Raspberry and Beetroot Jelly

This retro cool jelly/ relish was such a hit at a recent family garden party on my recent trip to England, I just had to share it. It's super easy but looks pretty damn complicated to make (so a good dish to impress the guests!) It's a real showpiece on the table! I'm so glad there was enough for the party and leftovers for the next few days as I couldn't get enough of it. Enjoy, Ingrid

Grandma Mimi's Raspberry Beetroot Jelly

Serves about 20 party guests
What you need:
1kg cooked beetroot (diced)
1 packet of raspberry jelly
250ml water (boiling)
250ml white wine vinegar

How to make:
Pack the diced beetroot into a jelly mould. Dissolve jelly into boiling water and add white wine vinegar. Add to the beetroot. Refrigerate overnight until set and keep cool until ready to serve. Serve with a tub of sour cream and chives.

Tips: 

• Perfect with bbq food or cold meats such as ham.
• Will last for at least a week in the fridge.
• If you want to make a family sized jelly, just halve the ingredients.

Tangy and fruity, a refreshing change to the usual staple bbq salads. 

Mango and Avocado Salad

This salad is so refreshing, so easy and sure to be a hit at your next BBQ.

At the recent Pirate party our Mum Val turned up with the most amazing salad I have had in a long time. It was so refreshing and full of my favourite ingredients such as mango, avocado, coriander and lime. Mum doesn't usually bother with fussy and complicated food and she said that this was really easy. Her only problem was she couldn't find the "Thai fish sauce" at her local supermarket.
She said she found the recipe it in an old magazine and thought it sounded nice.


The following day I attempted to re-create it, a quick phone call to get the recipe ended up being a list of ingredients without quantities. No problem, I like to do it my way anyway!
The quantities are my version and as always "taste, taste, taste" to adapt it to suit. I do like things quite tart and zesty so you may want to cut back on the acid.


What you need
I 120g bag salad greens, mescalin, rocket or baby spinach
1 firm mango
1 firm avocado
Dressing 
50mls vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 teaspoons sweet chili sauce 
50mls lime juice 
( I had a drama here because the bloody limes had no juice! I managed to get a minimal amount out of them and a bit of flesh but substituted it with regular white vinegar) 
1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
(Mum couldn't find it and I actually forgot it so I am going to say you actually don't need it but I have added it just in case you want to give it ago. The fish sauce will be the salt element. Despite loving salty food I don't think it's needed)
A hand full of chopped coriander
A hand full of chopped mint


Lay the mango and avocado on a bed of salad greens, mix all the dressing ingredients together and shake well. Drizzle over the salad and serve with a couple of wedges of lime.
Simple but perfect

Mango and Avocado salad

I used any additional dressing the following evening and made a basic lettuce, tomato and avocado salad, once again it was perfect especially served with a tasty scotch fillet steak.

Grilled Haloumi and Eggplant with Lemon Basil dressing

Grilled haloumi cheese: Don't grill the haloumi for too long as I did! It is so much better slightly gooey on the inside. Should only take a minute each side on a hot grill.

My house is being painted, so I've been lucky enough to be able to move myself and my son, into my Aunties pad, a stone's throw from Takapuna Beach on Auckland's North Shore. I feel like I've been on holiday, every night after dinner, I take Rhys down the beach, there is a swing that someone has hung from an overhanging tree and that is our place every night around 6p.m.

It's been two weeks now, and the painter is not quite finished, and I'm secretly glad, I'm quite happy to hang around here for a bit longer. I can't believe I left it so long to rediscover Takapuna, it really has changed from when I used to hang out here as a teenager, it's quite the place for eating good food and drinking coffee,  (Try Mossimo - specially good for kids, has a playhouse and courtyard, Sal's New York Pizza - the pizza is served on a stand and Aubergine for a good steak).

If only I wasn't pregnant I would have been drinking a cold pint in the sun along Hurstmere Road so instead I keep myself going with a good ole Tip Top ice cream from the local diary at the top of the street.

I made this grilled salad quickly on a hot day, after being at the beach, when I didn't feel like anything heavy, but wanted a salad with substance. It did the trick. Enjoy, Ingrid

This is a great throw together salad for a barbeque

Grilled Haloumi and Eggplant with Lemon Basil dressing

Makes 2 salads as a main or 4 as a side

What you need
1 eggplant (cut into rounds)
Salt
500g haloumi cheese (1cm thick slices )
130g bag of salad greens (or a mix of lettuce and spinach leaves)
1 lemon (juice of)
4 Tbsp Olive oil (and a bit extra for the hot plate or pan)
Small bunch of basil (chopped roughly)
Pepper

The perfect salad for vegetarians, blokes and bbq's. 

How to make
Sprinkle salt on both sides of the eggplant rounds and leave in a colander for 30mins until the salt draws out the water. Make dressing by mixing the juice of one lemon, olive oil and pepper to taste in a bowl and set aside. Pat eggplant rounds dry with paper towel. In a salad bowl add salad greens.

Place eggplant rounds on a bbq hot plate (lightly oiled) or under the grill until they become soft and golden brown. Grill both sides. Place haloumi slices on lightly oiled hotplate or lightly fry in a pan on the stove top and grill for a minute each side until golden. Roughly rip each eggplant round and add to salad bowl. Cut haloumi slices in half and add to bowl. Coat salad with dressing. Add chopped or torn basil, and mix through the bowl. Serve.