Are you celebrating Australia’s national day this weekend? We thought you may not want to follow the general “beer-prawns-burger” progression, so here’s a healthy summer menu that’ll leave your guests begging for the recipes.

 

Grated Beetroot, Apricot & Spanish Onion Salad

This salad is delicious with other dried fruits such as raisins or prunes, which are packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre.

 

3 medium beetroot, finely sliced or grated
1 small Spanish onion, sliced into half-moons
10 dried apricots, finely sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch salt

 

Toss all ingredients together and cover. Eat immediately or refrigerate for the flavours to develop. Check that it’s well seasoned and serve alone or with toasted Turkish bread. Serves 4–6.

 

Braised Spinach & Chickpeas With Haloumi

Other greens such as rocket or carrot tops may be used in this dish. The greens become infused with spicy oil and melt in the mouth. The dish is served with onions flavoured with sumac (the dried and ground sour and fruity berries of the sumac bush), available from Middle Eastern stores.

 

4 tbsp olive oil
½ Spanish onion, finely sliced
6 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 tbsp harissa ras el hanout (spice mix)
½ tsp allspice
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp sumac
4 handfuls English spinach or other greens, washed
½ cup cooked chickpeas
juice of ½ lemon
sea salt & fresh black pepper
200g haloumi cheese
200ml vegetable stock or water

 

Heat oil in a heavy-based pot and add onion, garlic, harissa allspice and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the greens and reduce the heat. Cook until the liquid has mostly evaporated. After 15 minutes, return to a high heat to finish evaporating the liquid. Add the chickpeas, lemon juice, salt and pepper and transfer to an ovenproof serving dish. Cover the surface with thinly sliced haloumi and bake at 180ºC for 10–15 minutes to melt the cheese.

Scatter with the Spanish onion slices, sumac and a pinch of salt. Let it mingle for 30 minutes. Serve with pitta or Turkish bread sprinkled with nigella seeds, which taste like a cross between pepper and poppy seeds. Serves 4–6.

(Note: haloumi can be made from cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s milk but is traditionally made from a combination of the three.)

 

Almond, Raisin & Honey Semifreddo

 

100g sugar
50g honey (2 tbsp)
300mL milk
4 egg yolks
500mL whipped cream
120g toasted chopped almonds (place in 180°C oven, cook until light, golden colour)
100g raisins (soak in cold black tea for about 30 minutes)

 

Place sugar, honey and milk in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Whisk egg yolks in a bowl until thick and pale in colour. Pour in the boiling milk and stir until combined. Cool in refrigerator, then fold in whipped cream.

Line a log tin with tin foil and pour in half the mixture. Scatter almonds and drained raisins along the mix, then pour in rest of mixture. Fold the tin foil over the mix and freeze. Cut into slices just before serving and serve with orange sauce.

 

Orange Sauce:

zest of 2 oranges
juice of 4 oranges
½ cup sugar

 

Par-boil zest in saucepan of water for 30 seconds. Drain.

Combine orange juice and sugar in saucepan, bring to the boil, when sugar has dissolved add zest. Simmer until zest is translucent and syrup has thickened. Cool.