5 Minute Food Fix

Asparagus really is the KING of Vegetable. It has such a short season, is so flavourful and healthy, and best of all, requires the very barest of intervention to make it taste good.If you're interested, the restaurant where Simon had the best asparagus of his life is St Peter in Paddington, Sydney, and it's extraordinary by all accounts!But to make Simon's King Asparagus Salad, do this:Find the freshest asparagus you can.Trim the ends, then slice 3 bunches into tiny coins.Dress with the juice of a lemon, salt and pepper, and a generous drizzle of your best olive oil.Arrange on a beautiful, showoffy platter and top with shavings of parmesan.Serve as part of a lunch spread with crusty bread and smashed minty broad beans.

We've talked about Simon's 'Fully Loaded Banana Bread' on this podcast before... but today Yumi arrives in studio with a massive fail of this tried-and-tested recipe.Here, we try to unpack what went wrong...And then we head into the real reason we wanted to talk - which was the concern that we are not making the most out of the wonderfully non-perishable fruit that is the GRAPEFRUIT.How can we expand our uses of this marvel?

Amazingly, Simon and I are up to 299 episodes of the 5 Minute Food Fix! Here's what to do with an excess of blueberries.

School holidays can be a rough time for parents! Yumi and Simon have a food-related activity you could do with your kids?Make preserved lemons! (it's easier than you'd think. The hard part is figuring out what to do with the preserved lemons once you've made them tbh.)Well lucky you're here because Simon has a weeknight recipe he likes that uses preserved lemons.CHICKEN WITH PRESERVED LEMON AND TOMATOStart with 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, patted dry and seasoned.Heat 2tbs olive oil in a pan and fry the chicken until lovely and golden brown, about 5 mins per side.Remove from the pan and set aside.In the same pan, add 500g cherry tomatoes. Cook until they start blistering, squash them with the back of a spoon. Add in 1tbs of finely chopped preserved lemon and 4 finely sliced garlic cloves. When it's all combined and looking good, add in 2tbs tomato paste and a good pinch of Turkish chilli flakes. Cook and stir for a couple of minutes before adding 1.5cups of water, bring to a simmer then allow to reduce. Add in fresh oregano, then add in the chicken breasts and mix through, allow to cook for 10 mins. Finally, add in a good squeeze of fresh lemon. Serve with cous cous!PS. The Basque Cheesecake episode can be found here.

MIRACLE CABBAGE AND CHICKENWARNING: This episode contains instances of making each other laugh like astronauts on a space station where they've run out of oxygen and have no choice but to start pumping in pure happy gas. Unfettered lunacy I tell you!TO MAKE THIS MIRACLE:In a medium bowl, whisk together 1tbs each of soy sauce, honey and olive oil.Add in 4 x skinless boneless chicken thighsSeason with salt and pepper, toss to coat.Put a rack in the middle of the oven and put the grill up to highFind that gigantic half a purple or white cabbage that's taking up all the fridge space, and cut it into (roughly) 6 wedgesArrange the wedges and 350g of trimmed green beans on a baking sheet.Drizzle over 2-3 tbs olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then space the chicken on the tray next to the cabbage and beans and set under the hot grill for 19 minutes.The cabbage should have lovely blackened charred bits.Remove and allow to sit for 5 - 10 mins.WHILE THIS IS COOKING...Make the dressing by whisking together in a small bowl or jug:1/4 cup rice vinegar2 tbs sesame oil1 tbs chilli sauce1 finely grated garlic clove2 tbs soy sauce1 tbs honeytaste and season with more salt if needed.Roughly chop the cooked cabbage and finely shred the chickenAdd it to a big bowl with the cooked beans. Add a few finely slices spring onions and half a cup of chopped parsley. Dress with the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Not gonna lie, Yumi still sounds sick on this episode and mercifully Simon runs the show to talk through the uses of nut butter, in particular peanut butter!PEANUT NOODLE SALAD YOU'LL MAKE WEEKLY:Dressing140g peanut butterjuice of 2 limes1/4 cup soy sauce2 tbs sesame oil2 tbs maple syrup1/4 cup water2 tsp grated ginger2 finely grated garlic clovesNOODLES:200g Udon noodles, cooked in boiling water according to the packet instructions then rinsed in cold water.1/4 cup of dressing3-4 finely sliced Lebanese cucumbers4 sliced spring onions1 cup of coriander leavesoptional: 1/2 cup peanutsMETHOD:Toss, taste and if necessary, add more dressing.Eat immediately and love it sick! Leftover dressing will last long enough for you to make this again,*Yumi recommends this with chopped red chilli.This recipe can be found in our cookbook - The Food FixAnd email us any time! foodfixemail@gmail.com

It's always* fun when you go viral, especially for an article you've written about bodily functions!One thing I didn't include in the article was a tip from my pelvic floor physio about what to eat for exceptional digestion! She really, REALLY wanted me to eat this food on the reg, so I did, and it's actually been pretty life changing!But how can you make it yummy? And not food = medicine?The trick might be adding it to this granola:TEMPLATE GRANOLA:750g rolled oats100g coconut fat100g honey or maple syrup3tbs ground cinnamon1/2 tsp ground cardomonpinch saltTHAT'S THE TEMPLATEThen add in non-sweet things, eg.Pepitasroasted peanutssunflower seedspecanswalnutsshredded coconutMETHODToss everything together then roast in a low, 140C oven for 10 minutes.Add in the sweet things, eg.crystallised gingerraisinssultanasdried cranberriesdried blueberries...toss everything around, then back in the oven for another ten minutes until it's clumping together, smelling aromatic, sweet and nutty, and is starting to go golden.Allow it to cool before storing away in airtight containers.Serve with diced whole kiwi fruit (SKIN ON!), yogurt and ground flaxseeds.*not always

We just did an episode about capers and I was fired up to talk about Smoked Salmon Bagels, given that they're a classic and I have eaten PLENTY.So what are some of the elements of the perfect Smoked Salmon Bagel?As usual, Simon knows a gobsmacking amount about a niche food (Caperberries and boiled bagels, in this case), and we leave you with a completed episode and a rumbling tummy. Is that you immediately heading out for supplies for tonight's dinner?

Today, Yumi is still sore of throat and there's an alarming revelation about the waste of money that is cough medicine!But Simon has energy around the delicious ingredient - CAPERS.What the heck are capers?They're actually the unripened berried from a prickly caper bush and food-wise, they're probably best-known as the thing you find atop of a smoked salmon bagel.On today's episode, Simon talks us through what they're commonly used for, how to maximise their punch in your day-to-day cooking, and then a brilliant recipe from his favourite cookbook (so far) of 2024, Anna Jones - EASY WINS.Cauliflower Caponata:Heat your oven up to 220C.Break up 1 cauliflower into big florets directly onto a big oven tray.Cut up 3 onions into wedges and chop up 3 sticks of celery, add them to the tray then toss through 1tbs olive oil, 2tbs white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.Cook for 25 mins until charred and softened.Remove from oven. Turn the oven down to 200C.Add in 2 tins of plum tomatoes, 100g of good quality pitted olives, 3tbs of a star ingredient CAPERS, and 50g of raisins. Mix them all together, mashing the veg a little with a fork as you do.Back in the oven for another 40 minutes.Take out the tray and while it's cooling add another tablespoon of vinegar and some chopped parsley.Serve immediately while still warm or jar it up to last at least a week, finishing with olive oil.