Chicken, Bacon & Corn Salad

Summery salads have been a bit of a thing in my kitchen lately. I'm loving this one. It's a salad that certainly doesn't leave me hungry and the honey mustard dressing is to die for. 

Chicken, Bacon & Corn Salad

1/2 cup frozen corn

mixed lettuce leaves

4 bacon rashers

chicken, cooked and shredded 

1 avocado, sliced

coriander to garnish

Cook corn in a frying pan until lightly toasted. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Dice bacon and cook in frying pan. While cooking make the dressing. When cooked, allow to cool then combine and toss all ingredients.

Dressing

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon lime juice

olive oil

In a small bowl, add mustard, honey and lime juice, whisk until creamy. Slowly add olive oil while whisking, keep adding olive oil until dressing is at desired thickness, taste and quantity (don't add more than 1/4 cup or other flavours will be lost)

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake

The smooth combination of white and milk chocolate cream on a dark chocolate base makes this a deliciously rich and sweet dessert.

Baked Chocolate Cheesecake
Base
250g chocolate ripple biscuits
70g melted butter
Filling
2 x 250g cream cheese
1 cup thickened cream - divided into 1/2 cup and two 1/4cups
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
180g milk chocolate
100g white chocolate

To make the base, blend the biscuits in a food processor until they are fine crumbs. Mix in the melted butter then press into the base of a spring-form pan and refrigerate while making the filling.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

For the filling: in a mixer combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of thickened cream, caster sugar and vanilla. Mix until light and smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Divide the mixture between two bowls.

Place the milk chocolate and 1/4 cup of thickened cream into a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan over simmering water. Once melted allow to cool then combine with one of the cream cheese mixtures. Pour over the base and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

While cooking make the white chocolate layer. Place the white chocolate and 1/4 cup of thickened cream into a heatproof bowl and melt over a saucepan over simmering water. Once melted allow to cool then combine with the other cream cheese mixture.

Remove milk chocolate cheesecake from the oven and pour white chocolate cream cheese mixture over the milk chocolate layer. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

Allow the cheesecake to cool and then set in the fridge over night.

Bircher Muesli

Do you like breakfast? I have a love hate relationship with this morning meal. I despise cereal. I get bread guilts with toast. I'm finicky about eggs and bacon. I'm fussy about pancake toppings. Breakfast is a tricky thing.

I was one of those kids that took 45 minutes to eat one piece of toast and then spent the morning being lectured by mum about being late and wasting time. Stupid breakfast, getting me in trouble. In a bid to get me out the door in time each morning, mum forced boxed cereal down my throat (mostly in the form of Weetbix and Cornflakes). Child Me thought cereal was just tasteless mush. Adult Me thinks cereal is sugar fill expensive mush. I went through the liquid breakfast phase. Adult Me shakes my head pitifully at this, again such a waste of money and so much senseless sugar consumption.

So what's the solution? My perfect world? Eat banana bread for every breakfast! Reality: variety. I try to pre-plan all of my breakfasts. If I have variety I actually have something to look forward to instead of the same old box of expensive sugar coated processed grains.

While I hate cereal I LOVE oats. Porridge is my winter love. Bircher Muesli is the summer version. This is the perfect pre-plan breakfast because, to get the full flavour and texture development, it needs to sit in the fridge overnight. It is lovely with some dried fruit and seeds mixed through or topped with fresh fruit and honey.

Bircher Muesli
1 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup wholegrain oats
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 apple, grated
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
sprinkle nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight. Simple, easy breakfast is done!