Mini meals

As the eldest wee one is starting pre-school in a few weeks I have begun the countdown by practising 'mini' recipes on my two cherubs. What I mean by 'mini' is that they are scaled down versions of normal recipes both in quantity and in presentation. It's important that the cherubs get real food, but it is also important to make it easy to fit in a lunch box and be handled with equal ease such that I can reduce the potential for full scale war on the school carpet or walls!

The first, and most exciting (according to eldest cherub) task was to purchase the lunch box, or munchbox as it is becoming known. We opted for the naked lunch route and bought a medium sized box that could hold a sufficient amount yet not be too load bearing on the cherubs shoulders as she carried it into the school in her back pack. Eldest cherub LOVES her nude lunch box and it has become a regular at home during mealtimes as we build up to the big day.

So today's menu included mini salmon quiche. They turned out 'just tasty momma' and that was a big tick for them!

They were cherub hand size, moist and so didn't crumble all over the table and there was not a scrap left from either cherub. These are on the 'school menu' now.

Shortcut Pastry (for 12 mini quiches)
1 cup of organic stoneground plain flour (I actually added a little organic wholemeal to the plain)
1/8 tsp salt
65g butter chilled (if you can get organic - great!)

Sift the flour and the salt together into a bowl. Cut/rub in the chilled butter until you get it looking a little like breadcrumbs. Mix it up into a stiff dough by adding a little water. Roll out thinly but without working it too much if you can help it.

Using a round cookie cutter that is just bigger than your mould circles cut out the quiche bases and lay in your mould. I used a silicone medium muffin mould. Spray the inside of the mould with oil before laying in your pastry. Place a piece of parchment over the pastry and weight down with pie beads. Blind bake at 200 degrees celsius for approx 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and take off the parchment and beads before spooning in your salmon filling.

Return to the oven for a further 12-15 minutes.


Salmon Filling
a knob of butter
3/4 cup of cooked organic mixed beans (e.g. chickpea, kidney etc)
1/2 cup of flaked steamed (cooked) salmon
1/2 organic onion chopped
1/2 cup of organic milk
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped parsley
grated cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion and fry until soft, add the flaked salmon, parsley and the beans and toss gently. Stir in the flour and cooked until you see it just foaming. Add the milk slowly and stir constantly to avoid lumps, allowing it to thicken. Take the pan from the heat. Add the lighty beaten egg. It is you choice whether you combine the cheese into this mixture or add it to the top for a cheesey layer (this is what I did). Season with salt and pepper.

Further experiments include:

• Salmon and potato sticks covered in crushed weet-bix and then oven baked
• Black Quinoa, carrot and brussel sprout mini quiche
• Mini chicken and vegetable pies