CHEERS | BOOK GIVEAWAY
Uncomplicated
is good
The global pandemic continues to have an impact years on from the initial outbreak. For food author Sarah Graham it meant changing her approach to meal preparation – and resulted in a new book, Good + Simple.
There’s a pared down premise (and promise) to Sarah Graham’s latest book, her sixth: “I hope that many of these recipes will become family favourites, the kind that create a sense of belonging, that are shared at the family tables for generations to come.”
Good + Simple follows Bitten, Smitten, Home – FoodfromMy Kitchen, Wholesome and Super Natural, all penned between 2012 and 2020. These books had their origins in a blog Graham began in 2010. That blog, ‘A Foodie Lives Here’ was Graham’s attempt to show people that absolutely anyone can cook tasty but healthy food. It also led to her hosting a cooking show series that has subsequently been broadcast in 40 countries.
Good + Simple is the result of learning how to live, cook and eat through the global health pandemic, the media release for the new book states. Like many other families, Graham had to bend and adapt to her constantly changing daily routine. That made her more flexible in her approach to cooking and eating. She relooked many of her staples which the family loves in order to make them more convenient. Speed and ease of preparation was the key, and the bonus was a saving of both time and energy.
The resulting collection of 140 easy and delicious recipes builds on her body of work which thousands of readers have grown to love – celebrating vegetables and natural, whole foods.
What will strike a chord with her audience is how unfussy every recipe is, as will the simple substitutions to be aware of the food choices which people are making nowadays. Meat doesn’t have to be the centrepiece of the main meal. One example is the use of icons in recipes which denote various dietary preferences. So it’s easy to see at a glance which is a vegetarian friendly recipe. And for those who don’t follow a strictly plant-based diet, there are “flexitarian footnotes” which make life a lot easier when swopping ingredients out.
There are a host of one-pot dishes, along with others which can comfortably be whipped up using just five ingredients. All of this means that meal planning and preparation is not just enjoyable but easy too – and memorable.
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Breakfast Crumble Bars
When I discovered that breakfast crumble bars were a thing, I could have wept with joy. As you might already know, a good old crumble is one of my very favourite things to eat and now we can turn them into nifty little squares for lunch boxes or on-the-go snacking.
Ingredients: Makes 9–12
Ready in 30 minutes
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup self-raising flour
½ cup dark brown sugar or coconut sugar
½ cup chopped pecan nuts
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup (115 g) butter or coconut oil
1 cup 3-ingredient Raspberry-chia Jam or any berry jam
METHOD HERE
Method | Breakfast Crumble Bars
Preheat the oven to 190ºC and line a 20 × 20 cm baking tin (or any baking dish of similar size) with baking paper.
Use your fingers or a food processor to mix all the ingredients together (except for the jam) until crumbly. Transfer ¾ of the mixture to the baking tin and press down using the back of a spoon.
Spread over the jam, then top with the remaining crumble mixture and bake for 20–25 minutes, or until golden. Cool in the tin before cutting into bars.
Speedy Mushroom Stroganoff
Ingredients: Serves 4
Ready in 30 minutes
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
800 g mixed mushrooms, chopped
1 cup good quality vegetable stock
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt
1 cup basmati or brown rice
Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
METHOD HERE
Method | Speedy Mushroom Stroganoff
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and fry for about 8 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the paprika, stir, then transfer to a bowl.
Add another dash of oil to the pot and fry the mushrooms for about 10 minutes over medium-high heat, until golden and caramelised. Return the onion-garlic mixture to the pot. Stir in the stock and Worcestershire sauce, and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off, or until thickened to your liking. Then, add the mustard and crème fraîche. Stir together then remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot, cook the rice according to the packet instructions, until fluffy. Serve the rice in warmed bowls topped with the stroganoff. Garnish with a little chopped fresh parsley.
Oven-roasted Aubergine Rogan Josh
Serves 4
Ready in 45 minutes
2 medium aubergines, cut into 2 cm cubes
1 red onion, roughly chopped
olive oil
1–2 Tbsp Rogan Josh paste
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
2 large handfuls baby spinach, roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste
METHOD HERE
Method | Oven-roasted Aubergine Rogan Josh
Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Add the aubergines and red onion to a shallow roasting dish, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 15 minutes, or until golden.
Remove from the oven and stir through the curry paste. Add the chickpeas and tomatoes, and sprinkle over the sugar. Return to the oven to roast for another 20 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Remove from the oven, stir through the spinach and season to taste. Serve immediately in warmed bowls with the sides of your choice.
To serve (optional)
Basmati or cauliflower rice + naan bread.
Note: For extra protein, cut 300 g firm tofu or paneer into cubes and fry until golden. Stir through just before serving.
Flexitarian Footnote: Add a few seasoned skin-on chicken thighs along with the aubergine.