A little healthy eating

Other than the obvious benefits of cooking food that is good for you, the thing I love about cooking lovely fresh, flavourful food is the preparation.  Walking through food markets; seeing the array of fruit and veg; inhaling the gorgeous smell of a bunch of mint; chatting to stallholders about what's in season; chop chop chopping chillies, garlic, herbs, onions; sauteeing in olive oil - all this enjoyment and relaxation before you even get to eat!

Here's a little meal I russled up recently:

Tzatziki
This is a Donna Hay recipe from her website.  I used double the cucumber to make this fab dip even healthier! I prefer to slice the cucumber thinly rather than grating it. 

2 cups thick Greek-style natural yoghurt
1 Lebanese cucumber, grated (I use 2 cucumbers, thinly sliced)
2 tablespoons chopped mint leaves (I go heavy with the mint too)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon ground cumin
sea salt and cracked white pepper

Place the yoghurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, honey, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine.

Makes 2¼ cups.


Carrot and yoghurt salad

This is a lovely recipe from Taste.com.au.  As you can see, I used pieces of carrot instead of grated carrot - largely because it was easier!

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely grated (or chopped, in my case)
260g (1 cup) Greek-style natural yoghurt
2 tbs chopped fresh coriander (or, like me, add a litle more)
1 tbs roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Cook the mustard seeds, curry leaves and cumin seeds, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic and the seeds start to pop. Transfer to a bowl.


Add the carrot, yoghurt and coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the peanuts.
 

Artichoke fritters

This is based on a Donna Hay recipe for aubergine fritters, using a jar of chargrilled aubergine.  I had originally wanted to use fresh aubergines, but on my market visit couldn't find either chargrilled or fresh aubergine.  So instead I substituted char-grilled artichokes, which had a lovely smokey flavour and made for delicious fritters.

1 cup chopped store bought char-grilled aubergine or artichoke

1 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzos), drained and roughly mashed
1 tablespoon plain (all-purpose) flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
sea salt and cracked black pepper
vegetable oil, for shallow-frying

Place the aubergine/artichokes, chickpeas, flour, baking powder, egg, green onion, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine.

Heat 1cm of oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook tablespoons of the mixture, in batches, for 2−3 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Drain on absorbent paper and serve.

Serves 4.

(Don't worry, this healthy thing doesn't last - a post about cake is coming up!)