Panzanella Salad

Second salad for the Spring season and i've gone for one similar to my very favorite salad- caprese! The Panzanella salad is of Italian origin and is primarily composed of bread and tomatoes. The bread soaks up the olive oil and balsamic and adds a delicious crunch and carbohydrate satiety to the dish.

A note on tomatoes: as we get into the hotter months, the time for the best tomatoes (late summer) draws nearer and nearer! Gone are the the hard, tasteless round globes that we must satisfy ourselves with in Autumn and Winter, and in come the delicious, intensely flavored real deal! If you're a supermarket shopper there is a great tomato available at coles now in a package called 'Intense'. They're marketed as being low in the moist innards of your standard tomato and thus as being ideal for sandwiched. But they're also grown in DIRT (a rarity now) and are strongly flavored, ideal for this salad!

Neua Pat Bai Grapao - Stir Fried Minced Beef with Chillies & Holy Basil

So finally i have cooked something from the second cookbook that i picked up in Thailand, Thai Street Food by David Thompson. Very fast and simple to cook with easily accessible ingredients (except perhaps Holy basil to some, check your Asian grocer), this dish reminds me so much of the small amount of street food that i did have in Thailand. Pungent and strong in flavour, it begs to be devoured in a rush, so that you can go back for more! 

Sundried Tomato & Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast with Basil Sauce, Kipfler Potatoes and Asparagus

Not really much of a story today unfortunately. The tummy is getting better, and i had some feta that i originally brought for the salad the other day but didn't end up using. Along with a leftover chicken fillet, i thought I'd make a stuffed chicken recipe.

Goats Cheese, Chilli and Basil Spaghetti

Wow look how quickly my diet changes when the weather hits above 30! Don't worry i'll be craving my stews and soups again soon enough. This is a nice light pasta where the dominant flavours are the basil and the pasta itself. As such, you cannot substitute the fresh basil for dried, and if you can, buy egg spaghetti rather than the dried semolina stuff (not that theres anything wrong with  that; it's just that egg spaghetti has a richer taste).

This pasta can be whipped up in only 3 minutes longer than it takes to actually boil the pasta in the first place. Great for a quick and easy meal.

Ingredients (to serve two):

• Spaghetti for 2
• 1 long chilli (or 2 birdseye chillis if you like heat as i do) thinly sliced
  
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  
• 1/3 cup fresh basil
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 100gm fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons goats feta, crumbled
  
• Salt
• Pepper
  

Method:

Boil the pasta as per packet instructions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.

Add the garlic and chilli and stir for 30 seconds.

Throw in the spinach and stir around for 30 seconds.

Throw in the pasta and toss to coat.

Remove the pan from the heat

Add the basil, season with salt and pepper, and toss again.

Transfer to serving bowls and top with the goats cheese.

My Caprese Salad

I've called this 'My Caprese Salad' becuase i have no idea how authentic this salad is. I made this salad once when i bought all of the ingredients for a bruscetta only to find that the ciabatta bread had mold spores on it. 

Regardless, this is my favorite salad. I could eat it every day; it combined my favorite elements of Italian cuisine: basil, olive oil, and tomatoes. And it's dead easy to make. 

Note: This salad hinges on every ingredient. Only buy the best vine ripened tomatoes, and forget about this salad in winter. The better the mozarella the better .

Ingredients: (per serve)

• 1 tomato
• 1/2 a large Buffalo Mozarella ball
• 1 handful basil
• 1/4 a red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
  
• Salt
• Pepper

Method:

Chop the basil and add to a mortar and pestle with the garlic, a pinch of salt and a teason of olive oil. Grind into a paste.

Slice the mozarella and tomato into 5mm thick pieces. 

Very thinly shave the onion into rings.

Layer the ingredients on a plate as follows: tomato, mozarella, dot of basil, onion.

Repeat until all ingredients are on plate

Season with pepper and a dash of olive oil over the top. 

Yum!!