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Tuesday 3 April 2012

Mong & Aduki Bean Salad


 

Well aloha again :) you know what i'm absolutely loving the early summer this year, and do you know what i love in the summertime?  Lots and lots of yummy salads !! So this is my recipe for Aduki and Mong Bean Salad :) (these beans go so well together because the aduki beans tend to stay crunchy, and the mong beans go a little mushy, the perfect combo :)

Ingredients 
  • Half a cup of Mong beans
  • Half a cup of Aduki beans
  • 5 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 Clove of garlic
  • 1 tsp Dried chilli
  • 2 tbsp of vinegar of your choice (i used cider vinegar)
  • 1 tsps sugar
  • 1 Handfull of fresh basil (chopped)
  • Tomatoes (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Soak the beans for 8 hours in cold water, then drain.
  2. Bring beans to the boil in a saucepan and then leave to simmer for 40 minutes.
  3. Drain and then leave the beans to cool.
  4. Once cooled throw in all your ingredients into a bowel and mix well.
  5. Then store in the fridge untill chilled.  
And there you have it, an easy peasy bean salad recipe thats perfectly delicious :)

Hope you enjoy and don't forget if you try it out leave some comments :)

Ciao Pretties

Val 

Sunday 1 April 2012

Yummy Hummus

Ok so a looooong time ago my dad invested in loads of beans, peas and pulses, it's safe to say they've never really been out of the box :P So when my sudden yearning for hummus came along i cracked out the chick peas !!!  Though this hummus has the optional addition of yummy soya beans :) Try it out, guaranteed to like it :)

Ingredients
  • 1 cup chick peas
  • 1 cup of soya beans
  • 100ml virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1-2 tsp sage
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 onion
  • chilli flakes 
  • 1/4 squeezed lemon
  • 1tsp honey
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1.  Soak  the soya beans and chick peas in cold water for 8 hours (if they are tinned then there is no need to soak) Then drain them. 
  2. Place the beans and peas into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then leave to simmer for 40 minutes.
  3. Crush the garlic.
  4. Chop the tomato and onion.
  5. Add the all of the ingredients so far into a food processor and give it a quick blast.
  6. Then add all the remaining ingredients and pulse untill it has reached your desired consistency 
  7. Taste and add ingredients as you wish i added a few fresh leaves of basil, extra yummy :)
  8. Then serve and enjoy :)

Bon Apetite Lovelies !!!

Ciao

Fancy some homemade Pizza?

My version of the all famous Pizza :)
So I had a little bit of spare time on my hands the other day and I needed something to do.

But what?

It was dinner time and I thought Pizza would be a great idea.
But walking all the way up to the shop was just a big no-go.
Uncle Google is the answer!

I did some research and found this fantastic Pizza recipe online. Where would we be without the Internet? Anyways I did some additional changes to the recipe in terms of what goes on top of it. Homemade Pizza makes great party food and is easy enough to make. Or if you have kids it could be a good Sunday activity.
Bon apetit!

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough: Makes enough for two 10 - 12 inch pizzas

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast. Don't forget to check the expiration date)
  • 3 1/2 cups bread flour (you can use all purpose flour too)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
  1. Mix the warm water and the yeast in a big bowl until the yeast has dissolved completely.
  2. Add all the other ingredients and mix until you get a soft dough
  3. cover the bowl with either a wet kitchen towel or cling film and place bowl in a warm place for about 60 min. Alternatively you can preheat the oven to 180°C switch it off and let the bowl sit in it for an hour.
  4. The pizza dough should have doubled in seize. Simply spread dough on whatever it is you are using to backe the pizza on. Be careful though. Try to make the base as thin as possible if you prefer an Italian style pizza base. 

For the toppings I used anything but the kitchen sink.

  • Tomato sauce (I used an italian style one for an original taste)
  • Ham
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Mushrooms
  • Rocket salad
  • Sliced Broccoli
  • Some Czech sausage which I borrowed from my Housemate (Thanks Pav! :) )
  • Sliced Tomatoes
And thats it. Sprinkle a little bit of pepper on top of it and a few fresh herbs like basil et voilá your are guaranteed to have a fantastic dinner!! 


Here is a link to the original recipe:
Pizzalicious