Asparagus, Artichoke and Roast Pepper Salad with Feta, Olives and Parmesan

So there are a few cheats in this one, but honestly one of the yummiest flavour combinations that will transform your mid week meals into something special! Super quick to make and packed with deliciousness!

• 3 cups of baby spinach leaves
• 1 tub of marinated artichokes
• 1 Roasted red pepper with skin removed
• About 10 pitted black olives
• 1 round of feta cheese
• 2 cups of fresh green asparagus
• Fresh Parmesan Shavings
• Rocket leaves (Arugula) to garnish
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil to drizzle
• Balsamic Glaze to drizzle

Wash and drain the spinach leaves and arrange on a serving plate / dish and drizzle a teeny bit of balsamic glaze over to dress lightly.

Steam the asparagus for 5 -6 minutes and then add them to ice water to cool. Then remove and pat dry and season with salt and pepper and put aside.

Arrange the sliced roast pepper, olives, feta, artichokes and seasoned asparagus on top of the spinach leaves and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Top with parmesan shavings and rocket leaves and then drizzle the balsamic glaze over the top and serve.

Enjoy x

Homemade Flatbread with Bacon Jam, Camembert, Roast balsamic figs and walnuts.

The beauty of flatbread is that you can pretty much imagine your favourite ingredients and pile them on! This is a topping that I did because I just love these ingredients together and they worked beautifully on the flatbread. Bacon Jam might sound strange but it is just crispy bacon blended with caramelised onions and it is ridiculously addictive!

For the Bacon Jam 

• 500g bacon
• 2 yellow onions
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Salt and pepper

Cook the bacon in a frying pan until nice and crispy and the fat has rendered well. Take the bacon out and set aside. Keep the bacon grease in the pan.

Slice the onions thinly and add to the pan and stir to coat well with the bacon fat. Turn the heat low and cook for an hour stirring every now and then. When the onions have darkened then add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and season with salt and pepper and stir for about 5 – 10 minutes until it thickens.

Add the onion mixture and bacon into a food processor and blend until the desired consistency is formed.

For the roasted figs

• 8 – 10 fresh figs
• Balsamic glaze

Cut the figs into quarters and lay on a baking sheet and drizzle with balsamic glaze and grill in the oven until browned and set aside.

For the rest of the toppings

• 2 rounds of camembert cheese (at room temperature)
• 100g chopped walnuts, roasted in a dry frying pan for a few minutes
• Fresh Rocket (Arugula) to garnish

Spread a layer of bacon jam on the flatbreads, sprinkle on the roasted figs and chopped camembert and top with the walnuts and rocket and serve immediately.

Serves 4 -5

 

 

 

Homemade flatbread with roast sweet potatoes, spicy chickpeas and Tahini dressing

Another great topping for flatbreads. This one was inspired by a very yummy recipe that I found that I thought would work really well on the flatbread as a topping. I was right – it works really well!! The Tahini dressing is to die for!

For the flat bread

• 2 Cups of Self Raising Flour
• 1 Cup of plain, natural greek double cream yoghurt
• 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to season

In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Once a sticky dough is formed, turn out onto a floured surface and kneed until well combined. Add more flour if the dough stays too sticky. Tear dough off in ‘balls’ that are roughly 1 and a half times the size of a golf ball. Roll out and then dry fry on both sides until done. Set aside.

This makes about 5. You can double if making more.

For the topping 

Spicy chickpeas

• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon tumeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin

Roast sweet potatoes and onion 

• 2 large orange sweet potatoes (or 1 butternut)
• 1 red onion cut into eighths

Tahini Dressing

• 1/4 cup Tahini
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• The juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 Tbs Maple syrup (you can sub with honey)
• Hot water to thin

Heat the oven to 190 c

Cut the sweet potato into small chunks and lay on a baking sheet with the onion pieces. Sprinkle with the olive oil and some salt and pepper to season.

Roast for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown.

While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the chickpeas. Drain the chickpeas and then pat dry. Mix all the seasonings together and then sprinkle over the chickpeas and mix well so that they are well coated.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and once hot add the seasoned chickpeas and turn the heat down to just above a medium heat. Fry them until browned and starting to crisp (about 10 – 15 minutes).

Add the sweet potato and onion mixture onto the flatbread and then top with the chickpeas and then pour the dressing over and serve immediately.

Serves 4 – 5 people

Home made flat bread with Chicken, peppers, hummus, feta and Tzatziki

There’s nothing better than having a meal made for you with lots of love all wrapped up in it. I was on the receiving end of this a few months ago when a special friend made this for my family. It was ridiculously comforting and yummy! I have made it a few times since and have played around with the topping options as they are pretty much limitless, but this one is the Courtney Original and always the favourite of the varieties that I now make. Thanks Courts! Come and cook for me again!!

For the flat bread

• 2 Cups of Self Raising Flour
• 1 Cup of plain, natural greek double cream yoghurt
• 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to season

In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Once a sticky dough is formed, turn out onto a floured surface and kneed until well combined. Add more flour if the dough stays too sticky. Tear dough off in ‘balls’ that are roughly 1 and a half times the size of a golf ball. Roll out and then dry fry on both sides until done. Set aside.

This makes about 5. You can double if making more.

For the topping 

• 3 x Chicken breasts , diced into small squares
• 1 large red pepper diced into small squares
• Seasoning of your choice for the chicken (I used sweet sticky chicken spice)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to season
• 2 – 3 rounds of feta cheese
• Hummus
• Tzatziki
• Rocket (Arugula) for garnish

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chicken and the seasoning and the red pepper into the frying pan and stir fry together until the chicken is just done.

Spread a layer of humus on the flatbread. Then top with the chicken mixture and then crumble the feta on top of the chicken mixture and then top with blobs of tzatziki and serve.

Serves: 4 to 5 people

Courtney’s special touches: 

You can add cubes of roast butternut and caramelised onions. DELISH!