I've had a pretty good week blog wise. I'm trying to be more consistent with my entries and explore more aspects of my Blogs design. Over the next few weeks there will be quite a bit of change as I try to make my blog more attractive and something that really suits me.

So this week I've looked at a local coffee shop, talked about local events in Brisbane, and posted one of my own meals. I'm hoping to look at another couple of cafes and places around Brisbane this week. In fact this week is going to be Geek Week on my Blog, looking at some of the shops and sores around Brisbane that cater to the Geek.

Enough about that. Time to look at the recipes that have inspired me this week.

Firstly we have Arroz Con Pollo from Simply Recipes. This was a really easy dish that was very tasty. I substituted a few of the ingredients (as I always do) and we loved it. In fact my boyfriend said he would have eaten the rice as a meal on its own. This is a huge comment as I've only recently started to introduce vegetarian meals into our diet. I really enjoyed this one. All it involved was a quick sautee of the veges and rice, placing them in an oven proof dish, browning the chicken and placing it on top of the rice. cover the rice with a mixture of stock and tomato sauce or puree. Easy and delicious.

I stumbled across a tumblr site this week called Lovin' Life. With lots of photos of different products this site is full of inspiring ideas. The one I really like the most is the Spa Water. As a drinker of home made ice tea I am always on the look out for ideas on how to flavour water that will increase my likelihood of drinking it. Spa Water is a fantastic idea. Using fruit to infuse the water with flavour and the dispenser makes it a beautiful experience as well as a generally healthy one. I am definitely going to try something at home like this. Just wish I had such a beautiful dispenser to place it in.

 I've been looking for more salad recipes this week, as well as healthy delicious recipes. I came across SkinnyTaste.com. I really like this collection of recipes and photography on the site is an inspiration. I particularly like the look of the Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette. I am going to try something similar this week for dinner. I also like the look of the Black Bean, Avocado , Cucumber and Tomato Salad.  I can see serving along with a good Steak. I think I would probably substitute the black beans for kidney beans (just a personal preference). Overall I really like this site as it provides healthy recipe alternatives.

The last recipe I want to share with you this week is from Stone Soup. This blog has recipes with only 5 ingredients in them. As a fan of Indian Food I really want to give the Butter Chickpeas recipe a go. It is a really quick 10 minute recipe with only 5 ingredients. Stone Soup helps us to understand that tasty food does not need to be complicated and that using good and basic ingredients can be flavoursome and good for us.

As part of the whole being a bit healthier tonight I made Asian Lettuce Cups for dinner. Some call this San Choy Bow too. The basic idea is that it is a mixture of mince, vegetables and seasoning served in lettuce leaves. To eat you roll up the lettuce leaf and take a bite.

I've made San Choy Bow before using one of the packet saunces that you add to the mince. I found this be too sweet so thought I'd try to make it from scratch. I didn't have everything in the cupboard that the recipe called for, so I substituted ingredients. You can find the recipe here at Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks.

I used sesame seeds, Pork mince, fresh cabbage and carrot, and bean sprouts instead of sesame oil, chicken mince, coleslaw mix and water chestnuts. There are many different variations out there for this dish. I think the best thing to do is consider your own tastes and adjust the ingredients accordingly. It is a pretty healthy dish. I followed it up with fresh rock-melon and some raspberry yoghurt.

Asian Lettuce Wraps  (adapted from Hezzi-D's)
NB - As an entrée this would serve 4-6, as a main it serves 3-4

2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil

4 cloves of minced garlic

1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger 
2 mushrooms

500g of Pork or Chicken mince

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2 cups of mixed sliced cabbage and carrot (you can use Coleslaw mix)

1/2 cup of bean sprouts

3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon of Sweet Soy Sauce

1 teaspoon of sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon of chilli (I used minced chilli paste)

1 head lettuce (I used Cos but Iceberg works great too)

So, first off the rank in healthier recipes this month is a quick and easy pesto pasta. Numminess

Ingredients

(Serves two)

Spiral pasta for 2

8 Kalamata olives

3 Mushrooms

6 Semi-dried (or Sun-dried) tomatoes

Half a bunch of broccolini

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 tbsp Sun-dried Tomato pesto (or basil pesto)

1/2 tspn mixed Italian herbs

1 tspn of Crushed garlic

Small handful of grated parmesan
1 Chicken Breast

It is delicious and fresh. Perfect for a summer meal.

Put the pasta on to boil.

Roughly chop the Kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Slice the mushrooms. Chop the broccolini into inch size pieces. Chop the Chicken into bite size pieces. 

Heat the olive oil on medium-high. Add the garlic, herbs and Chicken. Cook for a few minutes then add the vegetables (except broccolini). Stir for 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms have a slight golden colour. Add the broccolini and stir for another 2 minutes to heat through, but still maintain the crunch. 

Remove the pan from the heat.

Once the Pasta is al-dente, drain most of the water, leaving about 2-3 tbsp in the pan with the pasta. 

Tip the cooked  vegetables into the pasta, add the pesto and mix on a medium heat until everything is combined nicely. Remove from the heat.

Dish this up and sprinkle with parmesan.

My boyfriend and I really enjoy this one. The Kalamata olives give the dish a saltiness, and the tomato and broccolini a hint of sweetness.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. (Simply omit the chicken to make this Vegetarian)