Crafty Meals – easy recipes for healthy meals

Red Curry Paste
Should make enough paste for 4 four person meals.
Prep time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
10-12 dried red chilies. Cayenne chilies are perfect.
5 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped.
1 tablespoon fresh lemongrass, very thinly sliced.
3 tablespoons grated ginger.
Zest of 1 kaffir lime.
6-8 coriander roots, washed well and coarsely chopped.
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper.
1 teaspoon fish sauce.
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander.
2 tablespoons bright red paprika.

Method
Break up the chilies with your hands.
Soak the chillies in 5 tablespoons hot water for 1-2 hours.
WASH HANDS IMMEDIATELY.
Put the chillies together with their soaking liquid, into a blender, along with all the remaining ingredients in the order listed.
Blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula as many times as necessary, until you have a smooth paste.
What you do not use immediately should be refrigerated or frozen.

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Green Curry Paste
Makes 1 cup
Prep time : 20 minutes
Cooking time : 3 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
10 long green chillies, chopped coarsely
10 small green chillies, chopped coarsely
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 clove garlic, quartered
4 green onions, chopped coarsely
10cm stick (20g) fresh lemon grass, finely chopped
1cm piece fresh galangal (5g), chopped finely
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander root and stem mixture
1 tablespoon peanut oil

Method
Dry-fry ground coriander and cumin in small frying pan over medium heat, stirring until fragrant.
Blend or process spices with chillies, paste, garlic, onion, lemon grass, galangal and coriander mixture until mixture forms a paste.
Add oil to paste; continue to blend until smooth.

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Tandoori Paste
You can’t beat the great taste of Indian styled tandoori meals. While the tandoori actually refers to the Tandoor oven used to cook so many of the great Indian dishes, you can still get the great spice flavours of these dishes by making pastes similar to the recipe we have below.

We have left out saffron, due to its expense, however if you want the brilliant orange colour normally associated with tandoori pastes, add a pinch of saffron threads, or use orange food colouring (often called saffron colouring).

Make the paste, and store it in an air tight container in the fridge, covered by a thin film of peanut oil for up to 2 weeks.

Prep time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
1 medium brown onion, chopped.
5 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed.
3 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice.
2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger.
1 tablespoon peanut oil.
2 teaspoon ground coriander.
1 teaspoon ground cumin.
1 teaspoon turmeric.
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper.
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional).
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom.
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Method
Add all ingredients to a blender, blend until paste is smooth and consistent.

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Pad Thai Paste
Makes enough to serve 4 people in a recipe.
Prep time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
3/4 tablespoon tamarind paste.
30 mL of hot water.
2 tablespoons fish sauce.
3 tablespoons brown sugar.
3 teaspoons of chili bean paste.

Method
Dissovle the tamarind paste in the hot water.
Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
Add the fish sauce and chili bean paste, stir to combine.

Notes
Start with 1 teaspoon of the chili paste and test sauce. This can be an extremely unpalatable paste, so remember you are checking for heat, not flavour.

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Pesto is a wonderfully tasty paste, traditionally made by blending basil, parmesan and garlic with olive oil.

It can be used by itself and great served over home made pasta, delicious when used to marinate chicken and can be used as base for tasty salad dressings.

To store your pesto, pour it into an air tight jar and refrigerate. It will last for about 1 week. As you use the pesto, make sure there is a thin film of olive oil covering what remains to prevent spoiling in air.

Note - We are fond of garlic in our household, if garlic is not your favourite flavouring, substitute 3 or 4 plump cloves for the head of garlic.

Each recipe will makes around 400 grams, about 8 serves with pasta.
Each recipe will need about 5 minutes to make.
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Our Favourite Pesto
Ingredients
100 grams basil, leaves and stems.
100 grams parsley, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Wash and drain the basil and parsley.
Place basil, parsley and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Basil Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams basil, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Wash and drain the basil.
Place basil and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Spinach Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams baby spinach, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Wash and drain the spinach.
Place spinach and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Oregano Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams oregano, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Wash and drain the oregano.
Place oregano and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Coriander (cilantro) Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams coriander, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.
1 red chili, seeds removed.

Method
Wash and drain the coriander.
Place coriander, chili and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Parsley Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams parsley, leaves and stems.
60 mL olive oil.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Wash and drain the parsley.
Place parsley and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 25 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 25 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams sun dried tomatoes in oil.
30 mL olive oil. You can substitute the oil from the sundried tomatoes and top up with olive oil if needed.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Drain the excess oil from the sun dried tomatoes.
Place sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 10 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 10 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Char Grilled Eggplant Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams char grilled eggplant in oil.
30 mL olive oil. You can substitute the oil from the eggplant and top up with olive oil if needed.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Drain the excess oil from the char grilled eggplant.
Place char grilled eggplant and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 10 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 10 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

Roasted Capsicum Pesto
Ingredients
150 grams roasted capsicum in oil.
30 mL olive oil. You can substitute the oil from the capsicums and top up with olive oil if needed.
50 grams fresh grated parmesan.
100 grams toasted pine nuts.
1 head of garlic, cloves peeled, trimmed and seperated.

Method
Drain the excess oil from the roasted capsicum.
Place roasted capsicum and pine nuts in a blender.
Pulse until collapsed.
Add garlic and parmesan.
Pulse until the bulk collapsed.
Turn blender on and drizzle in 10 mL of the olive oil.
Stop, scrape sides of blender mix in any unprocessed ingredients.
Repeat with 10 mL of the oil.
Repeat with remaining oil.
The pesto chould have a nice glossy appearance and be smooth in consistency. If it appears dry, drizzle in small amounts of oil until the consistency is as you wish.

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Cajun Spice Mix
Makes about 800 grams
Prep time : 5 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.
You will need a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to make this mix.

Ingredients
750 grams rock salt.
5 tablespoons of cayenne pepper.
3 tablespoons of chili powder.
3 tablespoons of black pepper corns.
3 tablespoons of onion powder.
3 tablespoons of garlic powder.
1 tablespoon of dried thyme.
1 tablespoon of dried basil.
5 bay leaves, stem cut from leaves.

Method
Mix 1 tablespoon of the rock salt with the pepper corns, thyme, basil and bay leaves.
Process in a spice grinder until the ingrdients are finely ground.
Process the remaining rock salt until it is finely ground.
In a large bowl, carefully mix the processed ingredients with the cayenne, chili, onion and garlic powders.
Mix until the coliur is uniform.
Store in an airtight container, use a pepper shaker to dispense when needed.

Serving
This is basically spiced salt, so use sparingly.
If you desire more or less heat – add more cayenne pepper for more heat, remove for less heat.

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Seasoning is the key to bringing out the natural flavours in any food that you cook. Salt and pepper are perhaps the only ingredient you could travel to any house on the planet and find in every pantry or cooking supplies cupboard.

As we are reminded constantly, salt is not good for us, yet the flavour enhancing it adds to food makes its inclusion mandatory. Still, some time ago I developed a seasoning mix that uses far less salt, and blends 2 other simple flavours with black pepper to create a mix that just works.

We use this to season beef, lamb, chicken, pork, fish and vegetarian dishes. Whenever you would break out the salt and pepper we use this mix, even for adding a little pizzaz to a tomato sandwich.

Magic Seasoning Mix
This mix is made with equal parts of the ingredients below.
You will need a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to make this mix. For ideas on these items, see our article here.

Ingredients
Rock Salt (this form of salt helps to blitz the remaining ingredients in the spice grinder).
Sechuan Pepper Corns.
Black Pepper Corns.
Brown Mustard Seeds.

Method
Measure and combine equal amounts of the above ingredients.
In a typical spice grinder 1 tablespoon of each will be about the maximum for efficient grinding.
Blitz with the grinder until you start to get fine grindings sticking to the top of the grinder.
Tap the grinder on your bench top and repeat twice.
Using a tea strainer, sift the ground ingredients to remove the stalks from the sechuan pepper corns.
Seal in dry containers and store in a cool dry place.

Hints
I like to make large amounts of this to make the effort of getting the spice grinder out worth it.
I combine a cup of each ingredient into a large bowl and mix, taking half a cup at a time and grinding it.
I grind, then sift the ingredients into another bowl, and once all the batches are done I carefully fold all the batches together to ensure even distribution of the ingredients.
I store it in empty spice jars, and when I need to use it transfer it to a pepper shaker to easily spread it over whatever I need to season.

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Vegetables should make the bulk of any wok dish, but which vegetables are suitable?
We have found many vegetables to be suitable for stir frying, but those most suitable are not high in apparent moisture. Vegetables like snow peas, sugar snap peas, beans, bean sprouts, bok/pak/sum choy, spinach leaves,  carrots, zuchinni, celery, brocolli, cauliflower, capsicums, onions, green onions and baby corn are tough enough to take being tossed around over high heat without collapsing and turning to mush.

Mushrooms are of course not vegetables, but they have the ability to take up all the flavours in the wok, and their addition to wok cooked meals is sound nutrtition.

How long should I be cooking these vegetables?
Again, not vegetables, but mushrooms can be added very early in the cooking of the dish. They soak up and carry the flavours with every mouthful, making them a cheap extender in place of meats.

With the exception of zuchinni, bean sprouts and the leafy vegetables, all of the vegetables listed above are able to take the heat and cooking during the 7 or so minutes a wok dish is cooked.

The zuchinni, bean sprouts and the leafy vegetables are best added for the final minute or two, just enough time to warm through or wilt the leaves without turning them to mush.

How do I prepare these vegetables?
Always wash vegetables throughly before use. They do carry bacteria, pesticide residues and other nasties on their skins.

Onions – the mainstay of all wok dishes, if the recipes doesn’t list onions, add them anyway. Full of antioxidants and featuring in so many “old wives” remedies, adding them can’t do any harm. Trim both ends, remove the outer layer of skin. I like to slice mine into thin wedges. The only real rule with using onions is if they are not cut thin they will not cook and will give you an unpleasant taste when you bite into them.

Mushrooms – It’s not a vegetable, but so good for you. Many will tell you not to wash mushrooms, just wipe them with a damp sponge. They are commercially farmed in manure – I prefer to wash mine. Remove stems and discard (or freeze for use in stocks later). Slice thickly. 

Snow Peas, Sugar Snap Peas – Wash well and drain. Both have a stringy membrane that runs across the top and bottom. To remove this, trim one end without cutting through and pull back with the knife. Repeat with the other end. Cut into desired size.

Beans – wash and top and tail (trim both ends). Cut into bite size pieces.

Bean shoots – Rinse well. Restaurants often pinch out the tips and the root tip to make them more presentable, but in all honesty could you be bothered?

Bok/Pak/Sum Choy, Spinach – wash and pat dry. Remove stems and slice thinly. Tear leaves.

Capsicums – halve and discard seeds, stem and any light coloured membrane. Cut into large dice or slice thinly.

Zuchinni and Carrots- Wash then halve lengthways, trim both ends. Slice thinly on the diagonal. There is no need to peel these vegetables.

Celery – wash and slice thinly across the stems. If you want to julienne the celery use a peeler to remove the string that sits on the outer of each ridge on the stems.

Brocolli and Cauliflower – wash well, then remove the main stalks holding the edible flowers. Look carefully at these and you will see you can repeat the process until you break them down into manageable pieces. Best to break them down as the thicker stems tend not to cook in stir frys and they can be tough to chew.

Green onions – also known as shallots and spring onions and are often used as a garnish. Wash, trim the root end and discard the green leaf from where it begins to seperate from itself. Cut into 3-4 cm long lengths, then carefully quarter or eighth lengthways.

Baby Corn – not really baby corn, just a miniature variety. Convenient in cans, needs to be drained and even rinsed if the brine is too salty. Fresh, they need just a minute or two in boiling water to soften them before tossing them in the wok.

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Tasty Chicken Stock
Makes 3 litres
Prep time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 2 hours 20 minutes
For conversions, click here to use our handy guide.

Ingredients
Head of garlic.
3 kilograms chicken wings.
4 large brown onions.
1 small red chili, or 1 tablespoon chili flakes.
1 tablespoon black pepper corns
3 sticks of celery.
2 large carrots.
4 bay leaves.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Method
Joint the drumstick from the rest of the wing. Smash the 2 remaining joints with the back of a stiff knife or cleaver.
Cut the head of garlic through middle, effecively halving the cloves.
Finely slice the chili.
Roughly halve then slice the onions.
Roughly chop the carrots and the celery.
Add the oil to a 7-10 litre stock pot and heat over medium heat.
Add the garlic, onions and chili and fry until the onions begin to colour, about 5 minutes.
Add some of the chicken wings and fry until the skin has coloured.
Add the rest of the ingredients and fry, stirring constantly for 5-10 minutes.
Add enough hot water to the pot to cover all the ingredients, then add 2 more litres.
Simmer gently for 2 hours, removing any scum that forms as a layer at the top of the stockpot.
Once cooking time has finished, use a slotted spoon to remove all solids from the pot, discarding all but the drumstick portions of the wings.
The meat left on this joint is good to use in a chicken soup if that is the reason you are making this stock.
Pour remianing liquid through a fine sieve into a 4 litre heatproof container.
To use the stock immediately, allow to stand for 30 minutes, then carefully skim away the layer of fat that rises to the top. Top up to 3 litres using boiled water if needed
If you will be using the stock the next day, or freezing it for later use, refrigerate overnight. The fat layer will solidify and can then be scraped away from the rest of the stock. Top up to 3 litres using boiled water if needed
Portion and freeze for later use.

Notes
This stock will become gelatinous when cooled. This is a sign of a wonderfully rich home made stock.

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