Just Add Yoghurt

When my husband and I started our country and alphabet cooking challenge, we became a little obsessed with this chicken Ethiopian dish. The spice of the chicken and freshness of the yoghurt sauce makes a well-balanced and refreshing dish that adds some excitement to a typical lacklustre chicken weekday dinner. Ingredients: 1kg chicken breast 1 tablespoons barbered spice 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 onion sliced thinly 1 garlic clove 1 tsp grated ginger Salt and pepper Coriander Tomato chopped into small cubes ½ Lebanese cucumber chopped into small cubes 1 tablespoon sweet balsamic   1 tablespoon lemon 4 tablespoon yoghurt Ethiopian  flatbread Method: Chop the chicken into cubes (approximately 2cm x 2cm) Put the berbere onto the chicken and put aside to marinade for 30minutes in the fridge Heat the pan and add olive oil Add the garlic and ginger and cook on medium heat until fragrant  Add the chicken and cook covered until fully cooked thro...

As winter approaches, the days get shorter and the wind colder sharing afternoon tea with family and friends is a common weekend occurrence.  I love any excuse to make petite sweets that people can share and chat over and afternoon tea is the perfect excuse.  These light jam cookies are the perfect tea accompaniment.  Ingredients: Cookie: 3 cups flour 3.4 teaspoon baking powder pinch salt ½ cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg ½ cup yoghurt dash vanilla essence Filling: 150g jam of your choice – I used strawberry 1 cup icing sugar, sifted 1 heaped teaspoon of yoghurt Extra icing sugar to dust   Method: Cream the butter and sugar Add the egg, yoghurt, salt and vanilla   Sift in the flour and mix until a dough forms Wrap up dough and place in the fridge for one hour Pre-heat oven to 220 C fan-forced Roll out the dough to approximately 1/2 cm and use a cookie cutter – the dough is sticky so roll it out between greased baki...

After a few work lunches at Jack Greens I fell in love with brown rice in salad. The nuttiness and slightly chewy texture, makes brown rice a perfect addition to any salad. So when my health-conscious cousin came over for dinner one night, I decided to give it a go. The rice and quinoa combined with hearty vegetables, adds great depth to the dish and makes it a complete meal. The yoghurt dressing cuts through the richness and natural sweetness of the corn and pumpkin, adding some needed tang. Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa and brown rice cooked 1 zucchini ½ jap pumpkin Olive oil 100g baby spinach 1 tomato 1 corn on cob 4 tablespoons yoghurt ½ lime juice 1 tablespoon chopped coriander 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1 small red chili without seeds ½ garlic clove ½ teaspoon honey Salt and pepper   Method: Preheat oven to 220 fan forced Cut up pumpkin into 1.5cm pieces and mix with olive oil, salt and pepper Cook pumpkin until cooked through, approx...

Red dyed eggs, assorted shaped cookies and syrup soaked cake combined with church, candles and family make up the ingredients of my perfect Easter. Growing up Easter was about fasting (no meat for a few weeks, I could never do 40 days, a few of those days no diary and then even fewer days of no olive oil) going to church and red egg fights. There would be red egg shells found around the house for days after our egg wars, which involves hitting the end of each other’s egg until one cracks. From there the person with the clean egg tries to crack the other end of the opponent’s egg. This continues until one person is victorious and their egg is left unscathed – giving them good luck for the year. Then to top our Easter off, we exchange plates of cookies and cakes among family and every year I love adding something new and interesting to my plates. This year I wanted to produce something bright – so a yoghurt sugar cookie iced with royal icing was the obviou...