Roast Summer Squash and Chickpea Salad

Roast Summer Squash and Chickpea Salad

This week in the veg box we got a little bag of pattypan squash (also known as scallop squash).  I've never seen or heard of them before.

They look like little yellow flying saucers from 50's advertising.  

I did a bit of googling to find out what to do with them and was uninspired until I found this recipe by Chocolate & Zucchini which I adapted liberally to suit what I had on hand.

Fertility focus:

Summer squash is rich in antioxidants and vitamins A, Bs (including folate) and C and the skin is full of fibre.
Chickpeas are a good plant source of protein and fibre.
Rocket (Arugula) is actually a cruciferous vegetable packed with fertility-boosting vitamins and minerals which, research shows, improves liver function. It is also considered an aphrodisiac in some cultures.

Ingredients

• Pattypan squash
• Courgette
• Chickpeas
• Rocket

Dressing

• Olive Oil
• Lemon
• Capers

Method

1.  Wash and cut the pattypan squash into quarters, then halve each quarter.  

2.  Cut the courgette into similar sized chunks.  

3.  Toss with a little olive oil and roast in the oven at about 200 C for about 20 minutes or until the squash is soft and caramelising at the edges.  

4.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
5.  Squeeze the juice of half a lemon and mix with a drizzle of olive oil.  I don't like to use too much as the squash is already covered in olive oil from the roasting. 6.  6.  Scrape out the lemon flesh from the rind and add to the lemon and oil with a couple of teaspoons of finely chopped capers.
7.  Rinse the chickpeas and rocket leaves and toss with cooled squash and dressing.

Topped with Sardines

I served this with sardines, which contrasted nicely with the salty-tart dressing, spicy leaves and sweet roasted squash.

Ho hum, not Ho Ho Ho.

New Years Breakfast - buckwheat pancakes

It's been a few weeks since I last posted and to be honest its because I've been in a bit of a funk.  

While its true I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas (I'm more "ho-hum" than "ho ho ho" due mainly to the commercialism and saccharine idealism of family life in the media) Mr Duncan and I enjoyed a picnic in the park on the day and it passed uneventfully, so its not that.

I have been spending a lot of time on the internet trying to figure out where we should rent, and Mr Duncan and I have pounded the pavements relentlessly evaluating different neighbourhoods.  The rental market is quite tight here and most properties have only a 10 minute inspection window once a week in which all prospective tenants visit the property and then run to be the first to get their application in.

I'm pleased to say we signed a lease on Monday and will be moving on 18th January.  I'm less pleased to say the container of our belongings (which I'd been enjoying tracking on the internet) has been offloaded in Singapore and is now scheduled to arrive three weeks later than originally planned so we wont have any furniture until February at the earliest.  I need to sort out renting some furniture temporarily and buying a fridge and washing machine but I'm pretty uninspired to get on with it.  I've not even been motivated enough to read the blogs I follow (sorry guys, I'll get to you, I promise) or the library books I have borrowed - and I know I still have the Creme waiting for me.  I need to be in the right frame of mind, but I'm not sure how to trigger it...

This is probably the longest period of unemployment/inactivity I've had since early in high school. You know that saying 'if you want something done, give it to a busy person'?  That busy person is usually ME.  I actually enjoy juggling tasks to meet deadlines, but the less I have to do, the less I actually do and the more flat I feel.  Its a bit of a vicious circle.

I think I'll probably look for some work once we move - if they'll have me. There is a lot of competition for jobs here, especially at this time of year and I'm not sure anyone is going to want to employ me at five months pregnant.  But I have to do something or I'll end up going insane with self-inflicted boredom/churn.

I have also been slightly anxious about Pickle.  Its been ten weeks now since any concrete evidence of a growing baby, although to be fair, my belly has definitely been growing. We have the anomaly scan next week, maybe that will help kick-start me into some activity and enthusiasm again.

We have signed up for an organic veggie box service and I've been cooking to the best of my ability with the limited tools available to me in this apartment, but its just the same old stuff.  I can't wait to have a proper kitchen full of my own cooking gear again.

Tortilla

Thai Beef Salad

Egg fried rice with green beans

Beef and noodle stir-fry with beans and red pepper

Roast root vegetable salad with feta

Butternut squash soup

Chicken and green bean coconut curry

Picnic tortilla

Another Thai Beef Salad

Roast summer veg couscous salad

Barramundi on ratatouille with broccolini

Progress with Pickle

Railay Bay, Thailand ~ June 2009

Once we received Mr Duncan's visa grant and were working out the details of our move to Australia, we thought we'd spend a month or so experiencing the good food, weather and laid back lifestyle to be enjoyed holidaying on an island in Thailand.  While we waited for our stuff to be shipped to Australia.  After all, Mr Duncan only needs a fast internet connection to be able to work.

Then we found out about Pickle and decided it was better to come straight to Australia.  I was concerned about continuity of maternity care and had no desire to be somewhere I didn't speak the language if something went wrong like... um, before.

We travelled when I was 11 weeks pregnant.  I really wanted to be here by Pipkin's due date.  And I skipped the 12 week scan completely.  I didn't want the test results last time, and after what happened that was doubly true this time.

I registered with a doctor the week we got to Melbourne who referred me to

• a pathology clinic to have blood taken and tested
• a radiology clinic for an 18-20 week ultrasound and to 
• the local hospital for pregnancy care

I had the bloods taken on the same day as my doctor appointment.  I haven't had any results so I assume they went to the doctor and everything is fine.

I received a letter from the hospital I was referred to saying they accept me as a patient for pregnancy care.  Thank you.

They have scheduled two appointments for me on 7th January.  One for the booking clinic, the second for the doctor clinic.  

The hospital website says the booking clinic appointment is usually held between 14 and 18 weeks and mine is scheduled for week 19, so just a little late.  

I have no idea what happens in the doctor's clinic.

I hadn't heard back from the radiology clinic as them so made a follow up call and they have booked my 18-20 week scan for 13th January.  After checking my dates I called back to check the appointment has been made for the right time - it is scheduled for 20 weeks, 6 days.  I was told that the doctors there don't want to see you for the scan until you're at least 20 weeks. It is a different hospital to the one I have been accepted at, (I have to get the ultrasound done privately) so maybe they do things differently there.  Except even their website refers to it as "Mid-trimester scan (18 to 20 weeks)".

So I'm a bit confused.  If anyone reading this has any experience of the Australian (Victorian) system for pregnancy care, I'd be very interested in any comments/advice/feedback.

I am slowly getting bigger and now look pregnant enough for someone to offer me a seat on a crowded tram yesterday.  

I'm also experiencing some growing pains in my belly, which in the absence of any other confirmation, is mostly reassuring.  

Whew!

Sardine Fishcakes

I'm not very good at preparing small portions, so we very frequently have leftovers. 

This is good when it is soup or stew or something that can easily freeze and be revisited some time in the near future.

Unfortunately my potato salad is not a freezer friendly dish, so we had a portion or two left sitting in the fridge wanting to be eaten, but nothing really to eat with it.

The potato salad itself was made from the last vestiges of our vegetables before my first Melburnian organic vege box was delivered this afternoon.

What to have for lunch when there is next to no food in the house...

Sardines?  

We had a tin and I'm trying to eat more sardines for the protein and healthy fats.  I suggested sardines and potato salad to Mr Duncan, but he wasn't keen.

Then I started thinking about what else I might be able to do with sardines and came across these ideas on The Kitchn.  Several of them mentioned mustard, eggs or onion.

Wait, there is mustard AND eggs AND onion in my potato salad!

Looking a bit worse for wear after a night in the fridge

So I pulled it out of the fridge, mashed it all up with a fork, flaked a tin of sardines into the mix, shaped with my hands and shallow fried in a pan.

Not pretty, but delicious

They're very different from my usual fishcakes, but make a tasty lunch - especially with a few drops of chilli sauce.

I love it when a meal can do double duty.

L.
x

Pumpkin, Chicken and Basil Stir Fry

I have been missing my veggie garden and fresh herbs and Mr Duncan surprised me by bringing home a big bunch of basil the other night.  

How romantic!

The problem was we didn't have any of the mediterranean type ingredients that I traditionally use with basil.   

In fact all I had in the fridge was that chicken I forgot to use and a quarter of a pumpkin which I had earmarked for soup.

A quick google found a chicken and pumpkin stir fry recipe I could modify to my needs.

I added garlic and ginger to the onion and substituted soy sauce for the fish sauce.

With no lid for my pan I needed more moisture than just the soy sauce to steam the pumpkin so used about half a cup of water - adding a little at a time to maximum steam. 

Naturally this took longer than indicated in the recipe.  

I also used cooked chicken instead of fresh so raised the heat at the end and stirred it through to brown and heat through just before tossing through the basil and serving.

Fertility Focus

Pumpkin is high in carotenes which are converted to vitamin A by the body and a good source of B vitamins and iron.
Basil is great for pregnancy according to Fit Pregnancy:

Basil is a pregnancy superfood. This fresh herb is a good source of protein, vitamin E, riboflavin, and niacin; plus, it’s a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese. 

Basil is also packed with iron, vital for keeping your energy levels up; calcium, essential for strong bones and teeth; and folate, vital for many processes, including fetal cell growth and division. (One serving of basil has 20 micrograms of this B vitamin.) Whenever possible, choose fresh basil, because it contains more of these nutrients than dried basil.