Caroline likes to have fun with cooking, keeping it light hearted, experimental and most of all local. She’s built a warm and lasting relationship with local farmers, grocers, fish mongers and butchers.

This is why Caroline is so passionate about supporting their produce and what drives her to create accessible recipes for home cooks and chefs.

‘There’s nothing better than putting a bunch of ingredients together that you might not have used before and creating a new family favourite!’

Her job ranges from supporting hotel chefs with menu development, consulting cafe owners on new business strategies and raising a young son and sharing her passion of food with him.

Chicken Saag with Warrigal Greens – serves 4

Ingredients

Saag

• 500g free-range chicken thigh, cube dice 2cm square.
• 300g warrigal greens or spinach
• 2 cloves garlic, minced about 1 tbsp
• 2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
• 1 ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp cardamom
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup plain yoghurt

Raita

• 1 cup natural yoghurt
• ½ continental cucumber, deseeded + finely diced
• 1 tsp lemon myrtle flakes
• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non-stick frypan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and sauté until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly, and lowering heat to medium-low if it starts to brown too quickly.
2. Over medium heat, add the salt, coriander, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, and chili powder, and stir on medium-low heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds or so. Stir tomato paste into the spices in the pan, creating a thick spiced sauce, about 1 minute.
3. Add the spinach and water, and gently stir to combine as the frypan will be very full. Cover and raise the heat to medium-high, allowing the spinach to start to wilt. Occasionally remove the lid, stir, and then cover again until most of the spinach has begun to wilt, about 3 to 5 minutes (can depend on the size of your spinach leaves). Remove the lid and finish stirring the spinach until it is completely wilted but still bright green, another minute.
4. Transfer spinach mixture to a blender and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust salt and spice if necessary.
5. Meanwhile, wipe the frypan clean with a paper towel, return it to medium-high heat, and add another tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the cubed chicken pieces, sprinkle salt over the top to season, and cook until almost completely cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Pour the spinach mixture back over the chicken, using a rubber spatula to get every last bit out of the blender, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to allow the flavours to meld and the chicken to finish cooking.
7. Make raita by mixing deseeded and diced cucumber, lemon myrtle and sea salt in a bowl and set aside. You can make this ahead of time to get the full effect of the lemon myrtle.
8. Stir the yoghurt through the saag and serve immediately with basmati rice and/or naan bread and top with a dessert spoon of raita.

Enjoy!