Zucchini & Broad Bean salad with Garlic & Herb dressing

I had purchased heaps and heaps of Zucchini from the Farmer's Market last Saturday and then thought to myself "What am I going to do with them all?"

Some were allocated for Chicken, Leek & Zucchini pot pies - E's favourite dish ... he would eat it every single day if he could!  We made a yummy Tomato, Zucchini, Feta & Sweet Chilli pizza with another one... but I still had 4 left.

So I went to look for some more Zucchini recipes... and found this one that was such a great lunch time dish.  Very fresh and full of flavour:

Ingredients:

1 small baguette, sliced    (I used sourdough bread instead)
Olive Oil for drizzling
Sea Salt
2 x Zucchini (Courgette) thinly sliced
1 x baby cos lettuce (can use baby spinach or rocket if you prefer)
500g of blanched broad beans
1 x Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
Shaved Parmesan to serve

Garlic & Herb Dressing:


1/4 cup (60ml) Olive Oil
2 x tablespoons of white wine vinegar
2 x tablespoons of chopped chives
2 x tablespoons of chopped chervil     (I used fresh basil as we had just bought a huge bunch)
2 x Garlic cloves crushed
Sea salt and black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F)
To make the dressing; place the oil, vinegar, chives, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine.  Set aside

Place bread on a baking tray, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 5 minutes or until golden.
Place zucchini, lettuce, broad beans, cucumber, croutons (the bread you just baked) in a bowl and gently toss.
Spoon over the dressing and top with Parmesan to serve.   Serves 4

Recipe via Donna Hay Issue 47 Oct/Nov 2009 www.donnahay.com


Enjoy!

Family, Laughter & Food

"Laughter spills out of the front door as guests arrive.

Children clamour to push their chairs back from the table.

Conversations linger in the air long after the 

dishes are done....

In neighbourhoods across the country ~ 

These are the sounds of home"

Writer Unknown

Enjoy your weekend with your family & friends xx

Yummo - Bouillabaisse

My latest cooking adventure was had on Sunday night and I have to say I am quite impressed with myself - I have been wanting to cook a Bouillabaisse (seafood stew) for many many years, but didn't feel confident enough to pull it all together..... but alas I found a simple form recipe in the recent edition of the Donna Hay Magazine (Issue 45 - June/July 2009).

So off I went yesterday afternoon on a shopping expedition for seafood! My list included; mussels, green prawns, white fish fillets, fennel and some beautiful vine ripe tomatoes..... umm yum!

The great thing about this recipe is that it only took about 30mins to get it all prepared and into the pot and only another 10mins to cook it.

It was another chilly night here in Canberra, so to be able to sit down to this beautiful steaming pot of seafood stew and fresh baked bread was so so good! .... and we ate two bowls each!!

The Cackleberry Kids xx

Food Glorious Food....

I'm sure in a previous life I was a cook or chef! I love everything about food.... buying it, cooking it, eating it.

To give you a little bit of a background, my Dad was an award winning chef in a previous life and so was my Mum until she had me.

Our family owned a restaurant when I was quite young and so I grew up around the wonderful aromas of food and the joy that sharing a meal can bring to others.

I think that this is where my passion for food comes from... Interestingly though when growing up I would do anything to get out of helping cook dinner - it drove my Mum nuts!!!

The funny thing is though that being a mum now myself I love cooking with Ethan and getting him to be involved. He enjoys helping and is an expert now on beating eggs, greasing a pan and will eat anything that he has had hand in helping to prepare.... from Thai Red Curry to Butter Chicken to his all time fav Chicken Pot Pies with Leeks.

Our weeks are so crazy busy, that on the weekends I research new recipes and plan dinners that we can share as a family and the aromas of cooking a wonderful comfort food meal are like no other... you can be transported to another country by experimenting with different cuisines and spices and travel all around the world whilst sitting at your dinning table!

A few of the recipes I've fallen in love at the moment are here for sharing so hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

These recipes have come from The Best in Australia as seen on the LifeStyle channel;

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=89125551002&h=qUJei&u=DbNqq&ref=mf
http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=91820481464&h=44Fz0&u=4SJnl&ref=mf

The Cackleberry Kids xx