My Cancer Council Girls' Night In recipe ideas
Sweet Potato & Black Pepper Bhajis With Pickled Ginger Yogurt
At the risk of sounding boastful these are really tasty and well worth making. You can do these ahead of time and warm them up in the oven before serving them.
- 500g/1.1lbs. sweet potato, peeled and grated
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 5-6 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tablespoons cornflour/fine cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
- 1.5 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup natural yogurt
- 1 teaspoon pickled ginger, finely chopped
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 200C/400F and line three baking trays with parchment. Mix the sweet potato, onion, olive oil, cornflour, garlic, black pepper and salt in a bowl.
Step 2 - Make small circles of the mix and bake for 22 minutes. Carefully turn over with an eggflip and bake for another 5-10 minutes until they can hold together. Mix the pickled ginger with the yogurt and serve the bhajis with these.
Cherry Tomato and Bocconcini Boats
I added some pesto to these appetisers to give them more of a pop of flavour! They're very easy to put together and can be done in less than 10 minutes!
- 250g/8.8ozs. punnet cherry tomatoes
- 375g/13.25ozs. bucket bocconcini (or around 10, it depends on the size of cherry tomatoes and the bocconcini)
- Large basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
- Toothpicks
Step 1 - Halve the cherry tomatoes and then cut the bocconcini into thirds. Place a basil leaf on the bottom and dip the bocconcini into the pesto and then top with half a cherry tomato.
Baked Brie With Pesto
You know the part where you groan with pleasure as you see someone ladle some melted cheese onto a piece of baguette? Very little beats melted cheese but when swirled through with pesto it becomes the hit of the evening.
- 250g/8.8ozs. wheel brie
- 1 generous tablespoon basil pesto
- 1 small baguette, sliced
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 165C/330C. Place brie in a coccotte or a ceramic baking dish (a large ramekin with high sides will also do). Top with pesto and bake for 10-15 minutes until the brie is completely melted. Serve with sliced baguette.
Rockmelon, Prosciutto and Basil
This is pure spring or summer in a plate. Thin slices of prosciutto are wrapped around sweet, juicy melon with a basil leaf tucked in. This is simple but tasty entertaining.
- 1 Rockmelon (not too big)
- 250g/8.8ozs. thinly sliced prosciutto
- About 12 large basil leaves
Step 1 - Deseed and slice the rockmelon and remove the skin. Wrap each piece of rockmelon with a slice of prosciutto and tuck in a basil leaf.
Minted Fruit Salad With Yuzu
I must admit I'm not really a fruit salad lover but with this one, I picked some of my favourite fruit and just added a few drops of yuzu syrup on top and finely sliced mint leaves.
Serves 6
- 200g/7ozs. punnet fresh blueberries
- 200g/7ozs. fresh strawberries
- 3 fresh figs
- 5 large mint leaves
- 3 teaspoons yuzu syrup*
Yuzu syrup is available from Japanese grocery stores. If you can't find this mix 1 tablespoon sifted icing sugar with 1 tablespoon mandarin or orange juice
Step 1 - Cut the calyx from the strawberries and quarter them. Cut the figs into six slices and place the figs, strawberries and blueberries in a bowl. Finely chop the mint leaves and add the yuzu syrup to the bowl and gently toss. Divide into six bowls.
Cucumber, Mint and Lime water
I call this "spa water" because spas often serve water flavoured with fruit and this one has cucumber, mint and lime. And a little tip: place clean vase pebbles at the bottom of a drink dispenser so that when it runs low, the fruit will not clog the dispenser and it will still flow freely until the end.
- 1 small cucumber, sliced
- 1 small lime, sliced
- 1/2 bunch mint
Step 1 - Fill a jug or a water dispenser with water and then add cucumber, lime and mint. Leave on the table so that people can help themselves.
_ A healthy diet and weight is important to reduce your cancer risk, which is why I have tried to feature fruit and vegetables in a number of my recipes for my Cancer Council Girls' Night In. For more details on Cancer Council's recommendations for healthy eating, see here: http://www.cancer.org.au/preventing-cancer/nutrition-and-physical-activity/_