New Year's Day Lunch - Kale and Quark Herb Bake with Garlic Zucchini and Salad Greens

I love New Year's Day... Its always such a cruisie day...sleep ins...beach...and good food... after coming home from a lovely swim at Aldinga Beach....this is what we had for lunch...

Kale & Quark Herb Bake
500g Quark
6 eggs
a big hanful of herbs ~ I used dill, basil & chives
100g fetta ~ crumbled
1/2cup of milk
1/2 bunch of Kale 
1/4 ~ 1/2 teaspoon herbamare vegetable salt

This is a bit of a yummy lunch... its light and yet filling... perfect for my children's hungry post beach swim bellies!

To make this bake firstly put your oven on to 200c. While the oven is warming...finely chop the Kale and herbs and place with all of the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl and combine...how easy is that?! Place a drizle of olive oil into a 23cm square glass baking dish and then pour in the mixture... no need to flour the dish! Place into oven and bake for about 15 minutes... keep peeking at it...when its golden brown on top and look like a souffle...reduce the heat to 180c and cook for another 15mins or until firm. I check this using the wobble method...I give the dish a nudge with a tea towel covered hand... if it wobbles cook more!

Ok so while the bake is baking.... the ZUCCHINI

I love the zucchini...prolific, abundant, giver that she is... I love that you can eat the flowers, the miny tender corgettes, the quite adequate sized market beauties and the OMG look at the size of that marrows... and I love the varieties...black, yellow, pale green, ridged, srtripped...ahhh a feast for the eyes! I also think that of all the vegetables the zucchini is the most easy going... anyone... regardless of the colour of their thumb can grow them...and love how every time I visit anyone I come home with a hanful of zucchinis at this time of year...I won't even start on my addoration of button squash!

So it goes without saying that I have quite a few different ways that I cook zucchini...and this one is so simple and is my favourite way...

Garlic Zucchini
For today's luch I used 4 medium sized zuch's,2 fresh spanish onions, 2 cloves of Farmer Pat's new season fresh purple garlic....olive oil and a squeeze of lemon...




Garlic Zucchini

 A word on the peasant chop... to me this means fairly big chunks with no aim for uniformity of size... I love how when you fry off onions and garlic like this you have all these different stages of cooking in one dish...from crispy brown through to sweating down...delish!

So peasant chop your onions and garlic and in a generous glug of olive oil over medium to high heat fry them off a bit. The time it takes me to chop up the zucchini is usually enough... add your zuchs...now this is where I go back to cooking with my mother... nothing was ever measured by mls, minutes or cups... it was all measured by look, smell, taste and consistency.... SO look at your zuchs... stir them with a wooden spoon, sharing the heat... there is a moment when the green pops out at you...the colour changes...they go the most vibrant green... this is when you turn the heat off...they'll be cooked and cruchy! Season with a grind of salt... pepper if you like and just before serving a squeeze of lemon... If its just me I'll sometimes have this alone for dinner... cabbage is also yummy cooked like this!

Salad Greens ~ Its all about the dressing....

My dear friend Judith from the Farmer's Market ~ both Willunga and Showgrounds always supplies me with the most delicious and fresh salad greens and herbs. I'm particularily in love with her stirfry mix ~ I either make it into a salad or like I did last night...throw it through a curry or soup just before serving... for today's salad I used her lettuce leaf mix and some wild rocket leaves... did you know that mixing up your leafy greens is really important and that purple leaves can have up to 4 times the nutrition of their green brothers & sisters???

To me a good salad only needs 2 things...
1. Fresh ingredients
2. A good dressing!

This is my most fave salad dressing...
in a jar combine...the juice of half a lemon, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of dijon mustard and a teaspoon of honey...oh and a bit of salt...to taste of course...shake and pour over your salad...divine!!!

Well thats about it... the beach is calling me again...I hope you like what I've posted and that you enjoy cooking it and eating it as much as we did!

Yours,

Honey Lady