The chicken fillets can be grilled on a ribbed cast iron grill pan, hot rock griller or over the coals of a braai fire.

2 x 400 g packs of mini chicken breast fillets
4 T (60 ml) olive oil
1 T (15 ml) Ina Paarman's Chicken Spice

Toss the mini fillets in a mixing bowl with the oil and seasoning until evenly coated. Leave to marinate for 20-30 minutes at room temperature. Warm the griddle pan. Lay the fillets on the heated surface and turn only once it has browned on the one side. Cook the other side and serve with a choice of two sauces. Microwave the sauces in serving bowls before serving.

SAUCES
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Cheese Sauce
1 x 200 ml Ina Paarman's Ready to Serve Tomato & Chilli Sauce

 VARIATION:

The Creamy Curry Sauce is also outstanding with these fillets. Strips of beef or pork fillets can be cooked the same way.

SLIMMERS OPTION
Our Reduced Fat Ready to Serve Cheese Sauce will be available soon in the supermarkets and that would be an excellent alternative to the regular cheese sauce for those looking for a leaner alternative.

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Instead of tossing the salad in a bowl, we have rolled the usual combination of tomato, olives, spring onions, feta and cucumber together in a lettuce leaf for a more trendy presentation.

1 English cucumber
1 head of butter lettuce
1 x 200 g punnet baby tomatoes, halved lengthways
½ cup (125 ml) pipped black olives, sliced into rings
1 wheel of feta cheese, cubed 1cm x 1cm
1 bunch of spring onions
½ cup (125 ml) Ina Paarman's Lite Greek Dressing

Slice the cucumber lengthways into long, thin flat strips with a potato peeler. Arrange the strips on your work surface. Place one large whole lettuce leaf on each cucumber strip. Scatter the baby tomatoes, feta and black olives on the the lettuce leaf. Lay the spring onions at right angles to the cucumber. Reserve 2 or 3 spring onions, so you can use the green leaves as 'ties'.

Start rolling the salad bundle using the cucumber strip as the centre anchor. Secure with a toothpick. Tie the bundle with a strip of spring onion - it looks pretty, but is not essential.

Cover with cling film until serving time. Pour a generous amount of dressing over the wraps before serving.

 VARIATION:

Add steamed fine green beans, omit feta and add one anchovy fillet to each salad wrap, or add hardboiled egg wedges, cubed sweetmilk cheese, etc.

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Now is the time to serve asparagus as Spring is their season! Select asparagus with tightly closed bud heads - avoid any with fridge burn or mould growth.

2 x punnets or bundles of fresh green asparagus
1 T (15 ml) olive oil
Ina Paarman's Potato Spice

Wash the asparagus in plenty of cold water to remove all the sand. Snap off the cut end of each one, they will naturally snap in the 'right' place between where the stem is woody and where the tender part starts (not necessary for the very fine ones).

Toss the asparagus with the olive oil and place in the top of a steamer. Steam for 5 minutes just until they test tender when pierced with a fork. When done, remove, season and spread out on a plate to cool. Serve with perfect homemade mayonnaise as a dipping sauce.

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This mayo is definitely best if freshly made. Use as an accompaniment to cold meats, grilled fish, chilled asparagus spears or to spread on sandwiches in place of butter.

1 large egg or 2 egg yolks
3 T (45 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ t (2,5 ml) sugar
1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman's Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning
½ cup (125 ml) olive oil
½ cup (125 ml) canola oil

In a food processor (with a steel blade) or blender, process whole egg or yolks, lemon juice, sugar and Lemon & Black Pepper Seasoning. Blend briefly until everything is combined.

With the machine running on high speed, gradually add the oils one after the other in a slow steady, but fine, stream.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula every now and again. Adjust seasoning according to your taste.

 VARIATION:

Pesto Mayonnaise - add one tablespoon of either our Basil Pesto or Sun-dried Tomato Pesto before the final 10 seconds of blending.

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Carol van Niekerk shares her secret recipe with us, she was delighted after trying our Potato Spice. She serves this hot, as a vegetable accompaniment, or cold, as a salad.

4-5 large potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 x 250 ml fresh cream
Ina Paarman's Potato Spice

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Place thinly sliced potatoes in a buttered medium size ovenproof dish. Sprinkle each layer lightly with Potato Spice.

Pour fresh cream evenly over the potatoes. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid or foil covering and bake open for a final 15 minutes. Enjoy with any main course or braai.

 VARIATION:

Instead of all cream use ½ cup (125 ml) cream, ½ cup (125 ml) hot water and 1 t (5 ml) of Ina Paarman's Chicken Stock Powder. Replace full cream with fat reduced or pouring cream.

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Fresh fruit with cheesecake - a classic combination that always works!

CHEESECAKE MOUSSE
1 cup (250 ml) cold water
1 x 250 g Ina Paarman's Lemon Cheesecake Mix
1 cup (250 ml) fresh whipping cream

Measure the water into a medium size mixing bowl. Sprinkle the cheesecake mix over and beat until well blended.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whip the cream until stiff. Using the same beaters, whip the mixture for 1 minute until smooth. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake mixture using a spatula or metal spoon and stir until evenly blended. Pour the cheesecake mixture into 8 glasses or dessert bowls. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

FRUIT SALAD (needs no sugar)
2-3 oranges, remove segments neatly
4 granadillas, cut in half and spoon out pulp
12 small strawberries, rinsed, hulled and cut into halves

Catch the juice of the oranges in a mixing bowl when you remove the segments. Toss all the prepared fruits in with this juice, cover and refrigerate.

TO SERVE
Spoon the fruit salad over the mousse and serve.

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