Veggie Burgers

These easy tofu and veggie burgers freeze well and are great for getting loads of veggies into your kids whilst letting them believe they're getting "junk" food ;) My two like these burgers with sliced cheese, lettuce and pineapple and homemade kumara chips on the side.  Yum.

Below are the rough weights and types of veggies I use - but I tend to add whatever we have lurking in the bottom of the veggie drawer in the fridge as this is a good way to use them up.

Veggie Burgers

Makes 8 - 10 burger patties

1 tablespoon butter

200gm mushrooms, chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, grated

100gm steamed broccoli

1/2 red capsicum, chopped

100gm unsalted raw cashews, finely chopped

1 package firm tofu (approx 290gm) - available in the chiller (fresh) at the supermarket or in the Japanese food aisle (long life)

Breadcrumbs from 2-3 slices of whole grain bread 

1 tablespoon tomato sauce

Flour for coating burgers

Olive oil spray for frying

Melt butter over medium heat in frying pan, add chopped mushrooms and sauté for 3-4 minutes until they're just tender.  Allow to cool slightly then transfer to food processor with remaining ingredients and blitz until well combined.  If you don't have a food processor, you can do this by hand but will need to chop all the ingredients very finely before you mix them in a large bowl.

Form into 8 - 10 burgers around the size of the palm of your hand.  Coat each burger lightly with flour before frying them over a medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

Freeze cooked patties by allowing them to cool and separating with baking paper and sealing in ziploc bags or an airtight container.

Weetbix Slice

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 18 x 28cm tin.

125gm butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 weetbix, crushed
1 cup dessicated or shredded coconut
1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped (raisins, dates, dried apricots, cranberries.. whatever is in your pantry will do!)
1/2 cup dark chocolate bits

Combine butter, syrup and sugar in a pot and stir over a medium heat until the butter melts.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before adding vanilla and egg.

Mix in flours and baking powder.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until evenly combined.

Press mixture into lined tin and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the centre is as firm as the edges.  Remover from oven and cool for 5 - 10 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into slices else it will fall apart!

You can drizzle melted chocolate over the top before slicing if you're feeling fancy too!

Perfect Match

Is there anything better than marmite and cheese???  (Except, maybe, gin and tonic!)

I forgot to buy bread at the supermarket today so I had to think up something else for the boys' lunch boxes tomorrow.  Oh for a kombini just downstairs huh ;)

This marmite and cheese scroll recipe is so simple and you'll almost definitely have all the ingredients already.  Perfect!

Marmite & Cheese Scrolls

Makes 8

8gm instant dry yeast (1 sachet) 

1 teaspoon honey

1 cup lukewarm water

2 1/2 cups high grade flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Marmite

Approx 1 cup grated Colby cheese

Preheat oven to 200c

Combine water and honey in a small bowl and stir until honey is dissolved.  Add yeast and put aside for a few minutes or until it's nice and frothy.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.  When yeast mixture is ready, pour it into the flour along with the olive oil.  With an electric mixer, beat with dough hook on a medium speed until ingredients are combined.  Increase speed to high and knead for 1 minute.  Leave dough to rest in a warm place for 15 minutes.

You can knead the dough by hand if you don't have a mixer, it'll just take longer (and you might need that G&T).

Roll rested dough into a rectangle, approximately 1cm thick.

Thinly spread marmite over all but the top 3cm of the rectangle.  Make sure you go all the way to the other three edges!  Next, generously sprinkle grated cheese over marmite.

Starting at the bottom edge, roll dough into a long sausage.  Use your fingertips to wet the top edge with water and seal the roll.  Cut into even sections.  I like to cut in half, then each half again, and again to get 8 even scrolls.

Place rolls snugly into a lined cake tin.  I used a square tin tonight, but a round one will do fine!  Bake for 30 minutes at 200C.  If you love cheese (you know you do!) sprinkle a bit more over the top of the scrolls about 5 minutes before they're due out of the oven.  Yum!!

Easy pasta bake

A very easy post-swim tea for the kids (and us!) last night..

Cook half a 500gm bag of pasta to package directions.

Meanwhile drain two tins of tuna in water (or one large one). Grate about 1 1/2 cups of cheese and one carrot, set aside.

In a saucepan, make a basic white sauce:
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon butter (or spread)
1 - 2 cups of your usual milk

Over a medium heat, make a roux with the flour and butter. Slowly add milk, a small amount at a time, stirring to incorporate into the flour and butter. Get rid of all lumps before adding next bit of milk. I usually use more milk than recipes suggest, only because I'm lazy! But it works if you add SLOWLY and keep stirring. When you have as much white sauce as you need, take it off the heat and add half the grated cheese. Add the flaked tuna to the cheese sauce. You can add some cooked mixed veges at this stage if you like.

Layer the cooked pasta at the bottom of an oven proof dish. Put the tuna and cheese sauce mixture on top of the pasta.

Next mix 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, grated carrot and remaining grated cheese. Sprinkle on top of the tuna in a thick layer. Bake at 180C for 10 minutes and then move to the top of the oven and grill for 5 - 10 mins until crumbs are golden and cheese is sizzling.