Broccoli, Red Pepper and Asparagus with Hoisin Sauce and Couscous

Broccoli, Red Pepper and Asparagus with Hoisin Sauce and Couscous

Every foodie has got his/her own favourite celebrity chef but not once have I heard the name Nadine Abensur come out of anyone’s lips and I think it is high time to give her some credit. Paging through newly released cookbooks these days I feel as if most of these so-called chefs trod through the same path time and time again. Each one gives his own twist to bolognese, lasagna, vichyssoise and braised red cabbage, to name a few, but when it comes down to it their cookbooks are all more or less the same.

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Sweet Potato & Leek Tortilla

Sweet Potato & Leek Tortilla

Two years ago I introduced you to the traditional Spanish Tortilla. Just like pasta and ice-cream the sky’s the limit what you can put in your tortilla. Courgette and new potato is a good combination and this time round it includes two of my favourite vegetables: sweet potato and leek. Never be afraid to experiment!

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Curried Parsnip & Honeyed Shallot Couscous

Curried Parsnip & Honeyed Shallot Couscous

When you are in an online relationship with someone, can you call it dating? Do telephone conversations count? Or is it only correct when you meet in person for the first time? Anyway, details aside, the first time I ate my first parsnip was on the fateful day Neil and I met face to face. Needless to say I was exhausted after a back-to-back flight from Johannesburg to London, via Dubai, which more or less amounts to 24 hours of travelling if you include car trips as well.

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Broad Bean & Lemon Risotto

Broad Bean & Lemon Risotto

Inspecting each packet at the vegetable seed stand carefully, broad beans immediately caught my eye. Not having a clue what I was about to grow didn’t matter much to me for as long as it came out of my garden I was happy. Strangely, the plants weren’t like the ordinary bean ones, i.e. needing poles and stood proudly on their own without the need for assistance of any kind. They flowered, and then the beans came. Since I have more ants in our garden than I would dare to imagine I came across something unexpected. One day when I looked a bit closer at the plants, I noted black patches at the top. Tiny black little bugs sat fixed to the stem and flowers. This was the first time I came across these little, disgusting plant lice; blackfly. The ants protect the blackfly, while the blackfly produce honeydew which the ants eat. It’s a match made in heaven for the two species and the pests from hell for me. The blackfly sucked every last drop of life from my beautiful green soldiers until they resembled the poor unfortunate souls captured by Ursula, the Sea Witch, in The Little Mermaid. (No, I haven’t watched the movie with Gabriel for like 10 000 times already. Oh dear, I’m not fooling anyone, am I?) I salvaged one meal’s worth of beans before they bit the dust and they tasted divine simply boiled. Year after year I keep trying to grow broad beans and every single time the ants/blackfly get to them! It leaves me feeling quite depressed…

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Chicken, Cherry Tomato, Spinach, Raisin & Couscous Salad

Chicken, Cherry Tomato, Spinach, Raisin & Couscous Salad

One of the things I love about roast chicken is its versatility; so much so that leftovers can be transformed into a totally different meal. Take this salad for example. Cool and refreshing, not to mention easy and quick to make; ideal for a hot summer’s day or for taking to work to gobble up in front of the computer.

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Roasted Pumpkin, Red Peppers & Onions with a Sweet Balsamic and Mustard Dressing on a bed of Couscous

Roasted Pumpkin, Red Peppers & Onions with a Sweet Balsamic and Mustard Dressing on a bed of Couscous

Phew, now that was a mouthful to type. The title looks as if it was an item borrowed from a fancy schmancy restaurant menu, but let me reassure you this is a dead easy recipe to prepare, ultra healthy and to top it all it tastes divine! Sod any decadent dessert and serve me this dish instead.

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