Non dairy coconut blueberry cake

This cake uses no dairy and is not full of sugar but it still tastes great.  I made this as a birthday cake and it was wonderful.  Decorated it with fresh fruit for an extra healthy burst of flavor.

Coconut blueberry cake
9 fl oz canola or rice bran oil
3 eggs
8 oz sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
11 oz self raising flour
2 oz desiccated coconut
6 fl oz soy or coconut milk
5 oz fresh or frozen blueberries plus extra to serve

Heat oven to 385 F or 350 F for convection and grease a bundt or ring tin (9 or 10").
Whisk oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.
Mix flour and dried coconut.  Alternatively fold flour mix and soy or coconut milk into the wet stuff.  Start and end with flour mixture.
Spoon a quarter of the mix into the cake pan then fold the blueberries into the remaining cake mix in the bowl and then scrape into cake pan.
Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hrs or until a cake skewer comes out clean.
Turn onto a wire rack and cool. 
To decorate fill center of the cake with extra blueberries and assorted fruits.  Can dust with powdered sugar if you like.
Serves 12 at about 380 kcals per slice.

Matambre

This flank steak dish basically translates as "Hunger Killer"....matar to kill, hambre = hunger and it does just that when it is served sliced as a tea time treat....often with bread as a sandwich.

There are many different ways to cook this Argentinian specialty but I learned this way but it can also be cooked al horno (browned in a pan then finished off in an oven) or cooked in tomato sauce and served with pasta...makes the meat very tender....

Another non recipe recipe from the queen of non recipes.....the photos are interesting too...i got too messy to take one of the stuffing rolling process...next time....

Matambre

1 flank steak (I used about 3/4 lb grass fed beef...quality not quantity)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsps oregano (dried)
2-3 hard boiled eggs
1 large carrot cut into batons and par boiled
green olives
parmesan cheese to taste
roasted red peppers - about 1/2 cup
1 cup fresh spinach
salt/pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
2 cups beef broth, vegetable stock or water
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
kitchen twine and a clean nylon or stocking (??)

Firstly marinate the meat overnight with the red wine vinegar and oregano.......
Next day, remove from the marinade and pound with a meat mallet,rolling pin or empty wine bottle to an even thickness...remove any nasty white fat or stringy bits. At this point you can trim to an even rectangle if you like.....
Place on a board and season with salt and pepper then add a layer of spinach to the meat followed by red peppers, and carrot batons.  Place the hard boiled eggs across the width of the meat close to the end where you are going to start rolling it then scatter with olives (sliced if large), garlic  and parmesan cheese.
Start with the short end where the eggs are and roll tightly like a burrito.  Then tie it up with kitchen twine to the best of your ability and when it's all nicely rolled slip it into your clean nylon (this will stop all your filling from falling out during the cooking process.....trial and error on my part).
Meanwhile, get a pan on that will accomodate your rolled meat snugly and bring your chosen liquid to a low boil.  Add the meat and boil for about 10 mins then reduce the heat to a low simmer and let it cook for about and hour or so, depending on how big a piece of meat you used.....you can thermometer the meat if you want but I usually just gestimate.....
Once cooked turn off the heat and leave to cool in the liquid before removing to a dish and weighting it down with a couple of large cans on top of a board.  Put in the fridge and remove after about 3 hours.  Serve sliced with ensalada russa (potato salad with carrots, egg, peas and beetroot) or as a sarnie.  Don't forget to remove the nylon before slicing, although it may add extra flavour...not sure about extra nutrients though!  lol!!

Yum!

Saved the best for last...Coconut Panna Cotta

This is a yummy dessert.  Especially if you or your dining companion is not into chocolate....few and far between I know!
Panna Cotta means cooked milk and that's what it basically is.
I stole this recipe from BBC Good Food but had to give it the RD touch....don't need all those calories, even for valentine's day.  I couldn't do full fat milk per the original recipe and the sugar content was too high.
Here's the lightened version...enough for 4 small ramekins or 2 large ones!

Coconut Panna Cotta

Split a vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds into a saucepan.  Add the empty pod along with 1 can coconut milk and 1/2 can (use empty can to measure) low fat milk plus 1/4 cup sugar (I used raw bit use what you have on hand...it's V Day for goodness sake!)
Heat the mixture stirring until warm then whisk in 1 envelope powdered gelatins or add 3 sheets soaked gelatins leaves and stir.  DO NOT BOIL!  Once lump free add to your ramekins and place in fridge until set...about 2 hours.
To serve run a knife around the edge and invert onto a serving plate.  Decorate with choccie sauce or fresh berries and mint leaves or a pineapple salsa with chillies...the options are endless!

Soy and garlic pork tenderloin

Marinate 2 small tenderloins overnight with 2 tsps crushed garlic and 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, turning once in a while.
When ready to cook heat barbecue or pan and add pork and colour on all sides then reduce heat and cook until thermometer reads 150 F.  Let rest for 15 minutes then slice on the diagonal and serve with the reduction.

Cherry Balsamic Reduction

Mix liquid from can or jar or sour cherries with 1 tbsp cornflour and bring to the boil along with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.  Whisk and boil until thickens then add 1/2 jar or can sour cherries.  Add more vinegar to taste.

Serve with pork sliced and sauce drizzled around along with asparagus.

Desert recipe to follow

Valentine's Menu

Prawn Cocktail
Garlic Soy Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Balsamic Reduction
Steamed Asparagus
Coconut Lanna Cotta with fresh fruit

Prawn cocktail is traditionally served at xmas in the UK.  It (along with the rest of this menu) is super easy and quick to prepare).  First, defrost some ready cooked prawns then add to a bed of shredded romaine lettuce.  Then make up some Rose Marie or prawn cocktail sauce.

Prawn Cocktail sauce

1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mayo
2 tbsp chilli sauce
Squeeze lemon juice
Cayenne or paprika to taste

See photo for assembly ideas.

Yummy Brussels Sprouts! Ha Ha!

Now, I know that many people would not dream of putting the word "yummy" in association with that dreaded smelly, greyish coloured cruciferous vegetable that is the sprout.  However, never fear, the Dietitian is here to change all that!

I was given the job of  vegetable making for Thanksgiving and wanted to do Brussels sprouts that were tasty yet healthy.  So, this is what I came up with.


Yummy Brussels Sprouts  (Serves 4-6)


1 1/2 lbs (ish) Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved lengthways
3 rashers smoked bacon (or pancetta, or Canadian bacon, or no bacon for vegetarians)
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 tbsps fresh parmesan 
1 tsp balsamic vinegar


Begin by blanching the sprouts in boiling water for about 3 minutes then remove them with a slotted spoon to an ice water bath to "shock" them and retain their bright green colour.  Drain into an oven proof dish.
Cut the bacon into small strips and pan fry until crisp.  Remove and drain.
Fry the onion in the same pan, using the remaining bacon fat, until soft and brown and sticky.  A pinch of salt will help with this process.  Towards the end of the cooking time add the balsamic vinegar.
Scatter the now caramelised onions around the sprouts then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs and parmesan and brown under a hot grill until crispy.
Before serving scatter with the crispy bacon.


This dish can be made in advance without the topping and heated in a 350 F oven with foil until sprouts are hot.  Then brown under the grill as before.


Makes a great side dish for Christmas too!  Some dried cranberries and/or chestnuts would also be a festive addition.

BTW.....cruciferous vegetables are thought to have anti cancerous properties....they contain the antioxidant group isothiocyanates....

End of Summer Salad

Here is another of my non-recipe recipes! Since we are fast sliding into fall weather here in Ca I decided to use the last of my ripe produce and some great leafy greens to make a healthy and tasty salad.
I've long been a fan of fruit in salad (no, not the stuff your grandmother used to make with Jello and canned fruit..yuk!) ....real fruit with dark greens for vitamins and minerals. So, I often just use what I have on hand.

This is what I had on hand for this salad...

Arugula
Baby spinach
Chopped ripe mango (peach or nectarine would work well here too)
Parmesan cheese (the real stuff.....shards of it)
Diced white onion
Toasted walnuts

Quantities to your liking, of course!

I then whipped up some simple dressing using dijon mustard, lemon olive oil, white wine vinegar, pinch of sugar and some white pepper et voila!

Try it, you'll like it!