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You might have noticed that it’s been a little quiet around here lately. That’s because Ric and I have been busy revamping and re-launching the MediterrAsian.com blog.

Like this blog, the MediterrAsian.com blog talks about Mediterranean and Asian food and cooking, but we also discuss health and wellbeing issues in a bit more detail. So it’s like a mix between a food blog and a health blog.

If you feel like dropping by, the recipe we’re currently featuring is Self-Saucing One Pot Pasta. This luscious and healthy pasta dish is exceptionally easy to make because everything is cooked together in the same pot. Click here to check it out, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future updates!

It’s painful and debilitating when it strikes, and it’s a condition that afflicts millions each year. Yes, I’m talking about RSI, or Risotto Strain Injury.

The constant stirring required when making a traditional risotto can wreak havoc on wrists and hands — and with the growing popularity of home-made risotto I’m afraid it will only be a matter of time before emergency rooms all over the country will become clogged-up with RSI victims.

That’s why Ric and I haven’t stood idly by. We know there’s a crisis brewing, so we’ve spent endless hours in the labs at MediterrAsian Central working on a cure for what some say is an incurable condition.

If you’ve tried one of the risotto recipes on our website, you’ll already know that we’ve cracked the code and developed an RSI-free risotto recipe. How is that possible, you ask? Quite simply, our risotto recipe requires no stirring. None whatsoever. (For those of you who have been bed-ridden in the past with RSI, I know you’re breathing a big sigh of relief right now.)

Instead of adding stock bit by bit while stirring, we add all the stock and other ingredients to the pot at the beginning of the cooking process. Then we reduce the heat to low, and put a lid on the pot. This combination of steaming and boiling releases the creamy starch from the arborio rice in much the same way as laboriously stirring.

And while the risotto sits and cooks by itself, you can put your wrist to better use by pouring out a pre-dinner drink.

Here’s the latest variation of our no-stir risotto recipe, and it includes wonderfully healthy (and convenient) canned red salmon, as well as green peas, zucchini, and a hint of dill and lemon.

I hope you and your wrists enjoy this recipe, and I also hope you have a very happy and healthy 2009!

Salmon Risotto with Dill & Lemon

Serves 2

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion – finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic – finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
• 1 zucchini (courgette) – sliced into rounds
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh dill
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup frozen green peas-thawed
• 7 oz (210g) canned Alaskan red salmon – bones and skin removed and broken into chunks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

HEAT 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes. ADD the garlic, lemon zest and zucchini and cook for another 3 minutes. ADD the rice and cook for a minute, stirring to coat the rice grains with oil. POUR in the wine and stock, add the dill, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. COVER with a lid, reduce the heat to low and cook for 18 minutes. ADD the peas and salmon on top and cook, covered, for another 2 minutes. STIR in the reserved tablespoon of olive oil, the lemon juice and cheese and mix until well combined.

It’s the beginning of spring here in New Zealand, and I thought that the worst of the weather was behind us until I woke up the other morning and there was a layer of frost on our deck, which also carpeted the lawn like snow. Thankfully the weekend weather was far less gloomy, so we decided to make the most of the sunny weather and dust off the barbecue for a bit of grilling.

When I was growing up in Australia barbecues were very meat-centric. In fact our family barbecues were practically a meat lovefest! To accompany all this meat we’d typically have heavily buttered bread rolls and a basic salad. Not exactly the most balanced of meals, that’s for sure.

The sort of barbecue food Ric and I typically enjoy these days is still steak — except it’s tuna and salmon steaks instead of beef steaks, and shrimp and scallops instead of sausages. This isn’t simply a health decision though, we actually enjoy the taste and texture of these foods much more than meat.

Vegetables also play a much more prominent role compared to the barbecues of my childhood. We always save plenty of room on the grill for vegetables like bell peppers, onion, eggplant, mushrooms and zucchini. And salads aren’t an afterthought, they’re an integral part of the barbecue for us. In fact we always make up at least two salads to go a long with the grilled foods.

Our barbecues generally have a cultural theme as well. We’ll either base the grilled foods and salads on a particular Mediterranean or Asian cuisine (such as Italian, Greek, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese), or have a combination of Mediterranean and Asian grilled foods and salads.

Over the weekend we decided to have a pan-Asian theme for our barbecue. The centerpiece was delicately-spiced Thai shrimp and vegetable skewers, which we accompanied with a Chinese-style noodle salad (made with transparent bean thread noodles) and a simple Vietnamese-style coleslaw. We washed this down with ice cold Tiger beer from Singapore. So our taste buds certainly got to enjoy a trip around Asia.

Here’s the recipe for the skewers, and I’ll post the salad recipes in the near future. Also I quickly wanted to let you know that I was interviewed by Lovelyn from The Art of Balanced Living blog recently, and if you want to check it out here’s the link.

Thai Shrimp & Vegetable Skewers

Shrimp, red bell pepper and zucchini skewers marinated in a Thai green curry sauce and grilled until tender and succulent.

• 6 bamboo or wooden skewers – soaked for 5 minutes in cold water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons Thai green curry paste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (fresh coriander)
• 24 large shrimp – peeled and deveined
• 2 zucchinis – cut into thick rounds
• 1 red pepper – cut into small pieces

IN a small bowl dissolve the curry paste with 1 tablespoon of boiling water. ADD the coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, lemon juice, salt and cilantro, and mix to combine. THREAD alternating shrimp and vegetables onto the skewers, then marinate them in the mixture, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. COOK the skewers on a hot grill for 10 minutes, turning and brushing regularly with the marinade. SERVE with lemon or lime wedges for squeezing.

Ric and I have been on a bit of an economy drive lately. Like most countries, New Zealand has been hit hard by rising food and petrol prices. We live in the countryside, which is great for the fresh air and scenery (see the photo of our neighborhood below), but it also means a lot of driving each week. And with the price of petrol at around eight dollars a gallon here, it really tugs at the purse strings!

However, we’ve found that one of the best ways to save money is by inventively reducing our food costs. Over the last couple of months one of our biggest cost cutters has been to eat less fresh fish and seafood and more beans. If that sounds like a sacrifice, believe me, it’s not. Jazzing up beans is easy when you use them in traditional ethnic ways, such as added to a fragrant Indian curry, a robust Italian pasta dish, or a hearty Greek stew — or turned into delicate falafel, or creamy hummus.

Beans also make a great addition to salads. Chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) are a particularly welcome addition to salads because their taste and texture is like a cross between a bean and a nut.

Chickpeas not only add a wonderful flavor and texture to this Moroccan salad, they’re a good source of vegetable protein and a number of important vitamins and minerals including calcium and folate. They’re also a great source of dietary fiber, which helps lower cholesterol levels and regulate blood sugar levels.

You can use canned chickpeas for this recipe, like I’ve done here, or dried chickpeas (which need to be soaked and cooked first). I often choose the canned alternative for the sake of convenience, although I prefer the flavor, texture and price of dried chickpeas that I’ve cooked myself.

Moroccan Chickpea & Couscous Salad

An exotic Moroccan couscous salad with chickpeas, raisins and colorful vegetables coated in a delicately spiced olive oil and lemon dressing.

Serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a main meal

• 1 cup quick-cooking couscous
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 cups boiling chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic – minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 carrot – grated
• 1/2 red pepper – finely diced
• 1/4 red onion – finely diced
• 1 cup canned chickpeas – rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

MIX the couscous with the raisins in a bowl and pour over the boiling stock. COVER with a dish towel, plate or plastic wrap to seal in the steam and let sit for 5 minutes. PLACE the oil, lemon juice, garlic, spices, and salt in a jar with a screw-top lid and shake to mix. FLUFF the couscous with a fork to separate the grains and stir through the carrot, red pepper, onion, chickpeas and parsley. POUR over the dressing and toss together until well combined.

I live in New Zealand now, but I’m still a very proud Australian — and I think about home often (sob, sob). But thanks to the Internet, I never feel too far from home. Not only can I easily communicate with my family through email, the Web also enables me to read my favorite Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, every day.

Like many newspapers published online, SMH includes a selection of blogs based on all sorts of topics ranging from politics to sports.

One blog I really enjoy reading is called Chew On This by award winning health writer Paula Goodyer, who writes very insightful posts about food and nutrition.

Recently she wrote a post called “Ten healthy habits from the Mediterranean” where she spoke with Dr Antigone Kouris, a Melbourne based dietitian and nutrition research fellow with Monash University, who is from a Greek family.

Dr Kouris gave some very helpful tips on how to follow a traditional Mediterranean way of eating, which I’ll quickly summarize:

• Eat legumes (beans, peas, and lentils)
• Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, rocket, endive and chicory
• Eat a range of colored vegetables including tomatoes and capsicum
• Use extra virgin olive oil
• Include some foods like yogurt and feta cheese
• Eat fish and seafood
• Be generous with herbs like oregano, rosemary, dill and mint
• Snack on nuts and seeds

Then Paula finished the post by asking her readers: “Do you find it easy to include healthy Mediterranean style dishes in a busy week? Tell us how.”

For someone like me who’s super passionate about Mediterranean food and cooking, it was too irresistible a question not to answer. So even though it was quite late at night, I wrote down a list off the top of my head of all the sorts of Mediterranean meals I eat regularly. Many of these recipes Ric and I have posted on our site, MediterrAsian.com over the last four years, so I included a link. Then I went to bed.

The next day I checked the Chew On This blog, and saw that Paula had been kind enough to leave a note on my comment saying “Thanks — it’s a good site.” I don’t know whether it was this endorsement, or the list of Mediterranean meal ideas I described in my comment, but over the next few days more than a thousand people visited our site from Paula’s blog according to our server logs.

Anyway, if you’re looking for ways to include more Mediterranean foods in your own daily diet, I thought this list of meal ideas would also be of interest to you. So here it is (and I’ve linked to the recipe if we have it on our site):

Pasta served with tomato-based sauces like puttanesca (made with tomatoes, garlic, onions, anchovies and olives) or pomodoro (made with tomatoes and fresh basil), or with herb-based sauces like pesto and salsa verde.

Risotto made with salmon, tuna, prawns, scallops, chicken or beans.

Tagine (Moroccan stew) served over couscous.

Paella made with any combination of seafood, chicken, beans, and vegetables.

Ratatouille (a vegetable stew made with tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant and zucchini that goes wonderfully served on the side of grilled or baked fish, chicken or shellfish).

Tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette made with eggs, potatoes and onions).

Chicken or falafel kebab stuffed with tabbouleh salad.

Spanakopita (Greek spinach and feta pie).

Baked fish flavored with chermoula (a Moroccan herb sauce) and served with vegetables and rice or couscous.

Lavash wraps stuffed with hummus, diced tomato and cucumber, grated carrot, shredded cos lettuce, and sliced red onion.

Hearty salads like salade Niçoise and horiatiki (better known as Greek salad) served with some crusty bread on the side.

Bruschetta topped with grilled or roasted vegetables (like tomatoes and peppers) and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

Toasted baguette slices spread with tapenade (Provençal olive, garlic and caper spread).

Toasted pita bread, cut into wedges and served with hummus for dipping.

Although tofu has become more widely appreciated in the West as a nutritious food, it still has a reputation for being bland. Agreed, tofu may be insipid by itself, but with a little creative cooking it can be lifted to new heights. The trick with tofu is to add flavor — the thing that it intrinsically lacks. Being porous, firm tofu is a perfect candidate for marination, and its spongy consistency readily absorbs the flavors of whatever it’s mixed with.

In this simple recipe, tofu is cut into thick slices then marinated in a savory Japanese-style sauce before being grilled like a steak — which adds to the overall texture and flavor. These tofu “steaks” are than served on a bed of delicate, slippery soba noodles tossed with stir-fried Asian vegetables.

Grilled Marinated Tofu Steaks with Japanese-style Stir-fried Vegetables and Soba Noodles

Serves 2

• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dashi stock powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon miso
• 3 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 10 oz (300g) block firm tofu
• 3 1/2 oz (100g) soba noodles
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 bunch bok choy (or other Asian greens) – roughly chopped
• 1 carrot – peeled and julienned
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed to a paste with 1 tablespoon water
• 1 scallion (spring onion) – thinly sliced on diagonal

HEAT the water in a small saucepan until boiling and stir in the dashi powder and sugar until dissolved. REDUCE the heat to a low simmer and add the miso, stirring to dissolve. REMOVE from the heat and stir in the soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil and ginger. CUT the block of tofu in half widthwise, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. MARINATE the tofu steaks in the mixture, covered in the fridge, for at least 1 hour, turning halfway through. BRING a pot of water to the boil and cook the soba noodles for 4 minutes, then rinse under cold water and drain. HEAT a cast iron ridged grill pan over a high heat. ADD the tofu steaks (reserving the marinade) and cook for around 3 minutes each side. WHILE the tofu cooks, heat a wok or large skillet over a high heat, add the canola oil and stir fry the bok choy and carrot for 3 minutes. REDUCE the heat to medium-low, add the reserved marinade liquid, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. STIR in the cornstarch paste and cook until thickened. ADD the scallions and soba noodles and stir to mix well and heat through. SERVE on a bed of the noodle-vegetable mixture with the tofu steaks on top (glazed with a little of the sauce).