The Corkless Mind

Category: Health conscious

Balducci’s Cape Town Launches Exciting Plant-based Menu

Disclaimer: I was invited by Balducci’s as a guest, and thus no expense was spared on my part.

It’s no secret that vegan and vegetarian fare get a lot of flack for what most think is rather bland and unimaginative cuisine. Balducci’s is here to change your mind. Last Friday I was invited to try out the new menu and what would also fall on international champagne day proved to be such a refreshing treat.

Delicious new offerings include Vegan Butter-Chicken-Style Pasta, Roasted Tofu and Vegan Satay Sauce Pizza, Chickpea and Potato Curry, Roasted Chilli Paste and Cashew Nut Yellow Noodles, Sunshine Plate including Lebanese-style Falafel, Bhajis Plate including Corn Kernels dusted in spices and chickpea flour and lightly fried, Vegan Peanut-Butter Blondies and more…

The vegan butter chicken, falafel and Bhajis plate was so incredibly tasty! I could go back just for those meals. It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by the lack of choices for vegan and vegetarians but Balducci’s has certainly proved they care about all of their diners by providing variety and sustainability. If you’re not vegan or vegetarian like me, but want to experiment with different tastes and flavours, then you need to visit Balducci’s and try their new menu out! Who knows you might walk away wanting to convert 🙂

Balducci’s plant-based menu reflects their commitment to supporting sustainable organic agriculture in the long term and respect for the planet.
For more information on the vegan menu please visit: https://balduccis.co.za/balducci-vegan-menu/

Balducci: Shop 6162, Victoria Wharf, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Tel: (021) 421 6002/3

October 23, 2019
Honey and Mustard Pork meatballs with pumpkin tagliatelle.

The pairing of pork with flavours like honey, mustard and sage not only enhance the natural sweet flavour of pork but celebrate its umami undertones. This week’s midweek meal is a budget buster, super easy to make and best of all it takes only 20 minutes to magically whip up!
Like many others, I constantly find myself stuck in a rut when it comes to weekly meals and making the same things for convenience sake. Each week, usually as a mid week meal, I make pork and sage bangers, using one of my jars I recycle to use as salad dressing jars(a tip I picked up from Siba from Siba’s Table) I mix some honey, mustard, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice and give it a vigorous shake to combine I then proceed to drizzle over the bangers then roast in the oven for 20 minutes to achieve a crisp and golden brown banger. The perfect accompaniment for me is runny polenta studded with butter of course, placing the bangers on top of the polenta and using the pan juices to dress the dish. This for me, is the ultimate comfort food dish.

So in rebellion of boring mid-week meals and costly healthy food, I’ve decided to pimp up the usual pork bangers and give it a lighter more fitting facelift for end of summer days.
Honey and Mustard Pork Meatballs with Pumpkin Tagliatelle with crispy sage.
Ingredients:

-350g pack of Pork bangers

-2 Tablespoons of honey

-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

-1 tablespoon of whole grain mustard

-1 pack of pumpkin tagliatelle(or any spiralized veg for that matter)

-a few sprigs of sage

-a knob of butter or tablespoon of coconut oil

-1 tablespoon of coconut oil to flash fry the pumpkin tagliatelle.
Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Remove the meat from the bangers roll into balls and place in a oven tray/dish. In a jar or bowl, add the honey, mustard, olive oil and lemon juice mix or shake until incorporated. Place the pork meatballs in the tray and pour over the honey and mustard glaze and roast for 20 minutes until golden brown. In a pan, flash fry the pumpkin tagliatelle in the coconut oil for 1 minute on high, place in a separate bowl and set aside to serve with the meatballs. Using the same pan, add the knob of butter or more coconut oil and fry the sage leaves until crispy. Take off the heat and set aside. On a plate, place the pumpkin tagliatelle (I sprinkled a little dukkah and chilli flakes over the veg pasta) place the meatballs on top with the crispy sage leaves using the leftover pan juices drizzle over the dish and serve with grated Parmesan.

February 28, 2017
Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

I have recently gifted myself a digital subscription to the award winning Delicious Australia’s food magazine. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t done so sooner! I’m a massive fan of their glossy food mag and find myself constantly perusing their websites in search for ideas and inspiration.
This recipe is adapted from their February issue, which is packed full of colourful and light summer inspired recipes. This particular recipe looked amazing photographed on their cover but also seemed like something I wouldn’t usually make. Like any fritter recipe, this is super easy and so light and fluffy. The zesty flavour of the zucchini and creamy profile of the Haloumi really complements each other and the accompaniment of the crisp vibrant sugar snaps are just the thing this dish needs for texture and colour. I love how the creamy dressing provides relief for the slight kick of chili in the fritter.

Okay, enough explaining the flavour profile, try the recipe for yourself!

Zucchini and Haloumi fritters

Ingredients:

– 620g Courgette/zucchini (about 5 of them) coursely grated

– 100g Self raising flour

– 50g plain flour

– 250g haloumi

– Pinch of chilli flakes ( I added a few pinches) add according to taste.

– 1tsp salt

– 2 eggs lightly beaten

– 1/2 cup chopped dill

– 1 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

– 200g of sugar snap peas

– 50g julienne beetroot to serve

– A few spinach leaves or baby gem lettuce to serve

Green Goddess Dressing:

-1/2 bunch of mint and dill

-Juice of 1/2 lemon

-120g sour cream

-140g Double fat plain yoghurt

Method:

Place the colander into a bowl and coursely grate the zucchini into the colander. Add the salt and set aside for 15 minutes, then squeeze to remove extra moisture. In a separate bowl, add the grated zucchini, flours, eggs, chilli flakes and dill, mix to combine.

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil for a shallow fry on a medium heat. In batches, spoon in a heaped tablespoon of the fritter mixture and fry for 3-4 minutes on either side, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Plate fritters with the lettuce/spinach, beetroot and sugar snaps, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Top with a poached egg or two.
In a blender (or in my case my NutriBullet) blitz together the yoghurt, sour cream, mint and dill until combined. Drizzle over the fritters and salad

**the original recipe calls for smoked ham to be added to the fritter mix, you can, like me completely omit this ingredient or add smoked bacon if you want to take it to next level deliciousness!

February 16, 2017
Roasted Sunbutter with chocolate.

I seem to have a healthy(excuse the pun) obsession with nut/seed butters these days. I could spread this luxurious paste on anything, from toast to dipping fruit into the nut/seed butter for a quick healthy snack option. This week I spotted a special on the sunflower seeds at my local supermarket and decided that I would experiment and make my very own homemade Sunbutter in my NutriBullet. I normally don’t have leftover chocolate, I think I might have forgotten about it and probably stashed it away for a rainy day… So with Sunbutter in mind I decided to use the leftover chocolate to give it a more dreamy luxurious feel.

This recipe is modeled off of a general guideline to make nut butter.
Roasted Sunbutter with a hint of chocolate.
Ingredients:
250g of Sunflower seeds

2 x Tablespoons of coconut oil

Two tablespoons of cocoa powder or four blocks of 70% dark Lindt Chocolate

Pinch of salt

Two tablespoons of honey
Method:
Place the seeds on a baking tray with parchment on and roast in a preheated oven(180 degrees C) for 10-15 minutes(watch it carefully as you don’t want the seeds to burn) set aside to cool.

Once the sunflower seeds are completely cooled down, in a large NutriBullet cup, add only the seeds and blitz till the oils of the seeds are extracted and the grainy texture becomes oily and comes together, blitz every 30 seconds then scrape down the cup with a spoon. Once an almost paste like consistency is obtained, add the salt and coconut oil. Blitz for a further 30 seconds until a smooth consistency is achieved. Add the honey and melted chocolate/cocoa powder and blitz again for another 30 seconds.

Serve on toast, with fruit on the side or seed crackers.
*the melted chocolate I heated up the microwave with 10 second blasts in between and add a little milk in at the end to make the mixture runny.
There are so many things you can do with nut/seed butters. I am an avid smoothie drinker and maker, so it’s only natural that I add some of the Sunbutter to a smoothie. I made a Banana, Whey protein, honey, coconut milk and Sunbutter power up smoothie. Just add all the ingredients to the cup and blitz, easy as that! For best results, freeze banana slices, this will give your smoothie a smooth and creamy texture whilst keeping the smoothie really cold too.
If you own a NutriBullet and love the nifty little gadget as much as I do, then please share some other ways you best utilize yours.
Dominique x

January 25, 2017