Yummy banoffee goodness

Feeling particularly seedy we had lunch at a Pho shop in Newtown (too hung-over to remember the name). This was just the ticket to making us feel a whole lot better. So much better in fact that we decided we'd treat ourselves to cake and coffee at Mickey's (also at Newtown).

After all, we were so good for having something healthy for lunch... right?

This is what we got:

Mmmmmm Banoffee pie..... I dream about this pie.

Bombay Chicken salad

Friends from work introduced me to Saladworks on Hunter street in the Sydney CBD. It was quite confusing if you didn't know the drill. You select your salad leaves (med or large), they have english spinach, iceberg, mixed etc. You then take this to the counter and either order from their suggested salad selections or make up your own.

I opted for one of the recommended salads (selecting the salad leaves was daunting enough let along having to select ingredients to build my own) - a Bombay chicken salad. Their website is no longer working but from memory it had bombay chicken, chick peas, raisins, corn kernels, crunchy noodle things and eggplant.

It was really yummy so I tried to recreate it at home. This is the result:

We got some chicken breasts, sliced them up and marinated it in some Pataks jar marinade (I think it's Chicken Tikka). The chicken was then barbequed and tossed with mixed leaves, corn, danish fetta, chickpeas and raisins. It was not the same without the crispy noodle thingies but still pretty yummy for a mid-week dinner.

Seared tuna pasta

This is another dish that I've recreated based on a dish that I had eating out.

Last year, in preparation for my wedding, a friend and I were in Double Bay shopping for my wedding gown. We had a lunch at a cafe that was close to her home. It was one of those hole in the wall places that had mostly pre-made gourmet sandwiches but they also had a range of salads and other meals. I selected the seared tuna with spaghetti. It was a really nice dish, served cold, and a good blend of tastes - seared tuna, capers and rocket.

And my efforts at home:

Seared Tuna pasta:

Tuna steak, approx 200g per person
Good handful of rocket washed
1/2 Tbs of capers per person
Spaghetti (approx 80g per person)
2 Tbs of lemon juice
2 Tbs of extra virgin olive oil (the best you have - this will be used in the dressing)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Put about 1tbs of olive oil in a shallow dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Rub the tuna steak in this mix (both sides of the steak).

Make the dressing by mixing lemon juice with extra virgin olive oil. Usually the quantity is 1 juice to 2 parts olive oil but I find this too oily. You can just do this to taste but I find a 1 to 1 quantity works well. Get the right consistency by either putting in a small jar and shaking or using a small whisk to mix.

Start your pasta cooking (my spaghetti takes about 8 mins).

When the pasta has about 6 min left, sear tuna in a hot non-stick fry pan. After about 2-3min, flip it and sear the other side. Cooking time will depend on how rare you want your tuna.

Slice the tuna and mix with drained spaghetti, washed rocket, capers and dressing (if the dressing has split, just whisk again before tossing with the rest of the ingredients).

Can be served hot or cold.