By Leigh Champanis-King; Photography by Freepik
The ingredient lists for these recipes are embarrassingly short…
Sometimes time just runs away with you and you find yourself with less than no time to get things done. With these three easy recipes, you’ll be able to whip up a fresh salad, a cheat’s garlic bread and chocolate pastries for tea before anyone can even think of saying, “Where’s the food?”
Cheat’s Home-made Garlic Bread
Ingredients
— 1 loaf of bread (one that needs to be heated up anyway works best)
— 60ml olive oil
— 2 cloves garlic, minced (more if you have a thing for garlic)
— Fresh parsley, chopped
— Chilli flakes (optional)
— Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1/ Preheat the oven according to the bread packet instructions.
2/ Cut slices into the bread but stop about 3/4 of the way down for each slice.
3/ In a bowl, combine the oil, garlic, parsley, chilli (if you’re using) and sprinkle of salt and pepper.
4/ Using a brush, spread the mixture into the cuts in the bread, making sure you evenly coat each piece. You will have to keep stirring the olive oil mixture to make sure that you get a bit of everything on your brush each time.
5/ Wrap the bread in tin foil and bake in the oven according to the packet instructions. Once cooked, open up the tin foil and place under the grill for a few minutes (watching to make sure it doesn’t burn), so that the top goes golden brown and crispy.
6/ Serve warm at your next braai (or enjoy on your own while binge-watching Friends).
Easy Cabbage and Carrot Salad
Ingredients
— 4 carrots, grated
— 1/3 a head cabbage, chopped into small pieces
— 1/2 an onion, finely diced
— 1 chilli, finely sliced (optional)
— 100g toasted almonds, chopped
— 2 tbsp olive oil
— 2 tbsp rice-wine vinegar
— 2 tbsp lemon juice
— Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1/ Place the carrots, cabbage, onion, chilli and nuts in a bowl and stir to combine.
2/ Combine the olive oil, rice-wine vinegar and lemon juice in a small bowl, adjusting flavours according to your tastes.
3/ Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4/ Serve as a main or as a side.
Chocolate-filled Puff Pastry “Croissants”
Ingredients
— 1 roll puff pastry, thawed
— 1 slab dark chocolate (don’t go too dark, you’ll want to have a bit of sweetness)
— Almond milk, to brush
— Icing sugar (optional)
Method
1/ Preheat your oven to 180˚C.
2/ Unroll the puff pastry and lightly roll out with a rolling pin, keeping the pastry in the shape of a square (you don’t to go too far with this).
3/ Cut the pastry in half into two rectangles. Take one of the rectangles and, starting at one of the short ends, cut into evenly sized triangles. Repeat with the other rectangle.
4/ Take one triangle and depending on how big it is place one or two (or half or one and a half) pieces of chocolate at the base. Starting at the base, roll up the triangle so that you end up with a croissant-shaped pastry. Pinch together the pastry on either side to make sure there are no gaps (you don’t want the chocolate to escape!). Repeat with the rest of the triangle pastries.
5/ Brush the pastries with a bit of almond milk and place in the oven until they have puffed up and turned golden brown, +/- 20 minutes.
6/ Dust with icing sugar and serve warm.
Looking for more quick recipes? Try this 15-Minute Asparagus Tomato Salad or these 5 Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes.
