Middle Eastern Meatloaf and Pizza

This week for dinner I made the middle eastern lamb meatloaf from Pod and Three Peas Blog. I have never been a fan of the traditional meatloaf but this looked interesting. It was tasty and moist although perhaps a little too sweet for my taste buds (I would leave the honey out of the loaf next time) but this kids liked this about it! The crunchy topping of pine nuts was great. 

I served the meatloaf with pita chips, cucumber and yoghurt, peas and broad beans, and a tomato eggplant salad. The salad recipe is below.

Two nights later we needed to have a leftovers night as there was still half the loaf in the fridge. There was also two large pita breads left so I decided to turn it all into pizza. And it was great! I used the meatloaf diced with pinenuts, eggplant, tomatoes and feta.

Eggplant, Tomato, Lentil and Feta Salad
olive oil
1 eggplant, cut into small cubes
2 tomatoes, quartered
1/4 C green lentils, cooked according to the packet (mine were left over from this salad)
1/4 block feta, crumbled
red wine vinegar
olive oil


Roast the tomatoes drizzled with a bit of olive oil at 180C until soft.
Heat a frypan with olive oil over medium high heat. Fry the eggplant, tossing regularly until cooked and brown.
Assemble all the ingredients in a bowl and dress with vinegar and olive oil.

Lentil, Tomato and Bacon Salad

Last night we had another interesting salad for dinner - Lentil, Tomato and Bacon Salad. I got the recipe from the latest Delicious magazine (December issue). My husband, who isn't usually a fan of lentils, had seconds and requested the leftovers for lunch, maybe it was the bacon. Unfortunately the kids weren't so keen:(

I served this with pork cutlets, marinated in fennel seeds, chilli, lemon zest and salt, cooked on the bbq. And made another salad with zucchini, beans and radishes (from the vegie patch!).

Lentil, Tomato and Pancetta Salad
3/4 C puy or French style lentils, rinsed
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
6 slices ciabatta or other firm bread, crusts removed
6 tsp olive oil
4 rashers bacon or pancetta, sliced into strips
1 small onion, diced
2 anchovies, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 handfuls of cos lettuce
1/2 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Place lentils in a saucepan and cover with plenty of water, bring to the boil then simmer for 25 minutes until al dente, drain and rinse.
Brush ciabatta with 2 tsp olive oil and tear into pieces. Place on a tray with the tomatoes, drizzle tomatoes with 1 tsp olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until bread crisps and tomatoes blister.
Heat remaining 3 tsp oil in a large frypan over medium high heat. Cook bacon for 2 minuts. Add onion and cook for 4 minutes. Add the anchovy and garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the cooked lentils and mix well.
To serve place lettuce, bread and tomatoes on a platter and spoon over the lentil mixture. Squeeze over lemon juice and season.

Squid, Chorizo and Chickpea Salad

Last night for dinner we had a delicious salad. I am not very good at salads and always prefer to follow a recipe or they seem to come out so boring. I found this recipe in the free Coles magazine from December. It is written by Chris Badenoch from Masterchef (the beer guy in the second season) for Primo Smallgoods. I added extra vegetables to turn it into a stand alone meal.

On New Years Eve, we caught up with friends and spend the night talking and eating. We had four courses and couldn't fit dessert in until 11:30pm. For entree our friends cooked a chickpea salad and the chickpeas were delicious - they claimed the trick is to cook the tinned chickpeas. So I tried this tonight and it definetely adds flavour and improves the texture. I will have to post about the amazing Cranberry Brie Wheel that has become a bit of a New Years tradition.. but if you can't wait, check out the recipe here.

Warm Chorizo, Squid and Chickpea Salad
serves 2
2 squid, cleaned and scored
olive oil
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lemon
4 slices ciabatta or other crunchy loaf
1/2 red capsicum
2 tomatoes, quartered
400g can chickpeas, drained
3 golden shallots, thinly sliced
1 bunch rocket, washed
1 chorizo, sliced diagonally
2 tsp sherry or red wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard


Marinate the squid in paprika, salt, pepper, half the lemon juice and a splash of olive oil for atleast 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the crust off the bread, brush with olive oil and tear into bite size pieces, put on an oven tray. Place the tomatoes on an oven tray and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven with the capsicum. After 10 minutes also place the bread in the oven and bake until crisp and golden. Remove the tomatoes when softened and the capsicum when the skin is looking burnt. Set the bread and tomatoes aside. Place the capsicum in a bowl and cover for 10 minutes. Then remove the skin and seeds and finely slice.

Place the chickpeas in a frying pan over medium heat and cook, tossing continuously until dry and slightly golden. Set aside in a large bowl.

Fry the chorizo in a little oil until crispy. Pour over the chickpeas oil and all. Fry the squid for 1-2 minutes each side (you could also do this in a char grill pan but I didn't want to create more dishes). Slice into strips and add to the chickpeas. Add capsicum, rocket and shallots.

Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Pour over the salad and toss. Add the bread pieces and rocket and toss gently. Serve with the roasted tomatoes.

Vietnamese Smoked Trout and Vermicelli Salad

Lots of lovely people have been cooking us meals since Willa was born. My sister is visiting this weekend to meet her new niece. She made this delicious salad for lunch, I had to record the recipe because I will definitely be making it again. And she and her fiance are currently preparing dinner - Thanks!

Vietnamese Smoked Trout and Vermicelli Salad
You could substitute the smoked trout for cooked prawns or poached chicken.
serves 4

1/2 packet rice vermicelli noodles, cooked according to packet directions
1 whole smoked trout, flesh removed from bones and broken into pieces
1 telegraph cucumber,  cut into batons
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
handful mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch asparagus, cut into thirds and blanched
4 spring onions
handful mint leaves
handful coriander leaves
handful peanuts, chopped
handful fried onions/shallots
Dressing
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 C hot water
2 tbsp lime juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small chilli, finely chopped

Place cooked  noodles on a large platter or flat bowl. Top with vegetables, then fish then herbs and peanuts.

Dress the salad or offer dressing at the table.

Dressing
In a small jar, combine fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and hot water. Put the lid on and shake to dissolve sugar. Add remaining ingredients.

Playschool Salad

After Monday's episode of Playschool on which they made a salad, Molly (my 5 year old) announced she wanted to make salad. She has never eaten salad! She then asked everyday if we were having her salad. So on Wednesday we had Playschool Salad and Chicken Schnitzel. And Molly ate a whole bowl of salad! With dressing! And she helped make it.

Thankyou Playschool! If only they could also give a lesson in how to eat your dinner in under an hour...

Playschool Salad
Prepare amounts to suit your family. Remember to cut ingredients small/thin enough that your little ones can eat them with a fork.

Get the kids involved - my 5 year old was able to wash and chop the lettuce, peel the carrot, string the snow peas and pull off the grapes.

lettuce, shredded
carrot, grated or finely chopped
celery stick, finely chopped
snowpeas, ends and strings removed, chopped in half
red grapes, halved
apple, chopped into small pieces

Dressing - combine in a jar and shake
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
sugar