Tuna Salad . . .simple, easy and good for you !

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I love tuna salad. And I love tossed salad so I always make them together.I try to post recipes that anyone at any level of cooking can make. If you ever have a question about how I did something or what I meant just let me know.  I also always use my homemade dressing with it. (which I will share next) I made this for my hubby and I for lunch one day last week when we were working from home. It's light yet filling. And not too many calories either. You'll have to imagine the tomatoes I didn't have any that day. I try to cut all the ingredients roughly the same size. That day I used:

1 can tuna packed in water

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp mustard (any kind you like)

You can add any thing else you like to your tuna salad to make it your own.

Mix together tuna, mayonnaise and mustard

I made up my salad with: Gem lettuce , iceberg lettuce, red bell pepper, sliced black olives and, english cucumber.

I put my salad in a bowl/plate, add my salad dressing then add my tuna mix on top.

Chicken with Thyme and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Serves 2

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 sprigs fresh Thyme (pull leaves from sprigs)
4 pieces sun dried tomato (re-hydrated in very warm water if needed, I did for 20 mins)
Vegetable Oil, butter
Pancetta, 2/3 strips per breast (you can use bacon also)

Take chicken and bash it out pretty thin, sprinkle with thyme. Add 2 pieces sun dried tomato to each piece of chicken. Fold over one side of chicken on to the other to conceal the thyme and tomato. Lay the pancetta strips on the chicken breast. Pan fry, at medium high heat, pancetta side down until done in oil/butter combination. One side and then the other……for approximately 3-4 minutes each side until golden brown.


I made this for dinner the other night and it was really good. These could easily be made ahead if you had guests coming over for dinner and then pan fried at the last minute before you serve them. Just be sure to take out of the fridge in time for it to warm up a little. I served mine with steamed broccoli and bacon/mushroom risotto.

Sherrie

Homemade Egg Rolls

Homemade Egg Rolls

Wrappers: I used a simple recipe I found on the internet for the wrappers. It’s really a simple thing but I could not get it rolled out thin enough to work with it. I would recommend if you can find wrappers just buy them. It’s not worth the trouble to me. That is just my opinion only. Having said that the taste was great but, they were just too thick.

My Stuffing:
½ lb ground pork
½ lb ground beef

¼ large, green cabbage grated
1 carrot grated
1 large shallot chopped into small pieces
1 stalk celery cut into small pieces
6 ozs bean sprouts ( I bought canned ones)
2 tsp garlic salt

3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Cornstarch



Brown the beef and pork in a skillet until nice and brown along with the shallot and drain well. Add the next 6 ingredients and continue to fry until tender approximately 10 minutes on medium high heat. Add in the soy sauce and cornstarch. Simmer another minute or two stirring well and then take off the heat.

Roll up into egg rolls/ spring rolls using 2/3 tbsp of mixture for each wrapper. I deep fried mine until golden brown. They don’t look the best but I think if you use the pre-made wrappers they would look better. But to be honest they tasted great. We ate them with Thai Sweet Chilli dipping sauce…….yum !

Yield: 2 Generous Portions (we had leftovers)

Quick and Easy Asparagus Soup

Quick and Easy Asparagus Soup

1 bunch of fresh asparagus (8-10 pods I guess)
1 individual container of Knorr Stock Pot (beef or chicken either will work)
½ lemon
1 large potato (or 2 medium)
Olive oil, butter/margarine, and black pepper

First put potato in microwave and cook until soft and completely done.
Take out and let it be cooling. I usually cut it in half to speed the cooling process.

While that is cooking wash your asparagus to remove any sand that may be on. Asparagus have a woody end and you don’t want to eat it. So just bend your asparagus and it will snap off in just the right place where the wood part ends and the good begins. Keep the woody ends we’re going to use those.

Mix up your Stock Pot according to the directions on the box. (You can make your own stock of course if you like) Once you have that going add those ends to the stock. They will add to the flavour. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Then with a slotted spoon or tongs remove your woody ends and throw them away.

While it’s simmering put your asparagus in a bowl and drizzle a little (2 tbsps) olive oil over it. I use my hands to move it around and get it all coated. Then, place it on a griddle pan. (and if it’s summer, place it on your grill, believe me the taste is wonderful). I cook mine approximately 15-20 minutes on a high heat until it starts to brown. I like that nutty flavor the browning gives it. When it’s almost done I squeeze about three to four tablespoons of lemon on them. I then take them off and lay them on a plate starting with the little ones first as they will cook quicker.




Add them and your potatoto to your stock pot and simmer a further 5 minutes then, either blitz up with a handheld mixer or let it cool down and use your blender. You can add a “dollop” of cream if you like. It does enhance the flavor but, sadly it also enhances the waistline.

Note: If you want your asparagus soup “greener” add a few spinach leaves to the stock and blitz it up. Also, if you want your soup “thicker” add another potato or two.

4 Little Ingredients - Salmon Teriyaki

Okay, I love Salmon and so does my husband. It's good for you, it's low calorie and what's not to love right ? I have always either pan fried it or baked it. Tonight, I tried a recipe I saw done on TV......omg, it's sheer heaven I mean it....seriously and it's only 4 little ingredients. . . . .It's at original recipe here I have to add if, you add some lemon to the sauce once you have it in your plate, it really makes it GREAT !

You will need 4 salmon fillets, skin on. I served it with brown rice and cavolo nero cabbage.


Salmon Teriyaki

The Teriyaki Sauce
275 ml Soy Sauce
140 ml Sake
140 ml Mirin
120 g sugar ( 4 ozs)

1. Mix all the ingredients for the teriyaki sauce together and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Marinate the salmon fillets in half the mixture and put the other mixture in a pot to reduce by half (appx. 30 minutes on a good simmer)
3. Preheat the oven to 240C/400F or the highest setting you have.
4.Add a little oil to an oven proof dish and add your salmon fillets skin side UP. Cover the skin with tin foil/aluminium foil to keep it from burning and cook/bake for about 15 minutes, watching carefully.
5. Remove the tin foil and cook for approximately 5/10 minutes more until skin starts to crisp up.
6. Ta Da ! Serve skin side up with salmon sitting on a drizzle of the sauce.

Believe me I always eat tartar sauce on my salmon, I got it out and put it on the table but never got that far. That is the best sauce I have ever had......ever......woo hoo !! I definitely licked the plate on this one....rofl.

Sherrie ♥

Cavolo Nero Cabbage

Welcome to my food blog. I hope you will enjoy it here and leave me a comment if you'd like. I will post as much as my schedule allows. Feel free to leave me a recipe too. I am always looking for something new to try.

My newest food I have tried is Cavolo Nero Cabbage aka Black Leaf Kale in Australia and I just love it. It's originally from Tuscany, Italy if my information is correct and part of the Brassica family (kale,cabbage, etc). It has a strong nutty flavor.

I took mine and washed it good and then rolled it up and sliced it into thin strips (chiffonade). I then brought some water in my pan to a boil, to which I added 2 Tbsp. Knorr chicken stock granults and then put in my cabbage. I simmered it for about 20 minutes. I did not cut the core out of the leaves. I then drained it and tasted it. It was fantastic !