Category Archives: Healthy Eating

Buckwheat salad with horseradish dressing

November 13, 2016 10:59 am / 1 Comment /

Buckwheat salad with horseradish dressing

Need to lose those extra kilograms that have ‘sneaked’ up on you over Winter?  Then the steam oven is fantastic for this.  Honestly, I use it everyday for all sorts of grains and ingredients to create delicious, light and healthy salads and basically, fat free cooking.  Yes, healthy because you are not adding fat or salt to most things but most importantly because the nutrients are retained, giving everything natural flavours and tastes.

I really appreciate and use my steam oven even more in the Spring and Summer.  It is great to be able to cook multiple levels all at once without heating up the kitchen and without being bogged down with heaps of saucepans to wash!  Look at my ‘Salad’ catagory on the right hand side of the home page and you will see why I love the steam oven so much 🙂

In this recipe you can substitute other vegetables you may have on hand.  The dressing really lifts the overall flavour which is needed for buckwheat.  For a more substantial meal try it with some steamed fish on top, another drizzle of dressing and some crunchy bread.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 cup buckwheat, washed
1¼ cups vegetable stock
1 bunch baby broccoli, stems cut into thirds and halved lenghwise
½ pomegranate, seeds removed
½ bulb fennel, thinly sliced
large handful of parsley, roughly chopped
Grated rind 1 lemon plus 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (extra)

Dressing:  3 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
heaped tbsp horseradish cream or freshly grated to taste
pinch sea salt & pepper

Method:

  1. Place washed buckwheat and stock into the solid steam oven tray.
  2. Cook @ 100°C steam for 20 minutes.
    While the buckwheat is cooking open the steam oven and add the baby broccoli in the small perforated tray and cook for 1-2 minutes depending on the size.  There is no need to adjust the cooking time of the buckwheat, just add the vegetables in the last couple of minutes.
  3. Remove baby broccoli and plunge into iced water.
  4. Stir the lemon rind and extra juice into the buckwheat and set aside to cool.
  5. Finely slice fennel on a mandolin into a large serving bowl & tap over pomegranate to remove seeds.  Remove any pith that may fall out.
  6. Mix together all other ingredients into the salad and add dressing before serving.
  7. For dressing:  Mix all ingredients into a small jar and shake well.

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads, Steam Oven

Healthy stuffed mushrooms & buckwheat

October 27, 2016 10:56 am / Leave a Comment /

Healthy stuffed mushrooms

After over indulging in France I now find myself desperately trying to lose not only the extra weight I have gained from our recent trip but the weight that I didn’t lose from last year!

Bring on the Sirtfood diet.  Now in the middle of week three it is going well.  It is basically a Mediterranean diet which highlights a group of ‘sirt foods’ which have added health benefits.

The steam oven has been fabulous.  Such a great appliance for healthy cooking as it really does highlight the flavours of the food by retaining all the nutrients.  I have been adapting some of the recipes from the book to the steam oven which I may post later but in the meantime this is a quick and healthy mushroom dish I have cooked in the combi oven.  If you only have a conventional oven you could try cooking them with a little water in the base of the pan under the mushrooms.

This is the first time I have cooked buckwheat grains in the steam oven.  A vast improvement I have to say!  Delicious cooked in vegetable stock but you will need to add a pinch of sea salt if you are using your own, home made stock.

Ingredients:  Serves 2

6 large Field or Portabello mushrooms, wiped, stalks removed and chopped
1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 red birds eye chilli, seeded & chopped finely
3 spring onions, finely sliced
2 large handfuls of green kale, thinly sliced
Chopped walnuts
Grated good quality Parmesan cheese
Buckwheat to serve:
½ cup buckwheat, washed
¾ cup vegetable stock
pinch salt if using home made stock

Method:

  1. Place the buckwheat and stock into the solid tray and steam @ 100°C for 20 minutes.
  2. Remove from steam oven, wipe out cavity to prepare to turn to combi mode and set aside.
  3. Line the solid tray with baking paper.  Remove the stems of the mushrooms and lay the whole mushrooms on the paper.  Chop the mushroom stalks finely.
  4. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and saute the spring onions, garlic, mushroom stalks and chilli.  Reduce the heat and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
  5. Increase the heat a little, add the kale and stir well.  Cover pan and cook for another few minutes until just cooked but still a great colour with a little bite.
  6. Brush the base of the mushrooms with a little olive oil.
  7. Spoon the filling into the mushroom cavities pressing down the kale.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and the finely grated parmesan cheese.
  8. Bake in the combi oven on Combination mode @ 180°C + 30% steam for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your mushrooms.

Serve with the buckwheat on the side for a delicious sirt dinner 🙂

Posted in: Combi Steamer, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Steam Oven, Vegetarian / Tagged: , , ,

Pearl barley risotto

November 24, 2015 4:22 pm / 2 Comments /

Barley risotto

I have been wanting to try cooking pearl barley in the steam oven for sometime.  Such an under-rated grain and sometimes passed off as only being for soups, pearl barley has had a revamp as one of the new, healthy grains suitable for all sorts of dishes.  Although it does contain gluten in its current form I believe that the CSIRO have developed a gluten free barley grain that is currently being grown and marketed for commercial sale.  Keep an eye out for this 🙂

Cooking pearl barley in the steam oven is similar to that of brown rice.  It needs washing and picking over and the same amount of liquid as brown rice for cooking (1 to 1.25).  So much easier to cook this all in one pan.  I chose the base of my Le Creuset flat casserole but any cooktop to oven dish that will fit into your steam oven will do.  Great for serving in and less washing up.

I have added fennel and roasted pumpkin to this risotto but play around and change the flavours to suit what you have on hand.  Cooking in the steam oven retained the shape and texture of the grain which is perfect for risotto or salads.  I served it with crumbled fetta which gave it that little extra flavour and another texture.  Would be excellent served under any fish for a more substantial main course.

Fantastic the next day as a salad served at room temperature with rocket, quartered freshly cooked beetroot, goats cheese and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:  Serves 6

1½ cups pearl barley, washed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small or ½ large fennel, thinly sliced
splash white wine (optional)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
pinch sea salt & ground black pepper
½ small butternut pumpkin, roasted prior
handful of fresh parsley or dill chopped
fetta cheese to serve

Method:

  1. Roast pumpkin, cubed with a splash of olive oil @ 200°C Fan forced for 15-20 minutes until browned.  Set aside.
  2. If your using your combi oven open it to cool down while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  3. In a deep, flat pan that will fit into the steam oven saute the onion & garlic in a splash of olive oil.
  4. Add drained pearl barley and very thinly sliced fennel and stir until coated with the oil and onion mixture.
  5. Add a splash of white wine and let it bubble away the alcohol for a couple of minutes.
  6. Add the stock.  It should just cover the vegetables and barley and cook @ 100°C steam for 40 minutes, stirring after 30 minutes.
  7. Remove from steam oven, taste for seasoning (I needed a pinch of salt even though I used commercial stock for this).
  8. Add the roast pumpkin, herbs and seasoning and stir well.
  9. Cover pan with lid and let it rest for 5 minutes.  This will warm the pumpkin through.
  10. Serve with crumbled fetta cheese if desired.
Posted in: Combi Steamer, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Homemade yoghurt from the steam oven

July 12, 2015 10:08 pm / 4 Comments /

Homemade yoghurt from your steam oven.

After I did a cheese making class at our friend Maxine’s place a few weeks ago I got inspired to try to make yoghurt.  We had a great time making feta & ricotta (this is so easy I will never buy ricotta again!) and Maxine also makes her own yoghurt which was delicious.  She uses a commercial yoghurt making machine and purchases the culture required.  I for one don’t want another small appliance anywhere near my kitchen so I did a bit of reading up about making your own yoghurt at home and decided that the steam oven is the perfect appliance to use.  Yoghurt needs a constant, accurate temperature for many hours or overnight for it to set.  With my steam oven you can set the time and go as low as 40°C with one degree increases so what better appliance to use to set yoghurt perfectly at 43°C.  For anyone who has another brand of steam oven that doesn’t have this degree of accuracy then I am sorry I don’t think it will work for you.  By all means give it a go at the closest temperature setting you can get, all you will lose is one litre of milk 🙂

I also wanted to try to make yoghurt using a few spoonful’s of commercial yoghurt instead of purchasing the culture and it worked!  Make sure you use commercial yoghurt with a ‘live’ culture.  Unless it says that on the container then it isn’t live but plenty of good quality yoghurts are easily available now which contain this form of culture.

Ingredients:  Makes 1L

1L full cream milk
3 tbsp. commercial plain yoghurt with live culture

Method:

  1. Sterilise your jars in the steam oven by placing them upside down, with their lids in a perforated tray @ 100°C for 15 minutes.
  2. While you are doing this heat the milk on the stove until it reaches 82°C.  Fill the sink with 3cm of cold water and when the milk reaches temperature then remove the pot from the stove and sit it in the sink to cool.
  3. Lower the temperature of the milk to 46°C.
  4. Place the commercial yoghurt into a small mixing bowl.
  5. Remove one ladle of hot milk from the pot and add to the commercial yoghurt, stir to combine.
  6. Pour into the sterilised jars, cover and set in the steam oven @ 43°C for 5 hours.  Because the temperature is so low I didn’t even need to refill the water container.
  7. Set another timer to remind you to turn off the steam oven a few minutes before the end of cooking time.  This will stop it automatically reducing the steam and cooling the cavity down.

Don’t be tempted to open the door but leave the jars in the steam oven for another 2-3 hours minimum until cool then place in the refrigerator until required.

Easy and delicious served with your favourite fruit.  Try with my steamed rhubarb or Winter fruit salad.

Posted in: Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Steam Oven

Thai beef salad

June 19, 2015 12:43 pm / Leave a Comment /

 

Thai beef salad

Traditionally, the meat for a Thai beef salad is seared on the bar-b-que and cooked rare so the meat is tender and juicy.

Now, with a steam oven you have another great way to cook beef so that is will be the best, most tender steak you have ever eaten!  This recipe calls for the more expensive eye fillet steak but would also be fantastic with Sous vide steak here.

I have given you two options for the dressing.  One quick and one that I have been using for years from Charmaine Solomon’s Thai cookbook.  The lemongrass needs to be sliced paper-thin.  I think that the extra effort involved in using a traditional recipe such as this is worth it if you have the time.

Ingredients:  Serves 4-6

650g beef eye fillet
oil
200g baby green beans
2 spring onions, sliced finely
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups baby spinach leaves or spinach & rocket mix
½ cup coriander leaves
½ cup Thai basil leaves
½ cup mint leaves

Dressing 2, Quick option

1 birds eye chilli, finely chopped (leave the seeds in for a little heat)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-4 kaffir lime leaves, very finely shredded into super thin strips
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. palm sugar, finely grated

Dressing 2, Traditional version

1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp. chopped coriander roots and stems
black pepper, ground
1 tbsp. palm sugar
2 tsp Golden Mountain Sauce (or Maggi ‘Seasoning’ sauce)
2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
2 small purple shallots
1-2 red chillies seeds removed or to taste
1 stem lemongrass, sliced paper-thin

Method:

  1. For Traditional dressing:  Pound or crush the garlic, coriander roots, pepper and palm sugar.
  2. Stir in the sauces and juice.
  3. Slice the white part of the lemongrass, chillies and shallots very, very thinly.  Start with one chilli, you can always add more.
  4. For the Quick dressing:  Just mix all ingredients together in a jar.  Shake.
  5. For meat: Brush beef lightly with oil.  Sear in a hot pan until browned on all sides.
  6. Place beef in solid stainless steel tray.  Steam @ 100°C for 15 minutes.  If you have a smaller fillet, about 340g then 7 minutes was perfect.  Don’t overcook it, better to be under done than over.
  7. Place beans & snowpeas in perforated tray.  Steam @ 100°C for 2 minutes.  Refresh in cold, iced water.  Don’t steam with the beef on this occasion as your timing will be extended and the beef may overcook.
  8. Remove beef from steam oven and rest for 10 minutes.
  9. Just before serving, slice the beef.  Toss salad ingredients and dressing, leave a little to pour over the meat.

Serve with a small bowl of steamed rice here.

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads, Steam Oven, Thai

Spicy Sri Lankan fish

April 6, 2015 3:42 pm / Leave a Comment /

Spicy Sri Lankan fish

One of the great things about the steam oven is that you can very easily make delicious, spicy fish dishes like this with very little effort.  Have a look at some other fish recipes I have done in the ‘Fish category’. Some, like this and the Thai fish skewers here only take 5 minutes to cook plus the time to mix the marinade together.  Such impressive, easy dishes to cook and prepare.

This recipe is cooked in banana leaves or baking paper.  This way the spices will remain as a paste on the fish fillet without being diluted by the steam from the cooking process.  Plus you also get a delicious sauce!  You can also cook this in a conventional oven if you wish.  But, it is easier to steam it whilst you are cooking your rice and beans so the whole meal is cooked together.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

4 firm, white fish fillets of your choice eg Blue eye
pinch salt
juice half a lime or lemon
1 tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger, sliced
¼ tsp each ground cinnamon & cloves
4 branches of fresh curry leaves
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground chilli powder
1 tbsp. oil
Banana leaves or baking paper to wrap

Method:

  1. Place all the ingredients except the fish, curry leaves and banana leaves into a food processor or mortar & pestle and grind to a smooth paste.
  2. Lay the fish onto individual banana leaves large enough to wrap each individually.  Season with a little salt and pepper.
  3. Spread the paste all over the fish with a little under as well, place a branch of curry leaves over the top and wrap securely into a little parcel.  Repeat for each fillet.
  4. Set aside in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the flavours to infuse.  Don’t leave it longer, the fish will start to cook.
  5. Steam @ 100°C for 5-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish fillet.  It should be just cooked, moist and juicy.

Serve on the plate in the leaves for people to open themselves or remove, leaving the curry leaves on for a garnish.  Try to have the ‘parcels’ opening at the top if you wish to serve them like this.

Serve with plain steamed rice here and vegetables of your choice.

Posted in: Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Steam Oven

Spicy chicken & quinoa salad

January 9, 2015 10:15 am / Leave a Comment /

Spicy chicken & quinoa salad

It’s been hot here in Sydney this week.  I have probably mentioned this before but I tend to use the steam oven more in Summer and the combi more in Winter.  It is so easy to create a new salad like this one, just by combining a few ingredients that you have in the fridge.

After a massive New Year’s Eve dinner party I am not really feeling like cooking much at the moment, but that is the beauty of a steam oven; you can produce a fantastic dinner without really trying too hard!

Feel free to change the ingredients to use what you have on hand, just remember to keep the Asian theme.  Green beans, broccoli and red capsicum would work.

I cooked everything in this recipe in the same stainless steel steamer tray at different times as you can see below.  I also managed to cook some rhubarb as well with the pumpkin.

Ingredients:  Serves 4-6

1 cup tri coloured quinoa
1 large chicken breast, kept whole, but cut to flatten to similar thickness
2 cups chicken stock
juice and rind 1 lemon
1 cup steamed pumpkin, cubed
1 bunch asparagus, cut into thirds
handful fresh mint
handful fresh Vietnamese mint
few cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup dressing from mango salad here
1 birdseye chilli, seeds removed and diced finely
¼ cup macadamia nuts, toasted

Method:

  1. Wash quinoa, place in solid tray and add stock.
  2. Set steam oven to 20 minutes @ 100°C.
  3. When the steam oven has 7 minutes to go, add the chicken breast on top of the quinoa and the diced pumpkin scattered around the chicken.
  4. Now when there is 2 minutes to go, add the asparagus.
  5. Remove, put the asparagus into a bowl of iced water and stir through the lemon rind and juice.
  6. Set aside for everything to cool.  If you want to cook more pumpkin than is needed then use another dish.
  7. Sprinkle the chicken breast with a little sea salt.
  8. Slice chicken into bite-sized pieces then stir through with all the other ingredients once everything is room temperature.
  9. Drizzle over the dressing which has been mixed with the fresh chilli and top with toasted nuts.
Posted in: Chicken, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads, Steam Oven

Kale & salmon salad

November 13, 2014 9:51 am / Leave a Comment /

Kale & salmon salad

Had to join the health food craze and do a kale salad as it is really delicious with a Dijon mustard dressing and a bit of citrus.  A perfect excuse and another reason to have perfectly cooked salmon from the steam oven 🙂

You can alter the ingredients to what you have on hand.  I have used the baby kale leaves that you can buy now but if you use the large leaves, cut out the centre stem, wash well and slice thinly.

Of course, you can also substitute the lentils for cooked brown rice or quinoa.  This is really one of those delicious salads that is perfect for entertaining.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

2 pieces of salmon, skin and bones removed or 4 small pieces for individual serves
1 bag or bunch of kale, trimmed and sliced
2 blood oranges, rind removed from one and segmented
1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
1x 400g can lentils
large handful of green beans
½ cup roughly chopped dill
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

Dressing:
3 tbsp. grape seed oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp honey
pinch salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Depending on the size of your salmon, steam @ 95°C for 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
  2. Put the green beans into the solid steamer tray, add the washed lentils and cook @ 100°C for 2 minutes.  Remove beans and drain any water from lentils.  Add the rind of one blood orange and stir through. Although the lentils are cooked they will absorb the flavours more if warmed.
  3. Mix the dressing ingredients in a small jar, taste and set aside.
  4. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a 140°C oven for about 10 minutes, they are so much nicer than straight from the packet.
  5. Mix most of the dressing through the salad, reserving a little for the top.
  6. Combine all the salad ingredients onto a large platter or individual plates depending on how you are serving.
  7. Flake or place the salmon on top, garnish with more dill, sprinkle over the seeds and serve.

Note:  This would be a delicious salad to serve for Christmas with its gorgeous colours!

 

 

Posted in: Christmas cookery, Fish, Gluten free, Healthy eating, Salads, Steam Oven

Pomegranate & haloumi salad

November 3, 2014 1:39 pm / 3 Comments /

Pomegranate & haloumi salad

Time for some more healthy salads and this one has glorious flavours, lots of texture and is one of those salads that you really feel satisfied after eating.

As the weather heats up in Sydney the steam oven is the only appliance I am using at the moment.  Too hot for a conventional oven, this is the perfect appliance to use on a hot day as you can prepare all your base ingredients for a salad like this in just 20 minutes, anytime during the day.  If you want to serve it with a hot piece of salmon instead of the haloumi as we did on Saturday night then the steam oven was only on for 2 minutes for the fish.  With only that initial gush of steam at the end of cooking time, even on the hot 37°C day we had it didn’t heat up our kitchen at all.  To be honest, I use my combi as a steam oven more in the Summer than I do in the Winter.

I actually used a combination of cooked brown rice and red quinoa this time.  It is so easy to prepare a salad like this if you already have the main ingredient pre-cooked.  Remember, cooked rice can harbor bugs so only keep it for a maximum of three days.

Ingredients:  Serves 4

1 cup red quinoa, washed
2 cups vegetable stock
rind 1 lemon
½ cup mint leaves, chopped
½ cup parsley leaves, chopped
2 cups broccoli florets
½ cup chickpeas, washed and drained
1 x 250g block of Haloumi cheese, sliced
¼ cup mixed seeds & pine nuts
Olive oil to lightly fry

Dressing:
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ pomegranate, seeded and juice retained
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
pinch sea salt
ground black pepper

Method:

  1. Cook quinoa in stock for 20 minutes @ 100°C.
  2. While this is cooking, pop in your broccoli for 2 minutes then refresh in icy cold water.  Drain.
  3. Remove the quinoa from the steam oven, add the lemon rind, stir and set aside to cool and absorb any remaining stock.
  4. Mix all the ingredients, except the Haloumi together and set aside.
  5. For the dressing:  Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and catch all the juice into a container.  Pick out any pith that may have fallen into the juice.  Mix in the other ingredients, stir well and pour over salad.
  6. Mix well together, ensuring that the seeds and nuts are well amalgamated.
  7. Heat a shallow non-stick frypan over medium heat.  Add a splash of olive oil and when hot fry the Haloumi slices until golden brown.

Serve over salad as a complete meal.  Delicious also with a piece of salmon here.

Just a REMINDER, have you cooked your Christmas Pudding yet?  See my steam oven Best ever Christmas pudding here or a Gluten-free option here.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Main Courses, Salads, Side dishes, Steam Oven, Vegetarian

Fennel & pea soup

August 7, 2014 8:04 am / 2 Comments /

Healthy Fennel and Pea Soup

This is an old Gourmet recipe that I have adapted.  It originally had spinach in the ingredients but to be honest it didn’t need another ingredient and with the addition of my home-made chicken stock it was quite delicious.  Of course, you can also make it for vegetarians with vegetable stock.

Making your own stock is really very simple.  The only thing you really need to do is make it the day before you need it so the fat can come to the surface and can be removed easily.  It also guarantees you have ‘gluten free’ stock which is what I need for this dinner.

I used two large fennel bulbs and it would easily serve 12.  Be careful not to overcook or reheat it by leaving it to boil as you will lose the lovely vibrant green colouring.

Ingredients:  Serves 12

1 large leek, sliced finely
2 large fennel bulbs, sliced finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1kg frozen peas (not the mint variety)
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
5 cups jellied chicken stock if possible
salt and pepper to taste
Greek yoghurt and chopped chives to garnish

Method:

  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot
  2. Add leek, garlic and fennel and sauté until softened on a low heat
  3. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil
  4. Cook for 5-10 minutes until soft
  5. Add the frozen peas and bring back to the boil for 5 minutes
  6. Add a good pinch of salt and finely ground black pepper and cool
  7. Puree until smooth and test for seasoning again.
  8. Reheat only when needed without letting it boil for more than a minute as you will lose the colour.

Serve in warm bowls with yoghurt and chives as a garnish.

 

 

 

Posted in: Gluten free, Healthy eating, Soups, Vegetarian