Rick Stein's Marinated Olives

This was delicious and so easy. If you don't have 3 hours to set it aside, then set it aside for as long as you have!

I think I might put a bit of chili in there next time... Maybe a bit of feta...

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz each of black and green olives
• 4 tbsp extra virgin oil
• 3 small sprigs each of fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano
• 4 small fresh bay leaves
• 1 large clove of garlic, sliced thinly
• 2 lemon slices, quartered

Method

1. Simply mix everything together, cover and set aside for 3-4 hours before serving.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Roasted Butternut Squash

You probably know all this but I used it to decorate my dish of green lentils for my guests, along with pea puree, for the colour.

• "After the squash is cubed, toss it with olive oil and then add in the flava! Smoked paprika, which is arguably the best ingredient on the planet, adds tons of major smoky flavor without adding calories. Then I also toss in some turmeric, which is a great inflammation fighter. Lastly, just a touch of garlic, because that helps everything taste better. I used garlic powder so it wouldn’t burn.
• Once the squash is coated in the seasoning, spread it out on a large sheet pan. I really love a nice heavy aluminum “half sheet” pan.
• Roast the butternut squash at 375 degrees. A hotter oven will over-brown the squash before it is tender all the way through. That is due to the naturally occurring sugars in the squash.
• Once it comes out of the oven, add on some parsley for a bit of color if you like."

I found this on healthy seasonalrecipes.com, then used whatever bits of it I wanted. I cooked it at 190ºC/GM5 for 30-50 mins. 

I'm going to try to torch it for a bit more colour before serving tonight...

Frozen broccoli!

Oven roasted frozen Broccoli from "The Kitchn"

(Tastes better than it looks!)

The secret here is to preheat the baking sheet and cook the broccoli at 

high heat, ensuring it roasts instead of steams. When the frozen florets 

hit the hot baking sheet, any ice on them will quickly evaporate and the 

florets can begin to brown. Once tender, topping them with Parmesan and 

finishing them under the broiler allows for a bonus level of caramelization. 

A big squeeze of lemon juice brightens it all up. It’s frozen broccoli like 

you’ve never had it 

before.

SERVES4

PREP TIME              5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 to 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen broccoli florets (do not thaw)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher (coarse) salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 medium lemon, halved (or juice from a bottle, where 
• 1 Tbl = 1/2 lemon)

• INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Arrange one rack in the middle of the oven and one rack in the 
     highest position, 

     then heat to 450°F. Place a rimmed baking sheet 
     in the oven while it's heating.
  2. Combine the broccoli, olive oil, salt, and a few grinds of pepper in a 
     large bowl and 

     toss to coat. Carefully remove the hot baking sheet 
     from the oven, add the broccoli, and spread it into an even layer. 
     Roast on the middle rack until the broccoli is tender and beginning 
     to brown at the edges, 15 to 18 minutes.
  3. Remove from the oven. Switch the oven to broil (or stick under a
     grill 

     if you don't have 

     a broiler!). Scatter the Parmesan evenly over 
     the broccoli. Return to the oven and broil on the upper rack until 
     the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze the juice from one 
     lemon half over the broccoli and toss to combine. Cut the other 
     lemon half 

     into wedges and serve 

     alongside the broccoli. 

  RECIPE NOTES

  Storage: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the 

  refrigerator for up to 3 days.

  
  

  Note: I used eight florets for the four of us as we had a number 

  of vegetables on the plate and i didn't want to overface our guests 

  who eat very little. That works too. Also, I didn't use a lot of 

  parmesan (grana pedano, my favourite) and forgot to finish with the 

  lemon juice but it didn't seem to make a great difference. 

  A long story for such an easy recipe!

Sweet Potato Soup

Great winter warming dish -

Easy and lekker!!

If you make it the day before, it gets even better.

Try it. 😄

A dip and a spread

recipes will follow...

Olive, walnut & parsley spread
(Vegan)

Sundried Tomato Dip

(Cream cheese based/Neufchâtel)

Pumpkin Soup

Iris made this soup and shared a pan with us. We all liked it so much, and we made it ourselves this time with the big Fall pumpkin we got from Trader Joe's for $2.99. I'll share how I adapted it below.

I cut our medium pumpkin into long segments and used a small knife to cut out the stringy innards and seeds. I used a vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Since it's sold as a carving pumpkin, it had a fairly thin skin and minimal innards so it was not difficult. Sugar pumpkins are firmer so the technique in the recipe may be more suited for them. 

We separated the seeds, rinsed them off, tossed them with a little melted butter and salt, and roasted them at 300 F for 45 minutes. They were delicious! Ella said they tasted like popcorn. Healthier too!

Once the pumpkin segments were cleaned, we cut them into large chunks, arranged them on a baking sheet, sprinkled oil over them, then roasted at 350 for about 45 mins to an hour, until a knife went in easily and bottom parts were brown and started caramelizing. 

Instead of shallot, I used a brown onion.  One other thing I changed was that I added 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. I used the whole can of light coconut milk and more broth & water because there was so much pumpkin. That's it! We ate this with corn bread.

Mushroom roulade

This is so old*, I couldn't find it anywhere. Thankfully, Julie still had it!!
I've posted it here so that I don't lose it again.
Thanks, Ju!

Btw, I always put the cheese on top rather than in with the mushrooms (as well?) - looks nicer, otherwise it's so pale.
Also, I always sauté onions with the mushrooms and possibly garlic; I'm sure that's much nicer!

(*it's so old, it's typewritten!)