Zucchini and feta fritters

I made this up today, inspired by my recent success with amazingly simple and delicious zucchini and haloumi fritters. These are low in sugar and carbs and are of course low GI as well.

The texture of these is lovely, light and slightly crisp; somewhere between a pikelet, an omelette and a fritter. I recommend serving simply with a squeeze of lemon, or some crispy bacon and tomato chutney for something more substantial.

• 2 zucchini, grated, squeezed and drained (the more moisture you can remove, the better – ideally leave to drain for a few hours in a colander)
• 100g Danish-style feta, crumbled
• 2 eggs
• pepper
• chopped fresh parsley, dill or mint
• 2 tablespoons plain flour to help bind (you can substitute with corn flour or almond meal if preferred)

Mix everything together, then fry in small spoonfuls until golden and browed on the edges – they’ll still be quite light and fluffy inside. Voila!

Green and red hot sauce

These are my basic green and red hot sauce recipes which I adapt every time to accommodate for seasonal availability.

I’ve been growing my own chillies since Christmas and I’ve already harvested about two kilos, the equivalent of four batches of hot sauce. I urge you to try growing your own; it’s ecological, economical and incredibly satisfying!

Some tips: Make sure you taste and adjust amounts of ingredients as necessary, as every batch will be different. You may sometimes need to add a little sugar, or more or less vinegar or garlic. And always, always, always use gloves! I’ve learnt the hard way that while your tongue may become desensitised to chilli, your eyes never do…

Chicken Adobo

This Filipino classic is one of Mr Black’s favourite dishes, and mine as well. I absolutely adore vinegar – as a child I would drink leftover dressing straight from my salad bowl. If you love vinegar, you’ll love adobo! Best of all it’s dead simple to make, perfect for either a midweek dinner or an easy party dish.

Frittata of baby spinach, pumpkin, feta & jamon

I began this dish thinking I was going to make spanokopita. But having no filo pastry, I added a few eggs to turn it into a frittata. I also decided to throw in some thinly sliced pumpkin to bulk it up and a few slices of jamon because, well pork products make everything better. Obviously you could leave it out if you wanted to keep it vegetarian.

Sate babi bumbu kecap: Indonesian pork sate

This dish was inspired by a recipe from RasaMalaysia and adapted for the Thermomix, with which I am obsessed. Of course, you can make it using a blender and saucepan too. It reminds me of the sate sticks my dad used to cook for us when I was little, on a teeny tiny charcoal barbecue in our backyard. I adored smothering huge bowls of rice with the peanut sauce. Heavenly!

Easy egg-based breakfast bites

For me, the hardest time eating low-carb/low-GI is at breakfast. My usual breakfast involves leftovers of some kind, but occasionally I need something a bit more traditional. These little breakfast ‘bites’ are really simple to make and keep well for a few days once cooked.

A ‘recipe’ as such isn’t really needed. You just need a non-stick muffin/cupcake tin, one egg per hole, and something to make them taste delicious…

Japanese spinach with sesame

Ok, this is not authentic, but it’s a very quick and easy approximation to the delicious horenso no goma ae I always have to order at Japanese restaurants. The classic recipe calls for boiled sake and hand-ground sesame seeds, but hello, it’s Tuesday.

Pork belly & ribs stewed in orange, soy and spices

This is my mum’s best classic, comforting winter dinner dish and a firm family favourite. It fills the house with an incredibly enticing, warming fragrance from the star anise, cinnamon and orange, and reminds me of the happiest moments of my childhood. The pork is stewed until incredibly tender, so that the fat just melts in the mouth and the meat is worthy of ‘pulling’ pork status. The ribs are a treat for those who aren’t into pork fat (i.e. crazy people, and my sister).

Baby strawberry, vanilla & maple syrup teacakes

I love reading all the amazing posts from the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, but never planned to join in, being such a lame dessert maker. However my brother Marc gave me a massive tub of the most delicious, sweet little strawberries today, so I though I’d join in this month’s Berry Nice To Meet You blog hop.

Confit duck dumplings fried in duck fat

I am obsessed with few things in life, but duck and dumplings are definitely two of them. While shopping for ingredients to make dumplings the other evening, I had the GENIUS idea to combine the two. Even more brilliant, I got my friends to help make them! They didn’t quite turn out quite as prettily as my usual dumplings (I’ve had a lot of practice) but it was great fun. We also made some spinach and tofu Ladakhi mokmok (aka momos in Tibet or Nepal), which I’ll post separately for the vegematarians