The extent of the Australian supermarket wars is crazy!
I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, but it’s seriously heating up between our biggest supermarket chains; Coles and Woolworths.
The adverts on TV are tit-for-tat on pricing, celebrity chefs, schools support and catchy jingles.
I swear I am constantly humming the jingles of one of the two! It turns into full blown singing and sometimes dancing when I step into the supermarket!
I must say, I’m neither a Coles or a Woolies girl by preference. I find it’s more a choice of convenience and I find the supermarket widely varies depending on where it’s located (suburb vs suburb and rural vs city). I also prefer to get my fruit & veg from local weekend farmer’s markets, but that’s not always possible.
Coles is my local and it’s pretty good in terms of layout, food freshness and variety but the busyness sometimes frustrates me, as does lack of trolleys and excessive packaging. However, when I’m picking Jay up for work I do pop into Woolies at Macquarie as it has a different variety, isn’t as busy (time of day I guess) and has a great Weight Watchers selection.
What I’m loving right now is the recipes that Coles are publishing in-store and online. Never mind that I think Curtis Stone is a total tool… the actual recipes, format of the recipe cards & booklet, as well as their new ‘how to’ instructional videos are really awesome.
check it out online here
On a different yet not unrelated tangent, Curtis Stone and his girlfriend Lindsay Price are having a baby. I really like her and Curtis has gained more cred in my book because he must have a few great qualities if she’s with him!
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, here’s a Coles recipe for Vegetable Pilaf which I’ve found is perfect for weekday lunch
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp Moroccan seasoning
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 450 g pkt microwaveable brown rice
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds toasted
- 1/3 cup sultanas or raisins
- 100 g grape tomatoes sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- coriander leaves to serve
- extra toasted slivered almonds to serve
Method
- Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium. Cook onion for 5 mins until soft. Add spice mix and stir for 1 min until fragrant. Add vegetables and cook for 3-5 mins until tender.
- Stir through rice, 1/4 cup of water, almonds and sultanas and cook for 1-2 mins to heat through. Remove from heat and stir through tomato.
- Serve pilaf in bowls topped with coriander and extra toasted almonds.
recipe via
Margaret Fulton
Woolies’ celebrity chef is the Australian cooking matriarch Margaret Fulton, and while I find her fascinating to watch, she’s a little lacking in the imagination department; her food is very traditional. But who doesn’t love Pumpkin Scones! This Woolies recipe is really quick and easy;
Ingredients
- 400g butternut pumpkin
- 3 cups self-raising flour
- 1 tsp Woolworths Select Ground Ginger
- 60g butter, chopped
- 3 tbs raw sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tbs raw sugar, extra
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Peel pumpkin, remove seeds and cut into 2cm pieces. Steam over boiling water for 10 mins until tender. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool.
- Sift flour and ginger into a large bowl. Add butter and rub in using your fingertips. Add sugar and pecans and stir to combine.
- Mash pumpkin with a fork and stir in milk until smooth. Add to flour mixture and mix together quickly using a spatula. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.
- Pat out to a 3cm thick round shape. Cut out scones using a 5.5cm cutter and arrange close together on the baking tray. Reshape the dough and continue to cut out scones.
- Brush tops of cones with a little extra milk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake for 25 mins until well risen and golden. Split scones and serve with warm butter, if desired.
