Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Salads, Dinners and Ethics & Sustainablity

• The Great Big Vegetable Challenge: The Great Big Vegetable Challenge has charted one family’s attempt to convert vegie-phobic children into vegetable lovers. They’ve come to the end of the alphabet and are challenging you to make a vegetable face. * Strawberry salad: I love the strawberry salad on this post from Just Braise_. Leaves, kohlrabi, fresh herbs, strawberries and goats’ cheese. Light and delicious. * Sustainable food: Interesting debate on "_The Gobbler":http://the-gobbler.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-there-food-related-culture-war-going.html about the possible backlash against eating …

Read more 18 July, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Salads and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Recipe index: This week, while reading On Food & Wine I found out about "_Food Blog Search_ ":http://foodblogsearch.com/. This site allows you to search for recipes in a huge range of food blogs. You can enter ingredients or recipe titles and see what comes up. * Revolting foods: In the YUK category: news from Weighty Matters of bacon in a can. * Another beetroot salad: This week Jul from Stonesoup posted a simple and quick raw beetroot salad …

Read more 13 June, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Salads and Dinners

• The US$7 Dinner Challenge: Sarah’s Cucina Bella has set a challenge: making a two-course dinner for four people for US$7. That’s not a lot of money, about $10 Australian. I’m taking part – are you up to the challenge? * A selection of salads: I’m new to Food Blogga, but particularly love her salad selection. There are side salads, meal salads, dishes suitable for winter, as well as lighter salads for the summer months. The Food Blogga salad …

Read more 10 October, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Blogging, Desserts, Salads and Dinners

Bananas, custard and asparagus are not the most obvious elements on which to base a meal. And when I started thinking about Sarah Cucina Bella’s $7 dinner challenge they were far from my mind. Originally I was planning a red lentil dal with yoghurt and rice. Good bargain fodder. Until I saw asparagus for a dollar and realised bananas were the cheapest fruit in the supermarket. Which is when my plan changed. Instead my meal is a barley, fetta …

Read more 13 October, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising, Snacks, Salads and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Home squeezed oranges: When your orange juice carton claims it’s home squeezed you have to think twice. Interesting article on how food manufacturers are trying to tap into the locavore movement. * Asparagus salad: Oh my. Just look at the salad on Stonesoup – asparagus, mozzarella, capers, buckets of herbs. I can’t think of many more heavenly ideas. * Falafels: For weeks now I’ve been craving good falafels. Moist, full of herbs and with a crunchy outside coating. …

Read more 17 October, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Vegan, Snacks, Salads and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Breakfast cereal is healthy right? A recent survey by Which? (similar to our Choice) looked at breakfast cereals. And found some contained more sugar than a Cadbury Flake. * Tofu salad: I read a lot of healthy eating blogs. But there are other blogs I read for other reasons – the writing, the blogger’s perspective, the photos. Lemonpi is one of those. There’s a lot of cake and dessert on Y’s blog but her photographs and writing are …

Read more 16 May, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Salads, Dinners, Dairy, Spring and Recipes

This was my dinner on Tuesday night. Richard was out and I wasn’t in a big cooking mood, but I still wanted something tasty, healthy and home-made. This salad fitted the bill. The original recipe prescribed tinned lentils, but I already had some dried to use up. Rather than fuss around cooking them on the stovetop, I thought I’d try cooking them in my rice cooker. I used one part lentils to three parts water, added a pinch of …

Read more 08 February, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Salads and Spring

I had a wonderful dinner last night. It was just me at home, so I wanted something quick, easy and tasty. Plus I had some tofu, bok choy and asparagus in the fridge and wanted to use them up. I’ve been playing around with Google Coop over the last few days – setting up some specialised search engines for finding healthy recipes and good health information. Rather than googling the whole world, you can select a group of sites …

Read more 10 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Soups, Salads and Dinners

It’s Friday – so instead of quizzes, it’s time for some links: * Salt & pepper: Startling photos from the BBC of a peppercorn and a grain of salt. * Using seaweed: Another great recipe from Food Stories – this time it’s mushroom, nori and wakame soup. * The easiest chickpea salad?: I love the simplicity of A Life Time of Cooking’s quick and easy chickpea salad with ginger, herbs and citrus. * Gingery mushroom salad: Delicious autumn food …

Read more 25 April, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Soups, Salads, Dinners and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Over at the Guardian blog they’ve been exploring strange food combinations. Peanut butter and cornflake sandwiches, chips wrapped in naan bread, broccoli and marmite sandwiches, people are confessing their innermost food secrets. * Trusted MD and Envisions Solutions are taking the pulse of the healthcare blogosphere. If you’re a healthcare blogger, then you might want to take part in their online poll. * Veggie Meal Plans has a beginner’s guide to worm farming. * Perfect for this time of …

Read more 07 September, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Soups, Salads and Baking

• Noodles & edamames: Lovely Japanese inspired salad from Yotam Ottolenghi. Glass noodles and edamame beans are combined with fresh herbs, chilli, sesame seeds and a ginger, lime and soy dressing. * The food we buy now: Interesting piece about changes to the UK’s average ‘basket of goods’ used in inflation calculations. Charts our changing food tastes and habits. What’s in your basket? * Spinach & okra soup: Over here, okra is currently in season. I love the stuff …

Read more 28 March, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Desserts, Salads and Dinners

Great summer recipes from Bill Granger in yesterday’s Good Living. I particularly like the vietnamese style salad, which could be turned into a light meal by adding some cooked tofu, chicken or fish. The pork burgers are quick and easy, plus the watermelon granita is a summer dessert that’s lower in kilojoules than ice-cream.

Read more 22 November, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Mental & emotional health and Salads

• Beetroot recipes: Here in the Southern hemisphere we’re moving into summer. But how can I resist two more beautiful beetroot recipes? Lisa’s Kitchen features a beetroot and fetta salad, while Mostly Eating has posted a beetroot, sumac and sweet potato salad. * Snowpea Salad: Much more suitable for summer – Chocolate & Zucchini has a recipe for triple sesame snow pea salad. Blanched snow peas are livened up with a nifty dressing containing the sesame trifecta of seeds, …

Read more 26 October, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Vegan and Salads

• Kitchen tips: Three mini tips from Mark Bittman – foods he keeps in the kitchen, to make meal preparation easier. I’ve used parmesan rind in soups and it’s wonderful – but never thought to freeze the stuff. * Quinoa breakfast: I’ve previously linked to some of Ricki’s wonderfully imaginative quinoa recipes, now Heidi at 101 Cookbooks has posted a nutty, cinnamon breakfast quinoa. This looks glorious and a great way to start the day. * *The difficulties of …

Read more 09 May, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising, Vegetables, Salads and Dinners

• How to cook: Mark Bittman hands his Bitten over to his producer, who wants to learn to cook. Her first effort is pumpkin soup. Not everything goes to plan, but she makes a soup that’s “tasty and satisfying”. * Credit crunch lunch: Shocked to realise the real cost of school lunches, Charlotte from The Great Big Vegetable Challenge has made some butternut pumpkin tarts for packed lunches – and they’re only 40p a serve. * Chickpea salad: Lovely …

Read more 24 October, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Myths, Blogging, Vegetables, Salads and Nutrition

• I’ve been reading and re-reading this post from Passion For Health. It perfectly encapsulates something I see every day in clinic. We are more knowledgeable about health and diet than we’ve ever been. The majority of people I come into contact with know what they need to do to eat well and be healthy and yet so many just don’t have the wellbeing and vitality they want. If that’s you then read this post. * Green vegies, those …

Read more 19 May, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Salads, Summer and Recipes

This recipe is adapted from the December/January Delicious magazine. Corn is in season at the moment and beautifully juicy. Corn is also a good source of the antioxidant lutein, which is important for eye health and preventing macular degeneration. h3. Rocket, corn & zucchini salad I made this for my dinner party , so quantities below are for 12 people as a side dish. You could also add some lima beans and fetta cheese, to make it more of …

Read more 05 January, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Salads, Vegetables, Winter and Recipes

I have a complex relationship with red cabbage. On one hand, it’s so pretty with it’s pinky/purpley leaves and shiny exterior, but I find raw red cabbage boring, a little too “healthy” tasting and I never know quite what to do with it. Oh I’ve done the braised with apple thang and that’s okay, but I just don’t get excited about it. About once a month, during the season, it appears in my organic vegie delivery. Surrounded by all …

Read more 26 June, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Salads

This is the number one use of tahini in my house: tahini salad dressing. I’ve been making this for years. I first made it for coleslaw, as a healthier alternative to mayonnaise. But now I eat it on all sorts of salads. h3. Notes on the recipe * Vary the recipe: The nature of tahini means this is a very flexible recipe. Different tahini brands vary in both taste and consistency, so you might need to tweak the quantities …

Read more 19 November, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Soups and Salads

• Broad beans: Look at this salad on Stonesoup. What a wondrous mix of flavours and textures. While broad beans might be a bit fiddly they’re absolutely worth the effort. Plus they’re , here in Australia. * Quick couscous soup: I love the quick-ness of this recipe from 101 Cookbooks. It’s a couscous soup with broccoli, sundried tomatoes and goats’ cheese. * Grocery prices: In the Guardian Alex Renton investigates who wins when there’s a rise in grocery prices. …

Read more 31 October, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Soups, Salads, Fats & oils and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Dukkah on soup: Lovely idea from Veggie Meal Plans on how to spark up a vegetable soup: red lentil & cauliflower soup with dukkah. * How much ham is in your ham? News this week from Choice that many packaged ham products are loaded with water to increase the weight and price consumers will pay. * Beetroot & caraway seeds: You know I’m a sucker for a new beetroot recipe. This one from Nami Nami is a new …

Read more 19 September, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Snacks, Summer, Salads and Recipes

Now to the dinner party recipes. I knew everyone would be hungry when they arrived, having come directly from work, so I thought a couple of canapes would be a good idea – just enough to take the edge off the hunger. These little morsels worked well. They’re adapted from a Donna Hay recipe (issue 21 of her magazine) – I’ve changed the quantities around and used goat’s cheese instead of bocconcini. I made the pitta rounds and balsamic …

Read more 28 December, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Desserts and Salads

• The middle bit of losing weight: Interesting post from Geek Into Shape. About being in the middle of your weight loss and the difficulties faced. * More on stock: After Wendy’s guest post on making stock I was interested to read on The Guardian site about nail soup. * Miso tahini dressing: Lovely, lovely recipe from Veggie Meal Plans for a pumpkin and chickpea salad. But it’s the dressing I particularly like – a combination of tahini, mustard, …

Read more 07 November, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Salads and Dinners

• I originally saw the link to Shape of a Mother on Cranky Fitness. This is a wonderful site, giving a refreshing dose of reality about womens’ bodies after pregnancy. * After discussing the Australian proposal to offer people money to lose weight, over at Dietriffic Melanie has brought up the topic of workplace better health incentives. Do they work and are they a good idea? * Veggie Chic has posted about calling a truce with your vegetable enemies. …

Read more 28 September, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Soups, Salads and Dinners

• Beetroot muffins: Having completed the A – Z of vegetables, Charlotte from The Great Big Vegetable Challenge has started posting school lunch recipes. In response to her son’s questions where’s the pudding? she made these beetroot, apple and buttermilk muffins. * Nigel Slater cleans out his cupboards: I’ve been sorting out my pantry recently, in preparation for moving. So it was lovely (and timely) to read Nigel Slater’s piece about what he calls the annual mung bean shuffle. …

Read more 23 January, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Salads, Dinners and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Eating well with limited resources: Really like this post from The Simple Dollar. It’s all about making your diet better when you have minimal space, equipment and dollars. * The Cheese Guide: Good information on cheeses. Which have the most fat, calories and calcium. Thanks to Sophie. * Ethical fish: Fascinated to read Kale for Sale’s review of Bottomfeeder – as she says it’s the Omnivore’s Dilemma of seafood. I’m going to look out for a copy of …

Read more 04 July, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Salads and Ethics & Sustainablity

• More summer drinks: Last week I linked to green apple tea and this week A Life (Time) of Cooking has posted some more gorgeous summer drink recipes. * The chicken you eat: There’s been some interesting debate in the UK about chicken – the ethics and cost of what we eat. Sophie from Mostly Eating has written an excellent post on this subject. * Muffin recipe: I’m hoping to make a batch of Wendy’s moist bran muffins this …

Read more 18 January, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Salads, Dinners and Ethics & Sustainablity

• A week of salads: Over at Food Stories Helen Graves has celebrated her blogging anniversary with a week of posts on salads. My two favourites are the zucchini with cornichons, herbs and capers and the glorious looking beetroot, pumpkin & haloumi. * Rhubarb with lentils: I’ve been buying the most glorious rhubarb recently. Once a week an organic shop near my clinic has vegetables picked that morning. At the moment it’s rhubarb. With this week’s bunch I’m making …

Read more 11 July, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Soups and Salads

• Chickpea soup: Pinch My Salt has turned a hummous accident into a beautiful chickpea, ginger and coriander soup. It’s an excellent kitchen recovery and a delicious looking recipe. * Spot the difference: Just Bento has posted pictures of two bento boxes. One of them has twice the kilojoules of the other – can you spot the difference? * Beautiful coleslaw: I woke up this morning to find a winter coleslaw recipe on Mostly Eating. Crunchy vegetables, bound together …

Read more 15 February, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Salads

• Tahini sauce: Tahini is a wonderful food and Cassie has this week posted a gorgeous recipe for tahini and caramelised onion sauce. I had this with roasted vegetables and tofu during the week . . . and it’s unbelievably good. * Your bars: As you know I like a breakfast bar. And I wish, wish, wish these were available in Australia. At Your Bars you can construct your own snack bars. You choose the nuts, the dried fruit, …

Read more 22 February, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Lifestyle, Salads and Dinners

• Spinach with tomato & tofu: Lovely recipe from A Vegetarian in the Middle East teaming tofu with tomatoes and Indian spices. There are a few ingredients, mostly spices, but it’s a simple recipe. Thanks to A Life (Time) of Cooking for pointing it out to me. * Eating to fuel exercise: I liked this piece from the Well blog about eating pre and post exercise. It’s a basic run-down of the issues, with some good practical advice and …

Read more 31 July, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Salads

• Cooking at home: Mark Bittman talks about why he cooks at home and how to start cooking more. * Food at work: The Shifting Times blog has an excellent list of foods to have at work – to make it easier to eat well during the day. Lots of US brands, but a good guide. Thanks to CookinPanda for pointing it out. * Peanut noodle salad: Another great recipe from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks – a "quick and …

Read more 04 April, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Salads and Dinners

I seem to have bumper list of Quicklinks today: * How virtuous are you?: A gentle poke at dietary snobbery that made me laugh. I am as guilty of this as anyone! * Healthier baking: Sophie from Mostly Eating has written an excellent post with tips on making your muffins healthier. It’s solid and useful advice. * Our diet is killing us?: Michael Pollan was recently in Australia for the Sydney Writers’ Festival. He did an interesting interview on …

Read more 06 June, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Salads and Dinners

• Quinoa tagine: Over at Diet, Dessert & Dogs Ricki has been running a series on using quinoa. She’s surpassed herself with this beautiful tagine of chickpeas, olives and prunes. I cooked this during the week and it was wonderful. * Wild rice salad: I’m new to Syrup & Tang but this week Duncan posted a gorgeous looking wild rice, apricot and almond salad. * Veggie burgers: Another blog I’ve only discovered recently is Food Stories from the UK. …

Read more 18 April, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Blogging, Snacks and Salads

Yes I am back. It’s been a long time between posts, hasn’t it?. Much longer than the expected seven to ten days. I’m sorry to have been silent for such a long time. But the trifecta of fractured foot, moving house and being without internet connection for three weeks . . . well it somewhat defeated me. On the bright side we are loving our new house. The foot is on it’s way and I’ve had plenty of rest …

Read more 13 March, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Salads

This is one of the simplest salads and yet since I first made the combination three weeks ago, I can’t get enough of it. Carrots, beetroot and cabbage, coupled with a mustard and sesame dressing. It’s crunchy, earthy and delicious. And there’s just something about the combination of sesame oil and the vegetables which is magic. We’ve had it with frittata, fritters, Helen’s brilliant falafels, boiled eggs and all sorts of other meals. In fact we’ve had it several …

Read more 27 November, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Soups, Salads and Dinners

• Peanut allergies can cause people to limit their life and activities. Professor Robyn O’Hehir an allergy specialist from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne has some simple and practical advice. * Family Therapist, Rod E Smith’s blog Difficult Relationships is a wonderful resource of compassionate and straight-talking relationship advice. * Since the beginning of July, Veggie Chic has been on a shopping strike. She’s only allowed to buy fresh fruit, vegies, tofu and milk – everything else has to come …

Read more 31 August, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Soups and Salads

• Two salads to choose from: Originally I planned a link to Stonesoup’s wondrous take on tabbouleh. But then Jules posts a sublime cabbage salad. So I’ll include that as well. * Carrot recipes: I’m not the biggest fan of carrots. But I know they’re good for me, so I’m always looking for new ways to make them more interesting. Which means I like the look of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska’s carrot and caper dish. * *Where food comes …

Read more 23 May, 2008

Posted by kathryn in Fish, Vegetables, Salads, Winter and Recipes

I’ve been surrounded by fennel recently. I’ve been buying fennel, cooking with it and eating it. But also clients and friends have been asking me for tips on using the stuff. I’ve included fennel recipes in recent cooking classes. It’s appeared in my weekly vegetable box. And I keep on spotting amazing fennel recipes. While I love cooked fennel, one of my favourite uses is in a simple salad. This dish is easy and yet packs a superb flavour …

Read more 14 July, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Vegetables, Salads and Ethics & Sustainablity

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Quicklinks post, but here’s what I’ve been reading over the last couple of weeks * Making a great salad: Lovely piece from Tea and Cookies about how to make a tasty and interesting salad. Piece has the gorgeous title of Pep talk for wilted salad makers. Tea is also collecting salad pictures and recipes on her Flickr page. * Vegan calcium sources: I think I got this one from Sophie?. It’s a …

Read more 16 July, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Spring, Salads, Winter and Recipes

I’ve been making variations on this salad for several weeks now. It’s absolutely delicious and seems perfectly suited to the half winter, half spring, in-between weather we’re having in Sydney. The salad has four basic elements, each of which I tweak and change depending on what’s in the fridge. # Roasted cauliflower – usually tossed in this spice mix and then roasted in the oven until soft and just starting to brown around the edges. # Couscous – your basic …

Read more 15 September, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Spring, Vegetables and Salads

I’ve been racking my brains trying to remember this salad. It’s something I put together for a picnic. A busy week, combined with little time to organise myself, meant I had to use what was in the cupboard and make it up as I went along. And the salad turned out to be really good. Far, far better than I was expecting. Hence the mental workout, trying to remember what I did. I’m pretty sure I’ve reconstructed it accurately, although …

Read more 25 November, 2010

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Summer, Salads and Baking

I’ve seen a lot of fabulous recipes online recently, but these four have particularly stayed with me. They’re all simple, but intriguing. Tasty looking and really interesting ways of using ingredients. So I thought I’d share them with you: # Tomato and pomegranate molasses salad: Lucy posted this Sam and Sam Clark recipe recently and it’s absolutely outstanding. I made it with some cherry tomatoes and the flavours were divine. It’s rich, sharp and yet also sweet. The leftovers were …

Read more 04 March, 2011

Posted by kathryn in Salads and Easier eating

For those of you in Sydney, you might be interested in a couple of events at my clinic – Balance2health in Gladesville: h3. Cooking classes I have two more cooking classes scheduled this year: * Salads – Meals for Summer on Saturday 17 September 3.30 – 5.00pm * Gluten Free Meals on Saturday 29 October 3.30 – 5.00pm The sessions include a cooking demonstration, notes and recipes, together with tastings of the food and recipes discussed. They cost $25 …

Read more 26 August, 2011