My first two meals at the new digs (recipes included)

I'm still too embarrassed to show you pics of my new kitchen, cluttered as it is. You'll have to wait for those. But I will divulge my first two Clapton creations in the meantime, and perhaps you can look forward to a kitchen pic at the end of the weekend. Perhaps.

Things didn't quite go as I'd planned them for dinner, but close. As I said in my last post, I was planning a herby pea soup for dinner one night and salmon w/ Ottolenghi's asparagus and salsa (sans crumbly cheese) for the other.

That might have gone to plan, but a mixture of forgetfulness and Tesco let me down. First, I left frozen peas off my shopping list - KINDA important for pea soup. Second, no English asparagus to be had in the horrors of Hackney Central's Tesco, despite its bang-on seasonality at the moment.

It's okay, don't worry, I regrouped. For Monday, I went with green bean soup with parsley, mint, dill and basil, using green beans out of the freezer, with some rather yummy freshly-baked (but not by me) cheese rolls.

Here's that recipe:

Green bean soup with herbs
(serves 2)

400 g frozen green beans
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large handful of parsley, chopped
1 small handful of mint, chopped
1 small handful of dill, chopped
5-10 basil leaves, chopped OR a spoonful of pesto
1 tbsp bouillon powder + 1.5 litres of freshly boiled water
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in the pot, and add the green beans and garlic. Saute for about 6-8 minutes. Add the bouillon/water, bring to the boil, then allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Add half the chopped herbs before blitzing with a hand blender. Then stir through the other half of the herbs before serving. I put a dollop of low-fat Greek yogurt on top and served with those cheese rolls.

It was really yummy and no doubt less than 250 cals (minus the cheese rolls). Very filling too.

Moving on. Lack of asparagus threw a spanner in the works for my idea of baked salmon with Ottolenghi's asparagus and salsa recipe. I still had all the ingredients for the salsa, though, so decided instead to have baked salmon with tomato-mint-dill-cucumber-onion relish (salsa, though technically correct, is misleading here) and yogurt, served with boiled baby new potatoes and a baby gem salad. It was damn tasty too.

Here's that recipe:

Salmon with tomato-dill-onion-cucumber-mint relish and yogurt, served with potatoes and salad
(serves 2)

2 fillets of skinless salmon (140 g each)
1 tsp olive oil to coat

4 medium tomatoes, chopped well
75 g cucumber, chopped fine (about an 1 inch portion)
1/2 medium red onion, chopped fine
2 tsp red wine vinegar
small handful of parsley, chopped fine
3 sprigs of dill, chopped fine
3 sprigs of mint, chopped fine
salt and pepper

2 tbsp low-fat Greek yogurt (optional)

400 g baby new potatoes
1/2 head of baby gem lettuce or round lettuce

Bake the salmon in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. While that's cooking, prep the relish - keep everything as finely chopped as possible. When the salmon's done, spoon a generous portion on one side, and drizzle the yogurt over. Serve with freshly boiled new potatoes and a handful of baby gem lettuce on the side (the generous amount of relish will go well with the lettuce).

This was again really easy to make (done in under 30 minutes) and very tasty. Don't know the cals on it, but you could easily cut them down by swapping the potatoes for asparagus, if you're lucky enough to have a bleeping grocery store that stocks seasonal produce. (Grrr.)

I'd recommend both to a friend, and will happily make it again (especially that salsa, which reminded me of my favourite dish in the world, tabbouleh). I was a little worried about how the dill would go down (especially two nights in a row, considering that Pete's often not crazy about my liberal use of the herb), but he was very happy with both - I think the other herbs tone it down, especially in the salmon recipe, where the red onion all but knocks it out.

Moving food

No, not food that gets you exercising... I'm talking about food that you eat when you're moving house. This past weekend we moved about a mile up the road from London Fields to Clapton. My diet consisted of pastries and (decaf) coffee from a local deli, packaged sarnies and fish and chips from the pub. And although I'm as yet unpacked and will be for at least the next few days, I vow to do a bit better than that.

First stop - sort out an online delivery. Ocado's been tempting me with 20% vouchers for the past few weeks, so I've taken them up on their offer and have a delivery arranged for Thursday. I stuck mostly to ordering meat, fish, dairy and frozen stuff and plan on packing the freezer VERY full and doing the fruit and vegetable shopping more locally.

Second stop - figuring out what to eat until Thursday night. I'm in the mood for light springtime food, even though in May it still feels a bit like March. Asparagus would be good, and I really like the sound of Ottolenghi's recent recipe for asparagus with salsa and cheese . The addition of mint and dill to that salsa sounds TO. DIE. FOR.

For tonight (Tuesday), I'm thinking a soup - perhaps a nice light pea soup with the mint and dill I was just drooling over. With ridiculously hearty portions, of course.

And tomorrow night (Wednesday), I need something full of asparagusto - perhaps I will try out that recipe. (I will have the mint and the dill already). Though I'm not quite in the mood for cheese, so will probably drop the cheese and serve with salmon - with perhaps a drizzle of yogurt to make up for the lost cheese.

And I'll eat it all in my garden.

The night-before-a-flight dinner party

So I just returned from the States yesterday after a whirlwind 9-day trip. It should have been closer to 14, but thanks to the Iceland volcano, it was cut short a bit at the beginning. So instead of flying out on Tuesday, we didn't get to fly out until Saturday.

All that aside, we had a great time celebrating my dad's 60th and our impending July arrival. We succumbed to gluttony a few times - hot chicken wings and queso dip spring to mind - but also scoffed many of my fresh favourites such as yellow squash and raspberries.

But flash back to the night before our flight out of London - we had some friends over for dinner before our trip and to show them our new place, which we'll be moving into next week. I needed something simple, fresh, and ideally easy to prepare ahead as we were doing lots of work at the new flat. I also needed something that wouldn't leave leftovers, and since the weather was so nice, I wanted something summer-inspired but in keeping with mid-spring availabilities.

Here's what I settled on:

• sticky lemon chicken (served cold)
• purple-sprouting broccoli and herb pasta salad (served cold)
• prawns in carrot sauce (served cold)
• mixed leaf salad
• fresh sun-dried tomato bread
• a round of camenbert (I abstained, pregnant as I am)
• white wine (spritzer for me)

I think it turned out well - we ate around 7:30, with it still light outside and the windows and doors open. It was a Friday, so everyone was in a good mood, and I wasn't in the least bit stressed thanks to the early preparation.

If you like any of these ideas, I've put general recipes for the ones in bold below. Check 'em out and let me know if you want more info, and I can surely provide it.

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Sticky lemon chicken
I only had an idea in mind, not a recipe, so after a bit of browsing I came across this recipe from Notecook and this one from Good Food, which I picked the best bits from.

To make:

1. Cut slices into the fat of drumsticks and thighs (maybe 10 pieces total?) and season. 
2. In a casserole dish, add the juice and zest of 2 large lemons, 1 tbsp of honey, 1 clove of garlic (chopped), 1 tbsp of oil, a pinch each of paprika/salt/pepper and whisk with a fork. 
3. Add the chicken and rub the juices into the chicken. Roast for 45 minutes or until done at 200 C / 400 F. 
4. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Some chopped herbs on the top would look pretty here.

If I'm honest, it didn't end up quite as 'sticky' as I would have liked - I think I would have needed to add more honey or a little sugar to make it stickier. But the citrus aromas were lovely - I'd probably amp that up a little more too.


Purple-sprouting broccoli and herb pasta salad
This one was also an idea in my head - I was initially thinking asparagus, but couldn't get any British asparagus at the store. Purple-sprouting broccoli from Herefordshire looked good, so in the basket it went.

To make:

1. Blanch 400 g (14 oz) purple sprouting broccoli (regular is fine, just not as pretty) and then plunge into cold water to cool. Set to the side.
2. Boil 300 g (10.5 oz) fusilli pasta, rinse with cold water, then set to the side.
3. To make the dressing, use the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a handful of chopped fresh dill, and 3 tablespoons of basil pesto. (If you don't have basil pesto, use a handful of basil and 2 more tablespoons of oil).
4. Combine the broccoli, pasta and herb mixture and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice or herbs if you like, and topping with lemon zest is a pretty touch.

Makes enough for 4 people with leftovers (so probably 6, if you're serving the chicken too).

Prawns in carrot sauce
Okay, so this one was a total cheat - my mother-in-law brought me back some carrot sauce from the Canaries, which I've been meaning to try out. It was actually quite nice - had the essence of cumin, onion and red peppers in it in my mind, though one site lists the ingredients as "oil, garlic, paprika, salt, vinegar, pureed carrot, thyme or other herbs". Anyway, it was good (though I did set the smoke alarm off in the middle of the night when I stir fried these bad boys up).

Sun-dried tomato bread
Okay, so kinda another cheat. I'm not perfect! This was a pre-mix that I used in the breadmaker - my breadmaker's not well equipped to take additions to the mix after the start, so if I want anything "fancy" I have to go pre-mix. The smell is fab. I'm sure with a little planning I could try doing something on my own, but my mind was on flights and ash clouds. Deal...

Green sauce - simple in name, exquisite in flavour

When I first moved to the UK, I was constantly taken aback by the simplification of food names. Take, for example, an ordinary breakfast at a cafe, and ordering a full English. "White or brown bread?" Huh? Oh, white bread or wheat bread. Okay, I'll go brown. "White or black coffee?" Say what?? Oh, with or without milk. With, please. And finally, "Red or brown sauce?" WTF???!! I don't know why the choice wasn't ketchup or HP sauce, but hey, it wasn't my country, so in the end I chose red and was done with the colour-fest.

I suppose with everyday items that we eat, it may just be easier to associate a colour with them. So when, in flipping through my copy of The Pauper's Cookbook (one of the best £5 I ever spent), I came across green sauce, I was ever so intrigued as to why I had yet to sample such a simply-named sauce. Of course I know of salsa verde as a Mexican salsa led with green ingredients, but this one was different.

A quick scan of the ingredient list revealed some exciting (green) stuff such as capers and parsley, but also anchovies, garlic, olive oil and (very cool) bread.

I decided to go with the author's suggestion and whip this up to go with some grilled pork chops. I made a few tweaks (including actually MEASURING out the olive oil), and I have to say, green sauce should be offered in line with all things white, black, brown, red, whatever colour you fancy.

Green sauce (adapted from Jocasta Innes)

(serves 4)

1 slice of bread, crusts removed (I used brown, if you must know)

1 tbsp wine vinegar

2 tbsp capers

1 clove garlic

2 anchovies

4 tbsp olive oil

a large handful of parsley, chopped

Soak a piece of bread in the vinegar and set to the side. In a pestle and mortar, combine the garlic, anchovies and capers.

Squeeze the excess vinegar from the bread and tear into little pieces. Add to the pestle and mortar and continue to pound into a smooth consistency. THen add the parsley and continue to mash together.

Slowly drizzle the olive oil in a tbsp at a time and continue to mix together. Once you've finished adding the oil, if you're not happy with the consistency, use a hand blender or food processor to blitz it for a second. It will have the consistency of a tapenade sans olives.

You'll come out with a divinely deep green sauce that tastes as amazing on grilled pork chops as it does with fish or even just a piece of fresh bread (colour of your choosing). Whereas Sunday night I had it with pork chops, tonight I'm having it with on bread with butter and a rustic vegetable soup.

Calories: about 150 per serving. Very easy to make and keeps well in the fridge for at least 4-5 days.

More cakey goodness, this time with blueberries

I've always been one for ODing on something until I'm sick of it, and clearly, I'm attempting to do that with cake. As yet, I haven't tired of this 'a new cake every week' kick.

The lemon and almond cake last week was fab, but it's a new week, so I need a new fruit. Not in the mood for apples or pears. But blueberries I could get behind. And not the water-plumped flavourless ones "on offer" this week in Sainsbury's, shipped in from Mexico. Nope. Frozen ones which I like to believe were born on a lovely summer's day and so will be the perfect blend of tarty sweet goodness.

Right, so what cake to make? I did a lot of trawling: tea cakes, coffee cakes, almond cakes, with nothing quite taking my fancy. But this recipe seemed ripe for adaptation: frozen blueberries were fine; the use of oats makes me feel like I'm being healthy; using fat-free yogurt is an interesting change to the norm; and no butter/oil necessary. Oh, and cinnamon. Me likey cinnamon.

I've made a few tweaks (namely, not using extra cinnamon sugar on top - it doesn't need it and converting it to metric as all the units are volume-based, so confusing for those who aren't Stateside.) See below for the recipe. The results are very yummy - a cross between a cake and a flapjack, thanks to those oats. It's filling, so the pieces are smaller - you'll get about 16 slices. The combo of blueberry, vanilla and cinnamon's a great one - it reminds me of Southern breakfasts (and incidentally, I had a slice for breakfast this morning - couldn't resist.)

Blueberry Oat Cake (adapted from Diana Rattray's recipe)

Serves 16

175 g frozen blueberries

275 g wholemeal self-raising flour

40 g rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

110 g soft brown sugar

175 g vanilla fat-free yogurt (or plain yogurt with 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

juice of 1 lemon

60 ml milk

2 medium eggs

Preheat the oven to 165 C/ 325 F. Line a square springform tin (8 x 8 in) with greaseproof paper. Mix blueberries, flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the yogurt with the lemon juice and then the milk and eggs.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in until it's fully mixed.

Add the mixture to the tin and make sure it's relatively smooth on top. Bake for 45 minutes (check with a toothpick before taking it out - if it's wet, then cook for another 5-10 minutes).

Calories: I dunno yet, I didn't add them up! But I will update that once I know. In the meantime, enjoy - it's obviously not THAT bad for you...

New cake alert: lemon and almond

Apple cake, pear cake, apple cake, pear cake. I love 'em, but I'm getting tired of them. So this morning I went trawling for a new cake to make. I felt like having something fruity, which isn't easy given it's the middle of winter.

I considered upside-down peach cake, but using tinned peaches just didn't grab me. Then I considered coffee and walnut cake, but the coffee it calls for tends to be instant, and I don't have instant. (Cos I'm fancy.)

Finally I settled on lemon and almond cake. This one excited me for several reasons:

1) it's fruity, and I don't feel guilty buying lemons in winter. it uses the entire lemon, so no waste.
2) it's healthy - low-calorie (comparatively) and doesn't use any fats from butter/oil
3) it uses ground almonds almost entirely in place of flour, which I've been wanting to try because I'm close to overdosing on flour what with constant breadmaking.
4) it uses fructose instead of regular sugar, so it's not quite as likely to give you sugar shock
5) because I'm a sad sad lady and cakes make me happy, so there.

The recipe (here, if you missed it above) is very simple to follow, and I quite like it for the short list of ingredients (eggs, ground almonds, fruit sugar, lemons, flour, baking powder). The one thing to be careful about here, as it says on the website, is that fruit sugar burns more easily, so you need to watch it about 45 minutes in to make sure it doesn't blacken.

The recipe says 12-16 servings, but if that's true, the serving-size is for tiny little elves. And a tiny little elf I'm not. It serves 9, to my mind, bringing the calories to approximately 285 per slice, which is respectable enough to be tasty, yet low enough not to be overly indulgent. And it's so good with a cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon. I've officially added a new cake to the rotation.

Recipe for chicken livers with bacon, leeks, broad beans and parmesan

Every time I’m out visiting my in-laws in Stock, I always stop by Lathcoats Farm Shop. I love their apples and enjoy the trawling the various shelves for something new.

Last time, in addition to the bags upon bags of Egremont Russets, I happened upon some chicken livers from Essex Birds. I think I’ve only had chicken livers maybe once in my life, and certainly not cooked by my own hand, but I’ve been keen to try them for a while – they’re cheap, protein-tastic, and rich in flavour – a little goes a long way, really. So a small 220g pack from Essex Birds (for a pocket-pleasing 99p!) went in my basket and onto my freezer to wait patiently for a bout of inspiration on my part.

Cue the gloomy weather and chicken livers suddenly sounded perfect – earthy and filling. I considered stew – but wanted something that took less than 30 minutes, not more. I wanted as healthy as possible – so out went the creamy dishes.

My internet search revealed that if you want to eat liver, you really should pair it with bacon. I dutifully agreed, deciding to add broad beans (also out of the freezer, to remind us of sunnier days), leeks and a bit of parmesan on top. Sounded perfect to me.

But I’m no fool – there’s no way that was going to fill my husband, who’s recently gotten back into swimming daily at the London Fields Lido. The man needs (even more) carbohydrates – broad beans just won’t pass muster. So into his portion of liver loveliness went 150 g of bucatini (wonderful thick spaghetti with holes down the middle, presumably to increase surface area and soak up even more saucy goodness…)

I know livers turn some people off, but I highly recommend giving them a try. This recipe is really simple and quick, too. Just remember – don’t take a bit of just chicken livers EVER. Ensure there’s a mix on your fork at all times. You’ll thank me.

Chicken livers with bacon, leeks, broad beans and parmesan

(serves 2)

220 g (a small pack) of chicken livers, rinsed and separated into chunks

4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped

300 g frozen broad beans

1 tsp olive oil

200 g leeks, chopped

25 g parmesan, grated

salt and pepper.

optional: pasta to accompany

Heat the olive oil in a pan and bring a pot of water to the boil (two, if you’re including the pasta). When the oil is hot, add the chopped bacon and fry for a few minutes. When the water is boiling, add the broad beans to one pot and parboil for about three minutes. If you’re making pasta, add it to the second pot of boiling water and cook according to the package instructions.

To the bacon and oil, add the chicken livers, searing on each side for 2 minutes. Add in the leeks and stir well, ensuring everything is coated with the various flavours. Add a ladle of the pasta or bean cooking water to the pan as well as the drained broad beans and reduce heat to medium – season well and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. Add half the parmesan and mix through before plating up.

If you’re having the dish sans pasta, just split in half and serve in shallow bowls, perhaps along with any other vegetable you’d like (though I quite liked it on its own). If one person is having pasta, then plate up half the mixture, and then add the pasta to the mixture in the pan and stir, ensuring its gets fully coated. (Perhaps needless to say here, but if you’re both having pasta, mix it all in together before splitting the mixture evenly.) Top with the remaining parmesan and enjoy!

The bottom line... 

For a standard serving - 410 calories. 

For a standard serving with 100 g pasta - 726 calories

Sweetcorn chowder with spice

The mornings are getting chillier. I'm pulling my cardigan a bit tighter on my journeys into and home from work. It's nearly time to dig out the coats and scarves.

In the meantime, when I walk in the front door, I'm ready for something really warming and spicy. Earlier this week it was a cheap but tasty three-bean chili (good enough for two nights in a row). And tonight a bit of corn chowder was on the cards - but with a twist.

That twist comes courtesy of Ottolenghi - one of my favourite chefs these days. His New Vegetarian column is a weekly staple for the Guardian. I really enjoy his East Mediterranean take on recipes, and this one is no exception. To the classic American chowder, he's added a spiced butter, which consists of toasted cumin seeds, paprika and pepper. That, in addition to some freshly chopped coriander, gives chowder a whole new face - one that's super comforting.

Of course, I'm never *quite* content to cook Ottolenghi as is - I think his portions are a little small (especially for a vegetarian dish). In my opinion, less butter is needed, but more potato if this is going to make a main meal that doesn't have its eaters rummaging around the kitchen ten minutes later. I've also tried to go with cheaper ingredient alternatives that you're more likely to have to hand. Feel free to play with it how it suits you.

My version of Ottolenghi's corn chowder with spiced butter

(serves 3)
 

350 g potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 cm cubes

1 tsp thyme

1 large red pepper, chopped into one 1 cm pieces

1 large onion, chopped into 1 cm pieces

2 bay leaves

1 large tin of sweetcorn, drained

2 tsp oil

1 tbsp bouillon powder

700 ml freshly boiled water

300 ml skimmed milk

for the spiced oil

30 g spread or 2 tbsp oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp asafoetida

1 tsp white pepper

salt

small handful of coriander leaves

Heat 2 ml of oil in a pot and saute the onion over medium heat until translucent with the bay leaves and thyme. When that's done, tip in the red pepper, potato and stock - and stir. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Dump in the corn and remove the bay leaves. Halve the mixture - use a hand blender to puree one half, and then return both halves to the pan. Stir in the skimmed milk. Bring back to a simmer and cook for a few more minutes.

In the meantime, make the spiced oil - grind and toast the seeds, then add the oil/spread, asafoetida, white pepper, paprika and salt. Mix together and cook - then allow to cool.

When you're ready to serve, top the bowls of chowder with oil and chopped coriander leaves.

Calories per serving: about 330. It may be that someone hungrier wants two portions - if so, great. If not (like tonight), then you have a lovely extra serving perfect for freezing or for a Saturday lunch with a piece of bread.

This recipe is a winner, thanks to that spiced butter/oil. It's brilliant. The depth of flavour that you get for three minutes work is just not to be ignored. I'm thinking the spiced oil would be brilliant with some fresh flaky haddock and wilted spinach as well.

20 fish recipes, 20 minutes or less

Cooking Light has put together a collection of quick, easy fish recipes here. Have a look and see which ones you like - but these are my favourite of the lot:

Fish tacos with cabbage slaw
This sounds great. They've gone really easy on the oil, which is nice to see - and although they've used tilapia (aka red snapper), I'm sure it would work with any white fish.
Calories: 305 per serving.

Flounder Piccata with spinach
Piccata-style generally implies a sauce of lemon, capers and white wine - a pretty fool-proof combination that's often used in the States with chicken and veal. But on flounder (aka plaice), I think capers would work a treat (think tartar sauce). Again, they've gone easy on the olive oil, though you probably could cut it even more. Calories: 332 per serving.

Coriander-crusted tuna with black bean salsa
I don't eat tuna that often, but when I do, I often just sear it and keep it simple. But I like the idea of giving it the Mexican treatment. Again, really healthy: 356 calories per serving.

What do you think?

Salmon frittata with roasted parsnips

A very contemporary egg and chips, this one. If you haven't been reading the blog, check out this post first to get up to speed.

I was a bit nervous about it - not sure if the result would end up really claggy and horrid. But luckily, it came out just as I wanted it - fresh, sweet and herby. I think this would make a lovely Saturday lunch with friends.

Salmon frittata with roasted parsnips
(serves 2: either 2 medium sized portions or 1 large and 1 small portion)

300 g fresh salmon, peeled and chopped into 1-2 cm cubes
450 g parsnips, peeled and chopped into largeish matchsticks
3 eggs
juice of one lime
1 large handful of parsley, chopped
3 spring onions, chopped finely
1 tbsp olive oil
20 sprays of olive oil
100 ml skimmed milk
salt and pepper
2 tbsp half-fat creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 230 C. Roast the matchstick-sized parsnips with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt to taste in a foil-lined baking tray for 35 minutes.

Set salmon cubes to marinate in lime juice.

With 15 minutes left to roast, start the frittata: Heat 10 sprays of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the spring onions. After about 3-4 minutes, add the salmon cubes, ensuring that they are evenly distributed around the pan.

Combine the eggs, milk and chopped parsley into a jug and whisk with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

Over medium heat, pour the egg mixture over the salmon and spring onions, ensuring that it is also evenly distributed around the pan. Allow to cook over medium/medium-low heat for about five minutes. The top of the eggs shouldn't yet have set.

With five minutes left to go, put the saute pan under the grill (it's fine if your grill/oven are combined and your parsnips are at the bottom). AFter five minutes, the eggs should have puffed up slightly and the frittata should have cooked through.

Serve the frittata (half and half for two equal servings, or 2/3 for a large serving and 1/3 for a small serving) and the roasted parsnips (1/2 each, either way) with a tablespoon of creme fraiche.

Calories: for a small serving of the frittata with half of the parsnips - 640.

I can see myself eating this recipe on a lovely late-spring afternoon on the balcony with a glass of white wine. I shall be revisiting it again - the sweet salmon, tangy lime, fresh egg, herby parsley, and perfumed parsnips make for an excellent meal.

Valentine’s Day dinner: starter course

Okay, I’m a little late with my Valentine’s Day dinner post. But love means never having to say you’re sorry, right?

I settled on my first course last, oddly enough – I knew that I’d be using rabbit for the main course, and I borrowed a cheesecake recipe off of my friend Marcella for dessert. So I needed something fairly light for the main course. And since they’re in season, leeks shouted out to me.

Leeks vinaigrette is a classic (and likely French) dish in which leeks are braised in butter and stock and then served at room temperature with a Dijon mustard vinaigrette. Simple and elegant, non?

But it’s V-day, so a little tarting up was required, and after going through several variations, such as Leeks Vinaigrette with Eggs Mimosa and Leeks Vinaigrette with Crisp Serrano and Grated Egg, I finally settled on Leeks Vinaigrette with Eggs, in which the classic dish is topped with a mixture of chopped coddled egg, green olives and capers.

(Perhaps needless to say, the amount of butter and oil used was cut considerably, though I was a bit more generous owing to the occasion.)

Result? Gorgeous. The dish has a restaurant look to it – and the flavours are so simple but compliment each other so well. I’ll definitely be making this again. The tangy olives and capers certainly perked up the palate for the rich rabbit dish to come. Stay tuned.

FAIL?

My veggie stirfry just wasn't enough tonight. I thought it sounded quite nice, actually - veggies, noodles, and a healthy dollop of sriracha on top. But no - the husband wasn't convinced, and headed out the door to get himself a lamb doner kebab.

Nonetheless, my dinner was lovely - and in a way I was quite pleased that I got a larger helping of peppers, courgettes and onions! Besides, we don't have to eat the same thing every night, after all...

So to all those people that think vegetable stirfries with noodles are A-OK, this one's for you:

Vegetable stirfry with noodles and sriracha
(serves 1)

1 medium green pepper, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced
1/2 courgette, sliced
handful of spinach leaves
5 sprays of olive oil
1 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce
1 block of dry egg noodles

Heat the oil in a small pan; once hot, add the pepper, onion and courgette and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the noodles - they'll only need about 4 minutes.

Drain the noodles and add the spinach to the pan (remove it from the heat).

Add the noodles to a bowl, top with the veggies and stir well. Add a dollop of chilli sauce to the side and enjoy.

Calories: a very respectable 315.

Try lots of veggie combos: yellow and red peppers, broccoli, carrot, spring onion. They'll all work well - well, for you anyway. :-)

tomato, fennel and butter bean “bisque”

Speaking of eating your water, here’s a lovely new soup recipe I’ve come up with. I made it a few weekends ago, when I had an extra bulb of fennel lying around, but then I froze it.

Last night, arriving home and in no mood for a long kitchen session, this soup did the trick. Served with some toasted bread, this bisque of sorts was really lovely. Though there was no pureed seafood (unfortunately) the thick, creamy, tomatoey consistency was quite filling, especially for a vegetarian soup.

Tomato, fennel and butter bean “bisque”
(serves 4 as a first course or 2 generously)

1 can of cherry tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 can of butter beans
100 g leeks, chopped
1 large fennel bulb, sliced
1 tbsp bouillion powder such as Marigold mixed into 750 ml of freshly-boiled water
4 tbsp single cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sautee the leeks and the fennel in olive oil over medium heat until translucent – about 7 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and sautee for another 3 minutes. Rinse the butter beans and add to the pot. Then add the stock mixture slowly. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Add the tomato paste spoon by spoon and distribute well through the soup. Season.

(If you’re going to freeze the soup – stop here. The cream can be added on the day of serving.)

If you’re serving on the day, stir through 4 tbsp of single cream and season further to taste.

Serve with toasted bread – and maybe some fresh basil leaves on top.

Calories: 194 calories for a first-course serving (very low for such an indulgent-tasting concoction!). The “large” serving is 388, so still not very much at all. Of course, bread (and a glass of wine, which would go down nicely) would add to it, but given how healthy the soup is, I wouldn’t think that’s a problem.

Enjoy!

sauce support

A friend (who would prefer to be called “Cakekins”) emailed me a question this afternoon:

i am cooking grilled salmon and fresh penne pasta tonight. can you suggest a tasty but healthy sauce to accompany this?

Now, I realise this totally sounds like I made it up. But I didn’t, I promise… Cakekins is real and not a figment of my imagination.

Anyway.

Pasta sauces are tricky. There are generally two genres, in my opinion: tomato-based and creamy. Obviously, tomato-based is the “good” choice and creamy is the “bad” choice. But as we all know, what’s “good” can end up being “boring”. So we need to jazz it up. Chopped tomatoes will only keep us occupied for so long. Eventually, we’ll throw it out of the pram and stuff our faces with carbonara sauce (bacon…egg…cream….parmesan….heaven…).

Red pepper sauce
This is a good way, especially in summer, to spice up a tomato sauce. Add you need is tomatoes, red peppers, tomato puree, garlic, basil, and a hand blender. Roasting/Grilling the peppers before blitzing the mixture gives a great depth of flavour.

Basil oil
Obviously, this route fits neither in the tomato-based category nor the creamy category. I reckon it falls somewhere in between. Plenty of chopped basil and a teaspoon or two of olive oil would coat the pasta quite nicely.

Less-sinfully creamy
If you must use a cream sauce, either use single cream (sparingly) or make your own white sauce (with skim milk and olive oil). But I honestly think you’ll get more flavour from a jazzed-up tomato sauce than you will from a pared-down creamy one.

What do you think?

Update: Cakekins went for the basil oil option in the end:

mmm, sounds good. thank you. i have a newish basil plant that is (for the moment) full of leaves so that sounds good...

happy cinco de mayo

Cinco de Mayo - the excellent Mexican holiday that evolved in the US into drinking margaritas and eating tacos. But without the guilt, of course.

I actually didn't end up making any Mexican-inspired foods today - it's Bank Holiday in the UK, so we have the day off, and Monday felt more like a Sunday, and therefore required a lovely roast chicken.

But should you want to celebrate this wonderful cuisine, try here for a few recipes and a little bit of spice. Fancy a healthier Cinco de Mayo? Drop the margaritas and keep the tacos - I love fish tacos but any will do. Fancy going even healthier? Try my guilt-free favourite any time of year - Mexican salad. As good in October as it is in May. Ole!

whenever May it come...

It's a new month, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.... and I'm feeling good.

Okay, I'm no Nina Simone. But I am feeling good, because it's May! Hooray! Plenty of new and exciting produce will be available. We've had a few teasing tastes of asparagus, of strawberries, but now, even more is available. My tongue - and my stomach - can't wait. Here are a few ideas to whet the appetite.

Strawberries

Thus far, I'm still a fan of the "eat them on their own" team. The flavours are so new, so fledging, that to pair them with anything else might not work.

But if you must:
-put together a simple fruit salad for breakfast: strawberries, bananas, and some natural yogurt taste amazing together.

-add to some muesli. I'm loving Waitrose's apricot and fig muesli at the moment. Very fruity.

-pair with some dark chocolate - not too much, mind. Best to go with those mini Green and Blacks rather than the big 'uns.

Asparagus
I'm a little confused - one week Sainsbury's is overloaded with the stuff, and the next week it's all Peruvian produce. Asparagus eludes me once again. But when it is around, here are some lovely ideas:

Asparagus, pea and basil soup: ever so easy. Combine them all with some veggie stock, and simmer. Puree when it's ready. Don't fancy basil? Use mint instead. Or use watercress. Or leek. Any and every green vegetable will do. But the first three are my personal preference.

Keep it simple: poached egg, grilled bacon, steamed asparagus. The most beautiful triptych you'll ever come across. Museum-quality.

I love this idea - asparagus mimosa. Egg and asparagus, but classy-like. Just add champagne.

As a side dish, asparagus with hollandaise can't be beaten. But hollandaise isn't exactly low-calorie. I have never been let down by the South Beach Diet's mock hollandaise sauce. (Note: Smart Balance spread is a heart-healthy spread available in the US. In the UK, try a similar product.)

Welsh lamb

I know things are looking up when Waitrose stops stocking New Zealand lamb and starts stocking the Welsh variety. It's very young, and very new, but excellent in a variety of recipes. Try these:

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall offered up this excellent idea in a recent Guardian weekend column. Lamb, spelt and kale: It's part stew, part casserole - but all one-pot meal. You can't go wrong.

I got a bit creative in the kitchen earlier this week, combining diced leg of lamb, light feta cheese, black olives, onions, chopped tomatoes and spinach. Another fabulous one-pot meal: just sear the lamb, then allow to rest on the side. Saute the onions, and add the chopped tomatoes and simmer. Add chopped olives, spinach and black olives just before serving. Go crazy and add harissa too if you have it on hand, but it's not a requirement. I served it with green beans and carrots for myself, but with plenty of rice for those with larger appetities.

Grilled rump steak of lamb would taste lovely with steamed sweet potatoes and some sauteed courgettes.

New potatoes

Thanks to Jersey, the new season of potatoes is upon us. These little nutty nuggets are perfect, just lightly steamed. But with fresh herbs and a tiny bit of olive oil, they are even better. Just don't get too carried away!!

Radishes

On their own, they're not particularly exciting. (Though word is that Nicole Kidman considers them her pregnancy craving... how strange.) But combined with other veggies, they are a crunchy addition to a summer salad.

-In a food processor, combine radishes, carrot and oregano (or thyme). Serve as a side salad as part of a mezze or along side a fresh fish dish.

-Chopped salad: chop baby spinach, carrot, radish, capers and plenty of lemon juice. Makes a lovely and bright light lunch.

To be honest, spring has come quite late this year. Fingers crossed that June brings us our favourite produce in droves. In the meantime, keep eating!

my first asparagus...

in nearly 11 months.

I can recall the last time I ate asparagus before today. I can nail it to the date, actually. It was the night before my friend Sarah's wedding, after a day at Sanctuary Spa. Nothing seemed more lovely than some steamed asparagus on toasted bread with soft French goats' cheese.

The English asparagus season only really lasts from late April to early June, and technically it doesn't even start until May. The window of opportunity won't long be open, so my goal is to get in early.

Seeing as it has been so long, I think it's only appropriate that tonight, I go in as I went out. There's just nothing better. It's a light meal, but with asparagus, it's quality not quantity.

Steamed asparagus and soft goats cheese on toast
(serves 2)

1 bunch of English asparagus, ends trimmed
4 pieces of wholegrain bread
120 g mild French goats cheese
salt and pepper

Steam the asparagus over a medium boil for about 6 minutes. With two minutes left to go, toast the bread and spread the goats cheese over. Season with salt and pepper. Top with asparagus and eat with a fork and knife.

Admittedly, it may not be enough to fill everyone. If that's the case, use just one piece of bread per person and make it a great starter.

As is, each serving is about 350 calories.

I hope you like asparagus. The recipes are going to keep on coming over the next month or so. When I found the English asparagus today, I picked up three bunches. The possibilities are endless...

harissa-coated chicken thighs in tomatoes, leeks and butter beans with avocado and steamed broccoli

Yet again, I’ve been missing in action. 15 days. I’ve been massively busy, without much time to cook. Late nights at the office, evening functions, leaving dos, catching up at the pub… you name it, and it has kept me out of the flat this April.

This has really opened my eyes to how hard it is to cook with a busy schedule. But I’m determined to figure out a way that it will work.

Now that winter has nearly passed, I think it will be easier. Softer, more delicate produce inherently takes less time to cook. So time’s on our side.

And I’ve rededicated myself to fast, healthy, simple, amazing meals. No small challenge, I know.

This dinner, which I cooked up last night, ticks all of those boxes. And another one – the cheap box – to boot.

Harissa-coated chicken thighs in tomatoes, leeks and butter beans with avocado and steamed broccoli
(serves 2 medium portions or 1 large, 1 small portion)

4 skinless boneless organic chicken thights
2 tsp harissa
1 large leek, sliced lengthways in half and then thinly across
1 tin of cherry tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 tin of butter beans, rinsed and picked through
1 large ripe beef tomato, chopped
5 sprays of olive oil

1 head of broccoli, chopped
1 small avocado, peeled, stoned, pitted, halved and sliced
1 lime, juice of

a handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
5 sprigs of mint, chopped (optional)

Coat the chicken in the harissa and allow to sit for 30 minutes. (Or, coat in the morning and leave to set during the day.)

Heat the olive oil and sear the chicken for about 3 minutes each side in a large sauté pan. Add the leeks and garlic and sauté for another minute before slowly adding the cherry tomatoes (juice first). Mix rapidly to deglaze the pan. Fill the can halfway full with water and add to the pan. Bring to boil, reduce, cover and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Spread the avocado on a plate and sprinkle with the lime juice and salt.

After about 10 minutes, add the butter beans, half of the fresh tomatoes and parsley to the pan. Season well. Stir and recover, and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.

Place the broccoli in a steamer and cook for about 6 minutes, until al dente.

When the mixture is ready, remove the cover. Add half of the broccoli to each plate, and spoon the correct amount per portion onto each dish. (The dish contains four small portions.) Place the sliced avocado on the side, sprinkle with mint and parsley, and serve immediately.

Though it looks fairly plain, the combination of subtle earthy harissa, clean cool mint, creamy avocado and butter beans and tangy tomatoes really work well together, and the flavours are just spot-on. I think it would work well with fish too - or even as a vegetarian dish.

I got the nod from the hungry man next to me on the couch. There’s that final box ticked then.

let it snow

Just when I thought spring was on my doorstep, it snows. In April. The night after I bought lots of beautiful plants for my balcony (including a lovely bay tree).

But I remain undeterred. I am not heading back to root vegetable land. I will simply think of today as winter's grand finale.

The new issue of Gourmet arrived in my postbox yesterday. The Italian issue. I worried it might have heavy mom-and-pop fare, that of the New York Italian persuasion.

I needn't have worried. The recipes were fresh - and most importantly - properly Italian. Little known areas like Puglia and Umbria were scoured, and recipes like baby octopus salad and stuffed mussels dominated the pages.

There were two that particularly took my fancy, and I simply couldn't decide which to cook first: pasta with spicy anchovy sauce and dill bread crumbs OR umbrian fish soup.

So I'm doing both.

I think this will actually work quite nicely. The Italians often eat a very small portion of pasta as a first course - and we could learn from them. Although a standard serving size is about 90 g (or 3 oz) officially, we more often than not eat about three times that.

So my goal is to have my pasta and eat it too.

Check out the recipes here. and here.

give your pollack a little re-speck

A rather unpopular fish until recently, pollack is a low-fat white fish comparable to cod in its fleshiness. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall insists that we use it more, especially since cod is in such trouble these days. I myself have no qualms with eating more pollack – if only it were more readily available.

Now it appears pollack is beginning to line our shelves with more consistency. At Sainsbury’s this weekend I picked up some fresh pollack for a reasonable price.

The only problem now? How to make the bloody fish interesting! Let’s face it, cod’s not the most exciting fish on the block. It’s a wonder that it became overfished at all, in my opinion.

Luckily, the Moroccans and the Italians come to the rescue, with their harissa and their lovely prosciutto, also called speck, respectively. You know harissa. But speck’s a dry cured thinly-sliced bacon that can be eaten on its own as part of an antipasti, or wrapped around a number of lovely things. One often sees chicken or monkfish wrapped in parma ham or speck, and then pan-fried. The bacon then takes on a lovely crispy savoury consistency but protects its charge from drying out.

So spread a teaspoon of harissa on the pollack and wrap it up in a couple slices of speck (adding only 75 calories to the dish), but don’t pan fry it, grill it. You still get the benefits of the protection, you still get the crispy speck, but the excess fat drips off. The harissa gives the fish some depth, but without overpowering it.

Excellent Saturday night dish: pollack with harissa and speck, tabbouleh, steamed purple sprouting broccoli, glass of rose. The meal (excluding wine) is only about 525 calories (about 150 g pollack, 2 slices of speck, tsp of harissa, a generous portion of tabbouleh, and 150 g broccoli). For dessert, Spanish strawberries. Not at their best but nonetheless a true treat.

Go ahead, indulge yourself. And play that Erasure classic in the background while you cook. It will be in your head for days, weeks after.