I love lentils. They are such a good vegetable source of protein and are so easy to sneak into dishes. Especially soups, I quite often add lentils in to increase the protein in my soups...but this is the first time I made a soup where the lentils are the shining star. Boy do they shine!

This is my new favourite soup now, as well as John's now too. The flavours are subtle but complex and rich. It is super healthy, can easily have chicken or lamb added to it if you wish to make it a bit heartier, is easy to prep and even easier to cook in the slow cooker or over a low heat on the stove top. It is certainly going to be making many more appearances in my kitchen that's for sure.

It was quite a rainy Saturday this today, so we decided to have lunch in. We normally frequent one of the local cafes opposite the beautiful Dee Why beach and generally split one of the amazing beef hamburgers. So it seemed appropriate for a hamburger to be on the menu.

Since it bucketing down with rain most of the morning, I baked the buns from scratch to put off heading out to the shops. I had to go eventually anyway to buy lean lamb mince, but that's besides the point...sometimes kitchen logic is more about a 'reason' for baking!

I had to pretty much make up the recipes for these burgers since most recipes are not for just two people. We actually only ended up serving half a burger each as I had made them so big. I normally like my burgers open topped (i.e. with only the bottom half of the bun,) as I find too much bread too filling. I also made a quick onion and tomato sauce, which is simply caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes, some parsley and a bit of honey. You could also use a tomato chutney.

I found this delicious Jamie Oliver recipe a few weeks ago on the internet and have been wanting to try it since then. I am so glad I did because this is one fantastic little noodle dish! I have no idea how close it is to traditional Dan Dan Noodles but I can't say I care because its delicious anyway. I had to substitute a few ingredients as I couldn't get hold of them or had just (typically) run out of them.

As I used a chili paste and wasn't sure how strong chili oil is, I erred on the side of caution and only added 3 tbsp. I think I could have handled 1 more but it was hot enough. Probably best to just stick with your own spice tolerance level!

In the western Sichuan province of China, they make this dish in huge buckets that they carry on poles over their shoulders. “Dan” means pole, so these are, quite literally, “pole pole” noodles. It’s a simple dish, full of soft, silky noodles, lovely veg, some great crispy meat and a wonderful hum from the raw garlic. So there is a load of punchy flavours here, and then, of course, you’ve got the Sichuan pepper and the wonderful chilli.

Brrrr! It was COLD today! In fact, since Autumn started here in Sydney, today was really the first day that had that real wintery bite in the air...you know the kind that makes your nose a bit pink and your fingers and toes cold? On my way to work at 5am it was only 10.5°C! Well it did get up to about 15°C during the day, but it has just been chilly.

Which brings me to my first soup of the season. My mother had told me to buy red lentils the other week and I had yet to find a recipe that I wanted to use them in...I decided that a simple, warming soup with butternut squash and a bit of spice was the perfect way to use them. This was so delicious...the chili combined with the sweetness of the squash and then that tart yoghurt was just a perfect combination. (I'm glad I have another 1.5 litres left!)

My mum made a rice congee the other day and after having her describe how delicious and simple it was I just had to try this out. I had never actually heard of 'congee' before and read quite a few different recipes and varieties before coming up with my own version. This is not a traditional congee in any sense and would possibly not be considered a congee at all by some...perhaps a combination of risotto and congee texture.

Anyway, it is very simple, doesn't have a lot of ingredients and tastes amazing. A lovely dish to have if you are feeling a bit under the weather too. I have really enjoyed this all week!

Last week I had a few days of eating lots of fresh, raw & clean foods. Plenty of vegetables, fruit and some lean proteins. Just wanted to avoid processed foods...so no breads, pastas, packaged goods etc...

So I whipped up some delicious low fat hummus dip to have with raw carrots, celery, capsicum & cauliflower. I can't think of anything more tasty with vegies! This is great for entertaining too - it's so simple that you will never buy store hummus again.

Do you know what I love? Fresh herbs. Even more so I love using fresh herbs to create simple yet exquisite tasting dishes. What can be more simple but delicious than a fresh pesto?
Really easy to make, I used this with handmade orrechiette, handmade Spelt & Semolina Wholemeal Pasta and later in the week just on top of some chicken breast. Perfect a top some crusty bread too!

This past weekend, I had my lovely friend Pip visiting me from Melbourne. She loves to bake and cook just as much as me, so it was quite exciting to be able to do so together again. We literally spent all day baking and then preparing some delicious tapas style early dinner, before going out for a glass of wine (...just one for me as I don't really drink anymore so it's all a bit much!)

Pip made the most delicious tomato sauce, that we used on top of feta stuffed baked mushrooms. I don't really know if it should be called a sauce, but it is really quite versatile. You could use it on bake fish, or roast chicken or even just as a pasta sauce. It is everything I love about food; simple, fresh ingredients and flavours combined in the perfect quantities to make something just exquisite.

We also threw together some delicious, rich salmon & avocado rolls. These are really easy and such a lovely combination of colours. They also taste incredible. (Pip doesn't even really like avocado, but still ate these.)

A delicious winter warmer, creamy pumpkin and fennel soup with the perfect amount of spice to really warm you up! Nice and easy to make but has beautiful depth of flavour.

A very simple and very quick but very delicious omelette. Probably should say this is a great breakfast, but honestly I had it for dinner!

About a month ago, I had the most amazing stuffed zucchini flowers at Onde in Darlinghurst and have been wanting to try them myself since. Now, mine were hardly as divine as those ones but they were still very delicious.

The next step is now to go and ask them for the recipe! Which I will, because I will most definitely be going back there again for dinner; it was the best food I have eaten in Sydney since I have been here and I highly, highly recommend it.

A quick and easy little fritatta, perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea.

Just a quick salad from the other night - absolutely delicious rocket, fragrant pumpkin including seeds and crunchy green beans from Box Fresh.

I had totally forgotten about the onions that I had in the Box Fresh delivery from last week. How could I miss those?! There was also plenty of garlic left over (need more ideas for that too!) and chilli and herbs. So I knew that there was going to be more onions coming in the order today, and then I would have 6! Onion jam was the solution.

So this week I tried a fruit and vegetable delivery service called Box Fresh. It is just fantastic, I cannot recommend this enough if you are in Sydney. All of the produce is fresh straight from the markets and is much higher quality than the supermarkets or grocery stores. It is also surprisingly good value, (free delivery!) and really encourages you to eat more fruit and vegetables because it is right there.

And despite a dyslexic moment on my behalf with my address, it was still delivered fine! A very personal and efficient service from both Greg and Mikala.
I thought I had perhaps over ordered with the Chef's Box ; but I am getting through it fine so far!

This is a pie I made a few weeks ago. The weather was a bit cooler and Sydney was in a rainy patch, so PIE was just the right thing to be making. I just love mushrooms so it was a must for me really to try this recipe. I used margarine instead of butter since I didn't have any.

Oh and I added frozen peas in too - pies must have peas, it is just the rules.

I would so rather eat little bits of everything rather than one big meal. So much more satisfying and interesting having a tapas style meal. Lots of different flavours and a more relaxed and slow way of eating too.

This platter was everything I felt like eating for dinner; calamari, scallops, stuffed mushrooms, roast parmesan zucchini and asparagus.