"Easy Australian Recipes"

Easy Australian Recipes is my collection of quick and healthy recipes.

Australian food includes a large variety of meals, the gourmet type or the yummy simple dishes.

The sophisticated, gourmet food influenced by the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Asian cooking requires knowledge and time so you are better off going to a restaurant to taste it.

If you want to experience Australian cooking you can do it the easier way. There are a lot of options that are healthy and fast to cook. They include quick stir fries, fresh produce, spices, unusual blends and mouth watering results.

Easy Australian Recipes -
Pasta Dishes

Slow Cooked Beef with Pasta

This is very easy to prepare but takes about 2 hours and a half to cook. But don't worry, you can do something else or just relax while it's cooking.

Good for colder winter days or an excellent dish to entertain guests.

Serves 6 persons.

Ingredients

• 2 kg top side or round steak cut in cubes
• 2 large onions chopped
• 3 table spoons olive oil
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup water
• 500g mushrooms cut in pieces
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1-2 lime leaves (optional)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 500g pasta boiled

Cooking

Take a heavy based casserole, heat the oil and seal the meat in batches, turning it quickly to brown on both sides. Remove and repeat with another batch of beef cubes. This may take you 3 minutes per batch. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the wine and water, plus salt and pepper to your liking. When the liquid starts to boil return the meat to the casserole, add the bay and lime leaves, put the lid and let the beef cook for about 2 hours. When it is tender add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.

Arrange the pasta on a plate, top with the cooked beef and sprinkle with parsley or basil.

Easy Pasta and Vegetables Dish

You're home from work and there's nothing to eat? You'll always find some vegetables in the fridge.

Prepare all in 5 minutes and cook this stir fry in less than 10 minutes.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot grated
• 2 large onions sliced
• 2 medium parsnips grated
• 1 table spoon olive oil
• 250g mushrooms sliced
• a handful of olives
• basil leaves
• 250g pasta boiled

Cooking

Heat the oil in a pan and throw in the onion. 2 minutes later add the carrot and parsnip and stir fry quickly for 2 more minutes.

Add the mushrooms and the olives just before taking the pan off the heat. Cover it with a lid an let it rest while you arrange the pasta on a plate. Then add the vegetables and the basil leaves.

Easy Australian Recipes - Salads

Feta and Avocado Salad

This salad is a fresh and crisp appetiser.

Prepare all the ingredients in advance. Then assemble it in a flash and impress your guests.

Here's what you do:

Ingredients

• 1 avocado sliced lenghtwise
• mixed salad leaves - about 200g
• 1 large red onion sliced
• 300g olives
• 250g feta cheese cut in cubes
• 2 large tomatoes sliced
• 150g cherry tomatoes
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• lemon juice

Method

Mix the salad leaves, onions, olives and tomatoes with the olive oil and lemon juice. Add the feta cheese cubes and avocado slices and toss gently. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and serve immediately with toasted bread.

Tomato and Brocolli Salad

The humble tomato salad has more flavour if you add some brocolli florets and replace the white onion by the red Spanish onion.

And use truss tomatoes, they are so much more tasty and smell so good.

Ingredients

• 4-5 ripe truss tomatoes sliced
• mixed salad leaves or lettuce leaves
• 1 large red onion sliced
• 1 small brocolli
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• lemon juice

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, add the olive oil and lemon juice, toss and serve as a side to your main course.

Easy Australian Recipes - Rice Dishes

Seafood Paella

Seafood paella is a sophisticated dish, served in many Spanish or latin American restaurants in Sydney.

Is paella one of the easy Australian recipes? Not exactly easy and definitely Spanish.

But I have an easy Australian version. You don't need to allocate time to cleaning the mussels, prawns and calamari, if you want to cook it at home. Buy seafood marinara mix at your local fish shop. It has all the seafood cleaned and mixed for you - ready to use.

Ingredients

• 1 kg of seafood marinara mix
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1 red capsicum, chopped
• frozen peas - about 3/4 cup
• 1 litre of stock
• a dash of turmeric
• 2 cups of rice
• chopped parsley
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped or 1 can of diced tomatoes

Method

Heat the oil in the fry pan, add onion, garlic and capsicum and cook for 2 minutes before adding the rice.

Mix and add stock and tomatoes. Bring to the boil and add the turmeric. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Then add the seafood mix and the peas, stir and cover the pan. Cook until the rice has absorbed the stock. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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