Crafty Meals – easy recipes for healthy meals

Spiced Middle Eastern Prawns
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 5-7 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
800 grams uncooked prawns, shelled and deviened.
6 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 tablespoon coriander seeds.
1 tablespoon cumin seeds.
2 teaspoons sweet paprika.
2 teaspoons tumeric.
1 teaspoon dried chili.
1 teaspoon lemon zest.
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus oil for frying.

Method
Process seeds and dried chili in a spice grinder until finely ground.
Excepting the prawns, place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well to form a paste.
Add the prawns and mix well to coat. Refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
Heat a little oil in a wok over high heat.
Add prawns and cook until done, 5-7 minutes.

Serving
Serve with a rice pilaf.

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Ratatouille Risoni with Chicken Drumsticks
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 45 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
2 large zuchinni, cut in halves then thickly sliced.
1 large eggplant, cut into 2 cm cubes.
1 red capsicum, halved, deseeded and cut into thick slices.
8 large chicken drumsticks.
2 cups Italian tomato pasta sauce. Try our Basic Italian Tomato Pasta Sauce.
1/2 cup dry risoni pasta.
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves.
Olive oil spray.

Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Place vegetbale piece on a baking try and lightly spray with oil.
Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until tender and golden.
In a heavy pan over high heat, add the chicken and spray with oil.
Cook for 5-10 minutes, until browned all over.
Add pasta sauce, basil leaves and risoni.
Reduce to a simmer and cook ocvered for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
Thin down with water if necessary.
Add raosted vegetables to the pan, stir through sauce.

Serving
Test for seasoning before serving individual portions.

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Mussels in Beer and Chili
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 6-8 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 kilogram of fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded.
250mL beer.
250mL coconut cream.
1 tablespoon of oil.
3 cloves garlic, peeled.
3 spring onions, roughly chopped.
1 cup chopped fresh coriander.
1 stalk lemon grass, finely chopped.
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce.
1 red chili, deseeded and finely sliced.

Method
In a food processor, or mortar and pestle, combine garlic, lemon grass and half the coriander and process until a paste is formed.
Heat the oil in a wok over high heat.
tirfry the paste until it becomes fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the beer and the mussels, cover and cook for about 4 minutes.
Remove the mussels to a large serving dish, discard any unopened.
To the wok add the coconut cream and half the chili and heat through.
Pour the sauce over the mussels.

Serving
Garnish with the remaining coriander and chili.

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Roasted Capsicum and Salami Pasta
Serves 4
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
375 grams dried spaghetti or fettucine.
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.
2 red capsicums, halved and deseeded.
150 grams lean salami, finely sliced and chopped.
200 grams pesto. Try any of our pesto recipes. Sundried tomato is excellent with this.
1 cup baby spinach leaves.

Method
Heat the oven grill to high.
Lightly spray the capsicum halves with olive oil, place under grill until skins begin to blacken.
Remove and set aside for 15 minutes, or until cool enough to handle.
Clean skin from the capsicums, chop the flesh.
Cook pasta to packet instructions, sauce requires about 7 minutes to complete. Time pasta to be ready when sauce is.
While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a non stick pan.
Add the salami and cook for 5 minutes, or until it begins to lightly crisp.
Add the capsicums and stir through.
Add pesto and stir through.
Add spinach leaves, remove from heat.

Serving
Drain pasta and toss into pan with pasta sauce.
Toss to combine, mound into serving plates and top with freshly grated parmesan.

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Simple Ratatouille
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 25 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 large red oinon, diced.
300 grams peeled pumpkin, chopped.
3 baby eggplants, sliced.
3 small zuchinni, chopped.
400 grams tinned diced tomatoes.
1/2 cup vegetable stock (water is OK)
1 tablespoon olive oil.

Method
Heat oil over medium heat in a non stick pan.
Add onion, cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add garlic, cook for a further minute.
Add pumpkin, cook for 5 minutes.
Add zuchinni and eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften.
Add tomatoes and stock.
Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for another 5 minutes.

Serving
Serve with rice, noodle, crushed new potatoes or ty our cheesy polenta recipe.

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Tandoori Lamb Kebabs
Serves 4
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 8-10 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
750 grams lean lamb strips.
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger.
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
2 red chilies, deseeded and roughly chopped.
1/2 cup fresh picked mint.
1 teaspoon ground cumin.
1/3 cup fresh lime juice.
2 tablespoons tandoori paste. See our >a href=”http://blog.craftymeals.com/cooking-tips-tandoori-paste/”>tandoori paste recipe.
1/2 cup natural yoghurt.

Method
In a blender, process the ginger, garlic, chili, mint, cumin and lime juice until smooth.
Reserve half, place other half with lamb strips and tandoori paste into a bowl. Stir to coat and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Thread lamb onto skewers.
Heat a BBQ plate over a medium heat, add lamb and cook 3-4 minutes per side, turning only once.
Mix yoghurt with reserved marinade.

Serving
Serve over a bed of brown rice with a fresh garden salad. Use yoghurt mix as a dipping sauce.

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Cheesy Polenta
Serves 4 as a side
Prep time : 2 minutes
Cooking time : 6 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 cup of polenta.
1/4 teaspoon chili powder.
3/4 cup mozarella cheese.
1/4 cup fresh washed and drained baby basil leaves.

Method
Grease a 20cm square cake pan.
Bring 3 cups of water to the boil.
Add chili powder and stir.
In a steady stream, pour in the polenta while stirring the contents.
Once smoothly combined, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5-7 minutes, until thickened.
Remove from heat, stir in cheese and basil leaves and press into a smooth layer in the cake pan.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

Serving
Invert pan over a cutting board and firmly tap on the bench to dislodge the polenta.
Cut into squares, reheat by cooking on an oiled ridged grill for 4-5 minutes per side.
Serve with meat or vegetable dishes.

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Apricot Chicken Rissoles
Serves 4
Prep time : 5 minutes
Cooking time : 20 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
500 grams chicken mince.
1/2 cup diced dried apricots.
1/3 cup fresh chopped chives.
1/3 cup plain flour.
1/3 cup mayonnaise.
4 slices heavy dark rye bread.
Oil to fry

Method
Remove crusts from bread, add to food processor and process until fine crumbs.
Add crumbs to chicken, half the chives and the apricots.
Mix well to combine.
Using a half cup measure, form 1.5-2 cm thick rissoles.
Dust in flour and refirgerate for 30 minutes, or until firm.
Heat minimal oil in a non stick pan and cook the rissoles 8-10 minutes per side, or until cooked through.
While rissoles are cooking, mix the mayonnaise with the remaining chives.

Serving
Serve with salad greens, rice and dollop the mayonnaise on top of the rissoles.

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Delicious Roast Tomato Sauce
Makes 4 cups. Can be kept in properly sterilised jars in the fridge for 1 week.
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 100 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
2 kilograms ripe tomatoes.
2 large red onions, diced.
4 cloves garlic, sliced.
1/2 cup fresh oregano leaves.
1/2 cup red wine.

Method
Bring a pot of water to the boil.
Remove pot from heat.
Cut a cross in the base of each tomato, add to pot and leave for 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Lightly grease a 4 litre capacity baking dish.
Remove tomatoes from pot and carefully remove skins, discard skins.
Deseed the tomatoes and discard seeds.
Place the tomato flesh, garlic, onions, oregano and wine in the baking dish.
Cover and bake for 4 minutes.
Remove foil and bake uncovered for a further 45 minutes.
Pour roasted vegetables into a food processor and process until smooth.

Serving
Fantastic served fresh over pasta, as a base for bolognaise sauce when added to mince.
Use as pizza sauce.
To store, while mixture is still hot spoon into hot sterlised jars. Seal, invert and allow to cool.
Store in fridge for 1 week, use once opened within 2 days.

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