Collard Leaf-Wrapped Herb Rice with Radish Tzatziki, or "Pseudolmades"

Spring greens, aka collard greens, are everywhere now, and both Tesco and Asda are selling huge bags for 50 pence. I found myself with yet another bag of these leafy vegetables because I cannot resist a cheap deal. Keeping a lookout for what's on offer and what's in season is also one of my best ways to stay within my real food student budget. After too many consecutive meals of spring greens thrown into all my soups and broths or into all sorts of stirfries, I wanted something different, and this recipe came to mind.

Dolmades are Greek parcels of rice wrapped with grape leaves or vine leaves, and there are loads of different varieties. I could have done this with some minced meat in the rice mixture too, or extra diced vegetables, but I really wanted it simple for the zesty spring herbs (that I freshly 'harvested' from my windowsill garden) to shine through. I liked them instantly when I first tasted them because they reminded me of dish from home- Chinese lotus-leaf wrapped rice 荷叶饭 loh mai kai- but now with an edible wrapper! It's hard to come across vine leaves, so collard greens, with their huge tough leaves, are a great alternative, i.e. pseudolmades (creative rights go to the real food dudes).

Pseudolmades

makes 8 parcels

8 large collard leaves

1/3 cup brown long-grain rice, soaked (plus 1/2 cup water)

3-4 spring onions, white parts, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, chopped finely

handful of currants (or sultanas or preferred dried fruit)

handful of pumpkin seeds, soaked and dehydrated or toasted (originally pine nuts, but they're expensive)

handful of chopped coriander and mint leaves

juice and zest of half a lemon

sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tbsp of evoo, then add the rice, currants and pumpkin seeds to toast for 2 min more. Add the water, season, bring to boil and then let simmer till cooked.

2. Add the chopped herbs and lemon juice and zest to the cooked rice mixture.

3. Steam or blanch the collard leaves in boiling water for 5-10 min so you get cooked, flexible leaves that you can work with easily.

4. De-stem the leaves.

5. A picture speaks a thousand words, so 4 should be more than enough.

(Originally you would stuff the vine leaves with uncooked rice and then let them cook inside the vine leaves, but I think the collard leaves will turn to mush by then.)

5. You can eat them cold as an appetiser or warm, by steaming the parcels.

Ok now for the tzatziki, totally optional but you must do it.

Tzatziki is a great mediterranean dip that's really refreshing and easy to make! It kind of remindsme of Indian raita too, which is also basically yogurt and cucumber. I added radish too as it's in season and it adds a bit of pepperiness, you can cut it out and add more cucumber!

Radish Tzatziki

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and minced

2-3 radishes, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

handful of chopped mint (or dill)

juice of half a lemon

extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. To make greek yogurt, just strain the yogurt for a few hours till you get a thick creamy consistency. I use Yeo Valley organic yogurt, which is so creamy it's almost greek-like in consistency already so I skip this step.

2. Mix all the ingredients together, and refrigerate for half an hour or so for the flavours to meld.

This is great with toasted pita bread or as a dip for all sorts of things or even to accompany poached fish!

I served my dolmades with lemon slices and tzatziki spooned over generously. Together, they form a great dish that makes use of all that spring has to offer: collard greens, cucumber, radish, spring onions, lemons and fresh herbs like mint and coriander! How's this for a super springtime meal!

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Basil Browned Butter

So I went crazy one fine day making pasta with my , and pumpkin ravioli was one of the results. This dish is inspired by Rick Stein's pumpkin ravioli with sage butter. Pumpkin has a mild sweetness to it, which when mixed up with some salty savoury parmesan, hits all the right buttons! I used basil instead because 1. I couldn't find sage at Tesco Metro, 2. My ravioli's rolled out too thick so it's kind of dense and hearty so I needed a herb that's.. lighter? and fresher than sage 3. Basil's great with roasted sweet vegetables. I topped it off with toasted pumpkin seeds for that added texture, plus I just like that you're using the whole vegetable, even though I confess I just used pumpkin seeds from my pantry.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Basil Browned Butter

serves 2

Ingredients

For the pasta dough, check out my homemade sourdough pasta post.

You'll need 1/2 of the dough from that entry. Maybe 1/3 if you roll it out thinner.

For the ravioli stuffing,

1/2 cup mashed/pureed roasted (or you can steam) pumpkin

1-2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 (med) egg yolk

pinch of sea salt, black pepper, nutmeg, dried basil

For the basil browned butter,

2 tablespoons butter

handful of basil, shredded

To garnish,

handful of pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted

few basil leaves

Method

1. Mix the stuffing ingredients

2. Place a teaspoon (don't be greedy and stuff too much) of the stuffing about every 5cm away.

3. In between each teaspoon of stuffing, wet (estimate the halfway mark) the dough with water/egg wash. Put another rectangular layer of dough over to seal (press around the stuffing). Cut with pizza cutter if you have one, or just go rustic ;) Leave to dry for 1/2 hour or so.

Please check out my homemade sourdough pasta post for a clearer picture. There are photos!

4. Cook the ravioli in gently boiling salted water, about 3-4 min.

5. While the ravioli is cooking, melt the butter in a saucepan, with the shredded basil leaves and a pinch of salt,

until it foams and browns (careful don't burn!)

6. Plate up drained pasta, pour butter sauce over, top with grated Parmesan cheese, the toasted pumpkin seeds, and garnish with the fresh basil leaves. Enjoy!

Next time, I would try rolling out my dough much thinner, (and hence try out the sage butter? I've not tried deep fried sage leaves before) but for now, I'm happy(:

This is an entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Tastes of Home.

Moroccan Quinoa Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in Bacon

'Tis the jolly season, but for me, it's when I start missing home and my family. We don't traditionally celebrate Christmas anyway (but wait till Chinese New Year. that's when we go all out with the festive goodies!), but my sister's born on the 25th December, lucky her, so we still have some kind of a family celebration in the form of food. What else is miserable about Christmas is I haven't got a whole party of people at your house, so I don't have an excuse to buy a whole turkey to stuff and roast. Then again, I'm a secret introvert, so I was perfectly contented stuffing a chicken breast instead.

Although I say Moroccan, I've got cured pork, roast bird, cinnamon, ginger, nuts and sweet dried fruit... Merry Christmas!

Moroccan Quinoa Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in Bacon

Ingredients

serves 2

2 chicken breasts, skinless

4 slices of bacon (or if you've got deeper pockets, try parma ham or pancetta)

pinch of salt, black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

For the stuffing

2/3 cup cooked quinoa

1 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp chopped dates

1 tbsp chopped toasted almonds

pinch each of cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ginger

zest of 1/2 a lemon

1 egg yolk

For the dressing

Equal amounts of

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

(a white sauce would be nice usually, but not with the Moroccan-style stuffing; balsamic vinegar adds a bit of sharpness to the dish. plus sweetness. plus it's easier haha)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Mix the stuffing ingredients together and set aside.

3. Lay the chicken breasts flat on the chopping board, and then cut a slit across the chicken breast through the centre, but don't cut through fully, so you can open it up (i.e. butterfly).

4. Place clingfilm over and pound so you get them flatter and.. wider. It looks like an open book now.

5. Flip over, so now the chicken breasts are on top of the clingfilm. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

6. Place half the stuffing on one side of the "book" for each chicken breast. Roll the other half of the "book" over so you kind of get a..swiss roll/ wrap?

7. (opt) Chill in the fridge for half hour or even longer to firm up.

8. Remove clingfilm, and wrap 2 slices of bacon around each chicken breast. The bacon helps to hold it in place also.

9. Put into the oven and bake for about 40 min, or till juices run clear.

10. Leave to rest for a while, before cutting up into pretty circles or you can also leave it as it is. Drizzle some evoo and balsamic vinegar over, and garnish with parsley.

The bacon is a must! It helps the lean chicken breast meat stay juicy, and flavour-wise, it adds all the right contrasts. Salty bacon v.s. sweet raisins and spiced quinoa. Crispy bacon and cunchy almonds v.s. tender chicken. Ho ho ho!

This is part of Dr Laura's Tasty Tuesday, It's a Keeper Thursday.

Simple Garlic and Herbed Cheese Tortellini

This was another result of my crazy pasta-making day. Tortellinis are usually stuffed with meat or cheese, and since I've got homemade cream cheese, I stuffed mine with the garlic and herb-flavoured cheese. When I say simple, I really mean simple. Because I don't have any cream or sour cream or any leftover meat sauce on hand, and I was hungry after spending much longer than I expected on making the pasta, I simply tossed it with olive oil and finished it off with parmesan and fresh parsley.

Simple Herbed Cheese Tortellini Ravioli

serves 2

I'm sorry it really doesn't seem like much of a recipe.

Ingredients

For the pasta dough, check out my homemade sourdough pasta post.

You'll need 1/2 of the dough from that entry. Maybe 1/3 if you roll it out thinner.

For the tortellini stuffing,

1/2 cup homemade cream cheese

1-2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 tbsp garlic powder (you can use mashed/pureed garlic. oh oh roasted garlic puree!!)

1 tsp each of dried parsley and mixed herbs

pinch of sea salt, black pepper

To finish,

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

handful of chopped fresh parsley

handful of grated parmesan

Method

1. Mix the stuffing ingredients

2. Place a teaspoon (don't be greedy and stuff too much) of the stuffing below the (estimate) diagonal halfway mark of each square (should be circle, or you get that funny pointed crown!) of dough.

3. Wet the edges with water/egg wash(press around the stuffing). Wrap the two pointed edges together and pres to seal. Leave to dry for 1/2 hour or so.

Please check out my homemade sourdough pasta post for a clearer picture. There are photos!

4. Cook the tortellini in gently boiling salted water, about 3-4 min. Drain and plate.

5. Drizzle olive oil over generously, top with the parmesan and fresh parsley. Enjoy!

This is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast

I don't usually have chicken breasts, because they just cost so much! The legs and drums cost 1/3 the price of breasts, and honestly, they do pack more flavour. But since I recently cut up a whole chicken, I have chicken breasts to work with. The tricky bit about roasting chicken breast is it can end up very dry and bland because it's so lean. So you should try to keep the meat moist and the skin on, or another trick would be to wrap it in something fatty, like this Moroccan Couscous Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in Bacon.

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, with skin

pinch of salt, black pepper

a bit of parmesan

olive oil, butter

For the stuffing,

2 tbsp homemade cream cheese

2 tbsp grated parmesan

handful of spinach leaves, chopped roughly

2 button or chestnut mushrooms, chopped small

1 tsp garlic powder

pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius.

1. Saute spinach and mushrooms with a small knob of butter and a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg, for abut 1 min (they will get more cooking in the oven later). Drain, because you don't want all the liquid to make the stuffing too runny, but reserve the liquid (don't waste the flavourful butter/juices!).

2. Mix all the stuffing ingredients together.

3. Carefully lift up the skin of the chicken and push the stuffing in between the skin and the breast. The skin will stretch, so you can stuff more than you expect, but don't be too greedy!

4. Place stuffed chicken breast into a greased baking dish, skin side up. Pour the reserved cooking liquid over the breast

5. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle the top with a bit of parmesan, and dot with some butter/olive oil.

5. Put into oven for 45 min, or until the skin is golden and crispy.

6. After removing from oven, let it rest slightly before cutting into it and adding some parsley if you want!

Crispy skin and melty inside always works(: I like it when there's something special hidden in your food, like in stuffed pastas or dumplings.

This is part of Full Plate Thursday and Tuesday Night Supper Club.