quick – My Whisk and I

2-minute Salad

December 13, 2025December 9, 2025by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

2 packets instant noodles, cooked without the spices
300g coleslaw mix
2 hands full of cashew nuts
1 hand full of sesame seeds

Dressing:
125ml olive oil
60ml honey
60ml red wine vinegar
30ml soy sauce
2 packets of instant noodle spice

Add the cooked noodles, coleslaw mix, cashews and sesame seeds to a mixing bowl and set aside.
Add the olive oil, honey, red wine vinegar, soy sauce and noodle spice to a small saucepan and place it over a medium heat until it starts too bubble.
Pour the hot dressing over the noodle mixture and mix through.
Place the salad in the refrigerator to cool completely.
Serve cold.

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Hummus Wreath

December 24, 2023December 23, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is a quick throw-together as a starter or snack board and can easily be made from ingredients you already have in your refrigerator. If you want to make the hummus from scratch you will find a few recipes with slight variations under my search button if you type in HUMMUS.
Quantities are for you to decide and adapt to your taste.

hummus
chopped herbs like chives and parsley
crumbed feta or ricotta
cocktail tomatoes
olive oil to drizzle over before serving

Serve the hummus wreath with crackers or melba toast.

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Chocolate Layer Brownies

May 15, 2023May 4, 2023by Karen Claassen1 Comment

145g butter
250g sugar
80g cocoa powder, sifted
1,2ml salt
7,5ml vanilla
2 eggs
65g flour
75g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
2 x 80g slabs of chocolate

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper.
Add the butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir the mixture every now and then until the butter has melted and the mixture is amalgamated.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the vanilla.
Stir through.
Add the eggs one-by-one and beat to incorporate, with a wooden spoon.
Add the flour and beat again to incorporate.
Add the pecan nuts and stir through.
Spoon half the batter in to the prepared baking tin and spread it out evenly.
Place the chocolate slabs, side-to-side, on the batter and cover with the rest of the brownie batter.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely.
Slice into 16 squares.

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Puff-Baked Apples

March 18, 2023March 17, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 x 400g Today Puff Pastry
2 large apples
egg-wash: egg yolk + 15ml water whisked together

Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Unroll your pastry and divide and cut it into 8 equal squares.
Place 4 squares on the prepared baking tray and set aside.
Make 0,5cm incisions in a vertical line on the other pastry squares.
Fill the squares with these incisions following a “brick-laying” pattern.
Peel, halve and core the apples.
Place half an apple on a square on the baking sheet and cover with a square with incisions.
Press down to seal and trim off the excess pastry.
Brush with egg-wash and repeat with the rest of the squares and apple.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and serve with custard.

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Vegetable Korma

May 18, 2022May 15, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

30ml sunflower oil
30ml butter (or extra oil for vegan)
1 onion, chopped
10ml ground ginger
1 stick cinnamon
5ml ground turmeric
5ml ground coriander
5ml ground cumin
5ml medium-hot curry powder
5ml dried chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
15ml sugar
2 x 400ml cans coconut cream
250ml cashew nuts, finely chopped
400g butternut, cut into 2cm cubes
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained
200g baby spinach, roughly chopped
250ml frozen peas
fresh coriander to serve

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add the oil and butter.
Add the onion and stir-fry it until translucent.
Add the ginger, cinnamon stick, turmeric, coriander, cumin, curry powder and chilli flakes and gently cook the spices for 2 minutes while stirring.
Now add the sugar, coconut cream and cashews. Bring the sauce to a simmer and then take it from the heat.
Remove the cinnamon stick and blitz the sauce with a hand blender, until smooth.
Place the saucepan back on medium heat and add the butternut and chickpeas. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the butternut is tender but do take care that the sauce doesn’t burn.
Stir in the chopped spinach and peas and stir through.
Adjust the seasoning according to taste.
Garnish the curry with fresh coriander and serve it with jasmine rice.

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Boerenkool Stamppot

May 5, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Boerenkool Stamppot is probably the oldest and most authentic of Dutch dishes and could be considered the Netherland’s national dish. Comfort food for those cold evenings when you do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen but need something to feed your soul.

1,5kg potatoes, peeled and diced
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
500g kale, trimmed and roughly chopped
500g rookworst (or any other smoked sausage)
125ml milk
45ml butter
salt and plenty of black pepper, to taste

Add the potatoes, onion, bay leaf, kale and a teaspoon salt to a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover the ingredients. Cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes.
Slice the sausage into thick slices and fry it off in a hot pan. You want the edges to caramelise and become crispy. Set aside.
Remove the bay leaf from the veggies in the saucepan and drain off the water.
Add the milk and butter to the saucepan and stir through.
Lightly mash the potato-kale mixture but be sure to keep some texture.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Stir in the fried sausage.
Serve the stamp pot with a traditional Dutch beer or a glass of wine.

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Asparagus Pea Salad

March 11, 2022March 10, 2022by Karen Claassen1 Comment

1bunch asparagus, blanched and cooled
250ml frozen peas, blanched and cooled
1 punnet sugar snap peas, blanched and cooled

For the dressing:
1 egg yolk
5ml dijon mustard
250ml olive oil
50 grated parmesan cheese
15ml lemon juice

Add the yolk and mustard to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together.
Add a few drops of the olive oil and whisk to incorporate – repeat, adding only a few drops of oil at a time, until you have about half of the oil left.
Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture while whisking continuously. Keep going until all the oil is incorporated.
Add the parmesan and lemon juice and whisk to combine. Season will salt.
Arrange the asparagus, peas and sugar snaps on a serving plate and add a few dollops of the dressing to serve.

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Fried Rice

March 1, 2022March 1, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

One of the secrets to perfect fried rice is the temperature: cold rice fries brilliantly and thus this is the perfect dish for those leftovers in the refrigerator! The other secret? Butter!

45ml butter
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 carrots, cut into small cubes
about 750ml of cooked, cold rice
250ml frozen peas
1 x 400g tin of corn kernels
15ml sesame oil
15ml soy sauce
15ml fish sauce (optional)

Add the butter to a large non-stick pan set over medium heat and allow to melt.
Add the onion, garlic and carrot and stir-fry until the onion starts to catch a little.
Add the rice, peas, corn, sesame oil, soy and fish sauce and turn the heat up to high.
Fry the mixture and stir it around every now and then for 3-4 minutes. The high heat will crisp up and caramelise the rice.
Take the pan from the heat and taste the fried rice. Drizzle with some more soy sauce if it needs it.
Serve warm.

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Roasted Cauliflower Salad

February 10, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is my adaptation of the delicious Donna Hay salad with roasted cauliflower. Serves 4 as a main.

For the avocado dressing:
half an avocado (taken from the 2 avocados you need for the salad)
125ml greek yoghurt
15ml lemon juice
60ml water

Add all the ingredients to a mixing jug and blitz together with a stick blender.
Season to taste and set aside.

For the salad:
1kg cauliflower florets
2 x 400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed under cold water
60ml olive oil
5ml salt
2 avocado pears, halved and sliced
12 radishes
a handful of mint leaves

Preheat your oven to 220℃ and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Arrange the cauliflower and chickpeas on the lined baking tray and drizzle with the oil.
Sprinkle the harissa and salt over.
Roast for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Spoon the cauliflower and chickpeas onto a serving platter and top with the avocado slices, radishes and mint leaves.
Drizzle the salad with the avocado dressing and serve.

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Butter Bean Hummus

February 1, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is the creamiest hummus you will ever taste and I love it for its versatility!! Keep it in the refrigerator and use as a spread on crackers on sandwiches, as a dip with veg or thin it down and use it as a salad dressing.

1 x 400g can butter beans
30ml tahini
2 cloves garlic, minced
the juice of one lemon (30ml)
30ml olive oil
5ml salt

Add all the ingredients to a liquidiser and blitz together until completely smooth.

Store in the refrigerator.