Category Vegetables and Salads

Spiced Lamb, Charred Carrots, Green Coucous, Saffron Yoghurt

September 6, 2014 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

I strongly recommend and encourage you to use Organic carrots here but if they’re homegrown, all the better. You can usually tell by their wispy piggy-tail-like ends – these bits always seem to taste the sweetest and nicest. Being simply boiled and charred in a griddle with lemon, the flavour has to good otherwise you’ll just end up chewing on a tasteless carrot stick….

The green couscous recipe is adapted from Ottolenghi and the remainder is a combination of flavours and textures I love and craved last weekend of August that raced by in the blink of my (luckily sun glass clad) eyes!

Serves 2

Green Couscous

100g cous cous
150ml boiling water
1 small onion, finely sliced
Ground cumin
25g pistachios, chopped roughly
1 small green chilli, chopped
Large bunch herbs: Parsley, basil, mint, coriander, dill
Good olive oil

Place the couscous in a shallow bowl and season well. Add a very small knob of butter if you wish and then pour over the boiling water. Cover and set aside.
Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and gently and slowly fry the onion until soft and beginning to colour. Add a big pinch of cumin and fry for a few minutes before taking off the heat.
While the onion is cooking, make the herb paste. Blend the herbs in a food processor, adding a slow stream of oil until blended nicely into a paste (The amount of oil you add here is up to you. The more you add the more moist the couscous will be).
When the couscous has absorbed all the water, use a fork to fluff up the grains and add to the pan with the cumin onions. Add the green chilli and pistachios and finely stir through your herb paste.
Taste and add a touch or lemon juice or seasoning or more olive oil to loosen.

Carrots

6-8 Organic/home grown carrots, cleaned
1 lemon, zest
1tbsp olive oil

Leave the carrots whole and cook in simmering water for about 4 minutes or so but just until tender when pierced with a knife but still with lots of bite and a bit of crunch. Drain and leave to cool and dry a little.
Heat a griddle pan until hot and add the oil.
Griddle the carrots until beginning to char on the outside for a few minutes
Serve warm with the couscous, with the grated lemon zest scattered over the top.

Lamb Steaks and Yoghurt

2 lamb leg steaks (You can also use lamb cutlets if you wish)
Ras el Hanout, Smoked paprika, spice mix (see here)
Olive oil
150g plain yoghurt
Pinch saffron threads

Sprinkle a good pinch of the dry spices and spice mix over your lamb steaks. Drizzle with olive oil and massage the spices into the meat. Set aside at room temperature.
Put the saffron in a small cup and add 1 tbsp of hot water. Leave to infuse.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan or griddle pan until hot.
Fry the steaks for 2 minutes per side (for a piece the thickness of mine, about 2cm, for medium) and then wrap tightly in foil and leave to rest for at least 5 minutes while you assemble the dish.
Take the saffron water (which should be a vibrate yellow) Pour into the yoghurt with some generous seasoning and stir to combine.
When ready to serve, carve your rested lamb and serve on top of your couscous and carrots with a generous dollop of yoghurt. Drizzle with the resting lamb juices!

Wine suggestion: Sijnn White 2012 (Chenin-Viogner)

I devoured this with a glass (or two) of Sijnn White 2012. South African, 84% Chenin Blanc, 16% Viogner. Stony fruits, peach, mineral and nutty flavour went deliciously with the spices in this dish.

Sticky Soy Chicken with Baby Chilli Courgettes

August 26, 2014 Comments Off read Poultry, Vegetables and Salads

A sticky ‘packs-a-punch’ glaze for some succulent chicken pieces courtesy of Bill Granger. I’ve managed to make it through my growing culinary life without (shamefully) having had Bill’s influence on any of my dishes? It could be his Australian roots that have kept his foodie inspiration at bay or perhaps (more likely) the Jamie Oliver shaped blinkers strapped to my head that had maintained my tunnel vision since discovering cooking? Who knows? However, with ‘Granger’s & Co’ round the corner from work and a growing love for Asian/Fusion cooking I have been sampling some of his culinary delights from Bills Asian Cookbook which is where this chicken marinade comes in. Baby courgettes courtesy of Portobello Market but normal ones work fine too!

Serves 2

Roasted Courgettes

6 baby courgettes
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
Bunch coriander, finely chopped
Juice ½ lime

Chicken

4 chicken thighs/chicken pieces
30ml dark soy sauce
25ml Fish sauce
55g brown sugar
2 garlic cloves
Light Olive oil

To Serve: Coconut rice (I made mine with red Camargue rice here)

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Heat a frying pan until hot with a little oil and brown the chicken all over until golden. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes until cooked through.
At the same time, roast the courgettes. Slice in half if using baby courgettes or into chunks if using large ones. Drizzle with oil and place in a roasting tray. Roast with the chicken for about 20 minutes. This can keep roasting until tender while you finish the chicken on the hob. (The courgettes also work amazingly grilled or charred on a griddle pan or BBQ)
To finish the chicken, heat a little oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic lightly. Add the cooked chicken and the soy sauce and cover with a lid. Leave to simmer on a low heat for about 6-7 minutes making sure the pan doesn’t cook dry.
Turn up the heat and add the sugar and fish sauce and stir to dissolve and combine. Heat for just a few minutes until the sauce goes syrupy and glazes the chicken.
Remove the courgettes from the oven and toss with the chopped coriander and red chilli. Squeeze over a little lime juice.
Serve the chicken on creamy coconut rice with the chilli courgettes and coated liberally in any excess glaze.

Lime Salmon, Sesame Courgette Noodles

August 24, 2014 Comments Off read Seafood, Vegetables and Salads

Here is a delicious new salmon recipe I’ve been meaning to attempt! Inspired and adapted from ‘Moorish; cook book. Drying the lime zest here really intensifies the flavour and baking in a parchment parcel guarantees a beautifully moist salmon fillet. Serving suggestions are endless but I’m obsessed with my julienne peeler so not even my countlessly grated fingers (they are very sharp!) has stopped my experiments. Use here for a courgette ‘noodle’ salad. I literally think I’d choose these oven pasta in a blind tasting. Healthier and more delicious. Sorry Italy.

Serves 2

Lime Salmon

2 salmon fillets
1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly roasted and crushed
Zest of 1 lime
Pinch Cayenne pepper/Chilli powder
¼ tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp olive oil

Courgette Noodle Salad

1 large courgette
½ small cucumber
Bunch mint, finely chopped
Bunch coriander, chopped
Small green chilli, chopped finely
1 tsp sesame oil
Juice ½ lime
Handful roasted salted peanuts

Preheat the oven to 75°C. Place the lime zest on a piece of parchment on a baking tray and dry in the low oven for about 20 minutes to intensify the flavours. Alternatively you can leave it to dry overnight.
Mix the dried zest with the fennel seed, chilli and cayenne.
Turn the oven up to 190°C. Rub the salmon in olive oil and coat with the spice mix. Place each fillet on an oiled piece of parchment and wrap into a parcel. If you fillets are the same thickness as mine, roast for 10minutes which will give you a lovely slightly pink centre.
Meanwhile, using a julienne peeler (recommended purchase for any health food/raw food junkie. They are so quick to use) julienne the courgette and the cucumber into a bowl. Add the chopped herbs and chilli and scatter with the nuts. Mix with the sesame oil and the lime juice and toss all together,
When the salmon is cooked, remove from the parchment and serve on top of the courgette noodles and rice if you like!

Balsamic Beets, Lentil and Hazelnut Salad

August 23, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

This can only be described as a super hearty salad. A man salad if you will. Bits and pieces foraged from both the allotment, the pantry and the dark saddened depths of the vegetable fridge draw. Not sure if its just me but does anyone else suffer from the wilting and unappetising reduced packet of dill sitting shyly in the bottom draw of the fridge? Often usually buried beneath the more popular and beautiful fresh non-reduced delights…

Put to good use here however:

Serves 2

4oz Puy lentils
2 raw beetroot, washed
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Handful dill, chopped,
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
Handful chives, chopped
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Handful hazelnuts
Olive oil
Salt and fresh black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Chop the beetroot into wedges and place in a roasting tray. Season and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 20-30 minutes until tender and beginning to crisp.
Meanwhile, simmer the lentils in water for about 18 minutes until tender but with a slight bite.
Roast the whole hazelnuts in the hot oven for about 8 minutes. Remove and if skinned, wrap in a tea towel and rub them until the skins peal away easily then leave to cool before roughly chopping.
After the beetroot is tender enough turn the oven down to 180°C. Add the garlic and coat the beetroot in the balsamic vinegar. Continue to roast for 5-10 minutes until the balsamic begins to glaze the beetroot slightly. Remove from the oven and set aside to keep warm.
Drain the lentils when ready. Season well (it will need it) and add the roasted garlicy beetroot and any balsamic juices. Add the chopped herbs and the chopped hazelnuts.
Combine all well and serve. I served mine topped with some lovely pan fried sea bream and a raw shaved fennel and pea salad! Delicious…

Pearl Barley with Walnut, Mint and Basil Pesto

August 11, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Pesto is such a great addition to bland food – pearl barley, pasta, tossed on boiled vege of ripped through your favourite pizza dough base (personal favourite!) I’m not a regular to the jar of shop bought but sometimes a tablespoon of the punchy stuff is needed, homemade or not. Pesto is all about the basic ingredients (Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, nuts, lemon and oil) mixed until you get the right balance. Basil and pine nuts if you’re a traditionalist but its also delicious with other nuts or herbs. As usual, my lazy self can’t be bothered to weigh so the ‘handful’ measurement has come in again here….I have averaged-small sized hands so do as you please…

Serves 2

Pearl Barley with Walnut, Mint and Basil Pesto

120g pearl barely
Handful walnuts
Handful grated parmesan
½ lemon
Large bunch basil and mint, leaves picked
1 garlic clove, crushed
Extra virgin olive oil
2 x salmon fillets
Slow roasted balsamic onions (see here)

Toast the walnuts in a hot dry frying pan until fragrant or roast in a hot oven for about 6 minutes until warm and smelling delicious!
Transfer to a pestle and mortar or a food processor. Pulse until you have fine crumbs with texture.
Add the herbs, garlic and cheese and blend. Season and thin out with the lemon juice and enough oil to get the right consistency for your liking.
Taste and adjust with more of the above.
Cook your pearl barely until tender in a pan of simmering water. When ready, drain and toss liberally with the pesto. Stir through a few whole walnuts and chopped herbs too if you like. Set aside at room temperature
Roast the salmon in a 200°C preheated oven or pan fry, skin side down until crisp and cooked.
Serve the barely topped with salmon, a spoonful of roasted balsamic onions if you like (see here). Drizzle with a good oil and scatter with mint. Serve with greens beans or similar…

Creamy Dijon Lentil Gratin

July 7, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Like many of my dishes this one came about from a fridge of leftovers and a willing pantry. With a craving for a side dish with a little extra added effort I knocked out this gratin. In an almost ‘mystery box’ Masterchef challenge, some simply simmered lentils, a dousing of deep creamy Dijon dressing, some soft goats cheese speckled with parsley and all liberally blanketed in some cheesy breadcrumbs and butter and baked could only taste delicious.

Serves 2

4oz Puy Lentils
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
4 tbsp creme fraiche OR 4 large tbsp creamy goats cheese e.g. Chèvre
Handful chopped flat leaf parsley
2 large handfuls breadcrumbs
1 large handful grated parmesan
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Simmer the lentils in boiling water for about 20 minutes or until soft but with a slight bite and not mushy
Drain and return to the pan. Stir in the parsley, creme fraiche, mustard and plenty of cracked black pepper and salt.
Spoon into an oven proof dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese in a bowl and season. Scatter over the lentils and top with a few knobs of butter.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy on top.

WINE: If using Sancerre’s famous Chèvre, this dish is perfect with a beautiful crisp Sancerre wine to match. Try Fernand Girard, 2014 Sancerre which is available at Armit Wines.

Wild Garlic Pesto

April 29, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

Free ingredients feel cheekily delicious. Whether its that buy one get one free packet of salad, that suspect lemon that apparently didn’t scan in the hands of the conveniently incompetent cashier or, in this case, the hand foraged bunch of wild garlic my sensitive foodie nose kindly led me to on a country walk this Easter. Growing in the hedgerow and just dying to be plucked and cooked these leaves are fragrant with a garlic punch.

Wild garlic should be treated more like a herb- a hardier basil. It can be sauteed in butter but not cooked as hard as a cabbage. I decided to make pesto which can be made in a pestle and mortar and I always find this satisfying and a lovely idea where you really can adjust the consistency, taste and vitally the texture to your own preference steadily and carefully. However my solid granite pestle and mortar weights a tonne and after a long day at work and a run home I wasn’t in need of a weigh session or the horrors of having to unsuccessfully scrape my delicious pesto creation into a bowl and wash up my granite weight. So….shamefully the magi mix came out to do the job for me. I bought a beautiful Godess-like pot of bushy Greek basil on the way home today and couldn’t resist adding a handful to the mix as a nod to the classic pesto but go easy as it is punchy and will overpower the beautiful garlic leaves if added too heavy handidly.

Enjoy with – roasted fish, meats, roasted sweet potato jackets, mixed into pasta sauces, stirred into soups, mixed in salad dressings. I served mine here with pan fried seabass and red camargue rice.

Makes a small bowlful (depending on the amount of oil)

100g wild garlic leaves, cleaned if foraged
Optional – a small handful of basil leaves
1 garlic clove, chopped
50g finely grated Parmesan
50g pine nuts, lightly toasted (or walnuts)
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice
Olive/rapeseed oil (up to 150ml. See note*)

First, if foraged from the bushes, carefully wash the garlic leaves in cold water and pat dry or spin dry in an old school salad leaf drier.
Place in a food processor with the pine nuts, garlic and basil (if using). Blend until chopped finely.
Add the cheese and season.
Now slowly drizzle in the oil until you get the desired consistency. I think I used about 2 tbsp for mine.
Alternatively, bash the leaves with the nuts in a pestle and mortar before adding the cheese and stirring in the oil.
Add seasoning to taste and adjust with whatever you think it needs, a hint of lemon juice perhaps!

NOTE* – the amount of oil will depend on a few things but I personally like my pesto thick as its more concentrated and punchy in flavour and healthier as it uses less oil. It will also depend on how long you want to keep it. If you plan on storing in your fridge for a bit, pop into a sterilised jar and make sure there is enough oil to cover and seal it from exposure and oxidation.

Post Yoga Super Salad

April 13, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

After a fresh run and my favourite Sunday morning yoga class in the sunshine I returned home fresh, focussed, alive and….hungry! I love taking the time over preparing lunch at the weekend so threw together a super food salad to boost back my energy. This salad is delicious and highly adaptable like many of my recipes. Served with flaked oily smoked mackerel, juicy pink prawns, lemony smoked trout, fried halloumi, molten poached eggs. As a main dish topped with fried fish, add a handful or crunchy quinoa or roasted shredded chicken and bacon for a 21st century Caeser salad! Add raw shaved fennel if you like or change the herbs. Swap in your favourite dressing or take an Asian theme with soy sauce and sesame. The options are truly endless….

Serves 2

1 ripe avocado, diced
Handful ripe plum/cherry tomatoes, halved
Handful raw sugar snaps, sliced
½ cucumber, sliced thinly
Handful mint, leaves chopped (or a herb of choice)
1 tsp Nigella seeds
2 spring onions, sliced
1 tbsp mixed seeds
Handful of ‘China rose radish sprouts’ (optional…mine were from Organic planet but they can be found here too)
Lemon juice and olive oil
Protein to serve e.g. fried halloumi, freshly cooked prawns, smoked mackerel, smoked trout, poached egg, roast chicken

Combine the salad ingredients and mix gently together and season well.
Drizzle over a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some olive oil and toss gently together with clean hands
Serve alone or with one of the above suggestions.

Wild Mushroom and Black Garlic Rice

April 7, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

This mushroom rice dish was thrown together whilst I was at uni when embracing the challenge of living on a second hand shoestring. It is one of those staple vegetarian meals I often make when I fancy an evening off meat. Mushrooms have such a deep and earthy flavour that you never miss the meat here and this really is just as satisfying. I like to top mine with a quenelle of cool, smooth cream cheese to off set the garlic hum but a molten poached egg with a cascading larva of golden egg yolk would also sit on top here as naturally as clotted cream on a pillowey toasted scone.

However, today I experimented with black garlic. Garlic is undoubtedly good for you. From warning off infections and fighting your bodies battles to pungently and helpfully keep away any unwanted attention from the opposite sex….! Double bonus. I don’t think anyone walks past their local pizza place or Indian with the waft of freshly baking garlic bread suctioning up their nostrils not to momentarily drift into garlicky cloud nice. I love nothing more than the delights and simple efforts of roasting a whole garlic head in the oven before squeezing the obliging sweet contents into a pestle and morta, mashing to a paste and stirring into risottos or sauces. There is nothing as effortless that imparts so much amazing flavour.

So surely black garlic is to be even better. Delicious I can conclude but on a totally different level. Sweet but amazingly deep in flavour these gooey and pastey gloves are like jelly cubes of balsamic vinegar, a ‘fruit pastel’ of balsamic if you will. It is only a matter of time before Heston makes this imported Korean fad into an ice cream (I will await this patiently….very patiently, no rush Heston.) I’m only at the tip of my black garlic experiments using it tamely sliced here. But mashed to a paste, stirred into stews, risottos and sauces I am sure I will be sharing these soon…..the ice cream however will have to wait for now. Black garlic pasta or gnocchi…however…!

Serves 2

250g mixed mushrooms, chestnut, oyster etc, chopped roughly in chunks
4oz wild rice (a mix of brown, Camargue, wild rice)
2 gloves of black garlic OR 2 gloves garlic, chopped
1 large knob of butter
Handful of flatleaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp sesame oil
4 tbsp cream cheese/2 poached eggs to serve

Begin by simmering the rice for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat a generous knob of butter with a drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat until the butter foams.
Add the chopped mushrooms and some generous salt and pepper and fry for about 10 minutes over a medium heat.The water will be released so continue to cook until this evaporates and the mushrooms are soft and golden. (Now Julia Child fans, remember- don’t crowd your mushrooms, they won’t brown! So cook in batches if necessary)
If using normal garlic, chop finely and add now and fry for a few minutes turning the heat down if starting to catch.
Now, tip in the rice and stir into the mushrooms with the sesame oil and fry for a few minutes.
Add the chopped black garlic and the parsley and mix to combine and heat through.
Serve in large warmed bowls with an extra scatter of parsley some slices of black garlic and a creamy quenelle of cream cheese. Alternatively add that molten poached egg and crack on with devouring.

Sweet Potato, Cashew and Coconut Curry

April 2, 2014 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

With half a can of coconut milk left over in the fridge, some potatoes and not much else but a stocked pantry and an unwilling motivation to delve into my skinny looking purse I threw together a vegetarian (and equally as satisfying) version of my Keralan Fish Curry.

Serves 3-4

1 large onion
1 small red chilli, chopped finely
2cm piece of ginger, grated finely
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
Bunch coriander, chopped
400ml coconut milk
200ml water
1 Kaffir lime leaf OR ½ juice of a lime
Handful of desiccated coconut
2-3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tsp tamarind paste
Large handful of cashew nuts
Few large handful of sugar snaps/mange tout/green beans

Par boil your sweet potatoes until just cooked but still a little firm. Drain and set aside.
Heat a little oil in a heavy based pan. Add the mustard, fenugreek and coriander seed and fry until beginning to pop and smell fragrant.
Add the chopped onion and fry on a lowish heat for about 5 minutes until really soft.
Once soft, add the chilli and cook for a few more minutes before adding the ginger and doing the same.
Add the ground dry spices and cook out for 1 minute or so.
Add the coconut milk, the stock and the lime leaf
Simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes until thicker and creamy.
Once nearly at the desired consistency, add a handful or two of dessicated coconut and a handful or chopped coriander, saving most for garnish. Add the tamarind paste for sweetness.
Add the sweet potato, the cashew nuts and throw in your vegetables for a few minutes.
(If not using a Kaffir lime leaf, squeeze in ½ the juice of your lime here)
Serve with rice or naan bread. Garnish with extra chopped coriander, sliced spring onions if you like and an extra handful or two of cashew nuts.