This recipe came about because I had some pawpaw in my fridge that was perfectly ripe and needed to be used up. Plus it was a really hot day, I felt like a light lunch and this just popped into my head. It would also work well as a starter for a bigger meal though. It’s really refreshing!
Last year I posted a recipe for preparing olives in brine – and I must say they came out well! This is another method of curing olives and the end result is totally different, although also delicious.
Salt-cured olives come out with a very intense, salty and actually slightly sweet flavour, and are great to add punch to dishes, especially Mediterranean-style recipes. You can also eat them straight up – I can personally only manage 2 or 3 at a time though as they’re so salty and intense (as opposed to, say, 10 or 20 at a time of brined olives).
These bites are both delicious and good for you – always a winning combo!
Although I’ve seen many variations of this recipe, after much playing with different combinations and quantities of the ingredients, this one is my favourite. Feel free to change up whatever you like though to suit your own tastes.
Who doesn’t love olives? Actually I know some people who don’t but I can’t understand that at all. When I was growing up, we used to count them out on to everyone’s plate when serving up salad with dinner, to make sure no-one got more than their fair share. A sad but true story.
A happier story is that not only are olives delicious, but they’re also really good for you, being high in healthy fats as well as a multitude of vitamins and minerals, not to mention anti-oxidants. For more on their health benefits, see here, here and here, just for starters.
The thing with olives though is that they’re very more-ish and a bottle really doesn’t last very long, plus they’re expensive (here in South Africa anyway). So years ago when a friend told me she could get fresh olives direct from an olive farm, I jumped at the chance to make my own and ordered 5kg.
Since then, I’ve made a batch every year I’ve been able to get my hands on some, which sadly hasn’t been every year but certainly many of them. Those years I enjoy eating them till they’re coming out my ears and they also make great gifts to give away.
Rosti go by many names – rösti, potato pancakes, hash browns and latkes, to name just a few – and come in many variations. At heart though, they are simply grated potato mixed with a little salt, and whatever other flavourings you choose to add, like onion, herbs and/or cheese. I’ve been wanting to try them for ages and when a friend bought round some smoked trout, I decided it was the perfect opportunity.
After doing some fairly extensive research on Pinterest (there are quite a few methods out there, believe me), I decided to keep the base very simple and rather go wild on the toppings.
I started to experiment with these rolls in preparation for a Portuguese-themed lunch with friends who spent some time living in Portugal years ago. After Mike insisted it was impossible to get papo-secos like they make them in Portugal, I was determined to recreate them.
As I don’t eat much bread, I like to have savoury biscuits on hand for a quick meal or snack – it’s so easy to grab a few and throw something yummy on them.
If you’ve never taken the time to read the ingredients of mass-produced, shop-bought savoury (or sweet) biscuits though, I really recommend you do so. If you’re anything like me and/or even vaguely health-conscious, you’ll probably be horrified by what’s in them.
So I decided to come up with my own variation of savoury biscuits, made entirely of healthy ingredients – seeds, nuts and herbs. This recipe is a combination of several versions I came across when I was researching how to go about it, and I personally love it. It’s high in nutrients and fibre, with no gluten in sight. The biscuits feel like clean food when you’re eating them and in my humble opinion, they taste better than shop-bought.
Normally when you think of pancakes or crumpets (the South African version of American ‘pancakes’, which are different from French ‘crêpes’ and also different from English ’crumpets’ – I know, it’s very confusing!), it tends to bring up images of a tea-time treat that’s a bit starchy and usually served with jam and cream. And those are certainly delicious, no doubt about it.
These crumpets are completely different though, more like very light fritters – savoury and fluffy, and a different and interesting way to prepare vegetables. You can eat them as a snack on their own, have them as a side dish with meat or make them the main part of a light meal and just add a salad or something to round it out.
This chicken liver paté is a combination of a couple of recipes, including my Mom’s famous version, which we used to make in batches around Christmas and then hand out to friends as we saw them. It makes a lovely creamy and smooth consistency, which is great for spreading on anything from crackers to toast or scooping with crudités.
As an added bonus, liver is exceptionally good for you, being extremely high in protein and many important vitamins and minerals that we don’t easily get from other sources. Having said that, it can be a bit of an acquired taste and I must admit that I don’t generally like livers on their own. I love this paté though – I’m not sure if it’s the sweetness or the consistency, but it’s one of my favourite things to snack on.
These chunks of deliciousness are very quick and easy to make and are the perfect comfort food for those days when you just really need something to get by. They’re also great to take to get-togethers when you need to bring a plate, want to take something homemade and don’t have much time available to spend on it. As an added bonus, they still taste good a few days later, although it’s doubtful you’ll have any left by then!
Inspired Nourishment 