“Everything in moderation, including moderation”, Oscar Wilde
I am back in South Africa after a three-week break in Ireland. It was a great trip and the weather was similar to South Africa. In twenty years from now people will say to each other “Do you remember the summer of 2013″, for those who missed it , shame. We had the bbq going crazy over the three weeks. As you can see in the above image, the Master Chef a.k.a My Dad is breaking out his culinary skills and preparing the bbq for some succulent Rib Eye Steaks, pictured below. As you can see he is cooking up a creamy mushroom sauce in the pan and will enjoy it with a nice Spanish Rioja, “Finca Labarca”. For dessert, Mam baked pears and apples in coconut oil and cinnamon then topped it with COYO yogurt. COYO yogurt is a dairy free yogurt made from coconut milk “heaven in a mouthful”. It is important to break out every now and then and that is exactly what I did when I sat down to eat this comforting home cooked feast.
I added my own culinary twists to the mix and made a “Carrot, Zucchini, Apricot & Poppy Seed Raw Salad with an Orange Vinaigrette”. Carrots are packed with Vitamin A, K and C. Zucchini or Courgettes are bursting with vitamin A, C, folate, potassium and lutein. They are 95% water. Apricots contain powerful antioxidants and great for digestion. Poppy seeds are an excellent of source B-complex vitamins such as thiamine, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid. The zucchini or courgettes were picked from this abundant garden in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
To make the salad I used:
4 Large Carrots
2 Medium Sized Zucchini’s
6-7 Organic Dried Apricots
1 tablespoon Poppy Seeds, sprinkle over the salad mix
- Wash the veg. Top and tail the carrots and zucchini. Use a potato peeler and shave off the first layer on the vegetables. Next shave the vegetables in strips as seen in the image above. Shave with peeler until you have reached the core, I ate the leftovers raw.
- Chop dried apricots in strips and toss in salad mix. Sprinkle poppy seeds all over the top.
To make the Orange Vinaigrette you will need:
3-4 tablespoons Cold Pressed Olive Oil
1-2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoon Rice Syrup
1/2 Orange, juice only
1 Orange Slice
Coarse Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
- Pop all ingredients except orange slice in a bowl and whisk until rice syrup is dissolved and emulsified. Add orange slice at the end. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside and serve with meal. Spoon it over your salad.
Be sure to keep me posted if you try and test these recipes by posting on Twitter: @WhelehanLynne or Instagram @makeandbakefromscratch
Real Food Rocks & Cookin’ Rolls x
