Today we're taking a break from the old routine. I've got a recommendation for you that is NOT food related.

Check out the podcast "Can We Be Real?" hosted by two of my friends - Meshel Laurie and Simon Baggs. We've known each other for years, I love them both dearly, but more important than that, they're fantastic broadcasters.

Can We Be Real is a weekly show that delivers laughs. If you like it, it's available on all major podcast platforms.

I highly recommend it. XX

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From bolognese on toast for one, to a GLORIOUS tuna and tomato on toast for 2 - 4, today's episode is a chance to shed shame around picking the easy route to dinner. Toast is FINE. Toast is GOOD. And if you want to elevate your dinner toast? Listen up.

5 good tomatoes

1 medium tin of tuna in springwater

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried oregano

fresh basil

4 slices of excellent sourdough

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A share plate of steak is a great way to centre this nourishing ingredient while keeping it light - and dare I say - digestible?

Based on a recipe by the wonderful Sabrina Gahyour, this is a beautiful platter that gets one steak in front of the whole family!

Using a dressing of 200ml pomegranate molasses, 75ml balsamic vinegar, 1tbs olive oil and 2tsp Dijon mustard.

Cook the steak (whichever you like, eg., sirloin) hot and fast for rare. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing finely. Serve the slices circling a nest of rocket leaves, drizzle with the dressing and top with a gorgeous tousle of pomegranate seeds.

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I love VEG FRITTERS but the frying process is a drag.

Bee Wilson is an English food writer and author of the column Table Talk. Her cookbook THE SECRET OF COOKING is genuinely wonderful and from it Simon and I have both drawn huge amounts of inspiration.

400g potatoes, grated

500g zucchini, grated

1 small onion, finely diced

1/2 clove garlic, finely grated

salt, pepper and a soft herb like mint, chopped

3 eggs

75g self-raising flour (gluten-free = ok)

Sprinkle the potato-zucchini mixture with a teaspoon of salt, toss then leave in a sieve while you prepare everything else.

Turn the oven on to 180C.

Add about 4 tbs of olive oil to each roasting pan and put in oven to heat.

Combine all the other ingredients. Squeeze, wring and throttle the grated vegetable to get out as much liquid as possible. Mix it in with everything else, then portion out to fritter size portions (like a crumpet but thinner) into the hot oil, which should sizzle.

Cook for 10 mins per side, check for doneness.

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Once you let the sugars in a humble, rudimentary vegetable like the CARROT caramelise, they can really strut their main character energy in a dish like today's.

1 x 2kg bag of carrots, cut on the angle about 1 inch thick

1 - 1.5 tbs cumin seeds

salt

olive oil

Rub the oil, cumin and salt into your chopped carrots while your oven warms. Roast the carrots at 200C for about 25 mins until fudgy and sweet. Meanwhile whisk the juice of a lemon with a few spoons of honey, tahini optional. Serve with freshly chopped dill, a crumble of fetta or some (sloppier) goat's cheese, a generous drizzle of your lemon-honey dressing and a sprinkle of nigella seeds. YEP. YOU DID THIS.

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A friendly reminder that in Australia, Mother's Day is REALLY SOON, ie., May 12. So don't be caught snoozing!

And since we're talking about nailing food that Mum actually likes... is it time to all collectively admit that filled chocolates ...are trash?

METHOD

Cut your peeled sweet potato into fries.

Soak the potato in cold water for at least half an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

Drain off thoroughly on a clean tea towel.

Dust with 1 tbs of corn flour and a light sprinkle of salt.

Space the fries out on a tray and drizzle with olive oil (I forgot to mention this in the episode!)

Cook for about 20 minutes. Turn over and cook a bit more, probably less - 15 mins but use your senses to get the info on what your fries need for ultimate yumminess.

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Body maintenance is all about getting enough protein! Boring, but also - real.

So how, in our busy lives, do we go about getting enough?

Simon and Yumi get excited over boiling a couple of eggs as you make breakfast, and having them in the bank for the day ahead.

What if you go one better and prepare a curried egg sandwich for Later Today Me?

3-4 boiled eggs

1 - 1.5tsp of Keen's Curry Powder

pinch salt

3 tbs mayonnaise (I use Kewpie)

anything else, eg., snipped chives, a quarter cup of peas that you've tossed in with the eggs for the last few minutes, shelled edamame, parsley

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[RECIPE IN SHOW NOTES] 

We’ve talked no-stir risottos before, but there’s a whole FAMILY of oven-baked rice dishes out there that do a great job of unchaining you from the stove and putting you back into where you need to be! This one is a sort of riff on all things summer salad, in rice form. Bit weird, but it kind of works. It makes use of short-grain rice here – the squat, stubby, starchier cousin of the rice family that’s great for stir-fries, rice balls and sushi or creamy dishes such as rice pudding and risotto. 

PS - Simon’s feeling SUPER SMUG here because he’s using olives from his own olive tree! You could add a bit of fried crispy chorizo to this if you wanted to but, well, I don’t. 

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Recipe

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil 

30g butter 

1 x 400g tin butter beans

2 medium red onions, peeled and finely diced

a few big handfuls of basil, leaves picked, stalks very finely chopped

sea salt and black pepper

a punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced

280g short-grain rice

200g feta 

140g black olives

Heat the oven to 2OOC. Put the oil and butter in an ovenproof pan for which you have a lid and put it in the oven to heat up.

Drain the liquid from the butter bean can into a large measuring jug, then add boiling water to bring it up to 840ml. Pour this into a saucepan on a medium heat, and keep it hot.

Stir the onion, basil stalks and a good pinch of salt into the hot casserole, cover and return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the onions soften. Stir in the tomatoes, cover again and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, until they, too, soften and release some of their liquid; stir once halfway, to check how they’re getting on and to give them a little mash up to encourage those juices to flow. Stir in the garlic and return to the oven uncovered for three minutes.

Stir the rice into the pot, so it’s all well coated in the tomato mixture. Pour in the hot bean liquid, give everything a good stir and return to the oven uncovered for 20 minutes. By this point, the rice should have absorbed two-thirds of the liquid, so add a little more boiling water if there’s less than that left. Stir in the butter beans and return to the oven for 12 minutes, by which time the liquid should have all been absorbed and the rice should be cooked; it’s not meant to be entirely dry, so add some more boiling water if you prefer it wetter.

Take out of the oven, stir in the feta and olives, cover the pan with a clean cloth and leave to rest and settle for five minutes. Tear in most of the basil leaves, stir them through the rice, then spoon into warm bowls and serve with the remaining basil scattered on top.

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[RECIPE IN SHOW NOTES] 

Simon *loves* a yoggurty sauce. So much so that he's turned me onto it and the humble Greek Yoggurt As Sauce has PERMANENTLY found a place in the Stynes household. So let's talk about how to make the classic (and delicious) Tzatziki!

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[RECIPE IN SHOW NOTES] 

"Incredibly easy" is Simon's promise here, but it also has the word "slow" in it, so this isn't the pasta sauce you make when in a rush. One thing I like about talking food with Simon is that he knows the origins of foods and food ideas. This particular recipe came from a game-changing Italian restaurant from England way back and let's be real, this sounds freakin delicious. Get it in your ears now, and maybe your mouth later.

Want more food tips? Check out the 5 Minute Food Fix Instagram. 

Recipe

2 tbsp olive oil
5 or 6 Italian spiced fresh pork sausages, meat removed from skins and crumbled (if you can’t get them easily – just use good quality pork sausages)
1 small red onions, peeled and chopped.
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped.
2 small dried chillies, crumbled or a good tbsp or two of crushed dried chillies.
small handful of fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
large glass of a good red wine
2x 400g tins peeled plum tomatoes, drained.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
120g parmesan, freshly grated
150ml cream

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan, and fry the crumbled meat of 5 or 6 Italian spiced sausages, stirring and breaking up the pieces.

After the juice from the meat has evaporated and the fat begins to run, add 1 small chopped red onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 2 chopped small dried chillies, a small handful of fresh rosemary and 2 bay leaves.

Cook gently for almost 30 mins until the onions are brown. Pour in a large glass of red wine, increase the heat and cook until the wine evaporates. Now add 2 tins of plum tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer gently until you have a thick sauce, about 45-60 minutes. 

Season with salt (and pepper, if the sausages were not spicy), and add 120g grated parmesan and 150ml of cream.

Cook your pasta (penne) and drain well. Add the pasta to the sauce, mix and serve. 

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[RECIPE IN SHOW NOTES] 

I hope you're a regular here because there are some in-jokes that might be baffling if this is your first time tuning in.

One in-joke is that Simon LOVES, ADORES and tends to USE ALL THE TIME, Greek "Yoggurt" as an ingredient, to the point where we started doing a count-o-meter of every time he said the word "yoggurt", (hard 'G' emphasis = deliberate). 

This ep does have actual food chat in it though. Like, do know how witlof is grown?! It's so weird! And how can you max out your umami allocation?

Want more food tips? Check out the 5 Minute Food Fix Instagram. 

Recipe

ANCHOVY DRESSING

50g anchovies

1/4 garlic clove, finely grated

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp fish sauce

4tbs best olive oil

1 tsp sugar

salt and pepper

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