Thai Beef Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 3 sirloin steaks
- 2 tblsps vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 bunch mint leaves
- 1/2 bunch coriander leaves
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved and sliced
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 1 x 125g can corn kernels, drained
- 3/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped finely
- Thai Dressing
- 1 tblsp brown sugar
- 2 tblsps lime juice
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
1 Toss steaks in oil, then season with salt and pepper.
2 To make Thai dressing, dissolve brown sugar in lime juice in a jug. Stir in fish sauce and sweet chilli sauce.
3 Cook steaks on a heated grill pan or barbecue hotplate until browned on both sides and tender. Remove steaks from pan. Cover, stand for 5 minutes, then cut into thin slices. Put slices in a bowl and pour dressing over.
4 Combine tomatoes, mint and coriander leaves, cucumbers, onion, corn and 1/2 cup of the roasted peanuts in a large bowl. Add steak slices. Toss salad well.
5 Serve salad sprinkled with remaining roasted peanuts.
Hint: Lamb can be substituted for beef in this recipe.
Avocado and Roast Pumpkin Salad
| Prep Time | Cook Time | Serves |
|---|---|---|
| 10 minutes | 25 minutes | Serves 4-6 as an accompaniment |
- 1 butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 2.5cm cubes
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 200g green beans, topped
- 100g baby English spinach leaves
- 2 avocados, cut into 2.5cm cubes
- 100g flaked almonds or chopped macadamias, toasted
- Dressing
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
1 Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place the pumpkin, cumin and olive oil on the tray and toss to coat.
2 Roast pumpkin in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until cooked through and coloured on the edges. Place in a large serving bowl.
3 Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Blanch the beans for 2-3 minutes or until bright green in colour. Drain and refresh in iced water. Place in the serving bowl.
4 Add the spinach, avocado, almonds or macadamias and dressing to the serving bowl and toss to combine
Barbecued octopus salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 cup olive oil
- 4 sprigs fresh oregano
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tblsps whole black peppercorns
- 1 long fresh red chilli, split down centre
- 800g cleaned baby octopus
- 1 small (about 30cm long) baguette, diced
- 2 tsps dried oregano
- Extra 1 tblsp olive oil
- 1 radicchio lettuce
- 200g feta cheese, crumbled
- DRESSING
- 2 medium ripe tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 2 tblsps olive oil
- 1 tblsp balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Combine both oils in a large pan and heat until it just starts to smoke. Remove pan from heat. Using tongs, immediately add fresh oregano, garlic, peppercorns, chilli and octopus. (Be careful as oil may splatter.) Cover with a lid and stand mixture for 30 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, toss bread and dried oregano then drizzle with extra olive oil. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper.
3 Cook in a moderate oven (180C) until golden brown.
4 Remove octopus and discard oil mixture. Cut octopus in half and cook on a heated grill pan until browned. Remove.
5 To make dressing, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
6 Combine octopus, toasted bread, radicchio and feta in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing.
Chicken Avocado Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| Serves 4 |
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 4 single chicken breast fillets
- Cooking oil spray
- 100g button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tblsps French dressing
- 100g snow peas, trimmed, sliced
- 6 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1 red capsicum, diced
- Dressing
- 1/3 cup Greek-style yogurt
- 1 tblsp French dressing
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
1 To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small jug, whisk until combined.
2 Rub seasoning and garlic over chicken. Spray both sides with cooking oil.
3 Combine mushrooms and French dressing in a bowl. Stand 10 minutes. Add snow peas, spring onions, avocado and red capsicum.
4 Cook chicken on a heated grill pan, on both sides, until browned and cooked through.
5 Serve chicken over salad, drizzle with dressing.
Crunchy Noodle & Vegetable Salad
| Serves |
|---|
| 4 |
- 150g green beans
- 2 carrots, halved, sliced
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 500g baby chat potatoes, halved
- 8 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 medium red chilli, seeded, sliced
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking oil spray
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved, sliced
- 100g packet fried noodles
- bottled satay sauce to serve
1 Boil, steam or microwave beans, carrots, cauliflower and potatoes, separately, until just tender. Drain, rinse under cold water. Drain well.
2 Combine eggs, chilli and spring onions in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
3 Spray a small, heated non-stick frying pan with cooking oil. Add 1/2-cup egg mixture to pan, swirling pan to form an omelette. Cook over a low heat until lightly browned and egg starts to set. Turn omelette over and cook until set. Remove from pan and roll up, slice omelette thickly. Repeat with remaining egg mixture.
4 Combine beans, carrot, cauliflower, potatoes, cucumber and noodles in a large bowl. Serve salad drizzled with satay sauce and topped with egg rolls.
Grilled chicken with avocado, snow pea and rocket
| Serves |
|---|
| 4 |
- 150g snow peas, trimmed
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 medium Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 180g fetta cheese, cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 8 green spring onions, thinly sliced
- 4 single chicken breast fillets
- 4 pitta bread
- DRESSING
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup hummus
- salt and pepper, to taste
1. Add snow peas to a pan of boiling water, boil for 30 seconds. Pour into a strainer then rinse snow peas under cold water. Drain well.
2. Combine avocado and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add snow peas, cucumber, fetta, sesame seeds, rocket and spring onions.
3. To make dressing, place all ingredients into a medium jug then whisk until combined.
4. Cook chicken on a heated, oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until browned all over and cooked through. Remove chicken and keep warm. Add pitta bread to grill, cook on both sides until lightly browned.
5. Place pitta bread on serving plates. Top with salad then sliced chicken, drizzle with dressing.
Hint. Avocado is best cut just before serving. If you have to cut it ahead of time, make sure you coat it in lemon juice to prevent it from going brown.