Stuffed Tomatoes with Cashew and Spinach

11 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment

by Lee Supercharged in All, Autumn, Breakfast, Candida Friendly, Dairy Free, Dessert, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Nutrient Rich, Organic, Spring, Sugar Free, Summer, Vegetarian, Wheat Free, Winter, Yeast Free Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Stuffed Seasonal Delights

Tomatoes are one of nature’s true super foods.  They can be cooked in a variety of ways, added to soups, pastas and served up with salads.  If you want to try something adventurous like the Greeks do why not try Stuffed Tomatoes?  An exotic way to incorporate a host of delcious in-season vegetables into one glorious mouthful.

This plump and fulfilling meal can be eaten on its own, with a crunchy salad or as a side dish accompanying your main.

You can devour these cheeky parcels of goodness for breakfast lunch or dinner, they’re an anytime of the day delight.

Organic or vine ripened tomatoes are the best to use in this recipe, as they’ll not only taste delicious but will create a dramatic and striking effect especially if you want to keep the lids of the tomatoes which you have sliced off and pop them on top like a Top Hat.  The vibrant colours are beautiful together and if you sprinkle on nutritional yeast flakes before you put on their hats you’ll get a cheesy, nutty and sweet sensation all in one bite.

Being a high-source of vitamin C, A and B and magnesium, phosphorous and calcium makes tomatoes an extremely nutritive option. They’re also a great source of chromium, folate and fibre….who would have thought so much goodness would come from the humble tomato!

If you’ve never had the pleasure of stuffing a tomato before its quite simple and really alot of fun.

Here’s what you’ll need…

Ingredients

  • 5 -6 large organic tomatoes
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 4 garlic cloves chopped finely
  • 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
  • 1 cup basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 1 TBS nutritional yeast flakes (optional for sprinkling on before they go into the oven)
  • ½ cup cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 TBS fresh lemon juice
  • 1 TBS lemon rind
  • Celtic sea salt and black pepper to taste
How to make:
  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
  • In a little olive oil saute onions and garlic until brown
  • Scoop out flesh of tomatoes and set aside

Scoop out the Flesh

  • Put all remaining ingredients into a food processor adding olive oil slowly and mix seasoning to taste

Vibrant Green

  • Place in baking tray and drizzle with little EV olive oil and sprinkle with nutritional yeast flakes if you have some on hand.
  • Place in oven on middle shelf for 20-25 mins until cooked through

Delicious Alone or As a Side

For more gluten, wheat, dairy, yeast or sugar-free recipes visit www.superchargedfood.com

You can also buy nutritional yeast flakes here.

Happy Cooking :)

Lee xo

Exquisite Pesto Filled Zucchini Flowers

19 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment

by Lee Supercharged in All, Dairy Free, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, Nutrient Rich, Spring, Summer, Vegetarian, Wheat Free, Yeast Free Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Flowers and Fritters

On Saturday evening we had an amazing dinner at my sister-in-law Emma’s house to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Emma is an extraordinary home cook and she never ceases to amaze me with the wonderful flavoursome meals she comes up with. I’ve never met anyone who can present meals so exquisitely too…in fact sometimes they literally look too good to eat. I love being in her kitchen you open her spice draw and this intoxicating aroma hits you like you’ve travelled to a far off destination full of eastern promise.  There are spices in there I can’t even pronounce and she is the master of coming up with exotic dishes that stay on your mind for days.  I’ve even been known to actually have dreams about her cooking and one Christmas – from Boxing Day to New Year I had a succession of dreams about her Christmas Ham! I believe it was the star anise that was doing it to me or perhaps it was the cloves.

Masterchef Emma

Emma had been to Everleigh Markets the morning of the party and picked up 3 bags of beautiful eye-catching Zucchini Flowers to serve as part of the entree.  Zucchini flowers are versatile and can be cooked a variety of ways, sauteed, roasted or steamed. You can also chop them and add them to frittatas and stir-frys. We decided to STUFF EM with pesto. And the good thing about an entree like Zucchini Flowers is you can prepare them earlier in the day and then once guests arrive, they just need to be sauteed at the last minute (The Zucchini Flowers, not the guests!)

Here’s how to make this wonderfully delicious starter for all to enjoy. Serves 4.

The Players

16 zucchini flowers
1 Cup Olive Oil
Filling

Dairy Free Pesto
1 1/2 cups freshly picked basil leaves
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 lemon Juiced
1/2 tsp minced lemon zest
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS pine nuts
1 TBS nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
ocean sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Combine pesto ingredients in blender until pureed
Chill and serve

Batter

2/3 cup (100g) rice flour
3 TBS Soda water

The How To

  • Make the pesto as per the directions above, it’s easy peasy and then just chill it in refrigerator until you’re ready for it.
  • Meanwhile, hold a zucchini flower, and gently open the petals.  Reach inside and gently remove stamen from the centre of flower. Do this to all the remaining flowers and chop of the end of the stem.
  • Open the Zucchini Flower and place 1 tsp of pesto inside and then twist the top closed. Set aside.
  • To make the batter, place flour and soda water in a bowl and mix until its like pancake mix not too thick and not too runny.
  • Place paper towels on a platter dish and then place olive oil in frying pan and heat over a medium heat.

I Was Stuffed After This Lot

  • Dip the flowers in the batter and then place in frying pan until golden then remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to soak up excess oil.

Yum!

And This Was Just the Entree!

 

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