GZ Tai-Tai

White Bean and Tuna Salad

Many recipes I have seen call for Tuna in oil. I control the amount of oil by using tuna packed in water and adding my own oil in the recipe.  This can be a meal in itself just by adding some salad greens or you can stuff a hollowed out tomato with this salad as another meal idea.

White Bean and Tuna Salad

2 6oz. cans tuna packed in water, drained

2 - 3 Tbsp olive oil

1/2  tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 15 oz cans cannellini beans, drain and rinse the starch off beans

1  medium red onion, sliced thinly

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

In a large bowl  break up the tuna, add the salt and pepper, beans, onions, olive oil and vinegar. Toss gently to mix ingredients. Just before serving taste, add a little more oil, vinegar and salt and pepper, if needed.

 

Foulia - Broad Beans

This was part of our lunch with the Falafel, Kibbeh, Tahini sauce, Baba Ghanoush and Tabbouleh. We also had flat bread and were told that you could eat the beans in the bread with the other items. I enjoyed just eating the beans by themselves, they had such a lovely taste on their own.

Foulia - Broad Beans

 

3 - 400g cans foulia beans  broad beans

1 - lemon  the juice of

1 tsp cumin

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

chilli powder to taste

 

Drain the beans, but reserve a little of the liquid. Put a little of the liquid with the beans and heat in the microwave about 3 minutes.

Then toss the beans with the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and chilli powder to incorporate the spices.  Taste and adjust as needed. 

 

Falafel

Recently our cooking club had some guest chefs... some of the Mothers of our group had been visiting and they were nice enough to share many of their recipes with us, and show us how they make them. The next several posts will be those recipes that were shared.  So I will start with this lovely recipe with a minor change made and noted because the local market near my home did not have curly parsley.

This recipe is from our member that is from Australia her father is German and lived in Greece. Her mother is originally from Alexandria and then Greece. It is very interesting how much Australia and USA have in common. Australia really is America's cousin.

 

Falafel

250g split yellow peas (Soaked for 2 hours)

1 bunch parsley roughly chopped I used Coriander/Cilantro instead as my local market did not have parsley.

12 stalks spring onion  you may also add coriander for taste if using regular parsley. I did not as I used Coriander instead of parsley.

1 onion roughly chopped

4 big cloves garlic roughly chopped

 

Blitz together in batches in food processor until a rough paste is formed.

 

To the paste add

3 Tbsp ground coriander

1 Tbsp salt

Chilli powder to taste (optional)

The mixture can be frozen at this point.

 

When ready to cook

Add 1 egg

¾  tsp baking powder

 

Mix well and form tablespoon sized balls.

(Lightly wet hand if mixture is sticky)

Heat oil. As you drop the balls into the oil flatten slightly.

Fry till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

 

 

Lentil Stew

This is an Argentine dish and a meal in itself. You can serve it with crusty bread and a salad too. Very good if you are in the mood for comfort food.Thanks to my Argentine friends I now have a new favorite comfort food.

Lentil Stew

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper,chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 bay leaf

1/2 carrot, diced

1 pkg (200g - 250g) bacon

2 tsp Paprika

1 -  225g Spanish chorizo, sliced

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 potatoes, diced

Olive oil

500 ml  vegetable or chicken stock

3 - 200g cans  lentils

or

1/2lb. (225g) dried lentils that have been rinsed and cooked for 20 minutes, and drained.

In a few tablespoons of olive oil, saute the onion and garlic, then add the red bell pepper and the bay leaf cook for a few minutes. Then add the potatoes,carrot, bacon and paprika.  Cook for 2 minutes and add the tomatoes, cook 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add the chorizo and lentils, cook until lentils and chorizo are hot, about 5 minutes.

 

Lentil Soup

Another one from the archives as I am feeling a bit under the weather with a cold. This is what I am wanting for dinner, but I do not have the energy to make anything tonight,

Lentil Soup

1 leek

1 onion

1 -2 carrots

1 stalk of celery

2 potatoes

1 220 g pack of smoked bacon

300g lentils

1-2 cubes of OXO Vegetable Stock Cubes

salt and pepper to taste

Cut the vegetables into small squares.  Separate the potatoes form the rest of the vegetables. In a large pot add some olive oil, heat the oil and fry the onions and leeks, then add the carrots can celery. Cut the bacon into small pieces and cook with onion. Add the lentils and fill the pot with 2 liters of water. Cook for 35 minutes. Now add the potatoes and cook for 10 more minutes. Taste and add the salt and pepper and OXO stock cubes. Cook for 10-15 longer. Check seasoning before serving.

This is a thick soup.

Chili for an Autumn day

This morning is one of those cool in temperature mornings here in GZ China that remind me that Autumn has arrived. The cooler temperature puts me in the mood for comfort food, and for me nothing says Autumn like a bowl full of Chili.

Here is my recipe for Chili from my Archives.

Tai-Tai's Texas Chili Your Way

500g  beef cut into cubes

 OR

500g Ground Beef – lean

2 - 400g cans peeled tomatoes whole or diced

1 - 425g can Red Kidney beans or Pinto beans

1 onion chopped

1-2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped finely

1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)

Water

2-3 Tbsp. Chili Powder

1 - 6 oz/170g can of Tomato Paste used to thicken

Salt to taste

Oil for browning the meat

In a small amount of oil brown the meat; add the onion and garlic during the browning. Add tomatoes break them up while stirring the meat. Add Chili Powder and Oregano.

Add water at this time enough to make it look like soup.

Drain the kidney beans and rinse then add to the soup mixture.

Let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half on low heat. You may have to add a little water if the heat is too high.

After about an hour add the tomato paste and some salt to taste and let simmer stirring occasionally until ready to serve.

Serve with shredded cheese, green onions or sour cream.

Optional ingredients

2 tsp Cumin

1 Tbsp Cocoa

You can use both or only one. Occasionally I use these last two ingredients…but usually I make the Chili without them, because, the kids prefer it this way.

This Chili is pretty mild, if you want to make it really hot, you can, by adding fresh Chili’s or Hot pepper sauce like Tabasco. Although the next day it is usually spicier on it's own. Remember a recipe is a guideline you should experiment and make it the way you want.