A Pretend Chef

Serves 4 A satisfying and super-healthy salad that can be served as a mid week main course. Easy to prepare and tastes amazing. You can also leave out the salmon and use this as a side salad to accompany barbecued meats. Ingredients 500gm salmon fillets (skin off) 2tbs olive oil (for frying fish) 100gm quinoa 1 brown onion finely chopped 2 cloves garlic finely chopped 1 stalk celery finely chopped 3 spring onion finely sliced 1 cup of rinsed tinned chickpeas 1 handful mint finely chopped 2 handfuls parsley finely chopped 2 Lebanese cucumbers, skinned, de-seeded and finely sliced 1 avocado, diced Juice of 1 lemon 4 tbs extra virgin olive oil Salt & pepper to taste 1 x freshly chopped, de-seeded chilli (optional) Method Heat 1tbs olive oil over a medium heat in a saucepan and add the onion, garlic and celery. Fry till soft, approximately 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add quinoa and pour in enough water (or stock) to cover by just over a centi...

Serves 4 This is a great BBQ combination. Everything works well together and the toasted bread in the fattoush salad is a very effective way to get my kids to enjoy a healthy salad.  I've experimented with various ways to make Hummus. It's dead easy and the below recipe will leave you with enough for other meals. It will last for a week in the fridge. Usually Hummus is made with raw garlic. I make mine with roasted garlic which imparts a subtle nutty sweetness to the paste and doesn't leave you with garlic breath. Ingredients 1kg lamb fillet cut into 2 cm cubes 1 tspn. each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and coriander seeds 1/2 tspn. sea salt 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil For Hummus 1 whole head of garlic 2 x 400gm tins of chick peas (rinsed thoroughly and drained) 1/2 cup tahini 3/4 cup water Juice of 1 lemon 1 tspn. sea salt Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling  A pinch of smokey paprika or cumin for topping For Fattoush Salad 100gm Turkish or...

Serves 4 I prepare this salad as a dinner for my family during the week as it’s easy to do and is super heal thy. You can do so many variations on this with whatever happens to be in the fridge vegetable drawer. For instance I've added chopped capsicum, sprouts, spring onions etc. It’s a good recipe for experimentation. Leave the olives out if you are not a fan. I sprinkle mine with some dried chilli flakes to add some heat. Ingredients For Salad Mix 2 x free-range chicken breasts (approximately 600gms to 700gms) 1.5L chicken stock (or slightly salted water) 1 x 400gm tin of chickpeas (rinsed well and drained) 1 x large head of broccoli cut into small florets (use the main stem as well, cutting   away the hard outer skin and dicing the core) Handful of black, pitted Kalamata olives 1 tspn. cumin seeds 2 x cloves of garlic sliced 2 x tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 bunch continental parsley (finely chopped) 1 bunch coriander (finely ch...

Both the lamb and haloumi recipes are from Pete Evans' cookbook, Grill http://www.peterevanschef.com.au . This is one of the best BBQ cookbooks I've come across and it includes a range of cocktail recipes that make this book a unique addition to the cookbook library. The cocktail is truly undervalued as a great partner to any Aussie barbie! The original Spiced Lamb recipe from the Grill cookbook has these as skewers, however I've made them as small skinless sausages in this instance. Either way works. I just avoided using skewers for this recipe so it's a little more 'child friendly'. My youngest daughter, Emma, in particular can get very animated at the dinner table and skewers mixed with wild flourishing hand movements don't mix. The original lamb recipe includes hot paprika which I've not included, again aiming to make the meal more child friendly. I've also slightly changed the haloumi/chorizo salad recipe, again to better suit the palate of the ...