By Corrine Dorosuth, Arrow Martial Arts
My name is Corinne, I have been running well-being classes for over 5 years now and I write a food blog for an alternative therapy website and would like to share a few simple recipes for this Christmas if you are short on time. Some of these recipes are from my native Mauritius. Mauritian cuisine is a mixture of French, African and Indian. We call it Creole cuisine.
These are simple quick healthy recipes to prepare if you do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen this year. Most of these recipes can be made simpler by changing the ingredients or mixing some of your own. The Fricassee for example is very elaborate but you can change it and make it much simpler, and the taste will still be good.
Avocado Dip
INGREDIENTS
- 2 to 3 ripe Avocado (the amount used depends on how many people you are serving)
- 1 teaspoon Tahini butter
- Red Radish – Thinly slice
- A sprinkle of Paprika
- Alfa Alfa sprouts or snow peas sprouts
- Spring onions or shallots (optional)
- Salt, pepper, lemon juice
- A round plate
METHOD
Mash the avocado with a fork until it is smooth. Then mix the Tahini butter, If it is too hard with a fork, I would suggest blending the avocado and Tahini together instead of using a fork.
Add a sprinkle of Paprika, salt and pepper to the avocado and Tahini mixture.
Use either half a lemon juice or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and add to the mix.
Arrange the Avocado on your plate in a circle, imagine you are doing a Christmas wreath base with the avocado.
Arrange the red radish slices on top of the wreath all around in an even circle.
Sprinkle the sprouts on the circle.
If using Shallots sprinkle them before putting the red radish.
You can drizzle a little bit of Olive oil on your wreath.
In the middle of the avocado wreath, display crackers or smoked salmon or salami and serve fresh.
If you want it to look more Christmasy I often use a quarter of red, and green capsicum, thinly slice them and soften them in the oven, then display on top of the radishes. I have included a few different photos with different ingredients. As long as the base is the same, you can play around with Christmas colours.
Entree
Prawn Mix
INGREDIENTS
- Shallow and round champagne or wine glasses. (you can keep them in the fridge an hour or 2 before you put the ingredients inside)
- Prawns (remove shells and clean) Woollies or Coles sells them without the shell.
- A ripe mango
- Cherry tomatoes
- Mint leaves
- Lettuce leaves
- Dressing: Olive oil, lemon juice
METHOD
Sautee the prawns quickly with garlic and a little bit of chilli flakes in a little bit of oil.
Slice your mango (thin slices)
Halved the cherry tomatoes.
Prepare your mint leaves and lettuce leaves.
Mix your dressing in a bottle for drizzling. (What’s Cooking on Coles level at Macquarie Centre sells cheap drizzling bottles)
Get your glasses out of the fridge and place them in front of you.
Place the lettuce leaf first then place 3 or 4 prawns on top of the lettuce leaf but on one side.
On the other side place mango slices – 2.
And on another corner of the glass place 2-3 half cherry tomatoes.
Decorate with a couple of mint leaves then drizzle the dressing on top.
Store in the fridge until your guests arrive.
Main
Sauteed (Fricassee In French) Chicken With Rice
INGREDIENTS
- Chicken (tenderloin, drumsticks or breast). Cut in small pieces (10 to 15 pieces at least if you are cooking for many people)
- A cup of green peas (optional)
- 2 potatoes – chopped and boiled to soften (optional)
- 2 to 3 Tomatoes – chopped
- 1 green chilli (optional)
- Half onion sliced (if dish is for 4 people) Onion can be white or red if you want more flavour.
- Spices:
- a sprinkle of cumin (optional)
- a couple of cloves
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh herbs:
- Parsley finely chopped
- Shallots finely sliced (optional)
- A few sprigs of thyme
- Coriander (optional)
- Half a tbsp of grated ginger and half a tbsp of garlic and mix together to make a paste.
- Tomato puree (can be canned if you wish but it will change the taste of Mauritian cooking as Mauritian cooking is mostly fresh ingredients).
- Or if you have time make your own by crushing the fresh tomatoes and parsley with salt and a little bit of water in the blender.
- Canola or sunflower oil to fry the chicken.
- Add water as needed.
METHOD
Chop your potatoes and boil them in a little bit of salt.
Heat a little bit of oil in the pan and soften the onion.
When the onion has that golden/brown colour add the chicken pieces.
Keep stirring for 5 minutes then sprinkle some cumin, cloves and the ginger and garlic paste then mix for 2 – 3 minutes.
Add a little bit of water.
Add the chopped tomatoes and the potatoes. Let it cook for a few more minutes whilst checking and adding water as necessary.
Add the shallots, Parsley & green peas and chilli with a little bit more water. Season with salt and pepper and reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
Cover the pot for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately when the chicken is tender.
Serve with rice.
Dessert
Yummy Healthy Brownies
INGREDIENTS
- 3 bananas
- 1 egg
- ½ cup almond butter or cashew butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- A handful Dark chocolate chip for the batter
- Another handful to decorate.
- Crushed walnuts
- Strawberries – sliced in half
- Note: the bananas can be replaced by a cup of gluten-free flour but add 2 eggs to the batter.
METHOD
Line a square pan with baking paper and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Crush the bananas in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork and press the bananas until there are no lumps.
Add the egg, the almond butter and the cocoa powder and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the dark chocolate chip but don’t mix too hard. You want them to stay as a whole in the batter.
Pour batter into your pan and decorate with the chocolate chip cookie on top with crushed walnuts.
Bake for about 20 minutes until the top looks set but check with a skewer first to see if it is dry inside before removing from oven.
Once the brownies are at room temperature, decorate with a slice of strawberry on top.
Serve with some vanilla ice cream if you wish.
Christmas Tree Pastry
You would have seen a lot of videos lately on Instagram with quick Christmas desserts. I have seen the Christmas tree doing the rounds. Mine is the same except I have a little twist.
Note: I melted Cadbury milk chocolate on the stove as the taste is better but feel free to swap with Nutella if you do not have a lot of time.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 square sheets of puff pastry
- Melted chocolate or Nutella
METHOD
Cut the two sheets in a Christmas tree shape (use a ruler). It does not have to be perfect.
One is the base, and one is the top. Place the base on a large chopping board and spread the melted chocolate or Nutella on the base. Then place the other pastry on top.
If you have a cookie cutter in the shape of a star, cut two stars in the 3rd pastry and spread chocolate on the base of the star then put the second star on top and set aside.
Once your Christmas tree pastry has got both bases covered, place your star on top of the tree. Then use a small knife and gently slice the sides of the tree in a horizontal way making sure the middle of the tree is not sliced.
Then start twisting the branches on the side of the pastry upwards but do it gently. Two twists are plenty.
Brush your Christmas tree with a little bit of milk then place almond flakes on the pastry.
Bake in the oven until the pastry has that golden brown colour. Do not bake it for a long time. Keep checking and as soon as you see that light brown crispy colour take the pastry out.
Place your pastry in a rectangular dish and sprinkle red and green MNMS all around the plate to give it that Christmas colour look. You can sprinkle icing sugar on it if you wish. I usually sprinkle coconut sugar for a healthier version.
Eat with Vanilla ice cream.
If you are using Cadbury see the method below to melt.
Cadbury milk chocolate melted (pour water in a frying pan and use a dish that can sustain heat and place it in the frying pan. Break the chocolate bars, place them in the dish and let them melt on the stove on a low flame. It should take only 5-10 seconds for them to melt. Spread quickly on prepared pastry.
