Thai inspired salad and kebabs

I love Thai flavours. Usually given the above ingredients I would probably make a stir-fry, but I wanted to make something a bit different. We also very rarely eat pork, partly because I don't usually think to buy it, and partly I don't really like eating non-free range pork given the apalling conditions of pen reared pigs.

Thai pork kebabs

500g pork steaks or schnitzel, sliced into thin strips
12 kebab sticks, soaked to avoid them catching on fire (you may use less)
1 t crushed garlic
2 T grated fresh ginger
1 t finely grated lemon rind
1/4 c chopped fresh coriander
2 T fish sauce
2 T sweet thai chilli sauce
Juice of 2 lemons

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together.
2. Marinate the pork in the mixture for at least 2 hours.
3. Thread onto kebab sticks.
4. Cook under the grill or on the BBQ.

Thai noodle salad

1 1/2 t crushed garlic
1 T grated ginger
2 T soy sauce
1 - 2 T sweet thai chilli sauce
1 T fish sauce
2 T peanut butter
Juice of 2 lemons
1 T brown sugar
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped

500g noodles (I used udon) cooked to instructions on packet
1/2 c roasted peanuts OR 2 T toasted sesame seeds
2 spring onions, chopped (optional)
1/2 head of broccoli,cut in small florets, steamed for about 4 mins
1 carrot, cut into small batons, steamed for about 4 mins

1. Mix dressing ingredients together.
2. Mix prepared salad ingredients together and toss through dressing, serve with kebabs.

Note: Different veges could be used in the salad, this is just what I had. Capsicum, mung bean or snowpea sprouts, cucumber and snowpeas would all be yummy.

Lunchbox week: Pasta salad

Pasta is a great lunch for kids. Lots of carbohydrates for energy, and if you can throw in some veges and protein even better. Obviously if you are sending your child off to school or daycare it can be difficult to give them pasta that needs heating. I have made many variations of this pasta salad, and Mia loves most forms of pasta, so it is a great lunch for her. It is also the perfect quick salad to throw together for a BBQ.

500g packet of pasta, cooked (I used orzo here, but any short pasta will work e.g: penne, spirals)

Dressing:
1/2 c canola or grapeseed oil
2 T white vinegar
1/4 c grated parmesan
2 T pesto
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 t dijon mustard

2 stalks celery, chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
12 sundried tomatoes, cut in half
(You can also add feta instead of the parmesan in the dressing, chicken, bacon, pretty much any veges, toasted pinenuts and olives to make your own version - although maybe all at once might be a bit too much!)

1. Cook the pasta to packet directions. Drain.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss through the hot pasta. Leave to cool.
3. Toss through the rest of the salad ingredients you have selected once the pasta is cool.
4. Serve in a bowl for dinner, or a small container for lunch.

Beetroot, rocket and walnut salad

At the moment in case you can't tell I am feeling like salads - big time! 3 things  I really like in salads (although not necessarily all at once!) are feta, beetroot and thai style dressings. Beetroot is yummy grated raw into salads, but even yummier roasted. Here is a salad I mixed up last night:

Beetroot, rocket and walnut salad

3 beetroot, peeled and cut into thick batons (wear gloves if you don't want purple hands)
3 big carrots, peeled and cut into thick batons
1 big red onions, cut into 8 wedges
A few sprigs of thyme
Olive oil

Half a bag of rocket
1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts

Dressing:
3 T balsalmic vinegar
3 T olive oil
1 T brown sugar

1. Heat the oven to 180 C and roast the beetroot, carrot and onions in olive oil sprinkled with thyme leaves. Thyme leaves are really easy to get off the stem if you run your fingers against the direction the leaves are growing in, they will just fall off. Bake for 40 mins, until beetroot is tender but still firm. Stir half way through roasting.

2. Cool roast veges.
3. Mix dressing ingredients together in a jar.
4. Toss all the salad ingredients together.
5. We had ours with coleslaw and good old sausies in bread!!!!

Pre-packaged coleslaw

I don't know about you but there is only one way I like cabbage... in a coleslaw. I am very open to alternative edible serving suggestions! If I buy a cabbage I use about a quarter of it in a coleslaw and it makes enough for about twenty people, and the rest of the cabbage rots in the fridge. I also hate grating the ingredients for the coleslaw, and can't bring myself to use the food processor as it wastes half of the vegetables because it can't chop or grate the dregs of each vegetable.

I am not usually one for pre-packaged stuff. I laugh at those little carrots and chopped up apples - waste of packaging and money. BUT I have over the last couple of months become partial to pre-packaged coleslaw. It only costs the same as a pack of mesculun leaves, I don't have to chop the veges up, I don't waste three quarters of a cabbage (which takes up half my vege bin) and I can control how much and what dressing goes into it so it isn't like delicatessan coleslaw where you might as well take a tub of lard and eat that.

So if you feel similarly to me in that you enjoy coleslaw but hate the preparation and wastage, then give it a try. Any old brand will do it doesn't have to be the one pictured.

Thai Chicken Salad

In the post Xmas/New Year days I always feel like light, tasty, healthy food that is going to hopefully cancel out some of the gluttony of the holiday period. We have just got back from a weeks holiday with my family in the Wairarapa in which I lounged around all day reading books and ate and drank far too much! I wanted something light and healthy that I could wip up in a few minutes, and this is what I came up with. It was really tasty and just what I needed:

Thai Chicken Salad

300g cold shredded chicken
125g packet or rice vermicelli noodles
2 spring onions, chopped finely
1/2 c roasted peanuts, chopped
2 carrots, grated

Dressing:
3 T coriander in a tube (see picture)
2 T fish sauce
2 T lemon or lime juice
1 t sugar
1/4 c sweet thai chilli sauce

1. Soak the noodles in warm water for about 20 mins until soft. Drain.

2. Mix all the dressing ingredients together.

3. Toss everything together and serve topped with extra chopped peanuts and some chopped mint or coriander.

Note: I served the same ingredients up to my pre-school daughters - I just served the chicken, noodles and veges separated on a plate with no dressing.