Honeyed Baby Carrots

For some strange reason, I really like mini-sized food, and baby carrots are no exception.

They're sweet and tender all by themselves, but a small bit of honey gives them a nice glaze and the lemon and mustard punches up the flavour.

• 2 fistfuls of baby carrots, washed
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon butter
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Whisk together the honey, mustard, lemon juice, pepper and salt. Cook carrots in salted water until just tender. Drain and return to pot and add the butter, along with the rest of the seasonings and mix well. Serve with the spiced almond crusted fish.

Lemon-Scented Broccoli

Hated by George Bush, loved by me. And since I'm no Bush fan, more power to me.

• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized piece
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice and rind of half a lemon
• Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the lemon juice, rind, olive oil, salt and pepper until emulsified. Alternatively, you can use a jar with a screw on cap and shake well.

Cook broccoli in salted boiling water until tender, then drain and let cool slightly. Toss the broccoli in the vinaigrette and serve with the black pepper and mushroom steak.

Other healthy things:

• Spiced braised lamb shanks with grilled vegetables
• Crabmeat waldorf salad
• Spice-rubbed grilled chicken salad
• Garlic herb shrimp with a potato and french bean salad

Crabmeat Waldorf Salad

I am shamelessly ripping this off from Suburbia. But for a healthy spin, I'm using creme fraiche instead of mayonnaise and loading up on herbs for a fresh flavour.

Serves 2 as entrees, 4 as appetisers.

• 2 cups cooked crab meat
• 1 green apple, peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 heaped tablespoon creme fraiche (you can substitute with plain unsweetened yoghurt if you can't find creme fraiche)
• 2 teaspoons chopped mixed Italian herb mix
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
• Juice and rind of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salad greens
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Make the dressing for the leafy greens first with 1/2 the lemon juice, olive oil, 1 teaspoon herb mix, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, salt and pepper. Pour everything into a jar with a lid and shake till emulsified.

Next, place the creme fraiche, lemon juice and rind, herbs, remaining mustard, pepper and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the crabmeat, walnuts and apple into the dressing and mix well.

Toss the salad greens with the dressing and place a portion on a plate. Spoon a mound of the crab mixture over and sprinkle some walnuts to finish off.

Other healthy things:

• Spiced braised lamb shanks with grilled vegetables
• Spice-rubbed grilled chicken salad
• Black pepper and mushroom steak with lemon-scented broccoli
• Garlic herb shrimp with a potato and french bean salad

Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

I'm giving gnocchi another chance, and trying out Cuz from Canada's suggestion.

Panfried in butter, then finished off with some lemon juice at the end, the sauce is a classic French brown butter sauce. The green zucchini and mushrooms should make for a nice light complement.

I'm making this as a side, so have ready 2 small portions of gnocchi for this recipe.

• 1/2 zucchini, diced
• 5 mushrooms, sliced
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Cook gnocchi in a large pot of salted water until they float to the surface.

In the meantime, saute zucchini and mushrooms with 2 tablespoons butter in a frying pan until tender. Remove from pan and set aside.

When the gnocchi are cooked, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and saute gnocchi until the butter browns slightly. Add the cooked zucchini and mushrooms and toss well. Add the lemon juice right at the end, along freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste and serve immediately.

Mediterranean Grilled Vegetables

Zucchini is in season it seems. Saw some super fresh fat green and yellow ones at the supermarket, which means grilled veggies is the order of the day.

This stuff is fabulous. Simple, but the freshness and flavour of the vegetables come through so well. It makes a great side on it's own, or as a salad tossed with a bit of balsamic vinagrette. You can even stack them up, scatter some of your favourite cheese and tomato sauce in between the layers and grill in a hot oven till cheese melts for a mixed vegetable parmagiana.

I like to make up a big batch and store it in the fridge because they're even yummy cold.

• 1 green zucchini
• 1 yellow zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 eggplant
• 5 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• Freshly ground black pepper

Cut the vegetable into 1cm slices and toss with olive oil, oregano, salt and black pepper. Toss until the seasoning and oil evenly coats the vegetables.

Heat a grill pan on high heat. Start with the peppers because they take the longest to cook, 5 minutes on each slice. Then grill the zucchini and eggplant, 2 minutes on each side. Resist the urge to move the vegetables or flip them around constantly, so that you get nice clean grill marks.

Mozzarella and Cherry Tomato Salad with a Basil Pesto Dressing

A classic combination that never goes wrong. This is like a quickie Vegas wedding with a twist - fast and easy, but with no regrets.

Use fresh buffalo mozzarella, or to amp up the cute kawaii factor, try bocconcini, which are basically baby-sized balls of the same thing.

If you don't have time or can't be arsed to make your own dressing, just use any pre-made pesto thinned out with a little olive oil to get the right consistency.

Serves 2:

• 1 large ball of mozzarella or 10 bocconcini
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• A large handful of fresh basil
• A handful of pine nuts, toasted
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground salt and pepper

In a food processor, whizz the pine nuts until finely and evenly chopped. Add basil leaves and continue to whizz until it's a fine even paste. Add olive oil to thin out until it's a thin pouring consistency and season to taste with salt and pepper. Empty into a salad bowl.

Tear the mozzarella into bite-sized cubes or halve the bocconcini. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and dump everything into the salad bowl with the dressing. Toss until mixed evenly and serve.

Other items on the Red, White and Ooohhh menu:

• Grilled red pepper and sundried tomato pasta
• Boeuf bourguignon with mashed potatoes
• White chocolate and cherry cupcakes
• Red rubies in coconut milk  
• Raspberry macarons with a buttercream filling
• Cream scones with homemade raspberry preserves and freshly made whipped cream

Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

I'm a carb junkie. No carbs and I'm as cranky as a menopausal 50 year old refusing hormone replacement therapy. I tried the Atkins Diet a few years ago... and made it for a grand total of 2 days before I broke down, and ate an entire baguette slathered in butter and chased it with a tub of Ben and Jerry's. 'Nuff said.

It's one of favourite comfort foods, and I confess I used to eat a whole pot of this while sitting in front of the TV. Needless to say, I gained 16kg, but that's a whole other story altogether.

For 1 serving, 1 potato per person:

• 1 russet burbank potato, peeled and cut into half
• 1/3 cup fresh cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon roasted garlic paste (you can replace this with 1/2 clove finely minced raw garlic)
• Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste

Boil potatoes until soft and tender. You'll know when it's done when a fork slides easily into the potatoes.

Drain and place into a bowl. Mash using a masher or fork, leaving a few chunky bits of potato for some texture. Chuck in roasted garlic paste and butter, mixing well. Pour in cream until the texture is smooth and season with pepper and salt to taste.

This goes great with meats... steaks, roast chicken or lamb. Or you can eat it out of the pot in front of the TV and get fat and happy.

See the rest of the BBQ Bonanza menu here:

• Roasted garlic hummus
• Mussels in white wine broth
• Singaporean BBQ chicken wings
• Fish in lemon, butter and dill sauce
• Honey, mustard and herb beef kebabs 
• Mediterranean salad
• Roasted garlic mashed potatoes

Potatoes Dauphinoise

Creamy. Buttery. Cheesy. Carb laden. Not for the calorie-watching or faint-hearted.

Serves 2

• 2 large or 3 medium Russet Burbank potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1.5 - 2 cups cream
• 1 cup grated cheese (Any hard cheese like gruyere or cheddar)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 160C.

Arrange the potato and garlic slices in an ovenproof baking dish. If you want to make sure you get laid, then arrange in a pretty overlapping pattern. If bedroom-boom-boom is out of the question, then just make sure it's evenly distributed, with about a half-inch of clearance to the top of the dish.

Season whipping cream with salt and pepper and pour over potatoes. The liquid should come to just under the top of the potatoes and not completely cover them. This is because the liquid will boil while in the oven and you don't want it to bubble over. Sprinkle a generous layer of grated cheese on the top and this potato puppy is ready to hit the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes until potatoes are tender, liquid has been absorbed and cheese is golden brown.

The rest of the Table for Deux at a Parisien Bistro menu here:

Appetizer: Pork Rillettes with Baguette and Cornichons
Entree: Steak with a Shallot and Red Wine Sauce
Dessert: Creme Brulee

Baby spinach salad

This is really quick to throw together, and makes for a great side dish, or even as a light meal. Tender baby spinach leaves and buttery baby portobellos, dressed in a homemade dressing and topped with crunchy bacon bits and creamy feta cheese. Veggies never tasted quite so sinful.

Made this last night, only to discover that GBF isn't a big fan of spinach. Ah well, c'est la vie. Will give him something else next weekend then.

Serves 2

• Couple of handfuls of baby spinach, washed and dried
• 4-5 baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• Knob of butter
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• A few rashers of bacon
• 2-inch cube of feta cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Cut bacon into strips, fry till crisp, drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a pan, melt a knob of butter and saute mushrooms till soft. Set aside in a bowl with juices. If you like your salad a little wilted, you can start on the salad right away so that the heat from the mushrooms cook the leaves slightly. For crunchier leaves, let the mushrooms cool completely.

To make the dressing, whisk oil, vinegar and mustard until it emulsifies (becomes thick and gel-like). If you don't have a whisk, put the ingredients in a jar with a screw-on cap and shake the living crap out of it.

Add spinach leaves to the mushrooms and toss with dressing. Sprinkle on the crispy bacon and crumble feta over. Add pepper and salt to taste.

A great add-on to this is a poached egg. Break through the yolk and let the creamy oozy yolk mix in... Sinfully delicious.