Spring Tuna Spaghetti

This recipe was a bit of a throw-together but it was absolutely delicious. The capers and lemon zest gave it a wonderful flavour, and the asparagus added a beautiful Spring crunch. 

1 bunch asparagus, chopped

3 spring onions, chopped

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 cup white wine

1/2 cup vegetable stock

185g tuna in spring water

1 teaspoon of capers

big handful of rocket

1 tablespoon of light double cream

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

1 tablespoon of olive oil

zest of one lemon

spaghetti

1. Process onion, garlic cloves and chilli flakes

2. Heat oil in a pan and add the processed ingredients and fry for 5 minutes.

3. Bring water to the boil and add spaghetti. 

4. Add white wine, stock, capers and lemon zest to the pan and simmer. 

5. After a few minutes add the spring onions, stirring frequently. 

6. After another few minutes add the asparagus.

7. When the pasta is almost ready add the rocket, tuna and double cream to the sauce.

8. Once pasta is cooked add to the sauce, along with a quarter cup of the pasta water and the parmesan cheese. Mix pasta through so the sauce is evenly spread throughout. 

9. Eat up and enjoy!

My Thai

On Sunday I got back from an all-inclusive weekend at the snow which comprised of minimal skiing, excessive drinking and a citrus food fight. Orange-stained and feeling extremely unhealthy, a fresh, wholesome dinner was calling me. Trawling BBC Good Food's website (my fallback for any meal) I found a couple of delicious recipes and decided to use them together. I made Thai chicken cakes (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1883/thai-chicken-cakes-with-sweet-chilli-sauce) with a vermicelli noodle salad from this recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12261/spicy-prawncakes-with-noodle-salad. I added about a teaspoon of cumin to the minced chicken mixture and after rolling them into cakes left them in the fridge for about half an hour. The dressing for the noodle salad didn't taste quite right so I added a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce. I was worried the chicken cakes might have been a bit dry but they were lovely. The fresh coriander brought the dish together and it was sooo good. Sorted me right out!

The Banff

Since recently relocating to St Kilda I cannot get enough of this place. The vibe is relaxed and friendly, and their happy hour is super good value - $8 jugs and $3 vinos! 

Their pizzas are delicious and student friendly (In-house pizzas are $5.50 all day Monday and Tuesday and between 12 and 5.30 Wednesday to Friday, but they're still very reasonably priced at other times. The last two occasions I was at The Banff I had the  pumpkin and gorgonzola with rocket and walnut pizza (beautiful!) and the squid with lemon, rocket and capers pizza. Both were really lovely. This place is a winner. 

Squid With Lemon, Rocket And Capers

Stalactites

Stalactites is a Melbourne institution and undoubtedly the best place to grab a kebab at any time of the day or night. Yep, it's 24 hours baby! It's a popular haunt with a busy, rather frenzied vibe. In an effort to reduce the queue waiting for a table a waiter offered a complimentary glass of wine for those who wanted to sit outside, in which we happily obliged. Being a poor uni student I always stick to the souvlaki - anything else and the price gets a bit ridiculous. Plus the souvlakis are amazing and HUGE! My friend went for the lamb skewers and commented on how tender the lamb was. Stalactites has a great atmosphere and it's a good place to go for a casual friendly meal. 

Tarama and Pita Bread

Lamb Skewers With Salad And Chips

Mixed Souvlaki

Chicken Parmigiana With Rocket Salad

Shocking as this may sound, only once have I eaten a parma. And it wasn't even a whole one - I think I had a bite of my boyfriend's. Given the amount of time I've spent in the pub over the years I feel not having eaten one is almost sacrilegious. But thanks to Weight Watchers (enough already!) I cooked a chicken parma (http://www.weightwatchers.co.nz/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=152891) and ate the lot. Of course there are some slight variations - mainly that the Weight Watchers version actually fits on the plate. I halved a 300g chicken breast and made a few incisions on the fatter half so it would lay a bit flatter whilst in the fry pan. The recipe asks for bocconcini but I used a piece of Jarlsberg cheese and put half on each piece of chicken. And instead of having potatoes with the parma we just had salad with chickpeas. Other than that I followed the recipe to a tee. Easy, Weight Watchers-approved comfort food. 

Beef Koftas With Chickpea Couscous

I actually don't know what I'm going to do when I run out of Weight Watchers recipes to try. I feel like I've fallen on an untapped resource of guilt-free meal options. The other night I spiced it up with some beef koftas and chickpea couscous (http://www.weightwatchers.com.au/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=153951). I made the recipe more student-friendly by leaving out the parsley and fresh mint (instead I used dried mint), and made a greek salad, which is not part of the Weight Watchers recipe (but I used reduced fat fetta and left out the olives so surely that counts for something!). The recipe was easy to prepare and tasted great (although next time I think I'll season the beef mixture before making into koftas). I really loved the natural yoghurt and mint sauce, which went so well with the koftas and chickpea couscous. This would be a great recipe for a summer bbq.

Fathers Day

At 8.30am on Sunday morning, three dutiful daughters and one obliging boyfriend boarded the train to Benalla to personally wish their amazing Daddy (and gf's Daddy) a fabulous Fathers day. Thanks to the XPT's prompt service we were coffee and caking it by 11am, before setting into lunch preparations. As Mum and Dad are on Weight Watchers (Dad by default), this was no ordinary Sunday lunch. We had prawn and vegetable fried rice which was sooo good. The sauce was lovely and sticky and the asparagus added a crunchy bite. I was so full after one bowl, but because it was Weight Watchers I had another... AND a Weight Watchers chocolate mousse dessert. I actually had to have a nap afterwards. I posted a photo of the recipe which is probably illegal, but I feel I have an obligation to share amazing food with the world... 

Prawn and Vegetable Fried Rice

Chocolate Mousse and Berries

Click To Enlarge!

Veludo

The challenge of eating on Acland Street is not finding a place to eat (there a dozens!), but finding a place to sit. If you're lucky enough to score an outside table at lunch time, the rest of your afternoon is sorted! When we first arrived at Veludo (about 3pm on a Saturday afternoon) we begrudgingly sat inside as no outside tables were available. But as luck would have it one of the benches outside freed up, and dropping everything I made the mad dash outside, destroying all obstacles in my path (not quite), and triumphantly claimed the table. In celebration I ordered a glass of Tyrell's premium brut which was so tasty I ordered a couple more... I'd had a late breakfast so wasn't very hungry. The breakfast/lunch menu was still being served so I ordered the Sicilian calamari salad with tomato, capers, red onion, ciabatta croutons, raisins and red wine vinegar dressing. The raisins were a nice touch and the calamari was lovely and tender, not stringy, but for $17 I thought it was quite expensive for what it was.

Sicilian Calamari Salad

My boyfriend ordered the wagyu beef burger on turkish bun with caramelised onion, cheddar, tomato relish, gem lettuce, dill pickles, chips and aioli, which lead to a serious case of food envy. The burger bun had been 'branded' with a V which was pretty cool and the patty had a lovely texture and was still pink in the middle. The aioli was delicious - I was dipping my calamari in on the sly... The only negative of the experience would be we asked for water on two separate occasions from two waitresses but never received any. Their tapas menu sounds really tasty so I'm planning to return on a Wednesday night when they do BYO and no corkage. 

Wagyu Burger

Return To Galleon

Where's the perfect place to take a bunch of hungover mates for a lazy Sunday brunch (within crawling distance)? Galleon, of course (http://galleoncafe.com.au/). We managed to get a table straight away, and more importantly, a round of coffee (which was just lovely).We were there past 11am so the lunch menu was being served, but we all opted for breakfast. The breakfast menu always makes me drool - there's too many delicious options. But this time I went for the truffled eggs served with goats cheese and wilted spinach on pide toast. At first I thought it was a little dry but as I got into it I really began to enjoy it. The sprinkling of dried mushrooms complemented the juicy spinach, and the goats cheese added a luxurious bite. The servings are very generous at Galleon, but I finished the lot! The affordability and exciting menu will keep me coming back again and again. 

The Anti-Weight Watchers

In an effort to convince my boyfriend I hadn't secretly signed us both up for Weight Watchers, I turned to the ever reliable Jamie Oliver for some pucker pasta. The chosen dish was rigatoni with sweet tomatoes, aubergine and mozzarella (http://leitesculinaria.com/6736/recipes-rigatoni-tomatoes-eggplant-mozzarella.html), and it was a beauty! I ripped up a ball of buffalo mozzarella and added it right at the end, so it melted through the pasta and went stringy - yum! The texture of the aubergine became really silky and was just lovely. Unfortunately the quantity of buffalo mozzarella and double cream in the recipe means I won't be making it again any time soon...

Vegetable And Chickpea Hot Pot

Last weekend was all about carne, so to get my body back into equilibrium it was a complete veg fest this week. Still working my way through the Weight Watchers cookbook I gave the vegetable and chickpea hotpot a crack (http://www.weightwatchers.co.nz/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=34311). Right until the very end I was highly doubtful the hot pot would taste any good as the only flavours (apart from the veggies) were from cumin and vegetable stock. But I needn't have worried as it was absolutely delightful! And in defiance to the Weight Watchers recipe I added a dollop of double cream...