Announcing "Flavours of" Series 4~ Europe

"Flavours of " series 1- India was born in August 2010 , our culinary journey took us travelling around India. We sampled wonderful  Gujarati, Punjabi, Goan, Maharastrian, Bengali, Rajasthani  and South Indian Dishes. The flavour some, array of dishes we have cooked  so far are simply delectable and brought us a delightful culinary experience straight into the comfort of our homes.

With the success of "Flavours of " series one around India,we continued or travels around Asia in  "Flavours of" series 2 Asia. We have visited, Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Nepal, Russia,Turkey,Thailand and Lebanon.Series two has been very exciting, as we were all taken out of our comfort zones as we all tried to create and sample cuisine unknown to us. At times it was challenging   but the dishes that were lovingly created by all the participants were mouthwatering and simply divine.Thank you to every one for your support and enthusiasm

 As our Journey ended around Asia  we packed out bags and utensils and embarked our journey to "Flavours of" Series 3 Africa. The culinary journey around Africa took us to Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Mauritius and South Africa.We learn't about new flavours and samples dishes with unknown ingredients; it was truly a magnificent journey.

Now almost 2 and a half years of travels on this culinary journey we are on our Last lap in "Flavours of" series 4 -Europe .Our stop will be in Italy. This event Flavours of Italy is guest hosted by Divya of Divya's Culinary journey.Please do drop by her blog and support her by sending in your entries.

I would also like to invite  all my blogger friends to join the travels  and  to cook up a feast.You can do this by guest hosting one of the events on your blog or simply just participating in the event. Each event will run for one  month, same as previous series  and the guest host will need to host the event on their blog for one  months and post around up with in 7 days after the event completes.

Quinoa and Fennel Salad

A tangy and refreshing Quinoa and fennel salad with a tangy lemon dressing.

Ingredients:

90 grams / 3 oz Quinoa
150 ml water (approx - read instruction on packet for exact ratio)
1 tablespoon fresh coriander finely chopped
1 tablespoon  chopped jalapeno
 half a fennel bulb cleaned and thinly sliced
1 tablespoons red tomato seeded and diced

Dressing:

1/3 tea spoon salt
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

1.Add the Quinoa to a pan with the water and bring to boil.
2. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and cook Quinoa for 15- 20 minutes.
3. Once all the water is absorbed and Quinoa is tender, fluff up with fork and leave to cool.
4. In a bowl add the diced tomatoes, fennel slices, coriander and cooled cooked Quinoa and toss together.
5. In a jar with a lid add the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Screw the lid on and shake.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

Serve immediately.

The Fennel used in this recipe was one of the ingredients that was in my Organic Fruit and Veg box sent to me by Riverford Organic farms.

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Couscous salad

Mango, Apple and Kiwi Breakfast smoothie.

Refreshing and delicious fruit smoothie which is healthy and filling.

Ingredients:

I ripe mango
2 ripe kiwi
1 apple
100 ml apple and mango innocent fruit juice
1 tablespoon clear honey

Method:

1. Peel the kiwi and cut it into quarters, remove the white core and dice it.
2. Peel and cut the mango in half, remove the stone and dice it.
3. Peel and core the apple. Dice it into small pieces.
4. Add all the diced fruit with the apple and mango juice and honey into a blender jug and blend until smooth.
5. Transfer to two tall glasses and serve immediately.

You may like:
Strawberry and melon smoothie.

Submitting to:
Lets cook healthy breakfasts event by simply.food

Stuffed Potato ~Secret Recipe club challenge January 21st 2013

This is my assignment with the Secret Recipe Club.The aim of the club is that you are allocated a blog from which you have to select a recipe and try  it and blog about it.There was a little mix up this month and I did not get my assignment, however April the SRC owner came up with the idea that I could cook from Debbie's blog so this month she will probably have two lucky people cooking from her blog.
My assigned blog was debbiedoesdinnerhealthy, this blog is run by Debbie the hostess of  SRC group C . The site has many healthy low calorie dishes under 500 calories.I enjoyed looking through the collection for my search for a vegetarian recipe when I came across this stuffed potato recipe. I particularly liked it as it is very versatile and the fillings can be personalized to individual taste with out any extra work.

Ingredients:

4 medium white baking potatoes
125 grams / 4 oz grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons cooked sweet corn
2 spring onions finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
Oil for brushing

Method:

1. Wash the potatoes and prick them with a fork.
2. Microwave them on high for 8-10 minutes or  until cooked.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/  175 degrees C
4. Remove the potatoes from the microwave and cut them in half length ways.
5. Using a spoon scoop out the potato flesh carefully leaving some potato on the skin.
6.Brush the potato skins with a little oil ( helps to crisp the skins up nicely) and place them on a baking tray in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes till they crisp up.
7. In a bowl add the scooped potato mixture, add to it half the cheese, sweet corn and 3/4 of the spring onion. Add to it the salt and pepper and mix together.
8. Remove the potato shells from the oven and immediately fill with the potato mixture.
9. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese and spring onion.
10. Finally sprinkle with some chilli flakes and place the skins back into the oven for another 10 minutes until cheese melts and turns slightly brown.
11. Remove from oven and serve hot with a side salad.

Spinach Puri (Fried Indian bread) A guest post .

I was recently invited to write a guest post on Meena blog Homely food. Meena describes her blog as being like colours of the rainbow as there are many various topics she covers. Just like the different colours of the rain bow that makes it so beautiful, her  blog has topics that cover travel ,food and computer tips and tricks which makes it wonderful to read.

I chose to share my spinach puri with her and you can find the post on her blog called spinach puri. Thanks Meena for featuring me on your blog and letting me share my recipe with your readers.

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Methi Thepla