle of the day and breathe. Be thankful for something that has happened in your day already, and think of all the adventures that still await in the post-lunch world.

Dear reader, what does your favourite lunch spot look like? Do you like to secret yourself away and read during lunch, or are you a social butterfly?

Big batch of salad.

Big batch of salad.

Roast Pumpkin, Mushroom, and Brown Rice Salad with Soy-Sesame Dressing

This salad is gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, and tastes wonderful made ahead. My omnivorous friends might want to try this with some shredded roast chicken. 

Ingredients:

  • 400 grams peeled and diced butternut pumpkin
  • 1 cup small mushrooms, quartered
  • 1/3 cup brown rice
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 400 gram tin brown lentils
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Method:

  1. Heat oven to 210C (410F). Line baking tray and spread out diced pumpkin and quartered mushrooms.
  2. Roast pumpkin and mushrooms for 15-20 minutes or until pumpkin is soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the brown rice as per packet instructions. Allow to cool.
  4. Drain and rinse brown lentils well.
  5. Mix pumpkin, mushrooms, rice and lentils with baby spinach in a large bowl.
  6. Pour over sesame oil, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Toss salad well.
  7. Allow to rest in the fridge for a few hours as the flavours will develop even more.
Dig in!

Dig in!

 

Lunchbox Love: Quinoa, Chickpea, and Capsicum Salad with a Lime-Honey Dressing

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I have a confession: as much as I love salad even I get bored of the same leaf, tomato, legume and antipasto combination. This often leads to me resorting to my next option: cottage cheese and crackers or avocado sushi.

In an attempt to revamp my lunch situation, and to ease night-before-work decision-making fatigue, I made a big batch of this quinoa salad. Full of bright vegetables, healthy protein (from the chickpeas and quinoa), fibre, and complex carbohydrates (slowly broken-down for longer-lasting energy and fullness) it will last in the refrigerator all week long safely divided into four lunchbox-ready containers.

I have also made this salad for a work function and a family barbecue. It makes a perfect pot luck dish because it suits so many different special diets (gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free) while still tasting delicious (I’ve had reports). I simply doubled the amount and it made a healthy side dish for 10-12 hungry people. Vegetarian friends, this is a complete protein meal; omnivorous friends, I have reports that it goes rather nicely with grilled chicken or fish.

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Quinoa, Chickpea, and Capsicum Salad with a Lime-Honey Dressing

Gluten-free. Vegetarian. Dairy-free.

Serves 4 as a main dish. 6-8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (I used red, but any colour will be delicious)
  • 3 cups salt-reduced vegetable stock
  • 1/2 medium red capsicum
  • 1 400 gram can of corn kernels
  • 1 400 gram can of chickpeas
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 2 stalks of spring onion
  • 3 cups baby spinach leaves

Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Method:

  1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly and add to a small saucepan with the vegetable stock. Heat on a medium-high stove until it comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and return to pot to cool to room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile dice cucumber, capsicum, and spring onions. Drain corn kernels. Drain and rinse chickpeas well.
  3. Add quinoa to a large bowl and add diced and drained vegetables. Toss mixture together with spinach leaves.
  4. To make the dressing whisk together all dressing ingredients.
  5. Add dressing to bowl and toss well.

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Serving suggestions: Perfect the way it is, although sometimes I crumble some feta over the top of mine, or add a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. Omnivores may like to add grilled chicken or fish (dressed with some extra lime perhaps). Vegans you can substitute agave for the honey.

Nutrition Information: (Per serve. 4 serves per batch.) 315 cals | 1315kJ | 5.55g fat | 0.9g saturated fat | 13.8g protein | 57.8g carbohydrates | 7.8g sugar | 5.2g fibre |

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Summer Sweat and Roasted Tomato Thyme Soup

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The first footsteps crush grass under foot and the evening air draws the heat of the day from the bitumen.

We reach the midway point sweating in the still summer night as we turn for home.

Laughing and tumbling into the house and filling the rooms with noise, and humour, and love.

Into the kitchen, inspiration strikes when I see the gift of freshly plucked tomatoes sitting on the bench and see my herb garden in the fading light outside my window.

Slicing open plump red fruit flesh. Feeling the cooling ground beneath my feet as I venture out to gather from my garden.

The first waves of heat hit the tiny branches of thyme and send the rainy earthen smell wafting throughout the house.

Tomatoes nestled together like lovers whispering secrets begin to blister and melt, weeping sweet nectar until they bubble contentedly.

They will stay there while I refresh myself. My run swept away the stresses of the day; the walk slowed my pulse and brought me deeper peace. I am ready to nourish myself with gifts from my neighbour’s labour and my own earth.

Roughly blended and poured still steaming into my bowl. Sprinkled with crisp spring onions and creamy sharp cheddar, the trifecta of colours and a testament to salty, crispy, and creamy.

A thoroughly nourished body: sweaty run and roasted soup.

A thoroughly nourished soul: time to walk with my Mama.

The beginning of summer.

Roasted Tomato Thyme Soup

I used very ripe heirloom variety tomatoes that had been gifted to me, but I believe that you could use any type of tomato as the roasting time will draw out the sweetness and juice. The riper and more flavoursome your tomatoes though, the more richly bodied your soup will be. If you are vegan, simply leave the cheddar off the top.

Be very careful when blending this soup. DO NOT use a blender as hot liquids expand and you may burn yourself very badly. If you wish to use a blender, cool the roasted mixture completely, blend, and then reheat. 

Serves 2 -4

Ingredients:

  • 2 kilograms tomatoes (about 8-10 large tomatoes)
  • 2 medium purple onions
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 8 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 spring onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup crumbled vintage cheddar (I am in love with Maleny Dairies - my local)

 Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F). Line a deep-sided baking tin with baking paper (or aluminium foil) and set aside.
  2. Roughly quarter tomatoes and slide into the baking tin. Peel and quarter onions and add to the baking dish. Peel garlic and tuck the cloves under the tomatoes so that they will melt into the stewing tomatoes rather than crisp.
  3. Sprinkle the tomato, onion, and garlic mosaic with thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the top.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. The longer you leave this in the oven the further it will reduce and concentrate.
  5. Remove baked tomatoes from the oven. Pour into a large bowl (very large) and use a stick blender to roughly blend the mixture. Be very careful.
  6. Divide among bowls and top with spring onion and  cheese.

This soup reheats wonderfully and I think it tastes even better on the second day.

My dear readers, do you grow any of your own vegetables? Do your neighbours?

What is your favourite seasonal summer fruit or vegetable?

Spring smiles, or, tomato, butter bean, and brown rice salad

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The first were handed over with a shy smile, and were clutched in my still winter-numb hands like precious amber and citrine nuggets. The next week as I exclaimed over the wondrous flavour of the previous week’s bounty, the smile grew wider. Summer bloomed, and brought with it more fragrant delights, tiny jewels moved from amber and citrine to garnet and deepest ruby. Firm, tart, and spring sharp melted with the lengthening hours of sunshine and became plump, ripened, and strained against their skin with sweet juices. The smiles grew wider too, and laughter followed.

Sadly, summer came to an end, and the final harvest was mourned and celebrated: a ritual to fortify me with sunshine through the winter, until the new spring breezes blew fair weather our way again. But the smiles lasted through winter, through chapped mornings, and windy weather, freezing rain and hurried, scurried, greetings and partings. The smiles were the summer harvest that never had to end.

This week the spring wind danced through the city streets, the sun stayed longer and longer in the sky, and the cold left only traces of itself in the wee hours of morning. A bright smile lit my face this week when I noticed the spring bounty atop the rickety wooden table. A sign taped below read: ‘hand-picked yesterday at our farm in Beaudesert’ – complete with pictures of my summer/winter friends out in the fields. I lined up with the other eager faces, sort of like mine but without the ebullient appreciation I must verbalise for how much I enjoy the produce, and how happy I am to see little amber and garnet gems appearing again.

I smile, and receive smiles in return. I claim two punnets as my own. My friend empties in half the contents of a third, and adds two gleaming Granny Smith apples to the bag. ‘Just for you’ she says, with another smile.

Spring is here.

Tomato, butter bean, and brown rice salad

The best way to enjoy new season grape tomatoes, or if you can’t find these gems try cherry tomatoes. When winter meets spring I always get a taste for things with a little more acidity, the clean, sharp tastes seem to strip away some of the cloying richness of winter foods and leave my taste buds ready to experience the delicate flavours of spring, and their promise of summer’s richer bounty. Here, I have used lemon juice to sharpen the flavour of the salad, and peppery rocket to lift the rich brown rice. You can use milder baby spinach if you prefer.

This serves 2.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 can of butter beans (or other white beans such as cannellini), drained
  • 2 spring onions
  • Large handful of rocket leaves
  • 8 oil-packed semi-dried tomatoes
  • 8 large black olives
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil (I use the oil the tomatoes are packed in)
  • Large pinch each of ground black pepper and salt
  • Large punch of dried oregano

Method

  1. Place rice in a saucepan and cover with 2 1/2 cups of water. Bring to the boil over medium heat, uncovered. Once it has reached boiling point, turn the heat down and cover with saucepan lid. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and allow rice to sit for another 10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  2. Wash tomatoes, and then slice in half lengthwise. Rinse butter beans until water runs clear, drain well. Slice spring onions including most of the upper parts of the green stems. Dice the semi-dried tomatoes and pit and dice the olives.
  3. In a large bowl combine halved tomatoes, butter beans, spring onions, semi-dried tomatoes, and olives. Add rocket leaves.
  4. For the dressing: in a small bowl whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano. Add to the salad mixture.
  5. Spoon rice into the salad mixture, and gently toss the whole salad together.

If you are dining solo, the left overs make a lovely lunch or dinner the next day. I like to add a little steamed broccoli on the second day, or some corn kernels. Enjoy.

I am planning on sharing my favourite salads as we head into summer here in Australia.

Tell me dear reader, do you have a favourite salad ingredient? Mine is obviously fresh tomatoes!

Soothing Spiced Lentil Stew

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Mist rose steadily in clouds from the storm water creek as we started the day with a morning walk. The crisp air reddened cheeks and numbed hands even as the sun rose bright and clear in the unclouded blue sky.

In the depths of midwinter we decided that it was time to clean. To purge the old, save that which is needed and useful, and shed the superfluous in favour of simmering down to essentials. From the sorting and shifting, the de-scaling of our lives, there arises a sense of rebirth, of purity, of the elemental needs of life that are exposed when we chose to lose the clutter. It can however be a little exhausting, a little exposing, and soul-wearying. At the end of a day like this a soothing spiced lentil stew studded with sweet potato and peppered with kale serves to warm and restore.

Soothing Spiced Lentil Stew

A blend of spices lends this stew depth of flavour. I owe a great debt to Nigel Slater as this is adapted from one of his wonderfully warming recipes.

Serves 2 but is easily doubled, or makes great leftovers for a single girl like me.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium brown onion, diced
  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 150g dried Puy lentils
  • 500mL water
  • 1 tsp powdered vegetable stock
  • Few stems of kale
  • Natural yoghurt, to serve.

Method:

  1. In a large saucepan heat a dash of olive oil. Add the diced brown onion and sweet potato. Cover with lid and cook on a low heat until onion has softened.
  2. Add paprika, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Stir to distribute spices, and take a moment to revel in their fragrance.
  3. To this pot add Puy lentils, water, and powdered vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. The lentils should still be firm and the sweet potato soft.
  4. While the lentils are simmering away add a splash of olive oil to another smaller pan. Keep on a low heat and add thinly sliced red onion. Cover and cook until onion is golden brown; then, add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
  5. Remove stems from kale and roughly chop the curly leaves. Add to the cooked lentils and cover so that the kale wilts into the stew.
  6. Serve lentils topped with onions and a dollop of natural yoghurt.

Allow the stew to soothe you, and the spices to restore your soul. Then sit back and take in the night, and the new start that every dawn brings.