We all have our own coleslaw receipe. It’s such a yummy and crunchy salad- if not overdone with dressing. Mine is still a mayonnaise dressing (I make my mayonnaise in the thermomix using the thermomix recipe) but it is lightened up with apple cider vinegar, the juice of a lemon and olive oil. I don’t over dress it either, as it will last longer in the fridge for lunches. Other alternative dressings are 

• simple lemon juice dressing (Take it easy, posted 15/5/2016)
• yoghurt mixed in with the lemon dressing
• just mayonnaise

At the moment there is local cabbage and kale readily available so this is such a yummy way to use them up. I’m serving this tonight with some chicken schnitzel, but it goes equally well with other forms of protein, in burgers, baked potatoes or on its own. I didn’t use any carrot in this coleslaw but it is something you could grate and add. Other things you could add to make this salad your own are

• Sultanas
• Green apple
• Parsley
• Sliced celery 

I make this salad in advance so that it is ready to bring out at dinner, this gives it enough time for the raw vegies to be cured in the dressing 

I hope you are loving easy food

KALE COLESLAW

Half head of red cabbage, sliced thinly/shredded

Half head of green cabbage, sliced thinly/shredded

5 leaves of Tuscan black kale (you could try using other types of kale, but I had this type on hand), sliced thinly/shredded

Spring onion, sliced

4 leafy parts of celery stalk, chopped

1/2cup of mayonnaise

Juice of one lemon

4Tbsps apple cider vinegar

Olive oil to taste

Salt to taste

Place all the cabbages, kale, spring onion and celery leaves in a large bowl

In a jar place the mayonnaise, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and olive oil. Put the lid on the jar and shake the dressing

Pour this over the cabbages, kale, spring onion and celery leaves

Toss together until everything is well coated with the dressing

Place in the fridge until ready to serve

Indulgences and celebrations are a wonderful part of the festive season, no matter where you are. It was no different for us in our new home. This, however, saw the family struck down one by one with a cold, or tummy bug, or both. Not a pleasant start to the year! But healing was swift and the bounce back was fast, something I attribute to this soup from Quirky Cooking (http://www.quirkycooking.com.au/2009/07/coconut-lemon-chicken-soup/). This coconut, lemon chicken soup is what I bring out when there is illness around as there is no better way to get all your bug stopping nutrients than putting them in a bowl. Now, my kids are no a fan of this soup, but they do always feel better after having it so maybe make it more fun for them by adding rice vermicelli noodles or letting them add their own choice of greens. 

The combination of turmeric, ginger, garlic, chilli and broth gives your insides a warm and loving hug. As illness can strike quite suddenly I always have my stock frozen for situations like this. There are some differences to the soup I made

• Having come out of Christmas the stock in my freezer was turkey based (I used the turkey carcass after roasting it to make this) 
• I added 400gr of thinly sliced chicken thighs in step 3 of the recipe (http://www.quirkycooking.com.au/2009/07/coconut-lemon-chicken-soup/)
• I like to use twice the amount of ginger and turmeric. Living in Bahrain fresh ginger and turmeric are easily found, which is wonderful if you like to use these ingredients (I make a tea by thinly slicing some ginger and turmeric and pouring hot water over them)
• Half of a chilli is enough and I blitz this in step 1 of the recipe
• The soup does have coriander, but for those that don’t like corriander I can assure you that it’s flavour is not strong
•  I also did not have coconut sugar so used half the amount of raw sugar 
• I thinly slice zucchini that I got from the farmers markets and put the slices in the bottom of the thermoserver and poured the soup on top and left it until everyone was ready for dinner. The zucchini was the perfect texture when ‘cooked’ this way

Sometimes we all need to give our insides some love and nurture, and this is an easy way to do so. You could make this soup and freeze it into portions to have on hand as well. Remember, your freezer can make easy food easier.

Hope you enjoy this loving, easy food.

There are farmers markets! I didn’t realise how much I loved seeing, buying and using fresh produce until I didn’t have it for 4 months and then got to go to the farmers market. In Bahrain the farmers markets run from December until April. Like other places around the world they are a place to purchase locally grown produce direct from the farmers, and Bahrain Farmers Market does not disappoint. Beautiful curly leaves of kale, bright cherry tomatoes, the deep purple of eggplant and more fresh herbs that you could imagine. I actually find it hard to express in words how wonderful it feels to see all these sights. 

After a visit to my happy place one  Saturday morning we came home ladden with fresh vegies and using them in a dish was the first thing I wanted to do. As we were going out that evening I made a pasta sauce so the family would have some healthy food in their bellies. This dish does not need to be served with pasta, it can be served with rice, crusty bread or a greeen salad. The vegetables were ones I picked up at the markets so they were in season, but you could use whatever is in season such as pumpkin or sweet potato, and cook the sauce for longer to suit. The same applies for the herbs, use whatever you have such as basil, parsley, coriander, oregano. It’s a dish that allows you the freedom of using what you have available to you.

I hope you are loving easy food

Farmers Market Stew

2 medium size eggplants, sliced

2 long green zucchinis, sliced

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (use moe if you want to)

 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Handful of basil, chopped

Handful of parsley, chopped

1 cup water

Salt to taste

Olive oil
Heat up olive oil in a heavy based saucepan or frying pan

Lightly fry onions, then add the eggplant

Once eggplant had become a little translucent add the zucchini, garlic and the cherry tomatoes. Fry together

Add the tin of tomatoes, herbs and water. Leave to simmer until the vegies are cooked through and the sauce is the thickness you desire. If you want it more saucy add more water (or stock if you are inclined)

Serve with your choice of pasta, rice bread or green salad