Great piece from Dr Khandee Ahnaimugan about we ight loss and exercise on the Huffington Post.

 

Gorgeous looking Persian Eggplant recipe on the Fig and Quince blog - "grilled eggplant, garlic, tomato and egg dish which melts in your mouth, as you scoop it in with fresh Persian bread". Sounds good to me.

 

Rachel Eats has cooked a beautiful tomato dish to go with pasta which "involves the saving grace of many-a-mediocre tomato: a flesh shriveling, flavour intensifying roast". Tomatoes are paired with anchovies, garlic and topped with breadcrumbs and rosemary.

 

I love that Wendy from A Wee Bit of Cooking gives two different dressing options for her Shredd ed Beetroot and Carrot Salad. You can choose between the kick of mustard or the zing of ginger.

 

On Twitter Elaine directed me to this practical, clever and idea-packed article on how to plant a personal garden in even the smallest of urban spaces.

 

 

 

Whisk together 1/4 cup natural yoghurt, 1 tablespoon mustard (I use a wholegrain or seeded mustard), 2 teaspoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Season with a pinch of salt and lots of cracked pepper and then stir through 1 handful of fresh coriander (or mint or parsley) which has been finely chopped. Taste and add extra mustard, lemon juice or black pepper, according to your taste buds.

 

Did you cook anything interesting over the holidays?

On holidays and out of my normal routines, my meal preparation also changes. Some days I don't feel like cooking at all, while other days I'm happy to potter in the kitchen, trying out something new or making an old favourite that I've long forgotten about.

 

So far I've made this T ofu and Mushroom Pot Pie. I downscaled the recipe from its twelve portions to six, used a combination of reconstituted shiitakes and button mushrooms, and added some white miso to the filling - the flavour just needed a little more oomph. I also ignored what I can only believe is a typo, where it says the pastry crust will be "one inch thick". Mine was about 75mm and quite biscuity enough. It was absolutely delicious, did us for several meals and I will definitely be making this again.

 

For our New Year's Eve picnic I cooked a Tomato and Pesto Tart based on Martha Rose Shulman's recipe. I made the yeasted olive oil pastry - which turned out really well. Rather than using mustard and goat cheese I spread the base of the tart with home made pesto, topped that with fresh tomatoes and then put a few more dollops of pesto on top. It was a big success.

 

For the same picnic I also made this Giant Couscous and Chickpea Salad, again by Martha Rose Shulman. I wanted this to have a bit more vegetable content and variety, so I doubled the red capsicum and also added three big handfuls of mixed rocket and baby English spinach leaves. I also wanted it to be dairy free, so I left out the yoghurt and feta. I completely forgot to add the pine nuts and ended up doubling the lemon juice, as to my taste buds it needed a little more sour. Again, this was delicious and the leftovers the next day were even better.