Recipes

March 30, 2020 – Published in Design & Decor Spring 2015 issue

Guilt free eating

 

That was my aim when I prepared the following recipes

Words: Liz Said  

Photography: Alan Carville

(All ingredients in the recipes may be purchased from Scotts Supermarket)

The stuffed zucchini and the individual flans are full of goodness and very low in fat.

The spices and red pepper give the chicken breasts a Spanish twist and the tasty and colourful Fish Paella is for fish lovers to share and should be placed in the middle of the table with the guests helping themselves.

The only naughty recipe is the one of the Fried Zucchini, but I could not help using them because they are so abundant at this time of the year. The spicy guacamole gives the artichokes a very different taste to the traditional one we are used to.

Both desserts are very low in sugar and as such can be enjoyed even by diabetics. The oats in the base of the cheesecake give it a nice nutty flavour and the fruit mousse is the perfect way to end a meal without adding too many calories.

FRIED ARTICHOKES IN BATTER WITH GUACAMOLE SAUCE

SERVES 8

 

• 8 globe artichokes

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1 small chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 200g flour

• 150ml white wine

• 100ml milk

• 2 eggs

• Salt

For the guacamole:

• 120g tomatoes

• 50g white onion

• 1 small chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped

• 2 avocados

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• Juice of ½ lime

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

To finish:

• Oil for frying and coriander leaves to garnish

Slice the stalks off the artichokes directly under the base and brush the base immediately with lemon juice; pull off the small tough lower leaves and trim the points off the remainder with kitchen scissors, then slice the top off the artichoke using a sharp knife. Bring a large pan of water to the boil with the remaining lemon juice and a pinch of salt; add the artichokes and cook for 15 minutes; take out of the water and drain upside down; have the artichokes lengthways and scoop out the choke with a spoon.

 

To prepare the batter, sieve the flour into a bowl and mix well with the white wine and the milk; add the eggs, chilli pepper and salt to taste and beat well; leave the batter to stand for about 20 minutes’.

 

To prepare the guacamole, scald, skin and deseed the tomatoes then finely chop the flesh; peel and finely chop the onion; halve the avocados lengthways and prise out the stones; scoop out the flesh with a spoon and roughly mash it with a fork. One after the other, carefully mix the tomato, onion, chilli pepper and avocado together; season with salt, flavour with the lime juice and season with pepper if desired; stir in the oil and the coriander leaves.

 

To fry the artichokes, heat the oil in a chip pan; dip the artichokes, one at a time into the batter then fry them in the hot oil to a golden brown. Take the artichokes out and drain well on kitchen paper; arrange on plates and spoon the guacamole in the centre of each one; garnish with coriander leaves.

 See more recipes from Design & Decor Spring 2015 issue