SANTORINI FAVA

Last year while on holidays, my husband and I made a little stop at Santorini, one of the most beautiful Greek Islands.

Santorini blew us away with the most amazing views and fresh Mediterranean eats.

Most of you will know my love for the Mediterranean way of eating, which I spoke about earlier this week on the blog. A love certainly for the many healthy benefits it provides, but also for its fresh, simple nature and a philosophy that encourages people to share, enjoy and celebrate food and family.

One of my favourite Mediterranean dishes was the Santorini specialty called fava. A dish traditionally made with the broad bean, is now made with yellow split peas and is served as an appetitzer (mezi) with crusty bread or as a feature in a share plate.

Fava from a little restaurant that we visited

This simple dish exhibits some of the features of the Mediterranean way of eating that makes it such a healthy eating pattern for us to follow - legumes and olive oil, LOTS OF OLIVE OIL...

After enjoying a few dishes of fava during my stay I was so keen to come home and try to replicate this dish. So here is my interpretation of Santorini fava.

My version of Santorini fava

Ingredients

1 cup of yellow split peas

1 onion, 2/3 finely chopped and 1/3 thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves, pressed and chopped roughly

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil + extra to drizzle once serving (don't use the 'light' stuff)

Sea salt to season

Lemon juice

Method

Rinse the yellow split peas.

Add rinsed split peas, garlic, bay leaves and 3 cups of water to a saucepan.

Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for approximately 25-35 minutes – or once tender and mushy.

After about 15 minutes of simmering add the 2/3 of chopped onion, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with a small amount of sea salt and stir until combined.

When the split peas are tender, remove bay leaves and blend until a smooth mixture forms – you can add some extra water if you would like a runnier texture.

Serve in a bowl, top with a squeeze of lemon  (as much as desired – I like about ½ a lemon), a good drizzle of olive oil and the thinly sliced onion.

You can serve this warm or cold.

In Santorini it is served as an appetiser with crusty bread. You could also use it as a dip or spread for vegetable sticks, wholegrain crisp bread, rice cakes or rice crackers.

Enjoy! 

RICOTTA FILLED BAKED PEARS

I have to admit, I have never loved pears. NEVER! They would have been the last fruit that I chose to eat when I was younger.

I have now learnt to love pears. LOVE!

Not the way that nature intended for us to love them, but a love all the same.

My way is a little more indulgent and involves red wine (think poached pears) or flake chocolate (think sprinkles of flake chocolate over ricotta filled baked pears)....YES this is the recipe that I am going to share.

This recipe is quick to prepare and is a delicious way to get the family to eat a piece of fruit. 

Ingredients (serves 4-8)

4 large firm pears, halved
1 cup of of ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (this is a lot so you can always reduce this quantity to taste)

Serving options - honey, grated dark chocolate, Cadbury flake chocolate

Methods

Preheat the oven to 180° and line a baking tray with baking paper.
Scoop out the seeds of the pears, leaving a small hole that can be stuffed with the ricotta mixture.
Combine the ricotta, walnuts and cinnamon.
Spoon the ricotta mixture into the pear hollows.
Place on the baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pears are tender.

You can serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey. If you want to be more indulgent and use this as a dessert, grate dark chocolate or sprinkle flake chocolate over the pear and serve on its own or with a scoop of ice-cream.

I will leave that one up to you!

FROZEN MANGO & STRAWBERRY YOGHURT CUPS

These frozen yoghurt cups are the perfect summer snack - the kids will love them! 

Ingredients

1 large mango (or two small mangos)

300g of Greek, plain or vanilla yoghurt (my favourite is Chobani Greek yoghurt)

1 tablespoon of honey

approximately 4 large strawberries, thinly sliced

you will also need some (preferably reusable) plastic or paper cups and some paddle pop sticks

Method                                                                                          

Blend mango, yoghurt and honey until all ingredients have been blended to an even consistency.

Line the bottom and sides of the cup with the sliced strawberries (approximately one strawberry per cup).

Pour 100g of the mango/yoghurt mixture into each cup.

Place in the freezer until frozen (cover each with a piece of foil).

Tip

You can try any fruit and yoghurt blend! Next week I might try yoghurt, mashed banana and cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Leftover Roasted Veggie Slice

Starting the week with some roasted veggies always sets us up for a week of nourishing eats. If you plan to cook your traditional Sunday roast or enjoy roasted veggies with a lovely lean protein source, why not cook extra for the week ahead?

Left over roasted vegetables can be very versatile.

Toss them with some fresh herbs, lemon, olive oil, legumes or grains for a lunchtime salad, add them to a toasted sandwich with a scrape of pesto and a crumble of feta, mix with eggs for an omelette or frittata, or in this case, make a lovely, tasty veggie slice.

This veggie slice is so simple and quick to prepare and  can be enjoyed as a snack or as a light meal with some salad or extra vegetables.

How to roast the veggies

My favourite vegetables to roast are pumpkin, red capsicum, eggplant, zucchini, red onion and squash. When roasting these vegetables I usually preheat the oven to 200 degrees, cut up the pumpkin, red capsicum (nice and chunky) and eggplant (cubed) and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary (depending on what I am preparing).

After about 20 minutes of these vegetables in the oven I add the zucchini, squash and red onion (drizzle some extra olive oil if required) and roast for another 20 minutes or until cooked through. If the vegetables are packed in tightly they can end up soft and a little soggy. For this veggie slice that really doesn’t matter.

 How to make the veggie slice

This recipe makes 4 light meal servings of slice, however you can cut it up in smaller pieces for a lovely nourishing snack.

Ingredients

3 cups of already roasted vegetables – for example pumpkin, zucchini, eggplant, squash and red capsicum (however use what ever your palates desire or what ever is leftover)

½ cup of pitted kalamata olives if desired (to add a salty flavour)

½ cup of wholemeal self-raising flour

4 eggs

¼ cup of fresh herbs such as parsley (if you haven’t roasted the vegetables with rosemary)

¼ cup of grated cheddar cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2. Place roasted veggies and herbs in a large bowl.

3. Toss flour through vegetables.

4. Whisk eggs in a separate bowl then add to the vegetables and flour.

5. Mix all ingredients together and season with pepper.

6. Line a shallow baking dish with baking paper.

7. Pour the ingredients evenly into the baking dish.

8. Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until set.

9. Cut into 4 light meal serve sizes or smaller snack sizes

Bon Appetit