Contains Nuts Archives | Page 3 of 11

Hot smoked trout, almond and lemon pilaf

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon rind, finely grated
2 cups basmati rice
1 /2 cup white wine
3 cups water (or stock)
1 cup broccoli
150g mixed salad leaves
200g hot smoked trout, skinned and flaked
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
lemon wedges and mayonnaise or a lemony horseradish cream to serve

Method

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion for about five minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and lemon rind and cook for another couple of minutes.

Add the rice, stir for a minute and then add the wine. Cook for another minute and then pour in the water (or stock). Cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and place broccoli florets on top of the rice. Cover and set aside for five minutes.

To serve, transfer to a platter lined with the salad leaves and top the rice and broccoli with the flaked skinned trout and scatter with the almonds. Place a few lemon wedges on the side.

Notes:

With a few tweaks and twists it can go in any direction you choose (see variations below). There’s about five minutes of chopping here and then a bit of waiting around while the rice cooks and that’s it! Serve this with a lemony horseradish cream or mayonnaise on the side and some nice bread and what you have is a really great meal!
Substitute the trout with slices of cooked chicken breast or lamb back strap.
Add half a teaspoon of cumin, ground cardamom and turmeric to the onions while cooking and then stir through some raisins just before serving. In this case I’d skip the salmon and maybe serve instead a beautiful piece of barbecued lamb. This would be great with some minted yogurt on the side.
Swap the hot smoked trout for lightly pan-fried snapper or other white-fleshed fish.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Related rice recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Roast pumpkin salad

Ingredients

Salad:
Pumpkin
Feta
Avocado
Roasted Pine Nuts
Baby spinach

Dressing:
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Maple syrup
Wholegrain mustard

Method

Roast peeled cubed pumpkin until firm but cooked.
Add chopped feta, chopped avocado, roasted pine nuts & baby spinach (or any mixed lettuce), toss with dressing and serve
Dressing:
Combine all ingredients and stir

Serving Suggestions

Note

Green eggs and ham

Ingredients

4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons prepared pesto
4 slices leg ham
4 thick slices bread
Basil leaves, to garnish

Method

Whisk eggs and milk or cream until light and fluffy. Heat a non-stick saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter.

Pour in egg mixture and allow to cook for about 20 seconds until the edges are starting to set. Use a wooden spoon to push the egg on the outside into the middle all the way around the pan. Cook for another 20 seconds, repeat the pushing motion.

The eggs will be almost set, remove from heat and stir in the pesto. The eggs will continue to cook as you make the toast. Top toast with ham and eggs and sprinkle with basil leaves to serve.

Notes:

Increase the recipe depending on how many you have to feed. If your kids are unlikely to embrace the green, serve them before you add the pesto.
This is a great recipe for any meal of the day and we made it for a weekend lunch.
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Carrot, sweet potato and coconut soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 litre chicken stock
500ml water
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into chunks
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunks
250ml coconut milk

Method

Heat oil in a heavy-based pan, sauté onion until soft.

Add curry powder, sauté 1 minute.

Add chicken stock, water, carrot chunks and sweet potato chunks.

Simmer on a low heat until vegetables are soft.

Add coconut milk and puree mixture with a stick blender or in a food processor.

Reheat gently.

Find related soup recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Serve with a cob of crusty bread and butter.
Pumpkin works equally well if you're out of sweet potato.
This recipe was created by Alana House for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Alana at Housegoeshome and on Twitter.

Walnut brownies

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
150g walnuts, chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Lightly grease a slice tin (33 x 23 cm) with butter and line it with baking paper.

Melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave.

Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together, add vanilla, flour, cocoa, salt (optional) and the melted butter next.

Using a spatula fold in the walnuts and gently pour the mixture into the tin.

Bake for approximately 20-30 minutes. You can test if the brownies are cooked through by inserting a wooden skewer into the centre of the tin. If it comes out clean, they’re ready to be taken out of the oven.

Let the brownies cool and dust with sifted icing sugar. Decorate with cut strawberries and serve on a platter.

Notes:

If you like a denser, gooier brownie, remove from the oven at around 18 minutes.
This mixture becomes more cakelike if you beat the batter for an extended time.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Beef skewers with peanut sauce

Ingredients

600g rump steak
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 cup peanut sauce

Method

Trim fat from steak and slice into thin strips about 10cm long. Combine sauces in a large casserole dish and marinade steak for at least one hour or overnight.

Thread one end of a steak strip onto a metal skewer (if using wooden skewers, soak in cold water for 30 minutes before using), fold back and thread onto the skewer, continuing until the whole strip is threaded on. Thread 3-4 strips on each skewer. Dont they look great!

Preheat grill (or barbecue) to high heat and cook skewers on each side until well browned and cooked to your liking.

Warm peanut sauce in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave.

Serve skewers drizzled with peanut sauce.

Notes:

Marinade the meat overnight, thread onto skewers during the day and then keep in fridge until you are ready to cook.
We had leftover rice (see Pantry surprise lamb curry) with our skewers. An Asian-style salad would be a great accompaniment to these skewers, see Thai beef salad
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Slow cooker beef rendang

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil
1.2kg gravy beef, 4cm dice
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
3 cardamon pods
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 x tin (400g) coconut milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted
2 tbsp tamarind puree
coriander leaves, to serve

For spice paste:

1 medium brown onion
1 1/2 tbsp ginger, roughly chopped
1 tbsp galangal, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic
2 long red chillies, seeds removed, roughly chopped
2 lemongrass, white part only, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt

Method

For spice paste, process all ingredients in a food processor. Alternatively, pound in a mortar and pestle until finely minced.

Heat oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add spice paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add beef and brown on all sides. Transfer to the bowl of a slow cooker and add all other ingredients except coriander leaves. Add 1 cup of water. Cook for 6-8 hours on low until meat is tender and falling apart.

Remove meat with a slotted spoon and set aside. Turn slow cooker up to high and allow sauce to thicken. Taste and check for seasoning, and add more brown sugar, tamarind or salt if required. Return meat to sauce. Serve with rice, coriander leaves and steamed green vegetables.

Find more beef recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

You could skip the spice paste stage of this recipe and just use a store-bought rendang paste.
Don’t be daunted by the list of ingredients. They are all readily available in Asian supermarkets, green grocers and the Asian food section of most regular supermarkets.
If you are looking for another beef recipe then Slow cooker beef with red wine shallot gravy is delicious.
You could make Slow cooker Irish stew for a hearty meal.
You may like Slow cooker beer stew if you love a big flavours.
If you are looking for something a bit lighter then Slow cooker chicken casserole is still warming and delicious.
You can cook a whole chicken in the slow cooker with this Slow cooker roast chicken recipe.
If you love lamb then you will love our Slow cooker Greek lamb and Slow cooker lamb shoulder.
If your family likes meatloaf, you will love this Slow cooker meatloaf.
There are recipes other than meaty meals that you can make in the slow cooker. Why don't you try this Slow cooker bread or Slow cooker cheese and bacon scrolls.
This recipe was created for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder by Greer Worsley, who blogs at Typically Red.

Spelt choc-chip cookies

Makes 24

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125g) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (125g) brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 cup (150g) spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup (85g) desiccated coconut
1/2 cup (95g) dark choc chips

Method

Step 1. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add vanilla.

Step 2. Fold through flours, baking powder, coconut and choc chips.

Step 3. Place tablespoon-sized balls on trays lined with baking paper.

Step 4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Cool slightly on the tray before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
These cookies keep well in an airtight container in the pantry for 8-10 days.
Try these No-bake coconut and date balls, for another irresistible and healthy after school snack.
These 2-ingredient energy bars are surprisingly sweet, given they don't contain any added sugar.
The kids will never know that these Sneaky pumpkin muffins are packed full of veggies. So tricky!
Say 'no' to pre-made supermarket snacks – these Chia seed muesli bars are so much better for you.
Corn pikelets are great for the lunch box, or as a take anywhere, eat anytime healthy snack.
Whip together a batch of Feta and spinach muffins, for a savoury snack your kids will always devour.
Keep a jar of these Healthy chocolate power balls in the fridge and you'll always have something yummy and healthy at your fingertips.
These nutrient-rich Breakfast biscuits will ensure picky eaters leave the house with a full belly.
Moist and chocolatey, you'd never guess that these Zucchini brownies are so good for you.
On warm days this Caramel banana frozen yoghurt is an unbeatable snack!
This recipe was created for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder by Greer Worsley, who blogs at Typically Red.

Spaceship cake

This spaceship birthday cake will impress your kids at their next birthday party. A simple cake to make, it is dressed up with fondant icing and decorated with a range of delicious sweets.

Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, softened
1 and a half cups caster sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 and a half cups self raising flour
1 cup milk

Icing

50g unsalted butter
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
3 drops green colouring

Decoration

850g (375g for the cake board) white ready-to-roll fondant icing*
blue gel or paste colouring (liquid food colouring not compatible with the fondant icing)*
1 jam jar lid
flying saucer sherbets
12 Freckle lollies
8 yellow jubes
8 orange jubes
4 green jubes
1 extra jube
12 yellow Skittle lollies
12 orange Skittle lollies
12 green Skittle lollies
6 lollipops
1 liquorice allsort

* from your local cake decorating shop

You will need a Dolly Varden cake tin (mine has top diameter 19cm, base diameter 5cm, height 14.5cm) and a 30cm cake board or plate for this recipe. If you dont have the cake tin, most cake decorating shops have tins for hire overnight at reasonable prices

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Liberally grease the cake tin with butter and then sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour. Jiggle the tin around to coat evenly, then discard any remaining flour.

In an electric mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes until pale in colour and creamy. Add sugar one third at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute between each addition. Add the vanilla essence and beat until combined. Sift flour and add half to butter mixture with half the milk, beat until well combined. Repeat with remaining flour and milk.

Spoon mixture into tin, place on a baking tray to catch any over flow and bake for 45-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, loosen edges with a knife and then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Icing

Cream butter until pale and smooth. Add the milk and half the sifted icing sugar. Beat until well combined. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy. The mixture should be a spreadable paste; if it is too dry add some more milk, if too wet add more icing sugar. Add food colouring and stir until an even colour.

Decoration

If you are covering a cake board or plate, chop 375g of the white fondant icing into small pieces and knead on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar until it softens slightly. Add a small amount of blue colouring using a toothpick. Knead until the colour is even, add more colour if needed, knead again and roll out to 3mm thick. Carefully roll the icing onto a rolling pin and roll out over the cake board or plate. Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps, trim away any excess blue icing.

Trim the top of the cake so it is level; turn the cake upside down onto a flat surface. Cut the cake in half and sandwich together with half of the butter icing (you could call it Martian blood, depending on the age of your kids!). Reserve 3 tablespoons butter icing and spread the remainder in a thin layer over the top and side of the cake using a butter knife or groovy offset spatula from the cake decorating shop.

For the space ship, chop the remaining (475g) white fondant icing into small pieces and knead on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar until is softens slightly. Roll out the icing to 5mm thick. Carefully roll the icing onto the rolling pin and roll out over the cake (see Notes). Dust your fingers lightly with icing sugar and smooth the icing into place. If you have an excess fold of icing, smooth this into a wedge at 90å¡ to the cake, slice it off and carefully smooth the join (and make this the back of the cake). Trim off the excess around the base of the cake.

Place a jam jar lid on the cake board and stand the cake on the lid so it is slightly raised. Reknead and roll out icing trimmings, cut out stars and moon crescents and place on the cake board with some of the flying saucer sherbets. Stick the freckles around the base of the cake using a little of the butter icing on the back of each freckle.

Cut the jubes in half. Use the sticky side of each jube to stick on a row around the ship, four yellow, one green in a repeating pattern. Use a dab of butter icing on one side of the skittles to form a second row, two yellow, one green, two orange in a repeating pattern. For the third row, stick on four orange, one green jube in a repeating pattern.

Decorate the top of the space ship with lollipops. For the command centre, use butter icing to stick together the extra jube, liquorice allsort and a flying saucer. Then stick this to the very top of the cake.

Notes:

Preparation time: 25 minutes, baking time: 45-50 minutes, decorating time: 1 hour (allow longer if you have not used fondant icing before).
Cooking time really depends on the size of your cake tin and if it is smaller than mine (see above), cook for a shorter time, if larger, cook for longer. Also, Dolly Vartan tins are an unusual shape, so the top may look a bit over done before the centre is cooked. Dont worry about this as you will be trimming the top.
To make the BIG Day preparations easier, make the cake two days before the party, keep in an airtight container in the fridge (it is easier to decorate a cold cake), then decorate the night before and leave at room temperature.
To speed up the decorating time, use a blue (or any colour you fancy) plate rather than covering a cake board with fondant icing.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Mince pie pops

Ingredients

2 sheets ready-made shortcrust pastry, defrosted
1 jar (410g) fruit mince (you only need about 1/2 cup)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp icing sugar

You will also need:

1 small round cookie cutter (5cm diameter)
1 extra small star-shaped cookie cutter
20 pop sticks
ribbons or stickers for decoration

Method

Step 1. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside. Place the pastry sheet on a flat surface and cut out 40 rounds. Use the star cutter to cut out the centre of 20 rounds for the tops.

Step 2. Place pop sticks into the centres of the pastry rounds. Use small pieces of leftover pastry to stick the pop sticks down. Place 1/2 tsp of fruit mince on 20 rounds. Wet the star-cut pastry rounds all over one surface and place wet side down on the fruit mince.

Step 3. Use a fork to crimp edges.

Step 4. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 12 minutes. Tie ribbons onto pop sticks and sift icing sugar onto each pie.

Mince pie pops

Find related sweet Christmas recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

You can hot glue Christmas decorations on the sticks if you prefer.
If you don’t have pop sticks you can make these and pop them into a tiny gift box instead.
This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot,New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Almond, rosemary and fennel crackers

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup almonds
1 tbs fresh rosemary (chopped)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 egg
2 tbs olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan-forced). In a food processor, grind almonds to form a fine crumb. Be sure not to overdo it or you will end up with almond butter.

Add remaining ingredients and process until well combined.

Working with half the mixture, place almond mixture between two sheets of baking paper. Roll out to a couple of millimetres thick. Peel off top layer of paper (save it to use on the second batch).

Transfer bottom layer of paper with rolled almond mixture to a large baking tray. Cut into diamonds or squares or your desired cracker shapes. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Repeat with remaining mixture.

Serving Suggestions

Note

If you don’t like fennel seeds, simply omit them.
Use thyme or oregano in place of rosemary if you prefer.
Serve with cheese and quince paste, pate or dips.
These crackers store well in an airtight container for several days.
This recipe was created by Greer Worsley for Kidspot.

Spring chicken braise with lemon, herbs and almonds

Ingredients

1 chicken, jointed
4 tbsp flour
30g butter
zest of 2 lemons
20-40ml (1-2 tbsp) olive oil
1/4 cup lemon thyme leaves, chopped
1/4 cup marjoram, chopped
1/4 cup rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
250 ml (1 cup) white wine
250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
couscous, toasted almonds and cress to serve.

Method

Preheat your oven to 140°C (or 120°C fan-forced). Dust the chicken pieces with flour, melt the butter over a medium heat in a heavy-based saucepan and brown the chicken well on all sides. Lay the chicken in an oven-proof baking dish.

Add olive oil to the frying pan and cook the onion, celery and carrot for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the herbs and white wine and let it bubble for a few moments before pouring in the chicken stock and bringing mixture to the boil.

Pour this sauce over the chicken pieces, cover tightly with foil and cook in the pre-heated oven for 3 hours.

Serve with couscous, toasted almonds and parsley or cress.

Find more chicken recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

Having a chicken jointed means cutting a whole chicken into six portions. You can get this done at your local chicken shop.
I like to give this dish two layers of foil so the juices are sealed in well.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Double choc slice

Ingredients

1 block of dream or any other white chocolate
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbs cocoa
1 tin condensed milk
125g melted butter

Method

Mix all ingredients together.

Sppon mixture in a lamington tin and press broken pieces of chocolate into mixture.

Bake at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or until cooked.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Watermelon fangs

Ingredients

Quarter of watermelon
half a cup desiccated coconut

Method

Wipe skin of watermelon to get rid of any dirt.

Slice watermelon into 16 slices. Use a small knife to cut a zigzag pattern of fangs into each piece of melon.

Arrange melon pieces into 8 mouths and sprinkle the pointy bits with coconut to make the white fangs.

Notes:

A healthy Halloween treat, that the kids just might go for!
Or a monster twist on the after school fruit snack.
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot

Thyme and fennel roasted almonds

Ingredients

2 cup raw almonds
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbs thyme leaves
2 tsp salt flakes

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Toss almonds in a little of the oil. Place them in a single layer in a baking pan and roast for 8-10 minutes.

In a small frypan, toast fennel seeds for 1-2 minutes, shaking the pan continuously, until slightly brown and aromatic.

Combine toasted fennel, thyme leaves, salt and remaining oil.

Pour mixture over hot almonds and toss to coat.

Related Christmas recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

It’s always a good idea to check on the nuts a couple of times during roasting to ensure they’re not burning.
Package up roasted nuts in cellophane bags and decorate with twine and a small sprig of thyme.
I have used fresh thyme in this recipe but you could substitute dried.
Use rosemary instead of thyme if you prefer.
This recipe was created by Greer Worsley.

Blueberry and yoghurt smoothie

Ingredients

1 banana, peeled and broken into chunks
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup plain yoghurt
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp L.S.A .powder
20ml (1 tbsp) flax seed oil

Method

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Serve in chilled glasses with pretty paper straws.

Find related drink recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

This smoothie is perfect for when your kids aren’t eating well but don’t mind a milkshake.
For a thick and creamy finish, you can freeze the bananas before you blend them in this smoothie.
L.S.A. is a linseed, sunflower and almond mix, which you can find in the health food aisle at the supermarket. It boosts fibre, vitamins and minerals.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder: You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Party Lamingtons

Makes approx. 20 small lamingtons

Ingredients

4 eggs
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups (300g) icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups (170g) desiccated coconut
A few drops of rose pink food colouring

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced) and line a lamington tray with baking paper.

Place the eggs and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on high for a few minutes or until pale and fluffy.

Gently fold in the flour and vanilla paste, then spoon into the prepared tray. Smooth over the top and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Once completely cool, slice the cake into 20 or so even-sized squares.

To make the icing, place half the icing sugar in one bowl with the cocoa powder and stir in 2 tbsp boiling water. Stir, adding more water if necessary, until you have a smooth, slightly runny paste. Place the coconut in a separate bowl. In another bowl, place the other half of the icing sugar and a couple of drops of pink icing sugar, again adding boiling water until you have a smooth, runny paste.

Dip half of the sponge squares into the cocoa icing mixture, coating them on all sides before tossing in the bowl of coconut until all sides are flecked with white. Place on a rack so the icing can ‘set’. Repeat this process with the pink icing mixture.

Find related lamington recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Double the recipe to make bigger lamingtons. You could also then cut the sponge in half lengthways and fill with jam before slicing into squares and coating with icing and coconut.
You might like to add a third colour to the mix; perhaps a nice sunny yellow?
Make double-chocolate lamingtons by adding cocoa to the sponge mixture, folding through with the flour.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Caramelised fruit kebabs

Makes 12 kebabs

Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries, trimmed and rinsed
half a pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
2 large bananas, sliced
50g coconut oil
1/4 cup (45g) dark brown sugar
Juice from 1/2 small lemon

You will also need:

12 wooden skewers

Method

Place all cut fruit into a large bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil with sugar and lemon, stirring continuously, and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes or until sugar has completely dissolved.

Remove from heat and pour the mixture over the fruit. Cover and set aside for 1 hour or until ready to use (but no more than 3 hours).

Take 12 wooden skewers and trim to fit your frying pan or griddle. Thread the fruit on to each skewer, alternating the pieces.

Heat frying pan on medium, use some of the “caramel marinade” to coat the surface, then proceed to sear the skewers on all sides for 2-3 minutes, or until golden and a little chewy.

Arrange on a platter and serve with a dipping bowl of yoghurt and lots of serviettes!

Find related fruit recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Coconut oil is a wonderful alternative to many other fats and oils. What makes it unique is that is solid, and to use it you just need to melt it down on the stovetop to liquify it.
Instead of using skewers you can just fry up the fruit pieces and serve alongside pancakes or pikelets, or on top of a bowl of muesli.
We’ve used dark brown sugar in this recipe but feel free to use a sugar substitute such as maple syrup or honey.
Why not experiment with fruit? Cubed pear, orange wedges or summer stone fruit would be lovely too.
This recipe was created by Katie Rainbird for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Katie at Katie180.

Walnut loaf with apple butter

Ingredients

Apple and rosemary butter:

6 large apples (I used Cox Pippins but any tart cooking apple would be good)
1 cup brown sugar
juice of one lemon
1 cinnamon stick
2 x 20cm stalks rosemary (or equivalent in small stalks)

Walnut loaf:

250g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
½ cup natural yoghurt
120g walnuts, toasted and chopped into small pieces

Method

Apple and rosemary butter:

Chop the apples into nice rough chunks (don’t bother with peeling and coring as these bits give lots of flavour, colour and pectin). Tip into a large casserole dish and add remaining ingredients. Cover and let bubble away on a medium-low heat for about one hour or until the apples are soft and mushy.

Remove the lid and cook on low for another hour or until the apples have turned a nice deep brown, reduced and intensified in flavour.

Once cooled, remove from the dish and store in a jar ready for spreading over the sliced loaf.

Walnut loaf:

Preheat the oven to 180å¡C or 160å¡C fan-forced. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, add the vanilla extract then the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition. Fold through the flour then the natural yoghurt and walnuts.

Spoon mixture into the loaf tin and smooth the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and the edges are just starting to pull away from the pan. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack.

Notes:

This loaf keeps for a few days and is great sliced thinly and spread with the apple butter then made into a little Û÷sandwichÛª for morning tea.
You can store the apple and rosemary butter in sterilised jars in the fridge for up to one month.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie onåÊ Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Brownies in a jar

Makes 1

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
100 g walnuts (roughly chopped)

Method

Wash and thoroughly dry a 1 litre glass jar. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix to combine.

Place half of the flour mixture into the bottom of the glass jar and tap lightly to settle it. Using a spoon, carefully add the cocoa powder on top of the flour – try not to mix them together. Add the remaining flour mixture, and then the brown sugar.

In the following order, layer the white sugar, milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and walnuts.

Seal the lid and handwrite a gift tag with the following instructions: Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C). Grease and line an 18cm x 28cm rectangular baking tin. Place all ingredients into a large bowl and add 150g melted butter and 3 lightly beaten eggs. Mix well. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.

Give as a lovely homemade gift to a friend or family member!

Find related sweet Christmas recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

Lightly tap the glass jar before adding the next layer in order to allow the ingredients to settle.
After adding the cocoa, wipe the inside of the glass jar with dry paper towel in order to remove any excess powder from the sides.
You can make these gifts ahead of time, as they are stored in a sealable jar.
If preferred, pecans can be used in place of the walnuts.
For a nut-free alternative, omit the walnuts and use 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips instead.

Gluten-free choc chip cupcakes

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups almond meal
half a cup gluten-free plain flour
half a cup choc chips
half a cup (125mL) milk or buttermilk

Icing (optional)

25g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar (gluten-free)
1 tablespoon milk
food colouring

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Place cupcake papers in two 12-hole cupcake trays.

In an electric mixer, beat butter for 2 minutes until pale in colour and creamy. Add sugar one third at a time, beating well between each addition.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute between each addition; the mixture will be separate at this stage.

Add the vanilla, almond meal, flour, choc chips and milk, stir until combined.

Fill cupcake papers half full (an icecream scoop is perfect for this). Bake for about 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely.

Icing:

Mix butter, milk and icing sugar until well combined. The mixture should be quite thick. Add food colouring a few drops at a time until you get your desired stomach-turning colour.

Spoon into a piping bag and pipe a small swirl of icing on the top of each cake. Top with a treat.

Notes:

The almond meal makes these cupcakes yummy and wonderfully indulgent, even if you are not gluten free.
Top with the icing and a tiny teddy (or a gluten free equivalent) and you can have an easy teddy bear party theme!
Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Thai pumpkin soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled and roughly diced
1 tin (425ml) coconut milk

Method

In a saucepan, heat the oil and fry the curry paste over a medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add the pumpkin to the pan and continue to fry further for 3 minutes.

Pour the coconut milk over the pumpkin and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until pumpkin is soft.

Cool for a few minutes and blend or use a stick mixer to a smooth consistency.

Garnish with coriander and serve.

Notes:

Using 2 tablespoons of curry paste gives a very mild flavour. If you want your soup to have a bit of bite, you can add another tablespoon of curry paste.
If you don’t like chopping and peeling pumpkin, you can halve a butternut pumpkin, remove the seeds and bake it at 180°C for 45 minutes and then scrape out the flesh. This soup uses 2 cups of butternut pumpkin flesh. Just add this after you fry off the curry paste and your soup is almost ready.

Find related soup recipes

This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Wholemeal apricot and coconut cake

Ingredients

1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup hot milk (or soy milk)
half a cup honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup wholemeal self raising flour
half a cup coconut

Method

Combine apricots, milk and honey in a bowl. Cover and stand 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 180åC.

Grease a 14cm x 21 cm loaf pan, line base with baking paper.

In a bowl, stir the egg, sifted flour and half a cup of the coconut into the apricot mixture.

Spread mixture into prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Bake for approx. 1 hour.

Stand cake in pan 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool.

Notes:

This cake is like a healthy version of Apricot Delight and still delicious!
This makes a wonderful cake to bundle up in baking paper & stick into lunchboxes for kids. It will keep their energy levels up and you could even add a half a cup chopped walnuts for added energy and crunch.
This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder.

Easy chocolate choc chip cookies

Ingredients

125g butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2/3 cup of M&M’s/Chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to moderate. Lightly grease two oven trays

Beat butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Transfer to a larger bowl.

Sift together plain flour, self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder and pour into large bowl and mix.

Drop level tablespoons of the mixture onto the trays, leaving 5cm between each cookie. Add on M&M’s or/and chocolate chips.

Bake uncovered in moderate oven for about 10 mins. Stand cookies for 5 minutes then tranfer to a wire rack to cool.

Serving Suggestions

Note

One cup crumble cake

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup porridge oats
200g cold unsalted butter, diced
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup mixture of linseeds, pepitas or other little seeds
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup fresh fruit, this has a sliced beurre bos pear and some raspberries
cream or yoghurt to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Line a 24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

Combine the flour, sugar and oats in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and with your fingers, rub it into the flour mixture. Keep going until you have a coarse, sand-like consistency.

Stir through the coconut and linseed mix and separate about one cup’s worth of the mixture, set this aside for later.

Mix through the eggs, again this can be done with your fingers. Press mixture into the cake tin and smooth with the back of a spoon.

Press the fruit in a pretty pattern and top with reserved crumble mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden on top and firm in the middle. Let cool on a wire rack and serve.

Find more delicious cake recipes:

Serving Suggestions

Note

You could use a lamington tin and make this as a slice.
Use any kind of fruit you have handy. If using apples or pears there's no need to pre-cook them if you slice them nice and thinly.
A few chocolate chips scattered over the top always goes down well!
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Raisin and walnut brown rice salad

Ingredients

2 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup canned mandarin in syrup, drained
80g walnut, lightly toasted, chopped
2 individual spring onions, ends trimmed, finely chopped
2 tbsp vinegar, (preferably Sherry vinegar)
2 tsp olive oil

Method

Combine the rice, raisins, mandarins, walnuts and spring onions in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Whisk the vinegar and oil in a small bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the dressing to
rice mixture and toss to combine. Spoon into bowls and serve.

Serving Suggestions

Note

Buy walnuts still in their shell from your green grocer and crack them yourself for maximum freshness. Otherwise lightly toast already shelled walnuts in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat to freshen them up.
This salad is easy enough for the kids to help you prepare.
This salad is an easy side to whip up for a barbeque or picnic. You can keep the dressing separate in a sealed bottle, and then when it comes time to serve shake the bottle vigorously and pour over rice. Easy!
This recipe was written by Weight Watchers as part of Kidspot.com.au’s Positively Life Changing initiative.

5 high fibre lunch box ideas

Fibre is one of those ‘good for you’ nutrients as it is important for keeping the digestive system healthy. Not only does fibre regulate bowel movements, it also feeds your good gut bacteria and maintains gut health. A healthy colony of good gut bacteria supports the immune system.

Getting fibre into your kids may not necessarily be as hard and as mind boggling as you think. Some of the best and most delicious foods are packed with fibre!

Here are my top five tips for making sure your children’s diets have enough fibre.

Tip 1: Keep the skin on

Most of the fibre in our fruits and veggies are found in the skin. In order to increase fibre intake, leave the skin on! Wash a carrot and cucumber really well, slice into fingers and place in a container small enough to fit into a lunch box. Kids love to dip. You can therefore team the veggies up with dipping humus or mashed avocado.

Tip 2: Zebra sandwich

The more fun, exciting and interesting food looks, the more kids want to eat it! Wholemeal bread is packed with fibre. Try making a zebra sandwich out of 2 different types and colours of wholemeal bread. One could be plain wholemeal, the other wholemeal bread could be packed with seeds. Place one type on top of the other and cut into soldiers. Turn every second one over and pack into a lunchbox container to make a zebra pattern.

Tip 3: Bake, bake, bake

Bake healthy cookies or muffins and use wholemeal flour or oat flour instead of plain white flour. For a gluten free option, try rice flour. To increase the fibre content even more, add sultanas, bananas or chopped apple (with the skin on) to the mix.

Tip 4: Sweet and delicious

Date balls are jam packed with fibre, they are sweet (just how kids like them) and filled with other vital nutrients. To make date balls, blend pitted dates in a food processor until soft. Mould a bit at a time into mouthful-sized balls and roll in desiccated coconut until completely covered. Great in any lunch box!

Tip 5: Homemade granola bars

Granola bars are exceptionally high in fibre as they contain nuts, seeds, dried fruits and oats. This combination makes them a deliciously covert lunch box fibre addition. Granola bars can be bought in the store with the added sugars, preservatives and sometimes flavouring. A better and just as easy option is to make them at home.

Here is a very basic granola bar recipe to which you can add seeds and dried fruits of your choice, or any other tasty bits you may take a fancy to. If there are no allergies, you can add nuts. However for school lunch boxes, omit the nuts and increase the seeds a little.

Basic homemade granola bar recipe

You will need:

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup honey
2/3 cup maple syrup (preferably organic)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup diced dried fruit
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup chopped seeds such as sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds

If you are not using nuts, double the amount of seeds.

Mix all ingredients and press into a rectangular shaped tin. Bake at 160 degrees C for 20 – 25 minutes or until the edges have browned.

When they are ready take them out of the oven and once completely cooled, cut into strips and store in airtight containers.

Gluten-free apple crumble

Ingredients

6-8 green and/or red apples, cored, peeled, each sliced into approx 8 wedges
¾ cup raw sugar

Crumble topping

3 tablespoons almond meal
4 tablespoons rice flour
2 tablespoons dessicated coconut
2 tablespoons sugar
1½ tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the apples and sugar in a saucepan with a little water, place heat on medium and cook until apples are tender. Be careful the apples don’t burn the bottom of the saucepan.

While the apples are cooking, combine topping ingredients and rub together with fingers.

Layer the apples and their juices in a greased ovenproof dish. Cover the apples with the crumble mixture and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

This apple crumble can be served hot or cold with your favourite plain yoghurt, custard or cream.

Find more dessert recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

If you want to mix things up a bit you could add other fruits to this crumble recipe – great apple partners are rhubarb, blueberries, blackberries and pears.
More sugar can be added, depending on the desired sweetness.
This recipe was created by nutritionist Amanda Fraser for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder.

Chicken, corn and coriander soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
2 onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
500g chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped
4 corn cobs
4 cups (1L) chicken stock
1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lime juice

Coriander Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked (4 hours minimum)
1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 cup coriander (leaves only)
1/2 cup (125ml) water
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp sea salt

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add the turmeric and cumin and cook for 1 minute, then add the onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes, or until browned all over.

Slice the corn kernels from the corn cobs and add these to the pan. Cook, stirring well for 3 minutes.

Pour in the stock and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the coriander ‘cream’ by whizzing all ingredients together in a blender until nice and smooth.

When the soup is cooked, reserve about 1 cup of the corn kernels and then use a stick blender (or transfer the lot to a stand-alone blender) and process until smooth.

To serve, stir the fresh lime juice through the soup. Ladle into bowls, top with some of the reserved kernels, a spoonful of the coriander cream and some coriander leaves.

Find related soup recipes

Serving Suggestions

Note

You could leave the chicken out if you like and add some chilli too if that’s not going to bother any little people at the table. I tend to put a little bowl of chopped chilli on the table so we can add at will.
You should use the best organic free-range chicken you can buy. It gives it a superior flavour.
This recipe was created by Sophie Hansen for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder: You can follow Sophie on Local is Lovely, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.