Nutty quinoa salad

Ever have a craving for peanut butter and also want to be able to kid yourself your being healthy (ie. not just eating the peanut butter straight from the jar with a spoon.....yeah don't pretend you've never done it!!)

Anyway...here's a pretty scrummy salad with peanut sauce and cashews, vaguely inspired by Thai food which is one of my favourite cuisines :)

Ingredients:

50g quinoa

One small carrot

A handful each of broad beans, and chopped tomatoes, cucumber and celery

A slice of red cabbage, chopped

One tbsp of peanut butter

A squeeze of honey

One tbsp of lemon juice

Aha ful of cashew nuts

Recipe:

1. Rinse the quinoa in cold water then boil for 15-20mins

2. Mix the peanut butter and honey and microwave for 10 seconds, then mix in the lemon juice and season to taste

3. Chop the salad vegetables and place in a bowl with the cashew nuts

4. Once cooked, drain the quinoa and add to the bowl - mix thoroughly 

5. Plate up a portion of salad and top with the peanutty sauce. Enjoy!

Chorizo and butter bean hot pot with flatbread

This was my speedy 'grabbing stuff from the cupboard before rushing out for the evening' dinner. I wasn't planning on blogging it, but it was too tasty not to share! 

Ingredients:

Half a can of butter beans, drained

Half a can of plum tomatoes

50g chorizo, roughly chopped 

Half an onion, chopped

One egg

Flatbread mix (see previous post on flatbreads!)

Seasonings

Recipe:

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onions, then add in the chorizo and cook until it's crispy and letting off oils 

2. Add the plum tomatoes and crush slightly, season to taste

3. Add the butter beans and cook for 5 mins

4. Boil water in a small pan then reduce to a simmer and swirl the water slightly (add a drop of vinegar if you need to) then poach the egg for 3 mins

5. Roll out a lemon-sized handful of dough and cook in a frying pan over a high heat for 2 mins on each side until brown spots appear

6. Serve up the butter bean and chorizo in a bowl, topped with the egg and with the flatbread on the side for dipping :)

Cajun chicken with salsa

So my housemate has gone away for a week and left me to attempt 'cooking for one' for the first time in months...this has led to me eating essentially enough for two people for the past few times! However, tonight I managed to cook a one person sized portion and my celebrations were doubly exciting as it was also fabbbbbbulous!!

Ingredients:

One chicken breast

One small sweet potato and carrott

Half an avocado 

A handful of cherry tomatoes

50g sweet corn

Balsamic vinegar

Cajun spice mix

Seasonings

Recipe:

1. Season the chicken breat with the Cajun spices and pound with a rolling pin to flatten it

2. Chop the sweet potato and carrott into small chunks and boil for 10 mins, then mash with seasonings and milk

3. Heat a griddle pan and then cook the chicken on a high heat, 2 mins each side

4. Chop all of the salsa ingredients and place in a bowl, season and dress with balsamic vinegar 

5. Serve by placing the mash onto a plate and place the chicken on top and the salsa around the edge

Tuna steak nicoise

In

I know it's getting winters now so it's not really the time for a salad, but when I spotted a tuna steak in the reduced section I had to have it! I'm probably one of the few people in England who prefer a tuna steak to a normal steak....contraversial :P

I'm not a big fan of potatoes either so you won't find any of them in this recipe either - but if you wanted to boil a few new potatoes you could easily add them in.

Ingredients:

1 tuna steak

1 egg

A handful of olives

Lettuce

A handful of cherry tomatoes

Salt, pepper

Chilli flakes

Soy sauce 

Recipe:

1. Start by seasoning your tuna steak with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and a dash of soy sauce and heating up your griddle pan

2. Place the egg in boiling water and cook for 3 mins (I like mine soft boiled)

3. Place the tuna into the griddle pan and cook for around 2 mins on each side 

4. Chop up all of your salad and plate up

5. Peel the egg and add to the plate

6. Slice the tuna diagonally and place on top of the salad, dress if you fancy

Smoked salmon, avocado and egg bagels

This is the ultimate Sunday brunch :)

2 of my favourite things are scrambled eggs and avocado so this was always going to be a winning combination!

Ingredients:

1 bagel

2 slices of smoked salmon, chopped

Half a avocado, chopped

2 eggs

A splash of milk

Salt and pepper

Recipe:

1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with milk, salt and pepper

2. Scramble in a frying pan

3. Meanwhile, toast the bagel and butter

4. Spread the chunky avocado onto the bagel and top with the scrambled egg

5. Top the bagels with the smoked salmon and season

6. Serve (with ketchup if you're like me!)

Baked meatballs and polenta

Oh you can tell its winter when the meatball dishes come out to play! Plus in this recipe I use Swedish meatballs, because let's face it, why wouldn't you?! Using polenta and some veggies takes the classic meatballs and pasta dish into the 'healthy and nutritious' realm too, so you don't have to feel guilty after a big plate full! 

I've used shop bought Swedish meatballs here (I was feeling a bit lazy :) ) but you can make your own if you feel so inclined! 

Ingredients:

One small red onion

6 Swedish meatballs

Half a can of plum tomatoes

4 cherry tomatoes

Any veg to go with it (here I've used courgettes and lentils but peppers work well too)

50g polenta

100ml boiling water

100ml milk

Seasonings

Pinch of chilli flakes

Recipe:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees

2. Chop the onion into large chunks and place in an individual baking dish along with the vegetables and meatballs, season and bake for 15 minutes

3. Take the dish out of the oven and mix in the plum tomatoes (and lentils, if using). Return to the oven for 10 minutes

4. Meanwhile, put the polenta into a small saucepan and add the water and milk, along with a pinch if chilli flakes. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 3-4 minutes.

5. Spoon the polenta onto a plate and pour the tomato, veg and meatballs mixture into the centre.

6. Season with salt, pepper and some fresh basil and serve 

Lamb tagine with flatbread :)

I always forget about my beautiful tagine. This weekend I spied it hiding under the cupboard and decided to take advantage of a free weekend!

 I'm using Hugh fearnley whittingstall's 'magic bread dough' recipe again - it's honestly so easy you should definitely try it! You can play around with the ingredients in the tagine as long as you have a meat, some root veg, dried apricots, tinned tomatoes, stock and ras el hanout. 

Ingredients:

For the magic dough:

• 250g plain white flour
• 250g strong white flour
• 1½ level teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus a little extra for oiling

Recipe:

• Put the two flours into the bowl of the stand mixer with the salt and yeast. Mix well using the dough hook. Add the oil and 325ml warm water and mix to a rough dough. Knead for 5–10 minutes, until smooth. This is quite a loose and sticky dough, which is just as it should be – you get better-textured bread this way – so try not to add too much flour if you can help it, it will become less sticky as you knead.
• Trickle a little oil into a clean bowl, add the kneaded dough and turn it in the oil so it is covered with a light film. Cover with a tea towel or cling film and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size – at least an hour, probably closer to two – or if using the next day, wrap bowl in cling film and put straight into the fridge to prove slowly.
• When the dough is well risen and puffy, tip it out and ‘knock it back’ by poking it with your outstretched fingers until it collapses to its former size. It’s now ready to be shaped to your will.

For the tagine:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ras-el-hanout
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 600g lamb leg, diced into 2cm pieces, excess fat trimmed
• 200g butternut squash, diced
• 200g soft dried apricots
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 500ml lamb or beef stock
• zest 1 lemon
• small bunch coriander
• natural yogurt, to serve

Recipe:

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and cook for 5 mins until softened. Add the garlic and spices and cook for a couple mins more, stirring to prevent them catching and burning.
2. Add the lamb, squash and apricots to the dish to brown
3. Then transfer the mix into the tagine, pour over the tomatoes and stock, season well and bring to the boil. Put the lid on and transfer to the oven. After 1 hr, stir the tagine and return to the oven, uncovered, for a further 30 mins.
4. Check the seasoning. Sprinkle over the zest and coriander, and serve in warm bowls with yogurt.

Aubergine and sweet potato Katsu curry

This is probably one of my best 'just made with stuff I found in the cupboard' dishes! It just so happened I had everything I needed for a delish Katsu curry. Next time I will blend the sauce a bit more though (as you can tell from the photo!)

Serves 2

For the sauce

A bit of olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
1 tbsp plain flour
1/2 tbsp curry powder
300ml vegetable stock
1 tsp honey
2 tsp soy sauce
1 bay leaf
A large pinch of garam masala

For the aubergines and sweet potato

Olive oil spray
1 free range egg, beaten
100g seasoned plain flour
200g panko breadcrumbs 

50g dukkha
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced in to thin circly shapes
1 aubergine, chopped to the same width as the sweet potato

And some veg to serve, or rice if you prefer

1. Start by pre heating the oven to 180 degrees and setting up your egg, seasoned flour, dukkha and panko breadcrumbs in separate bowls then pop to one side
2. Heat a little olive oil in a sauce pan, then add the onion and garlic and sweat on a low heat for 2 minutes. 
3. Then add the carrot, pop the lid on and leave to soften, stirring occasionally. 
4. While the carrot is cooking away, prepare a large baking tray by spraying with olive oil, then take your slices of sweet potato, first coating them in the breaded flour, then dipping them in egg, then covering them in dukka or the panko bread crumbs (alternate which one you coat it with).
5. Place each one on to the baking tray and spray well with the oil and pop in to the oven for around 30 minutes.
6. Go back to your sauce and add the flour and curry powder and mix in well. 
7. Add the vegetable stock, soy sauce and honey, bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. 
8. After 20 minutes add the garam masala, then blend
9. Remove the vegetables from the oven (they should be lovely and golden brown) and stack on your plate along side the veg. 
10. Pour over the sauce and enjoy!

Salmon and greens

Nice and light and summery, with my quantities of veg (about 4 times too much for anyone else!!) season with whatever you have to hand, I had some fresh basil so basil salmon it is!

Ingredients:

One piece of salmon

A couple of big handful of green veg

Quinoa

Seasonings

Directions (do you really need them?!)

1. Cook the quinoa for 20 mins until slightly translucent 

2. Cook the salmon in a hot frying pan for 3 mins on each side

3. Cook the veg in a steamer or pan of water for 4 mins 

The salad to beat all other salads.

The photo won't do this salad justice. Nothing could. I could eat this every day for a month. So if your anything like me these ingredients will sell this salad to you and you will immediately drop whatever you're doing, rush out to go and make this :) sneak off, slink away, dash off, whatever you need to do...just eat this plate of deliciousness!! 

Avocado. (Im sold already.....). 

Smoked salmon. 

Assorted tomatoes (hello, assorted - fancy!).

Fresh garden peas. 

Rocket. 

Basil. 

Spring onion. 

Cucumber. 

Grapes. 

Olive oil. 

Chilli sauce. 

Recipe....

You really need a recipe? Throw together the ingredients listed above, season, and devour :) 

Lemon sole and caper salad

It's finally sunny!! And when summer is here all I want to do is lie outside in the sunshine, eat salads and rejoice that hibernation is over! Wahoo, time to et your legs out my friend! 

This weekend I had to trade off a little sunbathing in order to watch the tennis but wow was it worth it! 

Anyhow, when I had finally dragged myself away from both the tennis and the sunshine, I realised there was no food as I have been too busy sunbathing and watching tennis to go to the shops... Luckily there is always at least 3 kinds of fish hanging about in my freezer for such an occasion :)

You can probably guess the ingredients if not the recipe just from looking at the picture, but if you're a stickler for recipes here goes 

Ingredients: 

2 small fillets lemon sole

3 tbsp plain flour

3 slices lemon

Half a packet of lentils 

Salad (cucumber, pepper, whatever you fancy)

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Seasonings 

1 tbsp capers

Recipe:

1. Place the flour onto a plate and coat the fish with it

2. Heat butter in a pan and cook the lemon slices for about 2 mins

3. Move the lemon slices to the side and add in the lemon sole- cook for around 2 mins on each side

4. Meanwhile mix the lentils, salad, dressings and seasoning together and plate up

5. Throw the capers in the pan for the lat minute, then take off the heat and place the fish, lemon and capers on top of the salad

6. Squeeze over some more lemon juice to taste 

Giant couscous with spicy meatballs

I've never tried giant couscous before and was meaning to try it for a while. I was going to have it with fish, one of my favourites to go with couscous, but then I  read about the meatballs and had to try them! 

Ingredients (per person):

50g giant whole wheat couscous

100g meatballs

Half an onion 

Half a can of kidney beans in chilli sauce

Extra chilli sauce, as required

Cumin, paprika (1 tsp of each)

Salt and pepper 

Green veg, to serve

Recipe: 

1. Fry the couscous for 2-3mins in oil, then add 100ml cold water and stir until softened for 15mins (ish)

2. Meanwhile, dice the onion and fry it with the meatballs

3. After 5 mins add the kidney beans and hills sauce and season to taste

4. Serve the couscous with the meatballs and green veg

(Mmmmm) chicken salad

As lunch-time salads go, this has to be one of the best - half warm ingredients and half cold, with a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Ingredients:

Half a chicken breast

1 small beetroot, sliced

Lettuce leaves

A handful of vine tomatoes

Cucumber

5 dried apricots 

Cumin, salt and pepper

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Lemon juice

Recipe:

1. Season the chicken breast and fry over a low heat until cooked, throwing in the tomatoes for the last 3 mins

2. Chop up all the other ingredients and throw into a bowl

3. Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and dress the salad 

Lemon orzo with spiced chicken and aubergine

I'm a big fan of my new griddle pan and will use any excuse to cook on it! The aubergines and peppers softened beautifully and the cumin spiced chicken was delicious. 

Ingredients (per person):

50g orzo

Half an aubergine

5 disks of red pepper

Half a chicken breast

Cumin

Pepper

1 tbsp soft cheese

Half a lemon - zest and juice

Veg to serve 

Recipe:

1. Cook the orzo for 5-6mins

2. Season the chicken and veg with cumin and fry on the griddle pan

3. Mix the orzo with the soft cheese, lemon zest and juice and season

4. Serve the chicken and veg on top of the orzo and with veg, if you chose.

Vegetarian chilli stuffed peppers with guacamole

I love chilli and I'm always trying to convince my flat mate that we should be eating more of it :) luckily if you stuff it in a pepper it goes down well! 

Ingredients:

1 onion

Half a can of kidney beans in chilli sauce 

Handful of sweet corn

Diced veg (whatever you have- I went for for Aubergine and mushroom 

2 peppers 

1 avocado 

Chilli sauce

Veg (to serve)

Recipe:

1. Gently fry the onion until softened, then add the veg and cook

2. Add the key beans and chilli sauce to taste

3. While the chilli mixture is cooking, prepare the pepper and brush with oil - bake at 180 for 10 minutes to soften them

4. Fill the peppers with the mixture and bake for another 20-25 minutes until cooked and turning slightly brown

5. Cut up and blend the avocado in a small bowl with seasoning and a dash of chilli sauce

6. Serve with veg of your choice

Carrot and sesame burgers

Here continues my burger journey....

I managed to find tahini in the supermarket again (it's been out of stock for ages) and so celebrated with a good old veggie burger. I strayed away from my standard sweet potato burger and went for a carrot based one- it was gooood :) make sure you add enough seasoning though and don't make it too thick.

Ingredients:

300g grated carrots

Half a can of chickpeas

1 small onion

1 tbsp tahini paste

1 tsp cumin

1 egg

Olive oil

50g breadcrumbs

Zest of one lemon

75ml natural yoghurt

2 ciabatta rolls

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Juice of one lemon

Salad

Recipe:

1. Place a third of the carrot in a blender with the chickpeas, onion, tahini, cumin and egg and blend into a thick paste

2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the remaining carrot until golden and cooked 

3. Mix the carrot and paste in a bowl and add in the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, sesame seeds and season as you wish

4. Mould the mixture into burger shapes and fry for 5 mins on each side until golden brown

5. Mix the yoghurt with 1 tsp of tahini and lemon juice

6. Spread the yoghurt on the buns and add the burger, then place salad lettuce on top with a drizzle of chilli sauce

Satay chicken skewers with noodle salad

Heads up, although this is from Jamie's 30 minute meals it definitely takes closer to an hour. I think it was worth it though - especially if your a big ol' fan of satay like me!! If your looking for something super simple, I'd go for just mixing peanut butter and soy sauce until it tastes goooooood, then storing that into whatever you fancy - typically chicken noodle stir fry if you are like me. Anyhows, if you fancy making the effort or are looking to impress, read on my friend...

Ingredients:

2 diced chicken breasts

2 nests of egg noodles

Soy sauce

one lemon

2 tbsp peanut butter

A large handful of coriander, chopped

Half a fresh red chilli (or one small one)

Half a red onion

2cm ginger, peeled

50g cashew nuts

Runny honey

Bok choi or similar, to serve

Recipe:

1. In a blender, mix the peanut butter, half of the coriander, 2 tbsp soy sauce and the zest of the lemon with a little water and half of the juice of the lemon.

2. Rub this mixture into the chicken and put onto the skewers 

3. Grill the skewers for 8 mins on each side

4. Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for around 6-8 mins then drain

5. In a blender blitz the onion, remaining coriander, chilli, lemon juice and ginger then place in a bowl with a tbsp of runny honey and tsp of both soy sauce and olive oil. When the noodles are cooked add them to the bowl.

6. Place the cashew nuts into a bag and smash them, then put in a pan and toast. Add to the noodle mixture and stir stir stir

7. When the skewers are finished, drizzle with some runny honey and place back under the grill for 2 mins

8. This just gives you time to quickly stir fry the bok choi in the pan you just used for the nuts (or steam it if you prefer)

9. Plate up, sit down, breathe, eat :)

Cauliflower crust, prosciutto, butternut squash and kale pizza

Phew, longest titled dinner ever! And that's without capturing the caramelised red onion and goats cheese elements too :P there may be a lot of ingredients to this but it's definitely one worth trying. The cauliflower crust means it can pass for healthy too which is always nice. I think next time I will bake it for a bit longer (I was worried about burning it) so it can be a 'pick up and eat with your hands' pizza.

Ingredients:

For the pizza base:

Half a head of cauliflower

50g grated cheese of your choice (I went for strong cheddar)

One egg

Salt, pepper and other seasonings of your choice

For the topping:

Finely sliced pieces of butternut squash 

3 slices prosciutto 

A handful of chopped kurly kale

Half a red onion

30g ish crumbled goats cheese

Salt, pepper, seasonings, olive oil

Recipe:

1. Rice the cauliflower using a cheese grater, then place in a bowl (no water needed), cover with cling film and microwave for 8 minutes to cook.

2. Preheat the oven and prep the butternut squash in a tray, season and roast for 10-15 mins

3. Once the cauliflower is cooked, stir in the grated cheese, egg and seasonings and stir until the cheese melts

4. Line a pizza tray with grease proof paper and spray with oil, then pour in the mixture and smooth down until it is a thin square / circle (/whatever shape takes your fancy)

5. Cook the base on its own for 15 mins until turning golden brown

6. Caramelise the onion in a frying pan with a little oil 

7. When the base is ready, place the onions, prosciutto, kale, butternut squash and goats cheese on top and then put it back in the oven for around 10 mins until cooked to your taste 

Caribbean salmon

Yes it's yet another salmon recipe! 

Like spice? Like lime? Like salmon? I do...hence this dish! Tasty and summery for a Sunday in June. Just remember to marinade the salmon half an hour in advance.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillets

100g rice

Diced cherry tomatoes

A handful of sweet corn

Chopped coriander

1 tbsp jerk seasoning

Grated thumb of ginger

1 lime 

100g green beans

Olive oil

Recipe:

1. Zest the lime and mix with the ginger, jerk seasoning and oil. Rub it over the salmon and leave to marinade for at least 30mins

2. Meanwhile, start cooking the rice and prep your veg

3. Mix the rice with the tomatoes, sweet corn and coriander 

4. Cook the beans in a steamer or pan of boiling water for 5 mins

5. Griddle the salmon for c. 5mins until cooked through with crispy skin (mmm) with the lime face down in the pan

Serve up and dig in.

Roast broccoli fettuccine

After a long cold day out I wanted something filling and flavoursome... Plus I hadn't been shopping in a while and there wasn't much in the fridge.... Here is the result!!

Ingredients:

75g pasta

1 small head of broccoli

Half a pepper

1 clove of garlic

Red pesto

Seasonings 

Recipe:

1. Roast the broccoli florets and pepper for 20mins with diced garlic and olive oil

2. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions then drain

3. Stir pesto and seasonings through the pasta and mix in the vegetables 

Simples, done.