There were so many great recipes we covered this year, and looking back we had an amazing selection across all types of cuisine. We were certainly inspired! We’re sharing with you, our top five favourite recipes that we wrote about on Her.ie. Enjoy and happy cooking!

Prawn Miso Soup

Ingredients:

• A kettleful of boiling water
• 2 x 15g sachets instant miso soup (You can find instant miso soup sachets in most large supermarkets).
• 100g raw shelled tiger prawns
• 150g pack straight wok medium noodles
• A large handful of fresh watercress
• 2 spring onions, sliced finely
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• A generous pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

1. Poor 600ml boiling water into a saucepan and bring back to the boil. Add the contents of the miso soup sachets and stir to dissolve.
2. Add the prawns and noodles and use a fork to break up the noodles. Simmer the mixture for 4 minutes until the prawns are cooked.
3. Stir in the remaining ingredients and serve equally between two bowls immediately.
4. Cook’s Tip: If you want to take this dish to work, it’s super-easy to make a single serving. Simply put 50g cooked prawns, 75g straight to wok noodles, watercress, spring onions, coriander and chilli flakes in a plastic container.
5. Boil the kettle, put the miso soup sachet into a bowl and dissolve it with the boiling water. Add all the other ingredients and enjoy it.

Recipe originally posted on Her.ie here. _________________________________________

Gorgeous Greek Salmon

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp low-fat or fat-free Activia natural yogurt
• 4  boneless salmon fillets
• 20 black olives, coarsely chopped
• 15 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180oC.
2. Line a baking tin with parchment paper or tinfoil. Place the salmon fillets in the tin. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix the yoghurt, olives, tomatoes, dried oregano and garlic.
4. Top the salmon with the yoghurt mixture, evenly covering all of the salmon. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
5. Serve with a green salad and some crusty wholegrain bread.

Originally shared on Her.ie here. _________________________________________

Beef and Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

• 400g lean Irish minced beef
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 1 small courgette, grated
• Black pepper and mixed herbs

To Serve:

• 1 medium avocado
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 8 small wholemeal buns/rolls
• Sliced tomatoes (8 slices)
• Butter lettuce leaves
• Irish tomato chutney (optional)

Method Burgers:

1. Place the minced beef, egg, carrot, and courgette into a medium bowl. Season with black pepper and mixed herbs.
2. Mix well with your hands and then shape into 8 small burgers.
3. Place the burgers on a tray lined with grease-proof paper, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat a greased (with rapeseed oil) grill pan or frying pan on medium heat.
5. Cook the burgers for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through.
6. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm.

To Serve:

• Mash the avocado and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth.
• Lightly toast the burger buns.
• Spread the base of the burger buns with the avocado mash. Top each burger with lettuce and sliced tomato.
• Add a thin spread of tomato chutney to the top of the lettuce and tomato if desired.

Recipe by Neven Maguire, originally shared on Her.ie here. _________________________________________

Chocolate Éclairs

Ingredients Choux Pastry: - 150gStrongWhite Flour (Sieved) – 100g Unsalted Butter (Cubed, Room Temperature) – 250ml Water - Pinch of Sea Salt - 4 Free Range Eggs (Beaten together and set aside) - Egg Wash Crème Chantilly Filling: - 300ml Double Cream - 1 Vanilla Pod (split lengthways) - 75g Icing Sugar (sieved) Chocolate Ganache: - 175g Dark Chocolate (70% Coca) - 175g Organic Double Cream - Pinch of Sea Salt Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220c / Gas mark 6. Sift the strong white flour onto a large piece of parchment paper, twice and set aside for later.
2. Place the water with the butter into a medium-sized saucepan over a gentle heat and stir gently with a wooden spoon. When the butter has melted and the mixture has just reached boiling point, take the pan off the heat immediately (too much boiling will evaporate some of the water resulting in a grainy mixture).
3. Quickly tip the sifted flour into the saucepan; using a wooden spoon, beat the mixture vigorously until it forms a soft ball. It will appear messy at first but it will quickly come together within a few minutes.
4. Next, add in the egg mixture in stages beating vigorously leaving you a thick and shiny ball known as a panade which should have a slight dropping consistency. If the panade is too stiff; it will result in heavy éclairs, but the panade is too wet – you will be unable to shape the éclairs.
5. Place the dough into a piping bag with a 5-8mm nozzle and pipe 10cm long fingers spaced an inch apart (as the éclairs will expand during baking). Brush the éclairs lightly with egg wash, sprinkle the parchment paper with water and bake for ten minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 200C / Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 15mins until golden brown and crisp. Place a small hole in the side of each éclair to let the steam escape and return to the oven for a further 3-5mins. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Crème Chantilly Filling: – For the Chantilly cream; place the cream into a bowl, cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways with a sharp knife and scrape out the pods. – Add the pods to the cream and whip until it forms soft peaks. – Fold in the sieved icing sugar, taste and add more icing sugar if you desire. Ganache Icing: Bring a saucepan of water to a fast boil and simmer. Place the chocolate in a medium sized Pyrex bowl over the saucepan of water ensuring it does not touch the water. Gently heat the cream in a small saucepan until it reaches the shivery stage before pouring over the melted chocolate. Allow to cool at room temperature stirring every so often to allow the ganache to thicken slightly before icing the éclairs. – Coat the top of the éclairs with a layer of chocolate and allow to set before piping the Chantilly filling. – Using a small piping nozzle; fill the éclairs with the Chantilly filling through the hole which was made earlier. Recipe by Dermot O'Sullivan posted here. _________________________________________

Crispy Crackers and Red Pepper and Chilli Jam

Ingredients:

• 1/12 tsp dried yeast
• 150ml of warm water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Siúcra Caster Sugar
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 175g strong flour
• 2tbsp sesame seed
• 50g wheat bran

Red Pepper and Chilli Jam:

• 1kg Siúcra Sure Set Jam Sugar
• 233g trimmed and seeded red peppers
• 14g trimmed and seeded chilli peppers
• 225ml cider or wine vinegar
• 225ml water

Method:

1. Preheat oven 190°C / 375°F / Gas mark 5.
2. In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together with your hand to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes until the dough is smooth.
3. On a floured board roll out the dough until it is very thin, about the thickness of a one cent coin or penny. Then cut into rectangles, triangles, squares or circles. Place the crackers on a baking tray and cook immediately until the crackers are crisp and golden brown for about 8-10 minutes
4. Allow to cool. Then place in an air tight container. The crackers will keep for a month.

Method for Red Pepper and Chilli Jam:

1. Wash and dry the red peppers. Cut into small pieces and discard the seeds. Wash and dry the chilli peppers. Cut into small pieces and discard the seeds.
2. Place the chopped red peppers, chilli peppers and cider vinegar in a blender and process to a puree.
3. Place in saucepan and wash out blender with the water. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 5 minutes to soften and cook peppers. Stir in Sure Set sugar and continue stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil vigorously for 1 minute.
4. Pot, cover and date to later serve on top of your homemade crispy crackers

Siúcra recipe, originally shared on Her.ie here.