Tahini dressing

When I first read this recipe http://www.kathrynelliott.com.au/blog/2007/11/19/tahini-salad-dressing on Limes & Lycopene blog, I knew it would come into our kitchen at some point.

Tonight we roasted our own organic potatoes, carrots and corn and dressed it with this - really good. I didn't have shoyu so used organic tamari instead. My boys loved it, so it might be a good addition to their school lunch menu.

~Tahini Dressing~
2 tab tahini
2 tab lemon juice
1 tab tamari
1 tab Dijon mustard

Stir lemon juice into tahini, then tamari and mustard in. Done :)

Roast Leek, Garlic and Potato Soup

The plan was to make roast leek and celeraic soup, but somehow celeraic was unavailable in all the places I searched. Maybe because it's an autumn vegetable and even though our weather is decidedly autumn-like here on the mountain right now, it is in fact summer...

The leeks and garlic were roasted last night while the oven was on for roast lamb. I did a tray of roast pumpkin for the freezer as well - very handy to have in store and we are about to overflow with pumpkins from the garden.

So, this is what was mixed up and it's pretty good :

~Roast Leek, Garlic and Potato Soup~
3 leeks
1 head garlic
olive oil
1kg potatoes
7 cups stock - chicken/vegetable
1 cup cream
parmesan and black pepper to serve

Split white part of leeks lengthwise, wash if needed, then chop into 5cm lengths. Place in tray with unpeeled garlic bulb and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 200 degrees until they are roasted looking. Leave the garlic in for longer if needed. It needs to be soft.

Place leeks and garlic pulp (squeeze out cloves) in a heavy based saucepan with stock and peeled, roughly chopped potatoes. Bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes can be squashed easily with a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Whizz with a stick blender to puree, then stir through cream.

Serve with finely grated fresh parmesan and lots of black pepper.

Boston Baked Beans

This recipe may have come from a Super Food Ideas mag years ago, but I'm not sure at all. I love baked beans. Comfort food, yum scrum.


~Boston Baked Beans~

350g dried haricot/cannellini beans, washed and soaked overnight
2 onions, chopped
250g bacon or ham, chopped
2 tab treacle
2 tab tomato paste
2 tab white wine vinegar
1 tab Keens mustard powder
1 tab brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
1/2 tab Worcestershire sauce
few whole cloves
black pepper
fresh parsley, finely chopped

Drain beans, place in large pan, cover with cold water and bring to boil. Simmer about 30 min. Drain and reserve liquid.

Mix beans, onions and bacon/ham in a large casserole dish.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together, plus about 2 cups of reserved bean liquid, and pour over bean mix.

Cover and bake in a slow oven (150 degrees) for 4-7 hours, depending on the beans used. Test to see when they are soft and done.

Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.

You can use any beans you want really, just need to adjust cooking times to suit. The cooked beans can be frozen for reheating later as a quick meal with wholemeal bread and salad.