Pumpkin Risotto

As you know, I love pumpkin. I'm also fairly happy with rice and all things rice-related (such as risotto). So it only stands to reason, that I would love this dish.

And guess what?

I do!

Every mouthful, every grain of rice, every piece of onion, and every glump of - hang on - glump? I don't know what a glump is, but it seems a fairly accurate word to describe a piece of mushy pumpkin. Every glump of pumpkin was perfect.

Don't tell anyone. But I ate two bowls!

Vegetable Tagine with Olive and Parsley Couscous

I know. I'm impressed too. Until I made this, I didn't even know what a tagine was! I must admit, I'm still a tad confused. According to my research, a tagine is some kind of an Egyptian or Morrocan dish that you cook in, not actually the name of a food. So I can only guess that the word can be also applied to a recipe that you would prepare in such a dish.

Anyway, not knowing a thing about what I'm doing has never stopped me before, so I decided to give it a go. The main drawcard about this recipe for me was that at the very top of the page, it said "You will need a piece of pumpkin weighing approximately 600g for this recipe." Now I love pumpkin, so any recipe that uses 600g of it is good in my books.

This one was relatively easy to make. Cook up the vegetables, add the spices, cook the couscous and mix it all in together. See those cute little chickpeas in the photo? How sweet are they? Very tasty too!

Of course, the offspring would have none of it, so I whipped up a spaghetti with leftover lamb pieces from last night's Mediterranean Lamb Casserole. How good am I? Making not one, but two separate dishes in one night!

I just might be getting better at this. That could be a worry!

Mediterranean Lamb Casserole

Never let it be said that just because I'm a vegetarian, I won't cook meat for anyone else. Look at this! A dish that was so easy to prepare, I could have done it with one wooden spoon tied behind my back. The most basic of ingredients - potato, carrot, onion and lamb - served with some plain white rice, and there you have it.

I am rather proud of it.

And told it was delicious! I'll just have to believe them on that one.

Eggplant Parmiagana - I think I've finally done it!

Found my signature dish, that is. This was easy to make, healthy, and tasted so luscious, I couldn't believe that I had actually cooked it.

My biggest problem was browning the eggplant slices in oil. They did come off a little, well, oily. But they did say in the book that as an alternative, you could just brush them with a little oil and pop them under a grill.

So next time, I'm making a double batch. This is the dish I'd like to be remembered for. (Never thought I'd say that!)

Oh, yes I know the photo is out of focus, but hey, you can't be a sensational cook and a brilliant photographer, can you?

Beef Curry

Okay, so I got out of my comfort zone and worked through my intense distaste for touching raw meat, and made a beef curry for my well-deserving husband.

I know it looks kinda' plain and bland, but I'm told it tasted superb. And he ate every bit of it!

So there you go!

(Now, think I'll go and boil an egg or something.....)

Cheesy Macaroni

Now this is pretty easy. Even for me. The only tricky part is to remember to add the puree (you know that special 'secret' ingredient mentioned below) to the milk mixture. Easy!

Kids love it! Mum loves it!

A winner!