vegetables – Page 7 – My Whisk and I

Pearl Barley Salad

November 9, 2021November 8, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

375ml uncooked pearl barley
45ml sherry vinegar
2,5ml dijon mustard
2,5ml salt
30ml olive oil
50g blue cheese, crumbled
50 – 100g baby spinach
half a red onion, sliced
80ml pecan nuts

Cook the pearl barley according to the packet instructions – usually it is 1:3 (pearl barley : water). Allow to cool completely.
Add the vinegar, mustard, salt and olive oil to a cup and whisk everything together. Set aside.
Add the cooked and cooled pearl barley, baby spinach, blue cheese and red onion to a large bowl and mix together.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and give it another quick mix.
Spoon the salad into a serving bowl and sprinkle with the pecan nuts before serving.

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Greek Lemon Potatoes

November 5, 2021November 3, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

(Patates Fournou Lemonates)
Unlike traditional roasted potatoes these lemon potatoes are soft, moist, tender and melting. The zing from the lemon cuts through the richness of lamb or meat dishes and is truly more-dish! This to me, is the essence of everything I love about Greece – do your tastebuds a favour…

12 potatoes, peeled
90ml olive oil
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
10ml salt
a handful of thyme leaves

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Quarter each potato lengthwise and spread them in a large roasting tin.
Drizzle with the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and sprinkle over the salt and thyme leaves.
Mix together with your hands so that the potato is covered with the mixture.
Roast for 1 hour, turning once or twice during cooking.
Add another sprinkle of salt and serve.

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Sweet Potato Cakes

November 2, 2021November 2, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

750g cooked and mashed sweet potato (about 4 medium sweet potatoes)
125ml self-raising flour
1 X 375ml can of Corn kernels, drained (you may substitute with cooked corn)
125ml pumpkin seeds
1 egg
2,5ml salt
2,5ml cinnamon
63ml brown sugar
vegetable oil to fry

Add all the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix through.
Place a heavy bottom pan onto medium-high heat and cover the bottom with vegetable oil to heat up.
Scoop a tablespoonful of the mixture into the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes before flipping and frying the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Do not overfill your pan as you want the sweet potato to caramelise and fry to a golden, crisp outside. Keep going until all the mixture is used.
Serve the cakes with a dollop of yoghurt and honey.

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Roasted Sweet Pepper Salad

November 1, 2021November 1, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

450g sweet peppers/bell peppers
30ml + 15ml olive oil
30ml white wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic, minced
12 basil leaves, chopped
2 sprigs of thyme
5ml sugar
2,5ml salt
45ml pine nuts, toasted
125ml crumbed feta cheese
125ml olives, pitted

Turn your oven on the grill setting and line a baking sheet with aluminium foil.
Drizzle the 15ml olive oil on the peppers and spread evenly over each pepper with your hands. Place the peppers on the lined baking sheet and grill for about 15 minutes, until their skins are black. DO NOT take the peppers out too soon….they can not be too blackened!
Immediately place the charred peppers in a mixing bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside until the peppers are cool enough to handle.
Break open the peppers, remove the core and seeds and pull the skin from each. It is easiest to use your hands to scrape the seeds out and it is quite all right for the peppers to tear into strips!
Add the peppers, oil, vinegar, garlic, basil, thyme, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl and refrigerate for one hour.
Arrange the marinated peppers on a serving plate and top with pine nuts, feta and olives.

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Spicy Chorizo Hasselback Potatoes

October 26, 2021October 25, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

250g chorizo sausage, skinned and diced

8 – 10 large potatoes
50g butter
60ml olive oil
salt
15ml smoked paprika
250ml sour cream
a small bunch of chives, chopped

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Add the diced chorizo sausage to a dry frying pan and place over medium high heat. Cook until the sausage is crispy and the fat has rendered.
Spoon into a small bowl and reserve the fat from the sausage.
Place a potato on a chopping board and now place a chopstick (or the handle of a wooden spoon) horizontally, at the top end of the potato and another on the bottom – you are boxing the potato in with two chopsticks on either side, i.e. top and bottom, so that you do not cut through when you make incisions. Cut across the potato at 3mm intervals.
Place the cut potatoes in a roasting tin.
Melt the butter and mix it with the olive oil as well as the reserved fat from the chorizo sausage. Spoon this mixture over the cut potatoes and sprinkle liberally with salt and the smoked paprika.
Put the roasting tin in the oven and cook for about 1 hour 15 minutes, testing to see whether the flesh is soft.
Add the sour cream, cooked sausage and chopped chives to a bowl and mix through.
Transfer the warm potatoes to a serving platter and spoon a dollop of the sour cream mixture on each.
Serve with the extra chorizo-sour cream dressing.

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Butternut Risotto

September 8, 2021September 8, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

about 1,8 litre chicken or vegetable stock
15ml + 30ml butter
10ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 x 250ml butternut, cubed
500ml arborio rice
125ml white wine
125ml parmesan cheese, grated
30 sage leaves, chopped

Pour the stock into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low.
Put another saucepan on medium heat and add 15ml butter and the vegetable oil.
Add the onion and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cubed butternut and cook until the butternut begins to colour around the edges – about 7 minutes.
Add the 30ml butter and the rice and stir through to coat the rice for about 2 minutes.
Add the white wine and cook until most of it is absorbed by the rice.
Add about 250ml (a cup) of the hot stock to the rice and stir continuously until most of the stock is absorbed.
Add the remaining stok 250ml at a time but allow the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more.
Stir the risotto often and cook until the butternut is tender – about 25 minutes.
Stir in the parmesan and sage and season with salt and pepper.
Serve hot!

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Baked Aubergine with Pesto and Pear

August 10, 2021August 10, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is such a simple dish but it truly delivers on taste!! Delicious as a light meal or as a side to meat.

1 aubergine per person
2 pears
250ml of fresh soft herbs like parsley, basil, thyme, chives and sage
2 cloves of garlic, minced
83ml pine kernels, toasted
1 lemon
60ml olive oil

Preheat your oven to 190℃ and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Slice the aubergine lengthwise into 1,5cm thick sliced, but DO NOT cut the slices loose.
Place the aubergine flat onto a surface, cover with you hand and gently push down on it so that the “slices” fan out. Place onto the baking sheet.
Drizzle the aubergine with olive oil, sprinkle with some salt and place in the oven for about 40 minutes until beautifully soft and slightly charred.
Make the pesto by adding the herbs, garlic, pine kernels, juice of one lemon and 60ml olive oil to a blender (you may use a hand blender) and blitz until it comes together. Put aside.
Peel the pears and slice it into sticks.
Spoon the pesto onto the baked aubergine as soon as you take it from the oven and pile the pear sticks on top.
Serve with a fresh bread or as a side dish to meat.

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Whole Roasted Cauliflower

June 16, 2021June 4, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 cauliflower head
100ml Harissa paste (make your own Harissa with Fresh Chillies – recipe on this blog)

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Line a baking sheet/baking tin with aluminium foil.
Trim the outer leaves from the cauliflower and cut down the stalk so that the head can stand on its own.
Flip the head upside down and brush the bottom (and between the florets) liberally with the harissa paste.
Brush the rest of the paste onto the sides and top of the head so that the entire veg is covered in paste.
Cover the cauliflower with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil covering and roast uncovered for another 30 minutes.
Cut the cauliflower into steaks or wedges to serve.

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Orange and Honey Sweet Potato

June 8, 2021June 4, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Whenever I eat this sweet potato dish with honey and orange, I am reminded of the city of Casablanca with its sweet smells and the aroma of cinnamon drifting in the air after another very warm day!!

4 – 6 large sweet potatoes
50g butter
62ml brown sugar
62ml honey
62ml orange juice
the zest of one orange
2,5ml salt
2,5ml ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 190℃.
Scrub the sweet potato, cut into chunks and add them to an ovenproof dish.
Add the butter, brown sugar, honey, orange juice, zest, salt and cinnamon to a small saucepan and melt together.
Pour the mixture over the sweet potato chunks and stir through so that all of the potato is covered in the sauce.
Bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until cooked and slightly charred and the sauce is syrupy.
Serve warm.

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Corn Fritters

May 20, 2021May 20, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Most cooks have a recipe for corn fritters but this is the one to keep AND it takes only 20 minutes to make, from start to finish!! Makes about 20 fritters, depending on the size of each fritter.

375ml flour
15ml baking powder
2,5ml salt
2 eggs
10ml butter, melted
1 can corn kernels, drained
1 can sweetcorn
125ml spring onion, finely sliced

Add the flour, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl.
Break the eggs in a small bowl and whisk together. Add to the flour.
Melt the butter in the microwave oven and pour into the flour mixture.
Now add the drained corn kernels, sweetcorn and sliced spring onion and mix everything together until you can not see any flour.
Place a heavy bottomed frying pan onto medium-high heat and cover the bottom with sunflower oil.
Scoop a spoonful of the corn mixture into the pan and flatten slightly so that it takes on a round shape.
Fry a few corn fritters at a time without crowding the pan.
Each fritter will need about two minutes cooking time per side before it is done.
Keep the cooked fritters warm until you have utilised all of the corn mixture.
Serve warm with sour cream or enjoy them plain.